Chapter 26 6. Who is the master of ups and downs

The young crop method was the first to expose the problem. In all fairness, the idea of ​​the Green Sprouts Method is not bad, and it is well thought out.According to the regulations promulgated by the Department of Regulations in September of the second year of Xining, farmers' loans are voluntary, and local governments are not allowed to force apportionment.When repaying the loan, if you are willing to repay the money, you can repay the money, and if you are willing to repay the food, you can repay the food. The repayment of food is calculated according to the average price in the market.In case of a natural disaster, it is allowed to return it in the next harvest season without urging.

Unfortunately, in practice, that's not the case. First of all, forced apportionment, which is expressly prohibited, is prevalent in all states and counties, so that the imperial court had to issue an edict three months after the implementation of the Green Crop Law, requiring inspectors to check carefully and immediately report to officials who violated the order.However, as soon as the words were spoken, a report was received from Hebei appeasement envoy Han Qi in the second month that forced apportionment was repeatedly prohibited, and even urban residents who did not farm at all were required to borrow this kind of agricultural loan.

Shenzong couldn't figure it out.He asked Sima Guang, where is the problem?The general feedback he heard was that young crops are a good method, but they are just improperly employed. Sima Guang said: In my opinion, the law is not good either. Song Shenzong said: "There have been repeated orders and five applications for forced loans!" Sima Guang said: The inspectors are hinting at apportionment by magistrates.Of the seventeen counties in Kaifeng, only Chen Liu strictly enforced the principle of voluntary loans, and as a result, no one came to borrow money.How is it possible that other counties have lent so much money without apportionment?

So, why did the magistrate commit crimes against the wind? It's very simple, because they are local officials.Under the imperial system, the relationship between the local government and the central government is subordinate.Therefore, the young crop loan is a policy in the central government, and it is a political achievement when it comes to them.They are also very clear that although both Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi said that the loan should not be forced, in fact, deep down in their hearts, they hope that the Green Crop Law will succeed.Of course, there is only one sign of success, and that is to lend a lot of money and get back a lot of interest, and the people express their gratitude, but the latter can be faked, and the former must be taken seriously.

This cannot be done voluntarily by the people.On the contrary, the more people don't want to borrow money, the more they are forced to borrow money, because those who don't want to borrow money are all rich families.According to the provisions of the Department of Regulations, the loan amount for first-class private households is fifteen times that of fifth-class households.On the contrary, poor households not only borrow less money, but also have low repayment ability, and the central government stipulates that they must not lose money.So, who should the magistrate's eyes be on, and how can it be done without forcing apportionment?

There are also problems with the legislation itself. For example, the loans of poor and lower-middle peasants must be guaranteed by landlords and rich peasants, or lead.Of course, this is to ensure that the government can recover the principal and interest, but it is a disaster for landlords and rich peasants.In the past, they could lend money to the poor and lower-middle peasants for interest, but now they have to pay their debts for them. Who would be willing?They had no choice but to ask them to "loan according to order". What's more, the Department of Regulations is duplicity, and there are quotas for loans in various places.Although theoretically speaking, the indicators are determined by the localities themselves, but how many people do not want to show their favor?In October of the fourth year of Xining, a local official reported 400,000 yuan regardless of the actual situation. Fortunately, a conscientious deputy asked the emperor to stop it, so that the local people did not go bankrupt.Even so, Wang Anshi still sent people to question why Qingmiao had lent out so little money.The official who has been promoted to a full-time job replied: Isn't it stipulated that the people are voluntary?If they don't want to, can they be forced?

Wang Anshi was speechless and could only gnash his teeth secretly. The provisions on delaying loan repayment in disaster years have not been implemented.The seven-year drought in Xining was so severe, yet the money collection officials were still like tigers and wolves. What the people had to pay was not only the young crop debt, but also the exemption money.If it weren't for Zheng Xia's contribution to the emperor's edict to suspend the recovery (right and interest recovery), many people would have lost their families. Policies with no shortage of merit have thus become diabolical.

However, the root cause is what Sima Guang did not and could not see, that is, the government did something they should not have done.Just imagine, if there are multiple commercial banks that can compete to issue loans, and there are civil courts with independent judiciary to resolve disputes, and the imperial court does nothing but macro-control, will things be so out of hand? Unfortunately, the independence of commercial banks and the judiciary was impossible at that time. The same is true of the question of the law of exchange. As mentioned earlier, the so-called Shiyi Law means that the state controls the circulation of commodities; the so-called Shiyiwu refers to the State Department Store Corporation.The problem is that even if department stores can be state-owned or government-run, they can only be enterprises and not government offices.Wang Anshi and Lu Jiawen's Shiyiwu is not only the government's industrial and commercial administration, but also an enterprise and a bank. It can issue mortgage loans to businessmen with an interest rate of 20%.This is equivalent to being both a referee, an athlete, and a spectator, which is completely nonsense.Such a violation of economic laws and management principles, without hindering economic development, and without causing a lot of criticism, is a strange thing.

