Chapter 27 The determination of the four emperors

Lu Hui was dismissed and Fan Chunren was expelled from the capital, which marked the beginning of Wang Anshi's reform to eliminate dissidents.This change was caused by a murder case. There was a beautiful woman in Dengzhou. On the eve of her wedding, she learned that her future husband was very ugly, and a flower was stuck in cow dung. She was really unwilling, so she thought of murdering her husband.She hid a sharp knife and sneaked into her husband's house in an attempt to murder him.It happened that her husband was plowing and taking a nap in the field. When the woman raised her knife and cut it down, her husband was alarmed and hurriedly raised his hand to block it, saving his life, but when he raised his hand to block it, his finger was chopped off.The husband's family sued the woman to the officials.Zhizhou saw that the woman was beautiful, but she was not a good match for her husband, so he felt compassion and wanted to excuse her.He asked the woman to confess the murder, and promised to report the crime to the court according to the confession.

After the case was reported, Wang Anshi believed that the state official's opinion was feasible. Sima Guang thought it was a violation of the law, how could he reduce the crime for murdering his own husband? But Wang Anshi said that since he surrendered himself, the crime should be reduced. Sima Guang disagreed with Wang Anshi's opinion.He said that the law clearly stipulates that killing or wounding due to other crimes is the main crime. Today, the woman murdered her husband, but she didn't kill her because something happened. The woman committed the crime of murder.Self-murder and suicide cannot be separated, that is to say, the crime of injury cannot be judged separately from the crime of murder.

However, Wang Anshi insisted that surrender should be punished as surrender. If surrender is not punished as surrender, it would be against the law. The two were at loggerheads, and when the information about the case reached the emperor, Zhao Xu agreed with Wang Anshi's opinion. Liu Shu, the censor and judge, thought that Wang Anshi was ignoring the law and that the emperor's order was also problematic, so he rejected the edict.To refute the imperial edict means that the censor refused to execute the emperor's order, signed his opinion on the emperor's edict, and returned it to the emperor.The censors of Yushitai have the power to deny and refute the imperial edict.

When Wang Anshi saw that Liu Shufeng had refuted the edict, he was so angry that he invited Zhao Xu to dismiss him from his official position. Liu Shu was demoted for rejecting the imperial edict, and there was a lot of discussion at Yushitai. Liu Shu led Liu Qi, Qian Yi, Sun Changling and other censors to jointly write a letter to impeach Wang Anshi, requesting Wang Anshi's removal from the position of prime minister.In this way, a battle is turned into light. Wang Anshi didn't have the slightest intention of backing down, so he asked the emperor to expel all these disobedient censors from the capital, and exile them to a small remote county as petty officials.

In September of the second year of Xining (1069), Wang Anshi officially promulgated and implemented the Green Crop Law. The young crop method is actually a method of agricultural lending. During spring plowing, farmers do not have seed money, and the government lends to farmers, taking half of the interest. After the crops are harvested, they will be repaid along with the summer tax with interest.Because it is borrowed when the young crops are sown, it is called the green crop method, or green crop money. When Wang Anshi was the prefect, he implemented the method of "loaning grain to the people and paying interest immediately", which not only solved the urgent need for farmers to have no money for spring farming, but also the government obtained interest from it, killing two birds with one stone.

The Young Crop Method is the most well-known new method in Wang Anshi's reform. When people talk about Wang Anshi's Reform, the first thing that comes to mind is the Young Crop Method.Because this new law affects every village in the country, involving thousands of households, from wealthy businessmen to ordinary people, everyone can deeply understand this new law. This is the main reason why the Qingmiao Law has attracted widespread attention reason. Originally, Wang Anshi was going to promulgate the Green Crop Law a month ago, but when discussing this issue, there were differences of opinion in the reform team. Lu Huiqing tried his best to agree with Wang Anshi, but Su Zhe believed that the Green Crop Law was not feasible.Wang Anshi asked him why, and Su Zhe said that the purpose of lending money to farmers was to help them, but when the money was in their hands, some people would misuse it, and when the repayment period came, they were unable to repay it.In this way, the government will press and coerce them. In this way, instead of saving the people, they will harm the people.

