I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 580: Biography of Su Liang + Final Remarks
Su Liang, whose courtesy name is Jingming, is a person with a transmigrated soul.

He was originally a beggar in Yangzhou City, Huainan East Road. Fortunately, he was adopted by Mr. Mingde in Mingde Zhai. After having enough food and clothing, he studied hard day and night in order to change his fate.

In March of the second year of the Qingli period, Su Liang passed the provincial and palace examinations and ranked twelfth on the list of Jinshi.

In the same month, he was appointed magistrate of Changqing County, Qizhou.

In April, he married Tang Wanmei, the daughter of Tang Ze, a teacher at Yangzhou City's Shangwen Private School. They both passed the imperial examinations, which was a double happiness. Then he took his wife to take up his post.

In October, he was appointed as the Observational Procurator of Qizhou for his achievements in governance.

In July of the fourth year of the Qingli period, Su Liang impeached the Qizhou prefect Ge Wenlin for his laziness in administration. He wrote a memorial titled "Memorial to the Lazy Official" on the white wall of the prefecture government. Every word was as sharp as a knife. The memorial became famous throughout the world and he was granted special permission to be appointed as an assistant to the Secretariat and acting censor. He was then appointed to the Censorate and became an official in the imperial court.

In the autumn of the fourth year of the Qingli period, on the evening of September 18, Su Liang attended a banquet and drank at the invitation of Su Shunqin, the supervisor of the Imperial Court. He was accused of visiting prostitutes during the banquet and of having flaws in his personal morality. He wrote a "Book of Self-Crime" to save himself, angrily denouncing the bad habits of the court, and was finally cleared of all charges.

When he first became a censor, Su Liang made three consecutive memorials in one day, namely "Memorial on the Censorate's Illness", "Memorial on the Censorate's Causes of Trouble", and "Memorial on the Censorate's Causes of Life". He directly pointed out the bad habits of the censorate, and earned the name "little firecracker".

In October, Su Liang concurrently served as the official in charge of imperial lectures and storytelling in Chongzheng Hall, teaching officials with his imagination. His reputation gradually grew and he was named the new gentleman.

In November, Su Liang wrote "A Book to Refute the Ten Suggestions", saying that Fan Fu's new policies were too radical and drastic, like a lame foot running fast, which triggered discussions among all officials.

……

In the first month of the fifth year of the Qingli period, the new and old parties were arguing and debating with each other. Zhao Zhen shouted: The only one who can relieve my worries is Su Jingming!
On February 2, the imperial lecturer Su Liang began to give a lecture and discussed with Zhao Zhen the greatest emperor of all time.

At the beginning of March, all officials wanted to stop adding state and county schools. Su Liang suggested: if we continue with it, the number of bandits and robbers will decrease, the people will not rebel, and the country will not have internal worries.

In mid-March, the censors gathered together to protest against the promotion of the relative Zhang Yaozuo, who was promoted above his proper rank. Zhao Zhen agreed to it.

In April, Ouyang Xiu was accused of incest and seduction, and Su Liang debunked the rumor. The name of Little Firecracker became known to everyone, including women and children.

In May, Shi Yuansun, a military general who died for the Song Dynasty, was sent back as a prisoner by the Western Xia. The court and the public were shocked. Ouyang Xiu wrote "On the Loyalty and Bravery of Military Generals", advocating light crimes. Liu Xi, the Imperial Censor, wrote "On the Military Generals Fighting to the Death", advocating heavy crimes. Su Liang wrote "Refuting the Theory of Military Generals Fighting to the Death" to denounce it.

In July, Su Liang recommended Bao Zheng, the head of the Censorate, as the New Year's envoy to the Liao Kingdom, with the purpose of saying: Our Great Song cannot be bullied, and our Great Song is not afraid of war.

At the end of July, Privy Councilor Xia Song falsely accused Shi Jie of faking his death and plotting treason by entering Liao territory, and wanted to dig up the grave of the great scholar Shi Jie. Su Liang strongly supported Shi Jie, and fought with his colleagues in the Censorate and debated in front of the emperor.

In October, Su Liang again proposed reform, saying: "First reform one state, and then reform the whole country." Ouyang Xiu, Su Liang, and Tang Jie jointly wrote "On the Reform of One State", and Qizhou was chosen as the pilot state, with Wang Anshi as the governor and Sima Guang as the deputy judge.

