I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 195: Ao Zhizhou and Stubborn Tongjuan, the advantages and disadvantages of the Qingmiao Law
Two days later.

Su Liang and his party came to Qizhou City, which is Licheng County.

Qizhou City at this time is completely different from three years ago. The surrounding streets, shops, residences, inns, and restaurants have all been renovated.

This is the inevitable result of suppressing land annexation and implementing government-invested policies.

More and more gentry and landowners are gathering together, more and more wealthy rural people are transferring their family business and property to cities and towns, and more and more rural young people are choosing to develop in cities and towns where they have more opportunities to make money...

Su Liang and his party did not go directly to Qizhou Yamen, but first stayed in an inn.

Afterwards, everyone went to the perfume store and took a bath together.

Qizhou hot springs are effective in clearing meridians and dispelling wind and evil spirits, and have become a must-experience item for foreign businessmen coming to Qizhou.

……

Early the next morning.

Su Liang and his party started walking around Qizhou City.

Zhao Zhen planned to walk around Qizhou City first to listen to public opinions, and then go to the state government office near dusk.

Although it is already late autumn, the scenery of Qizhou City is still beautiful.

One city is surrounded by mountains and half the city is covered by lakes.

Ouyang Xiu stood by the Qizhou West Lake (Daming Lake) that he cherished for most of an hour.

……

The best way to understand Qizhou is not only from the people's mouths, but also from private tabloids.

Due to the increase in business transactions in Qizhou.

Many businessmen will publish information on finding people, selling goods, and renting houses in tabloids.

Over time.

Qizhou's tabloids developed rapidly.

There are many vendors selling tabloids on the streets.

Wang Anshi and Sima Guang advocated freedom of speech and had particularly loose jurisdiction over tabloid content.

This led to not only various comments on Qizhou's reform in the tabloids, but also some interesting stories about Wang Anshi and Sima Guang.

The people gave each of them a nickname.

Wang Anshi was called Ao Zhizhou, and Sima Guang was called Stubborn Tongpan.

This comes from the fact that both of them accept death.

We can often argue in the fields.

At times it seemed as if the two of them were about to grow old and never interact with each other.

But the next day, the two of them were seen walking side by side, talking and laughing.

The two have very good reputations among the people.

Some criticized Qizhou's reform policy as bad, but few criticized Wang Anshi and Sima Guang for their poor official conduct.

Because the two of them were consistent in their words and deeds, they worked for the public day and night, and they thought about how to do practical things every day, and the people of Qizhou saw it.

half year ago.

Wang Anshi and Sima Guang also swore to each other that they would never drink alcohol or take concubines in this life.

The reason is: drinking alcohol and taking concubines are all harmful to political affairs.

Scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty had always had a habit of drinking and taking concubines.

Like Xia Song's family, there are many wives and concubines, and there are more than a dozen of them who have no status.

As for Ouyang Xiu, he can live without meat for a day, but he cannot live without wine for a day.

Su Liang was also a good drinker and often drank with his father-in-law and Bao Zheng.

Just these two behaviors make them worthy of learning from many scholar-bureaucrats.

……

Dusk is approaching.

Su Liang and his party arrived in front of the Qizhou government office.As soon as Su Liang showed his face, a yamen officer standing guard at the door recognized him.

"Su... Su... Censor, you are here!" The yamen official said excitedly: "Su Censor, you came just in time. The magistrate and Tongpan had a quarrel in the government office again."

"What's the matter?" Su Liang asked with a smile.

"It seems...it seems like there has been a quarrel for two days because of the Qingmiao Law!"

Su Liang thought for a while and realized that the official's identity would not be easily exposed. He immediately said, "Don't report it. We will go in by ourselves."

The Yamen almost nodded and opened the gate of the Yamen.

Afterwards, Zhao Zhen, Ouyang Xiu, Su Liang, Zhang Maoze, and Cao Hu walked towards Houya.

Su Liang was very familiar with this place, so he didn't let anyone guide him.

After a while.

As soon as the five people reached the back office, they heard a fierce quarrel coming from the room in front of them.

