A.D. 1067 was a year that had an important impact on later generations. This year 1 month, 36-year-old Song Yingzong passed away, and the legitimate heir, Crown Prince Zhao Yong, became the emperor of Song Shenzong. Of course, Zongshen is the name of his temple, which was named after his death. When we are alive, we can only call him "Today's Holy Family".

Zongshen was the sixth emperor in the Northern Song Dynasty. The top five are Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Heng, Zhao Zhen and Zhao Shu. Since then, three emperors have appeared, namely, Zhao Xu, Hui Zong Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan, Qin Zong. At this time, the Northern Song Dynasty has passed 108, which is middle-aged, and the new emperor is very young. Zhao Xu, born in Li Qing for eight years (A.D. 1048), is exactly twenty years old now. Young people are full of energy and always want to do something, and Song Shenzong is no exception.

Thus, there was the famous "Xining Reform".

Political reform is the first of Song Shenzong's "three fires when a new official takes office". Because it began in the second year of Zhao Yong's reign, that is, the first year of Xining (A.D. 1068), it was called "Xining Reform". The last two fires were "restructuring" (reforming the official system and the military system) and "using troops" (attacking Xixia) in Yuanfeng period. It seems that Zhao Yong is indeed a young man who wants to make a difference, but his actions don't seem to be very effective. The reform was blocked again and again, and it was defeated again and again. Therefore, the name of the temple obtained after Zhao Yong's death is actually "Zongshen". According to the posthumous law, "man can't be called God", which means "I don't know what to say". In history, Zhu Yijun, Emperor Amin Wanli, was called "Shinto". However, Emperor Wanli was in power for more than 40 years, ignoring state affairs and doing nothing. He even shared a temple name with this arbitrary and audacious Zhao Yong, which really made people "speechless".

But then again, Song Shenzong's political reform is not asking for trouble, making much ado about nothing, and making achievements for the sake of political achievements. The reform is reasonable and even far-sighted. We know that a mature dynasty will almost certainly have problems if it continues smoothly for hundreds of years. Because the political system implemented by successive dynasties, that is, centralized monarchy, was based on the low level of productivity and the general poverty and backwardness of social members. It is precisely because of the widespread poverty and backwardness that this requires not only a unified country, but also a supreme power entity (court) or power symbol (emperor). Once rich (not poor), strong (not backward), or the gap between the rich and the poor widened (poverty and backwardness are uncommon), the dynasty developed into a super empire (breaking through the scale), and trouble followed. "History of Song Dynasty, Food Records" said: "After a long period of peace, the registered permanent residence has increased. The more soldiers there are, the more officials there are. Buddhism is ancient and foreign, but it consumes middle earth. The county magistrate's fee is several times that of the past. The people are also a bit extravagant and trapped in wealth! " In other words, after a long period of peace and stability, the population will increase substantially and the expenditure will also increase substantially. First, the army is getting bigger and bigger, second, the officialdom is getting bloated, and third, religion is getting more and more prosperous, which will increase the cost. Besides, after getting rich, the requirements are different from before. Not only is the ostentation and extravagance of officials getting bigger and bigger, but even the life of the people is becoming more and more luxurious. Can finance be a problem?

On the contrary, administrative efficiency is getting lower and lower, and the vitality of the country is getting less and less. Because I have put up with it for a long time, I have no worries. Up and down in the ruling and opposition, lazy and weak, muddling along, not enterprising. This was the case during the reign of Ning. Five prime ministers and deputy prime ministers, except Wang Anshi and Ceng Gongliang, retired from their old age and returned home. Soon after their death, Zhao Bian complained bitterly. At that time, people ironically said that these five people happened to be sick and died. This kind of low morale is not unique to the Great Song Dynasty, but actually a common problem of all "century-old shops".

So at the peak of the dynasty, the bonfire of unrest has quietly risen, and the death knell of the empire has quietly sounded, but everyone can't see or hear it. What they saw and heard was that the situation was excellent, that it was a crowing, that it was "a roof of the Forbidden City supported two phoenixes in the clouds, and that leaves in spring covered a lot of rain", and that it was "Jincheng Silk Pipe was half in the river and half in the clouds day after day". However, when "clothes are in a thousand peaks, dancing is in the original collapse", it is too late to regret again. This is the case in Datang.