Wang Anshi did not repent. It is not surprising that he is obsessed, because he advocates nationalism, and of course he believes that the government is omnipotent.In July of the second year of Xining, Wang Anshi launched the method of equalization.This is his first reform, and the core content is to change the supplies needed by the palace and government offices from local offerings to official purchases.The reason is that the old method is too chaotic, the things that need to be delivered cannot be delivered, and the useless things are piled up like a mountain, and the local burden is also heavy.Su Shi, acting as the judge in Kaifeng, disagreed.He said that if officials use public funds to purchase items, surely they will not buy famous brands or buy them without rebates, and they can expect to save money?

This is really a clear understanding. Unfortunately, Su Shi failed to wake up the dreamer with a single sentence.Wang Anshi's dream is too grand and beautiful. For the country and the people, he can be called a bodhisattva.For this reason, he did not hesitate to use thunderbolt methods, even if the people were devastated and the landlords, rich peasants and small and medium-sized enterprises went bankrupt. Now, it seems that Wang Anshi's reform can be summed up in four major issues: nationalism, government omnipotence, ideal supremacy, and morality alone.The most serious consequence of this was that the political civilization, commercial civilization, and social civilization that had been built with great difficulty in the Northern Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years were affected to varying degrees, which directly or indirectly led to Huizong's chaos and subjugation.In fact, it took only 50 or 60 years from the Xining Reform to the Jingkang disaster, and the mountains and rivers were broken in an instant, which can be described as terrible.

This is of course a topic that can only be discussed in the long run.What I want to say is that the four major problems of Wang Anshi's reform imply a tendency, that is, authoritarianism, or the possibility of moving towards authoritarianism.Because of advocating nationalism and believing in the omnipotence of the government, it is inevitable to move from centralization to autocracy.Although during the Xining period, this was only a sign, and it would not grow into a towering tree under the blood of Zhu Yuanzhang and his son until Kublai Khan and the others completely destroyed the civilization of the Song Dynasty.Of course, it's someone else's blood. However, Wang Anshi is still to blame.Didn't his son Wang Yu threaten to hang the heads of Han Qi and Fu Bi on the street?Didn't I remind Emperor Yao and Shun five times that Gun was executed?Isn't his Baojia law like Shang Yang, exuding the taste of fascism?With all these things, how far is it from despotism? The lessons left behind are even more painful and profound. There is no doubt that Wang Anshi is a reformer, and his reform is also a reform, and it is a necessary reform.This earned him a great reputation and a lot of sympathy, some of it cheap as well as ridiculous.Fortunately, Wang Anshi made us understand a truth: Don't think that reform is all right, but also look at why, for whom, and how to reform.If you don't think clearly about these three questions, you can only be considered a blind move; if you get the wrong answer like Wang Anshi did, you will have to swallow a bitter pill. Another lesson is how to view ideals and morality.People with ideals are undoubtedly worthy of respect, especially if they have morality at the same time.However, if he has public power and uses it to realize his ideals, he may become terrifying and must be vigilant.You must know that morality is used for self-discipline, and high morality does not mean that scientific decision-making is correct, and the realization of social ideals can only rely on the consensus and practice of the whole people.Once public power is used to force it out, it must be a tragedy. The question is, given the circumstances at the time, is it okay for Wang Anshi not to reform?Is it okay to reform without using public power and without relying on government departments?Can't you? This is probably a deeper tragedy.Yes, the Chinese Empire developed to the Song Dynasty. On the one hand, the level of civilization reached its peak, and on the other hand, the entire system and mechanism had problems.As a result, if there is no change, it will rot, if the law is changed, it will be chaotic, and if the reform and correction are too vigorous, it will perish.What's more, there are still people in the north who are coveting, first Jurchen, and then Mongolia. They are not the Khitan who have become peaceful, and they are not Bodhisattvas. The wind is blowing, the water is cold, and the death knell has already sounded in the biting cold wind. Song, will float on the water and submerge in the sea. end of volume Please pay attention to the next volume "Merry Southern Song Dynasty"

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