Chapter 99: Jianzhong First Year

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After the New Year, in 1100, the Zhao Song dynasty officially changed its era name to "Jianzhong."

To be honest, Zhao Yu disliked this era name—"Jianzhong"—because its homophone sounded like "jian zhong," meaning "worthless breed."

Fortunately, it was destined to be only a transitional era name lasting just over a year; Zhao Yu only needed to endure until the Empress Dowager's death, then replace it and fully launch his own true reign.

Cai Bian was efficient.

Before the New Year, the thirteen men, including Sima Guang, had been convicted by Cai Bian, with ironclad evidence.

From these thirteen families, nearly ten million guan in silver and gold were seized, and over one million mu of land confiscated; some households even had servants dressed in brocade robes with golden belts, and one family alone was found to possess thirty-odd "meinaihe"—silver balls weighing fifty jin each, even including gold balls of the same weight.

After obtaining this result, Zhao Yu threw the list before the ministers who had been defending Sima Guang and others, demanding: "Is this what you call a gentleman, one who serves Great Song with pure loyalty?"

Faced with this outcome, who dared to defend Sima Guang and the others?

In truth, to be fair, Sima Guang was somewhat wronged.

The wealth and land seized from his household were not particularly large.

But his relatives, leveraging his power, had extorted and plundered, amassing vast fortunes.

Crucially, Cai Bian investigated Sima Guang together with twelve other major corrupt officials carefully selected by Zhao Yu—their combined wealth was undeniably shocking.

Cai Bian immediately requested intensified efforts against corruption.

Clearly, the New Party intended to use this opportunity to thoroughly purge the Old Party.

In Zhao Yu's view, the Song dynasty's greatest problem now was not its bloated military, but its bloated bureaucracy.

To prevent military generals from seizing power, since Zhao Kuangyin's time, the Song dynasty had promoted "governing the realm together with scholar-officials," elevating civil officials to an extreme height, causing the bureaucracy to swell uncontrollably.

During Zhao Kuangyin's reign, the entire Song dynasty had only two to three thousand officials; the bureaucracy was lean, with the central government organized into Three Departments and Six Ministries, and local administration primarily based on the two-tier prefecture-county system, yet still capable of governing the realm.

By Zhao Guangyi's reign, the number of officials had doubled; the number of candidates admitted per imperial examination rose from ten to thirty under Zhao Kuangyin to two to three hundred—tenfold growth—pioneering the later "enrollment grace examinations."

By Emperor Zhenzong's reign, the number per examination had risen to about five hundred.

Now, it had reached one thousand per examination.

Actually, the problem with the imperial examination system was not the worst.

The real issue was that mid- and high-ranking officials could grant hereditary privileges to their descendants and relatives—chancellors could grant such privileges to ten people—leading to "one person entering officialdom, and all descendants and kin gaining office."

To accommodate surplus officials, since Emperor Zhenzong's time, idle posts such as "Director of Palace Temples" were created; at that time, such idle officials already accounted for ten percent of all officials.

Accumulated over time, by Emperor Zhenzong's reign, the Song dynasty's official count reached over twelve thousand.

By Emperor Renzong's reign, it nearly doubled again, reaching over twenty-one thousand officials.

During Emperor Shenzong's reign, it further rose to over twenty-four thousand.

Now, due to factional strife and other factors, the number had nearly reached forty thousand.

—In the New-Old Party struggle, each side, upon taking power, massively purged opponents and installed loyalists; for example, when the New Party ruled, Old Party officials were demoted or sidelined but retained their salaries.

Today, the Song dynasty's official salaries consume thirty to forty percent of state expenditures; how much tax revenue could the dynasty collect to sustain this fiscal black hole?

To fill the fiscal gap, the court previously had to increase taxation (e. g., the "Land Survey and Equal Taxation Law" was twisted into a tool for extortion), intensifying social tensions.

Even more absurdly, while the number of officials had multiplied dozens of times, their efficiency had become even lower.

Now, officials' actual duties (assignments) were divorced from their official ranks, creating the absurd situation of "official without authority" or "authority without official status."

This led officials to shirk responsibility and cling to tradition, with few actually doing real work.

Su Shi's memorial to Zhao Yu harshly criticized this phenomenon, calling it: "Today's officials dare not carry out a single task…"

Moreover, the opportunity for humble scholars to enter officialdom through the imperial examination was squeezed; countless talented individuals were blocked from promotion due to factional strife or the hereditary privilege system; the ideal of "no need to buy good land, for books contain a thousand bushels of grain" collapsed, while officials appointed through hereditary privilege occupied high posts, creating the false prosperity of "all court robes are purple, all are scholars."

Ice does not form three feet thick in a single day; this problem cannot be resolved overnight.

But one advantage was that Zhao Yu had no fear of purging corrupt officials too harshly and leaving himself without capable men.

