Every time the heyday of the dynasty, the smoke of turmoil has quietly risen, and the death knell of the empire has quietly rang, but everyone cannot see or hear. What they saw and heard was that the situation was great, singing and dancing were peaceful, that was “the two phoenix palaces in the clouds were in the imperial city, and the spring trees were in the rain”, that was that “the Jincheng silk tubes were everywhere on the 4th day, half into the river, half into the clouds.” But when "the song of the colorful skirt is on the thousand peaks, the dance is broken and the original is coming down", I regret it too much. Datang is like this.
Song Shenzong obviously doesn't want to see this ending.
In fact, the situation was not optimistic at that time. According to the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Yi, "Notes on Twenty-Two Histories", Lu Ce said, during the Huangyou period, the state's fiscal revenue was 39 million and the expenditure was 13 million, accounting for one-third of the revenue. Song Yingzong During the period of Zhiping, the state's fiscal revenue was 44 million yuan and its expenditure was 8.8 million yuan, accounting for one fifth of the revenue. During the Xining period of Shenzong, although the income reached 50.6 million, the expenditure was 50.6 million, accounting for 100% of the income. In this way, wouldn’t the Zhao family’s treasury be empty? There are many reasons for the increase in
expenditure. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty·Food and Message Journal", there are three main reasons. First, Liaoxia threatens, long-term combat, and the annual expenses are increased. This article actually includes two items, namely "military expenses" and "annual expenses". The so-called "year fee" means that , Song , is given to , Liao and , Xixia every year to buy peace. This money is not only given every year, but also continues to increase. There is no way to do this unless the Liao Kingdom and Xixia can be destroyed. However, the Song Dynasty obviously does not have this ability, so it would be a blessing not to be destroyed by them.
But the peace I bought is not reliable, so military expenses, like the annual expenses, have increased and increased. Second, recruiting troops will grow more and more, and the royal family will grow, and the number of officials will increase every year. There is no way to do this, because you cannot prevent the population from growing, and you must not prevent royal relatives and phoenix and grandchildren from having children. So we had to increase the management personnel and institutions accordingly, and increase positions and official positions. As a result, "the wealth and cereals are given, and thus the growth is achieved." The third is the system issue. The Song Dynasty implemented a system in which the Secretariat, the Privy Council and the Three Ministers acted independently. Zhongshu is Zhongshu , which is in charge of administration; Privy Council is Privy Council is , which is in charge of military affairs; the three departments are the Ministry of Revenue, degree branch , salt and iron, which is in charge of finance. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty: Food and Memorandum", as early as the Zhihe period of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, the censor Fan Zhen saw the problems of this system. Fan Zhen’s memorial said: “The Secretariat is the people, the Privy Council is the military, and the Three Departments are the money, and each does not know each other.” As a result, the national treasury has long been empty, but the Privy Council is still recruiting troops (the wealth is scarce, but the Privy Council is constantly increasing troops); the people are already poor, and the Ministry of Finance is still raising bribes (the people are trapped, but the Three Departments are constantly getting money). The Secretariat knew the situation of the people, but could not stop the conscription of the Privy Council and the aggregation of the Ministry of Finance. Of course there is no way. Because this system was originally intended to reduce the power of the prime minister and strengthen the imperial power, which emperor would change it?
In fact, the growth of national fiscal revenue itself is problematic. From Huangyou to Xining, in just 20 years, the fiscal revenue of has increased by more than 12%. Under the conditions at that time, how could economic growth have such a speed? It is obviously caused by increasing the burden on the people. The growth rate of expenditure is even more problematic, reaching more than 38%! If you don’t make ends meet, how can the dynasty still support you?
What's more, Shenzong is still a person with extraordinary ambitions. He was saddened by the humiliating concessions to the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia since childhood, anxious about the country's financial tightening and the sluggish court, and wished he could cheer up and become stronger overnight. He repeatedly told his ministers that "there are the most ills in the world and must be reformed", and also said, "The key to the country is to manage finance first and talents are the basis." The question is, where can we find people who dare to reform and are good at managing finances?
He thought of Wang Anshi.
