Song Shenzong was only twenty years old when he acceded to the throne, and he was a relatively successful young man. Seeing the country's decline, he was determined to reform, but the people around him were old ministers of the Injong period, even people who supported the New Deal like Fu Bi, and they became depressed. Song Shenzong believes that to reform the status quo, we must find a capable assistant.
Before Song Shenzong ascended the throne, there was an official named Han Wei, who often talked about some good opinions in front of Zongshen. Zongshen praised him. He said: "These opinions are all from my friend Wang Anshi." Although Song Shenzong has never met Wang Anshi, he has already made a good impression on him. Now looking for an assistant, I naturally think of Wang Anshi, so I decided to transfer Wang Anshi, who was an official in Jiangning, to Beijing.
Wang Anshi was a famous writer and politician in Song Dynasty. He was born in Fuchuan and Linchuan (now west of Fuzhou, Jiangxi). When he was young, he wrote excellent articles and was praised by Ouyang Xiu. Wang Anshi became a scholar at the age of twenty and worked as a local official several times. When he was a county official in Yinxian (now Yinxian, Zhejiang), it happened that the disaster there was serious and the people's lives were very difficult. Wang Anshi built water conservancy, improved traffic and managed it in an orderly manner. When the poor can't get the rations during the poor harvest season, he will open the official warehouse, lend the grain to the farmers and ask them to repay it with official interest after the autumn harvest. In this way, farmers can no longer be exploited by big landlords and tyrants, and their lives will be better.
Wang Anshi has been a local official for twenty years, and his reputation is growing. Later, Song Renzong transferred him to Beijing as an official in charge of finance. As soon as he arrived in Beijing, he sent a million-word letter to Injong, putting forward his ideas on financial reform. Song Renzong just abolished Fan Zhongyan's New Deal. When he heard that he wanted to reform, he got a headache and put Wang Anshi's paper aside. Knowing that the imperial court had no determination to reform and could not get along with some ministers, Wang Anshi took advantage of his mother's death and resigned and went home.
This time, he received an order from Song Shenzong, and heard that Zongshen was looking for talents, so he called Beijing happily.
As soon as Wang Anshi arrived in Beijing, Song Shenzong called him to the palace to talk alone. As soon as Zongshen saw him, he asked him, "Where do you think the governance of the country should start?"
Wang Anshi calmly replied, "Let's start by reforming the old written law and establishing a new legal system."
Song Shenzong asked him to go back and write a detailed reform proposal. After Wang Anshi came home, he wrote an opinion that night and handed it to Zongshen the next day. Song Shenzong thinks that all the opinions put forward by Wang Anshi are to his liking, and he trusts Wang Anshi more and more. 1069, Song Shenzong promoted Wang Anshi as Deputy Prime Minister. At that time, there were four prime ministers in the imperial court. Some of them are sick and old, but when they hear the reform, they complain bitterly. Wang Anshi knew very well that great things could not be achieved with these people. With the approval of Song Shenzong, he appointed a group of young officials and set up a special agency to make new laws, thus seizing the right to reform. In this way, he let go of his hands and feet to carry out reforms.
The main contents of Wang Anshi's political reform are:
First, the young crop method. This method was tried by him in Yinxian, and now it is applied to the whole country.
Second, the farmland water conservancy law. The government encourages local governments to build water conservancy projects and reclaim wasteland.
Third, the exemption law. Various officials and private households no longer serve themselves, but are hired by Gzero. According to the level of the rich and the poor, citizens pay exemption money, as do bureaucratic landlords who have not served in the army. This not only increased the income of the court government, but also reduced the labor burden of farmers.
Fourth, the square field average tax law. In order to prevent the big landlords from annexing land and concealing the population of farmland, the government measures the land, verifies the land quantity and collects taxes according to the land quantity and fertility.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) Garbo law. The government organizes farmers by households, with one guarantee for every ten households, one guarantee for every fifty households and one guarantee for every ten households. If there are more than two adult males in the family, one of them will be hired as a security guard, trained in the slack season and enlisted in the army in wartime.
Wang Anshi's political reform played a positive role in consolidating the rule of the Song Dynasty and increasing national income. But it also violated the interests of the big landlords and was opposed by many courtiers.
Once, Song Shenzong went to Wang Anshi and asked him, "People outside are talking about us, saying that we are not afraid of unexpected events, do not listen to public opinion, and do not obey the rules of our ancestors. What do you think? "
Wang Anshi calmly replied: "Your Majesty handles political affairs seriously, which can be said to prevent the weather from changing. Your majesty's request for the following opinions is to take care of public opinion; Besides, what others say is wrong. As long as what we do is reasonable, there is no need to be afraid of people's comments. As for the old rules of our ancestors, they are not fixed. "
Wang Anshi insisted on "three fears", but Song Shenzong was not as determined as he was. He wavered when he heard many people opposed it.
In A.D. 1074, there was a drought in Hebei, and it didn't rain for ten months in a row. The farmers ran away without food. Song Shenzong was worried about this, and an official took the opportunity to draw a "refugee map" for Song Shenzong, saying that the drought was caused by Wang Anshi's political reform and asked Zongshen to recall Wang Anshi.
Song Shenzong saw this photo of the refugee, but she just sighed and couldn't sleep at night. Grandmother Cao He's mother also cried in front of her, telling that the world was messed up by Wang Anshi and forced to stop the new law.
Seeing that the new law could not be implemented, Wang Anshi was so angry that he wrote to resign. Song Shenzong also had to let Wang Anshi leave Tokyo temporarily and go to jiangning house to recuperate.
The following year, Song Shenzong recalled Wang Anshi to Beijing as prime minister. Only a few months later, comets appeared in the sky. This was originally a normal natural phenomenon, but it was considered an unlucky omen at that time. Song Shenzong panicked again and asked the minister to advise on the failure of state affairs. Some conservatives took the opportunity to attack the new law. Wang Anshi tried his best to defend the new law and told Song Shenzong not to believe this superstition, but Song Shenzong still hesitated.
Wang Anshi can't continue to pursue his own ideas. In the third year (spring 1076), he resigned as prime minister again and returned to jiangning house.
After Song Shenzong's death, the old school headed by Sima Guang came to power and abolished the new law. Wang Anshi's political reform ended in failure.