Song Shenzong obviously didn't want to see such an ending.

In fact, the situation at that time was not optimistic. According to the land policy cited by Zhao Yi in Historical Records of the Twenty-second in Qing Dynasty, in Song Renzong, the national fiscal revenue was 39 million, and the expenditure was13 million, accounting for one third of the income. During Song Yingzong's Pingzhi period, the national fiscal revenue was 44 million, and the expenditure was 8.8 million, accounting for one fifth of the revenue. During the period of Zongshen Xining, although the income reached 50.6 million, the expenditure was also 50.6 million, accounting for 100% of the income. So, isn't Zhao Yong's national treasury empty?

There are many reasons for the increase in expenditure. According to the history of Song Dynasty, there are three main reasons. First, Liao Xia threatened to fight for a long time and increase the annual fee. This article actually includes two items, namely "military expenditure" and "annual expenditure". The so-called "annual fee" is the money that Dasong bought peace for Liao and Xixia every year. The money is not only given every year, but also increasing. There is nothing we can do about it, unless we can destroy Liao and Xixia. But the Song Dynasty obviously didn't have this ability, so it's lucky that they didn't destroy it. But the peace bought is not reliable, so the military expenditure is increasing just like the annual expenditure.

Second, recruit soldiers, spread the imperial clan and increase the number of officials. There is nothing you can do about it, because you can't stop the population growth, and you can't stop relatives and grandchildren from having children. Therefore, we have to increase management personnel and institutions accordingly, and increase positions and official positions. As a result, "Lu Yu was given, thus being lenient."

The third issue is the system. In the Song Dynasty, it was an independent system of Zhongshu, Jimi and Sanshi. Zhongshu is the province of Zhongshu, in charge of administration; Parliament is the Privy Council, in charge of the military; These three departments are the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Salt and Iron and the Ministry of Finance. According to the Records of the History of Song Dynasty, Fan Zhen, an admonition official, saw the problem of this system as early as the years from Song Renzong to Hehe. Fan Shu said, "The Chinese book is for the people, the Council is for the soldiers, and the three books are for money. They don't know each other." As a result, the national treasury has long been empty, but the Privy Council is still recruiting (money is already in short supply and the Privy Council is benefiting from the soldiers); The people are already poor, and the Ministry of Finance is still blackmailing them (the people are already sleepy, and the three companies are still making money). Zhongshu province knows the situation of the people, but it can't stop the conscription of the Privy Council and the accumulated disadvantages of the Ministry of Finance. Of course there is no way. Because this system was originally designed to reduce relative power and strengthen imperial power, which emperor would change it?

In fact, the growth of national fiscal revenue has its own problems. From Huang You to Xining, the fiscal revenue has increased by more than 12% in just 20 years. Under the conditions at that time, how could the economic growth be so fast? It is obviously caused by increasing the burden on the people. The growth rate of expenditure is even more problematic, reaching more than 38%! How can the dynasty make ends meet to support itself?

Besides, Zongshen is still a man with extraordinary ambitions. From an early age, he was saddened by the humiliation and concession to Liao and Xixia, worried about the tight national finance and the depression of the imperial court, and wanted to make his dynasty strong overnight. He said to his courtiers many times, "There are many evils in the world, and we must reform them." He also said that "the country's heavy weapon, financial management first, talent first." The question is, where can I find people who dare to reform and are good at managing money?

He thought of Wang Anshi.

Make a hero twice.

Wang Anshi is also a man with extraordinary aspirations.

Wang Anshi is brilliant, knowledgeable and versatile. He never forgets his reading and writing. With his real talent and profound knowledge, he embarked on his official career at the age of 22, that is, in the second year of Li Qing (AD 1042), with the fourth place in the Jinshi. The difference is that when he was young, he didn't get carried away, didn't get promoted and made a fortune, didn't jump up and down to make friends with dignitaries and seek high positions for himself. During the twenty-five years from the second year of Li Qing in Song Renzong to the fourth year of Zhiping in Song Yingzong, Wang Anshi has been paying attention to and thinking about the destiny and future of the country. The Biography of Wang Anshi, the History of Song Dynasty, said that he was "self-appointed, but he had a secular and vulgar ambition". This ambition and these ideas prompted him to give Emperor Injong a book of several thousand words. Historians believe that this book of thousands of words is actually a programmatic document for his later political reform (after An Shi became a country, his notes and measures were mostly inherited from this book).

