Chapter 93

Cheng Kan did not mention his name, but the clerk understood. Who else could capture Cheng Kan's attention?

He walked to Wang Ju's side and whispered, "Mr. Cheng is asking why you haven't started writing yet?"

Wang Ju also replied in a low voice, "One must plan before taking action. I need to clear my thoughts before I can start writing. Besides, there's plenty of time."

The clerk returned and reported back in a low voice. Wang Ju didn't say much, just that there was plenty of time, which explained everything. Cheng Kan remained silent.

Wang Ju was still thinking.

Both the policy and the argument are essays, but they have different focuses. The argument focuses on right and wrong, while the policy focuses on solutions.

But the common point is that there must be a clear viewpoint, and this viewpoint should not be one that Cheng Kan would dislike...

He started thinking about the first policy, the horse policy.

His viewpoint was to immediately transfer horses to the military and establish a powerful cavalry, which was also a strategy to address the problems in the horse policy.

This was his thesis, but it needed supporting arguments.

First, he had to explain the importance of cavalry. In the Song Dynasty, it was impossible to have a purely cavalry force, but having a moderate cavalry was still very important. For example, in Cui Yanjin's battle at Mancheng, Li Jilong's battle at Tanghe, and the battle at Xuhe, all had a powerful cavalry. In the battle against the Lurou army by Li Jixuan, Wei Neng, Yang Si, Yang Yanzhao, Tian Min, and Qin Han, almost all of them used cavalry. In the two battles at Tumaochuan, the Song army won with great glory, but if there had been a powerful cavalry to support them, Li Yuanhao would have been lucky to take half of his men back. But there wasn't, so they couldn't expand their victory.

Secondly, there was defense. Although the Song Dynasty built many fortresses along the border, which played a certain defensive role, they had many drawbacks. First, building a fortress required troops to guard it, and each fortress added hundreds or thousands of soldiers, wasting a lot of national resources.

But in practice, this passive defense often led to the Western Xia gathering a large army to attack a single fortress. If troops were sent to rescue, the Song Dynasty, with over 90% of its troops being infantry, would be at a disadvantage due to the speed advantage of the Western Xia, who could besiege and attack the reinforcements. If no rescue was sent, the fortress would certainly be taken. But if the Song Dynasty had 40,000 to 50,000 powerful cavalry on the border, they could link the fortresses together, and then the wealth and large population of the Song Dynasty could play to their advantage. Could the Western Xia afford such a prolonged conflict?

However, a powerful cavalry is not built in a day. Qualified cavalrymen spend all their time on horseback, which results in bowed legs.

This was his argument.

Transferring horses to the military to form a cavalry was also the main goal of the court's horse policy, and it reduced the channels for corruption by officials.

But writing it this way was not enough.

Horses are strategic resources. If the court did not have a horse supervisor and relied solely on buying horses to form a cavalry, it would be like a product where the core technology is in someone else's hands, making them vulnerable to control.

Horses also needed to be raised.

But how should they be raised? It definitely couldn't be done the way it was now. The best method would be to have the people raise them, but not in the way Wang Anshi did. For example, in the Wei Qin region and the Lan Shi region, the court could provide support, offering some pastures and policy and economic assistance to the people, allowing them to make a living by raising horses, and then the court could buy them. If the horses were raised well, the income would be high; if not, they would be poor. Their fate would be closely tied to their own efforts, and these herders would work diligently.

There might still be some problems, but the court could set up a pilot program, one with an official horse supervisor and one with the people raising the horses, comparing the quality of the horses and the costs. But there were two conditions: first, strictly investigating officials who extorted the herders, and second, preventing officials from accepting bribes from the herders to buy inferior horses as good ones, harming the state.

This method might still have some shortcomings, but it was flexible and at least better than the previous horse policies of the Song Dynasty.

But he couldn't write it this way; he needed to refine the language and add some quotes from sages and historical anecdotes.

Then a good policy would be complete.

Wang Ju began to refine the language in his mind.

Cheng Kan was getting anxious behind the curtain, and only then did Wang Ju start writing.

Once he started, he didn't stop.

With a flurry of brushstrokes, a 600-character horse policy appeared on the paper.

He then began to think about the second policy.

The invasion of Quye River and Tumen by Miezhao Epon could not be simply about fighting or not fighting.

Not fighting would be extremely humiliating, but fighting could easily turn into a disaster like the Huridui battle, where Guo En suffered a major defeat.

But not fighting was not an option. It wasn't as if the country didn't spend money just because the two countries were at peace. Look at Shaanxi, where over 300 camps of imperial troops were stationed, costing a fortune each year.

Fighting was necessary, but it couldn't be done blindly.

The military discipline was too poor and needed to be reformed. Without discipline, the army couldn't win.

The combat capability was too weak and needed to be strengthened.

Then... a shallow attack!

This tactic was not invented by Zhang Jie; the first to propose it was Fan Zhongyan. However, he didn't think it through clearly, and with the peace between the Song and the Western Xia, the court did not adopt this strategy. It was only after Zhang Jie learned from the defeat in the Xining campaign against the Western Xia that he perfected it.

What is a shallow attack? First, there must be a disciplined and powerful army. Second, a capable reconnaissance force must be organized to quickly obtain intelligence from the enemy.

Then, when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we advance. When the enemy comes, our army quickly retreats to the fortresses for defense. When the enemy leaves, our army enters the enemy's territory to sweep and gradually erode Hengshan. In this process, we must differentiate and win over tribes that are friendly to the Song Dynasty while suppressing those that are hostile.

This method, though slow, is low-risk and forces the Western Xia to compete in a war of attrition. Can the Western Xia afford it?

As long as this strategy is consistently implemented, it won't take decades for the Western Xia to fall into chaos due to continuous warfare and poverty among its people.

This was the method to deal with the Western Xia's invasion of Quye River.

And this cautious strategy would please Cheng Kan.

With his thoughts clear, he refined the language in his mind again.

There was plenty of time, a whole day, so there was no need to rush.

It wasn't until the soldiers brought lunch that Wang Ju finished his second policy. Li Wan yuan, standing nearby, asked, "Brother-in-law, how is it?"

The supervising clerk walked over and said, "No talking."

But he recognized Li Wan yuan, so his tone wasn't harsh.

Li Wan yuan stuck out his tongue.

Wang Ju didn't speak but nodded and gave a questioning look, meaning, "How about you?"

Li Wan yuan shook his head vigorously.

After lunch, Wang Ju began to think about the third policy. At this point, some students couldn't bear it anymore and started to submit their papers, possibly thinking they could only write this much.

Wang Ju's attitude towards submitting papers was the same as Zhang Zai's: submitting early was honorable, or the examiner might give extra points.

He continued to think about the third policy.

But Wang Ju suspected that Cheng Kan was flattering Emperor Zhaosu, who almost managed to remain silent for three years, only to pass away.

Of course, this couldn't be written.

After thinking for a while, he quickly organized his thoughts.

First, the three years of silence was not a negative example; Emperor Shang Gaozong was filial.

This could be the basis for his argument. Filial piety is the foremost virtue. If one is not filial to their parents, how can they be loyal to their ruler and love the people? Even as a ruler, one must be filial to set an example for the people. If the ruler is not filial, the people will follow, leading to the collapse of ethics and the decline of the state, putting the country in danger.

It might sound a bit preachy, but everyone accepted this at the time. To achieve high scores, he had to write it.

But the dead are gone, and the living must continue. As ordinary people, besides being filial to the dead, they must also take responsibility for the living, educate their children, be kind to their siblings, and be filial to their living elders. As officials, they must assist the ruler and govern the people. As rulers, they must strengthen the country and ensure the people live in peace and prosperity. Therefore, being filial is important, but so are the responsibilities of the living.

Three years of silence is a common practice, but it cannot last forever.

But writing it this way would make it an argument rather than a policy.

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