Pang Ji and Liang Shi being removed as grand councilors was entirely expected.
Everything Wang Yan had stirred up would be pinned on their heads: all manner of collusion between officials and merchants, corruption and lawbreaking, even problems within the military system. Even Di Qing, far away in the south leading troops against Nong Zhigao, had been implicated by the heap of chaotic affairs in Bianjing. How could the two sitting grand councilors escape it?
Their successors were Chen Zhizhong and Liu Hang. The former was controversial, while the latter had a good relationship with Ouyang Xiu and could be considered half an ally. Of course, Wang Yan did not care about allies or not.
Or rather, he did not care about allies above him. What he cared about were the allies below. Grand councilors sounded impressive—and they truly were—but their control over the powers they had once wielded was not as strong as Wang Yan's. Everyone else was a passing official, transferred from place to place, serving two or three years per post. Others united the great local households; Wang Yan reshaped the entire order.
So-called incorruptible officials and good officials did no more than build bridges and pave roads, encourage farming and sericulture, vigorously promote education, and dispense justice fairly and strictly. In the end, it merely gave the common people a chance to catch their breath beneath crushing exploitation and oppression.
Wang Yan, however, completely shattered the existing order, built a new balance, strengthened the authority of the government, took the surplus from great households to make up for the people's shortages, and preserved those rules.
That was true in both Hangzhou and Bianjing. Even in his hometown of Yang Province, under his instructions and with his assistance, the old steward was acting on his behalf, making