I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 192: Stealing from the rich but not helping the poor?To enrich the court but not the people?

Six days later.

The boundary of Jingdong Road is on Yanzhou Official Road.

The autumn sun is shining brightly and the cool breeze is blowing.

The pines and cedars on both sides of the official road are lush and green, standing proudly.

From time to time, the chirping of autumn insects can be heard in the trees.

Since Zhao Zhen left Kaifeng Mansion, he has been raising the window to look at the scenery, and the smile has never disappeared from his face.

Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang were also very happy.

This autumn wilderness scene is far more refreshing and refreshing than the piles of papers in the official office.

at this time.

The convoy stopped suddenly.

Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang couldn't help but poke their heads out of the carriage window and look at Zhao Zhen's carriage.

Zhao Zhen slowly stepped out of the carriage and came to the roadside.

Then, accompanied by Zhang Maoze, he walked towards a high slope nearby.

Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang looked puzzled and quickly got out of the carriage.

The official roads here are very desolate.

The surrounding scenery was no different from other places. The high slopes were also overgrown with weeds. They didn't know why the officials wanted to go there.

At this time, the guard captain Cao Hu walked over quickly.

"Scholar Ouyang and Yushi Su, the officials want to take a look at Mount Tai from a distance. You two can rest for a while."

Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang couldn't help but look towards the high slope at the same time.

In front of the high slope, there is a rolling mountain range.

That direction is Mount Tai.

Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang looked at each other and understood each other's thoughts instantly.

"At this time, it is appropriate for officials and families to be alone."

The meaning of Mount Tai to Zhao Zhen is completely different from that of ordinary people.

Since Zhao Zhen succeeded to the throne, courtiers have deliberately avoided the name "Taishan".

The main reason.

This is what Song Zhenzong said at that time: "The Book of Heaven descends upon the gods, and Mount Tai enshrines the Zen".

Since Emperor Zhenzong signed the Chanyuan Alliance with the Liao Kingdom, there have been constant disputes among the people, and many officials in charge of the war believed that this alliance was an act of humiliation and loss of power.

Emperor Zhenzong was worried that he would leave a stigma in history, so on the advice of several sycophants, he directed and staged such a Taishan ceremony.

I hope to whitewash peace with Mount Tai's Zen seal.

But it was a mess!
Since ancient times, who are the people who have been enshrined in Zen and Mount Tai?
There was the First Emperor who unified the world and created the imperial system; there was Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who expanded the territory and shocked hundreds of barbarians; there was Emperor Guangwu who established the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Guangwu Zhongxing; there was Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty who initiated the rule of Yonghui and destroyed Goguryeo and Western Turks; During the prosperous Kaiyuan era, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty restored the Silk Road.

An emperor who can go to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen.

Some may build a prosperous era, some may expand territories, or some may achieve unprecedented achievements.

Only in this way can you be qualified to go to Mount Tai to report to heaven. The imperial power is granted by heaven, which is orthodox.

It also informs all the people that the king is in charge of the world for the emperor of heaven, and his power is supreme. Those who rebel are acting against the destiny of heaven.

But what political achievements did Emperor Zhenzong have?
Only the Chanyuan Alliance sent money to seek peace.

Since the death of Emperor Zhenzong, the people have been ashamed of this incident, thinking that Emperor Zhenzong was so happy about his achievements that he lowered the standards for the Zen of Mount Tai.

Therefore, Taishan's enshrinement became the biggest stain on Emperor Zhenzong.

As the saying goes, a son never blames his father, let alone an emperor.

Zhao Zhen never mentioned a word about this matter, but now coming to the foot of Mount Tai probably brought back some memories.

……

Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang stood beside the official road.

"Jingming, if the official family encounters what happened to the late emperor, what do you think they will do?" Ouyang Xiu asked with a smile.

Su Liang thought for a while and said: "The Chanyuan Alliance can be signed, but the Taishan Fengchan cannot be granted."

Ouyang Xiu nodded in approval.

Although there was a lot of criticism against the Chanyuan Alliance among the people, they thought it was a shame.

But they, the courtiers, understood.

Although the Chanyuan Alliance made the Song Dynasty bow its head, it was not a money-losing deal.

