The six-dimensional pictures of emperors of all dynasties were exposed, and the ancestors panicked

Chapter 370: When everything in the world is expensive!

(This chapter contains a lot of data.)
On the canopy.

Smoke of war began to rise frequently on the territory of the Song Dynasty.

The scale is not large, but it happens over and over again.

……

【Since the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, forty years, the country has been complacent and has accumulated many problems, leading to a situation of poverty and weakness.】

In July of the second year of Mingdao (1033 AD), when Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty took power, Fan Zhongyan, then a censor, pointed out in his "Eight Things to Relieve Malpractices":

"The country has been peaceful for nearly 30 years, but the excessive taxation and excessive rewards have not been eliminated."

"Heaven has created things for a time, but the state uses them without limit. How can the world not be in trouble?"

"Redundant soldiers and officials, idle and lazy, fill the capital"

Point out the three redundant phenomena of "redundant officials", "redundant soldiers" and "redundant expenses" that have long existed. 】

[It is proposed that "it is now necessary to eliminate redundant soldiers, reduce redundant officials, prohibit idleness, and reduce work", requesting reform. ]

【Later, he was demoted and appointed as a local official because he offended Prime Minister Lu Yijian.】

……

The period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty
Liu Che, who was leaning aside with his sleeves tucked in, frowned slightly.

The power of the prime minister in the Song Dynasty was too great.

Do not……

Thinking about how Kou Zhun was able to force the emperor to lead the army in person, and the censors were able to force the empress dowager to change her will, although what they did was right, the power was too unbalanced.

"Are the ministers' power equal to the monarch's power..."

……

Period of Emperor Guangwu of Yanhan Dynasty

"This Fan Zhongyan..."

Liu Xiu saw him several times.

He was there when Renzong took power, he was there during the Song-Xia War, and he is still there during the current reforms.

“This person must be very important.”

Liu Zhuang looked at the sky and shook his head:

"It doesn't really matter whether he's important or not."

"The key lies in whether the emperor takes it seriously and whether he can persist."

"But it depends on the character of the Song Dynasty emperor..."

"My son is not optimistic about Song Renzong's reforms."

……

Period of Jihan and Emperor Huai

"Father...what's wrong with you?"

Liu Chan was at a loss for a moment when he saw tears in Zhuge Liang's eyes.

Zhuge Liang came back to his senses and wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

"I just feel sorry for the hardships people are facing."

Liu Chan didn't understand at first, but he understood the next moment.

……

[After reading a few sentences, you may not be able to understand the extent of the rottenness of society in Fan Zhongyan’s words. ]

【Then let’s list some data. 】

[The Ministry of Household Statistics for the second year of the Qingli reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty showed that the total population was about 25 million.]

[The proportion of the military to the population is as high as about 4%! ]

[At that time, the fiscal revenue of the country was 60 million guan, but 50 million guan was used to maintain the army, and 80% of the fiscal revenue was used for military expenses! ]

【And the remaining 10 million kan will be used to support the operation of the entire government! 】

……

Tang Dezong Period
Li Shi was sitting in the Wangyun Pavilion.

A pale face full of heaviness.

Eighty percent of the fiscal...

Today's fiscal revenue is only six-tenths.

In this way, the people's livelihood in the world has declined to an unknown extent.

Eight out of ten...

……

Ming Dynasty Yongle Period
Zhu Di put his hands in his sleeves and sighed.

"Otherwise, the Song Dynasty was said to be rich."

"Eighty percent of the military budget...this should be given to us."

Zhu Zhanji asked Zhu Di curiously.

"Grandpa, how much of the Ming Dynasty's fiscal budget is spent on military expenditure?"

When Zhu Di heard this, he thought of that fat face.

Then the words "no money" kept running through my mind.

"Four out of ten!"

“Half as much as during the Song Dynasty!”

Zhu Zhanji was shocked when he heard this.

"This dad still says he has no money?!"

Zhu Di hesitated and said:
"You can't say that...War?"

"If we fight, it might be more than four-tenths."

"So the Song Dynasty kept spending money to buy peace with this in mind."

"They can't win, and they can't afford to fight."

……

[The Song Dynasty did not use state means to intervene in the fair distribution of land, but adopted a policy of allowing it to be freely traded.]

