Yan Shu looked at Wang Anshi and thought to himself that he really had no impression. However, Yan Shu learned through his intelligence network that Wang Anshi had actually suggested Zhao Zhen to carry out reforms, but the emperor did not take it seriously at the time.
For Wang Anshi, he was actually a little confused as to why Prime Minister Yan Shu would let him come to Bianliang City and invite him to the Prime Minister's Mansion for a gathering. But for such a great politician, Wang Anshi naturally knew that,
This is an excellent opportunity for him to display his ambitions, so he must face Yan Shu's question carefully.
At the beginning, Yan Shu just asked some ordinary questions, such as Wang Anshi's family situation, life background, previous experience as an official, etc. Among them, Yan Shu naturally mentioned Lu Yao, who tried his best in front of him.
The guy who praised Wang Anshi's ability.
Originally, Yan Shu wanted to inquire from the side about what kind of relationship between Wang Anshi and Lu Yao was, and how Lu Yao knew about Wang Anshi's existence.
However, Yan Shu did not get the answer he wanted from Wang Anshi. He saw a look of shock on Wang Anshi's face. Wang Anshi said that if Yan Shu had not mentioned it, he would not have known that a person like Lu Yao existed.
Yan Shu murmured in his heart. According to Wang Anshi's age and his personality, if you know him, you know him, and if you don't know him, you don't know him. He should not tell lies in this regard. But if Wang Anshi really doesn't know Lu Yao,
So where did Lu Yao's recommendation for him come from?
Since Wang Anshi didn't understand Lu Yao at all, this topic naturally couldn't be continued. However, Wang Anshi, through Yan Shu's narration, was very curious about Lu Yao. How did this official named Mr. Xiao Lu know
His own news? Why would he recommend himself to the prime minister? Thinking of this, Wang Anshi planned to visit Lu Yao. When he came to Bianliang this time, he actually temporarily handed over the work in his hands to the people below.
He came on leave to take charge. Therefore, he could not stay in Bianliang for too long. He would set off back tomorrow morning. However, he planned to visit the person who recommended him to the prime minister this afternoon or evening.
The two could no longer chat about Lu Yao, so Yan Shu started a new topic with Wang Anshi, which was about the current situation in the Song Dynasty and what kind of governance he should take if he were to be in power.
policy.
This question was asked to Wang Anshi's mind. Although at this time, Wang Anshi's series of reform policies were still in their infancy and had begun to take shape, he still spoke eloquently.
After the failure of the Qingli New Deal, the serious class conflicts in the Song Dynasty had not been alleviated at all. The situation of poverty and weakness was still developing, and crises were lurking inside and outside the court. Therefore, the calls for reform soon became louder after being silent for a while.
In the third year of Jiayou's reign, Wang Anshi went to Beijing to report on his duties, and wrote "Emperor Renzong's Statement", which systematically proposed reforms, advocated a comprehensive reform of the laws since the early Song Dynasty, eliminated the long-standing disadvantages of the Song Dynasty, and reversed the situation of poverty and weakness.
, suggested that the imperial court should reform the recruitment of scholars, pay attention to talents, and requested that the reform of the laws be implemented immediately. However, it was not adopted by Renzong.
In the fourth year of Zhiping (1067), Song Shenzong, who had long admired Wang Anshi's name, came to the throne. Song Shenzong hoped to change the situation of poverty and weakness, eliminate ills, and overcome the crisis of governance, so he appointed Wang Anshi as the prefect of Jiangning, and immediately made him a Hanlin scholar and attendant.
I have great trust and respect for Wang Anshi.
In April of the first year of Xining (1068), Wang Anshi once again proposed the idea of comprehensive reform, pointing out that "the way to govern a country must first imitate the ancestors and innovate the existing laws", and encouraged Shenzong to imitate Yao and Shun and simplify the legal system.
Wang Anshi believed that the crux of the country's poverty in the Northern Song Dynasty was not excessive expenditure, but too little production. The reason why farmers were poor and unable to engage in production was, on the one hand, the annexation of large amounts of land by wealthy bureaucrats, and on the other hand, the government's heavy workload
Corvées were imposed on the peasants.
