I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 30 The Opposition Prince
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The last time Zhao Ya fiercely attacked Liu Qingjing and slapped Zhao Xu in the face in public, the reason why he did not suffer retaliation from Liu Qingjing and the New Party was not only because Zhao Xu was suppressing Liu Qingjing and Empress Dowager Xiang and the Old Party were supporting Zhao Ya, but also because there was another very important reason.

——"Land Reform Memorial" let the New Party know that Zhao Ya supported reform and was not necessarily their enemy.

When Zheng Xiansu helped Zhao Ya write the "Memorial on Land Reform," Zhao Ya copied it out on a random piece of paper and then handed it to Zhao Xu in an informal setting, saying, "You may read it in your spare time. If you find it useless, just throw it away. It's best not to make it public."

The reason why Zhao Ya submitted the "Land Reform Memorial" in this way was mainly because he was afraid of violating the taboo of the prince interfering in politics.

Also, Zhao Ya wrote "Memorial on Land Reform" just to let Empress Dowager Xiang and Zhao Xu, who had the power to decide the emperor's ownership, see that he had the ability to solve the current predicament of the Zhao Song Dynasty, not to promote land reform now.

——Land reform, especially the land reform in the Song Dynasty, involved too many interests. It was okay to talk about it, but if it was really carried out, it would mean making enemies with the entire class of dignitaries, gentry, and wealthy families. Before gaining absolute power, Zhao Ya would definitely not step into this minefield.

Zhao Xu is a rebellious person at heart.

If Zhao Ya did not have this attitude, he might not have read "Land Reform Memorial".

However, Zhao Ya adopted an attitude of "read it if you want to, throw it away if you don't want to", which made Zhao Xu look forward to what Zhao Ya would write to him.

After reading the "Land Reform Memorial", Zhao Xu was certain that Zhao Ya was not a member of the old party and that he attacked Liu Qingjing fiercely just to protect Empress Dowager Xiang.

In this case, Zhao Xu was even less willing to deal with Zhao Ya, lest Zhao Ya would ignore everything and fight Liu Qingjing to the end, making him lose face.

Therefore, Zhao Xu's focus was no longer on Zhao Ya's political attitude, but on the "Land Reform Memorial" itself.

After so many years of reform, although some problems have been solved, the more Zhao Xu reformed, the more powerless he felt, as if an invisible force was always obstructing his reforms.

The Yuanyou period was the early period of Zhao Xu's reign, when Gao Taotao ruled the country from behind the scenes. Gao Taotao appointed Sima Guang as prime minister and completely abolished the new laws introduced by Wang Anshi.

The Shaosheng period was the period when Zhao Xu personally ruled the country. Zhao Xu appointed Zhang Dun as prime minister and fully restored the new laws implemented by Wang Anshi.

Zhao Xu once made up his mind to get rid of all those who hindered his reform and focus on reform.

But after years of hard work, Zhao Xu accidentally obtained a painting called "Love But No Help".

This is a chart that records the positions held by the new and old parties in the court since Emperor Shenzong of Song.

The chart contains seven categories: Prime Minister, Regent, Attendants, Censors, Imperial Court Officials, Imperial Academy Officials, and Schools. It is divided into two columns: the left column represents New Party members, the right column represents Old Party members.

Result: The right column is densely packed with names, while the left column has very few names.

After looking at this chart, Zhao Xu realized that even though he and his son had been carrying out reforms for so many years, the power of the Zhao Song Dynasty was still controlled by the old party. It was too difficult for him to inherit his father's ambition and complete the unfinished reform cause.

The key point is that the New Party is not up to the task. The new policies they advocate are full of loopholes, which always give the Old Party an opportunity to seize the opportunity and launch fierce attacks on the new policies.

What made Zhao Xu feel even more powerless was that he had been carrying out reforms for so many years, fully restoring the New Deal and severely cracking down on the old party. Su Shi, Su Zhe, Huang Tingjian and others were all exiled by him, but the result was that the treasury of the Zhao Song Dynasty was still empty.

How empty is it?
During the Battle of Pingxia City last year, Empress Dowager Xiao Liang invaded the border. Due to lack of money for the war, Zhao Xu finally had to borrow more than three million strings of cash from six or seven wealthy businessmen for military expenses, and he has not yet repaid the money.

What a shame! ! !
Yes.

Zhao Xu has been in poor health since childhood and even coughs up blood.

But if Zhao Xu had not been bullied by Gao Taotao and the old party since childhood, and had not been depressed, and had not had to deal with such an extreme political situation after taking power, and had not seen any hope, how could his health be so poor?

Let me put it this way, during the years of personally ruling the country, Zhao Xu held on to power tightly, working hard to handle government affairs every day. He would not sleep when all the officials had gone to bed, and would get up before all the officials had. He was like a paperhanger, patching up the dilapidated Zhao Song Dynasty. At the same time, he was worried every day, fearing that one day when he opened his eyes, the Zhao Song Dynasty, this leaky ship, would suddenly sink?
What made Zhao Xu feel most powerless was that he was now very confused and had no idea how to clean up the mess of the Zhao Song Dynasty?
Ministers in the court also discussed the diametrically opposed political measures during the Yuanyou and Shaosheng periods.

The ministers who supported Wang Anshi's reforms and those who opposed them, namely the new and old parties, accused each other and the struggle was fierce.