After Yan Hong's book was handed in, there was no following. Wang Anshi understands that the time for reform has not yet come. As a result, he refused the appointment of the court again and again, continued to keep a low profile in local official positions, and planted his own experimental field. It is not easy for Wang Anshi to decline these appointments. Because the public opinion at that time was that Jinling (namely Wang Anshi) was not in power. The imperial court has repeatedly "given the American official", but I am afraid that he will not accept it (I am afraid that he will suffer from this disease). On one occasion, the government sent a power of attorney to the door. Wang Anshi refused to accept it as usual, so the messenger had to kneel down and beg him. Wang Anshi hid in the toilet, and the messenger put the power of attorney on the table and left, but Wang Anshi caught up and returned it. In Wang Anshi's view, it is not important to be an official or not, what is important is whether you can do things. If you are a big official in the imperial court and can't do anything, you would rather be a small official who can do things at the local level.

Before Song Shenzong inherited the unification, Wang Anshi actually preferred to be a local official. After he was admitted to Jinshi, he was assigned to Huainan as a judge. According to the rules, after the expiration of his term of office, he can get a decent official position in Beijing by submitting papers (Xu Xianwen got a librarian position). Wang Anshi didn't do this (An Shi was the only one) and was transferred to Yinxian as a county magistrate. When he took office in Yinxian County, he "built dikes and weirs to break the pond and benefit the land and water", which really did a practical thing for the people. More importantly, he also "lent money to the people and promised to pay the money so that the new Chen Xiangyi and the local people could do this." This is actually a preview of his later political reform. In this way, when the time is ripe for reform and political reform, Wang Anshi has already had enough ideological, theoretical and practical preparations.

Because of this, when Wang Anshi met Song Shenzong, he was able to talk about Kan Kan with confidence. In April of the first year of Xining, Zong Shen asked Wang Anshi, what is the first thing to govern the country? Wang answered, "Choose the technique first". Zongshen asked again, what do you think of Emperor Taizong? At this time, Wang Anshi, a bachelor of Hanlin, actually replied, What are you going to do if you want to be Yao and Shun? Of course, this is very appetizing for immortals. However, at this time, Zongshen hesitated. He will continue to investigate and see if this middle-aged man with wild words is the one he has been looking for for for a long time. It was not until two years after Wang Anshi was appointed as political assistant minister (deputy prime minister) that Song Shenzong made up his mind to innovate and carry out political reform, and Wang Anshi presided over the work.

Zongshen's decision is not unreasonable. One of the reasons is that although Wang Anshi's ambition is great, he is not sparse. In this golden palace strategy, Zong Shen once asked Wang Anshi, and everyone said that you only know theory (but classics) and don't know practice (I don't know world events), right? Wang Anshi replied that theory was originally intended to guide practice. Just because the so-called theorists in later generations are all mediocre people, everyone thinks that theory can't be used in practice. This is very reasonable and true, but Zongshen is still uneasy and asks, "But what are your plans first?" Wang Anshi replied: "It is urgent to legislate to change customs." At this point, the ideas of the monarch and the minister are completely consistent. Song Shenzong's divine will has decided that reform and political reform must belong to you. Wang Anshi also did his duty: there is no one else in the world today!

Wang Anshi didn't lie. As long as there is no preconceived prejudice, it is not difficult to see that his new law is not only reasonable but also feasible. Wang Anshi's new laws can be divided into four categories. First, relief for rural areas, such as young crops law and water conservancy law; The second is to manage finance, such as the square field method and the tax equalization method; Third, give consideration to both, such as exemption method, market exchange method and lose-lose method; Fourth, rectify the military equipment, such as setting the general law, armor law, horse protection law and so on. If these new laws are not distorted and enforced, and Qiang Bing, a rich country that the emperor yearns for so much, reviving the Chaogang will no longer be a dream.

Let's say immunity law.