Therefore, the best way to manage the wealth of the country is to rely on all the labor force in the world to develop natural resources, and to actively increase revenue rather than passively reduce expenditure.
Wang Anshi then wrote "A Hundred Years of Nothing in Our Dynasty", explaining the situation and reasons of peace and tranquility in the early Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years, pointing out the crisis-ridden social problems at that time, hoping that Shenzong would make political achievements, and believed that "there is a time of great promise"
, today." Shenzong accepted Wang Anshi's relevant suggestions and asked him to fully assist.
In February of the second year of Xining, Song Shenzong appointed Wang Anshi as the counselor of political affairs. Wang Anshi proposed that the top priority was to change customs, establish laws and regulations, and propose reforms. Shenzong agreed.
In order to guide the implementation of the reform, the Three Regulations Department was established to coordinate finance.
In April of the same year, people were sent to inspect farmland, water conservancy, taxes and servitude on various roads; in July, the Huaihe, Zhejiang, and Huliu Roads were enacted; in September, the Green Crops Law was established; in November, the farmland water conservancy treaty was promulgated. Then, in the next few days,
In the middle of the year, the Recruitment Law, the Baojia Law, the Farmland Equalization Tax Law were promulgated one after another, and the imperial examination system was reformed.
The purpose of Wang Anshi's reform was to enrich the country and strengthen the army, so as to reverse the situation of poverty and weakness in the Northern Song Dynasty and consolidate the rule of the landlord class.
However, the reform violated the interests of conservatives and was opposed by conservatives.
Less than a year after the law was promulgated, fierce debates and struggles began between the supporters and opponents of the reform, known in history as the "old and new party struggles."
Han Qi Shangshu advised Shenzong to stop the Qingmiao Law. Under the huge pressure from the opposition, Shenzong planned to agree. Zeng Gongliang, Chen Shengzhi and others took the opportunity to agree. Although Wang Anshi argued in many ways, Shenzong still believed that suggestions from all sides should be listened to.
Later, Wang Anshi claimed that he was ill at home, and then asked to resign and go into seclusion. Han Jiang and others persuaded Shenzong to retain Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi then recounted the dependence and collusion between officials inside and outside the court, and suggested that Shenzong should not be afraid of popular customs and have the world in mind.
In the fourth year of Xining, people in Kaifeng cut off their wrists to escape Baojia. The prefect Han Wei reported to the court that Wang Anshi believed that the new policy was implemented, and the scholar-bureaucrats were still controversial, and the people were more likely to be deceived. Shenzong believed that the people's opinions should be listened to.
In the spring of the seventh year of Xining, there was a severe drought and no rain for a long time. The conservative forces inside and outside the court used the "natural change" as an excuse to once again launch a siege on the reform. The money for immunization aroused fierce public sentiment and unstable people's hearts. Shenzong was worried.
Restless sleep and eating.
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The supervisor Zheng Xia was appointed to draw the "Refugee Picture" in the Northeast as an urgent document. Shenzong looked at the picture repeatedly and stayed up all night, believing that the "natural change" was not a trivial matter, but was caused by the lack of repairs in human affairs.
Sima Guang also wrote "In response to the imperial edict, the imperial court is in trouble". As the reform deepened, Song Shenzong, the biggest supporter of the reform, was shaken. In April of the same year, Shenzong's grandmother, Queen Mother Cao, and mother, Queen Mother Gao, also cried to Shenzong, complaining that "Wang Anshi was disrupting the world." ". Song Shenzong had doubts about the reform and dismissed Wang Anshi from the post of prime minister, causing the reform to suffer a heavy setback. It is difficult for the reform to continue to be implemented due to the vacillation.
In the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Song Shenzong passed away.
When Zhezong of the Song Dynasty came to the throne, Empress Dowager Gao listened behind the curtain and appointed Sima Guang as prime minister. Almost all of the new laws were abolished, which was known as "Yuanyou Genghua" in history.
