Civil Servants in the Great Song Dynasty. Author: Guo Ruixiang
Song Shenzong believes in Wang Anshi alone, except that Wang Anshi can come up with a complete reform system, because Wang Anshi is a thinker with his own logic, and he is also a doer with the ability to solve practical problems.
One day in August of the third year of Xining, Shenzong and Wang Anshi discussed the court's human feelings. Shenzong lamented that there were not many talents available in the second house, and it was urgent to find new people who could use them. Wang Anshi said,
Only those who are talented dare to commit adultery, which is the most unpredictable. Your majesty, however, has a deep understanding of the truth and clearly uses the punishment, even though people have the talent and want to be traitors, they dare not sprout their hearts, such as Sima Guang's generation, and can not confuse your majesty.
It means that it is the most difficult to prevent talented people from doing bad things, but if the law is clear, even talented people dare not have the idea of doing bad things. How can a person like Sima Guang guide your Majesty wrongly?
Confucianism emphasizes the word "virtuous" in employing people. In The Analects of Confucius, Zhong Gong slaughtered Ji's family. When he asked about politics, Confucius said, "Be a division first, forgive the petty mistakes, and raise talents." Zhong Gong, a disciple of Confucius, was the general manager of Ji, a scholar-bureaucrat in Lu, and asked Confucius for management methods. Confucius told him to manage officials well first, forgive their small mistakes, and recommend talents. It can be seen that the ideal talents in the eyes of Confucianism are talents.
so what is a talented person? Confucius also said: "Aim at Tao, rely on virtue, rely on benevolence, and swim in art.. "To aspire to the Tao means to have a correct direction in life and pursue a goal that conforms to heaven; According to Yu De, we should abide by morality and norms. Benevolence means that there should be kindness in the heart; Wandering in art means mastering skills and improving abilities. Here reveals the Confucian standard of "being virtuous", which is summed up by later generations as having both ability and political integrity. Among them, virtue comes before talent, which means that virtue comes first.
Legalists also talk about being virtuous. The Eight Classics of Han Feizi says: "The way to be wise is to take the post, be virtuous to the official, and be rewarded with merit." However, the sage of legalism is different from the sage of Confucianism. "Han Feizi's Loyalty and Filial Piety" says: "The so-called virtuous minister can understand the law and govern the official position so as to wear his monarch." Legalists believe that law is the sharp weapon to maintain social order, while sages are unreliable, so they "respect the law rather than the sages".
Wang Anshi emphasized that "using the standard punishment in a clear way" means the rule of law. Under the rule of law, talented people dare not have the idea of doing bad things, obviously drawing on the views of legalists, especially Han Feizi!
On one occasion, when the religious sects discussed the northwest frontier, Wang Anshi said:
If you do it, you can be a monarch. Not vigorous and pure, not enough to do. ..... Governing the world, such as medication. When you know the excess, cold and heat. When the prescription is deficient in cold, pure aconite and aconite are used to avoid overheating.
It means that the monarch should be as tough and decisive as the divination in the Book of Changes, such as using drugs to treat diseases. Even if he only uses hot drugs such as aconite and aconite when he is deficient in cold, there is no need to worry about using them.
Aconitum carmichaeli and aconite are both traditional herbs, which have the efficacy of dispelling cold and supporting yang. Take aconite and aconite when the body is weak and cold, even if you use it too much, you don't have to worry about side effects. Wang Anshi has always advocated that kings should have a tough stance and should not be swayed by people's words. "Eight Classics of Han Feizi": "You hold the handle to take advantage of the situation, so it is forbidden. Handle, killing system also; Those who are in power will win the capital of the public. " Legalists advocate autocratic rule, and Wang Anshi once again exposed his thought of governing the country with both Confucianism and law.
