That afternoon, Nathan Foster finished his writing and wandered alone around the residence. As he passed by the guest hall, he saw a young man sitting there, seemingly waiting for William Owen to return.

Nathan Foster noticed the man's teacup was empty, so he ran to the kitchen and asked someone to prepare a pot of tea.

"Who is that young man in the guest hall? He’s been sitting there for quite a while, hasn’t he?"

The steward chuckled and said, "Oh, him! He can be considered the master's disciple. Every time he returns to the capital, he comes to pay his respects. The master thinks very highly of him."

"Who is he?" Nathan Foster was a bit curious. Anyone who could earn William Owen's respect surely wasn’t an ordinary person.

"I think his name is... right, his name is Andrew Williams!"

"What did you say?" Nathan Foster rubbed his ears, suspecting he’d misheard.

"Young master, his name is Andrew Williams. He passed the last imperial examination and I heard he was just promoted to county magistrate."

Suddenly, Nathan Foster understood. No wonder his grandfather said he would meet Andrew Williams—turns out Andrew Williams was William Owen's disciple. This wasn’t a coincidence at all!

At that moment, the tea and snacks were ready. A servant picked up the teapot to deliver it, but Nathan Foster quickly smiled and said, "Let me do it!"

He took the teapot and hurried toward the guest hall.

……

The young man was indeed Andrew Williams. He had come to the capital to attend Minister Pang Ji’s birthday celebration. Pang Ji valued him greatly and had specially sent him an invitation.

Andrew Williams had just disembarked today and came straight to visit his mentor William Owen, but William Owen was not at home. He had already waited for more than half an hour.

His cup of tea had long been finished, and he was parched. When he saw a young boy bring in a teapot, Andrew Williams quickly stood up to thank him.

"Are you waiting for Elder Ouyang?" Nathan Foster asked with a smile.

The young man heard Nathan Foster's tone and realized he was neither a member of the master's household nor a student. Not daring to be impolite, he cupped his hands and said, "I just came from Yin County, on official business in the capital."

Yin County is present-day Ningbo. Nathan Foster raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Then we’re half fellow townsmen! I came from Wu County."

"So the young master is from Pingjiang Prefecture. That’s a place of outstanding people—a wonderful place. Minister Fan is also from Wu County."

"Minister Fan is my grandfather. I came to the capital with him!"

The young man was taken aback and bowed again. "So you are Minister Fan’s descendant. My apologies. I am Andrew Williams, and I greatly admire Minister Fan’s new policies!"

So it really was Andrew Williams. Nathan Foster took another look at the young man—he seemed like a simple country youth, with none of the bearing of a famous statesman.

"So you are Andrew Williams!"

"Young master Fan has heard of me?"

"I’ve long... heard of your great name!"

Nathan Foster almost blurted out that he’d long heard of the ‘Stubborn Minister’, but at this time Andrew Williams had only just started his career and was still far from becoming a minister.

But on closer inspection, Nathan Foster could sense something different about Andrew Williams.

He had a square face, thick brows, deep-set eyes, and a piercing gaze, exuding an air of righteousness from within.

Nathan Foster couldn’t help but secretly praise him. No wonder he was a famous reformer in history—his indomitable character was evident in his bearing.

Andrew Williams sighed lightly. "Your grandfather’s Qingli Reforms—what a pity!"

Nathan Foster was particularly interested in Andrew Williams because he had read several essays about Andrew Williams's reforms.

Although Andrew Williams had accurately identified the chronic problems of the Song Dynasty, he hadn’t found the root cause, so his reforms were misguided and his thinking unclear.

He was like a headless fly, dashing about aimlessly, wasting much time and resources, and in the end, alienating everyone and failing.

It was both infuriating and pitiable.

Every time Nathan Foster finished reading, he would sigh deeply. If he could return to the Song Dynasty, he would make sure to knock some sense into this stubborn minister and show him the right path to reform.

And today, sitting across from Andrew Williams, it was as if he stood on the long dike of history. Nathan Foster had no intention of breaking the dike and completely altering the course of history—that was not his mission.

But he hoped that the Song Dynasty would become better because of his presence. That was his greatest wish.

Nathan Foster picked up his teacup, blew on it, and took a slow sip, calming himself.

After a long while, Nathan Foster smiled faintly and said, "The new policies were launched too hastily, without a foundation, and in the wrong way. It was like building a castle in the air—no wonder they failed!"

"Is that your grandfather’s conclusion?"

Nathan Foster shook his head. "That’s what I think!"

Andrew Williams was startled. He pondered Nathan Foster's words carefully, finding them more profound the more he thought about them.

The Qingli Reforms had indeed been launched too hastily. There was no consensus in the court, and after just a year, they failed due to too much opposition.

Among his peers, Andrew Williams was jokingly called Wang the Reformer—not because he only wanted reform in middle age.

Even as a student, he had great ambitions and was determined to accomplish something, to change the chronic poverty and weakness of the Song Dynasty.

When Fan Zhongyan implemented the new policies two years ago, he only regretted being too young to follow and assist him.

So whenever reform was mentioned, he became excited—especially now, facing Minister Fan’s grandson. Though young, he must have extraordinary insight.

Andrew Williams didn’t know that just over a month ago, Nathan Foster was still called Andy Foster in his village, never leaving it, and the farthest he’d been was the nearby town.

Andrew Williams quickly asked, "Young master, could you tell me why you say the new policies had no foundation?"