The prince is more stable

Chapter 912 The Debate on Abolishing Practices
The "New Policies Office" was a temporary office; its existence was limited to the period after the revisions to the new policies were completed and it was to be abolished.

The New Administration Office was subordinate to the Council of State Affairs, and its members consisted of the prime ministers of the Council of State Affairs and some ordinary officials who had served in the common people.

This official office may seem to have no power and only conducts theoretical research, but the officials in the State Affairs Hall and the court are well aware that its true value is far more than it appears on the surface.

After being selected as officials in ancient times, some newly appointed scholars were transferred to local areas as county magistrates, indicating they had very strong backing. Others were appointed as officials directly in the capital, and these individuals had even stronger backing.

Another controversial option is to enter the Hanlin Academy as an editor, compiling history, imperial records, and annotating the classics.

This seemingly tedious and hopeless job is actually the most valuable. Throughout history, many prime ministers and cabinet ministers started their careers as editors in the Hanlin Academy.

The New Policies Department of the Song Dynasty is now much the same as the Hanlin Academy.

It is even more prestigious than the Hanlin Academy.

Officials in the New Policies Department are directly involved in the revision of national policies, which is an extremely important career qualification for the officials themselves.

When the new policies are finalized and the New Policies Office is abolished, the officials within will still be highly valued. In any situation, as long as they reveal their qualifications—that they served in the New Policies Office and directly participated in the revision of the Song Dynasty's new policies—they will definitely be able to sit at the table, and not at the children's table.

Furthermore, when officials in the Imperial Council of State are replaced in the future, those who have served in the new Council of State will definitely be given priority consideration, and those who enter the Council of State will basically become the future prime ministers of the Song Dynasty.

Zheng Chaozong never expected that he would be so lucky in his lifetime, that he would be hit on the head by a pie falling from the sky.

He was originally just an insignificant official.

How to describe the official title of "Fengyilang"? You could probably find several hundred Fengyilangs in Bianjing City if you picked them up anywhere. They received a monthly salary from the court, enough to live comfortably without starving or being overfed. They wanted to use their power to embezzle money, but they had absolutely no power and couldn't even make money.

Such an ordinary person, just because he took it seriously, wrote a memorial of tens of thousands of words and sent it to the emperor's desk. In the memorial, he spoke a few truths and briefly talked about his views on the new policies. Then, Zheng Chaozong rose to prominence.

At this moment, Zhao Xiaoqian sat in the New Administration Office, legs crossed, smiling as he watched the assembled officials in the hall.

Today, all those present are officials of the new administration, consisting of the prime minister of the Council of State Affairs and officials who have served in the common people.

The atmosphere inside the hall was not harmonious. At that moment, two people were arguing heatedly in front of Zhao Xiaoqian.

"The implementation of the 'Green Sprouts Law' has proven to do more harm than good! The harm suffered by ordinary people from corrupt officials was mostly caused by the 'Green Sprouts Law.' The government forced people to borrow money at high interest rates. People had no choice but to borrow. If they couldn't repay the money the following year, they had to sell their land and houses and go bankrupt."

"Therefore, the 'Green Sprouts Law' is actually a bad policy. Your Majesty, I believe that if you want to reform the new policies, you must first abolish the bad policies. The 'Green Sprouts Law' should be abolished immediately. Only in this way can the people benefit from the new policies."

The speaker was Su Zhe, an old man in his sixties, who still had a strong voice and was quite loud when arguing.

At his age, he still has such energy and confidence; Zhao Xiaoqian really couldn't imagine how irritable Su Zhe must have been when he was young.

A cleaver was used to cut from the Imperial Street of Bianjing all the way to the Xiangguo Temple?
Su Zhe's views were not biased. As the leader of the old party, he originally had a negative attitude towards many of Wang Anshi's new policies. However, Zhao Xiaoqian had a deep conversation with him about the new policies.

When discussing the new policies, avoid bringing in personal emotions and partisan biases.

Everyone was simply stating the facts, presenting their arguments logically and with evidence, and their words were meaningful.

Su Zhe took Zhao Xiaoqian's words to heart, and his proposed abolition of the "Green Sprouts Law" was indeed quite reasonable and objective.

Su Zhe genuinely believed that the Green Sprouts Act was an evil policy and should not be continued.

The person arguing with Su Zhe at that moment was Zheng Chaozong.

After Zheng Chaozong was transferred to the New Administration Office, he carefully considered the reasons why the Emperor promoted him.

He believed that what the emperor valued in him was not necessarily his insights into the new policies. Zheng Chaozong had heard the same thing from someone in Bianjing: the world is so vast, and there are too many knowledgeable and wise people. Zheng Chaozong was not necessarily the most outstanding one.

Therefore, what the officials valued in him was his fearlessness of power and his willingness to speak the truth.

So after being transferred to the new administration, Zheng Chaozong simply let himself go.

Since the officials have taken a liking to his unique characteristics, he must make the most of them.

From now on, he will be a little teddy bear in the Song Dynasty court, always ready to challenge everyone and everything.

Even the prime minister of the court could have a say. In front of Zhao Xiaoqian, Zheng Chaozong did not feel that his position was lowly and his words were insignificant, but bravely argued with Su Zhe.

