The Most Powerful Young Master of the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 47: Zhang Fangping Proves His Worth

Around the same time, Sima Guang also barged into the incubatory, standing beside Zhang Fangping and acting as if he were in charge. As for Wang Anshi, he hadn’t come—he was out inspecting the counties. Finally, the results were in. As the incubator opened, tray after tray was pulled out. Most of the eggshells had cracked, while some remained intact; a few chicks were stillborn. However, this did not affect the final outcome; many chicks were hopping about and chirping, fluffy and looking absolutely adorable. Ma Jinsi and the others began taking inventory, then calculated the results using Wang Bang’s formula. Finally, they reported: “The hatch rate is sixty-three!” Zhang Fangping was finally stunned. As for Sima Guang, his mouth hung open, and he was speechless. As government officials, both men were well aware of just how precious and scarce chickens were. Indeed, when a hen incubates eggs under her own body, the success rate is 90 percent—but the output is too small, the efficiency too low, and the process relies too heavily on the hen’s mood and quality. No one had ever heard of hatching chicks so quickly by artificial means in the dead of winter! A 63% hatch rate might not sound that impressive, but its strength lay in high output—it wasn’t affected by the season or the hen’s mood. As the Grand Minister of Finance of the Song Dynasty, Zhang Fangping naturally understood the price ratio between eggs and chicks. With a hatch rate like that, it would mean a huge profit—a massive windfall. So, especially given his current dire need for funds, Zhang Fangping could hardly contain his excitement. Although this could also be counted as one of Sima Guang’s achievements, he truly hadn’t expected at the outset that Wang Bang’s unnatural experiment would actually be such a resounding success—it was completely unbelievable. Especially when he considered that this young man had built all this through “robbery”—a thoroughly underhanded method—yet it had allowed the Wang family to steal the limelight. Even Zhang Fangping, who was swamped with daily affairs, had rushed to Shuzhou to witness it in person. The more Sima Guang thought about it, the less he could make sense of it. So, speaking as a teacher, he approached him and said excitedly, “Our Great Song Dynasty lacks money, grain, and the support of the people—and above all, it lacks eggs. You have the ability and the secret formula, yet out of selfishness, you’ve never shared them. The last time, after I lectured you, you turned in the feed formula, but you held something back—keeping the core elements for yourself to make a profit. I’ve always said you were a child prodigy, but why have you only started doing this now? It turns out you were afraid others would take advantage of you. Now that you have the ability and the drive, you’ve rounded up a gang of thugs to extort money everywhere, and once you’ve amassed enough capital, you’ve finally begun to build your own empire?” Once he got started, Sima Guang spoke at great length. “Why! Why are you bringing this up now? Do you have any idea under what conditions my Southern Army is fighting the rebels?” Sima Guang grew increasingly agitated as he spoke. After glancing around, he found a ruler-shaped wooden stick and said, “Hold out your hand and accept your master’s lesson!” Wang Bang had no choice but to hold out his hand, tears welling in his eyes. Zhang Fangping narrowed his eyes and took a look. Seeing that Sima Guang was actually raising the ruler to strike him, he stepped forward and slapped Sima Guang on the back of the head, knocking his official cap right off. “You…” Sima Guang seemed to snap out of it and calm down a bit; clutching his head, he glared angrily at Zhang Fangping. Zhang Fangping said with a hint of malice, “Why are you shouting so loudly? He’s just a little brat—why do you expect him to be just like you? And now you’re bringing the army into this? As if you care so much about them. Back when we were raising funds and provisions, who was it who gave me a hard time, insisting it had nothing to do with Shuzhou?” Sima Guang froze for a moment. Zhang Fangping continued, “Wang Anshi, following this old man’s advice, wanted to liquidate and sell the estates in Shuzhou. Who was the one going against me on that?” Sima Guang stamped his foot and said, “Your Excellency is quite right. How the administration is run is Shuzhou’s business; the imperial court has its own established system for that.” Zhang Fangping said coldly, “Speak properly. I’ll give you one more chance to take back those words that have offended me.” Sima Guang said, “Even if you are the Chancellor, you cannot treat me this way… Ouch…” Before he could finish, Zhang Fangping kicked him again, sending him flying. Clutching his buttocks, Sima Guang ran to hide behind one of the guards, looking utterly terrified. Zhang Fangping said, “Go on. I don’t have the right to treat you this way? So you have the right to defy me? You have the right to be disrespectful to me? Do you think I’m Di Qing?” As he spoke, Zhang Fangping, wiggling his S-shaped foot, hopped over to Sima Guang. This made Sima Guang extremely nervous, and he kept dodging back and forth. Wang Bang was also terrified. Old Zhang, that ruffian, was formidable—a disciple of Chancellor Pang Ji, Military Commissioner of Huaixi and Prefect of Shuzhou—and yet he was being treated this way? After a brief game of cat-and-mouse—in which he failed to catch Sima Guang—Zhang Fangping let it go. Acting as if nothing had happened, he continued to watch Ma Jinsi and the others at work with great interest. Only Magistrate Sima’s face alternated between red and pale as he seethed with hatred toward Old Zhang. But that was just Zhang Fangping’s nature. He had been serious when he spoke of Di Qing back then; Old Zhang was an absolute worshipper of official authority and power. During the Song Dynasty, he was the one who advocated that “only absolute power can get things done.” Therefore, having concluded that the Song-Xia War had suffered setbacks due to poor