In December, Su Liang was appointed as the Censor-in-Chief by virtue of his title of Doctor of Taichang, and concurrently served as the storyteller in Chongzheng Hall.

……

In the first month of the sixth year of the Qingli period, Ouyang Xiu was in charge of the imperial examinations, and Wang Anshi and Sima Guang went to Qizhou to take up their posts.

In March, Yang Riyan, the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, was investigated for forming a clique for personal gain and taking human lives lightly. Su Liang submitted a petition to the emperor and sentenced him to death by beheading. The first scholar-official in the reign of Emperor Renzong was sentenced to death on the day the results of the execution were announced. On the day of the execution, all officials watched the execution. Bao Xiren was the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture.

In April, the court reduced the number of clerks, and Su Liang submitted a memorial to oppose Concubine Zhang's promotion beyond the regulations.

In May, local officials in Qizhou resigned from their posts. Su Liang went to Qizhou to establish his authority and shouted: "Use the changes in Qizhou to dig out the changes in the world." As a result, the prefect sat on the official road, the magistrate guarded the post station, and the officials in many places followed suit and personally attracted merchants.

In July, Chief Censor Wang Gongchen rejected the government's plan to attract investment and wanted to commit suicide by hitting his head against a pillar. Su Liang showed off his ability to throw himself over his shoulder in front of the emperor.

In October, the chief official of Shuzhou harmed the people for his political achievements. Su Liang shouted: To support an entire state with a piece of paper is actually a policy that harms the people.

In November, Bao Zheng and Su Liang presented "Southern Suburbs Market Book" in an attempt to ease the congestion in Bianjing and protect the livelihood of the people. However, Bianjing's wealthy merchants went on strike, and Bao Zheng saved the situation.

In December, Su Liang was accused of forming a clique with Fan Fu and colluding with external relatives. He spoke indecently and had evil intentions. He debated with the officials in the imperial court. Ouyang Xiu praised him, saying: "The censor should be like Su Jingming."

At the end of December, Su Liang accused monks and nuns of doing business and selling ordination certificates, and proposed that the three departments take over, which aroused the anger of the monks and nuns.

……

In the first month of the seventh year of the Qingli period, all officials discussed changing the course of the Yellow River. Zhao Zhen agreed to dredge the Liuta River and transfer the water from the big river into the small river. Su Liang opposed to no avail.

On February 2, Su Liang had a son named Su Zimu, and the royal family sent him valuable gifts to congratulate him.

In mid-February, Ouyang Xiu, Su Liang and Zhang Maoze were ordered to inspect river affairs in Chanzhou.

In early March, Su Jingming went into the Yellow River to survey the river course. Ouyang Xiu exclaimed: "Su Jingming carried the river on his shoulders with his own strength. How great! How magnificent!" The river workers saw him off for three miles, singing songs non-stop.

In mid-March, Su Liang performed a sand table of diverting the river's course, shouting that the river's eastward flow was a strategy for self-destruction and opposing the change of its course to the Liuta River, but Zhao Zhen did not listen.

In early April, Leng Qing pretended to be a prince of the royal family, and Bao Zheng and Su Liang tried to find out the truth.

In early May, the road to Liuta River was blocked by the diversion of the Yellow River, all crops in the fields were wiped out, and thousands of people died. Zhao Zhen wrote an edict of remorse.

At the beginning of July, Su Liang was rewarded with a house and his family moved into the new house.

In August, Zhao Zongshi, a member of the royal family, ran away and wanted to become a monk. Su Liang turned into a matchmaker and acted as a matchmaker, and facilitated the arrangement: the emperor married his son's wife, and the empress married her daughter.

At the end of August, Su Liang submitted a memorial entitled "A Memorial on the Study of Hundred Schools" in an attempt to raise funds to build a private school. He angrily rebuked the students who opposed it on the streets. Cao Yi resigned from his official position and went into business.

In early October, Empress Cao gave birth to a son. Zhao Zhen issued eight consecutive edicts in one day to celebrate the birth of his son.

In November, Su Liang invited Liu Yong to join the Baijia Academy as a teacher, saying: Mr. Liu Qi's poems can be eaten with food. Zhao Zhen said: Liu Sanbian's poems can be accepted in the hall of elegance.