Put simply, the Song dynasty's current pool of officials was sufficient to replace those corrupt ones hundreds of times over.

Moreover, the Song dynasty still held imperial examinations, the hereditary privilege system remained rampant, and the Imperial Academy was filled with countless students waiting in line for official posts.

Under these circumstances, Zhao Yu's support for anti-corruption efforts met no resistance; officials eager to seize real power and realize their political ambitions were eager to applaud with both hands and feet.

So Zhao Yu waved his hand and continued…

Upon receiving Zhao Yu's imperial decree, the New Party members rolled up their sleeves and went all out.

But one point Zhao Yu held firm: the vacant positions were not given to anyone's personal allies, but to talents selected by Zhao Yu and Zhang Chun.

In other words, using the New Party's purge of the Old Party and the anti-corruption campaign, Zhao Yu promoted a large number of capable officials.

Naturally, because the anti-corruption campaign was led by the New Party, most of the newly appointed capable officials were from the New Party.

Zhao Yu chose to turn a blind eye.

Because only then would the New Party have the drive to vigorously combat corruption.

During this process, vast sums of illicit wealth flowed continuously into the court.

Zhao Yu overcame opposition and first paid the long-overdue military expenses, including past due rewards owed to meritorious soldiers.

This earned the military's strong support for the anti-corruption campaign and for Zhao Yu himself.

Additionally, Zhao Yu began paying overdue salaries to officials.

In other words, with the fall of these corrupt officials, everyone gained tangible benefits.

Thus, anti-corruption must continue; whoever opposed it stood against the majority of both military and civil authorities.

Some Old Party figures who suffered "persecution" did go to Empress Dowager, seeking her intervention to stop the suppression of the Old Party.

But Empress Dowager told these Old Party figures that Zhao Yu was not suppressing the Old Party—he was merely addressing the dynasty's urgent crises.

The truth was indeed this.

Zhao Yu, through Zhang Shangying, Li Qingchen, and Su Shi, had screened out a large number of capable officials.

Everyone could see that Zhao Yu intended to replace the corrupt officials with these capable ones.

And those idle, incompetent officials who occupied positions without contributing were also removed.

Under repeated suggestions from the New Party seeking to "seize territory," Zhao Yu abolished the Mokan system, conducting comprehensive evaluations of officials' performance across all regions; any official who failed the assessment was required to step down and make way for the capable, bringing an end forever to the old practice of automatic promotion based solely on seniority regardless of performance. From now on, the principle would be: the capable rise, the incapable fall.

The Old Party also understood that Zhao Yu was not targeting them specifically.

After all, the capable officials selected in this round were not exclusively from the New Party — they included both New and Old Party members. In fact, since the total number of Old Party officials far exceeded that of New Party officials, the number of selected talents belonging to the Old Party was even greater.

Yet, currently, it was the New Party handling the crackdown on corruption; even as they removed corrupt officials and dismissed the incompetent, they would only appoint from among the New Party members selected by Zhao Yu and Zhang Chun.

This led to entire prefectures and counties being staffed exclusively with New Party officials.

Seeing the New Party so aggressively "conquer territory," the Old Party grew desperate and repeatedly appealed to Empress Dowager Xiang.

With no alternative, Empress Dowager Xiang had no choice but to consult Zhao Yu on a solution.

"Under pressure from Empress Dowager Xiang," Zhao Yu was forced to assign Su Zhe to also oversee the anti-corruption campaign.

Once the Old Party began their actions, they showed no less ruthlessness than the New Party — they did not soften their blows simply because most of the officials they targeted were from their own ranks; their motto was: if you don't step down, how can I take your place?

One must admit, the tactic of "using successors to investigate predecessors — if problems are found, the successor replaces the predecessor" was brutally effective.

Of course, it must also be acknowledged that during this process, some envious successors, eager to seize their predecessors' posts, resorted to framing and false accusations.

Zhao Yu's principle was strict enforcement of counter-punishment for false accusations; and by this stage, investigations were no longer handled by the New or Old Party, but by the Imperial City Bureau and the Eastern Depot, a special agency Zhao Yu established specifically for this purpose, to conduct rigorous inquiries.

To reduce resistance to establishing the Eastern Depot, Zhao Yu appointed Yang Jian, Empress Dowager Xiang's trusted eunuch, as its Director, and the core of the Eastern Depot was composed entirely of eunuchs.

This was Zhang Chun's suggestion to Zhao Yu, aimed naturally at strengthening imperial authority and centralization.

In truth, no further explanation was needed — this was simply the Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern Depot.

