250. Chapter 250 Essence


Chapter 250 Essence

Sima Guang greeted Wang Anshi to sit down, and a maid came in with tea to serve it.

Sima Guang sent the people away, looked at Wang Anshi and said, "Are you here to be a lobbyist?"

Wang Anshi asked something unexpected: "I thought Junshi wouldn't let me in. "

"The visitor is a guest!" Sima Guang said coldly.

Wang Anshi was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then laughed.

“I came to Bianjing several times to report on my work. I wanted to come and see Junshi, but I was afraid of being turned away, so I hesitated. Now that I think about it carefully, I was stupid. How could this be the case with Shi’s temperament?”

He and Sima Guang did not meet in Bianjing. Later, they had different ideas and severed contact.

Over the years, he came to Bianjing several times to report on his work, and he always wanted to come and see Sima Guang, but he was worried about being turned away, so he never came.

Now that I think about it carefully, Sima Guang is a person who has etiquette, benevolence and wisdom engraved in his bones. It is impossible to turn away someone who comes to visit him.

After hearing this, Sima Guang was silent for a while and said: "You didn't expect it, but you didn't convince me, so you didn't come." .

Later, there were differences over how to solve the long-standing shortcomings of the imperial court. No one could convince the other, so they broke off contact.

However, both of them recognized each other's talents very much and felt that if they could think alike, they would be able to solve the long-standing problems in the court better and faster.

Therefore, neither of them gave up convincing each other.

Wang Anshi said he did not come because he was afraid of being turned away.

But Sima Guang knew that the reason why Wang Anshi did not come was because he was not sure to convince him.

Wang Anshi was stunned when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Your temper has not changed at all, and you still speak like this, which makes people uncomfortable."

"I like to tell the truth." Sima Guang said lightly. road.

Wang Anshi didn't dwell on this and said: "I heard that you were punished by His Highness to think about your mistakes at home. I happened to have free time these two days, so I came to see you."

"Your Highness has implemented your new law, and has discarded my advice like worn shoes. So you think you have won and want to persuade me? Or are you working as a lobbyist for His Highness the Crown Prince?" Sima Guang said.

“None of them.”

Wang Anshi shook his head and said: “I have been summarizing the long-standing shortcomings of the imperial court these years and thinking about solutions. Later, I was fortunate enough to work in the East Palace as an errand, so I summarized what I have summarized over the years. The new law was presented to His Highness the Crown Prince for review.

I thought that the new law that I presented was a good plan, but His Highness pointed out many omissions.

The Green Seedling Law that is currently implemented is based on His Highness. Even so, there are still many problems.

These problems are not problems with the Green Crops Law itself, but are caused by the landlords, gentry and the common people.

The landlords and gentry are unwilling to see the Green Crops Law implemented, while most of the people are unable to repay. If the people cannot afford the repayment, the government cannot force the people to sell their sons and daughters or their fields like those landlords and squires.

If the review is not strict and the money cannot be recovered, there will be no money to continue lending.

But the review is too strict, and most people who meet the conditions do not need to borrow money from the government. The Young Crops Law has become a joke. ”

The so-called green crop method, according to Wang Anshi’s original idea, is to lend it to the people to tide over the lean years.

At the same time, people who have no money to buy farm tools and seeds due to family changes can borrow money from the government without delaying farming.

The purpose is to prevent people from borrowing from landlords and gentry and avoid being exploited.

It is also a way to prevent land annexation.

So according to his original idea, there should be an audit mechanism, but it should not be too strict.

After all, this is a policy to benefit the people. How can we benefit the people if there are too many rules and regulations?

However, Zhao Xing made the review mechanism very strict, and Wang Anshi did not understand it at first.

Zhao Xing didn't say much, he just gave him a simple calculation.

The account calculated by Zhao Xing is very simple. How many acres of land does a common person need to ensure that after taxes are removed, there is still a balance for daily needs?

Only such families can guarantee that they can afford to pay back the money they borrowed without affecting their future lives.

This is actually the same as later generations of loans, the bank will check the transaction history.

The bank must calculate that after deducting normal expenses, the borrower will have enough money left to repay the monthly payment.

Wang Anshi was a bit too idealistic and it was difficult to accept it at first.

In his opinion, the purpose of the Green Crops Law is to benefit the people.

If Zhao Xing's requirements are followed and there are not many people who meet the requirements, then what is the significance of the Green Seedling Law.

Zhao Xing asked him, the imperial court was short of money. If the money it lent could not be recovered, where would the imperial court get the money to continue lending?

And once the people can't pay, the government is too lenient, and some people who meet the conditions but don't need to borrow will also borrow.

I borrowed it with the mentality of not paying it back.

If the conditions are more relaxed, more people will borrow money. How can the court afford it?

These questions left Wang Anshi speechless. Wang Anshi is not a person who will easily shake his beliefs.