At the end of November, Su Liang opposed the ritual of elephant training and proposed abolishing elephant training performances and prohibiting foreign countries from paying tribute to elephants.

In December, Wang Ze of Beizhou launched a military rebellion. Su Liang and Deputy Privy Envoy Wen Yanbo rushed to Beizhou to quell the rebellion.

……

In the first month of the eighth year of the Qingli period, Su Liang boosted the morale of the imperial army and attacked Beizhou with wisdom, breaking the city in six days.

On the fifth day of March, Zhao Zhen reopened the Tianzhang Pavilion and summoned all his ministers to offer strategies for reviving the Song Dynasty. At first, he discussed reducing the military force. The two governments and three departments were in chaos, and they wanted to reduce the military force by 300,000.

In early April, Su Liang was ordered to inspect the local military reduction and rushed to the northwest.

At the end of April, Su Liang entered the northwest and met Fan Zhongyan for the first time. He proposed the strategy of "setting up a town locally to settle the veterans from the northwest" and planned to build Xihe Town.

In May, Su Liang was attacked and ran thousands of miles to chase the murderer. He beheaded the murderer at the border of Western Xia. The prime minister of Western Xia wrote an apology letter. The name of Su Liang beheading the censor was heard throughout the Song and Xia countries.

In June, Su Liang was promoted to the position of Imperial Censor and was in charge of miscellaneous affairs.

In July, Cao Yi shouted: "Scholars are good for nothing." Su Liang reorganized the scholars and advised them to give up their studies. The common people shouted: "I would rather quarrel with the King of Hell than argue with Su Jingming."

At the beginning of September, Zhao Zhen, Su Liang, Ouyang Xiu and others went to Qizhou for inspection. Wang Anshi proposed: the Qingmiao Law, the Exemption from Military Service Law, the Equal Taxation Law for Square Fields, the Agricultural Land and Water Conservancy Law, the Market Exchange Law, etc. Zhao Zhen promised to start the reform throughout Song Dynasty at the beginning of next year.

In October, more than 50 officials in the capital impeached the powerful censors for forming a faction. Su Liang shouted: If the censors are upright, the government will be upright. If the government is upright, the world will be in order.

In November, Su Liang wrote "On Equalizing the Rich and the Poor", saying: The inequality between the rich and the poor is natural, but everyone can go from being poor to being rich.

In December, the Liao envoys and the Song allied to attack Xia. Su Liang refused to fight, saying: It's not that I don't want to fight, but that not fighting is far better than fighting.

……

In the first month of the first year of Huangyou, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang presented "On the General Situation of the Reform in Qizhou", and the reform in the whole Song Dynasty officially began.

In February, the imperial court abolished the two ministries and three departments and established a new Reform Department, in which Su Liang was a member.

On the tenth day of February, the Reform Department promulgated the first reform policy: a law to suppress the annexation of land.

In March, Su Liang submitted the "Plan for the Performance Evaluation of All Officials", which was later changed to the "Plan for the Performance Evaluation of Officials in Hundred Days", which was implemented irregularly.

In April, Taibai passed through the sky. There was a villain in Baijia Academy who was plotting rebellion. Su Liang failed to supervise him strictly and was flogged twenty times.

In May, the women of Bian Jing established the Jingming Society, and Tang Wanmei became the president of the society as her husband.

In June, the Reform Department promulgated the exemption from military service law.

In mid-June, Su Liang submitted a memorial entitled "On the Construction of a House of Shame and Mailboxes at Post Stations."

At the end of June, Su Liang inspected Baijia Academy, and the casting of firearms gradually took shape.

In July, the Market Exchange Law was officially promulgated.

At the end of July, Wang Anshi's three "no fears" remarks aroused public anger. Su Liang wrote "On the Three Insufficiencies" to strongly support Wang Anshi.

In September, there was a shortage of money in Yangzhou, so Su Liang returned to Yangzhou with his family.

On October 18th, Su Liang entered Yangzhou and went on a secret tour.

In November, Su Liang arrested a dishonest businessman in Yangzhou and proposed a plan to mint coins.

In December, Korean merchants stole books at Yangzhou Port. Su Liang put all of them in jail, saying: "We are just a small country, there is nothing to be afraid of."

……

On the 16th day of the first lunar month in the second year of Huangyou, Su Liang returned to Beijing.

In February, Su Liang offered a plan to mislead the Liao envoy with a reform plan.

