Chapter 7 7. The plan looks good

Wang Anshi's proud pen is the first to promote the young crop method. The setting of the Young Crops Law is based on the fact that the most difficult time for farmers is in spring.At this time, the autumn grain has been eaten, and the summer grain has not yet been harvested. As the saying goes, spring plowing and summer cultivation are in short supply.Therefore, farmers must find ways to feed their stomachs, otherwise they will never have food to eat. But looking at it from another angle, farmers actually have money and food, and that is the young crops in the field.So those rich families with money and food borrowed money and grain to farmers at this time, and agreed to repay the summer grain and autumn grain with interest after they matured.The interest rate is of course very high, it should be called usury.Repaying money and food is generally not a problem, because there are young crops in the field as guarantee.For farmers, however, there are risks.If there is a natural disaster and they cannot repay their debts, they have no choice but to sell the land.

The annexation of land was born from this. This problem must be solved. The idea of ​​the young crop method is based on this.To put it simply, the government replaces rich households with lending money to farmers, which is equivalent to the National Agricultural Bank issuing mortgage loans at a lower interest rate than the private sector.According to Wang Anshi's thinking, if farmers want to borrow money anyway, who is not borrowing?Borrowing from the government is safe and reliable, and the interest rate is still low. Why not? Funding is also not a problem, because there are Changping warehouses and Guanghui warehouses everywhere.We know that agriculture at that time was basically dependent on the weather, and the harvests were not the same every year.What is the result?When the weather is good and the harvest is good, the supply will exceed the demand, and the price of grain will fall, which will hurt farmers; the price of rice will soar in a disaster year, which will hurt the citizens.Since the agricultural empire is based on agriculture and food is the key link, it cannot be ignored.

The management method is that the government spends a sum of money to buy grain at a low price in good years, store it in official grain depots, and sell it to the people at a low price in bad years when rice is expensive.In this way, the rich and profiteers can be prevented from hoarding and speculating, so that the prices can be kept stable, and both public and private interests can be benefited.This method is called the Changping method; the warehouse specially used to store grain that stabilizes prices is called the Changping warehouse. As for Guanghui warehouse, it is a national reserve grain depot for disaster prevention and relief. It was built in the second year of Song Renzong Jiayou (1057).At that time, due to reasons such as the death of the landlord and no one to inherit it, there were some ownerless land in various places, which had always been sold by the government.The privy envoy, Han Qi, suggested that the government hire people to cultivate these lands, and use the land rent as a special fund for the relief of the old, weak, sick, disabled, and disaster victims in the territory. This is Guanghui Cang.

Obviously, both the Changping method and the Guanghui warehouse are used for emergencies. Wang Anshi's plan is to change the Changping method to the Young Crops method, that is, to use the money from the Changping warehouse and Guanghui warehouse as the principal of the Agricultural Bank's mortgage loan.This is actually not impossible, because the two warehouses have to sell old grains every year anyway, and selling them at a time when grain prices are soaring can also stabilize prices. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone? In short, the interest on loans for young crops is relatively low, and farmers can afford it; the grain sold is not a heavy burden on the state.What's more, the government's loan of surplus grain can relieve the urgent needs of the farmers; after the fall, the interest can be recovered to increase the capital of the dynasty's treasury.Isn't this a happy ending for both public and private interests?It can be called benefiting the country and the people.

What's more, there is practical experience as proof.A local official named Li Shen tried it when he was in Shaanxi, and Wang Anshi himself tried it in Yin County. The result is that the peasants have food and the treasury has surplus food, and the praise is rave. Look at the immunity law. The Exemption Law is a reform of the Service Law.Sergeant labor is also called forced labor, corvee service or public service, but it is actually voluntary labor.This is a collection other than money and food. The original intention may be to make up for the shortcomings of the low tax system, or it may be that considering that the people cannot afford so much money and food, they are asked to serve as errands in the government and replace taxes with labor.

But in this way, in order to ensure the operation of the state apparatus, the people have to contribute not only money but also effort, which is really overwhelmed.In fact, there were too many types of forced labor in the Song Dynasty.There is the battle of keeping public property, the battle of collecting taxes, the battle of hunting down thieves, and the battle of delivering orders, the list goes on and on.If so many errands are borne by the landlords and farmers, will the land still be planted? The apportionment is not fair either.At that time, the government of the Northern Song Dynasty divided the people into nine classes according to the amount of property, and the lower five classes were all exempted from military service.On the surface, of course, this is taking care of the vulnerable groups.However, those who actually enjoy privileges also include official families, monks in temples, city residents, businessmen and merchants, and single men and women.In other words, a considerable number of families and people in the empire are actually exempt from official duties.

