Chapter 292: Chapter 292

"Zihou indeed possesses remarkable insight!"

An Ning did not deny it, casually placing a piece on the chessboard:

"Since before Western Xia even established its dynasty, conflicts with our court have been frequent, with the fundamental contradiction lying in this single character—'salt'."

What is one of Western Xia's major sources of economic income?

The answer is naturally salt—salt that is more than ten times cheaper than that in the Northern Song Dynasty.

The distinctive green-white salt specialty of Western Xia.

Since the founding of our dynasty, the official monopoly system for salt and iron has been implemented, and monopolies often mean prices skyrocketing wildly, especially when the court's finances are strained.

During the middle and late periods of the two Song dynasties, the absurdities arising from salt alone were so extreme that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say exploitation was carved into their very bones, even once provoking widespread public resentment in the newly acquired six prefectures of Yan and Yun.

Of course, the present situation isn't much better.

This places it among the highest priced in all historical dynasties.

Yet how much does the court pay salt households for the salt?

The answer is less than four wen.

The price difference during this process is dozens of times over. This is the real reason why illegal salt trafficking persists despite repeated bans.

At such times, Western Xia's cheaper green-white salt naturally becomes the primary choice for border region commoners, used to exchange for large quantities of daily necessities.

The territories of the Western Xia Tangut people are mostly desert, resources can truly be described as scarce, and food is particularly scarce. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that salt constitutes the economic lifeline of the Western Xia people.

"Indeed!" Across from her, Zhang Dun nodded, his black piece placed with equal force:

"Once the price advantage is lost, whether openly or secretly, this economic artery will completely disappear, and then an inevitable hard battle will ensue."

"I imagine His Majesty is already prepared."

An Ning raised her brow slightly, not denying it.

As she placed her final white piece, this long-drawn-out chess game finally concluded. It ended with An Ning winning by two pieces.

"It seems Minister Zhang's skills have grown somewhat rusty lately!"

In response, the man named Zhang let out a rather roguish light snort:

"Whether rusty or not, Your Majesty will know if you try a few more times!"

With An Ning's technical support, plus the exceptionally "coordinated" cooperation of two ministers, salt prices across various regions began to drop significantly. Of course, considerable interests were involved during this process.

If she remembered correctly, this man had long been dissatisfied with the harsh exploitation of commoners in salt administration across various regions.

Now with the opportunity, he was naturally going to strive to shine and generate heat. Most importantly, this Lord Bao was not one to show any mercy.

"Indeed, these two are truly a match made in heaven!"

Reading the reports coming in from various regions, An Ning couldn't help but click her tongue lightly.

Simultaneously, at the Yangzhou Prefectural Office

Upon receiving the news from the court, two middle-aged scholars who had been arguing back and forth for most of the morning, now red-faced and thick-necked with anger, couldn't help but glance at each other, then simultaneously turned their heads away the next second.

After a moment, a middle-aged scholar wearing a camel-brown crane cloak finally spoke with some surprise:

"Such swift action—it seems the official was already prepared!"

Taking a glance at the official document, Sima Guang beside him remained noncommittal, simply sipping his clear tea, clearly not very surprised by this.

However, his tone couldn't help carrying some complexity:

"Brother Wang, I'm afraid you've been in remote areas too long these years, becoming rather ill-informed. You should know our official never acts without preparation."

Sima Guang had no doubt that, given the effectiveness of that intelligence network, the situation here had probably been mostly figured out long before.

And the two of them were merely blades in this person's hands, especially himself.

Recalling his intermittently falling hair over these years, after a moment of silence, looking at the man before him, Sima Guang's lips curled with slight mockery:

"Brother Wang is somewhat too naive. You must understand that a good policy only truly counts when it can be fully implemented; otherwise, it's just exhausting the people and draining resources. No matter how long you work at it, it'll only end in a mess!"

Before the other could refute, Sima Guang added with another snort:

"Has Brother Wang not noticed that since the official took the throne, the edicts issued have mostly been prohibitions rather than initiatives? Even earlier miscellaneous taxes were completely cut off, even at the cost of reducing some revenue.

All this is to prevent lower-level officials from having any opportunity to invent clever names and extort the common people."

"Whenever complex government orders are involved, personnel arrangements are already properly in place from the very beginning of implementation."

At noon, the yamen clerks gradually left one after another. Only the two men remained sitting opposite each other in the somewhat empty room.

After a long silence, Wang Jiefu finally spoke:

"Looking throughout historical records, reforms have always been difficult, yet both you and I know, Brother Sima, that those who remain unchanging are bound to perish.

Throughout history, without a single exception!"

Shattering a basin of already divided pastries is bound to affect the interests of most people involved. The struggles among various interests inherently make turbulence unavoidable.

Wang Anshi was not the aloof, self-righteous person ordinary people described.

He knew that for the official to achieve this, besides possessing superb skill and being adept at managing people, the most important point was:

What the official implemented inherently expanded or even created new resources and interests. Only thus could the current stability be achieved.

One could say that if the court's finances weren't so ample today, the difficulty of what they must do now would likely be several times higher.

Across from him, Sima Guang snorted with a laugh:

"If we can't even guarantee the current livelihood of the common people, may I ask how Brother Jiefu can speak of the future, let alone what lies beyond..."

The paths trodden by predecessors may not be easy, but at least they won't lead people to dead ends or utter ruin in the short term...

Several months later, with the triple approach of salt production technology, transportation, and pricing, salt prices across various regions quickly dropped.

With salt prices lowered, the undoubtedly happiest were the common people everywhere. With prices nearly ten times cheaper, fearing this might only be temporary benefit, they continuously praised the official's benevolence while a wave of salt hoarding emerged among the populace.

However, where some rejoice, others inevitably grieve.

Apart from the various illegal salt traffickers who had been operating across regions earlier, as An Ning predicted, the most devastated were undoubtedly the various tribes of Western Xia.

Without the price advantage, which choice merchants and commoners everywhere would make between official salt and illegal salt was naturally no surprise.

The Western Xia people soon discovered that after a whole winter passed, no matter how much they lowered prices, the salt they depended on for survival could no longer be exchanged for even the slightest essential supplies.

Amid hunger and cold, a new round of war was about to break out.

Simultaneously, at the Great Song military camp

Piles of brand-new cotton clothes were stacked like small hills everywhere. Not far away, from steaming iron pots came the tantalizing aroma of meat from time to time.

Looking at the soldiers who had almost completely transformed over just a few years, and recalling his own previous days of constant anxiety, the leading General Di felt a surge of warmth in his eyes. Instantly, he heavily smashed his wine bowl to the ground:

"Brothers, I won't say much else. Just think about what treatment we received before, and what treatment we have now!

All this is the grace of our current official.

And brothers, before departure, the official gave his golden word: for this war, anyone severely wounded beyond treatment, the disabled returning home can receive forty strings of cash. If unfortunately deceased, this money will be given to their parents, wives, and children."

As his words fell, the soldiers below instantly erupted in uproar.

After a long while, one soldier finally spoke:

"Gen... General, is this true?"

"Of course it's true!" Di Qing declared without hesitation in a loud voice:

"If you can't trust others, since the official has spoken, how could it be false!"

That's right, the official's generosity is famously known.

At this moment, the blood in everyone's veins truly heated up.