coordination between the Eastern and Western Bureaus of the imperial court, Zhang Fangping advised the emperor at the time to centralize power among the ministers, allowing the Chancellor of the Chancellery to concurrently serve as the Chief of the Imperial Secretariat during wartime. The emperor agreed. Zhang Fangping, who had once led troops in the CD Prefecture to hunt down bandits by tunneling through mountains and caves, was a man who understood military affairs. He advocated for a well-trained force rather than a large one. He opposed the mobilization of local militias in the Shaanxi region—which was treating the situation as if facing a major enemy—and opposed the large-scale transfer of low-quality auxiliary troops from the interior to the west. Zhang Fangping’s reasoning was that these men were utterly useless, of too low a caliber, and would place a crippling strain on the court’s logistical supplies. However, no one heeded his advice. As it turned out, Zhang Fangping was right. The two hastily assembled armies, numbering over 200,000, nearly overwhelmed the logistics capacity. Not only were they incapable of fighting, but whenever trouble arose, they died in droves; their deaths and desertions shook the morale of the troops, severely undermining the spirit of the veteran soldiers who were truly capable of combat. At the same time, this boosted the enemy’s morale. Xia Song’s downfall was at the hands of Zhang Fangping. At the time, Xia Song wielded immense power, yet while he was in overall command of the Northwest campaign, he did nothing, allowing internal infighting to run rampant. Without unity on the political front, the campaign was doomed to fail. This infuriated Zhang Fangping, who dug up a great deal of incriminating evidence against Xia Song and brought charges against him; as a result, Xia Song was dismissed from his post. So, in principle, the credit for turning the tide in the Northwest at that time belongs to Zhang Fangping. Without Zhang’s political coup de grâce against Xia Song, Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan would not have had the opportunity to demonstrate their military talents. What was the Western Army’s formation like when Xia Song was in command? It was exactly the same as that centipede formation used in the battle against Wang Bang. After finishing his daydreaming—biting his finger as he did so—Wang Bang began to express his admiration for Zhang Fangping. Zhang Fangping, however, paid no heed whatsoever to the little brat’s flattery. He simply watched the ever-increasing number of freshly hatched chicks as they daydreamed, all the while stroking his chin and devising a plan to outwit Wang Bang. A lecherous mind inevitably leads to lecherous behavior, so as Zhang Fangping turned away without a word, his lack of concentration caused him to bump his head right into a pillar. “Oh man,” Wang Bang thought, looking at the pillar with concern. He hoped Zhang’s head wasn’t too hard—he didn’t want him to knock the whole house down. This property had been a dilapidated building from the moment they acquired it. Wang Bang, being a pragmatist and keen to cut costs—he didn’t have the money for a major renovation—had simply made do and started the project as is. There was clearly a warning sign on the pillar that read, “Do Not Hit With Your Head”—it was posted precisely to prevent this dilapidated, shoddy structure from collapsing. And yet Old Zhang actually went and did that? Though he thought this, Wang Bang put on a very loyal and courageous air, stepping forward to support Old Zhang and saying, “Uncle, you must take care of your precious health.” “Get away, get away. I’ve weathered every storm in my life—this measly, rickety pillar can’t possibly hurt me,” Zhang Fangping said, waving his hand dismissively, even though a bump had clearly formed on the back of his head. Ma Jinsi and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief; if it had been them, they would have seized the opportunity to stage a hit-and-run. Fortunately, this time they hadn’t been blackmailed by Zhang Fangping. “Uncle-in-law, I’m truly worried. Please let me stay by your side to take care of you,” Wang Bang continued, playing up his loyalty and bravery. Zhang Fangping said, “Since you’re so filial and clever, I can rest easy. Here’s what we’ll do: write down the process for hatching chicks and hand it over to me. Since it’s such an important document, I’ll keep it safe for you to prevent spies with ulterior motives from prying into it. When you’re older, I’ll return it to you.” Wang Bang was utterly flabbergasted by his words. It sounded as if, once I handed over the secret formula to him, I’d simply forget it—as if no one else could pry it out of me? However, recalling Sima Guang’s earlier excited expression, and thinking of his “Demon King” father’s sleaziness, he began to vaguely understand Old Zhang’s reasoning: In any case, if the secret formula were to be stolen, handing it over to Old Zhang wouldn’t affect his ability to make money in Shuzhou, but at least no one would be keeping an eye on it anymore. At the same time, the incubation process still wasn’t a strategic asset. Da Bang still had his secret bloodline purification plan tucked away as a trump card. He could give them a taste of the benefits first, so he could sell it again when the time was right. Having made up his mind, Wang Bang clasped his fists and said, “Uncle, you’ve put a lot of thought into this. I understand. I’ll come see you as soon as possible.” Zhang Fangping burst out laughing and pointed at Wang Bang’s nose, saying, “This kid has extraordinary potential—he’s got a brighter future than his father.” After saying this, Zhang Fangping turned to Sima Guang with a mischievous look and said, “Don’t you dare bully this kid again, or I’ll make you pay.” Sima Guang was furious and was about to say something, but when he saw Zhang Fangping’s S-shaped leg rise again, he kept his mouth shut. Sima Guang felt that the Song Dynasty was beyond salvation—there were simply too many hooligans. With this gathering of old and young hooligans, the era of “shrimp-sized” hooligans like Ma Jinsi was about to dawn…