Second results

1 Wang Anshi’s reforms had a positive effect on increasing national income. The situation of poverty and weakness in the Northern Song Dynasty was alleviated. In the sixth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty (1073), Under the command of Wang Anshi, Wang Shao, the pacification envoy of Song Xihe Road, led his army to attack Tubo and recover the five states including He (Linxia, ??Gansu) and Min (now Minxian, Gansu). The Song army recovered 5 states, expanded more than 2,000 miles of territory, and supported 300,000 Qiang tribesmen, establishing a favorable front for attacking the Xixia region.

Results

2 In the sixth year of Xining (1073), there was a severe drought. Zheng Xia, the prison supervisor, painted the "Picture of Refugees". In the picture, the refugees are either carrying locks or carrying weapons, or eating food. Grassroots told the emperor that the drought was caused by Wang Anshi. Shenzong was greatly stimulated and had serious doubts about the reform. Wang Anshi believed that "floods and droughts were constant, and Yao and Tang were unavoidable." Sima Guang also wrote "In response to the imperial edict, the imperial court was in disgrace." As the reform deepened, Song Shenzong, the biggest supporter of the reform, was shaken. In the seventh year of Xining (1074) ) Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister for the first time and went to Jiangning Mansion. The reform movement was continued by Han Jiang, Lu Huiqing and others. Lu Huiqing used his teachings for his own purposes, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the ministers in the DPRK and China. In February of the eighth year of Xining, Wang Anshi was summoned back to Beijing to resume his duties and continue to implement the new law. In the ninth year of Xining (1076), his beloved son Wang Yu died of illness. Wang Anshi asked to retire to Jinling and devote himself to learning without paying attention to worldly affairs.

3 Reasons for Failure

(1) The reform touched the interests of the big landlords and bureaucrats and was strongly opposed by them. Sima Guang wrote to the emperor many times to cancel the new law. Valid conscription laws were also repealed. Various new laws more or less offended the interests of middle- and upper-level officials, the royal family, powerful powerful people, and loan sharks. Therefore, during the implementation of every new law, they encountered obstruction and opposition without exception. After the death of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, the Fangtian Equalization Tax Law cleared out the land hidden by powerful landlords, increased national fiscal revenue, and reduced the burden on farmers. At the same time, it seriously damaged the interests of big bureaucrats and big landowners, and was strongly opposed by them.

At the same time, Song Shenzong, the main supporter of the reform, wavered at a critical moment. After Song Shenzong's death, Sima Guang became prime minister and completely abolished the new law. From the contents of various economic reforms, it can be seen that Wang Anshi's The new law was very large-scale, with financial management being the most important, and it was criticized by people at the time. To be fair, the failure of Wang Anshi's reform cannot be entirely attributed to the opposition of the conservative faction. His policies and practices are worthy of review. The following can be discussed in four aspects:

2 The lack of publicity before the reform resulted in the inability to attract outstanding talents during the reform process. There are a large number of well-known figures in the opposition camp to the reform, and the elite among them should be able to be absorbed into the reform camp after sufficient publicity and persuasion.

3 Inadequate implementation of policies - such as the implementation of the Young Crops Law and the Exemption from Service Law, far from ideal. If poor households voluntarily asked for official loans, there is still room for argument, but in fact the local officials forced the five farmers to guarantee each other and then distributed a fixed amount to each household, called loose green seedlings. In order to ensure that all principal and interest would be recovered after the autumn, the local officials The targets of the scattered sect are the upper-middle-class households rather than the poor and lower-income households. They are afraid that the poor and lower-income households will not be able to repay. How can we talk about benefiting the people? The Young Seeds Law requires an interest rate of two cents, which is 20%. This amount is beyond the reach of ordinary people. The root cause of poor policy implementation is the lack of the right people to implement the new laws. The Green Crops Law prevents farmers from being exploited by the "Merger House" usurious loans when there is no demand for new products, and enables farmers to "adjust to the times". However, the phenomenon of forced borrowing during the actual implementation is the most controversial among Wang Anshi's reform measures. content.

