Daming: Spoilers about the future, Zhu Yuanzhang collapsed

Chapter 506 Zhao Kuangyin was confused: Isn't it true that the Song Dynasty has existed for 3 y

"What is the content of this Qingli New Deal?"

Zhao Kuangyin seemed a little excited and looked at Han Cheng and asked.

He had heard too many embarrassing things about his own Song Dynasty before.

At this time, I finally heard something different, and naturally my mood became different.

Han Cheng did not keep the secret and immediately said to Zhao Kuangyin:

"The Qingli New Deal can be generally divided into three major aspects.

The first is to clear the officials, the second is to make the country rich and the army strong, and the third is to enforce the rule of law."

When Zhao Kuangyin heard Han Cheng say this, he suddenly felt much better.

I think these people really got the point.

It's quite well formulated.

However, while I felt good, I also had a vague feeling that something was not right.

But I couldn't figure out what was wrong at the moment.

“Among them, this clarification of official administration includes five items in total.

One is to clearly define promotions and demotions.

During the reign of Emperor Renzong, the "Mokan" system was adopted for the promotion of officials.

Only the years of experience count, not political achievements.

This leads to officials being complacent and doing nothing.

In response to this, Fan Zhongyan proposed a new performance evaluation system, promoting officials with outstanding performance and removing guilty and incompetent officials.

It also stipulated that officials in the capital and county officials would be promoted after their three-year term expired if they were recommended by someone.

Otherwise, one will have to wait until five years have passed before the examination can be carried out.

The second is to suppress luck.

Since the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the system of nepotism had led to an increasingly serious problem of excessive bureaucracy.

Among those who held the official position of Bachelor or above, within twenty years, through imperial favor, twenty of their brothers and descendants became officials in the capital.

In response, Fan Zhongyan proposed restricting the privilege of appointing sons to positions of office for middle and senior officials.

Prevent the children and relatives of the powerful and wealthy from monopolizing official positions.

The third is the fine tribute examination.

The content of the imperial examination was reformed, and the original emphasis on poetry and prose for the Jinshi examination was changed to focus on policy essays. The Mingjing examination was changed from merely requiring memorization of words and sentences from Confucian classics to requiring explanation of the meaning and principles of the classics.

The prefectures and counties were ordered to establish schools, and scholars had to study in school for a certain period of time before they were allowed to take the imperial examinations.

In this way, students will have real talents and knowledge, and the method of becoming a Jinshi can be followed according to its name.

The fourth is to choose a superior.

At that time, eight out of ten officials at the prefecture and county levels were incompetent.

Fan Zhongyan believed that the promotion of officials should be strictly based on their political achievements.

It is suggested to strengthen the inspection of officials, reward capable ones and dismiss incompetent ones.

He also advocated that subordinates be recommended by superiors at all levels.

The fifth is to distribute public land equally.

Officials were redefined and a certain amount of official land was given according to their ranks.

Allocated to officials who lack official land.

To hold them accountable for their integrity and prevent them from taking bribes and abusing the law.

Public land, also known as official land, was one of the fixed incomes of local officials in the Northern Song Dynasty.

But the distribution is often uneven.

Fan Zhongyan suggested that the court balance their income from official land.

Those who were not given official land were given it according to their ranks.

So that they have enough income to support themselves. Then, they can be supervised to be honest and frugal.

Those who violate the law can also be punished or dismissed.

In terms of enriching the country and strengthening the military, there are mainly three major directions.

One is to promote agriculture and sericulture.

Fan Zhongyan suggested that the court issue an imperial decree to strengthen agricultural and sericulture legislation.

Order all the transport envoys across the country and the counties and towns under their jurisdiction to truly attach importance to agriculture and sericulture and reward them?

The quality of agriculture is made an important factor in evaluating and promoting officials.

The second is to reduce corvée labor.

The taxation and labor service in the Song Dynasty basically followed the systems of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties.

Although some adjustments were made in the early Song Dynasty, the taxes and corvée were cruel and the labor service was onerous. The taxes and labor service forced poor farmers into bankruptcy.

It also provoked peasant uprisings.

In response to this, Fan Zhongyan advocated merging counties with small populations to reduce the forced labor of the people there.

Be frugal and thrifty, and cut down on the extravagant spending of the rulers.

Make taxation equal, reduce corvée labor service, and lighten the burden on the people.

The third is to improve military preparations.

