Chapter 69

It's a good opportunity, but is the opportunity that Wang Ju mentioned even better? As long as the court is willing, sending twenty daredevils and ten thousand strings of cash could make it happen.

However, Wang Ju heard no news at all.

It's not entirely Ouzhen's fault. If it were true, after Miliangzuo was eliminated, the Song Dynasty would need a series of follow-up measures to maximize the benefits, so ministers would have to be convened for discussion. However...

Ouzhen was as troubled as ever.

This is a vivid example.

Therefore, if Cheng Kan dared to tell Wang Ju the truth, Wang Ju would dare to speak the truth to him. After all, he is now a Song person and wants the Song Dynasty to prosper.

As long as the truth is revealed, Cheng Kan will make a choice, not alarming the court, acting alone, just like Zhong Shiheng did. And if there are no unexpected events, Ouzhen will soon pass away, and the Song Dynasty will be in a period of turmoil, so it won't agree.

Occupying Hengshan is not advisable, even though it might be the best strategy. But it requires substantial support from the Song Dynasty in terms of supplies and troops, which the forces of Fuyan Road cannot achieve, and it could lead to a rout.

Relocating the various tribes is also not feasible. Once they are accommodated, it would involve tens of thousands of people, and Fuyan Road cannot settle them. They would have to be resettled elsewhere, which would require reporting to the court.

But there is another strategy: pretend to offer some support, let the Qinni Huai side attack Lingxia, and accommodate some of their families. The result will be that the Qinni Huai side will surely fail.

However, this leaves room for maneuver, dealing a heavy blow to the unstable Li Liangzuo regime, causing a split among the Hengshan tribes, and the forces of Fuyan Road are sufficient.

It would be a great achievement, no less significant than the great achievement of Zhong Shiheng's counterintelligence!

But Cheng Kan did not say, so Wang Ju had to leave.

Subsequently, Cheng Kan reported to the court and mentioned the matter of the horses. Regardless of his opinion of Wang Ju, Cheng Kan believed these two suggestions were feasible.

Emperor Zhenzong quickly received his memorial, which was a secret submission. He also learned from his previous mistakes and only summoned a few high-ranking officials to discuss it.

Some agreed, some opposed, and the debate began again.

But it was very secret, unknown to the outside world. Strangely, such a secret message was known by the Western Xia within two months of Cheng Kan's submission.

Li Liangzuo was terrified and immediately sent envoys to confer titles on the Qinni Huai side and transported a large sum of money to win over the chieftains of the Hengshan tribes.

By April, the Hengshan tribes had quickly stabilized, and no one had any intention of rebellion.

Cheng Kan was stunned. There was a harvest. Under Cheng Kan's operations, they obtained over two thousand horses from Hengshan. If the information had not been leaked, and Cheng Kan had continued to transport grain to Hengshan, he might have obtained tens of thousands of fine horses in a year.

Cheng Kan's troubles were not over.

This matter was also known by Sima Guang, who was a pro-peace faction member and thus harbored hatred towards Cheng Kan.

Cheng Kan's three-year term was up, and he had done well in Yanzhou. The court, considering no one could replace him, appointed him as the military governor of Wuan and extended his term for another three years. So he continued to stay.

But Sima Guang submitted two memorials: "Cheng Kan has no talent or skill... Moreover, he is now old and sick, extremely incompetent, and merely seeks to survive in Fuyan, passing the days, despised by officials and soldiers, and looked down upon by the barbarians..."

"Cheng Kan's reappointment as a military governor does not meet public expectations. I beg to rescind the previous order... He is old and weak, afraid of being pointed at, and only seeks to appease, pleasing the small people..."

This was harsher than scolding, and Cheng Kan almost fainted. "Sima Guang, what have I ever done to you?"

No one listened to him. When Emperor Shenzong ascended the throne, Sima Guang submitted another memorial, bringing up the Qinni Huai incident: "I have heard from border officials that Li Liangzuo's general, Qinni Huai, wanted to attack Liangzuo with the Hengshan forces and submit to us. The court agreed to accept them. The proposers only spoke of the benefits, not the harms..."

The truth was revealed; it turned out Sima Guang hated Cheng Kan because of the Qinni Huai incident.

Emperor Shenzong had just ascended the throne and was unaware of this secret matter. He was puzzled and asked what Qinni Huai was, and ordered an investigation.

The investigation quickly revealed that if no one had leaked the information, the Western Xia would not have reacted so quickly. The speed of the leak was unimaginable, almost as if they received the news and immediately sent a fast horse to inform the Western Xia.

As an emperor with great ambition, Emperor Shenzong's regret was understandable. But he was not stupid and immediately thought of who had leaked the information to the Western Xia, and then recalled Sima Guang's unusual behavior during that period.

He was furious and asked Wen Yanbo, "How did Sima Guang know about Qinni Huai?"

This was a confidential memorial, and only a few prime ministers had discussed it with Emperor Zhenzong. Sima Guang's position at the time was only the head of the Censorate, and he was not involved. So his memorial was extremely strange.

Wen Yanbo replied, "I was mourning my mother at home and did not know about this matter."

Emperor Shenzong then summoned Sima Guang. Instead of answering, Sima Guang accused, "Li Liangzuo is a vassal who pays tribute; it is improper to entice his rebels to cause border troubles."

A long lecture left Emperor Shenzong dazed, forgetting why he had summoned him. He could only say, "That's just a rumor."