4 Stubborn and self-willed - Wang Anshi had a strong character. When discussing state affairs with Shenzong, he would protest and speak harshly, but Shenzong would change his mind and accept him every time. At the beginning of the Enactment Reform, Sima Guang wrote to him to tell him not to be too careful and too confident. Anshi wrote a letter to protest, but he was deeply disapproving. The two were very good friends who respected each other, and they broke off from each other. For example, Su Shi was originally the best candidate to support the new law, but many of Su Shi's correct opinions were not adopted by Wang Anshi.

After the failure of the Qingli New Deal, the serious class conflicts and ethnic conflicts in the Song Dynasty have not eased, and the situation of poverty and weakness is still developing. The ruling group feels that it is surrounded by crises, so the calls for reform soon became louder after being silent for a time. Finally, a larger reform movement was launched. The most fundamental reason for the failure: the new law did not touch the fundamental problems of society. It was just an institutional reform within the landlord class in response to the crisis of rule in the Northern Song Dynasty. It did not fundamentally touch the core and could not fundamentally solve the contradictions of feudal society. In the first month of the fourth year of Zhiping (1067), Song Shenzong Zhao Xu ascended the throne. Shenzong was determined to innovate. He consulted with Fu Bi and others on strategies to enrich the country and strengthen the army and defeat the Liao and Xixia. They advised Shenzong not to mention the use of troops for 20 years. Song Shenzong no longer relied on these senior officials. In April of the first year of Xining (1068), Wang Anshi, who had been "famous in the world for more than thirty years", was summoned to Beijing to participate in political affairs. He was required to rely on him to reform laws and establish systems, enrich the country and strengthen the army, and change the current situation of poverty and weakness. . At that time, Wang Anshi had become a popular figure. Most of the scholar-bureaucrats believed that as long as Wang Anshi came to power, peace would be established and the people would benefit from it. In order to promote the reform, in February of the second year of Xining (1069), Wang Anshi established a new organization to guide the reform - the Ordinance Department of the Third Division (the Ordinance Department was later abolished, and the reform affairs were presided over by Sinong Temple of the Ministry of Household Affairs), and worked with the Ministry of Household Sinong Temple Lu Huiqing, Zeng Bu and others drafted the new law together, and each promoted Changping officials to urge the prefectures and counties to implement the new law. As a result, Wang Anshi's reform, which had a far-reaching impact in Chinese history, was launched with great fanfare. In the eight years from the second year of Xining to the ninth year of Xining (1076), focusing on the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the army, the equalization of transportation, green crops, farmland water conservancy, recruitment, market transactions, exemption from travel, and equalization of square field taxes were successively implemented. , generals, armor, horses and other new methods.

5 has been alienated as a "legitimate" means for officials to exploit the common people, lacking effective supervision and guarantee. For example, when the Young Crops Law was implemented, the government set the interest rate at 20, but officials raised the interest rate to 30 without authorization. As a result, after the implementation of the new law, there were successive natural disasters, officials forced debts, and farmers went bankrupt. Even the rich were not immune. The government wanted to stabilize prices and curb private business. Officials replaced private traders with worse ones. The market, supply of goods, and prices were highly monopolized by the government, and the people were exploited even more seriously. Although the reform increased fiscal revenue, the national wealth based on the poverty of the people was difficult to sustain. Social complaints abounded and the people were in dire straits.

6 Among the reasons for the failure of many reforms in history, they all have one thing in common: they are just reforms carried out by a few sober people from top to bottom but separated from the grassroots people. Shang Yang’s Reform, Wang Anshi’s Reform, and the Reform of 1898 This is not the case with reforms. If reforms cannot benefit the general public and do not receive the sincere support and support of the people, the so-called results of reforms will only be a bunch of bubbles that will eventually be scattered in the long river of history.

