The purpose of Wang Anshi's reform was to enrich the country and strengthen the army, so as to reverse the situation of poverty and weakness in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, the reform violated the interests of conservatives and was opposed by them. Less than a year after the law was promulgated, fierce debates and struggles began between the supporters and opponents of the reform, which is known in history as the "old and new party struggles."
The imperial censor Zhongcheng Lujie accused Wang Anshi of ten major mistakes in the reform, and Shenzong was demoted to a local official. Wang Anshi recommended Lu Gong to replace him. Han Qi Shangshu advised Shenzong to stop the Qingmiao Law. Under the huge pressure from the opposition, Shenzong planned to agree. Zeng Gongliang, Chen Shengzhi and others took the opportunity to agree. Although Wang Anshi argued in many ways, Shenzong still believed that suggestions from all sides should be listened to. Later, Wang Anshi claimed that he was ill at home, and then asked to resign and go into seclusion. Han Jiang and others persuaded Shenzong to retain Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi then recounted the dependence and collusion between officials inside and outside the court, and suggested that Shenzong should not be afraid of popular customs and have the world in mind.
In the fourth year of Xining (1071), people in Kaifeng cut off their wrists to escape Baojia. The prefect Han Wei reported to the court that Wang Anshi believed that the implementation of the New Deal was controversial among scholar-bureaucrats, and the people were more likely to be deceived. Shenzong believed that the opinions of the people should be listened to.
In the spring of the seventh year of Xining (1074), there was a severe drought and no rain for a long time. The conservative forces inside and outside the court used the "natural changes" as an excuse to once again launch a siege on the reform; Worry manifests itself in color, and restlessness in sleeping and eating. The supervisor Zheng Xia was appointed to draw the "Picture of Refugees" in Northeast China as an urgent document. Shenzong looked at the picture repeatedly and stayed up all night, believing that the "change in the sky" was not a trivial matter, but was caused by the lack of repairs in human affairs. Sima Guang also wrote "In response to the imperial edict, the imperial court was in trouble". As the reform deepened, Song Shenzong, the biggest supporter of the reform, was shaken. In April of the same year, Shenzong's grandmother, Queen Mother Cao, and mother, Queen Mother Gao, also cried to Shenzong and complained that "Wang Anshi was causing chaos in the world." Song Shenzong had doubts about the reform and dismissed Wang Anshi from his position as prime minister, causing the reform to suffer a heavy setback.
In the eighth year of Xining (1075), Wang Anshi paid homage to the prime minister again, but he could no longer get more support. Coupled with the internal divisions of the reform faction and the wavering of Song Shenzong, it was difficult to continue to implement the reform.
In the ninth year of Xining (1076), Wang Anshi's eldest son Wang Yu died of illness. Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister and lived in seclusion in Jiangning since then. The laws were also abolished one after another.
In the eighth year of Yuanfeng (1085), Song Shenzong passed away. When Zhezong of the Song Dynasty came to the throne, Empress Dowager Gao listened behind the curtain and appointed Sima Guang as prime minister. Almost all the new laws were abolished, which is known as "Yuanyou Genghua" in history. In the first year of Yuanyou (1086), Wang Anshi died of illness in Zhongshan.
In the eighth year of Yuanyou (1093), under the leadership of Queen Mother Xuanren, they devoted themselves to restoring the old ancestral system, which lasted for nine years. Those who supported the reform were called "Yuanfeng Party members", and those who opposed the reform were called "Yuanyou Party members". partisan". After Song Zhezong came to power, the reformists were re-appointed, but the struggle within the ruling group became more intense, and the new law had become a tool for various factions to fight against. From then on, the Song Dynasty entered the quagmire of party strife and could not extricate itself.
Influence
effectiveness
The fundamental purpose of Wang Anshi's reform was to change the situation of poverty and weakness in the Northern Song Dynasty, enhance the ability of external defense and internal suppression, so as to consolidate and strengthen feudal rule. It took nearly fifteen years from the time the new law was implemented to the time when the new law was abolished by the conservative faction. In the past fifteen years, although every new law has inevitably produced some major or minor drawbacks after its implementation, it has basically achieved some results. The effect of "riching the country and strengthening the army" is very significant.
