Chapter 474
Zhao Yu: Would it be best if I died now?
...
Cai Jing didn't turn eighty overnight.
In fact, Zhao Yu had already decided on Cai Jing's successor.
This choice is neither surprising nor unexpected.
He is Li Gang.
Li Gang succeeding Cai Jing as prime minister had both advantages and disadvantages.
Let's start with the positive aspects.
Li Gang had a long military career. Not to mention his historical role as a civil official defending Tokyo during the Jingkang era, where he led the army and civilians against the enemy with composure in the face of danger and demonstrated considerable insight into strategies for military reorganization, border defense, and resistance against foreign aggression. In this lifetime alone, Li Gang has served as a border official, transport commissioner, and commander since he began his official career. Appointing Li Gang as prime minister would strengthen military preparedness, secure border defenses, and ensure the safety of the borders.
In addition, Li Gang was upright, loyal, brave, and courageous. In times of crisis, he was able to unite the people and organize the army to defend against the enemy, demonstrating the courage to save the country in times of chaos.
Furthermore, Zhao Yu had been using Li Gang to promote reforms over the years, and Li Gang was quite capable in handling local government affairs and implementing reforms.
However, Li Gang also had his own problems. He was too upright and not tactful enough. He would argue his point based on reason and was not good at compromising.
The position of prime minister requires harmonizing the balance of power and yin and yang and balancing the forces of all parties. If he insists on his own opinion, it will easily intensify the conflicts in the court and disrupt the pace of governance.
Furthermore, he often possessed the integrity and integrity of a loyal minister, was not good at understanding the emperor's intentions, and was not necessarily completely obedient to the emperor's decisions. If his strategic intentions conflicted with Zhao Yu's, he might hinder the implementation of national policies.
More importantly, Li Gang devoted most of his life to military and political affairs. While he was not ignorant of matters concerning people's livelihoods such as grain transport, salt and iron, agriculture and commerce, he was ultimately not as skilled as a minister who specialized in administration. The foundation of the Song Dynasty's prosperity lay in the flourishing of agriculture and commerce and abundant tax revenue. If border defense was prioritized over people's livelihoods, the very foundation of the nation might be shaken.
Zhao Yu was well aware of these matters. Therefore, long ago, he transferred people with the potential to become prime ministers, such as Li Gang and Zhao Ding, to the court, allowing them to oversee the overall situation, handle agriculture, commerce, finance, and taxation, and prepare them to succeed Cai Jing at any time.
Through personal instruction and training, Li Gang, Zhao Ding, and others had already developed the qualities of prime ministers and were fully capable of succeeding Cai Jing.
When Zhao Yu asked Cai Jing for his opinion, he was actually just asking casually to show that he valued the views of Cai Jing, an old minister who had dedicated his life to the Song Dynasty.
Unexpectedly, Cai Jing gave Zhao Yu a completely new idea, which was to appoint Zhang Bangchang as prime minister.
Zhang Bangchang was a steady, modest, and prudent man who knew the proper conduct of an official. He was able to handle the complex affairs of transporting grain and taxes effectively, and also tolerate dissenting opinions in the court and mediate disputes between civil and military officials.
More importantly, Zhang Bangchang was loyal and respectful to Zhao Yu, knew when to advance and when to retreat, and upheld the duties of a subject, and could carry out Zhao Yu's will without compromise.
During a period of peace and prosperity in the Song Dynasty, when it was necessary to maintain the status quo and consolidate the foundation, this personality trait ensured stability in the court, allowing Zhao Yu to plan for the long term without any worries.
Therefore, Zhang Bangchang's personality is more in line with the role of a prime minister in a prosperous era, a "pillar of stability."
So, should we choose Li Gang or Zhang Bangchang?
Zhao Yu had been considering this question for several days.
Finally, Zhao Yu asked himself: 'Should I stop now and simply enjoy the prosperous era I've built?'
Then Zhao Yu could only manage a wry smile!
The lifespan of emperors is often closely linked to the historical evaluation of their merits and demerits. Many emperors in history would have had a completely different reputation if they had died at the height of their achievements.
The most typical examples are Emperor Huizong of Song (Zhao Ji) and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (Li Longji).
These two emperors can be considered typical examples of emperors in history who were "wise in their early years but failed to maintain their integrity in their later years".