The day after Wang Anshi made this remark, Shenzong appointed and dismissed personnel and asked about the story (the past practice). Wang Anshi remonstrated:
It's ok, so you don't need to ask the story. Those who are made by things are also ministers; Those who make things are also benevolent. If your majesty asks if there is a story, it is made by things.
do what the king thinks fit, and don't ask what the past practice is. Kings can do whatever they want, and they are not bound. The mission of kings is to bind others, and the subjects are bound. If it is practical, Wang Anshi hopes that Shenzong will push forward the reform with a bold iron fist, and will not be trapped by the courtiers' advice and public opinion. But in the long run, Wang Anshi's "vigorous monarch" is the dictatorship of kings.
Wang Anshi taught Shenzong to be autocratic and dictatorial through "doing things by monarch" and "controlling things by monarch". A few years later, Shenzong kicked Wang Anshi off and led and implemented the "Yuanfeng Reform" alone, which successfully changed the regime ruled by monarch and minister in the Song Dynasty into imperial dictatorship, and profoundly influenced the history of China for thousands of years.
corruption of officials has been a headache in all dynasties. Wang Anshi has a discussion on "clean government":
People should take public and private affairs as one, but cherish generosity instead of officials, and must take bribes, which is also out of the world's property. It is better to use the wealth of the world than to use the law, which is beneficial to both officials and private interests.
It means that the monarch manages property, and there is no distinction between public and private. He is reluctant to give it to officials, and they will certainly take bribes and seize the property of the whole world. Since the world's property will eventually be consumed and used, it is better to make a clear law to distribute it to officials, which is beneficial to both the state and the private sector.
In the past dynasties, the treatment of Song officials was relatively generous. According to History of Song Dynasty Official Records, the monthly salary of the first-level officials of the Prime Minister is 3 yuan, which is 32 silver, or 3, pence. The ladies in A Dream of Red Mansions spend only two taels a month, which should be the consumption level of the Qing Dynasty. It can be seen that 32 yuan is undoubtedly a huge sum of money for ordinary people, and many families may not earn so much in their lifetime. In addition, in spring and winter, they will send 2 pieces of silk, 34 pieces of silk and 12 pieces of cotton, and the grain will be 1 stones per month. All kinds of tea, wine, spices, firewood, Artemisia and charcoal will be subsidized, and there will be expensive rewards for sacrifices or other national events every year.
The imperial court is so generous with officials, the purpose of which is to make them neither greedy nor possessive of power. Song Taizong said: "The system of Lu Lu should be excellent, generous and generous, and the responsibility should be cheap." Honesty is the end of character. Material civilization is the foundation of spiritual civilization, and the rulers of the Song Dynasty have realized the decisive role of material on spirit, so the literati in the Song Dynasty can enjoy leisure.
Wang Anshi inherited the concept of clean government since the Song Dynasty for a hundred years. In a word, Wang Anshi said "high salary and honesty". There are two ways for officials to live a comfortable life: one is to take it openly, and the other is to take it secretly. Stealing is to exploit merchants and people privately. Compared with the two, it is better to let them get it through legal channels.
It is widely recognized by all countries in modern society to raise honesty with high salary, and it is commendable that the Song Dynasty took the lead. The ancients were good at strictly disciplining people from a moral height, especially in the aspect of honesty and integrity, but Wang Anshi made a utilitarian analysis of it. From this, we can also see that Wang Anshi's political thought is pragmatic and rational.
At the same time, it was suggested that Tongli Army should be abolished as Liyang County and merged into Weizhou. Tongli Army belongs to the state-level administrative division, and the abolition of the army is a county, which is equivalent to reducing the state-level establishment. Shenzong felt: "There are too many counties in Hebei." Wang Anshi took advantage of the situation and said that the Qin Dynasty merged small towns into big cities, so the national strength was strong. Specifically, in this dynasty:
Today, people in the city and the public are unwilling to merge, and the court people follow it more. Those who have been merged and reanalyzed are not one. Little people see this, so it is inconvenient to talk about every county; It's inconvenient to say anything, but it's mostly the wealthy families and public people who have assets in the near county. If the imperial court can observe this, the counties in Hebei can impose a lot.