Wang Anshi didn't have enough reasons to persuade Su Zhe, so he had to suspend the execution. About a month later, Wang Guangyuan, the Jingdong transshipment envoy, submitted a memorial to the imperial court, reflecting that farmers in the Jingdong area lacked funds for spring farming, so they had to borrow from wealthy households.He requested that the 500,000 yuan from the Dao be loaned to farmers at a rate lower than that of wealthy households. In this way, farmers can avoid being exploited by usurers, and the government can also obtain considerable interest. Wang Anshi read Wang Guangyuan's memorial and said happily, this is the young crop method. How can the young crop method not be feasible?He immediately summoned Wang Guangyuan to Beijing by a six-hundred-mile courier to discuss the implementation of the Green Crop Law.

After Wang Guangyuan entered Beijing, he reported some ideas on promoting the young crop law, which was appreciated by Wang Anshi. The next day, Wang Anshi invited Zhao Xu to try out the young crop method in Hebei, Jingdong, and Huainan roads first, and then gradually spread it to the whole country after gaining experience. It's a good way to promote gradually. Wang Anshi's report was quickly approved. Su Zhe is a member of the reform team. A month ago, due to his opposition, the Qingmiao Law was postponed. One month later, his view has not changed. Although the emperor has approved it, his view remains unchanged. He still believes that Qingmiao The law was not feasible, and he tried his best to prevent the implementation of the young crop law. For this reason, he quarreled with Lu Huiqing.

Lu Huiqing was a supporter of the new law, but he couldn't persuade Su Zhe, so he could only report to Wang Anshi, saying that Su Zhe obstructed the implementation of the Green Crop Law. Wang Anshi was furious after hearing this, thinking that since Su Zhe obstructed the new law, it was inappropriate to stay in the Department of Regulations of the Third Division of Zhizhi.He was going to expel Su Zhe from the reform leadership and punish him severely.Thanks to Chen Shengzhi's persuasion from the side, Su Zhe escaped from disaster, and he was promoted to be an official in the Henan government.

Wang Anshi recommended Lu Huiqing as Prince Zhongyun.Prince Zhongyun is the prince's teacher. This is a position with the highest honor. When the prince becomes the emperor in the future, Prince Zhongyun is a veritable emperor's teacher. Sima Guang believed that Lu Huiqing's intentions were not right, and the government and the public did not have a good voice for him. He also said that Wang Anshi had mistrusted an adulterer, and suggested that Zhao Xu should not reuse this person. Zhao Xu did not listen to Sima Guang's opinion, but still adopted Wang Anshi's opinion, and appointed Lu Huiqing as the crown prince Zhongyun.It can be seen from this that Zhao Xu is almost obedient to Wang Anshi.