After the implementation of the Young Crops Law, except for the tenants who rented government land, not many other people met the conditions, and even fewer borrowed money.

This made him shaken by the new laws he had enacted.

Sima Guang was a little surprised when he heard the wavering in Wang Anshi's words.

But what was more in my heart was joy, and a smile appeared on his cold face: "Jiefu, I wish you could understand this. Although the old law has its drawbacks, after all, it has been implemented for so many years. What are the drawbacks?" It can be seen. But the new law has not been used, and it is unknown what problems there are. After it is implemented, it is the people who will suffer in the end." Wang Anshi shook his head. It’s because I am too self-righteous, rather than wavering about the reform.”

Sima Guang's face darkened when he heard this, and he said: "I have also heard about some of the problems encountered after the implementation of the Green Crops Law. The squires and landlords in various places resisted. This is under the premise that His Highness the Crown Prince serves as the governor of Kaifeng. If it is promoted nationwide, it will cause unrest. Even bigger. His Highness the Crown Prince said in court that the Green Seed Law will not be promoted throughout the country. It can be seen that His Highness the Crown Prince has seen the problem. Doesn’t this make you wake up? "

"Jun Shisuo? I understand everything, so I came to you." Wang Anshi said solemnly: "Junshi, you always want stability. You want stability and you want to solve the long-standing problems. How long will it take before you can make progress? , it has reached the point where we have to change, can we wait?

I also know that I was a little too radical in the past. I thought that I would formulate a new law and you would find out the possible problems and improve it.

The two of us worked together to formulate a reasonable and complete new law.”

“Hmph!”

Sima Guang didn't expect Wang Anshi to persuade him in turn, snorting coldly: "You are simply unreasonable! How many times have reforms been successful since ancient times? You want to imitate Shang Gong's reforms to become stronger, but have you ever thought about why Shang Gong was able to succeed? "Of course I have thought about it, but I have heard His Highness talk about his views on the reform. When he talked about it, he also talked about Shang Gong's reform," Wang Anshi said.

Hearing this, Sima Guang said nothing, waiting for Wang Anshi's next words.

He was also very curious about how Zhao Xing viewed the reform.

Wang Anshi paused and said: "His Highness's talk of reform is actually a fight for cake, and this cake includes the people of the world."

Sima Guang wanted to say that this was a fallacy, but he knew that Wang Anshi had not finished speaking yet, so he patiently did not interrupt.

Wang Anshi said to himself: "Originally, the pie has been divided, but the landlords, squires, and officials want more. If they eat more, the court will eat less.< br>
But the court will not be full if it eats less, so it will naturally find ways to eat more.

However, it is impossible for the landlords, squires and officials to spit out what they eat. It has not become bigger, but the court has to eat more, which will eventually need to be borne by the people

The reform is to find ways to reduce the burden on the people and let the landlords, squires, and officials spit out the extra pie. Come out.

His Highness said that the reform will affect the interests of many vested interests, so the resistance to it is very strong.

Although Shang Gong's reform touched the interests of some vested interests, it also gave them new interests and at the same time created a new vested interest group. This was the key to his success. "

Sima Guang was silent when he heard this. In his opinion, Shang Yang's reform was successful, firstly, because of the strong support of the monarch, and secondly, because the Qin State was small at that time.

As the saying goes, the ship After the disaster, Qin could not compare with the current Song Dynasty.

But after listening to Wang Anshi's words, he thought about it carefully and found that there was indeed a certain truth.

Although Shang Yang's reform harmed the interests of some Qin officials, it also brought some benefits to Qin officials.

For example, the abolition of the well-field system and the free sale of land gave the ministers the opportunity to annex land.

While focusing on agriculture and suppressing business, what is prohibited is the private sector. Government officials should do business anyway.

It's just a change from light to dark, but there is a lot less competition.

In this way, although the minister's interests were damaged, he also gained some new interests, and the opposition was not that great.

The military merit system has allowed many people who rely on meritorious service to become upstarts in the court and have the right to speak.

These people are all new vested interests and naturally support the reform.

In fact, in Zhao Xing's view, reform is to change the way of distribution of interests, so that the distribution method that has gradually become unreasonable becomes reasonable again.

Power is the most important thing that governs the distribution of interests. Therefore, the first problem to be solved in almost all reforms is the problem of centralization.

But if this problem cannot be solved, we can only die slowly.

How else can we say that when the general trend of the world unites, it must divide, and if the division lasts for a long time, it must unite.

"His Highness's views are unique, but there are some truths. In this case, you should know that it is almost impossible for the reform to succeed." Sima Guang said.

In the current situation of the Song Dynasty, reforms will only harm the interests of vested interests and will not give them other benefits.

Moreover, the civil servants are the dominant family, and neither military generals nor relatives can check or balance it.

In this case, the reform is unlikely to succeed.

(End of this chapter)

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