Hebei's counties are small in area and population. If they are merged, they will not only improve administrative efficiency, but also save a lot of administrative expenses. But every time there is such a proposal, it is immediately opposed by the ministers. Wang Anshi hit the nail on the head here and pointed out the resistance of state and county reform: that is, the interests of Haozong and the public.
If states and counties are merged, many officials who eat official meals will definitely be abolished. However, the wealthy gentry and gentry originally lived in the state and county's administrative offices, but after the merger of states and counties, they became remote villages, and their wealth and business would be devalued, so they strongly opposed it.
Wang Anshi is used to thinking from the perspective of interests, and rarely makes vague comments on morality, which makes his views always different.
Zhanghe River is another important river in Hebei Province besides the Yellow River, which merged into Haihe River before the Song Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River changed its course, with one flowing eastward and the other flowing northward. The Yellow River changed its course and affected the Zhanghe River, resulting in siltation, instability and cross-flow of the river. Shenzong wanted to devote himself to hard labor to repair and dig the Zhanghe River, but he hesitated for lack of financial resources. Wen Yanbo said: "To be rich, we must protect the people and make fewer troubles. Like Zhanghe, no matter what? The water in the Zhanghe River always flows away. If it doesn't flow east, it will flow west. No matter which side it flows, the interests are the same. " Wang Anshi immediately retorted: "If the river is the same in the east or west, why did Dayu dig mountains and rivers and dig ditches?" Although you can't bother the people lightly. But let the people once and for all things have to be done. "
When Wen Yanbo was the prime minister of Renzong Dynasty, he was courageous and knowledgeable, and he personally led troops to counter the rebellion, and his political achievements and military achievements were indelible. However, in the matter of river excavation, the common fault of conservatives was exposed: because they opposed political reform, they emphasized that emperors should be quiet, not tossing and making trouble, and then opposed all unconventional government affairs, which went from one extreme to the other. It is this extreme thinking that makes them narrow-minded, their abilities degenerate, and they can't find any solution to the problem except rhetoric on specific matters.
just because of this, it gives the reformists an opportunity.
It was the third year of Xining. In September, Shenzong lamented: "Sima Guang said that right and wrong are unclear now, and he was deeply worried." Of course, Wang Anshi disagreed:
To test it with the words of the first king, and to experiment with things, then right and wrong should not be polluted.
To distinguish right from wrong, we must establish a standard. Wang Anshi thinks that this standard is "the words and facts of the former king", which is quite a bit like "practice is the standard for testing truth".
The Qingli New Deal was destroyed by the clique theory, and Ouyang Xiu wrote a special essay to analyze it, arguing that the gentleman's party was the blessing of the country and the court. Wang Anshi's view is very simple:
People are confused, eunuchs rape profits, tyrannize the literati and defile the imperial court, so it becomes a matter of partisanship. What is the reason today, such as the current affairs of the party? Your majesty is wise and superior to previous generations, but he is not strong enough to change customs with morality, so there are many different opinions.
Ouyang Xiu said that we joined the party for your majesty's good, but it worried Injong. Wang Anshi's cleverness lies in avoiding the problem of cronies and saying that your majesty is so wise, how can there be cronies? Why should we be afraid of cronies? You should crack down on those who are alarmist and nonsense! This will eliminate the fear of Shenzong and make Shenzong trust himself more.
These reflect the wisdom of Wang Anshi.
This book, from the beginning of Injong's writing to the end of Yuanyou's reform, takes time as the axis, views as the bone, and historical facts as the meat, reproduces the complicated historical events such as Xining's reform, Yuanfeng's reform, and Yuanyou's reform, and reveals the evolution of civil servants from different to unacceptable in the Song Dynasty, the transition of politics from centralization to imperial autocracy in the Song Dynasty, and the social ideological trend. This provides abundant historical facts and thinking dimensions for readers to deeply understand the political ecology of the Song Dynasty, the spiritual pattern of Wang Anshi, Sima Guang and other literati and even the political characteristics and trends of the whole imperial society. From the perspective of great history, I also put forward my own insights on the national governance model, the talent selection mechanism, and the choice of human nature in the fate of the times.