Song Gexing

Chapter 162 Wang Anshi Enters Beijing

"I am a foolish and dishonest person, but I am prepared to be envoys all the way... IKEA is enough for people, and the world is in great order..."

In October of the third year of Jiayou, Wang Anshi was called to Beijing to serve as the third envoy, Siduzhi, and judge. As soon as he arrived in the capital, he gave the emperor a letter of ten thousand words.

Zhao Fang watched with a wry smile. There was no one like this old man. Even though the Song Dynasty had implemented the New Deal for many years, he still diligently kept his ideas in mind.

"Call Wang Jiefu to come over."

Zhao Fang thought for a while and decided to meet this stubborn minister first. Wang Anshi was already famous all over the world, so it was inappropriate to directly veto his petition.

In the fifth year of Emperor Zhenzong's reign in the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi was born in Fuzhou, Jiangxi. His father was Wang Yi, a judge of the Linchuan Army. He was extremely intelligent and had a photographic memory since he was a child.

When he was 16 years old, he followed his father north to Bianjing, where he met Zeng Gong. The two had a very happy conversation, and Zeng Gong introduced him to his mentor Ouyang Xiu.

Five years later, in the second year of Qingli, he won the Jinshi examination and ranked fourth in the palace examination. This guy is different from others in that he does not want to be an official in Beijing, but goes to the local area to practice.

From the judge of Huainan Jiedu to the magistrate of Yinxian County, and then to the general magistrate of Shuzhou, he had outstanding political achievements. Wen Yanbo valued his diligence and peace of mind and recommended him many times, but he remained unmoved and was still willing to practice in the local area.

After several rounds, under the arrangement of Ouyang Xiu, he finally served as the magistrate of Changzhou and the judge of Qunmu. During this period, he met the great scholar Zhou Dunyi. He was admired by Lao Zhou and his reputation spread throughout the world.

Zhou Dunyi did not only have one "Love of Lotus". He was a great master who created Neo-Confucianism, the founder of Song Dynasty Dynasty, and the teacher of the Erchen brothers.

The theory that Wuji generates Tai Chi was the theory he summarized and put forward, and the Tai Chi diagram that was passed down in later generations was also shaped by him. He was only four years older than Wang Anshi, and was not a Jinshi, but his fame far exceeded that of his peers.

Wang Anshi probably started from him, summarizing his own academic views and creating the Neo-Confucian Wang School.

"My King Anshi pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince! I wonder why Your Highness has summoned me?"

As expected of Lao Wang, he asked questions directly and did not shy away from anything.

Zhao Fang looked at him with a smile and asked him to sit down and said, "I'm a little confused after seeing Wang Qing's Wanyan book, so I came to you for consultation."

"Oh, if there is anything that your Highness doesn't understand, I will tell you if you know it."

Zhao Fang nodded and said: "In the second year of Qingli, Wang Qing passed the imperial examination. It was also in that year that the court began to reform. He must have achieved good results in the past ten years, right? But when I saw Qing's memorial, it seemed to be insufficient. I don't know what Qing realized. What else needs to be reformed?"

Wang Anshi looked understanding and nodded in response: "My father and I have indeed worked hard to govern and reform. In recent years, the Song Dynasty has become stronger and richer in finance. It has also won consecutive battles externally. Last year, it even wiped out Taizong." Since then, the war has declined, but..."

Hearing this turn of events, Zhao Fang couldn't help but widen his eyes and listen carefully.

Just listen to him continue to say: "Sharing a small family into a farm has indeed alleviated the plight of the common people, but it still cannot help the poor who are unable to grow food after years of famine. They still need to borrow money to survive, but the interest rates on private loans are so high. Every time a person borrows money, many people lose their fortune..."

There is nothing wrong with this, and it is indeed a situation that needs to be changed urgently. The Song Dynasty did not have farmers' loans like those in later generations. The government did provide some loans, but it was a drop in the bucket, and people who didn't care couldn't get it.

However, high interest rates on private loans have been repeatedly banned. Usury was prohibited in the Song Dynasty. In fact, usury was prohibited in any dynasty in ancient times.

But when the people had no choice but to borrow money at usury, there would be a market if there was demand, so it was banned repeatedly. "I suggest that we implement the Young Crops Law, and use government treasury money and grain to lend to the people, and use this as a performance evaluation project for local officials, and forcibly promote it. In this way, no one will care about usury..."

"Young seedling method!"

Zhao Fang sighed and looked at him. Wang Anshi frowned and said, "Your Highness, does it feel inappropriate?"

Zhao Fang nodded and said: "The law is a good law, but a good law may not benefit the people. Has Wang Qing ever thought about what local officials would do if it were linked to political performance?"

"How to do?"

Wang Anshi looked at him puzzled, hesitated and said, "Don't most people become officials just for promotion? Political achievements are the most important assessment for promotion. What else can they do?"

"Wang Qing is wrong."

Zhao Fang shook his head and looked at him: "There are hundreds of people in the world. Not every official wants to be as self-disciplined as Wang Qing. It is true that being an official is for political performance, but for political performance they dare to forcibly lend money to the people. Even if you don't need it, you can't." I will be forced to borrow money, what will happen then?”

"If you don't need it, you can force it, they dare!"

"Why don't you dare? People die for money and birds die for food, not to mention there is another drawback, which is that officials collude with the rich and borrow money from the government with low-interest Qingmiao loans, borrowing all the money and food from the treasury, leaving the people in need with no money. You can only borrow from them. At that time, they don’t even have to pay the capital themselves and can make a lot of money by just flipping a hand.”

With a "hiss" sound, Wang Anshi was dumbfounded. He really didn't expect that the Qingmiao Law in history was destroyed in this way.

After being stunned for a long time, Wang Anshi said with difficulty: "Is there really such a shameless person in the world? Could it be that His Highness is maliciously judging people's hearts..."

"Wang Jiefu, Wang Jiefu, you came from the grassroots level and have been working in the local area for many years. Do I have to explain to you how people's hearts are?"

Wang Anshi was speechless. He was not an inexperienced official, but he was too idealistic. He believed that with the support of the imperial court, the people below would not dare to object.

The problem is the distance between ideal and reality, which is the difference between heaven and earth. Xining's reform is not advisable. Not all scholar-bureaucrats from the Southern Song Dynasty thought so. Even Mao Zedong said that Wang Anshi was too idealistic.

When asked, the depressed Wang Anshi looked at Zhao Fang helplessly, his lips trembling for a long time and asked: "Is it really impossible to change?"

Looking at his appearance, Zhao Fang was also very moved. This was a good official who really wanted to do things for the people. Although his methods were too rough in history, his original intention must be affirmed.

"It's not that there is no way, but it's very difficult. Gu Gu has had an idea for a long time, but it has never been implemented."

After telling the truth, Zhao Fang sighed: "Civil officials pretend to be noble, and it is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people that scholar-bureaucrats and emperors share the same world! If I propose this plan, I am afraid that I will be attacked by a group of people."

Wang Anshi was stunned when he heard this, and frowned: "Your Highness's words are puzzling. I admit that civil servants claim to be noble, but what does this have to do with the scholar-bureaucrats and the emperor sharing the world?"

Zhao Fang looked at him and laughed, and said leisurely: "Is it the king's land in the whole world, and the king's ministers on the shore of the land, what a good saying! But in the Song Dynasty, the kings, the king's ministers in the world were the scholar-bureaucrats. Land, where are the subjects of the scholar-bureaucrats?”

(End of this chapter)