Prime Minister Fu Bi did not approve of the reform. Seeing Wang Anshi's majestic appearance, he felt very uncomfortable. However, the emperor obeyed Wang Anshi's words and expected that he would not be able to compete with him.Unable to offend and hide, he reasoned that he was ill and asked to resign as prime minister. Zhao Xu quickly approved Fu Bi's request and ordered him to go to Bozhou. When Fu Bi was leaving, he warned that in any political struggle, the gentleman will lose and the villain will prevail.Because the gentleman fights for morality, and the villain fights for power. In the end, both sides will get their own place, the good people will go to the throne, and the bad people will gain power.He predicted that if the country's major affairs continue like this, the country will be in chaos. After Fu Bi dismissed as prime minister, Zhao Xu promoted Chen Shengzhi to be the same minister. After Chen Shengzhi became prime minister, Zhao Xu asked Sima Guang about the reaction of the government and the public to this incident. Sima Guang replied: "The people of Fujian are insidious and cunning, and the people of Chu are good at communication. Today, the two prime ministers are both from Fujian (Zeng Gongliang is from Jinjiang, and Chen Shengzhi is from Jianyang, both belong to Fujian). Both of them participated in politics. (Wang Anshi is from Linchuan, Zhao Bian is from Xi’an, both belong to Chu). If these people form a clique, the court will have a good show.” Zhao Xu said that Chen Shengzhi was talented and well versed in civil affairs. Sima Guang said: "It is of course possible to use talents, but he must have honest people around him to help him and supervise his words and deeds, so that there will be no trouble." "How about Wang Anshi?" Zhao Xu changed the subject. Sima Guang said without hesitation: "People outside may say that Wang Anshi is hypocritical, which may be a bit exaggerated, but his character is too stubborn, too stubborn, self-willed, and sometimes even to the point of being unreasonable. This is a big problem." Although Sima Guang and Wang Anshi have different political views, their comments on Wang Anshi are relatively fair.But his opinion did not change Zhao Xu's decision. Chen Shengzhi was a comrade of Wang Anshi's reform. Together with Wang Anshi, he founded the reform institution--Zhizhi Sansi Regulations Division. After becoming prime minister, the relationship between them changed subtly. Chen Shengzhi became the prime minister. Considering the fact that the reform was opposed by the vast majority of people, he wanted to change the status quo and do something in line with the taste of the public to win over the public.So I asked you to remove the three divisions who were criticized by everyone, in order to get some votes of approval among the officials. The first thing Chen Shengzhi did after he became prime minister was to take the third division of the Department of Regulations, which was beyond Wang Anshi's expectation.The two had a fierce quarrel over this. Chen Shengzhi knew that Wang Anshi was a popular person around the emperor, and fighting against him would never end well. Many people tried to compete with him, but the results were miserable.He was not confused, since he had torn face with Wang Anshi, he had to pack up and leave. He chose the method that many people have used, and asked for sick leave. That's what Fu Bi did, and many people did it.Claiming to be sick is the best way for government officials to express their dissatisfaction. It has been tried and tested throughout the ages. After Chen Shengzhi retired from illness, Wang Anshi recommended Han Jiang, deputy envoy of the Privy Council, to preside over the work of the Division of Regulations of the Third Division. Han Jiang is a loyal follower of Wang Anshi. After he took office, the first thing he did was to fully implement the Young Crop Law.He said that the young crop law is convenient for the people, and the people are willing to borrow money from the government. It has been tried in Hebei, Jingdong, and Huainan, and the effect is very good. Zhao Xu's mood for change was also very urgent. After receiving a report from the Third Department of Regulations, he ordered that promotion officials be set up in various places to manage the borrowing and lending for the implementation of the Young Crop Law. Wang Anshi's implementation of the Young Crops Law has three purposes. One is to prevent the rich from taking advantage of the peasants' urgency and high profits, which embodies the idea of ​​suppressing mergers and helping the poor; The third is to increase the national fiscal revenue. In the process of implementing the promotion officials, they seem to have a deeper understanding of the third article, which is to increase fiscal revenue.And the best way to increase fiscal revenue is to borrow more money. The more loans are made, the more interest will be recovered, and the more interest collected, the greater the achievements in promoting officials.Due to the blind pursuit of financial revenue, the young crop law changed its taste during the implementation process. In many places, in order to obtain more fiscal revenue, they have tried every means to lend more money to