Chapter 13 Proposal for Reform
Zhao Xing was stunned, bowed and said: "Thank you, Father."
He originally thought he was going to waste some words, but he didn't expect his father to do it so easily. Agree.
"You are my only son, and this world will belong to you from now on. Since you said you must kill me, then kill me." The official said without any concern.
What Guan Jia said to Zhao Xing before was not to beautify himself.
When he first came into power, he was indeed very high-spirited, thinking of destroying Xixia and regaining the sixteen states of Yanyun.
However, the war with Xixia poured cold water on him and made him calm down completely.
If you can't defeat Xixia, how can you recover the sixteen states of Yanyun?
And during the war with Xixia, he saw various shortcomings within the Song Dynasty and came up with the idea of reform.
Faced with Xixia of Liao Kingdom, he has always maintained a tolerant attitude.
As time goes by, giving and taking has become a habit.
Hearing that someone from the Liao envoys had killed a commoner, he did not even intend to kill the murderer.
It's not that he doesn't care about this matter, but that he feels that a small impatience will mess up a big plan. It's not worth irritating the Liao Kingdom for a common person.
Not only him, but also all the civil and military officials thought so, and no one proposed to severely punish the murderer.
The Liao man who beat the people to death did not have a high status in the envoys. He was not the chief or deputy envoy, so he could not represent the emperor of Liao.
Even if he were killed, it would be impossible for the Liao Kingdom to go to war with the Song Dynasty.
This is not difficult to think of, but neither he nor the ministers raised it.
It's not that they didn't expect it, but the long-term concession made their first thought when dealing with matters involving the Liao Kingdom was to give in.
It was only what Zhao Xing said just now that made him react.
"Father, do you still have any intention of reform?" Zhao Xing suddenly asked.
The official was startled when he heard this, was silent for a moment, and said: "You are still young, the main thing is to study. It is not your turn to worry about national affairs. Go back."
"Father, son and minister." I just want to hear it, didn’t you say that this world will be handed over to your subordinates sooner or later?” Zhao Xing said.
After hearing this, the official pondered for a while and asked: "Do you think we should continue the reform?"
"I think we should!" Zhao Xing said: "All the princes in the court They always say that the laws of the ancestors cannot be changed lightly, but I don't agree. When the ancestors formulated the rules and regulations, it was because the situation and circumstances at the time required it. How could we always keep the laws of the ancestors as the situation changed over time. "You're right, but the ministers in the court don't think so. The reform is definitely going to happen, but the resistance to the reform is too great, so I need to carefully consider my decision to transfer Han Zhang back to the court." Xianggong is preparing for the reform," the official said.
Zhao Xing was a little surprised. He didn't expect that his father had such considerations in appointing Han Zhang as Grand Prime Minister.
Then why did he not implement reforms again in the original play?
Is it because the death of his only son was a huge blow and made him feel discouraged?
"Han Zhang is a man of good ability and scheming. When I intended to reform the law, he also agreed with me. He also advised me that the New Deal was too hasty and had many disadvantages and would be difficult to succeed. I did not Even so, he still firmly participated in the New Deal. After the New Deal failed, in order not to embarrass me, he asked to be released." The official sighed.
"Father, I feel that if the reform is implemented, there will still be great resistance." Zhao Xing said.
"Didn't you just say that the law should be reformed?" The official looked at Zhao Xing suspiciously upon hearing this.
The failure of the last New Deal taught officials a lesson.
He did not give up the idea of reform because of this. In recent years, he has eliminated many conservatives who originally opposed the reform.
The official also knew that he was too anxious because of the failure of the previous New Deal, so this time he was prepared to act steadily.
He was not sure that he could complete the reform in his lifetime, but he was very pleased that Zhao Xing was determined to carry out the reform.
The officials felt that if the two generations of father and son worked hard, they would be able to complete the reform and revive the Song Dynasty.
"Father, I am not against it, but I feel that there is no need to tell the world to implement reforms, nor do we need to solve all problems at once. The fundamental reason for the great resistance to reforms is the damage to the interests of the officials and landlords. "The implementation of reforms covers all aspects, and they will naturally oppose it. But if we focus on one point and solve the internal shortcomings step by step, the resistance will naturally be smaller," Zhao Xing said. In fact, he couldn't understand the thoughts of the Song Dynasty emperor and those ministers.
Why do we have to set the tone so high and shout slogans of reform and new policies?
In the final analysis, these are problems that can be solved through maneuvering.
Those conservatives who oppose the reform do so to protect their own interests, which does not mean that they are all of the same mind.
When it comes to playing tricks, the one Zhao Xing admires the most is Zhu Yuanzhang.
They killed one after another, but no one dared to rebel.
Many people think it is because Zhu Yuanzhang immediately conquered the world and gained high prestige.
Actually, that's not the case. When people kill, they always kill one group at a time.
Reform is actually the same. You have to stabilize one part first and focus on one aspect.
Among them, some people can naturally be eliminated.
There may be smart people among the conservatives who can detect it, but everyone is lucky. The knife is not put to the neck, and they always feel that they will not be touched.
The reform is equivalent to telling the people of all classes that I am going to take action against you. It would be strange if you don't oppose it.
"But there are too many shortcomings in the imperial court. If we do it step by step, how long will it take to postpone it?" The official shook his head.
"Father, there is a saying in the Tao Te Ching: Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. I think this sentence makes sense. Although I don't know how to cook, I have heard people say that cooking requires step by step. There is no need to rush. The same goes for governing a country. It is unrealistic to try to cook a dish that is both delicious and delicious." Zhao Xing said.
"Then where do you think the best place to start is if you want to take it step by step?" the official asked after pondering for a long time.
"Salt!" Zhao Xing said in a deep voice: "Although salt is not as filling as food, it is indispensable to anyone. When I had nothing to do, I once looked up The imperial court's income from the salt business over the years has nearly doubled compared to when my great-grandfather was in power, but the income from the salt business is only 70% of what it was then. Doesn't the extra population of my father need to eat salt? ”
The purpose of the Song Dynasty’s reforms was to solve the increasingly serious problem of three redundancies.
The key to the three redundant problems is lack of money.
There was a very interesting phenomenon in the Song Dynasty. The annual tax difference between the imperial court was not big, but the expenditures were increasing.
So much so that it is almost impossible to make ends meet.
Once there is any natural disaster or war, the court will not be able to provide money.
In order to cope with these, we can only increase taxes, which will increase the burden on the people.
As a result, there were hundreds of rebellions in the Song Dynasty, which are recorded in history books. Counting those that were quickly put down and those that are not recorded will only be more.
Amid internal and external troubles, there is no reason to forget the country.
It is very difficult to implement measures to curb land annexation and count acres of land, and the resistance is great and the results are slow.
Though the resistance to a thorough investigation of the salt affairs is just as great, the results are quicker.
Whether it is the salt merchants who sell private salt or the officials in the interest chain, a lot of money will come to them as soon as they are found and confiscated.
Thanks to the iron-clad time traveler Liushui Goldfinger for the 5,000-coin reward. Thank you very much for your support. There is nothing I can do in return. I will add an update chapter for you today.
Thanks to the skinny old man for your monthly ticket.
(End of this chapter)