Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 106 Wishing to Ride the Long Wind and Break Through Ten Thousand Miles of Waves
"Brother Lu, do you think that since the investigation of hidden fields and the implementation of the terraced field tax are not feasible, and the land is always limited, and we cannot acquire land by destroying Xia or Liao, then we are at a dead end?"

Su Zhe spent most of his time at home discussing classics, history, and poetry with his father and brothers, but they didn't really discuss current affairs much.

This is quite normal, because even the three Su brothers in this era had serious limitations in their understanding of many issues due to the speed and breadth of information dissemination.

Therefore, we absolutely cannot apply a modern perspective to people of this era.

"I do have some humble opinions, which you fellow students may listen to; it's just casual conversation."

Lu Beigu sat on the couch and said, "Historically, the only ways were the Northern Dynasties' external expansion and the Southern Dynasties' internal cultivation. The hellish world of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms caused too much trauma to the people. From the beginning, the Song Dynasty was destined not to choose the external expansion methods of the Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang Dynasties."

"Therefore, in recent years, while maintaining border stability, the imperial court has been continuously cultivating the land within the country. At the beginning of the dynasty, due to the sharp decline in population caused by war, the problem faced by most prefectures and counties was that there were not enough people to cultivate the land, rather than that there were not enough people to cultivate the land. However, in recent years, the situation has reversed."

"The population of the Song Dynasty has exceeded 100 million. If this situation continues, the land will definitely not be able to support it. So I think, since there are already many landless people in various towns and cities who are engaged in various trades, and various handicrafts are indeed developed, is it possible to acquire wealth and even food through large-scale foreign trade, just like in the Han and Tang Dynasties?"

Upon hearing this, Su Zhe and the others fell into deep thought.

In fact, you can tell from the situation of these eight people that nearly half of their families are not engaged in farming, but in various other industries in cities or towns.

From a modern perspective, this actually reflects the urbanization process of the Song Dynasty and the nascent capitalism that accompanied it.

“It sounds feasible, but the Xia Kingdom has blocked the trade routes in the Western Regions. If we go through Qinghai and Tibet, the road will be even more difficult.”

Su Zhe's "On the Six States" shows that he understood geography and was very clear about the decisive role of geography in trade routes, which is why his remarks were particularly pragmatic.

At this moment, Lu Beigu suddenly asked.

"Think about it, many craftsmen make exquisitely crafted items, yet their handmade goods are priced very low and still don't sell. Do you think it's because they're not good enough? And what about things like Shu brocade and porcelain? Don't people in other countries like those?"

Seeing everyone deep in thought, Lu Beigu continued, "I think the root of the problem is that there is no way to sell these things, and even less way to buy grain with the handicrafts. But the way has always been there, which is to take the sea route. It's just that the court can't bring itself to do it."

Lu Beigu's statement was based on data. The total annual fiscal revenue of the Song Dynasty, converted into copper coins, was approximately 5700 million to 7000 million strings of cash. Of this, overseas trade tax revenue was less than 1 million strings of cash, accounting for only about 100% to 2%. The majority of this revenue came from maritime trade with Goryeo and Japan.

But in reality, the potential for overseas trade tax revenue in the Song Dynasty was far greater than that.

According to the data he collected from historical materials related to the Southern Song Dynasty before his time travel, even after losing large territories such as Hebei, Shandong, the Central Plains, and Guanzhong, the Southern Song Dynasty still had an annual total fiscal revenue of 5000 to 6000 million strings of cash. Among them, overseas trade tax revenue consistently contributed about 1000 million strings of cash, accounting for about 15% to 20% of the total tax revenue, which became the key to the Southern Song Dynasty's resistance against the Mongol Empire with only a small territory.

So, was there a huge gap in navigation technology between the Song Dynasty of today and the Song Dynasty more than a hundred years later? Obviously not.

"By sea? Water transport is indeed convenient, but can the sea reach the far west?"

As Sichuan natives living along the Yangtze River, almost everyone has a personal understanding of how much of an advantage water transport has over land transport in terms of speed, cost, and cargo volume.

Therefore, although they had never seen the sea, they were able to understand the importance of water transport to trade.

“Yes,” Lu Beigu casually offered, “I read in ancient texts that the Tang people traveled by sea, passing through Champa and Zhenla, transiting through Lion Country, and could reach South India. From South India, they could travel west to Arabia.” Su Zhe’s voice held a hint of hesitation: “But the sea route is long and arduous, and hurricanes are unpredictable.”

"What's more terrifying than a hurricane is stagnation."

Lu Beigu said, "If the Southern Dynasty had more talents like Zong Que, who were willing to 'ride the wind and break through ten thousand miles of waves,' how could it have ended up like that? We scholars should ride the wind and break through the waves on the road of life; and in terms of the great cause of the country, we should look to the four seas. If the court could expand the sea frontier as the Han and Tang dynasties expanded the land frontier, establish more Maritime Trade Offices, and encourage merchant ships to go to sea, why would we not be able to exchange silk and porcelain for money and food? Why should we be confined to the fields and compete with the people for profit?"

"Brother Lu is absolutely right!"

Huang Jingji slammed his left fist into his right palm and said, "It's a pity that most of those in the court are just empty shells who hold positions without doing any work!"

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere instantly became more lively.

Exactly! How can we govern the Song Dynasty well when we're with this bunch of insects?

Yang Yaozi also slammed his fist on the table in anger, but fortunately there were no teacups on the desk behind him.

"Those ministers, all they know how to do is spend their days writing memorials or fighting for power and profit. Who is truly willing to serve the country and its people?"

Lu Guangyu sighed and shook his head, saying, "My father is the head of the household in the town, collecting taxes every year. He watches helplessly as the laws of the imperial court are distorted beyond recognition when they reach the local level!"

"That's not all?" Cheng Jianyong, from an official family, had seen much more. He sneered, "The factional strife in the court is fierce these days. Anyone who tries to make a move is attacked by the conservatives and made to move an inch. With such corruption, what hope is there for the country?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent for a moment.

As the sun sets outside the window, the swaying bamboo shadows are cast onto the desk, appearing as if they were heavy shackles.

Suddenly, Lu Beigu raised his head, his eyes burning: "In that case, we should study even harder, pass the imperial examination as soon as possible, and become officials in the court!"

"Exactly this!"

Although Su Zhe was a calm and composed man, he couldn't help but clench his fists in this situation: "If even we scholars are timid and hesitant to act, then who in the world can change the status quo?"

“Brother Lu and Ziyou are right!” Yang Yaozi’s eyes also lit up with fighting spirit. “If I can pass the imperial examination, I will definitely submit a memorial to request the opening of maritime trade, so that the merchant ships of the Great Song Dynasty can sail all over the world!”

These young people were having a heated discussion about the various problems plaguing the Song Dynasty in this not-so-spacious schoolhouse.

They remained completely unaware until it got dark outside.

[There will be a third chapter update, as well as a 3300-word bonus chapter for those who vote for monthly tickets (click on the bonus chapter page and vote for a monthly ticket to unlock it)]

(End of this chapter)