Do you know: I am Qi Heng

The court's idea was good: instead of directly increasing taxes, they would levy them once under some other pretext and then cancel them the following year.

In reality, local officials and constables continued to collect taxes as usual.

Since the common people have no idea about the specifics, they naturally take it as a given.

This results in seemingly low tax revenue, but an ever-increasing amount of miscellaneous taxes and levies.

"Yesterday, I accompanied my father to visit the home of the Prefect of Kaifeng. We happened to meet an official who was discussing the reform with Prefect Ouyang."

Su Shi said self-deprecatingly, "When I heard this, I thought this person was too naive. Now that the emperor has no son and the crown prince has not yet been decided, how can the emperor have the heart to reform the laws?"

But after I got home, I couldn't help but wonder, did that official really not know that now was the time for reform?

As a local official, he must have been aware of the problems that existed there, which is why he was so eager to implement reforms. To knowingly do something impossible—I am not as virtuous as him!

"Brother Zizhan, do you know who is talking about the reform?" Qi Heng asked curiously.

Since the failure of Fan Zhongyan's reforms, the reformists have suffered a great blow.

Both Han Zhang, the Grand Chancellor, and Ouyang Xiu, the Prefect of Kaifeng, were supporters of the new laws.

Even when they returned to the court in recent years, they never submitted a petition to request reforms.

He was genuinely surprised that someone would want to submit a petition for reform at this time.

"I inquired with Zeng Zigu, a student of Prefect Ouyang, and learned that the man was Wang Anshi, the Prefect of Changzhou."

Su Shi said, "Zigu also told me about some of the reform ideas of Prefect Wang. Based on what I saw and heard during my studies, I think they are very feasible."

"Wang Anshi?"

Qi Heng was taken aback, but maintained a calm expression and said, "Brother Zizhan, could you please explain this to me in detail?"

"There are many things I only partially understand, so I'll just talk about the ones that impressed me the most."

Su Shi pondered for a moment and said, "Prefect Wang proposed dividing all the land in the country into three grades, and then determining the amount of tax to be paid based on the different grades."

Nowadays, most of the fertile land in the region is owned by the gentry. A mu (unit of land area) of fertile land can yield much more than that of inferior land.

However, the imperial court levied taxes based on the number of acres of land cultivated. The land cultivated by ordinary people already yielded little, yet they still had to bear such high taxes, which was very unfair.

Secondly, the government provided loans to help people get through the lean season.

Every year during the lean season, when people are short of food, they can only borrow money and grain from the gentry. However, the interest rates demanded by the gentry are extremely high. Even with a good harvest, after repaying the money and grain, the people, living frugally, still cannot afford enough for a year's needs, and so the following year will still be a lean season.

But if times are bad, after paying off the debts, there's not much left.

Ordinary people had no choice but to sell their children, or even their land, to make a living.

If the government were to lend money and grain to the people, it would not only bring some revenue to the imperial court, but also prevent the people from being exploited by the local gentry.

Qi Heng's expression turned somewhat strange when he heard Su Shi's high praise for Wang Anshi's new laws.

Su Shi almost lost his life because he opposed the new laws.

However, Qi Heng could understand.

This is a moment.

This is like a plan that looks very feasible, but in the process of implementation, it turns out to be full of difficulties and even deteriorates.

Historically, Su Shi opposed reforms, specifically those that had become corrupted during implementation.

But what Su Shi sees now is a feasible new method, so naturally he has a different attitude.

"Yuan Ruo, do you see anything wrong with this?"

Seeing Qi Heng's strange expression, Su Shi asked with some doubt.

"After listening to what Brother Zizhan said, I also think it is a good policy that benefits the people."

Qi Heng said, "But has Brother Zizhan considered the potential problems that might arise when implementing these methods?"

"These new laws will benefit the people, and naturally some people's interests will be harmed. However, as long as the government is resolute and local officials can implement them conscientiously, there shouldn't be any major problems," Su Shi said.

I don't think so.

Qi Heng shook his head and said, "The deep-seated problems of the court are now common knowledge."

Looking solely at the deep-seated problems themselves, are they really that difficult to solve?

Su Shi carefully considered Qi Heng's words. The deep-seated problems of the court were indeed well known, namely, redundant officials, redundant soldiers, and redundant expenses.

The heavy taxes and levies he mentioned earlier were ultimately due to the increasing expenditures of the imperial court and the small amount of surplus revenue each year.

In earlier years, the imperial court had a considerable surplus each year, so even if some emergencies occurred, there was enough money and grain to deal with them.

With increased government spending and less surplus, the government has no choice but to find other pretexts to raise taxes in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

It can be said that almost all the problems facing the court today are directly or indirectly caused by the serious problem of excessive bureaucracy, extravagance, and redundancy.

Is the problem of redundancy, redundancy, and excessive bureaucracy difficult to solve?

Looking at the problem itself, it's actually not difficult.

If there are too many soldiers, cut some of the troops; if there are too many officials, streamline the bureaucracy.

Once these two things are done, the imperial court will save some of its expenses.

By cutting some unnecessary spending, the national treasury will soon be full again.

The problem of redundancy is there, and the solution is obvious, yet it remains unresolved.

"The new laws formulated by Fan Zhongyan were intended to solve the problem of excessive bureaucracy, extravagance, and redundancy, but what was the result?" Qi Heng asked.

"The problem of redundancy, redundancy, and excessive bureaucracy is indeed facing too much resistance, which is why we need to find another way to solve it from other aspects."

Su Shi said, "Although the method proposed by Prefect Wang may not be able to solve the problem of the three redundancies, it can reduce the burden on the people and will only benefit the court."

Qi Heng smiled and said, "I have read history books. In the middle and later stages of each dynasty, there were all kinds of accumulated problems."

Among these long-standing problems, some, when traced back to their origins, were already established at the very beginning of the founding of the nation.

Brother Zizhan, do you think it's because times have changed and the old system is no longer applicable, or is there a problem with the system itself?

Su Shi pondered for a moment and said, "It should be both."

"That's right!"

Qi Heng nodded and said, "I think so too, but I feel there is a third factor involved."

"I'd like to hear more details!"

Su Shi had previously regarded Qi Heng as just a young friend, after all, Qi Heng was only twelve or thirteen years old.

But after the conversation, his slight disdain for his age had completely vanished.

"Another factor is people!"

Qi Heng said, "The rules and regulations themselves are meant to restrain the people of the world."

Mencius advocated that human nature is inherently good, while Xunzi advocated that human nature is inherently evil.

Although the two seem to be contradictory, they actually mean the same thing: to emphasize the importance of later education.

Etiquette and morality, in their original intention, were also meant to restrain human nature.

People need to read books to understand principles. Etiquette and morality are one layer of constraints, while the rules and laws of the imperial court are another.

Why use so many layers of restrictions to constrain people?

According to Heng, people will try to find loopholes, so many layers of restrictions are necessary to prevent such possibilities.

However, these are obviously unrealistic. Therefore, even if some of the rules and regulations of the imperial court can be applied indefinitely, over time, loopholes that can be exploited have been discovered.

Throughout history, many officials have advised emperors against changing ancestral rules. Some of these officials may have been pedantic, but many more simply didn't want the court to close loopholes.