Both sides open up discussions with each other and seek peaceful development.

The biggest beneficiary is the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, if he did not seek peace at that time, the Song Dynasty would definitely be beaten, so Su Liang did not reject the Chanyuan Alliance too much.

I can only hate that the Song Dynasty's combat effectiveness is too weak.

……

And this moment.

Zhao Zhen looked at the endless Taishan Mountains with a myriad of thoughts in his heart.

When the late Emperor Taishan was enshrined in Zen, he was not yet born.

But since he can remember, he has heard a lot of negative news about Taishan Fengchan.

Especially the eight words "what a great success" and "whitewashing the peace".

He hears it often.

These eight words are a naked irony for an emperor.

This made him reflect on himself and take warnings from time to time.

Zhao Zhen looked at Mount Tai in the distance, stood silently for more than a quarter of an hour, and then murmured: "In my life, without the merits of Emperor Qin and Han's martial arts, I would never climb Mount Tai!"

……

After a while, the convoy set off again.

According to the current speed, everyone will be able to reach Changqing County at the southernmost tip of Qizhou in two days.

……

Two days later, near noon.

The convoy crossed the Qizhou boundary marker and finally arrived in Changqing County.

Qizhou currently governs four counties, namely Changqing County, Licheng County, Yucheng County and Linyi County.

The state government is in Licheng.

As soon as the convoy came off the official road, everyone felt that Qizhou was different.

The rural roads in Changqing County are obviously better than those in the previous Yanzhou counties. They are all newly laid in the past two years.

The motorcade drove all the way north, towards the county seat.

On the way, we also encountered several caravans transporting medicinal materials.

After nearly an hour.

Su Liang and his party finally arrived in Changqing County.

After all, Su Liang had been working as a promotion official in Qizhou for nearly a year, so he was quite familiar with the surrounding area.

As soon as he arrived in the county seat, he became a guide.

According to Wang Anshi's report at the beginning of the year, before the Qizhou Reform, the permanent population of Changqing County was less than 8000.

But now there are more than 5000 people.

The motorcade stopped at a store called Changqing Inn, which was also the most luxuriously decorated store on this main street.

Although it is far inferior to the main store in Bianjing City, it is considered to be the highest level in such a small county.

"Commissioner, let's have dinner and rest here today!" Su Liang said with a smile.

In front of outsiders, everyone naturally cannot call the official family.

So I had already thought of a name.

Zhao Zhen was Zhao Yuan, Ouyang Xiu was Ou Guanshi, Su Liang was Su Sanlang, and Cao Hu was Cao Silang.

Zhao Zhen nodded.

After arriving in Qizhou, everyone no longer has to rush. The focus is to inspect the people's situation, and there is no need to rush to the state government office.

Lean slightly.

Everyone sat down in the lobby.

Five people, Zhao Zhen, Ouyang Xiu, Su Liang, Cao Hu, and Zhang Mao, sat at one table, and more than ten guards sat at two tables not far away.

As half the host, Su Liang took the initiative to order the dishes.

"For officials, there are three delicacies you must try when coming to Qizhou: lotus leaf fish, steamed honey lotus root and crab soup. In addition, there is a kind of wine here called Shunquan, which is brewed with local spring water and has a unique taste... ..." After Su Liang ordered the dishes, he told Zhao Zhen and Ouyang Xiu about the customs and folk customs of Qizhou.

Qizhou has mountains, rivers and rich products.

The most famous ones are lotus root and spring water.

There are many lotus root collectors in the local area, and they can support their families just by collecting lotus roots.

Fortunately, the floods a few days ago did not affect Qizhou, otherwise many reform measures may have been ruined.

Not long after, the dishes were served.

Everyone was hungry, so they immediately picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

After Zhao Zhen left Bianjing City, his appetite was greatly improved and his whole mental state took on a new look.

After a while.

After everyone had eaten, they were about four to five minutes full.

Three middle-aged men dressed as businessmen walked into the lobby and sat down next to Su Liang and others.

"Brother Liu, do you really want to leave Qizhou?"

"Oh, I have to leave! My dear brothers, with all due respect, you can't do big business in Qizhou. It's best for you two to go to Bianjing or Jiangnan to make money before the imperial court starts the Song Dynasty Reform. Let’s go!”