7 The first manifestation of his abuse of power is the hasty introduction of new laws without careful consideration, trial testing, and enforcement. In just five years from the 2nd year of Xining (1069) to the 7th year of Xining (1074), Wang Anshi promulgated more than a dozen new laws, many of which were core new laws and were promulgated in the early stages of the reform. You must know that many of the new laws implemented by Wang Anshi are not minor repairs to the old system, but major adjustments to the entire national system (especially in the economic field). Some are even unprecedented in the entire feudal society of China. pioneering work. Such a major reform was proposed and implemented within a few months, which cannot but be said to be too hasty. At the beginning of Wang Anshi's reform, he originally had some trial arrangements, but they were quickly overturned by himself. This caused problems that could have been discovered and corrected during the trial phase to be brought to the national level, causing serious consequences and having a major impact on the failure of the entire Wang Anshi Reform.

Also a manifestation of more serious consequences is that he implemented a one-sided employment policy in which those who comply with the new law are promoted and those who oppose the new law are deposed. Under his command, anyone who has expressed opinions on the new law will be dismissed regardless of whether the opinion is justified, whether they are fully opposed to the new law, or whether they can fight for it. Anyone who holds a high banner in favor of the new law will be dismissed regardless of their motives, conduct, or political achievements. No matter what, you will be promoted.

This view was established in the "Records of Shenzong" in the early Southern Song Dynasty, and was later inherited by people from the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty who compiled the "Song History", and became the official conclusion in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was not only recognized by historians, but also generally accepted by society.

The second is to severely criticize Jing Gong’s new learning. Jinggong’s New Learning was the guiding ideology and theoretical basis of Wang Anshi’s reform. Since Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty banned Wang Anshi from enjoying the Confucius Temple, the criticism that Jinggong’s New Learning suffered was far more severe than the denial of the new legal measures. The criticism of Jing Gong's New Learning by Neo-Confucianists in the Southern Song Dynasty mainly focused on two aspects:

First, they denounced Jing Gong's New Learning as heretical and heretical, saying that "it is not correct in learning", "mixing Buddhism and Taoism" or "learning based on form, name and degree" ”

The second is to use the new learning as the theoretical basis for violating the ancestral laws and leading to the collapse of the Northern Song Dynasty, and to ruthlessly attack it. Since Neo-Confucianism was regarded as the dominant thought in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties and "was the mainstream of thought at that time", Jing Gong's New Learning was regarded as a heresy and became a difficult theory.

The third is to call Wang Anshi's new methods the art of gathering, "gathering harms the people." Regarding Wang Anshi's financial management ideas as a way to make profits by "developing people to make profits" was the main point of view of the anti-reform legalists criticizing the new law during the Xining and Yuanyou periods of the Northern Song Dynasty. From the Southern Song Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, most historians and thinkers still commented on Wang Anshi's new law. one of the basic viewpoints.

2 A turning point in the evaluation of Wang Anshi's reform appeared in modern times. Wang Anshi, Wang Anshi, etc. have all received positive evaluations. . Liang Qichao gave Wang Anshi and his new law a brand-new evaluation: "If we are to seek perfection among three generations, only the common people can be qualified." He gave a comprehensive and high recognition to Wang Anshi's moral sentiment, academic accomplishment and political ambition. .