In March, Su Liang had a daughter named Su Qinyi. Su Liang discussed with Cao Yi about the Song Dynasty Cuju League.

In April, Zhao Zhen wanted to form a heavy cavalry and set the number at 500. The Baojia Law and Baoma Law were officially implemented.

At the end of April, Su Liang wrote "On the Mistakes of the Privy Council and the Three Yamen" to impeach all the military officials in the court. He was a lone brave man in the Song Dynasty.

In May, Su Liang was framed and faked his death to prove his innocence. Xia Song fell into the trap and admitted defeat.

In July, Su Liang presented a method of preparing for war, and the invention of firearms began to show results.

At the end of July, Cai Xiang presented a map of a woman who did not give birth to a child, Su Liang criticized the custom of marrying off a large sum of money, and the Prince's Mansion of Runan County took the lead in setting an example.

In August, Su Liang trained his troops and inspected the Privy Council.

In mid-September, Su Liang met the three Su brothers and created the most popular book in Bianjing, "Laoquan Collection of Essays", for Su Xun.

In October, Zhao Zhen wanted to withdraw from the war. Su Jingming took off his official robe in the Chuigong Hall and left the hall in anger. Zhao Zhen suddenly realized: benevolence is not as good as virtue, and virtue is not as good as saint.

At the end of October, Yelu Hongji entered Bian Jing and took Su Liang as his teacher to learn the way of reform throughout the Song Dynasty.

In November, Su Liang entered the Imperial Academy to teach and wrote "On Death after Entering Officialdom", which moved all the scholars in the city to sympathize with him.

In December, the fifth princess of Dali expressed her love for Su Liang, but Su Liang refused to marry according to the system of concurrently inheriting the throne.

At the end of December, the great Confucian scholar Sun Fu and the literary master Ouyang Xiu both competed to invite Su Zimu to be their disciple, but Su Liang declined, wanting Su Zimu to learn the Hundred Schools of Thought first.

……

In the third year of Huangyou, at the New Year's Day court meeting, five hundred cavalrymen appeared, fully demonstrating the power of the Song Dynasty.

During the Lantern Festival, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang had a big fight. Su Liang tried to mediate the dispute and discussed the imperial court's monopoly system. The three of them discussed the tea permit law.

On the 23rd day of the first lunar month, the Tea Permit Law was officially promulgated.

In February, Nanjiao Jucheng was officially put into operation. Su Liang said: Give me a Ju ball, and I will leverage the future of sports commerce in the whole Song Dynasty.

In March, the trial use of the Wind and Fire Gun was successful, and Su Liang was awarded the title of "Hidden Prime Minister".

In April, commoner Bi Sheng passed away. Su Liang went to pay his respects and pleaded with the court to suspend court for one day.

In May, Su Liang went to Laizhou in the east of Jingdong to rectify the gold mining industry, and five hundred Dragon Feather Army soldiers appeared.

In June, the Liao Dynasty's reform failed. Su Liang advocated the cancellation of the Liao Dynasty's annual tribute, and the emperor and his ministers had no objection.

In July, on the Baigou River, the Liao army attacked the Song Dynasty, and the Longyu army captured the Liao king Yelu Chongyuan alive.

At the end of July, Yelu Hongji negotiated with Fu Bi and Su Liang, abolished the annual tribute, and demanded a ransom of 3 million strings of cash. The Liao ruler wrote a letter of apology.

In August, Su Liang returned to the capital to receive rewards. He was promoted to Jieshi Zhong and concurrently served as Shiyushi in charge of miscellaneous affairs. He was given the third-rank insignia and clothes.

In September, the Reform Department held a meeting to reform the civil service system, reduce the number of officials by 30%, and significantly reduce the number of officials throughout the Song Dynasty.

In October, the court officials discussed the reduction of officials. Five officials from the imperial court jumped into the Bian River. Su Liang jumped into the Bian River in anger. Zhao Zhen said: The only one who jumped into the river for the sake of the Song Dynasty was Su Jingming, who was actually my Zifang.

In November, Zhao Zhen held a banquet for all the ministers, and the famous painting "Winter Moon Bamboo Fern Wonton Banquet" was created. In early December, the Chief Censor Tang Jie was exiled, and Su Liang took charge of the affairs of the court.

