Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 2: Wearing the royal robe and manipulating the market
This magistrate, who had just been transferred from Qinfeng Road in the northwest, had a dark face with many wrinkles on his face. He did not look like a scholar, but more like an old farmer.

But when his sharp eyes swept over everyone, the scene suddenly became so tense that one could smell a pin drop.

County schools are different from state schools. In the Renzong Dynasty, state schools had a special "professor" as the official in charge of the state school, while the official in charge of the county school was concurrently the local county magistrate.

The county magistrate has the power to review their promotion from county school to state school!
Therefore, for these county school students, this last policy essay test before the county examination is extremely important, and it is directly related to whether they can leave a good impression on the newly appointed county magistrate.

Li Pan spoke, his voice a little hoarse, like the rough sand and stones blown by the wind in the northwest.

"In the fifth year of the Jingyou reign, Li Yuanhao usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Our dynasty launched an attack on the Xia. Although peace has been agreed upon, the threat to the northwest remains. Students should express their opinions on the topic of 'Strategies for Resisting the Xia.'"

As soon as Magistrate Li finished speaking, there were gasps in the examination room.

Although the Song-Xia War also took place during the reign of Emperor Renzong, for these scholars in Shu, the distance between them was too far, both in time and space.

The Song-Xia War lasted for more than five years, from the outbreak of the war in the second year of Baoyuan to the conclusion of the "Qingli Peace Agreement" in the fourth year of Qingli. However, it has been twelve years since the "Qingli Peace Agreement"!

Separated by Guanzhong and Hanzhong, the country of "Xia" was too unfamiliar to these scholars from Shu. It was so unfamiliar that they didn't even have a vague impression of it, let alone write a policy paper on this topic.

Whether it is the Song Dynasty or Shu, they have enjoyed peace for a long time now, and few people talk about war. Therefore, when it comes to the topic of policy essays, there has never been an option called "Strategy to Resist Xia".

——In other words, this question is seriously beyond the scope!
Lu Beigu glanced and saw that the two scholars who had just supported him were now pale. One of them even knocked over his inkstone, and ink spilled on the hem of his blue shirt, making a messy black color.

"quiet!"

The principal shouted, and the examination room returned to silence, with only the rustling of papers being heard.

At this moment, no matter how these scholars cursed in their hearts, they had to write a policy paper and hand it in.

Lu Beigu lowered his eyes and ground ink, and historical materials about the Northern Song Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty flowed through his mind like a kaleidoscope.

In the First Song-Xia War, the three large-scale battles of Sanchuankou, Haoshuichuan and Dingchuanzhai all ended in defeat for the Northern Song Dynasty. Although Western Xia has temporarily surrendered and the two countries are in a period of peace, its wolfish ambitions have never been eliminated.

Four more Song-Xia wars broke out successively, among which the most famous was Song Shenzong's five-way attack on Xia. Because there is so much information about the Song-Xia wars, the research results of modern historians are also numerous.

Lu Beigu dipped the brush in ink and pondered for a moment, then several different ideas emerged.

However, compared to those clichés, he would rather write something that truly transcends the insights of this era.

At this moment, he was thinking about something, his wrist hovering above the inkstone, pushing and pulling the ink block on the inkstone. This action made the students next to him look at him in surprise. Ordinary people grind ink by drawing circles back and forth, how could they push and pull it like this?
Lu Beigu seemed unaware of this and picked up his pen after making a draft in his mind.

He can slowly integrate these unnatural little details into his memory and correct them. What is important at the moment is to pay attention to "taboos" and avoid some mistakes that modern people make subconsciously. When writing policy essays, don't use the terms "Northern Song Dynasty" or "Western Xia Dynasty".

At this time, other scholars in the examination room also started writing one after another.

County Magistrate Li Pan paced among them, stopping to watch from time to time, but his brows became more and more furrowed.

The vast majority of scholars had no idea where the Xia Kingdom was geographically located. The few who had some idea about the Xia Kingdom wrote essays that looked passionate but were actually nonsense.

For example, this guy named He Cong.

"The Xia are barbarians in the western frontier. We should follow the example of Emperor Wu of Han and send out a large army to plunder the land and destroy the people."

——Typical dandy talker.

The idea of ​​sweeping the land with a massive army might sound impressive, and it's not unheard of. Emperor Xingzong of Liao personally led a 100,000-man army across the Yellow River, advancing 400 miles to attack the Xia army. The result? The Xia army skillfully fortified their defenses, cutting off the Liao army's supply lines. In the final battle, the Liao army was routed, and Emperor Xingzong barely escaped with his life.

Li Pan's expression grew increasingly gloomy until he walked up to the young man with wet clothes and took a look at the beginning.

