Chapter 331: Zhang Chun

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Although he had already decided to move the capital of the Great Song from Dongjing to Beijing, and the warfare in Liaodong continued, Beijing was filled with countless trivial matters requiring Zhao Yu's decisions; yet upon learning that the frontline campaign had shifted to slow, gradual advancement and would not swiftly eliminate the Jin, Zhao Yu immediately resolved to return to Dongjing Bianliang, ending his personal campaign.

Zhao Yu was well aware that, at least up to this point, Dongjing Bianliang remained the central hub of the Great Song, and as Emperor of the Great Song, he should not remain absent from the imperial palace for extended periods.

The central hub is the core of a nation's power; the emperor's presence itself is a symbol of stability. Prolonged absence may cause the bureaucratic system, which revolves around imperial authority, to suffer from miscommunication and delayed decision-making. In the absence of the supreme authority, officials inevitably grow inclined to shirk responsibility and pass the buck, and some may even exploit the vacuum to enrich themselves.

When the emperor personally campaigns or leaves the capital, information between the frontline and the center often passes through multiple layers, easily leading to delays or distortion. Center officials, unaware of frontline conditions, may issue directives detached from reality; while the emperor, stationed afar, struggles to promptly grasp subtle changes within the capital and across the nation—such as local disasters or civilian grievances.

The most immediate consequence of the emperor's prolonged absence is widespread unease among court and populace. Officials speculate about the emperor's intentions; commoners fear instability; and malicious actors may exploit the situation to spread rumors and incite unrest.

Thus, even during personal campaigns, if the duration is too long, the rear may breed rebellion due to "a young ruler and a doubtful state" (even if the Crown Prince is of age, he cannot match the emperor's authority). History is replete with examples of emperors who lost their campaigns due to instability at home.

Therefore, the stability of the center is the foundation of a nation's operation. As the core, the emperor, even when compelled to leave the capital for campaigns, must strictly limit his absence, relying on a robust regency system and efficient information flow to minimize the risks of power vacuum; otherwise, even the wisest monarch cannot withstand the chain reaction of prolonged detachment from the center.

Upon learning Zhao Yu would return to Dongjing, Zhang Chun looked at Zhao Yu and nodded vigorously.

Seeing this, Li Lin asked: "You seem to strongly approve of the emperor returning to the capital?"

Zhang Chun spoke frankly: "This is the conduct of a wise ruler."

Li Lin asked: "Why say that?"

Zhang Chun said: "When the emperor ascended the throne, the exterior faced repeated rebellions from Qingtang, and the Western Xia and Liao forces united at the border; internally, there was bitter strife between the New and Old Parties, the state treasury was empty, scholar-gentry clans held countless acres of land, leaving commoners with not an inch of land, the gap between rich and poor was extreme, and the number of soldiers and officials was excessive—forcing the court to spend enormous sums merely to sustain them, causing severe fiscal deficits that left the Great Song impoverished and weak, with the situation so dire."

"In his first year on the throne, the emperor paid all back pay owed to soldiers; in his second year, he paid all back salaries owed to officials; in fifteen years, he completely resolved the Great Song's three excesses and two accumulations, and has already exempted the people from taxes over thirty times—averaging twice a year."

"Politically, since ascending the throne, the emperor has employed both New and Old Party members, yet trusted neither fully—judging solely by ability. In the end, he subdued both parties entirely, expelling from court all officials who engaged only in factional strife without competence. Our Great Song's politics are now crystal clear."

"This is highly astute. Take the Chongzhen Emperor of the late Ming as an example: he impulsively purged Wei Zhongxian at the start of his reign, only to find that while factional strife vanished, the Donglin Party became dominant with no counterbalance—eventually, Chongzhen lost control. He oversimplified matters, and in the end could only lament: 'Had Wei Zhongxian still been alive, I would not be in this state!'"

"The hallmark of a revitalizing ruler is reform—reform aimed at securing revenue, achieved by reclaiming land from local magnates and redistributing it to the people, allowing the court to resume taxation, as the emperor has implemented the 'Equal Taxation for Scholar-Gentry' and 'Land Tax Merged into Landholding.'"

"You and I know that when the 'Equal Taxation for Scholar-Gentry' and 'Land Tax Merged into Landholding' were first introduced, the reforms met fierce resistance; countless scholar-gentry and powerful clans secretly colluded, attempting to sabotage the new policies. But the emperor remained resolute, unyielding, fundamentally resolving the problems of land consolidation and tax inequality, abolishing the head tax that had oppressed the people for over a thousand years, granting them the long-awaited respite from crushing taxes that once drove them to displacement and the sale of children. The Great Song gradually emerged from the mire of poverty and weakness, regaining new vitality."

"But Chongzhen? He lacked such courage. The greatest local magnates of the Great Ming were Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants—like Prince Zhu Zhishu of Sichuan, who once held seventy percent of Sichuan's land; Prince Zhu Changluo of Henan was even worse—all of Henan's tax revenue could not cover his personal expenses. Chongzhen dared not touch any of them, cowering before them, while crushing the people with heavy taxes—beyond normal levies, he imposed countless additional exactions. Just the 'Three Additional Taxes' alone siphoned six million taels of silver annually from Jiangnan."

"Foreign warfare further reveals a ruler's caliber."

"Chongzhen was notoriously militarily inept and gave reckless orders. Ming troops could not defeat the Qing in open battle—fortified defense was the best option—but Chongzhen forced Lu Xiangsheng to fight them in the open, resulting in total annihilation and Lu Xiangsheng's death. Terrified, he hastily recalled Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou from Shaanxi, yet by then, Li Zicheng, reduced to just eighteen riders, had escaped."

"In trying to resist the Later Jin, instead of learning from history, he imitated Zhao Ji: 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,' and allied with the Mongol leader Lin Danhan—the second historical alliance of Mongols against the Jin. But Lin Danhan vacillated, did nothing, and allowed Mongol cavalry to plunder the borders, which Chongzhen pretended not to see."

"He revived the Qin dynasty's system of military merit to boost morale—yet the result? Not a single Qing soldier was lost, but all the Ming's wandering beggars vanished."