Author: Qiao Yongsheng
When it comes to the change of law in the Warring States period, the first thing that comes to everyone's mind is the Shang martingale transformation method. Because of the Shang martingale transformation law, the Qin state realized a rich country and a strong army, and finally completed the unification of China.
So, when did this movement to change the law begin, and who first started introspection? Sweeping away the dust and smoke of history, we can clearly see that the Li Wu transformation method, which began in the Wei state, opened a precedent for the change of laws in various countries during the Warring States period, and achieved considerable results, but only because it was later overshadowed by the momentum of the Qin state, it was returned to obscurity.
(1) Opportunities are prepared
This change of law began with a heart-to-heart conversation between Wei Wenhou and Xiangguo Li Wu.
Wei Wenhou said that he was bent on making the country rich and strong as soon as possible, and also took some measures, but he always felt that he could not achieve the ideal goal, and asked Li Wu what to do. After careful consideration, Li Wu put forward the agricultural policy of "doing our best."
The first is to encourage peasants to work diligently, increase their output, appropriately reduce servitude and taxes, and give them certain benefits. At the same time, they are encouraged to reclaim wasteland, make full use of the land on the side of the road, expand the area of cultivation, and increase grain production.
The second is to engage in comprehensive development. In view of the situation of a single grain variety in the State of Wei at that time, peasants were encouraged to choose different crops according to the different terrain and soil, develop a variety of crops and plants, and plant melons that could grow melons, mulberries that could raise mulberries, and hemp that were good at planting hemp, so as to achieve diversified management, so that people could give full play to their talents and make the best use of the land.
Li Wu's words are to the point and feasible. If we want to reform, we must move to the root causes. In the era of private ownership, land was the greatest resource. By revitalizing land resources, we can solve the problem of feeding the people.
As soon as Wei Wenhou heard that this strategy was justified, he put Li Wu in charge of the domestic agricultural economic reform. Li Wu had the unshirkable responsibility and immediately issued a reform notice, letting the people of Wei go first. The common people immediately set about breaking the old feudal frontier and constantly reclaiming the land. With the expansion of land area, grain production has increased greatly, peasants have lived a stable life, and the income of the national treasury has also been greatly increased.
The agricultural harvest has been bumper, the problem of growing grain has been solved, and the problem of difficulty in selling grain has followed. In order to allow the peasants to continue to increase their income, Li Wusong asked Wei Wenhou to implement the "Pingyi Law" economically.
He divided the years of abundance and hunger into three grades, and divided the years of abundance into large, medium, and small ripeness; the years of hunger were divided into major, medium, and small hungers. According to the quality of the annual harvest, the amount of tax payable and the amount of grain retained by the peasants themselves should be determined, and the state should purchase it at a parity so that the grain price will not plummet; in the famine year, it will be sold at a flat price to ensure that the grain price does not soar. In this way, in good years there will be no phenomenon of injuring the peasants because of low grain prices, and in famine years, there will be no phenomenon in which the people cannot afford to buy grain because of high grain prices.
After the implementation of this policy, the price of food in the market has been very stable. The people lived and worked in peace and contentment, their lives were stable, the country's income was stable and rising, and the State of Wei became stronger and stronger for ten years.
(2) Economic and political reforms are carried out simultaneously
If economic reform is to move forward, it is necessary to embark on political reforms and break down "intestinal obstructions." To this end, Li Wu put forward the national policy of "selecting the best and the best, rewarding and punishing clearly", and widely recruited talents from all over the world.
He advocated that both nobles and commoners, as long as they had the ability to govern the country and secure the state, they could all serve as officials in the imperial court and receive the corresponding salaries. Officials should perform their duties, reward those who have done their work, punish those who are guilty, and not favor their own feelings. Whoever does nothing but do so, even the nobles must remove the officials from the ranks and abolish the fenglu.
This policy of awarding official positions and titles according to the size of merit and the amount of contribution to the state broke the old Shiqing Shilu system, achieved fairness and equality in the use of talents, and clearly distinguished rewards and punishments, and soon absorbed talents from all over the world to flock to Wei, improved the efficiency of state organs and the quality of officials, and formed a good situation of vigorous efforts to govern the state from top to bottom.
Li Wu's political reforms were also a great success.