The fundamental purpose of Wang Anshi's reform was to change the situation of poverty and weakness in the Northern Song Dynasty, enhance the ability of external defense and internal suppression, so as to consolidate and strengthen feudal rule.
It took nearly fifteen years from the time the new laws were implemented one by one to the time when the new laws were abolished by the conservatives. During these fifteen years, although each new law inevitably produced some major or minor drawbacks after its implementation, they basically all Some effects can be achieved, and the effect of "riching the country and strengthening the army" is very significant.
The implementation of the Baojia Law strengthened the feudal ruling order in rural areas, maintained social security in rural areas, established a national military reserve, and saved a lot of training costs; the disarmament law improved the quality of army soldiers; the art of war changed the separation of soldiers and generals. situation, which strengthened the combat effectiveness of the army; the Horse Protection Law greatly improved the quality and quantity of horses, and at the same time the government saved a lot of horse-raising costs; the Ordnance Supervision Law increased the production of weapons and improved their quality. The reform measures to strengthen the army , reversing the long-term passive situation of the northwest frontier defense which had suffered repeated defeats.
In the sixth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty (1073), under the command of Wang Anshi, Wang Shao, the pacification envoy of the Xihe Road of the Song Dynasty, led his army to attack Tubo, regained the five prefectures of He, Tao, and Min, expanded the land for more than 2,000 miles, and received support from the Qiang people for 30 years. Wan Zhang, this was an unprecedented military victory in the Northern Song Dynasty, and it also established a favorable front for attacking the Xixia region.
However, there were also many drawbacks and deficiencies in the process of reform, resulting in the new law harming the people.
In terms of the guiding ideology of the reform, Wang Anshi focused on seeking to open up financial resources and obtain as much national fiscal revenue as possible. For example, he used state administrative power to force acquisitions and sales to accumulate national wealth, which violated the objective economic laws. , the reform led to the country becoming rich and the people poor, which was completely different from the original intention of Wang Anshi's reform, which was to "remove heavy burdens, provide relief to the peasants, make the state sufficient, and the people's wealth is not scarce", and the implementation of the new law was too aggressive.
At that time, the reform also caused consequences that disturbed and harmed the people.
According to history, when the exemption law was passed, the people complained incessantly. Even small businesses such as water carts, hairdressers, and tea vendors were not allowed to operate without paying the exemption money. Taxes demanded market profits from vendors, and the tax amount was more than the capital. There were even cases. businessmen fighting to the death.
When the Baojia Law was implemented, in order to avoid the double threat of high taxes to support the army and the double threat of being drafted into the army, there were more than three or two cases of self-mutilation among civilians, with some serious cases even cutting off their own arms. In 1072, there even happened More than a thousand farmers from a certain county came to Beijing to cause trouble in front of Wang Anshi's residence.
In the end, Wang Anshi's reform ended in failure, but this is a historical record. At present, Wang Anshi's heart is full of longing for the future. How could he realize that what he did would change the national destiny of the entire Song Dynasty.
Some historians even believe that Wang Anshi's reform directly led to the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Yan Shu sat there, and the more he listened to Wang Anshi's narration, the more he felt that this man was a rare and talented person. However, what he said seemed to be a little off track with the current development of the Song Dynasty. This is also normal and the main reason for the failure of the reform.
One is that the content of the reform was too advanced and did not take better into account the current situation of the Song Dynasty. However, if the effect of enriching the country and strengthening the army as Wang Anshi said could be achieved, it would be inevitable to make some sacrifices.
Now Wang Anshi, the idea of reform has been formed in his mind, but in modern terms, it is not a complete situation. Therefore, after talking for a while, Wang Anshi also said that according to the current situation in his mind,
I can only say so much about my thoughts for now.
There were only so many, and Yan Shu was very satisfied. Through the speech just now, Yan Shu had fully affirmed Wang Anshi's ability. Then Yan Shu suddenly became interested, so he asked Wang Anshi about Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi's mission.
Views on matters on the Song-Xia border.