Although Zhao Ji was somewhat frivolous in the early years of his reign, he did employ Cai Jing to carry out reforms. By the time he was around forty years old, the canal transport in Jiangnan was smooth, Bianjing (Kaifeng) was thriving, and its bustling markets were unparalleled in the world. The territory also reached its largest extent in the Song Dynasty due to the recovery of Qinghai and Tibet.
—Whether in terms of territory or economy, it was the peak period of the Song Dynasty, at least on the surface.
Moreover, at that time, the proposal to unite with the Jin to destroy the Liao and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun had not yet arisen, the disaster of the Flower and Stone Tribute had not yet intensified, at least Fang La had not yet revolted, and although there were factional struggles in the court, because Cai Jing vigorously suppressed the Yuanyou Party members, to some extent, the Song Dynasty was able to temporarily suppress the political turmoil of constant changes in policy, which led to the country's unification and rapid development.
If Zhao Ji had died at that time, historical records would certainly have given him the evaluation of a "peaceful ruler," recording his talent in calligraphy and painting and the prosperity of his reign, rather than the later incompetent ruler who lost power and humiliated the country, and ruined half of the country.
The same was true for Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji.
In his early years, he single-handedly created the "Kaiyuan Prosperity," eliminating the accumulated malpractices since the Wu Zhou dynasty, rectifying officialdom, developing agriculture and sericulture, and expanding the territory from Andong in the east to Anxi in the west, from Linyi in the south to the Gobi Desert in the north, bringing the Tang Dynasty to its zenith.
During that period, Li Longji was a man of great talent and ambition, and he readily accepted good advice. He was undoubtedly a wise and capable ruler.
If he had died at the end of the Kaiyuan era, before indulging in sensual pleasures, he would not have made the foolish decisions to favor Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong, nor would he have triggered the An Lushan Rebellion, which led to the decline of the Tang Dynasty.
If that were the case, future generations would only praise his achievements in creating a prosperous era, rather than lament his regret that "everything has a beginning, but few things have an end."
There was also Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan.
In the early part of his reign, he eliminated the corrupt practices of the Southern Qi dynasty, rectified official corruption, promoted water conservancy projects, and reduced taxes and corvée labor, creating the "Reign of Tianjian" and bringing unprecedented economic and cultural prosperity to the Jiangnan region.
At that time, Xiao Yan was a rare wise and virtuous ruler in the Southern Dynasties.
However, in his later years, he became obsessed with Buddhism and donated himself to Tongtai Temple four times, squandering huge sums of national treasury funds. Furthermore, due to excessive leniency towards the imperial clan, he fostered a future problem that ultimately led to the "Hou Jing Rebellion." He starved to death in Taicheng and met a tragic end, with his own death and the destruction of his country.
If he had passed away at the end of the Tianjian era, before becoming obsessed with Buddhism, he would have been recorded in history as a wise ruler who created a prosperous era, rather than a muddle-headed emperor who lost his integrity in his later years.
There were many emperors like this.
If they die young, their most glorious moment is captured; if they live long but become senile, their life's achievements are shrouded in dust.
Zhao Yu is actually facing similar troubles now.
Throughout Zhao Yu's early life, he recovered Qinghai and Tibet, Western Xia, Yan and Yun regions, Goryeo, Northeast China, grasslands, Japan, Western Regions, Tibet, Indochina, and Dali, extending the Song Dynasty's territory east to the ocean, west to the Pamir Mountains, south to the Mekong River, and north to the Gobi Desert. The scale of this expansion far surpassed the heights of the Han and Tang dynasties, making the Song Dynasty's territory unprecedented in history.
He eliminated old abuses, implemented new laws, broke down the privileges of the gentry and powerful, merged the poll tax into the land tax, and made the gentry pay taxes together, thus filling the national treasury and ensuring the stability of people's livelihood.
He pioneered new trends, introduced science, established workshops, and created groundbreaking technologies such as steam engines, trains, and automobiles, igniting the spark of the Industrial Revolution and enabling the Song Dynasty to steadily transition from an agrarian civilization to the machine age.
He improved rice varieties, promoted new agricultural tools, and built water conservancy projects, enabling the people to completely escape the suffering of famine, with every household having surplus grain and savings.