In this matter, Fan Zhongyan advocated the restoration of the military system.

It is suggested that strong men be recruited from areas near the capital to serve as guards of the capital.

Used to assist the regular army.

These guards spend about three quarters of each year farming.

Use a quarter of time to practice combat and integrate military operations with farming.

Implementing this system can save the cost of supplies.

There are two main aspects to enforcing the rule of law: the first is to emphasize orders.

It was aimed at the problem that the decrees issued by the imperial court in the past were "complicated and unreliable".

Fan Zhongyan proposed that the court must discuss in detail before issuing decrees in the future and delete unnecessary ones.

It will be promulgated to the whole country after it is maturely reviewed.

Once promulgated, it must be followed and cannot be changed at will.

Otherwise you will be punished.

In this way, the court's orders would not have to change frequently.

The second is to extend favor and trust.

The emperors of the Song Dynasty offered sacrifices to the gods every three years and, as usual, issued a general amnesty and exempted the people from taxes that had been owed for many years.

But most of them have not been fully implemented.

Fan Zhongyan asked to gain the trust of the people, and if anyone in the relevant government offices delayed or violated the implementation of the amnesty decree.

They must be dealt with severely according to law.

In addition, envoys must be sent to various places.

Inspect whether the various beneficial policies that should be implemented are being implemented.

In this way, the phenomenon of blocking the emperor's grace will not occur.

These can be roughly summarized as the Qingli Ten Articles.”

After listening to what Han Cheng said, Zhao Kuangyin nodded.

I think the Qingli Reform is pretty good.

These ten Qingli rules are practical.

All aspects have been taken into consideration.

But after thinking about it carefully, he still felt that there was something wrong with the New Policies of the Qingli Period.

After thinking about it for a while, suddenly a lot of ideas came to my mind.

I now understand what is wrong with me!
That's too much, too complete!

The New Policies of Qingli that they came up with were naturally good, and this can be seen from these New Policies of Qingli.

Zhao Zhen and his ministers do have real concerns about the current situation.

And he really wanted to change the situation and make the Song Dynasty different.

But they were too impatient!

It’s really too urgent!

Although the Song Dynasty had various problems in all aspects.

But, that’s not how it works!
These things need to be focused on and carried out one by one.

Any of these changes will affect the interests of countless people.

Generally speaking, those who can benefit from this are mostly of relatively high status.

The implementation of new policies has always been most likely to encounter obstacles from many people.

It would be easier to implement them one by one if the emperor supports them.

But now, they have thrown out all kinds of things at once.

In this case, one can imagine how great the resistance is!

It can be said that except for those who supported the new policy, all other parties were caught in the net and pushed to the hostile side.

One can imagine how much resistance this will create.

This matter needs to be done step by step, one thing at a time.

In this case, when their own interests are not involved, many people will choose to stand idly by.

You can even use some methods to temporarily win over some of them to your side.

Let them support the New Deal too.

After some things have been implemented and certain achievements have been made, some beneficiaries of the new policies have been won over.

Then work on that aspect.

This is called defeating them one by one.

When doing these things, we must ensure that the strength on our side has the upper hand.

This is the same principle as in combat.

As a result, people like Fan Zhongyan did not care about these things at all when they implemented the new policy.

Without distinguishing between priorities, without considering strategies, and without asking right or wrong, he offended all the people who should be offended at once!
There is too much content to cover, too many interest groups are involved, and the changes are too great!
Want to eat a fat man in one bite.

Wouldn't it be easy to choke to death like this?

I'm afraid this is unsustainable.

These people don’t understand the art of war!
They are reforming!
This is not a fun thing!
That was a real fight!
Although it is different from the real fighting with swords and guns on the battlefield, it is equally dangerous.

It requires full effort, but also requires strategy.

The way they act now is exactly the same as when they first established the Song Dynasty.

In a situation where there are so many countries, it is the same principle for the Song Dynasty to go to war with all the surrounding countries at the same time!

In this case, won't we be destroyed by the other party?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that these people were so incompetent.

The idea is good, but this way of doing things is really based on idealism.

Aren't these people really stupid from reading too much?
It would be great if things in this world were so easy to handle.

Thinking of this, think about the fact that Zhao Zhen was called Song Renzong.

It can be seen that his character is that of a weak person, not a firm one.

This is a big taboo during the reform.

