Wang Anshi, a native of Linchuan, Fuzhou, came from an ordinary bureaucratic landlord family. At the age of 22, he won the top prize. After that, he participated in local administrative work. From 65438 to 0047, when he was the magistrate of Yinxian County, he carried out some political reforms and developed farmland water conservancy, which was quite effective. He believes that the poverty of the broad masses of people is caused by the annexation of land by powerful people. Wang Anshi wrote poems such as "Three years of famine in the state, the city abandoned the hungry baby, and there was no room left in the rugged valley" ("Yi Fa"). He also wrote, "What if you don't have enough to eat in a good year?" ("Feeling") "The vulgar officials don't know, it's talent to knock them down" ("Bing Zhou"), which exposed the profound social contradictions and bureaucratic corruption at that time and reflected his political ambition of "suppressing Bing Zhou".
At that time, some far-sighted landlord class politicians put forward reform plans in the face of such a social crisis. For example, Fan Zhongyan put forward ten suggestions to Song Renzong in 1043 (the third year of Li Qing), advocating the implementation of the New Deal and carrying out political and economic reforms.
Wang Anshi also sent a magnificently written opinion to Song Renzong, but it was not taken seriously.
After the young Emperor Zhao Yong of Song Shenzong came to power, he was eager to change the situation of poverty and weakness in order to consolidate his dominant position. As a result, Wang Anshi, who actively advocated innovation, was promoted.
1069 (the second year of Xining), 49-year-old Wang Anshi carried out political reform with the support of Song Shenzong. The central dynasty set up an institution to formulate new laws, called the "Three Divisions and Regulations Division". The third division is the central financial organ, including the household department, the tax department and the salt and iron department. The establishment of such a legislature above the three divisions shows that Wang Anshi's new law focuses on financial management and implements the landlord class's policy of "enriching Qiang Bing".
The main contents of the new law are: (1) Farmland Water Conservancy Law.
1069, 1 1 June, the treaty of harsh farmland was promulgated, encouraging all localities to reclaim wasteland, build water conservancy projects, build dikes, and expand polder fields and silt fields to facilitate agricultural production. Large-scale water conservancy construction is financed by the government. In the six years after 1070, more than 360,000 hectares of irrigated land were built in China. A large number of silt fields have also been developed in various places. According to Wang Anshi's estimation, the silt fields along Gyeonggi Road can increase grain production by several million stones every year.
(2) Square field tax equalization method
In view of the shortcomings of false land property rights and uneven taxation at that time, 1072 promulgated the Treaty of Equal Land System in August, which stipulated that the county officials should measure the land in September every year, with the east, west, north and south as one side, and set different levels of taxes according to different fertile soil. As a result, a large number of land properties concealed by bureaucratic big landlords were measured, forcing powerful people to pay taxes, correcting the unreasonable phenomenon of big landlords' "having property without tax" and increasing taxes for the Northern Song Dynasty.
(3) Young crop method
Before summer and autumn are ripe, local governments lend rice to households, mainly to farmers and semi-farmers, and raise interest rates by two-tenths after harvest to pay back grain or money. This measure is to prevent powerful people from demanding several times of high profits when farmers are green and yellow, leading to a large number of farmers in exile. It is precisely because the Young Crop Law blocked the channels for bureaucratic landlords to lend usury that they were fiercely attacked and opposed.
(4) Exemption method
The exemption law means that the state pays people to pay for services, and the amount of exemption is collected by households, but not by families below the fourth grade in rural areas. Those official households who can be exempted from service also have to pay half the quota, which is the so-called service fee. This was a progressive method at that time for the servant law that shifted the burden to farmers.
(5) Equal loss method
1069 promulgated the "lose-lose law" to correct the disadvantages in taxation. The average loss method is that the government sends a maritime envoy to take charge of the financial resources of the Southeast Sixth Road, and purchases materials in a unified way, so as not to let wealthy businessmen like dajia manipulate them, and strive to "make full use of the country and make the people's wealth insufficient". This measure restricted the private interests of big bureaucrats and wealthy businessmen and was opposed by them. The rule of attack and lose-lose is "making small profits for businessmen"
(6) the law of market change
The government set up an e-commerce office in the border of Kyoto, with 1 million yuan as working capital, to control commercial trade, purchase or sell materials and adjust prices. Small and medium-sized businessmen can buy goods on credit from Esay or borrow money at an annual interest rate of two cents. Later, "history" was introduced from Kaifeng to other places, which dealt a blow to the monopoly of dajia, a wealthy businessman, and enabled the Northern Song government to seize commercial interests from big businessmen.
(7) Garbo Law
Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi reformed the military system in the "Qiang Bing" work, reducing the old and weak soldiers over 50 years old and selecting soldiers. After the reduction and merger, the number of soldiers in the country dropped to less than 800,000, a decrease of one third, "winning the enemy and saving money." In the military reform, the Northern Song government also set up generals in various regions to coach the army. Garbo Law stipulates that villages and towns 10 households form a security system, 50 households are a security system, and 10 security system is a security system, with the landlord as the security chief, security chief and all security. If there are more than two customers, choose one person to be a bartender and conduct military training during the slack season. Baoding is usually responsible for patrolling and keeping watch. In case of "thieves", they will report to Baotou for pursuit. If Bao finds a "robber" and fails to report it, the same insurer will be punished. It is obvious that the purpose of Jiabao law is to maintain the rule of the landlord class and prevent farmers from resisting.
The above is the main content of Wang Anshi's new law. To a certain extent, it restricted or even cracked down on the crazy plunder of the people by big bureaucrats, big noble and big businessmen, readjusted the financial resources within the landlord class, and strived to "make up for the deficit" and "make the civil state not give money". It is precisely because of restricting the economic privilege of big noble, a big bureaucrat, that the new law was violently countered and besieged by conservative forces.