3 After 1949, Wang Anshi’s reform has always been positively evaluated. For example, the fourth volume of "General History of Chinese Thought" edited by Mr. Hou Wailu (People's Publishing House, 1959 edition) has a chapter "Wang Anshi's New Learning, Reform Thoughts and Materialist Philosophy" in a very prominent position. Apart from this chapter, the Northern Song Dynasty thought , except that Li Gou was regarded as "Wang Anshi's pioneer", the others made basically negative evaluations. Shang Yang, Wang Anshi and others became representatives of the "correct line" in Chinese history during their "critique of law and criticism of Confucianism" during the Cultural Revolution. After the reform and opening up, Wang Anshi's reform was still highly recognized under the background that "reform is to liberate productivity". Wang Anshi originally believed that "the destiny is not enough to be feared, the words of people are not enough to show compassion, and the ancestors are not enough to follow the law",

4 20 Evaluations in the first half of the century

A complete reversal of the verdict on Wang Anshi and his reforms

Liang Qichao's "Wang Jinggong" is the most enduring work in the 20th century that evaluated Wang Anshi and his new laws. "Wang Jinggong" completely overturns the case for Wang Anshi and his reforms. Liang Qichao said that Wang Anshi "has sought a perfect man for three generations, but the common people are enough". He regarded the Green Crops Law and the Market Change Law as the banks of modern "civilized countries", and regarded the Service Exemption Law as "the income tax collected by all civilized countries in this world". Liang Qichao used socialist theory to compare Wang Anshi's new legal measures. , called Wang Anshi the forerunner of socialist theory, and Mr. Hu Shizhi also held similar views. Although subsequent researchers have covered all aspects of Wang Anshi and his reforms, Liang Qichao's positive evaluation was respected by most people and became the mainstream view in the first half of the 20th century.

The earliest scholars who used historical materialism to study Wang Anshi's reform and had a greater impact should be recommended to Mr. Deng Guangming and his disciple Mr. Qi Xia. The nature of their affirmation of Wang Anshi and his reforms was different from that of the first half of the 20th century. Its characteristics are:

First, it focuses on emphasizing the ideological and class nature of Wang Anshi's reform, that is, placing Wang Anshi's reform in the specific historical environment of the feudal era of the Song Dynasty. It is pointed out that Wang Anshi's reform was a reform movement of the landlord class. Wang Anshi's new law represented the interests of the landlord class, especially the interests of small and medium-sized landlords. There were many scholars who believed that Wang Anshi had simple materialism in his political philosophy.

Second, they are basically positive about the effect of Wang Anshi's reform. That is, Wang Anshi's reform not only enriched the country and strengthened the army, strengthened the feudal autocratic rule of the Song Dynasty, but also promoted the development of social productivity and the progress of history in the Song Dynasty.

The third is the denial of Sima Guang and his opposition, believing that the conservative political movement headed by Sima Guang has hindered the progress of history. This is a complete denial of the traditional view that it was Sima Guang rather than Wang Anshi since the early Southern Song Dynasty. It is also different from the evaluation since Liang Qichao. Liang Qichao's overturn of Wang Anshi's reform did not deny Sima Guang. Fourth, the reasons for the failure of Wang Anshi's reform are generally attributed to the strength of conservative forces, the split within the reform faction, and the wavering and premature death of Song Shenzong.

4 "There is no fear of changes in nature, no law for ancestors, and no sympathy for people's words" was the famous "Three Insufficiencies" slogan put forward by Wang Anshi during his political reform during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. Over the years, this slogan has been praised by people as a representative of the spirit of courage and continuous innovation. But if you think about it carefully, combined with the specific social and historical background of Wang Anshi's reform, this slogan is not impossible to scrutinize.

On the surface, it is a feudal superstitious theory of heaven and man induction, but in essence it is used by scholar-officials to legally restrict The " trump card " of imperial power. In China's feudal society for more than two thousand years, whenever natural disasters such as solar eclipses, earthquakes, floods and fires occurred, scholar-officials often used the topic to express their opinions and write letters to criticize the current ills. The emperors who were usually furious with such bold "dragon scale defying" behavior often had to put down their arrogance and admit their mistakes in the face of changes in the sky. Although the changes in the sky did not always occur in time when the emperors acted rebelliously, and the interpretation of the changes by the scholar-bureaucrats did not always play a positive role, this was after all a rare means of restricting the imperial power. The ancient Chinese society where the imperial family was dominant had quite positive significance.