When carrying out reforms, in addition to having people who dare to fight and people of insight, we also need to adopt appropriate means to implement the reforms.

Most importantly, there needs to be a very firm emperor who stands on the side of the reformists.

Give them strong and unwavering support.

This is also a major reason why Shang Yang's reforms were successful.

This Zhao Zhen, known as Song Renzong, must have a very good temper.

However, such good-tempered people often have a big problem, which is that they are easily influenced.

It is easy to be indecisive about many things.

Believe one side of the story.

"I'm afraid that the Qingli New Deal... won't end well, right?"

Many thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant.

Zhao Kuangyin took a deep breath, suppressed all these thoughts, looked at Han Cheng and spoke.

The voices all seemed a little low, and the mood was also extremely heavy.

Although Han Cheng has not yet announced the results, he feels that what he has thought will basically not be too wrong.

That's the way it is.

When Han Cheng heard what Zhao Kuangyin said, his feeling towards Zhao Kuangyin suddenly became very different.

He is worthy of being Emperor Taizu of Song, someone who can be written into a poem.

His vision and knowledge are extraordinary in all aspects.

In just a short time, he was able to see that the Qingli New Deal would not succeed based on what he had said. He nodded and said, "Yes, the Qingli New Deal failed.

"In October of the third year of the Qingli reign, the imperial court appointed Zhang Wenzhi as the Hebei Provincial Transport Commissioner and Wang Su as the Huainan Provincial Transport Commissioner.

Shen Yao was appointed as the Jingdong Transport Censor, and Shi Changyan was appointed as the Hedong Transport Censor.

In this way, the fourth of the ten points, selecting a leader, begins to take action.

When selecting the transport inspectors for various routes, Fan Zhongyan flipped through the roster and crossed out any incompetents without mercy.

Fu Bi said worriedly: If you make a stroke, a whole family will cry bitterly.

Fan Zhongyan replied: It is better for one family to cry than for the people of an entire area to cry!
On October 28, Emperor Renzong issued an edict to implement the new examination method.

After the new law was implemented, the clear promotion and demotion of officials was put into action.

On November 19, the imperial court made new regulations on the system of imperial favors.

On the 23rd, an imperial edict was issued to increase the age limit and scope of the imperial favor.

However, the old system still applies to the descendants, relatives and superiors of high- and middle-level officials without any restrictions.

On March 13th of the fourth year of the Qingli period, new laws on imperial examinations were promulgated.

Increase the weight of Confucian classics in the imperial examinations and allow prefectures and counties to establish schools.

Combine school education with the imperial examination.

In April of the third year of the Qingli period, the newly appointed Privy Councilor Xia Song had just returned to the capital.

That is, he was dismissed from office due to impeachment by the censors.

Shi Jie, a famous scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, was later called one of the Three Masters of the Early Song Dynasty.

At that time, he was a lecturer at the Imperial College.

He believed that Song Renzong was devoted to governing the country and that Fan Zhongyan and others were actively carrying out reforms, and he felt that there was hope for political reform.

So he wrote "Qingli Holy Virtue Poems" to express his inner joy.

The poem praises Renzong for employing Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fu Bi, Ouyang Xiu and others, saying it is "personally observing talented and wise men"?
The phrase "hoeing out the treacherous peach" alludes to the newly appointed Privy Councilor Xia Song who had just been dismissed from office.

As soon as "Poems of the Holy Virtues of the Qingli Period" was submitted, there was an uproar in the court and the country.

Fan Zhongyan felt that Shi Jie's praise and criticism were unfair in the face of huge changes in the political situation.

It also says, "This is why ghosts and monsters do bad things."

Then, some people began to say that Fan Zhongyan and others were forming a clique for personal gain.

Fan Zhongyan counterattacked by proposing the term "the party of villains and the party of gentlemen".

Ouyang Xiu also wrote an article entitled "On Factions" and submitted it to Emperor Renzong.

In May of the fourth year of the Qingli period, Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi submitted a memorial to Zhao Zhen, discussing seven issues, including "re-discussing military stationing, repairing the outer city of the capital, and secretly formulating a plan for the attack."

He also requested to expand the power of the prime minister and have assistant ministers take charge of military affairs, official promotions and other matters.

The breadth and depth of reform have been further increased..."

After hearing what Han Cheng said, Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help but press his forehead with his hand.

And rub your temples vigorously.

No...are these people really just full of ideals?