In order to continue to promote reform and protect the hard-won achievements of reform, it is necessary to form a system and solidify the successful experiences and practices in the reform, and Li Wu has begun to try to govern Wei according to law.
On the basis of referring to previous laws and regulations and absorbing the essence of laws and regulations of various countries, and according to the actual conditions of the State of Wei, he compiled the first relatively systematic and complete feudal code in Chinese history, the "Book of Laws". The "Fa Jing" is divided into six parts: thieves, thieves, prisoners, arrests, miscellaneous, and miscellaneous, which play an important supporting role in protecting the interests of the ruling class, maintaining social order, and stabilizing the political situation.
(3) Rich countries and strong armies go hand in hand
Rich countries must be guaranteed by strong armies. While taking the road of a rich country, Li Wu also attaches importance to the strengthening of the army. Although he himself did not understand the military, he invited the general Wu Qi to carry out military reform together.
The purpose of Li Wu's military reform was to build a standing army capable of conscripting good war.
He chose the criteria for a sergeant: A sergeant must wear three pieces of armor (shin armor, upper body armor, and armor), shoulder a bow of twenty stones, and carry fifty arrows. Carry a spear, carry armor on your head, a sword, prepare food for three days, and walk a hundred miles in half a day.
Once selected, enjoy generous treatment, exempt the whole family from servitude, and award to the field house.
The soldiers selected in this way have excellent personal qualities and have no worries. As a result, the army quickly exerted centripetal force and continued to grow and develop. In just a few years, the combat effectiveness of this powerful army of the State of Wei shocked other countries, making "Qin soldiers dare not go east" and countries did not dare to contend with them.
(4) The Enlightenment of Li Wu's Reforms
Reform is a matter of one stroke at a time. The most important thing about such a successful reform is that the monarchs and ministers can trust each other. The two monarchs, Wei Wenhou and Wei Wuhou, let Li Wu boldly reform, which enabled Li Wu's political ambitions to be carried out. This effective leadership collective played an "ice-breaking" role in at least four aspects in that era.
First, it was the first country to break the traditional ida system.
Second, it was the first country to establish a system of peace and tranquility, intervening in the market order through state power.
Third, this was the first time that personnel reform had been carried out under the political system of slavery, changing the hereditary system to accepting duties according to ability and merit.
Fourth, this is the first country to explicitly take the legal system as the governing principle, which has opened a precedent for governing the country according to law.
Such a comprehensive reform covering politics, economy and society directly broke through the shackles of the old system, stimulated the people's unlimited enthusiasm for reform, and enabled the Wei state to develop rapidly and become a strong country in the early stage of the Warring States. At the same time, the change of law opened the prelude to the Great Change of Law movement in the Warring States, and various countries changed the law one after another to become stronger, and finally converged into a trend of the times, forming the largest, longest, and most effective change movement in ancient China. Many of the practices of this change of law have had a positive impact on future generations.
Therefore, many scholars have deservedly and deservedly called Li Wu, the main advocate of this reform, the originator of the Fa.
Today, we remember this reform and Li Wu because it was a reform without bloodshed and smoke. Most reformers in history have ended tragically. A little later than this, Shang Martin was torn apart by five horses in the Qin State, Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty was depressed after the failure of the change of law, and Zhang Juzheng of the Ming Dynasty brought the family into ruin after his death.
So, li wu's reform, why did not this jedi appear? As a driving force for promoting the progress of history, reform will inevitably encounter some resistance in reality, but how to achieve harmony between reform and creation, people and things, and progress and concession is the fundamental test of politicians' political wisdom.
The practical significance of Li Wu's reform lies in organically combining people's minds and the interests of the ruling class, seeking changes in stability, and using the law to standardize, so that all activities are carried out under the leadership of a stable profit class. Only by doing so step by step and steadily has it avoided the tragic end of many reforms in later generations that have prestige without the support of the people and have enthusiasm without legal protection.
Reading history wisely, we have comprehensively examined Li Wu's reform in order to obtain the maximum amount of support in the process of reform, reduce unnecessary losses, and continuously push forward the reform.
【Author's Profile】Qiao Yongsheng is committed to examining historical figures from a modern perspective and writing more to restore human nature.
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