Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 9
For the next two days, Fan Zhongyan was still busy with his own affairs, and Fan Ning stayed in Ouyang Xiu's mansion to practice calligraphy. Fan Zhongyan was afraid that he would make mistakes and could not explain to his parents, so he was not allowed to go out again.

Although Fan Ning still wanted to visit Goulan Wa Si, Fan Zhongyan had explained that he was not allowed to go out, and Ouyang Qian refused to take him out.

Fortunately, I have already bought presents to honor my parents when I go home. I bought some rouge and two bottles of rose water from an old shop for my mother, and two bottles of Qianrichun wine from Zhongshan Yuanzi shop for my father.

Fan Ning also gave up the idea of ​​going out to play, and concentrated on practicing calligraphy in the mansion.

That afternoon, after Fan Ning finished writing, he was wandering alone in the mansion. When passing by the living room, he saw a young man sitting in the living room, who seemed to be waiting for Ouyang Xiu to come back.

Seeing that the man's tea bowl was empty, Fan Ning ran to the kitchen and asked someone to order a pot of tea.

"Who is that young man in the living room? He has been sitting there for a long time!"

The butler laughed and said, "He! He can be regarded as the master's disciple. Every time he returns to Beijing, he will come to visit him. The master thinks highly of him."

"Who is he?" Fan Ning was a little curious. The person who can make Ouyang Xiu think highly of him must not be an ordinary person.

"His name seems to be... By the way, his name is Wang Anshi!"

"What's it called?" Fanning scratched his ears, he suspected that he had heard it wrong.

"Little official, his name is Wang Anshi. He passed the Jinshi examination in the last exam. I heard that he has just been promoted to county magistrate."

Fan Ning suddenly understood, no wonder his grandfather said that he would meet Wang Anshi, it turned out that Wang Anshi was Ouyang Xiu's disciple, this is not a coincidence!
At this time, the tea was ready, and a servant was about to deliver the teapot. Fan Ning quickly smiled and said, "Let me do it!"

He took the teapot and walked quickly to the living room.

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The young man was Wang Anshi. He came to Beijing to attend the birthday of his grandfather Pang Ji. Pang Ji regarded him very highly and sent someone to send him a birthday card.

As soon as Wang Anshi got off the boat today, he came to visit his teacher Ouyang Xiu, but Ouyang Xiu was not at home, he had been waiting for more than half an hour.

A bowl of tea had already been drained, and he was thirsty, when he saw a young man bring in a teapot, Wang Anshi quickly stood up and thanked him.

"Are you waiting for Senior Ouyang?" Fan Ning asked with a smile.

From Fan Ning's tone, the young man didn't seem to be a member of his mentor's mansion, nor was he a student of his mentor. He didn't dare to be rude, and quickly clasped his fists and said, "I just came from Yin County and came to Beijing on business."

Yin County is Ningbo today. Fan Ning frowned and said with a smile: "Then we are half fellows! I come from Wu County."

"It turns out that Shaolang is from Pingjiang Prefecture. There are outstanding people there. It's a good place. Fan Xianggong is from Wu County."

"Fan Xianggong is my grandfather, I will go to Beijing with him!"

Suddenly, the young man bowed again, "It turns out that it is the queen of Fan Gong, who is rude, and my next king, Anshi, has great admiration for Fan Gong's new policies!"

Sure enough, it was Wang Anshi, and Fan Ning took another look at this young man. He was a very simple country boy.

"So you are Wang Anshi!"

"Fan Shaolang also knows me?"

"I've heard it for a long time...it's famous!"

Fan Ning almost mentioned the long-heard name of "Sister-in-law". At this time, Wang Anshi had only started working for a few years, and he was still far away from his husband!
But looking carefully, Fan Ning still felt Wang Anshi's distinctive temperament.

I saw that he had a square face, with thick eyebrows and deep eyes, and his eyes were piercing, revealing a kind of righteousness from his bones.

Fan Ning couldn't help but secretly praised him. He deserves to be a famous reformer in history. His indomitable character can be seen from his temperament.