young crops, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, high or low, and distribute them according to their accounts.The actual situation is that rich households do not particularly need loans, while poor households urgently need loans, and the government is afraid that they will not be able to repay them. In some places, the promotion of officials has come up with a way, according to the financial resources of the people, from rich to poor. The funds are apportioned in proportion, and it is stipulated that the loans of poor households shall be guaranteed by neighboring wealthy households. In Jingdong, Wang Guangyuan divided the households there into five classes. The upper-class households forcibly borrowed 15,000 yuan, and the lower-class households forcibly borrowed 1,000 yuan.Wang Guangyuan went to Beijing to report, but instead said that the people are grateful to the government. All of these, of course, cannot escape the eyes of the censors. Li Chang, the admonisher, and Cheng Hao, the censor, impeached Wang Guangyuan for forcing the apportionment in Jingdong and harming the people.Liu Xiang, the transshipment envoy of Hebei, did not distribute money for young crops at all. His reason was that the people were unwilling to borrow money. Wang Anshi personally went to Yushitai and said to the censors: "What are you going to do? You want to impeach those capable officials who actively implement the new law, and ignore those who treat the new law negatively. This is how the imperial court handles things, and it can also make the country rich and strong. ?" Yushitai is not under the management of Zhongshu Province, and Wang Anshi can't cover the mouths of these people, they still have to say what they have to say. In November, the Farmland Water Conservancy Law was promulgated. Zhang Fangping, Ding You, a former member of the government, returned to the court when his term expired, and he was appointed as a scholar of the Guanwendian University to judge Shangshusheng. This is also a person who opposes the reform. . In the spring of the third year of Xining (1070), Sima Guang presided over the examination of Li Qingchen and others. He asked a policy question in the examination paper: "The changes of the sky are not to be feared, the ancestors are not to be lawful, and people's words are not to be sympathetic." Candidates questioned and indicated that they made a fuss to criticize. When the test paper was submitted to the emperor for approval, Zhao Xu asked someone to "stick it with paper" and instructed "don't come up with a plan, try Qing officials, etc." The next day, Zhao Xu asked Wang Anshi, "Have you heard the saying that there are three deficiencies?" "I don't know!" Wang Anshi felt a little puzzled. When Zhao Xu talked about the content of the three deficiencies, Wang Anshi knew that someone was playing tricks.Although he did not give a high-level overview of the three deficiencies, he did say something similar.His mind turned quickly, and he immediately took advantage of the situation, affirming the truth that people's words are not enough, and the laws of the ancestors are not enough to abide by, and refuted the attacks of Sima Guang and others. Wang Anshi's subsequent reforms were really based on the spirit of the "three deficiencies", going forward bravely and persevering to the end. Since then, "the change of the sky is not enough to be feared", "the ancestors are not enough to follow the law" and "people's words are not enough to be sympathetic" have become the battle slogans for breaking superstition and emancipating the mind, and have been widely circulated. When the new law was being implemented in full swing, Han Qi, who lived in the Daming Mansion and was an official pacifier in Hebei Province, spoke up. He went to the school to request the abolition of the Green Crop Law, pointing out that the Green Crop Law endangered the people. Han Qi has been the prime minister for many years and is a heavyweight. His words attracted enough attention from Zhao Xu.When discussing Han Qi's memorial with Wang Anshi, he said: "Han Qi is a loyal minister of the country. Although he is an official outside, he still never forgets the court. I thought that the Qingmiao Fahui would benefit the people, but I didn't expect it to do so much harm. Besides, Qingmiao Loans are only used in rural areas, why are they also marketed in cities?" Wang Anshi said, if urbanites also need loans, why not lend them? Zhao Xu's thinking began to waver, and he intends to terminate the Young Crop Law, and told several assistant ministers of this idea. Knowing that the emperor's confidence in the reform was shaken, Wang Anshi asked for sick leave. Zhao Xu knew that Wang Anshi had a heart disease, and he felt sorry, so he ordered Lu Huiqing to do his work.Wang Anshi simply stayed in bed and refused to see visitors. Zhao Xu said to Zhao Bian, who participated in politics, that I was planning to abolish the law because I heard that the Green Crop Law did more harm than good. Zhao Bian still supported Wang Anshi at that time, and advocated to wait for Wang Anshi to cancel the fake before discussing it. Zhao Bian said it tactfully, but Han Jiang was straightforward. He said that the sage is