The immunity law is a reform aimed at the law on officers. Officers are also called forced labor, corvee and public office, which is actually voluntary labor. This is a collection (money and food) other than tax. The original intention may be to make up for the deficiency of the low tax system, or it may be that people can't afford so much money and food, so they use their own labor instead. But in this way, in order to ensure the operation of the state machine, the people not only have to pay (tax), but also contribute (corvee), which is really unbearable. In fact, there are too many kinds of forced labor in Song Dynasty. There are campaigns to keep public property, collect taxes, catch thieves, send messengers, and so on. People are naturally bored. But this is not the most troublesome. The trouble is, as the Book of Food in the History of Song Dynasty says, "There is a difference between work and rest, and there are differences between people who are strong and weak and rich and poor." Therefore, in the long run, it will "breed traitors." Whether the rich and powerful gentry families do light service or not, the burden falls on the poor without complaint. These people are usually busy with productive labor all day, and there is no livelihood if they serve too much. Therefore, in order to avoid heavy labor, ordinary people "dare not plow more land, but avoid households (for fear of being rated as large households);" The flesh and blood dare not gather together, fearing the population (for fear of being rated as a crowded household). "They" or widowed mothers remarried and their relatives separated; Or abandon fields and people, so as not to be superior; If you don't want to die, you will be single-minded (single-minded) "; Even desperate, "as a last resort to be a thief. "This is of course very unfavorable to agricultural production and social stability.

Wang Anshi's method is to change "dispatch service" into "wage service", that is, the people turn their due service into "exemption money" and give it to the government, which hires people to serve. This has three advantages. First, farmers do not contribute and do not delay production; Second, it is fair for everyone to contribute (half of the official households and temples that are not in service are called "service money"); Third, people who are too busy make time, while idle people in society have an extra chance to live, killing two birds with one stone. Therefore, when the exemption law was abolished and the servant law was restored, even the so-called "old party" people disagreed. Su Shi said that exemption from service and officers have their own advantages and disadvantages. I'm afraid it's not easy to call the police suddenly. Fan Chunren also said that officers should go slow. This shows that this method is popular.

In fact, the exemption method was the best method that could be thought of at that time. Of course, the cure is to completely eliminate forced labor. However, this is impossible. When we can think of using hired labor instead of dispatched labor and using spare money instead of service labor, we have to marvel at Wang Anshi's advanced concept. Because this way is expressed in modern language as "monetized service", which is similar to today's "monetized housing distribution", but their purposes are different, but their ideas are surprisingly consistent.

It seems that Wang Anshi's reform plan is not impulsive, but the result of careful consideration. This is quite scientific, at least in theory. The determination of the highest authorities is also great. For this reason, a leading institution for reform, namely, the Legal Department of the Third Division, has been set up, which is similar to the State Commission for Economic Restructuring. A few days later, the equal loss law, the young crop law, the water conservancy law, the exemption law, the easy market law, the square field law, the even tax law, the armor protection law and the horse protection law were promulgated one after another, and a major reform movement related to the rise and fall of the national movement and the obedience of the people was rolled out throughout the country.

However, neither Song Shenzong nor Wang Anshi expected that this reform would not only encounter many obstacles, but also be a complete failure.

Three tit for tat

The number one person who opposes political reform is Sima Guang.

Sima Guang is not an idle person. His article is moral enough to compete with Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi lived a simple life, and Sima Guang didn't like luxury (smelling banquets without flowers); Wang Anshi, a gifted scholar, Sima Guang learned (author of Zi Tongzhi Jian); Wang Anshi Zhongjun and Sima Guang are concerned about the country and the people; Wang Anshi is brave and resourceful, and Sima Guang dares to speak; Wang Anshi appeared in the book of thousands of words, and Sima Guang also appeared in the book of three sons (one on monarch's virtue, the other on imperial envoys, and the third on selecting soldiers). It can be seen that Sima Guang and Rainbow have been paying attention to and thinking about the destiny and future of the country since Anshi. One thing is the same, that is, they are neither empty theorists nor nerds. When dealing with specific political affairs, we can always come up with operable methods. In the first year of Bao, Emperor Taizong Pang Ji greeted Bing and appointed Sima Guang as the general. At that time, the fertile land in Hexi was often eroded by Xixia, which threatened Hedong. Sima Guang suggested building castles in Linzhou and recruiting farmers to cultivate these fertile fields. In this way, not only land-lost farmers have obtained land, but also the country's border defense has been strengthened. When farmers farm more, food prices will drop, which will stabilize the prices in Hedong and avoid transporting rations from a distance, killing two birds with one stone. Such a plan of "opening up wasteland and guarding the frontier" can also be compared with some new laws of Wang Anshi. So Sima Guang and Wang Anshi are both pillars of the country. The two of them are fighting with each other. That's really diamond cut diamond. He will meet the right person.