In mid-December, Su Liang scolded the Liao king, Yelu Chongyuan, and angrily overturned the Liao envoy's dining table. The Liao envoy was expelled from the country.

At the end of December, Su Liang angrily rebuked the Japanese envoy and recommended Cao Hu, deputy commander of the Imperial Guard Infantry Battalion, to be the king of the Japanese island.

……

In the first month of the fourth year of Huangyou, Su Liang met the child prodigy Fang Zhongyong and advised Zhongyong to use his own experience to encourage people to learn.

In early February, a large exhibition of agricultural technology and crafts by hundreds of academies was held on the outskirts of the city. The people were very happy to get the "Agricultural Technology Book".

In mid-February, the whole nation started a dispute over the ranking of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. The debate over the ranking of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans reappeared in the court, and Su Liang decided the outcome.

At the end of February, Su Liangyan proposed the theory of nationwide reform, and the reform was approaching its climax.

In April, Su Liang went to Meizhou to investigate the death of the Meizhou prefect. Angry young scholars had misled Meizhou, and Su Liang held a public trial to reveal the truth.

In May, Nong Zhigao rebelled in the southern border, and Su Liang was appointed Chief Censor.

In June, Su Liang arrived in Guangzhou and established his authority by killing people, shouting: My name is Su Kantou, and I am the king of Guangnan.

In July, Di Qing led the Western Army to meet Su Liang, and the battle in the southern border was about to break out.

In August, Di Qing rushed to Kunlun Pass and shocked the world with a battle. Su Liang rushed to the border of Jiaozhi and killed and wounded 8,000 soldiers of Jiaozhi.

In September, Su Liang was punished for his bloodlust and massacre of soldiers from vassal states and was appointed as the Left Censor of the Censorate.

In October, Su Liang wrote "Xingwu Ce" in which he questioned whether Zhao Zhen was a king who would maintain the status quo or a wise ruler in a prosperous era.

At the end of November, Su Liang was promoted to Right Censor of the Censorate.

……

In the first month of the fifth year of Huangyou, the envoys from the Three Kingdoms staged a fight in front of the palace, and the Sangjiawazi performed a new type of comedy: The Three Envoys Make a fuss on New Year's Day.

In early February, Zhao Zhen ordered all the censors to go on tour and conduct special inspections of the local areas. Su Liang rushed to the east road of Jingdong.

In March, Su Liang entered Qingzhou to resolve the issue of street demolitions.

In April, Su Liang entered Dengzhou and issued a notice: three prohibitions for Dengzhou Port to restrain Korean merchants.

In May, Su Liang debated with Cui Chong, the famous Goryeo minister and Confucius from Haidong, demonstrating the power of the Song Dynasty.

In mid-May, Su Liang's close friend Zhou Yuan drowned, and Su Liang returned to Beijing.

In June, Wu Yu, Bao Zheng and Su Liang rushed to Nanjing City on Jingdong Road to investigate Zhou Yuan's drowning case.

In mid-June, Su Liang judged the case and Xu Huizhi of the Nanjing Imperial College was put on trial. The Nanjing Imperial College was downgraded to a provincial school.

In July, Zhao Zhen wanted to revise the Song Dynasty Criminal Code, emphasizing the rule of law and downplaying human emotions. Su Liang persuaded the opponents, Yan Shu and his son.

At the end of July, Su Liang was promoted and given the title of Qingzhou Surveillance Envoy.

In August, the Jurchens entered Bian Jing, hoping to ally with the Song Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty. Su Liang said: Don't let a wolf into the house. The Song Dynasty does not need an ally with such weak strength.

In September, Su Liang's wife Tang Wanmei was appointed Princess Chunshu, and his son Su Zimu was appointed as Fenglilang of Taichang Temple.

In October, Liu Yong died of illness, and Su Liang asked for poetry. Zhao Zhen said: In this peaceful and prosperous era, I read Du Fu's poems when I am awake, and recite Liu Yong's poems when I am drunk.

In November, Su Liang used merchants to eliminate spies, and the permanent embassy plan was launched.

……

In the first month of the sixth year of Huangyou, Concubine Zhang died, and Su Liang refused the government's posthumous title of empress.

In March, Su Shi got married, and Su Liang presented him with "Three Hundred Questions on National Policy".

In March, Su Zimu got engaged as a child, which was called "cotton engagement".