In this way, all the servants fell on the heads of the middle and lower class landlords and rich peasants.What is the result?In order to avoid heavy labor, they dare not expand the scale of production, dare not increase the number of family members, and even prefer to be bachelors, and some people become thieves.This is of course very detrimental to economic development and social stability, so even Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang believe that it must be changed. It's just that these people just yelled and couldn't come up with a solution. However, Wang Anshi has a reform plan. The method is to change the dispatched service to hired service, that is, let the people convert the service they should serve into "exemption money" and hand it over to the government, and the government will hire people as errands.The official households and temples who did not serve in the original service paid half of it, which was called service money.If it is expressed in modern language, it can be called "monetization of errands".

The benefits of monetization are clear.First, the farmers don’t have to work hard to pay money, so they don’t delay production; second, everyone contributes money, which is more fair; third, people who are too busy free up time, and idle people in society have an extra way of life, which is the best of both worlds ; Fourth, substituting hired labor for dispatched labor is more convenient to realize the specialization of servants, which is conducive to improving administrative efficiency.Under the premise that forced labor cannot be completely exempted, it should be said that this is the least bad choice, and we have to marvel at Wang Anshi's advanced ideas.

Therefore, when Sima Guang abolished the exemption law and restored the official service law, even many people who opposed Wang Anshi's reform did not take it seriously.But with regard to the young crop law, the opinions of the opposition are quite consistent, and it can be said that they are attacking it in groups. One of the targets of the attack is interest. Criticism is not without reason.As mentioned earlier, the Youth Law is a mortgage loan from the National Bank, and the principal comes from Changping warehouse and Guanghui warehouse. The two warehouses are originally non-profit enterprises, and even the state subsidizes money to stabilize prices and relieve disaster victims.Now that it is openly used for lending and collecting interest, the nature has completely changed. Is it tolerable or unbearable?

Of course, the opposition also admits that the interest rate on state loans is relatively low.Yet they say any low rate is lending money.So, can the imperial court charge interest like a profit-seeking businessman?Is there a difference between fifty steps and one hundred steps?Farmers do not receive money, but the government comes to lend money for profit. Isn't it taking advantage of people's danger? Wang Anshi's defense was weak and weak.He said: Yes, high-interest loans are not as good as low-interest loans, low-interest loans are not as good as interest-free loans, and interest-free loans are not as good as simply giving away.But I ask, can you afford it for free?Can't afford it.Whether it is Changping warehouse or Guanghui warehouse, there is loss and maintenance fee.Only by properly collecting interest on young crop loans can Liangcang develop sustainably.

Obviously, this involves many political and economic issues that modern people may not be able to explain clearly.For example, can the country establish commercial banks?Where should the principal of commercial banks come from?Can charity funds be used for investment?Should the government provide money or loans for poverty alleviation?Should the loan be interest-free or low-interest? In the era of Song Shenzong, these questions could not be answered. In fact, something happened to the Qingmiao method later, and the root cause is not here.Perhaps, Su Shi's younger brother Su Zhe is more reasonable.He said to Wang Anshi: The problem is not interest, but the grassroots.It is difficult for low-level officials to handle large loans without tampering with them; ordinary people may not be able to use them for other purposes if they are free.At that time, I'm afraid it will be troublesome. Wang Anshi agreed very much, and decided to speak slowly. It is a pity that the reform is already on the verge of imminent development, and the development of the situation has far exceeded the control ability of the authorities. The young crop law has finally changed from benefiting the people to harming the people.The map of refugees presented by Zheng Xia mentioned at the beginning of this volume is a true portrayal of the serious consequences of the forced implementation of the Young Crop Law and other new laws.Undoubtedly, this was definitely not Wang Anshi's original intention.The lessons learned can only be answered in Chapter Four. History often makes people sigh. Perhaps, this is the political situation in the Northern Song Dynasty when Xining reformed: a vigorous and promising new monarch, a minister who is determined to reform, a set of new laws that look good, and a group of highly respected opponents.When these factors are mixed together, it is impossible not to have a tragedy.The road to reform is doomed to be difficult, tortuous and bumpy. What should Wang Anshi do?

---

Notes: