After broadcasting the ancient times live, I handed the system over to the state.

Zhu Qinggu felt that Zhu had stepped on many landmines that people from previous dynasties had made, and now people from previous dynasties could learn from Zhu's mistakes and cross the river by doing the same.

Old Zhu was somewhat helpless, but he still kept cursing at the fourth brother.

Qin Mincai also briefly mentioned the Immunization Law, the Green Seedling Law, and the Square Field Equal Tax Law, among others.

Even in the simplest terms, without any subjective emotion, the people below didn't look too happy.

It just reminded me of what happened before. Wang Anshi, you were so selfless, but you became a clown in their eyes?

"The immunization method had a considerable impact on the liberation of the labor force, freeing the lower classes from arduous labor. Before the Xining Reform, there were 530,000 people subject to corvée labor, but after the Xining Reform, this number was reduced to 420,000. Furthermore, corvée labor was replaced with currency, which increased their subjective initiative."

"In addition to these, the Xining Reform also provided clerks with real salaries."

Previously, the salaries of clerks depended on the officials in charge or on their applications, so these clerks inevitably reached out to those below them.

In addition to these, severe laws were enacted to prohibit corruption.

These reforms have all reduced the burden on ordinary people.

"Overall, the central idea of ​​Wang Anshi's reforms was to enrich the national treasury without increasing taxes on the people. He believed that the wealth in the world was not constant, but rather flowed like water, and that the total amount could be increased through effective ways of generating wealth. Doesn't this concept already seem very close to the economic concepts of later generations?"

Qin Mincai smiled.

Zhu Qinggu nodded in agreement, noting that many people don't actually have this concept.

They also rarely compare how many migrations and how much land reclamation have taken from the pre-Qin period to the present day, transforming the former wilderness into the commercial thoroughfares we know today.

Doesn't this perfectly illustrate that wealth can indeed be created?

Of course, that was them in the past. Su Shi and others below couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. However, what he opposed even more was Wang Anshi's overly radical reforms.

Sima Guang simply sighed and remained silent, his heart filled with complex emotions.

Looking down from a celestial perspective, everything is clear, but those in power are shrouded in a fog, unable to see anything clearly.

He recalled Zhu Qinggu's repeated mentions of the so-called 'historical limitations' and 'God's perspective'.

They had some understanding of what God was, and if it were more appropriate to call it the God of Heaven, they would understand. But at that time, who could stand so high to see things?

……

"Wang Anshi's idea was to use the power of the whole country to create wealth for society. The Fangtian Junshui Law states that anyone who excavates or reclaims natural resources or plants barren mountains can enjoy tax exemption. This is actually a very meaningful tax regulation policy."

"The Farmland Irrigation Law made water conservancy construction an important responsibility of local governments and one of the performance evaluation criteria for officials. On the other hand, the state also provided financial support for water conservancy construction. All these measures promoted agricultural production and water conservancy construction at that time."

"The effects were very noticeable very quickly."

"Water conservancy projects were built in various places, and rivers and mountains were dredged. In addition, more than 40,000 hectares of land were newly created by returning the riverbed to its original state and by irrigating the land with silt from the river. In Kaifeng Prefecture, new silted-up fields were created on the riverbanks, resulting in an annual increase in grain production of more than one million shi (a unit of dry measure)!"

Qin Mincai's words reminded everyone of that scene: in the mud, everyone was working hard, and then at harvest time, everything was golden.

Even Zhu Qinggu thought of that.

Even Zhao Kuangyin below was envious, turning his head to look at Wang Anshi, thinking that he might as well tie Wang Anshi up and take him back to work for him.

Wang Anshi: "..."

Although he didn't understand why the founding emperor's gaze was so strange, he knew it was definitely not a good thing.

People on the screen began to share their observations of what happened.

Everywhere you look, there is a scene of abundant harvest, and people's faces are filled with smiles of contentment.

So what's wrong with that?

At this point, Qin Mincai's voice became unexpectedly calm, even somewhat longing, and very gentle: "From the second year of Xining to the ninth year of Xining, according to statistics, the total area of ​​paddy fields, official fields, and private fields that were successfully built nationwide was 100 hectares."

“In ancient times, expanding farmland meant increasing wealth. Isn’t this a way to increase wealth?”

Qin Mincai's eyes also shone as he looked at the people below.

My thoughts have actually returned to that time when everyone was working hard and striving to make their lives better. This is what it means to put people first and foremost, and this is what it means for society to progress.

(I remember the porridge was so sweet that year!)

(My grandfather starved to death last year. The following year, my family cleared the barren mountain and planted a few more crops. No one in my family starved to death that winter.)

(Even labor service now pays off; some money comes back, enough to at least buy grain.)

(In other words, after an irrigation canal was built, our village had a bumper harvest, and the villages connected to the canal also had good harvests!)

(All of this is thanks to Wang Jinggong.)

……

Suddenly, a ring of thank-you messages appeared on the screen above.

Wang Anshi couldn't see it, but Zhu Qinggu lightly tapped his fingertip, causing the system to project some bullet comments into Wang Anshi's mind.

Wang Anshi rarely reacted to many things, but seeing these things, he couldn't help but feel a little unsettled.

He turned his head and glanced back at Zhu Qinggu, who simply smiled and nodded.

He nodded as well.

Zhao Xu also envisioned this prosperous era, but then felt helpless and regretful, wondering how things had come to this.

Next, Qin Mincai also talked about the Equalization of Transportation Law in Wang Anshi's reforms.

The core change was that the supply of goods from local governments to Bianjing was changed to a six-route transportation system in the southeast.

Furthermore, a dispatch commissioner was established to allocate supplies based on the needs of Bianjing and the abundance or scarcity of resources in various regions, thereby avoiding duplicate transportation and waste, and also balancing prices and reserves.

Buying more goods when prices are low and selling them when prices are high not only stabilizes prices but also reduces government spending.

It's already very close to modern concepts.

Compare this to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming government was like a top-heavy monster, slow to respond to external feedback and lacking economic considerations.

"The equalization and transportation method improved the efficiency of material transportation and reduced financial costs to a certain extent, but it certainly affected the interests of some bureaucrats and merchants. In the later stages, the effect was not so good."

This group of people is easy to understand. The previous methods inevitably allowed for shady dealings. Now that you're not letting me embezzle, wouldn't I be going to oppose you?