Wang Anshi is now completely obsessed with Fan Zhongyan. He can be said to admire Fan Zhongyan's ideas and ambitions very much. In this mission, Wang Anshi also sided with the main war faction, and his ideas
It coincides with what Cao Yu said yesterday. He believes that subduing the enemy's troops without fighting is the key point in the Song-Xia war. If it is really a head-on battle, the current national power and military strength of the Northern Song Dynasty are actually somewhat
He also pointed out that the current emperor values literature and despises generals. Once a large-scale battle really breaks out, these soldiers will suffer losses on the battlefield because of insufficient training intensity. Regarding this point, Yan Shu came at the right time.
Wang Anshi told Wang Anshi about the new Cuju competition held by Lu Yao. After hearing this, Wang Anshi praised Lu Yao's move. He felt that this new Cuju competition was the first step to improve the physical fitness of the whole people. Subsequently, sports like this would be necessary
Let more soldiers participate, and also find ways to increase the enthusiasm of the people to join the army, so that the military strength of the Song Dynasty can achieve a qualitative leap.
Just when Wang Anshi and Yan Shu were chatting happily, Lu Yao was also sending Fan Zhongyan away from Bianliang at the north gate. Obviously, Lu Yao was completely unaware of Wang Anshi's visit to Beijing. Of course, this was also because Yan Shu didn't want to
Let Lu Yao know that he knew clearly in his heart that Wang Anshi must visit Lu Yao when he came to Bianliang this time. In this case, he would take Wang Anshi directly to the Prime Minister's Mansion as soon as he entered Bianliang.
Only then can we know Wang Anshi's abilities and true thoughts.
Let's say that Lu Yao got up early today and met Fan Zhongyan at the North Gate. The reason was very simple. Lu Yao still didn't want to see Fan Zhongyan be criticized by Zhao Zhen because of the failure of his mission. After all, Lu Yao
Yao himself will soon enter the palace examination, and then he will enter the court. Lu Yao is also very
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He knows his ambitions and what he wants to do. Therefore, Lu Yao came to see Fan Zhongyan today, firstly to send him off, and secondly, to give him some advice about this mission.
Fan Zhongyan, who was sitting on a horse and waving to the officials and people who came to see him off, suddenly heard someone calling his name from behind, and turned around to see it was Lu Yao.
Fan Zhongyan immediately dismounted, turned around and walked towards Lu Yao. Since the envoy's team was large and there were naturally many vehicles, Lu Yao also chose to dismount and walk.
Fan Zhongyan's actions surprised all the people present on the mission. In fact, the officials who were bidding farewell to Fan Zhongyan on the street just now included many second- and third-rank officials. Fan Zhongyan did not stop when facing them.
Exit, just waving hello. Why did Lu Yao, a fifth-grade official who came to see Fan Zhongyan off, actually asked Fan Zhongyan to dismount and turn back and walk towards Lu Yao? What is so attractive about this official named Lu Yao?
Naturally, they didn't know Lu Yao's ability. Han Qi, who was on the side, saw Lu Yao coming and hesitated for a moment. He did not choose to dismount with Fan Zhongyan. After all, Lu Yao came to see Fan Zhongyan, and in Han
In Qi's opinion, the map Lu Yao gave him yesterday was definitely not made by himself, but after some discussion with Lu Xu. And this time the envoy to the Song-Xia border was most likely going to start a war, and
Lu Yao's visit this time must have been under Lu Xu's instruction, asking him to give Fan Zhongyan some other tips on the details on the map.
Fan Zhongyan and Lu Yao met soon, and Lu Yao could see that Fan Zhongyan was also very surprised by his move to see him off. Indeed, in Fan Zhongyan's impression, he had offered an olive branch to Lu Yao many times, but Lu Yao
Yao did not accept it in the end. In other words, Lu Yao and himself should have different ambitions. As the saying goes, people have their own ambitions, and Fan Zhongyan is not the kind of guy who makes things difficult for others. Therefore, since Lu Yao
Yao doesn't want to be a member of his own faction, but he just doesn't want to be his own enemy.