But this is only in terms of the so-called old and new party leaders. It is out of proportion to say that they are "guerrillas". Wang Anshi is mostly a villain here, such as his right-hand man Lv Huiqing. Lv Huiqing, promoted by Wang Anshi, worked in the Legal Department of the Third Division at the beginning of the reform, and was the "Standing Committee" or even the "Executive Deputy Director" of the State Commission for Economic Restructuring. Later, together with Han Jiang, another important figure of the New Party, he served as Wang Anshi's "two generals". At that time, he called Han Jiang the "Shaman who preached the law" and Lv Huiqing the "patron saint" of the new law. But it was this Lv Huiqing who, in order to monopolize power for himself, fell down when Wang Anshi was in trouble and framed Wang Anshi for participating in the rebellion. It's a pity that this accusation is ridiculous. After Wang Anshi was dismissed from office, he took another photo. Lv Huiqing died unsatisfied and threw out some personal letters written by Wang Anshi. When writing these letters, Wang Anshi wrote the words "Don't let the emperor know" out of his trust in Lv Huiqing. This is suspected of deceiving the monarch, which is more serious than Hu Feng's private letters. Wang Anshi knew that he couldn't stay in Beijing any longer, so he resigned from his official position and bid farewell to politics. Isn't this Lv Huiqing a villain?

The old Party was full of talented people. Sima Guang, Ouyang Xiu and Su Dongpo are all heavyweights. The rest, such as Wen Yanbo, Han Qi and Fan Chunren, are also temporary choices. More importantly, they are also reformists. For example, Tang Yanbo once risked his life to reform the military system with Pang Ji, Sima Guang's mentor. Han Qi and Fan Chunren's father, Fan Zhongyan, promoted the "New Deal" of the Qing Dynasty in Song Renzong. Moreover, in a sense, Fan Zhongyan's New Deal is a prelude to Wang Anshi's political reform. In fact, as Chen Liang of the Southern Song Dynasty said, celebrities in that period were all "always suffering from the same law", and no one was conservative. But once Wang Anshi came to power, they could not be reformists, but only conservatives.

Then, what is the difference between the old and new parties, both reformists, who want to refresh politics?

-in motivation and effect.

Wang Anshi is a motivational supremacist. In his view, as long as there is good motivation and perseverance, there will be good results. Therefore, in the face of repeated heckling by the ministers of the DPRK, Wang Anshi gritted his teeth and never let go: "Heaven is not enough to fear, people are not enough to speak, and the laws of the ancestors cannot be kept." This is his famous "three noes". Wang Anshi even threatened: "When the world doesn't know me, the world will thank me later." With this belief, he is confident, confident and fearless.

Indeed, Wang Anshi's political reform is characterized by arbitrariness and recklessness. In the fourth year of Xining (A.D. 107 1), Han Wei, the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, reported that some people in China had "cut their fingers and wrists" in order to escape the Garbo law. Song Shenzong asked Wang Anshi, and Wang Anshi replied dismissively that it was unreliable. Even if it is reliable, it is not a big deal! Those literati can't understand the new law yet, let alone ordinary people! Even Zongshen felt that this was too much, so he said euphemistically, "When people talk together and listen, they win, so they must not be afraid." But Wang Anshi obviously disagreed. In his view, even the opinions of literati can be ignored, and what public opinion and popular support are even more insignificant! Even if the people's interests suffer some losses, it is only the cost of reform. These costs must be paid, so they can be ignored.

The funds needed to implement the young crops law are not a problem. Because there are often closed positions and wide positions everywhere. As we know, the agricultural empire is based on agriculture, with grain as the key link, and agricultural production depends on the weather, and the annual harvest is different. In good years, poor grain hurts farmers, and in bad years, poor grain hurts people, all by the government to stabilize prices. In other words, the government must take out a sum of money to buy grain at a low price, deposit it in the official grain depot, and then sell it to the people at a low price when the grain is expensive in the disaster year. This can prevent wealthy profiteers from hoarding and speculating. "Prices are always flat, and public and private benefits." This method is called Changping method; A warehouse dedicated to storing grain and stabilizing prices is called continuous liquidation. In modern times, it belongs to the head of the grain department and the price department.