At the end of March, Fan Zhongyan, the pillar of the Northwest of the Song Dynasty, passed away. Su Liang rushed to the northwest, and the plan to expand the border of Xihe River was started, called: Western Expedition.

In April, Su Liang entered Xihe Town, and Tubo destroyed the Tuowo tribe.

At the end of April, Su Liang entered Hehuang, intending to unify the Xihe tribes without losing a single soldier and persuade the Tubo tribes to surrender without fighting.

From May to July, Su Liang's strategy of persuading the enemy to surrender was successful, and Di Qing led an army of 50,000 deep into Hehuang to expand the border.

In August, Su Liang captured Zuo Siluo alive and took over Qingtang City, thus completing the expansion of the Hehuang border.

In September, Su Liang and Di Qing defeated the Western Xia army and approached the Western Xia Zhuola City. The people of Xihe Town built a shrine for Su Liang, named: Su Gong Temple.

In November, Su Liang led the imperial guards back to the capital and shouted: All soldiers are dressed in the same clothes, and the dead are the greatest!
In December, Su Liang debated with the Japanese envoy Qingyuan Youde on maritime commerce. Su Liang used tricks to trick the Liao, Japanese and Goryeo envoys.

……

In January of the second year of Zhihe, a full-scale war broke out between Japan and Goryeo.

In February, a businessman planned to build 24 streets in Bianjing. Su Liang said: It will enrich a few people and impoverish the masses, so it is not worth doing.

In March, the Song Dynasty and Western Xia went to war, with heavy cavalry pursuing the Western Xia Iron Harriers.

In May, there was a labor shortage in Hehuang. Su Liang proposed a method of raising money based on the government bond contract.

In July, Su Liang went to the south of the Yangtze River to raise money to pay off the national debt and eliminate the traitors. Wang Anshi scolded the spineless literati in West Lake.

In October, Zhao Zhen, Zeng Gongliang and Su Liang entered Hebei to assess the combat effectiveness of the Hebei Imperial Guards, and the latter was given the important task of leading the attack.

In December, the Longyu Army returned with a list of the names of the soldiers who died in the battle to destroy Xia, and the whole nation welcomed the army.

……

In January of the third year of Zhihe, the Song-Liao War broke out, and Su Liang was appointed as the military supervisor of the eastern route.

In February, a great battle broke out between Song and Liao on the Baigou River. The Han people in Yanyun all surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and the Liao army was defeated and fled.

In March, Su Liang, the military supervisor of the Eastern Army, used Zhao Zhen as bait, destroyed the Liao army, crossed the Zhuo River, and approached Youzhou City.

In April, Su Liang captured Youzhou, and Zhao Zhen captured the Liao Kingdom's Privy Councilor Yelu Liang alive.

In May, June and July, Su Liang used chariots to defeat the Liao Dynasty's Pi Shi Army, and all the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were returned to the Song Dynasty.

In August and September, the Song army launched a general attack on Liao territory. Su Liang led his troops into the East China Sea to persuade the Jurchens to surrender.

In October, Su Liang destroyed the Shengjurchens and surrounded Yelu Hongji together with three Song armies.

In November, the Liao emperor Yelu Hongji was captured and the Liao was destroyed. Zhao Zhen led his army back to the court, and Su Liang assisted Wang Anshi in transforming the Liao territory.

In December, Su Liang returned to Beijing and refused to enter the Secretariat to become prime minister.

……

In January and February of the second year of Jiayou, Su Liang was in charge of the imperial examination. The questions in the provincial examination were difficult, as difficult as climbing to the sky.

In March, Su Liang called out the names of the candidates in front of Donghua Gate. Zeng Gong, Lu Huiqing, Zhang Zai, Cheng Yi, Su Shi, Su Zhe and others all passed the imperial examination and attended the Qionglin Banquet.

……

February of the third year of Jiayou.

Su Liang took his family on a three-year tour to inspect the country on behalf of the Song Emperor Zhao Zhen. He said: "The Song Dynasty is expected to be prosperous, and my trip is not in vain. How happy! How happy!"
……

……

The book is finished, and I would like to thank all the book lovers for their support.

This book exceeded expectations by a lot.

I made it to Sanjiang, entered the elite category, and broke career records. Although the final statistics declined a bit, I am already very satisfied.