He dredged the canal, developed the shipbuilding and navigation industries, vigorously laid railways, expanded ports, and encouraged maritime trade, enabling Song Dynasty merchant ships to travel to the South Seas, the East Seas, the West Seas, and even more distant unknown seas, bringing back not only gold and silver, but also exotic products and cultures, making the Song Dynasty the true center of the world.
He spared no effort in promoting "Ye Shiyun's Medical Canon," established modern hospitals throughout the country, preserved traditional Chinese medicine while vigorously developing modern medicine, and greatly extended people's lifespan.
He vigorously promoted the "Three Schools System," established numerous schools, popularized basic education, broke the monopoly of knowledge held by powerful clans, and gave scholars from humble backgrounds the opportunity to enter the imperial court.
He strongly supported Li Qingzhao's compilation of the "Hongwu Encyclopedia," a comprehensive collection of classic texts from various dynasties and states, preserving the flame of civilization. He was inclusive and encouraged technological innovation and intellectual debate, leading to an unprecedented flourishing of culture and technology in the Song Dynasty.
In short, Zhao Yu, with his knowledge from time travel, reversed the decline of the Northern Song Dynasty and rewrote the historical fate of the Central Plains dynasty, which was confined to its heartland and passively attacked. Based on his actions in the first half of his life, he can be called the emperor with the most pioneering spirit and ambition to save the world in thousands of years of Chinese history. No other emperor can compare with him.
If Zhao Yu had died then, he would undoubtedly have been the "greatest emperor of all time," his achievements would have been endlessly praised by later generations, and his name would have been ranked alongside, or even surpassed, those of Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Emperor Taizu of Song.
The problem is that Zhao Yu is not yet forty-five years old.
More importantly, whether it's a perk of being a time traveler or because Zhao Yu has been diligently exercising and maintaining his physique over the years, Zhao Yu still looks like he's in his early twenties.
Even many of Zhao Yu's sons looked older than him.
Not only did he appear to have superior physical abilities compared to all his sons, but Zhao Yu's physical capabilities also far surpassed those of his sons.
To put it simply, Zhao Yu can still sleep with more than a dozen women every night without getting tired.
Judging from Zhao Yu's physical condition, it would be perfectly normal for him to live to be a hundred years old, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
So the question arises: did Zhao Yu really intend to remain emperor for another fifty-five years?
If things really develop in that direction, who can guarantee that Zhao Yu won't follow in the footsteps of Zhao Ji, Li Longji, and Xiao Yan?
Fifty-five years—long enough for the ocean to turn into mulberry fields, and even longer enough for the magnificent achievements of a great ruler to be destroyed in an instant.
Zhao Yu dared not imagine whether, in his old age, he would become stubborn and self-willed, unable to listen to a single word of honest advice; whether he would indulge in pleasure and hand over the reins of the court to treacherous officials; whether, due to a momentary lapse of judgment, he would launch a meaningless war, causing countless soldiers to perish far from home and plunging the people of this prosperous era back into misery; whether, under the erosion of time, he would become muddleheaded and incompetent, personally destroying the glorious Song Dynasty he had created.
Is this just making a fuss over nothing?
Borrowing troubles in advance?
Why are you thinking such nonsense?
Neither; rather, it is born in hardship and die in comfort.
Moreover, while the Song Dynasty appears to be unprecedentedly powerful, prosperous, and wealthy, it is not without its hidden dangers.
Let me briefly mention a few things:
Firstly, although these territories that were later incorporated into the Song Dynasty were all subdued by the Song, it must be said that each of them had its own hidden dangers. If they were not properly managed, they might rebel again, or even break away from the Song Dynasty again.
Secondly, while conquering so much territory, the Song Dynasty also accumulated a large number of troops.
Currently, the Song Dynasty has approximately 2.5 million troops, of which more than 800,000 are cavalry.
Many people do not have a clear understanding of this.
Let's call it a tab.
According to Cai Xiang, the then Commissioner of the Three Departments, at the beginning of Emperor Yingzong's reign, the national imperial guards and local soldiers totaled more than 118 million men, requiring an annual expenditure of 48 million strings of copper coins to maintain them, averaging about 40 strings of copper coins per person per year.
If calculated according to this amount, the Song Dynasty would need 100 million to support its army every year.
