Ancient historians used the concept of "orthodoxy" that although Wang Mangren was humble and frugal and a courtesy corporal, in fact, he was a person who sold fame and reputation. He was well known in the government and the public, and in the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, in the case of the early death of the Han Emperor and the fall of imperial power, Wang Mang took the opportunity to steal power. In December of the eighth year of the common era, Wang Mang replaced Han Jianxin, Jianyuan "founded the country", announced the implementation of the new policy, known in history as "Wang Mang reform system".
Wang Mang's reform system is both familiar and unfamiliar, for example: "abolishing the slave system" is actually not rigorous, to be precise: "slaves are privatized and cannot be bought and sold at will." Hu Shi, a modern historian who supports Wang Mang, believes that "slaves should not be bought and sold at will" is equivalent to "abolishing the slave system", and even he very much agrees with Wang Mang's policies of "national ownership and equal production of land".
In his opinion, Wang Mang can be called "China's first socialist", which can be said to be a very high evaluation. Wang Mang has even been identified by some scholars as a "visionary and selfless social reformer." However, the socio-economic and general environment at that time did not support Wang Mang's reforms, and in the end, it ended in a vigorous failure.
Although in the end, he could not escape the fate of the loser as Kou, Wang Mang made a great contribution in history.
Wang Mang's reforms were rich in content, and in addition to abolishing slavery, state-owned land, and equalizing property, there were also currency changes, control, and place names. He suggested that the names of the clans and chiefs of the vassal states should be changed again, and that rare and expensive items such as salt, iron, wine, and coinage be handed over to the state. The "Togu reform system" was proposed, referring to the practices of the ancestors and restoring the ancient system.
For example, the restoration of the well field system, the revival of the Zhou gongli, and the implementation of the new policy in accordance with the previous system law, thus curbing the many problems deposited in the last years of the Western Han Dynasty. These include government corruption, fiscal deficits, economic depression, and ungodly popularity. However, the new policy promoted by Wang Mang was too "metaphysical" and unrealistic to reform the system, and in the end, it was fiercely opposed by the people.
Wang Mang's harsh punishment and harsh law suppressed popular opposition, resulting in stronger opposition, which led to a variety of social problems, and many policies could only be changed at the moment, and real reform could not be achieved. The irony is that due to the change of the place name many times, yacha even sent the official letter to the wrong place. Many of Wang Mang's reform measures were not really implemented, but instead threatened personal lives.
So, why did Wang Mang's "Grand Ambition Tianya" fail?
Before answering this question, let us go back to the end of the Western Han Dynasty to look at its real political and economic situation. At that time, land annexation was serious, the gap between the rich and the poor was even greater, many peasants had no fixed place to live because they did not have land, their lives were extremely difficult, and the number of displaced people increased sharply, which aggravated the social contradictions at that time, and the credibility of the government was also challenged as never before.
In the face of this day-end crisis of trust, the government has chosen to use Wang Mang's reform system when it is sick and chaotic. Because the restructuring did not pay attention to methods and was simple and rude, it did not achieve results, and even intensified contradictions and broke out a large number of peasant uprisings. The last straw that overwhelmed the new dynasty was the Nanyang rebellion of Liu Xiu and others.
Therefore, an important factor in the demise of the new dynasty is that it violates the objective law, and it seems to be "learning from the ancient", but in fact it is driving a "reverse of history", and the end is tragic. The so-called "economic foundation determines the superstructure" is also reflected in the reform of Wang Mang in the Western Han Dynasty. At the beginning of the restructuring, Wang Mang had benefited personnel at all levels and gained a lot of support.
Although the restructuring was vigorous, the actual wealth did not grow, and over time, the policy lost the support of the material basis. In this way, not only has the depletion of the national treasury been accelerated, but also many people have been "disappointed" in Wang Mang, believing that his policy is only on paper. Once things are done, the people's support instantly collapses, and the original supporters turn around and become opponents.
Here, not only was Bai Ding's anti-eye, but the number of intellectuals and other strata at that time should not be underestimated.
Therefore, the failure of Wang Mang's reform is worth studying, and later some historians analyzed Wang Mang's way: His starting point was good, but he acted too hastily, did not accumulate precipitation, began to "make big moves", and after implementing a series of things that were "useless" to the people, he lost a lot of people's base.
It is said that interests are the criterion of action, Wang Mang did not pull this criterion well, the people's hearts were scattered, and the leading restructuring eventually smashed his own feet. Therefore, from the analysis of objective factors, it is impossible for Wang Mang to satisfy the interests of all parties at the same time, and if he wants to harvest the land, he must snatch benefits from the local tycoons, want to increase the income of officials, and is bound to increase the taxes of the people.
From here, it is not difficult to see that both are opposites, which not only cannot unify the interests of all parties, but even exacerbate contradictions. Wang Mang had no choice but to adopt the "ostrich policy" to turn a blind eye to some of the turmoil that had occurred.
During this period, Wang Mang implemented the well field system, suggesting that each family with less than eight male dings should not use more than one well. It is equivalent to depriving the local tycoons of their interests, pulling teeth from the tiger's mouth, and in the end, they were collectively "protested" by the local tycoons, and the Ida system had to be abandoned. Wang Mang also implemented the "abolition of slavery" system, and the local tycoons protested one after another that there were no long-term workers and little maidens, which seemed to restore the "dignity" of slaves, but the poor people's families also complained about it, and even the way to live as a slave was blocked by Wang Mang.
Sadly, at the time of Wang Mang's reforms, not only was there a shortage of the national treasury, but also a natural disaster was encountered. At a time when natural disasters were at their worst in China's history, there were not only droughts but also insect plagues, with the Yellow River flooding fertile fields and more displaced people. Therefore, Wang Mang's restructuring was a failure from the perspective of heaven, earth, and people, and in the end, it triggered a peasant uprising and a wave of anti-Mang swept across the country.
Resources:
["Hanshu YuanHou Biography", "On Wang Mang's Ethnic Policy"]