As for Guanghui Warehouse, it is the national grain reserve for disaster prevention and relief, which was built in the second year of Song Renzong Jiayou (AD 1057). At that time, due to the death of landlords and other reasons, some ownerless land appeared in various places. These lands have always been sold by the government itself. Han Qi, an envoy of the Tang Dynasty, suggested that the land should be cultivated by the government, and the land rent should be earmarked for the relief of the elderly, the sick and the disabled in China. This is Guanghui Warehouse. In modern times, it belongs to the head of the civil affairs department.

Wang Anshi's method is to change the "Changping method" to the "young crop method", that is, in the case that the money is not paid, the money from selling old rice in Changping warehouse and Guanghui warehouse is used as a "mortgage loan". This is also killing two birds with one stone. When green and yellow crops don't meet, food prices soar, and selling Chen Gu in the warehouse can stabilize prices. The proceeds from grain sales can be used for loans, and secondly; Cheap food and mortgage loans can help farmers, third; This is the fourth country that can get interest. Of course, it is also one of the benefits to curb profiteers and the rich and reduce the burden on farmers. In short, the interest on young crops loans is low and farmers can afford it; The old grain sold in the warehouse is not a heavy burden for the country. Besides, the government lending surplus grain can solve the urgent needs of farmers; Recovering interest after autumn can increase the capital of the dynasty treasury. Isn't this public and private? No wonder Wang Anshi boasted that I could increase the national treasury income without raising taxes.

However, the result of actual operation is extremely terrible.

First of all, the interest is not low. Wang Anshi's standard is an annual interest rate of two cents, that is, a loan of 10 thousand, a loan period of one year, and interest of two thousand. This is actually very high, and prices have to be raised everywhere. The local practice is to issue a loan once in the spring and recover it after half a year, with a profit of two points. In the autumn, another loan was issued, which was recovered after half a year, and then the interest was divided into two points. As a result, the loan was 10 thousand, with a term of one year and interest of 4 thousand. Low-interest loans, which should fully consider the interests of farmers, have become a kind of usury monopolized by the government. And because of the different implementation, the interest rate in some places is as high as 35 times that of the original set!

Not to mention the high interest rate, the procedure is still troublesome. In the past, farmers borrowed money from landlords, and the two sides agreed on the price. To borrow money from the government now, you have to apply first, then examine and approve, and finally repay the loan. All formalities need people to entrust them with "benefits" for small officials. Every time I go through a procedure, I am exploited and blackmailed by corrupt officials. This is still a simple procedure. If it's a little cumbersome, I don't even know how to pay! How much hair can farmers bear their pull?

What is even more frightening is that in order to implement the New Deal, Wang Anshi issued loan indicators to all parts of the country, stipulating how much each state and county must borrow each year. In this way, local officials have to apportion it rigidly. Of course, at the same time of apportioning at different levels, we also increase the price as usual. As a result, not only the poor peasants go down to the middle peasants, but also the rich peasants, rich peasants and landlords have to be "ordered to lend". It is impossible not to lend because the loan has been "legislated". It is illegal not to borrow!

As a result, the burden on ordinary people increased and the income of local officials increased. Moreover, their rent-seeking has another banner, which can be corrupted in the name of reform. Reform contributed to corruption, which was probably unexpected by Wang Anshi, right?

Therefore, don't think that corrupt officials are afraid of reform. No, they are not afraid of reform, nor are they afraid of not reforming. They are afraid that nothing will happen, nothing will be done, nothing will be done. If they do nothing, they have no reason and no way to make money. On the contrary, as long as the court has an action, they have a way, regardless of whether it is reform or something else. For example, if the imperial court wants to recruit soldiers, it is necessary to collect recruitment fees; If they want to eliminate pornography, they have to charge; To run a school, they charge tuition; If they want to suppress bandits, they will be charged a fee. Anyway, as long as the above command, they will take the opportunity to pull the goose!