Changes in poverty situation
Government revenue increased significantly. Through the implementation of a series of new financial management laws, the state has added new fiscal revenue items such as "young crops money", "leftover money for exemption from labor", and "market interest money". On the basis of developing production and equalizing taxation, the fiscal revenue has There was a significant increase, and the national treasury was abundant. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, the national treasury savings could provide the court with twenty years of fiscal expenditure. The rapid increase in fiscal revenue completely changed the "poverty" situation in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The new law restrained the merger power of powerful landowners to a certain extent. The Green Crop Law replaced the usury loans of upper-class households and restricted the exploitation of farmers by usury; The law enables part of the commercial profits monopolized by big businessmen to be returned to the state, cracking down on the manipulation of the market by big businessmen and the implementation of the monopoly exemption law, which has reduced the tax exploitation suffered by farmers, vigorously built farmland water conservancy projects, and improved agricultural production. Development has played a huge role in social and economic development, and the people's burden has been reduced, showing a prosperity unprecedented in a century. Update without error@
Change the weak situation. (This chapter is not finished yet!)
The fundamental reason for the failure of the 548 reform
good
Changing the phenomenon of "poverty and weakness" is the general policy of Wang Anshi's reform, and enriching the country and strengthening the army is the general purpose of the reform. Through the implementation of the "method of strengthening the army", the weak situation was alleviated, and the national power of the Northern Song Dynasty was enhanced. The implementation of the Baojia Law strengthened the feudal ruling order in rural areas, maintained social security in rural areas, established a national military reserve, and saved a lot of training costs; the disarmament law improved the quality of army soldiers; the disarmament law improved the quality of army soldiers, The Law of War changed the situation of separation of soldiers and generals and strengthened the combat effectiveness of the army; the Horse Protection Law greatly improved the quality and quantity of horses, and at the same time the government saved a lot of horse-raising expenses; the Ordnance Supervision Law increased the production of weapons and improved their quality. .
The reform measures to strengthen the army reversed the passive situation of the northwest frontier defense which had suffered repeated defeats for a long time. @精品\/书馆*First update~~ In the sixth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty (1073), under the command of Wang Anshi, Song Xihe Road Economic Strategy and Pacification Envoy Wang Shao led his army to attack Tubo, regained He, Tao, Min and other five prefectures, and expanded Covering an area of more than 2,000 miles and receiving support from 300,000 Qiang tribes, this was an unprecedented military victory in the Northern Song Dynasty and established a favorable front for attacking the Xixia region.
Disadvantages
There were also many shortcomings and deficiencies in the process of reform, and new laws harmed the people. In terms of the guiding ideology of the reform, Wang Anshi focused on seeking to open up financial resources and obtain as much national fiscal revenue as possible. For example, he used state administrative power to force acquisitions and sales to accumulate national wealth, which violated the objective economic laws. , the reform led to the country becoming rich and the people poor, which was completely different from the original intention of Wang Anshi's reform to "remove heavy taxation, provide relief to farmers, ensure sufficient state supplies, and ensure that people's wealth is not scarce", and the implementation of the new law was too aggressive.
The reform also caused consequences that disturbed and harmed the people at that time. According to history, when the immunity law came out, the people complained endlessly. Even small businesses such as water delivery, hairdressing, and tea vendors were not allowed to operate without paying the immunity fee. The tax collectors demanded market profits from vendors. The tax amount was more than the capital, and some even businessmen fighting to the death. When the Baojia Law was implemented, in order to avoid the high taxes required to support the army and the dual threat of being drafted into the army, more than three or two cases of self-mutilation occurred among civilians, with some serious cases even cutting off their own arms. In 1072, more than a thousand peasants from Dongming County went to Beijing to protest and caused trouble in front of Wang Anshi's residence.
Reason for failure
The failure of Wang Anshi's reform was caused by a combination of factors. The most fundamental reason was that the New Law Reform was just an institutional improvement within the landlord class in response to the ruling crisis in the Northern Song Dynasty. It did not touch on the fundamental problems of society and could not fundamentally solve the contradictions of feudal society. .
1. The gap between the advanced nature of the reform and the backwardness of social reality is too large, and there is no soil for the reform to adapt.