Wang Anshi sighed softly, "Ling Zu's Qingli New Deal, what a pity!"

The reason why Fan Ning was particularly interested in Wang Anshi was that he had read several treatises on Wang Anshi's reforms.

Although Wang Anshi accurately hit the stubborn disease of Song Dynasty, he did not find the cause, which made him unable to reform and understand his ideas.

It's like a headless fly running around, wasting a lot of time and resources, and finally betrayed everyone, so that it failed.

It makes people angry and mourns their misfortune.

Fan Ning often hides his scroll and sighs. If he returns to Song Dynasty, he must wake up this stubborn man and tell him the correct way to reform.

But today, sitting in front of Wang Anshi himself is like standing on the long embankment of history. Fan Ning does not want to dig the embankment and completely divert the long river of history. This is not his mission.

But he hopes that Da Song will become better because of his arrival, which is also his greatest wish.

Fanning picked up the teacup and blew on it, taking a sip slowly to calm down his heart.

After a long time, Fan Ning said with a faint smile: "The New Deal has been launched in a hurry, without foundation, without the right method, it is like a castle in the air, it will be no wonder if it doesn't fail!"

"Is this what Ling Zu concluded?"

Fanning shook his head, "That's what I said!"

Wang Anshi was taken aback, and he savored Fan Ning's words carefully, the more he savored, the more profound he felt.

The Qingli New Deal was launched too hastily, and there was no consensus between the DPRK and China. It failed because of too many opponents in just one year.

Wang Anshi was jokingly called Wang Bianfa among his friends of the same generation. It was not that he had the heart to reform in middle age.

When he was studying, he had great ambitions, and he was determined to make a career and change the poor and weak situation of Song Dynasty.

When Fan Zhongyan implemented the New Deal the year before last, he only hated himself for being too young to follow.

So as long as the reforms and new policies were mentioned, he would be very interested, especially when the grandson of Fan Gong was facing him. Although he was young, he must have extraordinary knowledge.

Wang Anshi didn't know that more than a month ago, Fan Ning was still called Fan Daidai in the village, and he never went out of the village, and the farthest he went was a small town.

Wang Anshi quickly asked: "Can Shaolang tell me why the New Deal has no foundation?"

Fan Ning knew that Wang Anshi took a lot of detours later in the reform, which led to many setbacks and finally failed, so he thought about giving him advice, and perhaps the fate of the reform would be somewhat changed.

Now Wang Anshi is still young, and he is extremely malleable. Teaching him now can change his thinking and principles. If he waits for more than ten years to teach him, he can only go in the left ear and out the right. stubborn.

Fan Ning filled his tea bowl again, and asked with a smile, "Then let me ask you first, what is the essence of the reform?"

Wang Anshi thought for a while and said: "The essence of the reform is to promote the advantages and eliminate the disadvantages, and change all the old rules and old systems that hinder the prosperity of the Great Song Dynasty!"

Fan Ning shook his head, "That is the direction of the reform, not the essence."

"Then what do you think is the essence of the reform?" Wang Anshi became stubborn and argued with Fan Ning seriously.

Fan Ning dipped his hand in some tea, drew a circle on the table, and made a cross inside the circle, and said casually: "This is the essence of the reform. In layman's terms, it is to divide the cake!"

Wang Anshi was stunned for a moment, then murmured, "Share the cake?"

"Yes! Divide the pie."

Fan Ning continued: "The wealth of the world is this big pie. The rich and powerful occupy too much, and the people and the court occupy too little, so there are many disadvantages, the country is weak, and the people are poor. The essence of the so-called reform is to make the powerful Cut off a piece of his wealth and distribute it to the court and the people."

Fan Ning used the most common language to tear apart the appearance to reveal the essence. Wang Anshi was stunned as if struck by lightning.

He always believed that the weak and poor Song Dynasty was because of various stereotypes and bad habits that prevented the Song Dynasty from becoming prosperous and strong.

For example, the imperial court discriminates against the military, and the government has too deep control over resources related to people's livelihood, etc.

