The short videos I watched from all dynasties

[The highly controversial Xining Reforms]

[Hello everyone, this is Xining~

This issue is also the most important part of this series - Xining Reforms.

[After experiencing the Qingli New Deal during the reign of Emperor Renzong, Wang Anshi's experience as a local official for so many years made him believe that even if the emperors of the Song Dynasty were as benevolent, respectful and frugal as Emperor Renzong, they would not be able to achieve true governance in the Song Dynasty.

As we mentioned earlier, Song Shenzong was an extremely ambitious emperor who wanted to achieve the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the people through reform.

It was also said that Song Renzong also thought about achieving the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the people through the New Policies of the Qingli Period.

In fact, the reason why these two emperors thought of reforming the country was because the Song Dynasty was out of money.

Before the New Deals of the Qingli Period, the Song Dynasty was experiencing war with the Western Xia Dynasty externally and civil unrest caused by natural disasters internally, so the New Deals of the Qingli Period focused on "saving money".

The New Deal faction believed that the wealth of the world was fixed. If the court wanted to implement "increasing revenue", the people's money would be reduced. It was not good to compete with the people for profit.

However, the Xining Reform was about "increasing revenue + reducing expenditure". Wang Anshi believed that only by implementing "increasing revenue and reducing expenditure" together and concentrating financial power in the central government could the country become "rich".

[In February of the second year of Xining, Wang Anshi was promoted to the position of Vice-Chancellor and listed as a prime minister, and began to carry out reforms.

"To change customs and to make laws is the most that can be done at present."

With the support of Song Shenzong, Wang Anshi established a department dedicated to serving the reform - the Regulations Office of the Three Departments, which was in charge of financial power.

Most of the people in the court had different political views from Wang Anshi, including some comrades-in-arms who later turned against him.

Su Che was originally a member of the reform faction, but what he wanted was "cutting expenditure" rather than Wang Anshi's "increasing revenue and reducing expenditure."

For example, Lu Gongzhu was once a comrade-in-arms of Wang Anshi, but in the end he also resigned from his position as censor due to conflicts.

The officials of the Regulations Office opposed Wang Anshi, and the Secretariat and the Censors also opposed Wang Anshi. In the end, the emperor began to waver.

Then this reform will eventually fail.

Why do we say that this reform is doomed to fail?

We can first take a look at how hasty this reform was. In July of the second year of Xining, the Equalized Transport Law was promulgated, in September the Green Sprout Law was promulgated, and in November the Farmland and Irrigation Law was promulgated. New laws were implemented every two months...

Many of them are only experimented in one place for a few months and then immediately promoted nationwide after seeing results.

There is no consideration at all as to whether the adaptation conditions in different places are the same.

The local experiment was very effective, partly because it was supervised by Wang Anshi himself.

In this way, it was quickly promoted throughout the country. Not all local officials were like Wang Anshi, and not all of them had Wang Anshi's ability and conduct...

Moreover, the new law gave wealthy families and officials an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

For example, the Qingmiao Law was originally intended to be distributed to wealthy households, but officials distributed it to ordinary households that did not need it in order to achieve political achievements.

The wealthy also take advantage of the rule that their clients require them to act as guarantors and exploit loopholes to make a profit from the price difference.

The Farmland Irrigation Law has changed its original purpose of developing water conservancy and protecting farmland into a burden for the people.

The equalization and transfer system also made the farmers in the southeast region suffer even more.

Since Wang Anshi served as an official mostly in the south, his reforms were more suitable for the south.

When Wang Anshi presided over the nationwide reform, he seemed unable to adapt to local conditions. 】

[However, does this completely negate Wang Anshi’s reforms?

Not really, just as the Qingmiao Law also provided considerable convenience to the people.

Fan Chunren had previously opposed Wang Anshi's reforms, but after leaving Beijing to serve as an official in the local area, he began to support Wang Anshi's reforms.

The reasons for the failure of Wang Anshi's reform were not only that he acted too hastily, but also that the new law itself was too idealistic and the people who implemented it lacked experience.

Finally, a large number of officials at the time opposed the new law. In order to protect Wang Anshi's reform, Song Shenzong demoted these people to other places as local officials. After arriving at the local places, these people still opposed the reform and deliberately obstructed the implementation of the new law. 】

＜Wang Anshi is too idealistic and not good at politics＞

＜What do you mean by saving money? Renzong suffered many defeats during his reign. Saving money is not an option. Making money is the only way to go. ［Helpless］＞

＜The country was poor because it cost too much to maintain an army. The Song Dynasty did not implement the previous military system, but the recruitment system, which was too expensive.

