Chapter 7: The Loyal Follower of the Great Song Dynasty Football King

Good grief!

Is the Great Song Dynasty wealthy? Yes, it is! It is overflowing with riches! Is the Great Song Dynasty poor? Yes, it is! It is so poor that it is rattling with emptiness!

The wealth refers to the officials and the aristocracy. The poverty refers to the imperial court and the common people.

People from the 21st century always mention the developed commerce of the Song Dynasty whenever they speak of it. But after Zhao Ning examined these fiscal records, he realized that no matter how developed the commerce might be, it could never keep up with this kind of spending!

Good heavens, the official salaries were astronomical. The annual expenditure on officials was simply too high! And the annual military expenditure—it could no longer be described as a stream; it was a waterfall!

It is no wonder that toward the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Cai Jing had to play the game of minting massive coins to fleece the sheep; the expenses were terrifying. Behind the facade of prosperity, the national fiscal crisis was becoming increasingly severe.

If the military expenditure was so high, why was the military so weak? It seems the officials of the Great Song were quite ruthless when it came to drinking the soldiers' blood!

So, the question arises: how much money is actually left now?

Five hundred thousand strings of cash (one string is approximately equal to one tael; based on the grain prices of the Song Dynasty, one string is worth about 500 yuan). This figure is not even enough to pay the officials' salaries, let alone the military expenses.

In other words, the mess that Zhao Ning has inherited is not just a case of enemies at the gates; the imperial treasury is in deep deficit. In fact, the finances at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty had been in deficit for a long time due to many reasons, but that is a story for another day.

Without money, how the hell is one supposed to fight a war?

The Great Song Dynasty operates under the Two-Tax Law, meaning the summer and autumn taxes. This year's autumn tax has not yet been collected. Another part of the imperial income comes from state monopolies. However, due to the ongoing war and the fact that the capital, Tokyo, is under siege, these sources are essentially paralyzed.

Zhao Ning suddenly felt as though a mountain had crushed down upon him. The situation he faces is by no means as simple as just having formidable foreign enemies. The internal crises are even worse!

The Great Song Dynasty relies on the heavy taxes of its common people to support the bureaucratic and aristocratic classes. Furthermore, because it faces military threats from multiple sides, military spending increases year by year. How much of that massive military expenditure has been embezzled? Zhao Ning does not yet know.

He quickly flipped through the fish-scale land registers. Although the registers were incomplete, after one look, Zhao Ning had the urge to flip the table. In his previous life, his profession involved dealing with money, making him extremely sensitive to data and finances. According to the limited information in the registers, land annexation had reached an appalling level!

According to historical records, the state of land annexation at the end of the Northern Song was that the aristocratic class controlled over eighty percent of the land, and they held certain tax-exemption privileges. Coupled with the Northern Song's policy of not curbing land annexation, the elites were crazily seizing more land. The tangled web of interest groups involved would likely be impossible to unravel in a short time.

Half an hour later, Gao Qiu arrived outside the Wende Hall. Gao Qiu was shivering, not from the cold, but from fear. Why had the Emperor suddenly summoned him?

He had already resigned and retired to enjoy his life, no longer participating in court politics; why had he suddenly been targeted? On his way, he slipped a bulging money bag to Wang Huaiji and whispered, "Official Wang, why has His Majesty summoned me?"

"Master Gao, I do not know. His Majesty suddenly said he wanted to see you."

Gao Qiu was anxious, but he dared not ask more. Once he arrived, he stood obediently outside.

Wang Huaiji went inside and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, Gao Qiu is outside awaiting your decree."

Zhao Ning did not speak. Thinking he had not been heard, Wang Huaiji repeated, "Your Majesty, Gao Qiu is outside awaiting your decree."

"I know."

Zhao Ning continued to review the fiscal records, growing angrier the more he read. The Zhao family had truly grown accustomed to peaceful times and wasted money recklessly! For instance, it was recorded here that Tong Guan spent one million strings of cash to buy an empty city!

How much is one million strings of cash? In the Song Dynasty, especially during the reign of Emperor Huizong, the court minted coins recklessly—what one might call "blindly running the printing press." One million strings were roughly equivalent to 500 million yuan. An ordinary person in Tokyo earned 20 wen a day. One million strings equaled 1 billion wen. An ordinary person would have to work for 50 million days—140,000 years—without eating or drinking to earn that.

This incident happened in the seventh year of Xuanhe, three years ago, when the Song and Jin were still allies, working together to destroy the Liao Dynasty. Tong Guan led an army of 200,000 to attack Youzhou, only to be crushed and humiliated by a few thousand Liao troops. Later, when the Jin took Youzhou, the sly old fox Tong Guan discussed with Emperor Huizong: "Your Majesty, I have a brilliant plan. Why don't we just buy Youzhou Prefecture for one million strings of cash?"

That was the situation. After that million was spent, it had to be recovered from somewhere. So, while Zhao Ji was busy painting and writing calligraphy, he asked Cai Jing, "Old Cai, there's no money left; what should we do?"

Cai Jing waved his hand: "Your Majesty, let's keep printing money!"

Zhao Ning patiently continued reading. By the time he finished, another half an hour had passed. He took a deep breath. Of course, the mess of the Great Song was not created solely during the reign of Emperor Huizong; many policies from the founding of the dynasty were flawed. After more than a hundred years of accumulation, the country was riddled with holes.