【Therefore, the situation of land annexation was most serious during the Song Dynasty.】

[While land distribution was seriously unequal, there were still a large number of privileged classes in the Song Dynasty that did not pay taxes, such as officials, temples, palaces, etc.]

[By the time of Emperor Renzong of Song, 70 percent of the land in the country was tax-free.]

[Heavy taxes weigh heavily on small and medium-sized farmers who own only about 30 percent of the country’s arable land.]

[Therefore, starting from Emperor Renzong of Song, the taxation of the Song Dynasty was heavier than that of many previous dynasties. Zhu Xi even lamented that "the harsh exploitative methods of the past were all in place in this dynasty."]

……

Han Dynasty Lingdi Period
Liu Hong touched his beard and didn't feel surprised at all.

Given the Song Dynasty's deformed state politics of walking on one leg, it would be normal for the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" to break out one day.

The land had become like that during Emperor Wu's time. If it weren't for the Mandate of Heaven and Emperor Xuan to clean up the mess, the Han Dynasty would have collapsed long ago.

The Song Dynasty...

"How could there be such a strange dynasty?"

Don’t they think about what happens after Qianqiu at all?
As long as it doesn’t change from the fifth generation to the sixth generation, long live it?

...{In an agricultural society with limited production capacity, farmers have to bear such heavy tax pressure.}
{From historical texts, we mostly see the elegance of the scholars and officials, but rarely see the suffering of the common people.}
{However, when we examine history, we should not limit ourselves to those palace fighting stories that seem to follow the same script, but should pay attention to the actual situation among the people, because the emergence and existence of many policies are driven by the current situation and demands of the people.}
{The author did a good job on this point, thumbs up!}
{I don't know why, but I suddenly want to say you are shameless!}
{As for the free sale of land, it is actually impossible to simply judge whether it is right or wrong. Looking at the development of the rent-labor system in the Tang Dynasty, we can also know that the fair distribution of land is difficult to implement and difficult to sustain in practice.}
｛The equal-field system is often more idealistic.｝
{So Empress Dowager Feng and Emperor Xiaowen were truly extraordinary.}
……

[“Since the war in the northwest began, the national treasury has been depleted, and nine out of ten houses in the people are now empty-handed… The people of the world are all tired of the troubles of taxes and labor service, and the people are living in misery. There are even fathers and sons and couples who have jumped into wells together and died.”]

【The Northwest War caused the fiscal deficit to exceed 3 million guan every year.】

[In order to solve the problem of military expenses, the imperial court expanded the scope of taxation, and everything owned by the people was taxed. ]

【Compared with the Jingde period, various taxes increased significantly during the Qingli period. 】

【Commercial taxes increased from 4.5 million guan to 19.75 million guan.】

【Liquor tax increased from 4.28 million guan to 17.1 million guan.】

[Salt tax increased from 12.33 million strings of cash to 44 million strings of cash.]

【At the same time, the imperial court minted a large number of low-quality coins. 】

[During the sixth year of Emperor Taizong's Taiping Xingguo reign, the total was 500,000 guan. During the Qingli reign of Emperor Renzong's Song dynasty, the total increased to 3 million guan, six times the amount during the Taiping Xingguo reign.]

[The depreciation of the currency caused a rise in prices, making the Qingli period the first time in the history of the Song Dynasty when goods were most expensive! ]

……

Song Zhenzong period
The hand holding the wine jug was shaking.

"Xiao...Xiao'e..."

Zhao Heng's voice was floating.

Liu E's soul was called back by Zhao Heng.

A sense of urgency filled the two of them.

……

During the Song Dynasty and Renzong Period
There was deathly silence in the back garden.

Zhao Zhen sat steadily on the desk with his eyes slightly lowered.

All the ministers bowed their heads and remained silent.

Didn't Zhao Zhen know these things? Of course he knew.

But Fan Zhongyan's reforms touched the interests of scholars all over the world!

The tablet of Taizu has been enshrined in the Taimiao.

Taizong's words of ruling together with you have spread throughout the world!

Why do scholars study hard for ten years?
Zhao Zhen's heart was filled with sorrow.

Being an emperor...is not easy at all.

……

Song Shenzong Period
In the hall, Sima Guang pointed at Wang Anshi and said with anger:

"You've seen it too! The taxes on the people of the world have become so much heavier!"

"You keep saying that people's livelihood is the top priority!"