"Wang Jiefu, the Young Crops Law should not be implemented throughout the Song Dynasty. We must report it to the officials immediately, otherwise it will lead to a big mistake!"

"There is nothing wrong with the Green Crops Law! The problem is with the officials below, those opportunistic wealthy households. Just increase the punishment. The Green Crops Tax Law is the best way to support and restrain land annexation and make money for the people. We have made it possible Many tenant farmers became rich peasants!”

"Wang Anshi! Why are you so stubborn? Do you think all the officials in the dynasty are as selfless as you? The Qingmiao Law is correct in theory, but there will definitely be big problems in its implementation. At present, there are already coercive measures in the counties under the jurisdiction of Qizhou There are various problems such as apportionment, poor people are willing to take loans but are unwilling to repay them, rich people lend money to poor people at higher interest rates, etc. What you think is 'removing heavy taxation, lenient to the people, enough for the country, and no shortage of people's wealth' is just your whim. That’s it, once the Green Crop Tax Law is implemented throughout the Song Dynasty, it will inevitably become a policy that harms the people!”

"Sima Guang! Don't be alarmist. Last year, we set the goal of 'no increase in taxes for the people but enough for the country'. These are just some minor problems. We only need to punish officials who fail to implement it."

"Punishment? Can you depose all the officials in the world who are greedy or incompetent? Although our current series of strategies have increased the country's wealth, the so-called open source is nothing more than depriving the poor of their wealth instead of depriving the rich. When it comes to people’s wealth, these people are the most stable tax payers. Once something goes wrong with them, it will be a big problem!”

……

Outside the back office hall.

As Zhao Zhen and others listened, they gradually understood what the two were arguing.

During the implementation of the Young Crops Law, Sima Guang discovered four problems.

First, after the implementation of the Young Crops Law, various local yamen forced allocations in order to pursue political achievements.

Some wealthy households who were unwilling to ask for the money were forced to ask for the youth money, which made them complain.

Secondly, there are some wealthy people in Fangguo who pretend to be young people's money and then lend it out at higher interest rates to earn the difference.

Thirdly, the fifth-class owners and tenants blindly borrow money from young farmers, and in the event of natural disasters, they are simply unable to repay, which makes it extremely difficult for the government to collect debts.

Fourth, there are certain problems with the detailed rules of the Young Crops Law. Rich farmers are unwilling to lend money, and poor people cannot lend money.

Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, and Qizhou's Changping Division implemented a series of rules to avoid random private lending.

Among them, the first-class farmer shall not receive more than fifteen guan for young crops, the second-class shall not exceed ten guan, the third-class shall not exceed six guan, the fourth-class shall not exceed three guan, and the fifth-class shall not exceed Always five hundred articles.

This resulted in rich peasants who had money and land but were unwilling to lend money but were forced to do so. poor peasant tenant farmers who had no money and land needed loans, while young farmers who could borrow money had very little money.

Sima Guang believed that this was a flaw in the Qingmiao Law, as a policy that helped the people would be a policy that harmed the people.

Wang Anshi believes that these problems have nothing to do with the Qingmiao Law, but are caused by the corruption or incompetence of local officials.

Therefore, the two started arguing.

Just when the two were arguing fiercely, Su Liang strode in.

"Brother Jingming!" The two of them exclaimed at the same time.

Sima Guang, who was closer to Su Liang, quickly grabbed Su Liang's arm and said loudly: "Brother Jing Ming, you came just in time. You must judge the situation for the two of us today."

Su Liang smiled slightly.

"There are people behind you who will judge for you, but I am not qualified enough."

At this time, Ouyang Xiu strode in.

"Ouyang...Senior Ouyang!" The two exclaimed again. Unexpectedly, Ouyang Xiu came to Qizhou.

While the two of them were still surprised, Zhao Zhen strode over.

"Guan...Guanjia, you...you're here!" The two of them were almost dumbfounded. They didn't expect that Guanjia, who had never left Kaifeng Mansion, would actually come to Qizhou City in person.

　Thanks to book friends Bella KIRAOVO, Birds of Prey and Deep Beasts, and yu Shui Leng for their tips. Thank you very much.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)