Is there no practical way to do things?

What we did was really too bad...

How can you brag like that?
He is already the target of public criticism, yet he is still so high-profile.

Isn't this giving others an advantage?
The most important thing is to face the attacks from others that they are partisans.

It’s really hard to describe how to deal with it.

This kind of thing cannot be admitted even if one dies.

This should definitely be clarified to the emperor as soon as possible.

Make a strong counterattack.

No matter what, you can't be accused of being a clique.

As a result, not only did they not do so, but they also fought back by making up terms like the Party of Gentlemen and the Party of Villains.

Isn't it obvious to the emperor that they are forming a clique?
Because there was the famous Niu-Li factional struggle in the Tang Dynasty, and there are other famous examples of factional struggles.

Therefore, as an emperor, he was also very clear about how sensitive the emperor was to forming factions for personal gain.

Party strife could threaten imperial power.

No emperor wants to see this.

The way these people cope with this is really beyond words...

He could see the determination of these people and their noble qualities.

We can also see that they are willing to do all kinds of things in order to reform the law.

But the way they do things is really not good.

That's not how it works!!
Han Cheng felt the same way when he saw Zhao Kuangyin's move.

I also feel that many of the New Policies of the Qingli Period implemented by Fan Zhongyan and others were handled in a somewhat hasty manner.

For example, Xia Song, who has been firmly opposing this, is a good example.
Xia Song was originally going to be called the Privy Councilor, but he was dismissed from office by people like Ouyang Xiu before he even took office.

I won’t say more about this. After getting a bargain, you must know how to make a fortune quietly.

But in the end, they wrote this poem in a very high-profile manner.

He praised Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu and Song Renzong, and praised them to the sky.

At the same time, a villain was created in it for satire.

Although no one was named, everyone who knows who the person being labeled as a villain is will know.

Isn't this just making enemies for nothing?
Xia Song’s abilities are pretty good and his strength is sufficient.

The political achievements made in the past can also be shown off.

Now, it’s just because I was close to Lu Yijian in the past.

He was directly labeled as a treacherous villain.

In an era where fame is more important than anything else, especially for intellectuals who have reached a certain level of status.

Who can tolerate this?

Besides, Xia Song himself is not the kind of person who would not speak out after suffering a loss.

It's really hard to say that I have provoked such a strong enemy for no reason...

"In April of the fourth year of the Qingli reign, after the implementation of the new policy, the number of favors was reduced and the examination was stricter, which made those who hoped to get lucky feel deeply inconvenienced.

As a result, more and more remarks slandering the New Deal began to appear.

The accusation that Fan Zhongyan and others were a "clique" arose again.

Prime Minister Zhang Dexiang, together with the officials of the Censorate, attacked Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu and others as "cliques".

They were said to be "deceitful and abusive" and "treacherous and disloyal."

Xia Song took advantage of Shi Jie's writing to the Deputy Privy Councilor Fu Bi, urging him to assist Emperor Renzong in reviving the Song Dynasty like Yi Yin of the Shang Dynasty and Duke Zhou of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Spreading rumors, changing the "Yi and Zhou" in Shi Jie's original book into "Yi and Huo".

This means that Shi Jie wanted Fu Bi to emulate Huo Guang of the Western Han Dynasty, depose the then emperor and establish a new emperor.

He also falsely claimed that Shi Jie had drafted an edict for Fu Bi to abolish the old and establish the new.

This was used to accuse Fan Zhongyan, Fu Bi, Shi Jie and others of treason.

In fact, the edict to depose and enthronize Fu Bi, which Xia Song falsely accused Shi Jie of drafting, was written by Xia Song's maid imitating Shi Jie's handwriting.

Although Song Renzong said he did not believe the rumors, he did not take any action on the matter.

But in fact, I wrote down all of them in my heart.

And, very honestly, he took corresponding actions.

At the end of the fourth year of the Qingli period, border incidents arose again, and Fan Zhongyan requested to go out on patrol.

Zhao Zhen appointed him as the envoy to Shaanxi and Hedong.

He still holds the title of Vice-Chancellor.

In August, Fu Bi also left Beijing as the Deputy Privy Councilor and was appointed as the Envoy of Hebei.

On the 28th day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of the Qingli period, Fan Zhongyan was dismissed from his post as vice-chancellor and appointed as the governor of Bingzhou and concurrently the pacification commissioner of the four border routes in Shaanxi.

