Ruling the world with scholar-bureaucrats is not the same as ruling the world with the common people.”——Analysis of famous sayings

Vernacular words often don’t sound good, but it is a fact.

According to " Volume 221 of "Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian" records that in March of the fourth year of Xining (AD 1091), Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty summoned ministers Wang Anshi and Wen Yanbo to discuss the reform.

Wen Yanbo, the elder of the three dynasties and the envoy to the Privy Council, said: "The legal system established by our ancestors is still there, and there is no need to change it to avoid losing the hearts of the people. "

Shenzong said: "The reform will indeed be unhappy for the scholar-bureaucrats, but it will not be inconvenient for the people. "

Wen Yanbo replied: "Your Majesty, you are ruling the world together with the scholar-bureaucrats, not the common people! ”

Shenzong replied: “Not all scholar-bureaucrats think that reform is unfavorable. There are still people who think that reform should be carried out.” ”

Next, Wang Anshi and Wen Yanbo continued to discuss in front of Shenzong whether and how to reform the law. In this conversation, we can see that the emperor did not refute Wen Yanbo’s statement, but It means that there are also people who support the reform among the scholar-bureaucrats. This shows in disguise that Emperor Shenzong recognized the theory of "ruling the world with the scholar-bureaucrats".

In fact, in the last Song Dynasty, he fought with the scholar-bureaucrats. Ruling the world is an actual phenomenon. As early as the Zhenzong period of the Song Dynasty, the famous official Zhang Yong also said something similar about "rule by law", and subsequent emperors generally followed this principle.

The so-called "literary officials", according to the notes of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", were "people who were both internal and external officials" at that time, which meant the entire literati bureaucracy.

To put it more clearly, it was the emperor and the emperor. The bureaucracy ruled the country together, rather than with ordinary people.

The "literary officials" in the Song Dynasty had made some progress compared with the past. The Song Dynasty, which learned from the brutal martial arts struggles of the Five Dynasties, actively involved intellectuals in the political power. A strict, institutionalized and extensive imperial examination system was established, with the quota reaching dozens of times that of the Tang Dynasty. Not only the outstanding members of the landlord class, but also the best of the ordinary workers were recruited into the "Scholar-bureaucrats".

These "literary officials" proved their ability through the imperial examinations, were given various preferential treatment and land by the state, and became central and grassroots political power managers. Due to vested interests, they also actively maintained the dynasty. Participating in politics also fully represents the interests of the landlord class. Although ordinary people cannot directly participate in political power, they at least have some "upward channels" to change their destiny. There are fewer public complaints than in the past, and the rule is relatively stable and has not been overthrown by uprisings. .