Wang Anshi's method is to change " Changping Method " to " Qingmiao Method ", and to use the money of selling Chen Mi in Changping Position and Guanghui Warehouse to make "mortgage loans" when Qinghuang is not accepted. This is also a killer of one stone. When the green and yellow food is not in contact, the price of grain soars. Selling old grain in the warehouse can stabilize prices. This is one; the funds obtained from selling grain can be used for loans, this is two; both affordable grain and mortgage loans can help farmers, this is three; the state can obtain interest on this loan, this is four. Of course, the suppression of the rich and the burden on farmers is reduced, which is also one of the benefits. In short, the interest rate for Qingmiao loans is low and farmers can afford it; the country does not have heavy burden on the old grain sold in the original warehouse. What's more, the government lends surplus grain to solve the urgent needs of farmers; the interest recovered after the autumn can increase the dynasty's treasury. Isn’t this a public or private benefit? No wonder Wang Anshi boasted about Haikou: I can increase the treasury income without increasing taxes (the people do not increase taxes, but the country uses the best).
However, the results of actual operation are extremely terrible.
First of all, the interest rate is not low. The standard set by Wang Anshi is that html is 20% interest, that is, the loan is 10,000 yuan, the loan period is one year, and the interest is 2,000 yuan. This is actually very high, and local governments need to increase their investment. The specific local practice is to issue a loan in the spring and recover it after half a year to get two cents of profit. Another loan was issued in the fall, and it was recovered after half a year, and another two-point profit was taken. As a result, the loan was 10,000 yuan, the loan period was one year, and the interest was 4,000 yuan. Low-interest loans that should have fully considered the interests of farmers have become a kind of usury monopolized by the government. Moreover, due to the different implementations, the interest rate in some places is 35 times that of the original setting! Not only is the high interest rate for
, but the procedures are still troublesome. In the past, farmers borrowed loans from landlords, and both parties could make a deal if they agreed on the price. Now you have to apply for a loan from the government, you have to apply for it first, then approve it, and finally repay the loan. All procedures require people to ask for help and pay "benefit fees" to the clerk yamen runners. Every time a procedure is passed, corrupt officials will be extorted and exploited. This is simple. If it is a little more complicated, you don’t know how much you have to pay! How many hairs do farmers have to withstand their pulling like this?
What's even more terrifying is that in order to implement the new policy, Wang Anshi issued loan indicators to all parts of the country, stipulating how much it must be loaned every year in each state and county. In this way, the local officials had to force the levy. Of course, while levying each layer, we also increase the amount as usual. Therefore, not only poor and lower-middle peasants, but also wealthy peasants, rich peasants and landlords were required to "loan on orders." It is not possible to not lend, because loans have been "legislated". If you don’t take out a loan, it’s illegal!
As a result, the people increased their burden and local officials increased their income. Moreover, their rent-seeking has another banner, which can be used to commit corruption in the name of reform. Reform has helped corruption, which is probably something Wang Anshi had unexpectedly expected?
So, don't think corrupt officials are afraid of reform. No, they are not afraid of reform, nor are they afraid of not reforming, they are just afraid of nothing, do nothing, and govern without doing anything. If they are governed by inaction, they will have no reason or ability to make money. On the contrary, as long as the court has actions, they have a way, and they don’t care whether this action is reform or something else. For example, if the imperial court wants to recruit soldiers, they will charge the recruitment fee; if they want to run schools, they will charge the tuition fee; if they want to suppress bandits, they will charge the suppression fee. Anyway, as long as the above order is given, they will take the opportunity to pluck their hair!
What's more, the direct purpose of this reform was originally to increase national fiscal revenue. Such a reform sounds good-sounding, and if it is not good-sounding, it can only be called accumulation. We know that under the conditions at that time, the GDP was basically a constant. Wealth is not hidden in the country, it is hidden in the people. With more money in the treasury, the people will have less money. After the reform, the 32 newly built inner hall warehouses of Shenzong were filled with silk, so they had to rebuild the warehouse. But where did these wealth come from? Did it fall from the sky? Did it grow from the ground? Obviously not. As Sima Guang said in , "If you don't take the people, where will you take them?"