"Xia's territory extends south to the Hehuang River, north to the Great Desert, west to the Guasha River, and east to the Quye River."

"Having the bounty of the Hetao region and the dangers of the Hengshan Mountains, and with a hundred thousand soldiers under his command, one can sit back and watch, and be called a great nation a thousand miles across."

Li Pan's expression eased after reading just two sentences. This young man had a correct understanding of the terrain, military strength, and area of ​​Xia State.

Of course, in Li Pan's view, this level is just "not bad".

Next, if he could write some arguments like Fan Wenzheng's "Gradual City Building", Li Pan, who was familiar with the affairs of the northwest border, would give this young man a grade of B.

As Li Pan continued to read, his pupils suddenly shrank!
The content of the entire policy paper began to turn in a direction he had never seen before!
"However, a closer look at the politics of the Xia barbarians reveals that they are based on commerce as their core and armor as their exterior and interior. They practice the realities of commerce while cultivating the power of cavalry and archery. This is what is called 'wearing the royal robe while controlling market profits, holding weapons while calculating every penny.'"

"In the past, when Guan Zhong governed Qi, he used the strategy of light and heavy to besiege Mount Heng; when Fan Li attacked Wu, he used Ji Ran's strategy to weaken the enemy."

"The Xia invaders are also planning to monopolize the Silk Road, using the export of camels and horses to strengthen their military resources, and flaunting their military prowess to gain trade."

"They set up a market in Yanzhou, exchanging salt for rice and millet; and set up a trade market on the western border, exchanging horses for ironware."

"The caravans were constantly moving, and the soldiers were hiding among them. It was like a gadfly sucking your blood. You don't feel any pain at first, but then your body becomes weak, and the gadfly then becomes stronger. When the poison takes effect, it's incurable and incurable."

In Lu Beigu's opinion, Western Xia has never been a normal country. Its essence is a tribal alliance that controls trade routes by force!

As for the special sample of Western Xia, analyzing its geopolitical relations from an economic perspective can be said to be a completely different approach in this era!

This novel yet practical argument attracted Li Pan's attention at first glance!
After all, when Li Pan was serving on the front line of Qinfeng Road, he had also thought about why the "gradual city building" strategy currently implemented by the Song Dynasty could only suppress the expansion of Western Xia, but could not truly subdue Western Xia, let alone completely resist the invasion of Western Xia.

At that time, he concluded that the strategy of "gradual city building" was too heavy a burden on the Song Dynasty's finances, and the Song Dynasty could not afford to continuously build forts and station soldiers. There is a reason for this. Building a city is not something that can be done by simply drawing it on a map. Instead, the location needs to be selected based on factors such as water sources and terrain, and it is necessary to ensure that the troops in the city can withstand the siege of tens of thousands of Xia troops.

In other words, because the Song army lacked cavalry and had too few troops capable of field combat, it had to make up for quality with quantity and fortifications. But on the other hand, the more forts and garrisons there were on the northwest front, the greater the financial pressure. Therefore, this strategy could not achieve the goal of building forts all the way to the Helan Mountains, and the relationship between the Song and Xia dynasties became deadlocked.

This young man's strategy proposed a completely new strategic concept that was completely different from the "gradual city building" strategy!

At this time, Li Pan already had a serious attitude, staring intently at Lu Beigu who was constantly writing.

He was eager to see what kind of strategy to resist the summer this unique essay could propose.

------

① Hehuang refers to the general term for the two valleys formed by the impact of the Huangshui River and the Yellow River. In the book, it was occupied by the pro-Song Qingtang Tubo leader Zuosiluo, who was an important ally of the Northern Song Dynasty against the Western Xia.

②Guasha refers to Guazhou and Shazhou, which were originally occupied by the Guiyi Army. At the time of the book, the dominant force in the local area was the Uighurs. Although they submitted to the Western Xia, there was still a gap between the two sides.

③ The art of light and heavy trapped Hengshan. This refers to the fact that Duke Huan of Qi wanted to conquer Hengshan during the Spring and Autumn Period. However, this country was good at forging weapons and was difficult to conquer. Guan Zhong, adhering to his economic thought of "the art of light and heavy", raised the price of Hengshan's weapons, causing other countries to scramble for them. As a result, a large number of Hengshan people gave up farming and engaged in forging. Later, in the autumn, he blocked the trade routes and raised the price of grain, forcing Hengshan to become dependent on Qi.

④ Ji Ran’s strategies. According to "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Merchants", Fan Li once worshipped Ji Ran as his teacher. Ji Ran taught Fan Li seven strategies, including "valuing circulation", "advocating equality", and "avoiding stagnation". Fan Li used them to make the Kingdom of Yue rich and strong.

(End of this chapter)