"Now I have seen through the Qizhou Reform. This is a trap. What is about enriching the country and the people, and what is for the common people, it is completely robbing the rich without helping the poor, enriching the court but not the people!"

Zhao Zhen, Su Liang and others were stunned when they heard this.

This was the first time they heard someone commenting so maliciously on the Qizhou Reform.

"Brother Liu, please tell me in detail, what exactly is the trap?"

The businessman surnamed Liu slowed down and said: "Initially, Qizhou took the lead in suppressing land annexation and setting up different tax amounts according to the amount of land. I was very opposed to it. This move was to suppress the gentry and landlords like us. Although the official investment promotion This policy expanded Qizhou's commerce and enabled us to make some money. However, with the Market Transaction Law and the Equalization Law at the beginning of the year, the government agencies forcibly controlled the market. The volume of goods transactions increased, and the government agencies' taxes increased, but we were There is almost no profit from suppressing it, and it is not as much as before, which makes me lose motivation!"

"Think about some other reform strategies."

"The Young Crops Law allows the people to borrow from us instead of the people borrowing from the government; the Exemption Law exempts people from labor by paying money to the government, and even cancels the privilege of exemption from labor for bureaucrats and landlords; and the Farmland Equalization Tax Law and the Farmland Water Conservancy Law, a One is to find the hidden land, the other is to increase the land area and increase food production, all for the sake of land tax!"

"Our Wang Zhizhou and Sima Tongpan seem to be infiltrating the people every day and are very busy, but in fact they are not acting for the people at all. They are very smart!"

"The ultimate goal of this series of operations is that the government will become richer, and the poor will be exploited by the government instead of being exploited by the rich. And the ones who will be hurt the most are us businessmen and landlords. The land will be gone and the money will be less." , all the daily business income became the imperial business tax, and became the achievements of those officials who were promoted!"

"So I say that the effect of the reform is to rob the rich but not help the poor, to enrich the court but not the people! It only harms those of us who have more than enough food and clothing and want to get rich by doing business. In a few years, I'm afraid we will want to get rich again. Dagui has no choice but to take the merit test!"

"If the officials really want to enrich the country and the people, the best way is to cut off officials. Cut off half of the officials and everything is already available. Why bother the people and embarrass us businessmen! The princes in the court are also blind. They can't see Many officials are receiving free salary and do nothing. Why should we support them?"

……

At this moment, Zhao Zhen's face had darkened.

Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang also frowned slightly.

Although the words of this businessman are biased, they are not completely wrong. The most harmed by the current Qizhou reform model are the wealthy gentry, giant merchants and landlords.

The main line of Qizhou's reform was to suppress land annexation.

In order to prevent the damage caused by land annexation to businessmen, the Official Investment Promotion Law was established.

Then, with "rich country" as the main line, Wang Anshi proposed six reform strategies, namely: Green Crops Law, Service Exemption Law, Farmland Equalization Law, Farmland Water Conservancy Law, Market Change Law, and Equalization Law.

The Green Crops Law was intended to turn a large number of tenant farmers into land-owning farmers.

In order to reduce the exploitation of farmers by merchant landlords, the government provided low-interest loans to farmers to help them tide over difficulties.

Wang Anshi proposed to collect three cents of interest every six months.

Zhao Zhen felt sorry for the people, and after discussing with the Third Division, he directly reduced it to one point.

With this policy, the court actually lost money.

But in the eyes of many businessmen and people, the government is still an exploiter.

The purpose of the exemption law is to liberate the labor force. The exemption money collected by the government is basically the same as that of hired labor.

As for the average land tax and farmland water conservancy laws, they are all designed to increase land, encourage reclamation, and increase field production. They are all strategies designed to help poor tenant farmers.

Of course, this move also has some selfish motives.

The main reason why the Song Dynasty did not suppress land annexation was that the land tax paid by the gentry and landlord class was stable and the resistance to risks was high.

When poor people encountered natural disasters, they were unable to pay taxes to the court.

As for the Market Change Law and the Equal Loss Law, the government had no choice but to cut off the financial paths of many big businessmen in order to suppress "selling low, selling high, and driving up market prices."

all in all.