The Song Dynasty was often at war and had to recruit soldiers. They also had to change their guard frequently, which was equivalent to fighting and mobilizing every year. It can be said that the Song Dynasty was destroyed because of the maintenance of soldiers.

＜ It’s a pity for the father and son Shenzong and Zhezong [sigh]＞

＜Open source is the point, okay?＞

＜ Increasing revenue and reducing expenditure are both indispensable. Wang Anshi’s understanding of economics is impressive [thumbs-up]＞

＜But to put it bluntly, this is nothing more than robbing people of their wealth.＞

＜ The law is good, but it becomes distorted when it is implemented ＞

＜ Actually, the equal loss method looks pretty good, and Lao Wang’s ideas are quite advanced＞

＜Lao Wang is a practical man. He has personally experienced everything and conducted field research＞

＜ The officials are really stupid, they just want to exploit people [speechless]＞

＜I am really speechless, this is so crazy＞

＜However, Wang Anshi’s Qingmiao Law was really full of loopholes. His idea might be good, but it was based on exploiting the people, so it’s no wonder that it failed.＞

＜So we should not exhaust all resources, but should pursue sustainability…＞

＜It is said that we should compete with the people for profits, but the imperial court did not regulate and wait for the merchants and wealthy to plunder at will? Look at the Ming Dynasty, which was destroyed because of lack of money [covering face]＞

＜To talk about Wang Anshi’s reforms, we must talk about the Qingli New Deal, which is inseparable＞

＜Song Shenzong was quite ambitious. His support for Wang Anshi was very strong and his attitude was very clear. Alas＞

＜Wang Anshi’s political enemies were hoping that the new law would fail. All of them gentlemen were busy debating＞

＜Song Shenzong was also careless. He demoted all the officials to other places. They did not support the new law, but he still expected them to govern [laughing to death] ＞

＜Didn’t Ouyang Xiu explicitly refuse to implement the Qingmiao Law when he was a local official＞

＜Factionalism really harms the country＞

＜Reform seems to be a shortcut for some new parties＞

＜ Alas, Duke Jing must be very lonely in the future. ＞

……

Li Ranran still remembers that when she first learned about Wang Anshi's reforms, she felt that there were huge economic problems involved.

I can only say that Lao Wang still doesn’t quite understand economics.

----

Song Renzong Zhao Zhen, who was repeatedly cueed, rubbed his forehead.

"Qingli New Deal...? Ouyang Xiu, Fan Zhongyan..."

Guangmu was right, the Song Dynasty only looked good on the surface, but its annual fiscal expenditure was indeed a headache.

----

Song Dynasty, the second year of Xining

Wang Anshi stepped forward and saluted, then said to the official Zhao Xu: "I will go back and rearrange the implementation of the new law."

When Zhao Xu saw the fighting spirit in Wang Anshi's eyes, he knew that he had not trusted the wrong person, and nodded to indicate his approval.

Sima Guang was standing in the court, and he never imagined that his reputation would be so bad in later generations.

Su Che lowered his head, his expression unrecognizable.

Zhao Xu thought of Su Che, who had written a letter to discuss political affairs after the implementation of the new law. He also thought highly of him, but his ideas were still too conservative...

Zhao Xu shook his head, thinking about what he had seen on the screen today: "Think carefully about the reform after you go down."

"I will tell you clearly today that the reform will definitely not be interrupted. Please express your opinions and write to me."

During this period, Su Shi's friends and teachers also left Beijing because of their opposition to Wang Anshi's reforms.

Su Shi pondered, Guangmu did not oppose the reform, and now the government's determination to reform was even stronger.

Now that we know the future of the Song Dynasty, what should we do now to change it?

----

Song Zhezong Zhao Xu could not control too much. Guangmu was referring to the reform during his father's reign. Since the Hehuang Frontier was opened, it proved that the new law was desirable.

I will not make the same mistakes as the reasons for failure mentioned by Guangmu.

Then he thought of Guangmu's repeated words that it was a pity that he died young, so he quickly asked the imperial physician to check his body.