like Zhongni, and the virtuous is like Zichan. When they first presided over the state affairs, they were criticized by everyone, let alone Wang Anshi?If Your Majesty is determined to implement the new law, he must retain Wang Anshi!If Wang Anshi is retained, he will definitely suppress first and then promote like Zhongni and Zichan. The persuasion of Zhao Bian and Han Jiang made Zhao Xu hesitate again.He decided to send eunuchs Zhang Ruoshui and Lan Yuanzhen to investigate the implementation of the Qingmiao Law before making a final decision. That night, Zeng Gongliang sent his son to tell Wang Anshi about the change in the political situation, and said that the emperor sent people to Beijing to inspect and told him to sell the holiday as soon as possible. Wang Anshi took immediate action when he learned of the secret report. Before Zhang Ruoshui and Lan Yuanzhen left Beijing for inspection, Wang Anshi held a farewell banquet for them at the best restaurant in the capital. No one knew what they said while drinking.However, when the two of them returned to Beijing to return to their orders, they all said good things about the Qingmiao Law, saying that the common people were in favor of the new law. Zhao Xu completely dispelled the idea of ​​abolishing the Green Crop Law, and became more determined to implement the new law.He ordered Zeng Bu to draft a document to reject Han Qi's opinion, and issued this document to the world, so that everyone in the world would know his determination to reform. The emperor's decision was like a good medicine. Wang Anshi's illness was healed immediately, and he went to work without any signs of illness. His determination to reform was stronger than ever. Wen Yanbo couldn't stand it any longer, so he questioned Zhao Xu when he entered the court, saying that Han Qi was the prime minister of the three dynasties, wouldn't he be inferior to two eunuchs?He didn't believe what he said, but he actually wanted to believe what the two eunuchs said. Zhao Xu's face changed drastically when he heard the words, but since Wen Yanbo was the first court official, he couldn't bear to scold him face to face, so he returned his ugly face and said nothing. Wen Yanbo knew that the emperor would not listen to what he said, so he had to withdraw angrily. During Wang Anshi's illness, Zhao Xu wanted Sima Guang to be the deputy envoy of the Privy Council.Sima Guang declined, saying that his personal official position is irrelevant, what matters is whether the court abolishes the New Deal.And repeated memorials, please abolish the new law. Zhao Xu replied: "I once ordered you to be a privy envoy in charge of military affairs. Why did you refuse to accept it many times, but keep talking about things that have nothing to do with military affairs?" Sima Guang replied that he had not accepted the military post, and that as long as he was under the door for one day, he would remind His Majesty to pay attention to these matters. Wang Anshi's status was consolidated after Wang Anshi's dismissal, Sima Guang was reduced to a imperial edict, but Fan Zhen refused to issue a new order.Seeing that Fan Zhen disobeyed his orders, Zhao Xu handed over the edict to Sima Guang himself.Therefore, Fan Zhen resigned from his post in the province, and Zhao Xu agreed. Later, Sima Guang was sent to Shaanxi as a foreign official.Sima Guang didn't want to go. After communicating with Wang Anshi several times through letters, he knew that the two had completely different political views, so he decided to resign from all positions and retire to the mountains and forests. From then on, until Zhao Xu's death, Sima Guang stayed behind closed doors for sixteen years, devoting all his energy to continue writing the historical masterpiece that had begun nine years ago. When Han Qi learned that the original play was rejected, he continued to write a letter to defend, but Zhao Xu ignored it.Han Qi then asked to resign as the comfort envoy of Hebei and only lead the Daming Mansion all the way, and was immediately approved. Sun Jue of the Court of Intellectual Trial, Lu Gongzhu of Zhongcheng Yushi, and Chen Xiang of Zhizhi Gao and Zhishi Academy who opposed the Qingmiao Law were all demoted. Zhao Bian did not agree with Wang Anshi's reform at all, but when Zhao Xu wavered in the implementation of the Green Crop Law and Wang Anshi claimed that he would not be sick, he helped Wang Anshi speak out by mistake, so that the Green Crop Law could be promulgated and implemented.When he saw that those who opposed the reform were expelled from the capital one after another, his intestines were full of regret. He went up to impeach Wang Anshi and asked to resign from the post of participating in politics.Because he knew what kind of result the impeachment of Wang Anshi would be.Rather than waiting to be dismissed from office, it is better to take the initiative to resign, which is enough for a man.Soon, he was relegated to Hangzhou to be a magistrate. There was a vacancy in the post of political adviser, and Han Jiang, who supported Wang Anshi's reform, came to power and recommended Li Ding as the supervisory censor.It is precisely because of this Li Ding that the debate between the censors and Wang Anshi became more