However, Lu Yao is a very strange person. On the one hand, he refused his invitation. However, during yesterday's Fan Lou night banquet, Lu Yao gave him a very valuable map. There is no doubt that this map is very useful to him.
This trip to the Song-Xia border with Han Qi was of great help. Although Lu Yao was not from his own faction, he was still helping him. Like Han Qi, Fan Zhongyan also felt that Lu Yao should not have any military skills.
Such high attainments, after all, according to Lu Yao's current age, this guy who has lived in Bianliang all year round should have never seen a few soldiers, let alone the military aspect of leading troops to fight.
Since Lu Yao did not accept his invitation, so he left Bianliang today. According to common sense, there was no reason for Lu Yao to send him off. Therefore, Fan Zhongyan was quite surprised when he heard Lu Yao calling his name.
Just imagine.
"Looking at Brother Fan's expression, you seem to be surprised." Unlike before, where Lu Yao only passively answered his own questions, this time when he saw Fan Zhongyan, it was Lu Yao who spoke first.
Fan Zhongyan smiled and said, "I really didn't expect that Mr. Xiao Lu would come to see me off."
When Lu Yao heard this, he also smiled. Then he looked around and said, "I thought that many people would come to see Master Fan off today. The banquet was so grand last night. How come today, everyone is here?"
There aren’t many people.”
Fan Zhongyan could tell that Lu Yao said this from the bottom of his heart, and did not mean to be sarcastic, so he smiled bitterly and said: "The so-called tree-falling hozen competition is probably about me. I think of how good I, Fan, was before.
, this time can be regarded as a return to my hometown with honor. When I finally went on my mission, it was also so deserted. I think most people will think that my mission to the border this time will end in a bad end."
Lu Yao stepped forward and said, "Perhaps, if Lord Fan does not make contributions on the front line this time, I think it will be difficult for you to gain a foothold in this court."
Fan Zhongyan looked at Lu Yao with deep eyes. After a moment, he said: "So, Mr. Xiao Lu came to see me off today. I think the emperor and the courtiers must know it now. You don't just want to chat with me."
You just came here."
Lu Yao shrugged and said, "Master Fan, do you have the map I gave you yesterday with you?"
Fan Zhongyan was stunned, turned back to look at Han Qi, and said: "The map was shown to His Majesty last night and later returned to me. Because it involved war matters, I gave it to Han Qi.
What's wrong?"
Lu Yao said: "It doesn't matter, Mr. Fan should still have some impressions of that map, especially the four locations I marked."
Fan Zhongyan briefly recalled it and said, "Well, I know those four places, the four places you asked us to pay more attention to."
It seems that Fan Zhongyan should still have a clear memory of this map, so Lu Yao took a step forward and whispered with the voices of only him and Fan Zhongyan: "Among these four locations, Haoshuichuan and Sanchuankou, Master Fan.
You must pay attention, whether you can make great achievements or fail completely depends on your performance in these two places."
Fan Zhongyan was a little confused. Could it be that Lu Yao had already concluded that the two sides would fight at those two places? Soon, he also rejected this idea in his mind, and then he felt that it should be Lu Yao's idea that Lu Yao had told him.
Yao is just conveying.
"I've written it down." Since it was Lu Yao who gave him the advice, Fan Zhongyan took it seriously and wrote down the two place names.
"Well, that's what Lu said. As long as we can grasp the situation in those two places, I think Master Fan should be able to return triumphantly from his mission this time. However, Lu still hopes that you don't want to say what I just told you.
Tell anyone else, including Mr. Han, just say that I came to see you off out of love." Lu Yao continued softly.
Fan Zhongyan nodded and said: "If Fan really makes great achievements in these two places in the future, he will definitely not forget the kindness of Mr. Xiao Lu for helping today."
Lu Yao waved his hand, said nothing, turned around, mounted his horse, and galloped towards the city.
Fan Zhongyan stood there, waiting until Lu Yao's figure completely disappeared from his sight, then Fan Zhongyan turned around, got back on his horse, and continued to leave the city.