What was left to Zhao Ning was a Great Song Dynasty that was like gilded jade on the outside but rotten on the inside.

Forget it, forget it. These matters would have to be digested slowly; he had to stabilize the current situation first. Everything must be done one step at a time.

Seeing that the Emperor had finished reading, Wang Huaiji whispered again, "Your Majesty, Gao Qiu is outside..."

"I know."

After a while, Zhao Ning said, "Let him in."

"Yes!"

Wang Huaiji hurriedly went out. Gao Qiu was shivering in the snow. A man in his fifties, freezing in the ice and snow like a grandson.

"Master Gao, hurry in, His Majesty is waiting for you!"

Gao Qiu stepped forward, but because he was frozen stiff, he almost fell. Fortunately, Wang Huaiji caught him.

"Master Gao, take it slow."

"Old... I am old."

Gao Qiu hurriedly entered the Wende Hall. The hall was warm, and Gao Qiu felt relieved as soon as he entered.

"Your subject pays respects to His Majesty. May you be well."

Although Gao Qiu no longer held a specific official position, his rank was preserved—a unique feature of the Song Dynasty where official rank and actual duty were separated. Thus, he referred to himself as "your subject."

Zhao Ning, holding a book, glanced at Gao Qiu. Gao Qiu had a slightly chubby face with delicate, fair skin, looking harmless. His handlebar mustache was dampened by the snow, and his body was shaking uncontrollably.

Zhao Ning said indifferently, "You are here."

"I do not know why Your Majesty has summoned your subject?"

"Nothing much. It’s just that someone reported you for plotting treason. Is there any truth to this?" Zhao Ning continued reading, his tone casual.

Gao Qiu looked up abruptly, staring at the Emperor in confusion. What was this? He, Gao Qiu, plotting treason? He was only good at playing football, and he had even ruined the Imperial Guard under his command. Even if he wanted to plot treason, his ability simply wouldn't allow it! Your Majesty, you know that my dream is to build the Great Song Football Dream Team!

"Your Majesty, this is a complete injustice! Your subject is loyal to the throne, and the sun and moon can bear witness."

"Is that so?"

"Absolutely!" Perhaps due to excitement, Gao Qiu's face flushed red.

Zhao Ning smiled, a very gentle smile. He looked calmly at Gao Qiu and said, "Then, what were you doing when you took the Imperial Guard south last year?"

Zhao Ning was referring to the end of last year, when the Jin army was about to invade and Emperor Huizong abandoned the throne to his son and fled south. The situation at the time was: Emperor Huizong did not want to be Emperor anymore. One night, he called Zhao Huan over and forcibly gave him the position. Zhao Huan refused to be Emperor, even fainting from crying several times on the spot. Later, having no other choice, he wiped his tears in the restroom and reluctantly ascended the throne.

After Huizong abdicated, he fled south overnight. Following him were his favored officials, Tong Guan, Gao Qiu, and others. At that time, Tong Guan led 10,000 troops, and Gao Qiu also led the Imperial Guard south. The two sides were jealous of each other and even fought on the road.

Emperor Huizong's flight south was actually an attempt to establish a small, separate court in the southeast. He intercepted the taxes coming from the north and continued to issue reckless commands along the way. This involved the power struggle between Emperor Qinzong and Emperor Huizong. Gao Qiu was a favorite of Huizong, as was Tong Guan. Later, following Li Gang's advice, Emperor Qinzong tricked Huizong back to Tokyo. Tong Guan and others were executed, but because Gao Qiu had lost the fight against Tong Guan on the road and had returned to Tokyo in disgrace, resigning from his position as commander of the Imperial Guard, he escaped death.

However, the fact that he had led troops south to follow Huizong was a grave taboo. Because of this, Tong Guan had lost his head. Gao Qiu had not been pursued, and he had retired to play football. Zhao Ning was bringing up this exact matter. If he were to be held accountable, Gao Qiu should have lost his head as well. This teaches us: never get involved in the struggle for imperial power, or you might end up as a sacrifice.

Hearing the Emperor suddenly bring this up, Gao Qiu fell to his knees in terror.

"Your Majesty, your subject was momentarily confused, but later realized the error of his ways and returned to Tokyo. Please grant me your mercy!"

Seeing that this tactic was working, Zhao Ning continued: "Gao Qiu, they didn't just report you for plotting treason; others have reported that you embezzled a significant amount of military pay while in the Imperial Guard. Is there any truth to this?"

As for who reported Gao Qiu, who knows! In any case, Zhao Ning didn't know. Perhaps it was because people in the 21st century felt that Chinese football hadn't recovered for over a thousand years after Marshal Gao left, so they reported him for failing to attend to his proper duties.

Gao Qiu dared not ask who had reported him. He couldn't go around asking, "Who the hell told the Emperor that I, your father, am rebelling and embezzling! Who said it!" Gao Qiu dared not ask, because embezzlement in the Imperial Guard was as common as eating a meal.

He could only tremble and say, "There is no such thing! Your Majesty, please investigate! There is absolutely no such thing!"

Gao Qiu was shaking all over. He had already been freezing for over half an hour outside, which was miserable enough, but as soon as he entered, he was accused of treason, and then accused of embezzlement. What the hell is a surprise? This is a surprise!

"Whether there is any truth to it is not for you to decide. More than one person has told me that you, Gao Qiu, are plotting treason and engaging in corruption!"