Chapter 37 The second round of "Yanhe Dianting Debate" in the millennium

So far, everyone knows the governance logic of the Song Dynasty: if the central government wants to prevent local chaos, it needs to control military power. To control military power, it needs to raise soldiers. To raise soldiers, it needs to increase fiscal revenue. business, the private economy is bound to be squeezed, and at the same time, it will cause the flood of the rich and powerful economy.Under the unified governance model, this seems to be a closed-loop logic that cannot be opened. So a hundred years after the founding of the Song Dynasty, problems appeared.The first is that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening, the poor are very poor, and the rich are very rich; the second is land mergers. More than half of the country's land is in the hands of a few families.However, fiscal revenue cannot keep up with the growth of government expenditure, and it is stretched, so reform is necessary.

The emperor who carried out reforms was Song Shenzong, who was 20 years old when he ascended the throne, very young.Most of the emperors who carried out radical reforms in the past dynasties in China were young people, such as Qin Xiaogong, Han Wudi, Tang Dezong, Song Shenzong, and later Qing Guangxu Emperor.Young people are full of vigor and dare to make big breakthroughs.The trader Song Shenzong was looking for was Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi was not a mainstream figure at the time.There are many great Confucian scholars in the central government, who are old and powerful, and have no vitality. They are all vested interests.If Song Shenzong wants to break the pattern, he needs to find someone who is courageous, willing to take responsibility, and dare to break all bad habits, and destroy all vested interests.Wang Anshi was such a candidate. He worked in the local area all the year round. He had a proud personality and a lot of courage. He said a bold sentence to Song Shenzong: "There is no fear of the changes of the sky, the law of the ancestors is not enough, and the words of people are not sympathetic." The phrase "govern the world in a different way, make the country lawless" can be echoed back and forth.

Song Shenzong ascended the throne in 1068, and reforms began in the second year.At that time, a major policy debate took place within the central government, and the specific venue was the Hall of Yanhe in Bianliang, the capital.China is the "hometown of state-owned enterprises", but the pros and cons of this system and what role the state should play in the national economy, this kind of institutional speculation is rarely carried out at the decision-making level.Before, there was a meeting of salt and iron in 81 BC. Sang Hongyang had a big debate with all the virtuous people. After more than a thousand years, the Hall of Yanhe was the second time. The next debate will take place in The distant 1945.In other words, "a debate once in a thousand years".

In history, this debate was called "Yanhe Dianting Debate". The two sides in the debate were Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, the two most famous intellectuals and politicians in China at that time.The topic of debate is: the industrial and commercial economy is so developed, but the country is very weak. In the imperial court, the central finance is "begging finance". The approach of two people, in short, one is open source, the other is throttling. Wang Anshi believes that the central government must put away economic power, learn from Shang Yang, learn from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and learn from Liu Yan, and carry out highly centralized nationalist reforms.Sima Guang believes that governing the country is actually very simple. As long as the central government is a little more economical, and then put agriculture as the foundation and store wealth in the people, the world will be peaceful. This is a classic Confucian view.The two had a quarrel in the Yanhe Hall.Wang Anshi laughed at Sima Guang and others for not knowing how to manage money for the country.Sima Guang said: "I don't think it is a good thing to gather the wealth of the world into the government's pocket. Your method is to harm the common people." Don't benefit the endowment, but the country uses it."."

Sima Guang turned against him on the spot when he heard this, and said: "Sang Hongyang said this, and Sang Hongyang used this sentence to deceive Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The country almost perished." In Sima Guang's view, there is a certain amount of wealth in the world, if it is not in the people, it is in the government, and there is an inherent relationship between the two.His observation is very important in the history of economic thought. In fact, it is still controversial today.In 1068, the debate between Wang Anshi and Sima Guang stopped here and did not go any further. In fact, starting from this point, we can have a real debate on China's state-owned economic system and financial model.

The young Song Shenzong vacillated between two great thinkers. At one moment he thought Wang Anshi was very reasonable, and at another moment he thought Sima Guang was right.However, six months later, he chose Wang Anshi and appointed him as a political adviser, equivalent to a deputy prime minister, to carry out major reforms.