The key point is that the Zhao Song Dynasty has reached the point where reform is necessary. This is the consensus of the Zhao Song Dynasty from top to bottom (including the old party). Otherwise, the court will not be able to pay the salaries of officials and the food and wages of the army, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

It is worth mentioning that it was precisely because the old party changed its tone and supported reform but only opposed the new policies launched by Wang Anshi that Zhao Xu stopped attacking the old party and appointed Han Zhongyan, the leader of the old party, as deputy prime minister, hoping that the old and new parties could work together to find a good plan to save the country.

However, although a consensus has been reached on reform, both the old and new parties have been arguing for years about how to reform and still have no direction.

Now that he had read the "Land Reform Memorial," Zhao Xu's eyes lit up! He felt that the "Land Reform Memorial" seemed to be a direction.

But Zhao Xu was puzzled: "Why does Prince Shen think that the problem lies in not curbing land annexation?"

Zhao Xu repeatedly read the "Land Reform Memorial," and the more he read, the more he felt that Zhao Ya's views were extraordinary. However, Zhao Xu, who had been trapped in the information cocoon of the imperial palace since childhood, failed to grasp the value of the "Land Reform Memorial." Zhao Xu ignored Zhao Ya's advice to keep it secret and instead summoned Zhang Dun, Han Zhongyan, and Zeng Bu that night to explain his doubts.

After reading the "Memorial on Land Reform", Zhang Dun and the other two fell silent.

Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu thought to themselves, "Prince Shen is truly audacious! If we follow his prescription to treat the Song Dynasty, either the Song Dynasty will be completely transformed and reborn, or it will perish and a new dynasty will emerge. There is absolutely no third possibility."

Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu thought about it and understood:

"Prince Shen must have known that he was an idle prince who had no influence on government affairs. Others would not care what he said, so he dared to reveal this matter."

"If Prince Shen were to lead the reform, given his insight, he would undoubtedly be aware of the dire consequences of truly carrying out land reform. Most likely, he would end up like us, following the crowd and only focusing on the economic, educational, and livelihood security systems."

After reading "Land Reform Memorial", Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu knew that Zhao Ya was not Zhao Xu or Zhao Xu who were just full of passion, but a real man of knowledge. At least Zhao Ya had experts around him who dared to tell him the truth, so that Zhao Ya really knew the problems of the Song Dynasty.

In fact, there are many people who can see the root cause of the Zhao Song Dynasty's problems.

As early as the founding of the Song Dynasty, or more precisely during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, someone proposed: "Each piece of land has its owner, and some households may own no land. The rich have vast fields, while the poor have no land at all."

Others pointed out that this was all caused by the "lack of a land system" and the "failure to suppress mergers and acquisitions."

During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, known for his "peaceful reign," an official even pointed out: "Powerful officials and wealthy families have unlimited land. Mergers and counterfeiting have become a common practice, and even the strictest prohibitions cannot stop them."

At that time, the imperial court also took several measures to limit land annexation: such as prohibiting officials from renting official land; restricting temples and Taoist temples from purchasing land; and strictly prohibiting the purchase of land through borrowing.

But even so, on the eve of Wang Anshi's reform, according to conservative estimates by the then rulers, 70% of the cultivated land in the country was occupied by the powerful class who enjoyed the privilege of not paying taxes, and the self-cultivating farmers and small and medium-sized landlords together owned only 30% of the land.

Wang Anshi also felt that land annexation was not a good idea and wrote a poem entitled "Annexation" to express his opposition to it. The measures he implemented, such as the Green Sprout Law and the Exemption from Military Service Law, were all aimed at restricting land annexation.

However, due to his limited knowledge, Wang Anshi's land reform method only addressed the symptoms and not the root cause, and there were many loopholes.

In addition, this touched upon the interests of too many people and was met with stubborn resistance.

In addition, the people who actually implemented it were hypocritical.

As a result, the land reform advocated by Wang Anshi was always a lot of noise but little action, and there was no progress.

So Zhao Ya’s point of view is actually not new.

It can even be said that from time to time, ministers would jump out and talk about land reform.

However, those people did not come up with truly feasible reform methods like Zhao Ya.

Zhao Ya was of noble status and was an opposition prince with no right to discuss matters, so naturally he could say anything, including pointing out to Zhao Xu the problems that led to the failure of his reforms.

Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu are the leaders of the current ruling party. Countless eyes are watching them, so they dare not speak carelessly.

The same is true for Han Zhongyan.

However, unlike Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu, Han Zhongyan thought to himself:

"Prince Shen and Consort Liu are enemies, it turns out it's just for the Queen Mother, and has nothing to do with my old party."

"That's right. The royal family truly wants to resolve the current difficulties facing the Song Dynasty and ensure its longevity, rather than achieve victory in the political struggle. How could they possibly fully support my Old Party in defeating the New Party?"

"Isn't it the same with the Queen Mother?"

"It seems that this reform is really inevitable. Now even the prince is anxious."

"The question is, how do we change it? Do we really have to carry out land reform? Is there no other way?"

Seeing that Zhang Dun, Han Zhongyan, and Zeng Bu were all silent after reading the "Land Reform Memorial," Zhao Xu asked, "Is there anything worthwhile in Prince Shen's reform plan?"

……

(End of this chapter)