—This doesn't even include the extra costs required for the particularly expensive cavalry.
What does one hundred million mean?
Before Zhao Yu, the Song Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue was no more than 120 million.
If this were in the Song Dynasty of the past, a year's fiscal revenue might not even be enough to cover military expenses.
What's more troublesome is that more than half of the 2.5 million troops in the Song Dynasty were elite local troops recruited from the recovered areas. Such troops cannot be laid off, otherwise it may cause a mutiny and thus affect the rule of the Song Dynasty.
Furthermore, the Song Dynasty has conquered so much territory over the years, which inevitably produced many meritorious officials.
—Although Zhao Yu had tried his best to control the situation and prevent certain ministers and generals from becoming too prominent in their achievements, lest they develop arrogant and disloyal intentions like Lan Yu in the Ming Dynasty, the Song Dynasty's expansion over the years inevitably led to the emergence of many such meritorious officials.
These ministers certainly wouldn't dare cause trouble for Zhao Yu, and Zhao Yu definitely had the prestige and power to suppress any minister.
However, it remains to be seen whether Zhao Yu's successor will be able to suppress these arrogant and powerful ministers who have overshadowed the emperor.
This is also a problem.
But this is not the biggest problem for the Song Dynasty.
The biggest problem for the Song Dynasty is that Emperor Zhao Yu has more than 3,000 sons (as of now), and a large portion of them are already adults. Zhao Yu has placed them in various key departments of the Song Dynasty to gain experience. Some of them have power, some have money, some have soldiers, and some even have both power, money, and soldiers. If this is not handled properly, the Song Dynasty may face a rebellion of a thousand princes.
In addition, Crown Prince Zhao Shou became crown prince at the age of four and is now twenty-seven years old, having served as crown prince for twenty-three years.
There's a saying that goes, "Can a prince reign for thirty years?"
Emperor Wu of Han was a man of great talent and ambition. He reigned for 54 years, and his son, Liu Ju, served as the heir apparent for 31 years. Liu Ju was benevolent and wise, which should have been a blessing to the country. However, due to being in a place of suspicion for a long time, he was eventually caught up in the witchcraft incident. Father and son turned against each other, Liu Ju was defeated and committed suicide, the Wei clan was wiped out, and the Han court was shaken for years.
Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasties lived to the age of eighty-six. His son, Xiao Tong, held the position of heir for twenty-nine years. He was gentle and refined, and his compilation of the "Zhaoming Anthology" made him famous throughout history. However, he ultimately could not outlive his father and died young. After that, the princes fought for the throne, and the Liang dynasty soon fell apart.
Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty reigned for 61 years. Crown Prince Yinreng was appointed and deposed twice. His 37-year reign as heir apparent wore down his youthful spirit and eroded the bond between father and son. In the end, he was imprisoned until his death. The turmoil of the struggle for succession among the nine princes further disturbed the peace and order of the court and the country.
Zhao Yu had to take all of these factors into account.
Now, Zhao Yu must also take these factors into account when choosing a prime minister.
In addition, the Song Dynasty is currently working to abolish the bimetallic standard and replace it with the gold standard, which is no small matter and must be taken into consideration.
After much hesitation, Zhao Yu felt that he still needed to choose a prime minister with strong execution and a sense of responsibility; otherwise, these things might not be able to be implemented.
Of course, there must also be a chief minister who is absolutely loyal to him to check and balance the prime minister, so as to prevent the prime minister from making mistakes.
After considering this, Zhao Yu decided that Li Gang would serve as prime minister, Zhang Bangchang as deputy prime minister, Tang Ke as left vice minister, and Zhao Ding as right vice minister; Chen Gou would serve as privy councilor, Song Jiang as chief privy councilor, and Lü Yihao as academician of the Hanlin Academy.
In addition, Zhao Yu planned to transfer Chen Kangbo, who was finishing up his work in Yunnan, and Qin Hui, who had performed exceptionally well in both politics and economics in recent years, to his side in a while.
It is evident that the prime ministers selected by Zhao Yu were mostly people who had served as prime ministers in history, and most of them had done a commendable job or at least had some merits in their positions.
In short, Zhao Yu's main principle was to use both loyal and treacherous officials, as long as they had the ability to help him govern the Song Dynasty well...
...(End of chapter)