Put Sima Guang and Truss together, isn't it not a difference between wind and horse cattle?
Sima Guang was a minister of the Song Dynasty.
Truss, the British prime minister, was recently forced to resign because of his 45-day term, becoming a big joke and blowing up the circle of friends of politicians.
Whether it is time, space, or position, it is impossible to hit the eight rods.
However, these two are strikingly similar in some ways.
01 Lame economic ideas
Sima Guang inherited the Confucian tradition of "frugality". Does this stuff make sense? In a famine year, it is of course right to moderately cut fiscal expenditures, let the imperial relatives and ministers tighten their belts, and not be extravagant and wasteful.
However, the problem is that in order to enhance the national strength and the common people to live a harmonious and happy life, "saving" alone is far from enough.
"Open source" is the point. Without open source, throttling is a source of water and a tree without roots.
No matter how you "save", economic growth is weak, can it work? The economy operates, one in and one out, both ends are very important. Or rather, both legs are important.
After Sima Guang was reused, he used his idea of "frugality" as a weapon to oppose Wang Anshi's change of law with great fanfare.
In fact, Wang Anshi and his successors achieved great results in changing the law during the Xining and Yuanfeng years. Sima Guangwei was a minister for seven months, indiscriminately, and abolished the new law with all his thoughts.
Why did Sima Guang hate the new law? Taking the green seedling method as an example, it is named after the "green and yellow does not connect", in February and May every year, the farmer family has no surplus grain, and there is still some time before the harvest. Wang Anshi believes that those who give loans and grain loans to peasants by the government should wait until the grain comes down in the summer and autumn before returning it to the government.
What are the drawbacks of this approach? Some officials would force peasant households to take out grain loans and loans, and by the autumn, the amount of grain and money to be repaid would double, and the peasants' lives would become even more difficult. Some unscrupulous officials even exchange inferior seeds for new grain harvested by peasant households, but the peasant households cannot get them, and in the end they still have to mortgage the land.
What's the problem? Lack of supporting initiatives. That is to say, if Wang Anshi has the opportunity to formulate a series of supporting measures, such as inspection, supervision, and accounting, and to prevent corrupt officials from obstructing them, the "Young Miao Law" will greatly benefit farmers in exerting their enthusiasm and improving agricultural production.
Sima Guang stubbornly clings to the "frugality" in his heart and regards Wang Anshi's transformation as a flood beast, causing the dynasty to lose the motivation for self-innovation, and eventually declines.
This is the lame economic idea.
Look at British Prime Minister Truss.
Truss, who has been in office for just half a month, has three fires in three days: a huge energy subsidy program, a central bank interest rate hike, and a tax cut larger than any in Margaret Thatcher's term.
These three fires, not only did not solve the UK's "high inflation, high oil prices, deteriorating labor relations" well, but like igniting a dynamite package, the market and the election situation both "stormed". Pessimism pervaded the market, with polls showing only 18 percent supporting his policies, while support for his Conservative Party fell to 27 percent.
On October 3, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwarten announced the withdrawal of the policy of abolishing the 45% top income tax, and Truss's new policy only existed for 10 days; Then, on October 14, Kwarten, a long-time close comrade-in-arms and think-tank, resigned.
Six days later, Truss himself resigned under widespread pressure.
The idea of Tesla's New Deal comes from "neoliberalism." In her book Britannia: Unfettered, published with several Conservatives, Britain is a failed state and that "the British are among the laziest people in the world." It is not difficult to see that Truss believes that "smaller government", "lighter regulation" and "lower taxes" can save Britain from fire and water.
As a result, play yourself to death with the so-called neoliberalism!
Tesla has drastically cut taxes and raised interest rates, but lacks the flexibility of "specific problems and specific treatment" like Margaret Thatcher, and it is a one-size-fits-all approach to one-size-fits-all and lacks positive adjustment means, which is undoubtedly an aggravation.
The pandemic, the shrinkage of the market brought about by Brexit, and the soaring energy and prices have overwhelmed the UK, and Truss's new policy needs to be the right medicine at the root if it is to effectively alleviate the current difficulties.
Obviously, Truss only walks on one leg, and he actually wants to run and not fall!
Sima Guang and Tesla are both clinging to the so-called "ideas" in their minds, but they have forgotten the current reality and the way out in the future.
On paper, their economic claims are bloodied in the harsh real world.
02 "Blind" diplomacy
After Sima Guang took power, why did he cede some land in the northwestern region of the Great Song Dynasty to Western Xia?
Here you can see the harm caused by a very subjective prime minister!
At the beginning, the Western Xia was in civil strife, and the emperor Xia Huizong had no chance of winning in the internal struggle, so he asked the Northern Song Dynasty for help. The condition offered was that as long as he helped him tide over the difficulties, he was willing to give the Hetao Plain, the economic lifeline of Western Xia, to the Great Song Dynasty. Song Shenzong was overjoyed and sent troops to fight. The Northern Song Dynasty occupied the border areas of Western Xia.
When Emperor Shenzong died, Sima Guang believed that Emperor Shenzong was fighting out of help, and now occupying people's territory seemed a bit brazen and lost his demeanor as a great power.
So, give up.
Let's talk about British Prime Minister Truss.
After coming to power, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called himself the first person to talk to the British prime minister on social media. That night, Truss spoke with Zelensky, once again emphasizing his "firm support" for Ukraine. And accept Zelensky's invitation and will visit Ukraine.
In response to this news, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov immediately poured a basin of cold water over, do not look too far, but first see clearly relations with neighboring countries.
And there's a joke,
Truss's "humiliating visit" in Russia. At that time, Truss visited Russia to discuss the territorial issue of Russia and Ukraine with the Russian Foreign Minister. In the course of the discussion, Truss described the two states belonging to Russia as Ukrainian territory, and even mocked Russia for trying to "invade" Ukrainian territory.
The Russian spokesman bluntly called Truss a "foreign minister without diplomatic capacity."
Sima Guang, full of benevolence and morality, forgot the country's territory and sovereignty, and could not back down in the slightest;
Truss, ambitious all the way, but unable to distinguish between distant and close relatives, lack of knowledge hurts relationships.
These two are either blind or blind.
03 The bookish habit of bookishness
To sum up, it can be seen that the biggest common denominator between Sima Guang and Truss is that ideals are divorced from reality.
They hold various ideas and values from their predecessors, but they turn a blind eye to practical problems.
Scholarly students have more than enough habits and lack of practical experience.
However, Sima Guang is far better than the "paper lady" than the strength of learning.
Truss's "Britannia: Unfettered", probably no one will watch it again;
Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" is timeless and regarded as a classic.
Finally, I gave a poem by Gong Zizhen to the British people:
Jihai Miscellaneous Poems (220)
Kyushu is angry and thunderous, and Wan Maqi is sad.
I advise Tiangong to regain his efforts and degrade talents without any restrictions.
Bless them.