Chapter 24: The Transformation of the Peach Blossom Spring

Su Ze’s intuition was correct; it was indeed Ouyang Xiu who, upon receiving the memorial Su Ze had sent to the Emperor, had rushed over to see him.

Throughout their conversation, Ouyang Xiu became increasingly convinced of Su Ze’s exceptional talent. Su Ze’s views on the northwestern military campaigns were perfectly aligned with those of Fan Zhongyan, the man Ouyang Xiu admired most. Su Ze had even gone a step further, proposing ideas for military reform before Fan Zhongyan had.

Ouyang Xiu picked up his wine gourd and said to Su Ze, "I am already impatient to serve in the imperial court alongside you, Master Su!"

Su Ze sighed and replied, "Academician Ouyang, please, do not mock me. The imperial examinations are notoriously difficult, and since I am not skilled in poetry and prose, I fear my chances in this year’s tribute examination are slim."

Ouyang Xiu frowned. In truth, his own path through the examinations had been somewhat "bumpy." Though hailed as a child prodigy, he had failed his first attempt at the Ministry of Rites examination after passing the preliminary local trials at twenty. It was only after two more years of study that he finally earned his Jinshi degree at the age of twenty-two. Of course, Ouyang Xiu considered this a struggle, even though achieving the degree at twenty-two was the mark of a genius among geniuses. Still, if a prodigy like him had needed two attempts, Su Ze’s self-proclaimed weakness in poetry and prose would indeed put him at a severe disadvantage in the Ministry of Rites examination, which placed such heavy emphasis on those very subjects.

Ouyang Xiu patted Su Ze on the shoulder and said, "Fan Xiwen has also remarked that our dynasty’s examinations place too much weight on poetry and prose, burying many talented individuals. If you do not succeed this year, Master Su, do not be discouraged. The examination system is not set in stone; it may yet see change."

Su Ze glanced at Ouyang Xiu. It seemed that the Qingli reformers, led by Fan Zhongyan, had long planned to reform the examination system. However, as Fan had not yet risen to power, these discussions remained internal to the reformist faction. Clearly, Ouyang Xiu was a staunch supporter of such reforms.

Ouyang Xiu was unaware that Su Ze knew the trajectory of future events, and since it was improper to openly discuss such a major policy shift, he simply patted Su Ze on the shoulder again and added, "With your talent, should you fail the examinations this year, I shall personally recommend you to the Emperor. While the imperial examinations are the standard path to office, there are many ministers who did not come from that route. Besides, one can always enter officialdom first and take the examinations later."

Su Ze knew this was true. In the early and middle Northern Song Dynasty, the examination system had not yet achieved absolute dominance. Those who entered the bureaucracy through recommendations or hereditary privilege could still rise to the highest ministerial positions. Not long after, there would even be the case of Di Qing, who began as a common soldier branded for a crime, only to eventually become the Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs.

Furthermore, one could still take the examination while already holding office. For instance, Han Jiang, the third-ranked scholar in Wang Anshi’s examination cohort, had already held office through hereditary privilege before earning his Jinshi degree.

Ouyang Xiu’s offer to recommend Su Ze was not empty talk. As a Hanlin Academician and a high-ranking official of the "Two Secretariats," he possessed the authority to petition the Emperor for the appointment of talented individuals. Su Ze felt a warmth in his heart; Ouyang Xiu was truly the magnanimous elder described in history, one who delighted in fostering young talent. The reason so many young scholars followed him was not merely due to his literary brilliance, but also his genuine love for talent.

Su Ze thanked Ouyang Xiu and added, "Academician Ouyang, I would still like to try my luck at the Ministry of Rites examination first."

Ouyang Xiu was even more pleased. He pulled Su Ze aside and said, "Tomorrow, I shall have someone send you several anthologies. Study them in peace at home; with your talent, as long as you pass the Ministry of Rites examination, the Palace Examination will be no obstacle!"

The Palace Examination focused primarily on policy essays, and since the Emperor graded those papers himself, Ouyang Xiu knew that Su Ze had already caught the Emperor’s eye. Once he cleared the Ministry of Rites, there was no chance he would be failed at the final stage.

Su Ze expressed his gratitude once more. Although printing technology had advanced, books remained precious commodities. Ouyang Xiu himself had only been able to cultivate his literary skills as a boy after obtaining a copied volume of the *Collected Works of Master Changli* from the Li family of Suizhou at the age of ten. To gift such valuable anthologies upon their first meeting—Ouyang Xiu was truly worthy of the title "Gentleman of the Qingli Era."

After talking a while longer, Ouyang Xiu reluctantly took his leave. Looking at the wine gourd left behind in the small courtyard, Su Ze could not help but shake his head. While the ideals of the Qingli Gentlemen were noble, they were perhaps too unrestrained; to start drinking early in the morning—it was no wonder the conservatives found it so easy to pick fights with them once the Qingli Reforms began.

Ouyang Xiu, in particular, was the ultimate "teammate from hell." His emotionally charged essay, *On Factionalism*, had thoroughly enraged the Emperor, who feared court factions above all else, ultimately leading to the premature death of the Qingli New Policies. To put it bluntly, the top-down reforms of the Northern Song were far too dependent on the Emperor’s favor. Both the Renzong and later Shenzong reforms were driven by the need to centralize power, and the moment a reform touched upon the interests of the throne, it could go no further.

Su Ze looked at the character "Fan" on the gourd. Was this wine from the Fan Tower? In the Great Song, alcohol was a state monopoly, managed by the Ministry of Salt and Iron under the Three Departments. In the capital of Bianjing, state-run taverns were called "Zhengdian," and according to the *Records of the Eastern Capital*, there were seventy-two such establishments. The Fan Tower was the foremost among them, and its wine was the most renowned in the city.

Su Ze opened the gourd, and a mellow fragrance drifted out. This must be "Meishou," the most famous vintage of the Fan Tower. It was said that this wine was supplied only to high-ranking officials and the nobility. Although his original self had frequented many taverns in Bianjing, he had never stepped foot in the Fan Tower, let alone tasted Meishou.

Su Ze pondered whether he could use the Peach Blossom Spring to brew wine and make a fortune, but he quickly shook his head. The alcohol tax in the Song Dynasty was exceptionally high. Take the Fan Tower for example: it paid two thousand strings of cash in taxes to the government every single day. Such a heavy burden meant that the more they sold, the more they risked losing. A few years prior, the Fan Tower had nearly gone bankrupt due to tax arrears. It was only after Emperor Renzong ordered a tax reduction and granted them the right to wholesale their wine to smaller shops that they finally turned a profit. In any case, the Zhengdian of Bianjing rarely made money on wine alone; their true profits came from food and entertainment.

Su Ze closed the courtyard gate and returned to his room. Placing his hand upon the *Account of the Peach Blossom Spring*, he entered the realm once more. After the familiar wave of dizziness, Su Ze looked upon the Peach Blossom Spring and saw that it had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Adjacent to the fields cultivated by the farm-spirit boy, two more plots of land had been cleared, with two farm-spirit attendants working diligently. Beside the Peach Blossom Dock, an antique octagonal pavilion stood prominently, and the traveler-spirit boy, A-Yuan, was busy organizing his gear. Nearby, a simple workshop stood beside a newly dug irrigation ditch, where the craftsman-spirit boy, A-Zhi, was processing plant fibers into paper pulp. Next to the workshop was a fenced-in coop where a flock of chicks chirped incessantly; the farm-spirit boy worked with lightning speed, chopping fodder into a basin to feed them.

Seeing such a pastoral, poetic scene, it was truly a paradise.