intense. Li Ding was a magistrate in Xiuzhou and a student and loyal follower of Wang Anshi.When he came to Beijing from Xiuzhou, he met You Zhengyan and Li Chang.Li Chang asked him about the views of the people in the south on the Qingmiao Law. "Okay!" Li Ding said without hesitation, "People in the south say that the Green Crop Law protects them from usury and is a good policy that benefits the country and the people." Li Chang said in surprise: "Is this really the case? Everyone in the court is discussing this matter, but no one agrees!" Li Ding said to Li Chang: "Then tell them to go downstairs and have a look! Don't sit in the room and talk nonsense." Li Ding told Wang Anshi how he met Li Chang on the road, and he strongly advocated that the green crop law is a policy for the convenience of the people. The people applauded and expressed incomprehension that some people in the capital opposed this policy. Wang Anshi was very happy that his students supported the reform, saying that those people were making trouble for no reason, and told him to tell the emperor the voice of the people when he met the emperor. The next day, Li Ding praised the new law vigorously in front of the emperor, and said that the common people in the south supported the Qingmiao Law.Zhao Xu was happy for a while, and immediately named him Zhijian Yuan. Prime Minister Zeng Gongliang stood up and objected, saying that Li Ding was just a state judge, and he was suddenly promoted to Zhijianyuan. There had never been such a precedent.Zhao Xu had no choice but to change Li Ding to be the supervisory censor. Zhizhigao Song Minqiu, Su Song, and Li Dalin wrote letters one after another, saying that Li Ding only said a few words in praise of Qingmiao Fa, and made no special contribution. Such appointment disrupted the established rules of official appointment. Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi went about their work separately and told them not to get entangled in this matter, but the three still didn't listen. Wang Anshi impeached them on the grounds that he had no eyes on the emperor and disobeyed the emperor's order.All three were dismissed at the same time.At that time, the three of them were called "Xining Sansheren". The admonishers in the Northern Song Dynasty were very conscientious. They were not afraid of losing their hats, and they still had to say what they had to say.Xining Sanshe was demoted, but did not seal the mouths of the censors.The supervisory censor Chen Jian continued to impeach Li Ding, and revealed a piece of Li Ding's privacy: Li Ding was in the post of director of Jing County, and his mother Qiu died, so he did not report to Ding You. There is a rule in ancient China that no matter who or what official they are, if their parents die, they must resign and go home to mourn for three years.Li Ding's concealment of his mother's death not only violates the law, but also corrupts morality.Not only was he despised by scholar-bureaucrats, but even ordinary people would call him a low-brow who was worse than a beast. Of course Li Ding would not arrest him without a fight. He said that Qiu was not his biological mother, so he did not report to Ding You. It turned out that Li Ding's father, Li Wen, had been a doctor of Guozi.His biological mother, Chou Shi, was once married, and it is said that Zen master Foyin who made friends with Su Shi was her son.Later, the Qiu family went to the Li family and became Li Wen's concubine, and gave birth to a son, Li Ding.Not long after Li Ding was born, the Qiu family was expelled from the Li family and remarried to a family surnamed Gao.When Li Ding grew up, he saw his biological mother remarried and refused to recognize her.Therefore, when Qiu Shi died, he did not report to Ding You. In ancient times, there was a rule that when your parents passed away, except for the emperor, no matter what official you were, you must report to the organization and go home to mourn for three years. This is called Ding You.Li Ding's mother died, and he did not report to Ding You, which was called unfilial morally and illegal in the system. Chen Jian's impeachment certificate is powerful enough. Wang Anshi deliberately defended Li Ding, reprimanded Chen Jian for being pretentious, and impeached him, dismissed Chen Jian as the supervisory censor, and changed his post to storyteller at Chongzheng Palace. Supervisory censors Lin Dan, Xue Changchao, and Fan Yu continued to impeach Li Ding and accused Wang Anshi of protecting his disciples. Wang Anshi saw that several censors were pointing at him, so he immediately went to the palace to meet Zhao Xu, and said that the three of them were working together, and such a person could not be kept. At this time, Zhao Xu obeyed Wang Anshi's words and obeyed everything. As long as Wang Anshi said it, he would obey it.Lin Dan, Xue Changchao, and Fan Ken were soon dismissed from office and expelled from the capital. Li Ding felt uneasy when he saw so many people impeaching him one after another, so he asked for his dismissal and changed him to the office of censor. Zhao Xu's choice is to support Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi was even more determined. For Li Ding, he dismissed seven censors.