"Please forgive me for not agreeing with what you say, Lord Su." Zheng Chaozong bowed to Su Zhe as a sign of courtesy, but the sharpness in his words was not concealed at all.

"The Spring and Autumn Annals says: 'If someone chokes to death, it is absurd to prohibit all eating in the world.' What Minister Su just said is a typical example of 'throwing the baby out with the bathwater.'"

Su Zhe was taken aback, then flew into a rage. In order to refute him, he actually quoted classical texts and even used idioms. This was too much!
"How dare you, you brat..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Xiaoqian, acting as both a bystander and a referee, stepped in to stop him: "Mr. Ziyou, there are no distinctions of rank or status within the New Policy Department. Everything should be based on facts. Arguments and disputes are acceptable, but you must not lose your temper."

Su Zhe took a deep breath, bowed to Zhao Xiaoqian, then pointed angrily at Zheng Chaozong as a warning, and said coldly, "Continue, I'm all ears!"

Zheng Chaozong was clearly determined to play the teddy bear to the end, and upon hearing this, he said without any fear, "This humble official believes that the 'Green Sprouts Law' is not an evil policy, and its original intention is good."

"Farmers in the Song Dynasty depended on the weather for their livelihood, but there were natural disasters every year in the Song Dynasty. If a natural disaster occurred, there would be no harvest in the fields, and people would be destroyed and die, and would have to become refugees. If refugees gathered together, they would often number in the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, which would undoubtedly be a great threat to the Song Dynasty."

"The existence of the 'Green Sprouts Law' is actually to solve this threat. Natural disasters are unavoidable, but the imperial court and government can provide a safety net for farmers. Even if there is no harvest, the government will lend farmers grain, seeds and money to help them get through the crisis. I ask you, what is wrong with the Green Sprouts Law?"

Su Zhe said coldly, "But the fact is that most of the families of ordinary people who have been ruined and killed are due to the Green Sprouts Act."

Zheng Chaozong smiled and said, "Prime Minister Su, we are talking about the good and evil of the Green Sprouts Law itself. The 'evil' you mentioned is actually unrelated to the Green Sprouts Law. It is the evil done by local officials. The problem is not with the Green Sprouts Law, but with the officials who implemented it."

Su Zhe retorted, "The new policies can only be implemented through local officials. Officials are using the name of the new policies to exploit the people. The corruption of the bureaucracy cannot be solved overnight. In that case, why not abolish the Green Sprouts Act so that local officials can no longer do evil in the name of the new policies?"

Zheng Chaozong sighed, "I still maintain that 'to throw the baby out with the bathwater is absurd.'"

“When local officials commit wrongdoings, the imperial court and officials will take measures to target and rectify officialdom, doing their utmost to eliminate the ‘evil’ of local officials. But Minister Su, you simply cut off the Green Sprouts Law with one stroke. Isn’t that too brutal?”

"You must know that if we can rectify official corruption and make the court and local government more transparent, the 'Green Sprouts Act' can be implemented smoothly, saving countless disaster-stricken people and farmers every year. But Su Xianggong's words have cut off the livelihood of countless people. In my opinion, this is unwise."

Su Zhe opened his mouth, only to find himself speechless.

It must be admitted that Zheng Chaozong's words were very pertinent and objective, and his thinking and logic were very clear. He saw the root of the problem very clearly.

The source of the "evil" is not the new policy itself, but the local officials who implemented it, and the vast network of collusion between officials, businessmen, and landlords in various regions.

Simply abolishing the new policies while ignoring the network of vested interests at the local level is undoubtedly a superficial solution that does not address the root cause of the problem.

Even if the new policies were abolished, local officials, merchants, and landlords would always find various means and reasons to exploit the people, and the people would still be suffering. The imperial court had not solved the problem at all.

Zheng Chaozong's words drew slow nods from many people in the hall.

Regardless of the positions of the New Party and the Old Party, Zheng Chaozong's words are correct.

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at Zhang Dun and asked, "What does Mr. Zihou think?"

After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Dun said, "I agree with Zheng Chaozong's view. The problem that the court needs to solve is not the new policies, but the local officials who implement them."

Zhao Xiaoqian then looked at Su Zhe and said with a smile, "What do you think, Mr. Ziyou?"

Su Zhe remained silent for a long time before reluctantly saying, "I was wrong just now. As Zheng Chaozong said, it is absurd to throw the baby out with the bathwater."

Zheng Chaozong then bowed to Zhao Xiaoqian and said, "Only today do I realize how wise and farsighted Your Majesty was in establishing the Censorate."

"All matters of the world are decided by the government and the imperial court. The imperial court appoints officials, and the officials govern the people. The biggest problem here is that the emperor is far away and the imperial court can hardly detect the actions of local officials in time."

"The establishment of the Censorate filled this gap, and officials across the country were now subject to timely supervision by the court. It may not be able to completely eliminate illegal activities, but it can improve things a lot."

"With local officials having something to fear, they dare not act recklessly, and the imperial court can receive timely feedback on the actions of local officials and decide on appointments, dismissals, rewards, and punishments."

Zheng Chaozong emphasized his words, as if he were speaking not only to Zhao Xiaoqian, but also to the prime ministers in the hall.

"First, rectify official corruption, then implement new policies. This solves the root problem. How to implement the new policies is no longer a problem. This order is absolutely correct. Your Majesty is wise!"

(End of this chapter)