This series of measures designed by Wang Anshi and Sima Guang were first to enrich the court, secondly to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor among the people, and finally to make the people prosperous.

From the perspective of the court, there is not much problem with this strategy.

If this policy is implemented, the state treasury will definitely increase, but it will also exploit the interests of many big businessmen.

In other words.

The imperial court ate meat, the common people drank soup, and those who were rich but did not serve as officials became the exploited.

But this group of "people who are rich but not officials" have always been the main part of paying taxes to the court.

If they have problems, Da Song will still have problems.

From the perspective of the common people, this is not a pleasant statement.

This approach is to seize the profits of businessmen, landlords, and farmers and return them to the national finance, thereby alleviating the three redundancies in the court.

Although it also helped a large number of poor tenant farmers, it essentially only alleviated exploitation.

Not without exploitation.

This is actually something that can't be helped.

If the national treasury wants to increase revenue and the court wants to strengthen itself, officials, businessmen, and people will all suffer losses.

But at present, the officials cannot be dismissed first, so they can only adopt this strategy.

Ouyang Xiu looked at Zhao Zhen and said: "Outside the members, the reform will have a long road to go. It will definitely harm the interests of some people, and there will definitely be different voices. But from the current point of view, the overall situation is upward."

Reformers must be decisive in killing and dare to take the blame. Ouyang Xiu was afraid that Zhao Zhen would be affected, so he hesitated again.

Zhao Zhen nodded slightly and looked at Su Liang.

"I want to hear the voices of rural households and rural customers."

The strata of the Song Dynasty can be divided into official households and private households.

Guanhu refers to officials, relatives, nobles and other people who enjoy official titles.

Minhu means common people.They are also divided into two types: rural households and rural households.

Fangdun households refer to the urban population; rural households refer to farmers who make a living by farming.

The two are also intertwined.

Rural households are divided into main households and customers. The main household has land and the customers do not.

Rural households are farmers who own a small amount of land, and rural customers are landless tenant farmers.

These two categories are the main body of the people at the bottom.

In addition to "enriching the country", the Qizhou Reform was also mainly about solving the survival problems of this group of people.

Therefore, Zhao Zhen wanted to hear their voices.

Su Liang thought for a while and said, "No problem."

……

The next day, it was just dawn.

In Zhao Zhen's room.

Su Liang appeared in front of Zhao Zhen, Ouyang Xiu, Zhang Maoze and Cao Hu, wearing short brown clothes, hemp socks and hemp shoes, and a headband.

On the table, there were four sets of similar shabby clothes with pudding on them.

"Officials, if you want to listen to the true words of poor peasant tenants, you must wear these clothes. I have already made an agreement with a steward who is responsible for planting trees outside the city. We will plant trees outside the city in a while and take care of meals at noon. There are hundreds of people a day. Money." Su Liang said.

Ouyang Xiu curled his lips and said, "Jingming, don't mess around. How can an official do such a rough job!"

"If you don't work with the poor tenants, how can you hear their voices? It's just planting trees, it's not tiring." Su Liang said with a smile.

If the company this time is Chen Zhizhong, Xia Song, Ding Du and other die-hards.

If Su Liang came up with this idea, they would definitely scold Su Liang for being unbecoming of an official. They probably wouldn't even let Zhao Zhen wear such tattered clothes worn by common people even if they hugged Zhao Zhen's ankles.

But Ouyang Xiu is easier to talk to.

"I want to go, I want to go! How can I not go when I have money to earn and food to take care of?" Zhao Zhen was very excited and immediately picked up his own set of clothes.

After being an emperor for a long time, he also wanted to try other careers.

Seeing that the officials were getting ready to change, the other three people immediately picked up their own clothes.

Su Liang reminded with a smile: "Bachelor Ouyang and Mr. Zhang, you'd better take the ash from your shoes and wipe it on your face before going out. You two are too fair and tender, and you don't look like poor peasants at all."

"Jing Ming reminded me well, I want to apply it too!" Zhao Zhen smiled brightly, feeling much happier than when he went to worship heaven and ancestors.

　It’s just one chapter today, I’ll add it slowly.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)