As long as all kinds of stereotypes and old habits can be broken, the army and administration can be streamlined, and various relationships can be sorted out, then the "three redundant" dilemma of the Song Dynasty can be gradually reversed.

But today he heard a completely different pie-sharing theory, and he suddenly realized that his previous thinking was too superficial.

But it was not so easy for Wang Anshi to be persuaded. He immediately retorted: "That's not true, then the military reform should have nothing to do with the distribution of cakes!"

Fan Ning shook his head, "The biggest disadvantage of the army is the redundant soldiers. The Song Dynasty raised an army of one million, and the financial resources of the court were overwhelmed. I'm right!"

"Indeed!"

"Have you ever thought about how many greedy people are hidden in this million-dollar army, desperately sucking up military expenses?"

Fan Ning stared at Wang Anshi with piercing eyes, and continued: "If you want to reform the military system, reduce redundant troops, cut military expenditures, or use military expenditures for soldiers, then whose interests will be violated? Isn't it just splitting the pie?"

Wang Anshi's heart was like a flash of lightning, he became silent and stopped arguing, but humbly listened to Fan Ning's teachings.

"Where is the foundation of the reform? It lies in the supporters. The more supporters there are, the stronger the foundation will be. But don't expect the rich and powerful to support you. That is seeking skin from a tiger.

The real supporters are the people all over the world, the emperor with real power, and countless middle and low-level officials who, like you, are eager to make the country prosperous and strong through reform.

This requires you to unite with everyone who can be united, even if it is an old farmer in the country, or even an eunuch in the palace, as long as they all say that the reform is right, then the countless voices will shake the world together.”

Wang Anshi sighed, "It's easy to say, but it's not easy to do!"

Fan Ning smiled slightly: "It's easy to say, but it's actually not difficult to do. This is what I just said, and there is no way."

Wang Anshi had completely forgotten Fan Ning's age, he got up and gave a salute, "Please teach me!"

"If the reform wants to gain everyone's support, we need to let everyone see the benefits of the reform, which requires a pilot, a state or a county.

After a pilot project is successful, and then promoted, it will gain everyone's recognition and support.

At the same time, what obstacles and objections are encountered in the pilot, and how to resolve the contradictions, this is called accumulating experience, and it also gives confidence to all supporters.

As long as you have confidence, everything will be easy to handle. "

Fan Ning took a sip of tea and continued: "The second method of reform is to proceed step by step, first easy and then difficult.

Just like felling a tree, it is impossible to cut down a big tree with a single knife. You have to cut it one at a time. First find the weakest place to cut down. In the end, even the strongest tree will fall down.

Therefore, the reform should not be rushed, but should be carried out slowly, step by step. "

Fan Ning's words were like a knife, piercing Wang Anshi's heart fiercely, opening a big hole in his heart, not only a fresh wind came in, but his heart was also illuminated.

At this time, there was a voice outside the door, it seemed that his grandfather had returned.

Fan Ning stood up and smiled, "One more word to County Magistrate Wang, the reform must learn to compromise, and try not to fight to the death with the powerful.

The best way is for everyone to make the cake bigger together. When distributing new cakes, give more to the court and more to the people, and try to touch the bottom line interests of the powerful as little as possible. The resistance will not be too strong, and the reform will succeed. As far as this is concerned, magistrate Wang should think about it! "

Fan Ning passed on to Wang Anshi himself the experience and lessons learned by later generations about Wang Anshi's reform, but time was short, and Wang Anshi might not be able to digest it. When he had the opportunity in the future, he would give him a few more courses and teach him well.

After Fan Ning left, Wang Anshi was still standing there blankly, as if he had become a sculpture.

Fan Ning knew that he had successfully planted a seed in Wang Anshi's heart today, and it would take root and sprout, and it would slowly grow into a towering tree.

At that time, he might climb to the top of the big tree and work with Wang Anshi to restore this magnificent picture of the Song Dynasty's ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains.

Fan Ning was in a very happy mood, and he would definitely sleep soundly tonight. As for whether Wang Anshi could sleep tonight, it was none of his business.

(End of this chapter)