Chapter 13 193 Wang Anshi Reform

Song Renzong has been the emperor for forty years. Although he has used some upright ministers like Fan Zhongyan and Bao Zheng, he has no determination to reform, and the country is getting weaker and weaker.He had no son, and after his death, a son of the royal family was his successor, and this was Song Yingzong.Four years after Yingzong ascended the throne, he fell ill and died.Prince Zhao Xu (sound xu) came to the throne, this is Song Shenzong. Song Shenzong was only twenty years old when he came to the throne, and he was a relatively promising young man.Seeing the downturn in the country, he wanted to reform, but the people around him were all veterans of the Renzong period, and even people like Fu Bi who had supported the New Deal had become depressed.Song Shenzong thought that if he wanted to reform the status quo, he must find a capable assistant.

Before Song Shenzong came to the throne, there was an official named Han Wei who often talked about some good opinions in front of Shenzong.Shenzong praised him, and he said: "These opinions are all from my friend Wang Anshi." Although Song Shenzong had never met Wang Anshi, he already had a good impression of Wang Anshi.Now he wanted to find an assistant, so he naturally thought of Wang Anshi, so he issued an order to transfer Wang Anshi, who was an official in Jiangning, to the capital. Wang Anshi was a famous writer and statesman in the Song Dynasty. He was born in Linchuan, Fuchuan (now west of Fuzhou, Jiangxi).When he was young, he wrote excellent articles, which was appreciated by Ouyang Xiu.Wang Anshi was a Jinshi at the age of twenty, and he served as a local official for several terms.When he was a county magistrate in Yin County (now Yin County, Zhejiang Province, Yinyin yin), it happened that the disaster was serious there and the people's life was very difficult.Wang Anshi built water conservancy, improved transportation, and managed it in an orderly manner.During the lean season, when the food rations of the poor could not be met, he would open the official storehouses and lend grain to the farmers. After the autumn harvest, he asked them to repay them with the interest determined by the government.By doing so, the peasants will no longer be exploited by the big landlords for their huge profits, and their lives will be easier.

Wang Anshi has been a local official for twenty years, and his reputation is getting bigger and bigger.Later, Song Renzong transferred him to the capital to be an official in charge of finance. As soon as he arrived in the capital, he submitted a Wanyan Shu (a memorial of about 10,000 words) to Renzong to put forward his proposals for reforming finance.Song Renzong had just abolished Fan Zhongyan's New Deal, and he had a headache when he heard about reforms, so he put Wang Anshi's memorial aside.Wang Anshi knew that the court had no determination to reform, and he couldn't get along with some ministers, so he took advantage of his mother's death to resign and go home.

This time, he received an order from Song Shenzong to summon him, and he also heard that Shenzong was looking for talents, so he happily invited him to Beijing. As soon as Wang Anshi arrived in the capital, Song Shenzong asked him to go to the palace alone to talk.As soon as Shenzong met him, he asked him, "How do you start governing the country?" Wang Anshi replied calmly: "Start by reforming the old laws and establishing a new legal system." Song Shenzong asked him to go back and write a detailed reform opinion.After Wang Anshi returned home, he wrote a letter of opinion that night and sent it to Shenzong the next day.Song Shenzong believed that Wang Anshi's opinions were in line with his wishes, and he trusted Wang Anshi more and more.In 1069 AD, Song Shenzong promoted Wang Anshi to be the deputy prime minister.At that time, there were four prime ministers in the imperial court in name, the sick one was sick, and the old one was old.Some people are not sick or old, but when they heard about the reform, they complained endlessly.Wang Anshi knew that it would be impossible to accomplish great things with this group of people. With the approval of Song Shenzong, a group of young officials were appointed, and a special institution for formulating new laws was set up to seize the right to reform.In this way, he freed his hands and feet to carry out reforms.

The main contents of Wang Anshi's reform are: 1. Young seedling method.This method was tried out in Yin County, and now it is extended to the whole country. 2. Farmland Water Conservancy Law.The government encourages localities to build water conservancy projects and reclaim wasteland. 3. Immunity Act.The various servants of the government are no longer served by the private households themselves, but hired by the government.Residential households pay exemption money according to the level of wealth and poverty, and bureaucrats and landlords who did not serve in the past also have to pay.This not only increased government revenue, but also reduced the labor burden of farmers.

Four, Fang Tian average tax law.In order to prevent big landlords from annexing land and concealing the population of the land, the government measures the land, verifies the amount of land, and collects taxes according to the size and fertility of the land. Five, Baojia Law.The government organizes farmers by household, and every ten households is guaranteed one, fifty households are guaranteed one, and ten households are guaranteed one.If there are two or more adult males in the family, one of them will be selected as a Baoding, training soldiers in slack farming, and joining the army to fight in wartime.

Wang Anshi's reform played a positive role in consolidating the rule of the Song Dynasty and increasing national income.However, it also violated the interests of big landlords and was opposed by many courtiers. Once, Song Shenzong went to Wang Anshi and asked him: "People outside are talking about us, saying that we are not afraid of changes in the sky, don't listen to people's opinions, and don't abide by the rules of our ancestors. What do you think?" Wang Anshi replied calmly: "Your Majesty handles political affairs seriously, which can be said to prevent changes in the sky. Your Majesty consults the opinions of the following, which is to take care of public opinion; besides, people's words are also wrong. Why be afraid of people's comments. As for the old rules of the ancestors, they are not fixed."

Wang Anshi insisted on three fears, but Song Shenzong was not as firm as him. Hearing that there were many people who opposed him, he wavered. In 1074 A.D., there was a severe drought in Hebei. There was no rain for ten consecutive months. Farmers ran out of food and fled everywhere.Song Shenzong was worried about this, and an official took the opportunity to draw a "Refugees Picture" and dedicated it to Song Shenzong, saying that the drought was caused by Wang Anshi's political reform, and asked Shenzong to remove Wang Anshi from his post. Song Shenzong looked at this picture of refugees, but he just sighed and couldn't sleep at night.Shenzong's grandmother, Empress Dowager Cao, and mother, Empress Dowager Gao, also wept in front of Shenzong, complaining that Wang Anshi had messed up the world and forced Shenzong to stop the new law.

Seeing that the new law could not be implemented, Wang Anshi was so angry that he wrote a letter and resigned.Song Shenzong had no choice but to let Wang Anshi leave Tokyo temporarily and go to Jiangning Mansion to recuperate. In the second year, Song Shenzong recalled Wang Anshi back to the capital as prime minister.Just a few months later, a comet appeared in the sky.This was a normal natural phenomenon, but it was considered an unlucky omen at the time.Song Shenzong panicked again and asked the ministers to give their opinions on the government.Some conservatives took the opportunity to attack the new law.Wang Anshi tried his best to defend the new law and asked Song Shenzong not to believe this superstition, but Song Shenzong was still hesitant.

Wang Anshi had no way to continue to implement his ideas.In the spring of the third year (AD 1076), he resigned from the position of prime minister again and went back to Jiangning mansion.