Besides, the direct purpose of this reform is to increase the national fiscal revenue. At best, such reform is called financial management, at worst, it can only be called convergence. We know that the gross national product was basically a constant under the conditions at that time. Wealth lies not in the country, but in the people. There is more money in the state treasury, but less money for ordinary people. After the political reform, 32 new warehouses in Zongshen were full of silk knots and had to be rebuilt. But where did this wealth come from? Did it fall from the sky? Does it grow from the ground? Obviously not. As Sima Guang said, "If you don't take the people, how can you take them?" ?

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the so-called conservatives advocate gradual reform or even temporary non-reform. According to the Records of the History of Song Dynasty and Grain Goods, at the beginning of the reform, Sima Guang clearly pointed out to Zongshen: "The country is under-used, the expenditure is too extravagant, the reward is not festival, there are many imperial families, redundant official positions and the army is not refined." Obviously, these are political issues, not economic issues or technical issues. Therefore, reform must be a systematic project, and of course it can only be discussed in the long run (even in our view, these problems cannot be solved at all). No wonder Sima Guang said, "Your Majesty, ministers of the two dynasties and officials of the three dynasties must think deeply about the art of saving the disadvantages and hone it with time to be effective. A stupid minister can't cut them down overnight. " Is there any reason why a brave man like Wang Anshi can't fail?

Success or failure has nothing to do with morality.

The failure of political reform was unexpected by Wang Anshi.

To be fair, Wang Anshi is indeed one of the few enterprising and intelligent reformers in the history of China. In order to reform, he tried his best to perform his duties, which not only made him lose his body and mind, but also made his son lose his life (died of Lv Huiqing's disease). Besides, as mentioned above, his new law is well thought out and beneficial to the country and the people. After the conservatives came to power, the new laws were abolished one after another, and Wang Anshi, who resigned at home, was silent when he heard the news. It was not until March of the first year of Yuan You, Song Zhezong (A.D. 1086) that the news of the abolition of the exemption law reached Jiangning. He said in dismay: Is this ok? When this law was formulated, I discussed it with my late emperor (Zongshen died at this time) for two years, and it was really well thought out! However, the tide is gone and no one can help him. A month later, Wang Anshi died of illness.

A generation of great men passed away with regret, but his influence did not disappear, but became more intriguing with the passage of time. Wang Anshi inevitably became one of the most controversial figures in later generations. This shows that reform does have a price, including the reformer's own life, his reputation before his death, and the right and wrong behind it.

At first, the debate remained at the moral level as always.

Moral condemnation began at the beginning of reform. Long before Sima Guang, Lu Hui, vice minister of the Ministry of Supervision at the ministerial level, impeached Wang Anshi, saying that he was "a big traitor like loyalty, big and small people like faithfulness", "showing the wilderness outside, hiding treachery inside" and "bullying the weak and fearing the hard, forging ancient prose, and the world is wrong"; Liu Qi, a cadre of the Ministry of Supervision, and others accused Xiang Xue and others, who were in charge of implementing the new law, of being "villains". This condemnation even developed into a personal attack. Su Xun, for example, wrote the article "On Distinguishing Traitors", pointing out that some people (actually Wang Anshi) are talking about the words of Confucius and Laozi (reciting the words of Confucius and Laozi), as if they were doing things like Boyi and Jishu (living in harmony), but in fact they are not people, wearing the clothes of sinners (courtiers and Lu) and eating pigs and dogs (eating dogs and eating dogs). Isn't such a person a "big traitor"? Although this article was not necessarily written by Su Xun, which represented the antipathy of some people at that time, it is a fact.

Of course, this moral attack is by no means unilateral. Wang Anshi also criticized Sima Guang as "a person who trusts his superiors (speaking out) and attaches truth to his heart (buying people's hearts), saying and doing things that are harmful to politics". This is tantamount to saying that Sima Guang is duplicitous and a black sheep of the imperial court. So it doesn't mean anything. In fact, Wang Anshi is said to be a "villain" and "angry at people", while the "new party" (Han Jiang, etc. He co-chaired the reform and was called "Xifeng villain" (Xining and Yuanfeng were the titles of Wang Anshi when he was in power), but Sima Guang and others were also called "traitors in Yuan You" after they fell from power (Yuan You was a philosopher). Their names were engraved on stone tablets all over the country, so that the military and civilians could distinguish between loyalty and evil. As for Wang Anshi, who was scolded like a dog before, he should enjoy the Confucius Temple and become the third saint besides Confucius and Mencius.