In 1068, Emperor Shenzong of Song officially changed his name to Xining. At this time, Wang Anshi was finally ordered to come to Kaifeng to take up his post, and Song Shenzong was very happy to see Wang Anshi come to Kaifeng. And it was decreed that Wang Anshi had the privilege of being able to speak beyond the ranks and not be restricted by the etiquette of the court. As soon as Wang Anshi arrived in Kaifeng, he was shouted by Song Shenzong. Song Shenzong couldn't wait to ask how to govern today.
Wang Anshi then said that a reasonable art of governing the country should be chosen. Wang Anshi then recommended that His Majesty use Yao Shun as a method. Yao Shun's method of governing the world is very simple. Song Shenzong had always admired Tang Taizong and hoped that he could have the same feats as Li Shimin. It should not be difficult to hear Wang Anshi's tone reach the height of Tang Taizong. Song Shenzong was very happy.
The first time Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi met, they talked from politics to economy. From the economy to the military, there is a feeling of seeing each other and hating each other. Song Shenzong was very much in agreement with Wang Anshi's views. However, at this time, Song Shenzong had not yet made up his mind whether to entrust Wang Anshi with a heavy responsibility. It was precisely at this time that Song Shenzong was facing a very serious crisis. That is, the country is too poor, the cost is also very large, and Hebei still has a lot of water. In the face of the stretching of the state finances, Song Shenzong was also helpless.
Originally, at this time, he was going to take the people to hold a ceremony to sacrifice the heavens. It is customary to give a reward to each official at the end of the ceremony. But the treasury was empty, and the bounty could not be afforded. Song Shenzong suddenly felt that this emperor deserved to be too embarrassed. Facing this looming dilemma. Song Shenzong finally didn't want to sit still any longer.
When Wang Anshi was found, he said that others said that you would only engage in economics but not world affairs, and Wang Anshi said that only by understanding the economy could you do a good job in world affairs. The Divine Sect then asked what means should be taken to strengthen the country at the moment. Wang Anshi replied that changing customs and legislating is the most urgent task at the moment. The first priority of the founding of the country is to manage money. To manage the money well, we must formulate a series of policies and systems. What Song Shenzong lacked most now was money, so he quickly asked Wang Anshi to come up with a plan.
At this point, the prelude to the change of law has officially begun, and a political storm in the Northern Song Dynasty is about to be set off.
Wang Anshi and Song Shenzong had just talked the first day, and the next day they immediately took action. Emperor Shenzong of Song set up an institution called the Regulations of the Three Divisions. And all personnel are deployed by Wang Anshi.
It can be said that there is no bondage at all. Completely delegated power to Wang Anshi, and then Wang Anshi found several people, Lu Huiqing, Zeng Bu, Zhang Yu and others. Zeng Bu was the younger brother of Zeng Gong, one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Zhang Huan is very tough in doing things, not afraid of things, and is a cruel person. Wang Anshi was very talented, but he was not very good at using people, and the five ghosts who could be called traitors were the five ghosts led by Ding Shu during the Song Zhenzong period. The Zhang Huan, Lü Huiqing Zengbu, and others included in the Biography of the Traitorous Ministers of the Song Dynasty were basically promoted by Wang Anshi.
After Wang Anshi arranged the good manpower, he began to change the law. In fact, the current state problem is the same as that of the previous Song Renzong. It is still the problem of redundant officials and redundant soldiers, before Fan Zhongyan directly started from the problem of redundant officials.
It failed before it started, but Wang Anshi started with the economy. If you have money, you can talk. After careful study and discussion by these people. Preliminary drafting of the regulations for changing the law, the main content of which is the Six Laws of The Rich Countries.
Farmland water conservancy, equal loss, green seedlings, exemption from military service, city easy, square field equal water, as well as strong army two laws, armor protection and horse protection. Synthesize the Eight Laws of Rich Country and Strong Army.
Not all of these policies were implemented, and the first to be issued was the equalization method. The purpose is to migrate the noble and the low, and it is easy to use the near and far. Simply put, the Song Dynasty had an agency at that time, which specialized in transporting taxes from all over the world to pay tribute to Kaifeng. At that time, the people handed over physical goods, such as tea, grain, silk and so on.
The imperial court was going to collect taxes, saying that everyone over there would have to pay a hundred catties of grain. But not everyone grows food, and these people have to spend money to buy food. If the grain production in this place is low, the price will naturally be raised by the merchants. When merchants become rich, the burden on the common people is heavy.
And the shipping department is engaged in transportation, nothing else cares, what is missing over there in Kaifeng, they don't know, the result is to pull the goods to Kaifeng Some things are piled up, and some things are not enough. The requirements are unclear. Creates unneeded waste. So Wang Anshi promulgated a policy, and in the future, he would not be so rigid in collecting taxes in kind. Start to collect taxes flexibly, pay grain when you have grain, and give money according to the market price if you don't have it.
The shipping division needs to make overall planning, and pull what is missing in the opening. If you get more, you pull it where you need to sell it and earn the difference. This policy is now macro-control. It is up to the state to regulate the relationship between supply and demand of materials and stabilize market prices. This is indeed a policy that benefits the country and the people.
But it will harm the interests of the big businessmen and big bureaucrats. After the release of the all-input method, many people stood up against it, such as Fan Chunren, the son of Fan Zhongyan. There are also Su Shi and others, who believe that central enterprises and private enterprises compete for the market. A bit of a trade monopoly, strangling the great Song commercial development, Song Shenzong was very angry after knowing that these opponents were very angry, so he asked Wang Anshi to continue to implement the change.
Then the second new law came out, the Green Shoots Law, which simply means that the government grants small loans to farmers, and the interest rate is very low. This is a good policy for the benefit of the people, but the people below do not implement it normally, and some local officials, in order to curry favor with the imperial court and increase their fiscal revenue, keep sending loans to the outside world, and the more they issue, the more interest they receive.
But some people are not short of money, he is not willing to borrow money, but the local officials force money to borrow, so that the people begin to complain. At this time, Han Qi, who was an official in Hebei, wrote to Song Shenzong, saying that this Qingmiao method could no longer be practiced. Saying that it is beneficial to the people is actually an increase in burden. Song Shenzong hesitated a little after seeing Han Qi's recital and was ready to stop the implementation.
When Wang Anshi saw that Song Shenzong had retreated, he himself pretended to be ill and did not do anything, leaving the rest of the matter to Lu Huiqing to do. After a long time, Song Shenzong panicked, and the state financial problems were still not solved, so he went to persuade wang Anshi, who was angry, and he himself made up his mind to support the change of law. Song Shenzong gave a reassuring pill. So Wang Anshi began to carry out drastic reforms.
What farmland water conservancy, square field average tax has come out one after another. At this time, Sima Guang could no longer sit still, he was a well-known conservative, and he had quarreled with Lu Huiqing before. Song Shenzong did not listen to him at all, and Wang Anshi was still good friends with Sima Guang before changing the law, and had done things under Bao Zheng before. Originally, Sima Guang was still very happy to see Wang Anshi come to Kaifeng, but he did not expect that he would break up from then on because of the differences in the change of law.