The Song Dynasty's Third Path

In the eighth year of the Qingli era, Fan Zhongyan's reforms fail, Fu Bi is sent away from the capital, and Han Qi keeps silent.

The court officials finally reach a conclusion:

The Song dynasty's sickness cannot be cured.

Transmigrating into the body of a minor official in Bianjing, Lu Huaichuan knows that in twenty years, Wang Anshi will launch reforms with a thunderous force. In sixty years, the humiliation of Jingkang will come, the two emperors will be taken north, and all that prosperity will prove as fleeting as a dream.

The conservatives say the laws of the ancestors must not be changed, and that gradual progress is enough.

The reformists say the nation must be enriched and its military strengthened, even if it means competing with the people for profit. Nothing can be built without first breaking the old.

But they're both wrong.

Clinging to the old ways cannot save a nation mired in poverty and weakness; radical reforms cannot rescue a people crushed by hardship.

So, before the court, Lu Huaichuan proposes a third path for the Song:

Do not abolish the laws of the ancestors, but reshape the system of government;

Do not compete with the people for profit, but open maritime trade, promote workshops, and get goods flowing across the land;

Do not maintain bloated ranks of officials and soldiers, but build a battle-ready army through recruitment, military merit, and firearms!

Fan Zhongyan asks him, "What is this third path?"

Lu Huaichuan replies, "Let the people have land to farm, work to do, and money to earn; let the court have grain to distribute, soldiers ready to fight, and wealth to draw upon."

"Then the Song will no longer have to rely on one reform after another just to stay alive."

Years later, Western Xia bows its head, the Liao submits, and the Jin are already trembling before they have even risen to power.

Wang Anshi holds his new policies and remains silent for a long time.

"So there really is a third path for this world after all."