From 8 A.D. to 23 A.D., the sixteen-year period, in the annals of Chinese history, belonged to a dynasty called the "New Dynasty." This dynasty is like a steel knife, dividing the Han Dynasty into the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it is sandwiched in the middle, becoming a short-lived miracle in Chinese history.
The special of the new dynasty comes from the identity of the founding emperor, this person was originally a nephew of the empress dowager of the Han Dynasty, his father died early, and he was not the han royal family, no matter how you look at it, unless he rebelled, otherwise it is far away from the three words "to be an emperor". But Wang Mang created such a miracle, relying on his own virtue and reputation, plus some mysterious Xiangrui, in 8 AD, through the Mandate of Heaven and the people's hearts, he smoothly became the first veritable "Zen Emperor" in Chinese history.
Wang Mang became emperor with the high hopes of all the people of the world, and after ascending the throne, he did not disappoint, and immediately introduced a policy, announcing that all the land would be taken back and then distributed, so that the poor people would have land to cultivate.
Wang Mang not only wanted to give the poor land, but also ordered everyone, as long as the limbs were sound, they should work, they should not beg, if they were not willing to work, they would have to levy money and taxes, and those who did not pay taxes and did not work would be forced to work by the government, but providing food and clothing. In this way, Wang Mang's new dynasty can be said to be the only dynasty in Chinese history without poor people and lazy people.
There were many policies that Wang Mang tried, and during the Han Dynasty, the custom of buying and selling slaves and wives was very serious, and some poor families often sold their children in disaster years, and many people became inferior because of a deed of sale, and they could never turn over. As soon as Wang Mang came to power, he issued an edict calling off all slave trade and restoring them to peasant status.
The most wrong thing Wang Mang did was to offend the Four Yi Emperors of the Han Dynasty and demote them all, which was a stab in the honeycomb, from the Xiongnu Shan Yu to Goguryeo, these barbarians in Wang Mang's eyes all rebelled, Wang Mang had to raise an army to fight, the war ended, the lives were ruined, the people were displaced, and the beautiful vision when he ascended the throne was in vain.
How should we evaluate Wang Mang, in feudal society, because Wang Mang was a usurper, no matter who he was, his evaluation was extremely demeaning, but Wang Mang was only able to sit on the throne by relying on the "will" of the people of the world, and some of his measures were also praised by many poor people at that time. We can only say that Wang Mang was a political loser, but an extraordinary reformer!