Notably, since the original Imperial City Bureau differed considerably from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zhao Yu redefined its duties: it now answered directly to him, responsible for investigating imperial cases and apprehending high-priority fugitives without needing to go through regular judicial procedures. Additionally, as Zhao Yu's personal imperial guard, the Imperial City Bureau handled ceremonial duties, patrolled the imperial palace, and protected the imperial family's safety. Furthermore, the Imperial City Bureau operated independently of the Six Ministries and could directly impeach officials to Zhao Yu. The goal was to transform the Imperial City Bureau entirely into the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Eastern Depot, likewise, operated independently of the Six Ministries and reported directly to Zhao Yu. Its functions included monitoring officials, commoners, and the Imperial City Bureau, serving as Zhao Yu's eyes and ears to prevent power from being monopolized by the bureaucratic elite. It could also counterbalance the Imperial City Bureau, preventing any single institution from accumulating excessive power.

Because both the Imperial City Bureau and the Eastern Depot could bypass cumbersome judicial procedures and respond swiftly to Zhao Yu's orders, whenever problems arose during the anti-corruption campaign, their intervention drastically reduced bureaucratic evasion and foot-dragging, efficiently and properly resolving all issues, fully and rapidly executing Zhao Yu's imperial will, ensuring the smooth progress of both anti-corruption and anti-negligence efforts.

The Imperial City Bureau and the Eastern Depot — especially the latter — became famous overnight.

Among both the New and Old Parties, there were indeed perceptive individuals who realized Zhao Yu's strengthening of the Imperial City Bureau and creation of the Eastern Depot had deeper intentions.

But at this stage, the New and Old Parties' greatest enemy was each other; they had no time to pay attention to Zhao Yu's subtle maneuvers.

More importantly, neither party yet realized these were institutions aimed at them — after all, the Imperial City Bureau had always existed, and the Eastern Depot was merely a newly established "minor agency" to resolve their party strife.

Thus, for the moment, officials entrenched in the party struggle paid little heed to the Imperial City Bureau and the Eastern Depot.

This gave the Imperial City Bureau and the Eastern Depot the opportunity to grow rapidly and strengthen.

As for when the New and Old Party members finally realized the truth?

By then, the Imperial City Bureau and the Eastern Depot would have become forces they could not shake, Zhao Yu's power would be fully consolidated, Empress Dowager Xiang's constraints gone, and any opposition from them would be futile.

After the anti-corruption campaign, coupled with the implementation of Ye Shi Yun's three economic strategies, overseen by Cai Jing, wealth flowed steadily into the capital. Within just a few months, the court turned from deficit to surplus and began accumulating reserves.

Recently, Cai Jing presented Zhao Yu with another proposal: to reform the economic system, particularly the tea and salt laws.

Ye Shi Yun immediately warned Zhao Yu that Cai Jing's reforms were a double-edged sword — though they could generate revenue, they would also intensify social tensions. They could be used temporarily, but not indefinitely, or the long-term damage would be severe.

Militarily.

After prolonged mobilization, seventy thousand Song troops had assembled near Great Ming Prefecture, ready to march north at any moment.

Additionally, the Divine Mechanism Left Army and Divine Mechanism Right Army, recruited by Zong Ze, Zhang Shuye, Wang Bing, and He Guan, had now gathered within Dongjing Bianliang and were undergoing training in the Kaifeng Garrison grounds.

Zhao Yu adopted Li Lin's suggestion to implement a dual-command system for these two armies: the Military Supervisor oversaw ideological and political work, ensuring the troops remained loyal to Zhao Yu and the court; the Commander focused solely on combat command and training. Their cooperation would guarantee combat effectiveness while preventing the army from slipping out of imperial and court control.

To summarize briefly.

Zhao Yu assigned Accompanying Tong Guan (and behind him, Li Lin) to establish and train the Divine Mechanism Left and Right Armies.

Zong Ze served as Military Supervisor of the Divine Mechanism Left Army; Wang Bing as its Commander.

Zhang Shuye served as Military Supervisor of the Divine Mechanism Right Army; He Guan as its Commander.

Both armies were primarily equipped with tiger-crouching cannons, thunderclap bombs, and divine-arm bows, and both followed the organization of four thousand infantry to one thousand light cavalry.

Furthermore, the Divine Mechanism Left and Right Armies were outfitted with the finest equipment available in the Zhao Song dynasty — Zhao Yu provided them with every superior weapon and armor. Their cavalry, in particular, were extravagantly equipped with three horses per soldier (roughly half warhorses, half draft horses, enabling enhanced mobility when necessary).

Additionally, upon Accompanying Tong Guan's recommendation, Zhao Yu assembled ten thousand Xiang troops, along with numerous mules, camels, and large carts, to serve as auxiliary forces for the Divine Mechanism Left and Right Armies.

In short, the Zhao Song dynasty had truly prepared for war without reservation.

Now, it remained to be seen how the Liao and Xia states would respond…

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(End of Chapter)