Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 248 The Nature of Reform

Hai Wenren was even more disappointed when he heard this.

The New Deal failed after only two years of implementation. If we count from the time when it was proposed, including the preliminary preparations, it would not have exceeded five years.

The New Deal was implemented too hastily, and he naturally knew that.

Li An also noticed Hai Wenren's disappointment and explained: "Sister Hai, when I say anxious, I don't mean that the implementation is too hasty. Of course, there is also a hasty implementation. But even if you are fully prepared, you will eventually fail. .”

If other reformists heard Ang Lee say this, they would definitely be very unhappy.

Because the New Deal is their ideal and ambition, Ang Lee's words are almost saying that the New Deal cannot be successful.

But Hai Wenren didn't. He had been thinking about the reasons for the failure of the New Deal over the years and had made various assumptions. Naturally, he knew that what Li An said was the truth.

Hai Wenren looked thoughtful, and after a long while he said, "Continue talking."

"There is a popular saying among the people: You can't bite off more than you can chew. The starting point of Fan Daxiang's reform, including the direction of innovation, is correct, but it is too difficult to solve all the long-standing shortcomings of the Song Dynasty at once." Li An said.

Seeing that Hai Wenren was silent, Li An continued: "In fact, if you want to reform, you need to understand the essence of the reform."

If we can really solve these problems, we can indeed solve all the long-standing shortcomings of the Song Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, it is too idealistic.

Li An shook his head and said: "This is the purpose, not the essence.

The reform method is to cut off a piece of the wealth of the powerful and distribute it to the court and the people.

But as Ang Lee said, it's too greedy.

Logically speaking, it is impossible for Fan Zhongyan and others to have thought of this with their intelligence.

As the saying goes, if the general trend of the world is united for a long time, it must be divided, and if it is divided for a long time, it must be united.

The first possibility is that they were at different heights. Those involved in the reform were all important officials in the court. They felt that with official support, only an edict was needed.

Li An also thought about this problem, and then thought of two possibilities.

The rich and powerful people control the power directly or indirectly, and they are vested interests, so naturally they are unwilling to share the pie.

In my opinion, reform means dividing the pie, and the world's wealth and resources are like a big pie.

The rich and powerful in the world have more to eat, while the court and the people have less to eat. Therefore, there are many disadvantages, the country is weak, and the people are poor.

The second possibility is that the conservatives knew that the reform would touch their interests, and they began to oppose it even before the knife of reform was cut off on them.

The change of dynasties in ancient times was due to the flow of wealth and resources into the hands of a few people. This cannot be changed.

Li An directly said what was on his mind.

"Isn't the essence of the reform to eliminate the accumulated shortcomings and make the Song Dynasty more powerful?" Hai Wenren said.

Ang Lee felt that there was a greater possibility. After all, the New Deal was stopped after two years, which was too fast.

It's also possible that it's both.

If you want to reform, you need to balance the interests of all parties, otherwise it will be impossible to succeed. "

Fan Zhongyan put forward ten things in "Ten Matters in Replying to the Imperial Edict": depose the emperor clearly, suppress luck, pay tribute, select officials, equalize public land, support farmers and mulberry trees, cultivate military equipment, reduce corvee, extend favors and trust, and emphasize orders. .

The so-called faint king is more of a catalyst.

Even Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han were unable to solve this problem.

Let’s just talk about land annexation. Don’t those wise kings know the dangers of land annexation?
But land annexation continued during their reign. It's just that this situation will be much slower.

The demise of a dynasty and the establishment of a new dynasty is a process of re-dividing the pie.

It's just that reform is a matter of culture, while changing dynasties is a matter of force.

In the process of changing dynasties, countless people will die. When order is re-established, the bread vacated by those who died can be divided among them.

Hai Wenren's heart was lifted, he thought for a long time, and said bitterly: "I am very old, and I still haven't seen it thoroughly like you."

"Zi Qian, then the army shouldn't be part of the pie sharing category, right?" Su Che at the side couldn't help but ask.

Li An shook his head slightly, "The biggest drawback of the army is redundant troops. The Song Dynasty raised an army of millions, and sixty-seven percent of the money and food from the national treasury was spent on the army, which overwhelmed the imperial court's financial resources. And was all this money used? Is it true?"

Indeed, the Song Dynasty implemented a recruitment system and needed to pay military salaries to soldiers.

However, the income of the Song Dynasty court was also the highest among all dynasties in history.

Even the fiscal revenue during the Song Dynasty was several times that of the Tang Dynasty.

Such a huge income would cost 60 to 70% to support the army.

Who would believe that the generals among them were not corrupt?

The reform of the military must also touch the interests of those generals and seize their big pie. Will the generals be willing?
"The foundation of reform lies in the supporters. If there are more people who support than those who oppose, it will naturally succeed, and vice versa. But in fact, the only people who support the reform are those who have the world in mind or want to use the reform to show their abilities like officials and obtain higher and higher benefits. have great power. And these people account for a very small proportion among officials.

Even ordinary people don't support it because they don't understand the big principles and only care about whether they get actual benefits.

What's more, ordinary people have no say at all, so what if they support it? "

"Zi Qian, if you say so, does it mean that the reform is impossible to succeed?" Hai Wenren said.

"No, if you want the reform to be successful, you need to have a bigger pie, so that those with vested interests will no longer just focus on the pie in front of you." Li An said.

This is like when the world is in chaos, those aristocratic families invest in the princes who are striving for hegemony in the world.

In order to support those princes, it can be said that they asked people to give money to others. It is an exaggeration to say that they spent all their money, but those aristocratic families also spent a lot of money.

Isn't it that they want to get more of the pie after the new dynasty is established?

Hai Wenren's eyes lit up when he heard this, but soon dimmed again.

If the imperial court is able to draw a bigger pie, does it still need reforms?

Although he knew it was impossible, Hai Wenren still asked: "What do you mean by drawing a bigger pie?"

Li An shook his head and said: "This is just an idea of ​​mine. In addition, I think we can also boil the frog in warm water and start from some places where there is little opposition."

Hai Wenren nodded thoughtfully and said with a smile: "It is rare for Zi Qian to have such insight at such a young age. In time, he will definitely become a pillar of the imperial court."

"Xueshi Hai is ridiculous. What the student said is just talk on paper and cannot be taken seriously." Li An said modestly.

"On paper?"

Hai Wenren was stunned and said with a smile: "This should be talking about Zhao Kuo in the Battle of Changping, right? But Zi Qian's words are meaningful, how can he be compared to Zhao Kuo."

Li An then remembered that although the story of "talking on paper" happened during the Warring States Period, there was no idiom at that time. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the idiom "talking on paper" came into being.

"By the way, has Zi Qian decided to get married?" Hai Wenren asked.

Li An was stunned. Hai Wenren asked what he was doing. Could it be that he wanted to marry Hai Chaoyun to him?
Li An felt that he had thought too much. Although Hai Wenren didn't care much about family status, there was no reason why he wanted to marry his daughter to him just because of a few chats.

(End of this chapter)