"But your Qingmiao Law has hidden tax increases everywhere!"

"The wealth of the world is limited. If it's not among the people, it's in the government!"

"The most miserable people in the world today are farmers. They work hard, wear coarse clothes and eat coarse food, and have to pay various taxes to the government and bear various labor services."

"In good years, we have to sell our grain to support the government. In bad years, we become homeless and even die of hunger and cold!"

"Can they afford your new policy?"

"How can you guarantee that the county magistrate will not use his power to lend money and collect interest?"

"How can you guarantee that?"

Wang Anshi was silent for a while, then looked up at Sima Guang.

He was grateful for the other party's help in the beginning. He understood that both of them wanted to make Song Dynasty better.

It's just that he wants to go faster and the other party wants to go slower.

But now the Song Dynasty can’t afford to slow down!
"The affairs of the world are like a game of chess. You must know which move is the most important in order to win."

……

[In the early Song Dynasty, the price of rice was 190 wen per dan. During the Qingli period, it rose to 2,902 wen, which was 15 times the price of rice in the early Song Dynasty.]

[Even the scholars and officials feel that things are expensive nowadays and complain that they don’t have enough food and clothing.]

【Due to heavy taxes, soaring prices, and poverty among the people, incidents increased year by year.】

[In the third year of the Qingli reign (1043), there were three large-scale uprisings: Wang Lun of Jingdong, Zhang Hai of Jingxi, and the Yao people of Hunan.]

[The imperial court quickly dispatched troops to suppress the uprisings, but the uprisings in Jingdong and Jingxi could not be quelled for several months, and the Yao uprising lasted for five years.]

[The world laments: "Nowadays, thieves are increasing in number year by year, and one group is stronger than another. How can we not worry about the disasters in the world?"]

……

Song Dynasty - Emperor Wenzong
Zhao Kuangyi slowly sat down, holding onto the desk.

Big beads of sweat kept oozing out of his forehead.

From the founding of the country to the Qingli period, the country became like this in seventy years?
It was obvious that people’s lives were peaceful and prosperous during Yuan Kan’s time!

"Yes……"

"Rebellious son! Drive that woman out of the house immediately! Do you hear me?"

Zhao Heng knelt on the ground with his head down and remained silent.

Looking at this stubborn man who didn't say a word, Zhao Kuangyin was so righteous that he was overwhelmed.

Holding back his anger, Zhao Kuangyi asked in a cold voice:

"In your heart, is that woman more important than the throne?"

"Yuan Zuo is just ill, he will get better."

Zhao Heng had a blank expression on his face, but his hands on his knees couldn't help but clench.

Zhao Kuangyi saw the clue and sneered.

……

Ming Dynasty Wanli Period
Zhu Yijun roughly understood why Wang Anshi believed that improving people's livelihood and finances was the top priority of reform during the Xining period.

"The affairs of the world are like a game of chess. You must know which move is the most important in order to win."

When there is an urgent matter of life and death somewhere, how can you pay attention to another so-called big scene that concerns the quality of the layout?

……

[Although the financial difficulties caused by redundant officials and soldiers had already existed in the reigns of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Zhenzong in the early Northern Song Dynasty, they had not yet endangered the government.]

[However, during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, due to the outbreak of war in the northwest, the financial expenditure was huge and the results were not obvious.]

[Under the pressure of this financial crisis, coupled with the repeated admonitions from many reformist ministers such as Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu, Song Renzong also felt the crisis of the current situation, so he was determined to reform.]

[In August 1043, Fan Zhongyan was promoted to Vice-Chancellor and Fu Bi was promoted to Deputy Privy Councilor.]

[Song Renzong opened the Tianzhang Pavilion and summoned Fan Zhongyan and other ministers, urging them to come up with reform plans as soon as possible.]

[In September, Han Qi outlined seven things that should be done first and eight things to remedy the problems.]

【Fu Bi proposed more than ten current affairs and thirteen strategies for border security. 】

[Fan Zhongyan's "Reply to the Imperial Edict and Ten Points"]

【Song Renzong was very excited when he received the memorials from Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi. 】

【“All his ideas shall be adopted. All those that should be made into decrees shall be unified in an imperial edict and promulgated in sequence.”】

【The Qingli Gentleman stepped onto the historical stage. The "Qingli New Deal" praised by historians thus kicked off. 】

(End of this chapter)