Wang Anshi's reforms were mainly political impulses in response to the crisis, rather than the inherent needs of economic development. Regarding the economic content of this reform, Huang Renyu commented: "Nine hundred years before us, China attempted to control state affairs through financial controls, the scope and depth of which had not been proposed elsewhere in the world at that time. But modern finance is a An omnipotent and omnipotent organizational force, its rule must not only encompass everything, but also not allow other factors similar to it to compete. "The feudal government of the Song Dynasty was an insurmountable dilemma it faced. The conclusion is self-evident, and the reform Deformation and failure are inevitable. .jjź쎽.ćőbr>
2. The “money-making” essence of the new law leads to the loss of social foundation
The real excitement of the reform is to enrich the country, not the people. Wang Anshi's "financial management" is actually mainly based on losses and gains in the distribution field, taking the profits from businessmen, landlords, and farmers and returning them to the national finance. What it achieves is nothing more than a redistribution of interests. This made him regard almost the entire society as the target of "taking wealth". Therefore, when the new law was implemented, it harmed the interests of all classes and strata in society, leading to the loss of the social foundation for the reform. The increase in fiscal revenue during the reform was not mainly based on the development of production, but was precisely the result of "increased taxes" in the name of young crops and exemptions from military service.
3. Reform is eager for quick success and quick success.
Wang Anshi knew clearly that reform would be of great benefit if it were carried out slowly, and great harm would be caused if it was carried out hastily. However, he was too hasty in the reform. He only identified one goal, but ignored that a series of problems would inevitably arise in the process of achieving this goal. In just a few years, more than a dozen reforms were comprehensively rolled out. I am afraid that all social classes at that time may not have the mental and material endurance, so the reform fell into the dilemma of haste, waste.
4. Ineffective policy implementation.
motivation and effect. (This chapter is not finished yet!)
The fundamental reason for the failure of the 548 reform
Deviations, deviations between provisions and execution, have caused a series of reform measures to move from reassuring the people to disturbing them. _o_m For example, if the government sets the interest rate of young crops at 20%, and the officials raise it to 30% without authorization; if the government wants to suppress private business, the officials will replace private business with worse ones; if the government wants to replace the servants with money, the officials Just try to make money. No matter how good the original intention of any measure is, the local officials who implement it can stuff their own private goods into it, which completely violates the original intention of the reform.
5. Improper employment
Among the reformists, except for Wang Anshi's personal integrity, there is no criticism, but his most important supporters and assistants, Lu Huiqing, Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, Lu Jiawen, Cai Jing, Li Ding, Deng Wan, Xue Xiang and others have many personal qualities. If there are problems, some are treated as villains at that time. The reformists represented by Wang Anshi only valued the dead legal system and ignored the living personnel. As a result, issues that should be solved at the administrative and technical level were transformed into moral issues. On the latter level, the reformists were immediately at a disadvantage compared with the conservatives.
6. Internal split within the reform faction
First, Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi, the core figures of the reform, could not coordinate. When Wang Anshi became prime minister again, Song Shenzong's attitude towards him had changed. It was said that he "disgusted him a lot and refused to obey him". Wang Anshi saw that the reform had stalled and was forced to resign again. Secondly, there was opposition within the reform faction. Many reformers only considered their own interests and did not focus on the overall reform. As a result, the people involved in the reform were divided.
7. Conservatives strongly oppose
The dispute between the reformists represented by Wang Anshi and the conservatives represented by Sima Guang is not essentially a power struggle, but a policy dispute; it is not a debate about whether to reform, but a debate about how to reform. There are many conservative talents, such as Sima Guang, Han Wei, Wen Yanbo, Ouyang Xiu, Fu Bi, Han Qi, Fan Zhen, Su Shi, etc. In the eighth year of Yuanfeng (1085), when Song Zhezong came to the throne, Empress Dowager Gao listened behind the curtain and appointed Sima Guang as prime minister. Almost all new laws were abolished.
This shows how important it is for the reform emperor to have military power, control public opinion, be ruthless, and strengthen supervision.
Otherwise, we will only be dragged into the fate of national subjugation by vested interests. .
The fundamental reason for the failure of the 548 reform