Thank you Yuewen! Thank you Qidian! Thank you editor Haoyun! Thank you my operations officer Huoyanzhixing! Thank you to all the book friends!
Next, let’s talk about books!
In fact, the core of this book is a total of eight words: support the Song Dynasty with words and carry out comprehensive reforms.

Yan refers to the censors.

When the Song Dynasty was founded, its vitality lay in the Censors.

The reign of Emperor Renzong was the most glorious period for the Censors.

The reform was a combination of the improved version of the Qingli New Deal + the Xining Reform + the Zhang Juzheng Reform.

During the reign of Emperor Renzong, although there were three redundancies, the Song-Xia War, the Nong Zhigao Rebellion, the Wang Ze Mutiny, and the annual tribute from Xia to Liao, the country was still on the rise as a whole.

Fan Zhongyan, Fu Bi and others discovered some problems, and then the New Policies of Qingli were proposed.

Unfortunately, the New Policies of the Qingli Period were like a temporary solution after the rain, and they came to an abrupt end after lasting for more than a year.

In my opinion, the fundamental reason for the failure of the Qingli New Deal was definitely not party strife, nor did it come from the reformists' lack of initiative, nor the conservatives' crazy opposition.

Rather, Renzong was too soft and Fan Gong had no power.

If Zhao Zhen was as tenacious as Duke Xiao of Qin, and Fan Zhongyan was as decisive as Shang Yang, the probability of success of the reform would be much greater.

Let me give you another example.

Wang Anshi's Xining Reforms lasted for several years and even had a profound impact on the late Northern Song Dynasty. The main reasons were: Shenzong's strong support and Wang Anshi's establishment of the Three Departments Regulations Office, which hollowed out the two governments.

To carry out political reform, the emperor must be the leader and the prime ministers must be the generals; neither is indispensable.

Therefore, the core of this book is: To reform the law, one should first change the king’s will, then the power of the prime minister, and finally the administration of officials and new laws.

Some book friends said that I over-glorified Wang Anshi.

Maybe, but I think this should be the real Wang Anshi in history!
He was not greedy for money, nor was he lustful. He loved his wife, respected the virtuous, valued education, had impeccable personal morals, and devoted his entire life to reforming the Song Dynasty.

His opponents racked their brains and found only two of his shortcomings: stubbornness and sloppiness.

This is just like the Qing Dynasty criticizing Empress Ma, the virtuous queen of the Ming Dynasty. In the end, they only found a flaw: "big feet", which further highlighted her greatness.

If an official were chosen to represent the scholar-official spirit of the Song Dynasty, it would definitely be Fan Zhongyan; but if an official were chosen to reform the Song Dynasty, it would definitely be Wang Anshi.

Just as the Ming Dynasty could do without Hai Rui but must have Zhang Juzheng, the Song Dynasty could do without Fan Zhongyan, Bao Zheng, Tang Jie, and the Three Su brothers, but could not do without Wang Anshi.

After reading Liang Qichao's "Biography of Wang Anshi" and Deng Guangming's "Wang Anshi, Political Reformer in the Northern Song Dynasty", I feel more that Wang Anshi is a saint without a gilded body.

Another thing to complain about: Book lovers who are deeply influenced by Lin Yutang's "The Biography of Su Dongpo" may wish to take a look at the above two books. You will find the answer to whether Jing Gong benefited or harmed the Song Dynasty.

I like all of Wang Anshi's new methods except the one that protects horses.

This book has already discussed enough, so I won’t go into details.

To sum it up in one sentence: throughout the dynasties (feudal dynasties), the way to make the country rich and the people strong and the society stable was never to plunder the rich's cake and feed the poor, but to make the cake bigger and bigger so that the rich could not eat it, and the poor would have the opportunity to eat the cake.

I sincerely hope that book friends who have subscribed to this book will...

Even if you have forgotten the title of the book or the plot, when someone mentions the word "cowardly Song", you can still vaguely remember that in a parallel universe during the reign of Emperor Renzong, there was a young man who seriously and persistently saved Song.

……

The biggest problem with this book is that it was written too hastily without any drafts saved, which resulted in some plots being anticlimactic and the logic not being self-consistent. I will definitely learn from this lesson for the next book, keep more drafts, and update steadily.

The new book will be released soon, in the history category, during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty. There will be a notification later. I hope you will give me your support.

Xiaoshui is here, bowing, saluting, and thanking you!
(End of this chapter)