Sima Guang pressed on, "People say Yang Ding, Gao Zunyu, Xue Xiang, and Wang Zhong are the strategists."

He then criticized these people, saying how bad they were. But what did Qinni Huai's rebellion have to do with them? Since Cheng Kan was dead, pursuing him was useless, so he decided to get rid of a few radical ministers and generals.

...

"The horse market has finally been suspended," Zhu Huan said.

"That's a good thing," Wang Ju said. He did not know the behind-the-scenes story and truly believed Cheng Kan was cooperating with Ouyang Xiu to establish a horse supervisor in Hedong.

Wang Ju was not very supportive of the Song Dynasty's horse breeding, especially by the government.

As long as the government was breeding horses, the more they bred, the more they lost. It would be better to have Zhu Huan bring in a few hundred fine horses each year. Because the number was small, there was no horse supervisor in Yanzhou, so Cheng Kan quickly handed them over to the army, which had some effect.

"Cheng Gong had good intentions," Zhu Huan added. "I heard the court asked Cheng Kan to stay in Yanzhou for another term, which is a blessing for Yanzhou."

Cheng Kan had him lead the horse market, and Zhu Huan feared something might go wrong. When nothing did, he thought about the Song Dynasty's horse shortage and approved of Cheng Kan's actions.

Wang Ju remained silent.

In his heart, the Song Dynasty could do without officials like Ouyang Xiu, Han Qi, and Shi Jie, but it could not do without officials like Cheng Kan, who might be unknown in later generations. They might have many flaws, but they were practical and did not talk much.

Thinking of the Tang Dynasty's Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, and the great chancellor Li Hang who led the peak of the Song Dynasty during the Xianping era, no one knew what they said or even what they did.

There were also the four virtuous chancellors during Empress Liu's regency: Wang Zeng, Li Di, Zhang Zhizhao, and Du Yan.

Even Lu Yijian was not a big talker, only drawing attention due to Fan Zhongyan and Kong Daofu's constant attacks.

Cheng Kan and Wang Ju did not get along, but Cheng Kan, during his term in Yanzhou, built roads, fortified the city, comforted the people, and even petitioned the court to promote capable tribal generals, doing a good job.

Zhu Huan then said, "Look, this is the best paper."

Wang Ju's idea was bamboo paper.

The Song Dynasty used various materials for papermaking, including wisteria, hemp, diseased cocoons, tree bark, and straw, even water moss. But most used ancient wisteria and hemp, or green sandalwood bark and paper mulberry bark. Hemp had low yields, and ancient wisteria was limited, so the paper was expensive and thick, thick enough to be used as clothing or armor.

Bamboo paper began to appear in Jiangnan and Zhejiang, but it was not white enough and lacked resilience. "If used for secret letters, no one would dare to open them, as they would tear easily and not stick." Cai Xiang's officials once used this crude bamboo paper for official documents, resulting in "cases being scattered before they were resolved," so it was banned. However, the technology improved, and by the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, bamboo paper could be used.

Wang Ju knew this history. In practice, it only required three improvements: 1) changing raw materials to processed materials, repeatedly steaming and washing the bamboo to increase fiber purity; 2) using natural bleaching methods, exposing the processed materials to the sun and rain to make fine white bamboo pulp; 3) increasing the intensity of pounding.

Raw materials could also be used, though the color would be yellow, suitable for printing paper, but an additional process was needed: setting up a treading trough and repeatedly treading the material to separate the fibers, increasing resilience and reducing costs compared to processed paper.

Wang Ju had the Zhu, Zhao, and Li families go to Hangzhou to develop these two types of bamboo paper.

However, there were many specific techniques, as described in "Tiangong Kaiwu," with seventy-two processes.

Therefore, Wang Ju chose Fuyang, not only because Fuyang and Jiajiang had good bamboo paper in later generations, but also because of its developed transportation and cultural foundation. The paper industry was also well-developed, producing many famous papers from Yuezhou to Hangzhou, with some bamboo paper techniques already established.

The families followed Wang Ju's advice, immediately sending people to Hangzhou to get new bamboo, bought a bamboo mountain by the Qiantang River, and hired over a dozen paper craftsmen at high salaries. The contract included a hefty penalty clause, ensuring the craftsmen could not leak the technology, or they would have to pay the workshop ten thousand strings of cash.

The magistrate of Fuyang was amused and puzzled.

Bamboo paper, what a good thing, so he agreed.

Wang Ju thought of this bamboo paper because he was concerned about his financial situation. Salt was not a long-term solution, and who knew when he would pass the imperial exams. Even if he did, if his rank was low, he would have to wait for promotion.

Even if he became a magistrate like Zhang Zai, his expenses would be manageable. But becoming a magistrate was not easy. Either be the top scholar... which was a sweat-inducing thought.

Moreover, the appearance of bamboo paper would help scholars.

In his heart, even if he became an official, he needed resources. These merchants, if tied to his cause, would also be a resource, though that was still distant.

Wang Ju tried it, looked at the techniques Zhu Huan brought, thought for a long time, and pointed out several improvements for the next year.

It could be used, but it had not yet reached Wang Ju's goal.

No rush, Wang Ju had said in the first month that it might take until next year, and since it had already appeared, everyone could wait.

Zhu Huan then asked, "Has Zhang Gong finished that book?"

"I'll go and ask," but when Wang Ju went to Zhang Zai's house, he brought something else.

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