On the same day, Fu Bi was also dismissed from his post as Deputy Privy Councilor and appointed as Pacifier of Jingdong Road and Governor of Yunzhou.

The next day, Du Yan was demoted to Shangshu Zuocheng and sent to Yanzhou.

On the fourth day of February, the new laws of examination and appointment were abolished.

On the fifth day of March, Han Qi was dismissed from his post as deputy privy councilor and appointed as academician of the Zizheng Palace and governor of Yangzhou.

At this point, all the main figures who presided over the reform were expelled from the court.

On the 23rd, the new imperial examination system was abolished and the old system was restored.

On August 21, Ouyang Xiu was dismissed from his post as Hebei Transport Commissioner and transferred to Chuzhou.

At this point, the Qingli New Deal completely failed. "

Hearing Han Cheng's words, Zhao Kuangyin was not surprised at all, but he still couldn't help but sigh.

The mood seems low.

The way this was done really made people feel unwilling.

There is finally some new hope.

Saw something unusual.

I feel that it is very likely that the Song Dynasty will become something extraordinary.

But who would have thought that the New Policies of the Qingli Period would disappear just after one year of implementation.

The more I think about it, the more frustrated I get.

The failure of this reform also meant that the Song Dynasty would continue to sink into poverty and weakness.

Getting deeper and deeper...

“The Qingli New Deal did leave some things behind.

For example, the advocacy of establishing Imperial College and building new schools in county governments were retained.

The most important thing is that it provides relevant lessons for future reformers.

This will allow later reformers to cross the river by feeling their way forward.

Make it more perfect based on their foundation.

For example, Wang Anshi’s later reforms were like this.”

After hearing what Han Chengzhi said, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's depressed mood suddenly improved a lot.

There is actually a reform?

It sounded like it was much better than the Qingli New Deal, which gave him some hope...

"Because Zhao Zhen had no children, in the second year of Jingyou, he brought Zhao Zongshi, the thirteenth son of Prince Pu Zhao Yunrang, into the palace and gave him to Empress Cao to raise.

But in the second year of Baoyuan, after Concubine Miao gave birth to a son, Zhao Xin, Zhao Zhen sent Zhao Zongshi out of the palace again.

On the night of the eighteenth day of the first lunar month in the eighth year of the Qingli reign, in the vicinity of Kunning Palace, four people including Yan Xiu, a close official of Chongzheng Palace, conspired to rebel, killing and setting fire.

It once endangered Zhao Zhen's safety.

Afterwards, Zhao Zhen treated the people involved leniently...

Zhao Zhen has always been in poor health.

As early as August of the first year of Jingyou, Zhao Zhen began to feel "unwell".

In the first month of the third year of Zhihe, when Zhao Zhen was in court and receiving homage from civil and military officials, he suddenly danced and drooled.

On the same day, the Liao Dynasty envoys were paying a visit to Zhao Zhen in the Purple Palace, and Zhao Zhen was speaking incoherently.

Prime Minister Wen Yanbo had no choice but to explain to the Liao envoy that it was caused by excessive drinking.

In the following days, Zhao Zhen's condition worsened, and he kept shouting absurd words such as "The Queen and Zhang Maoze are plotting treason" all day long.

It was not until February that he gradually recovered and began to handle government affairs.

Zhao Zhen's health was poor and he was in a heavy mood because he had lost three sons in a row.

People inside and outside the court were deeply concerned about the issue of the royal succession.

After repeated persuasion from Prime Minister Han Qi and ministers Bao Zheng, Fan Zhen, Sima Guang, etc., Zhao Zhen officially appointed Zhao Zongshi as the crown prince in August of the seventh year of Jiayou, and gave him the name Shu..."

After hearing Han Cheng's story, Zhao Kuangyin didn't know what to say for a moment.

After a moment of silence, he looked at Han Cheng and said, "Brother Han, how many years has our Song Dynasty existed?"

Han Cheng thought for a moment and said, "If you add up the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, it's 319 years."

Three hundred and nineteen years?!

Zhao Kuangyin was stunned for a moment.

This number really far exceeded his imagination.

No...the Song Dynasty has been so cowardly since Zhao Guangyi.

How did it survive for three hundred years?

While I was astonished, I suddenly remembered what Han Cheng said about the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties.

Suddenly his eyes froze.

What is the meaning of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties?
(End of this chapter)

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