I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 196 I don’t want to be a mediocre king, nor do I want to be a tyrant!
Qizhou Yamen, back hall.

Zhao Zhen sits at the top, Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang sit on the left, and Wang Anshi and Sima Guang sit on the right.

Zhao Zhen said with a smile: "I have been inspecting Qizhou incognito for several days, and I have heard many different voices. Overall, I am very satisfied with the current Qizhou."

"Jiefu, Junshi, you two have worked hard!"

After hearing this, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang's tiredness disappeared.

In the past three years, they have not been in the court.

But he knew that the eyes of the whole world were fixed on Qizhou, so he did not dare to neglect him at all.

Now that I have been praised by officials, I am naturally very happy.

Zhao Zhen continued: "I understand what you were debating just now. This matter..."

Zhao Zhen was about to continue, but saw Su Liang leaning forward, as if he had something to say.

He couldn't help but look at Su Liang.

Su Liang said: "Guan, it's a long story, and it's getting late today. How about we talk after dinner?"

Wang Anshi and Sima Guang were both good talkers.

There was a high probability that he would be able to go to bed very late tonight, so Su Liang proposed to talk after dinner.

In addition, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang were both a little excited, and it was clear from their expressions that they had a lot to report.

Su Liang thought about letting the two of them calm down before talking in detail.

"That makes sense, let's have a quick bite first and then chat." Zhao Zhen also smiled.

After a while.

After Zhao Zhen and others had simply washed up, dinner was served.

There is fish, meat, porridge, and vegetables.

All taste homely.

Everyone was talking and laughing, and eating happily.

Lean slightly.

Zhao Zhen, Ouyang Xiu, Su Liang, Wang Anshi, and Sima Guang were sitting in a study room.

Zhang Mao was responsible for recording the key points of the conversation and providing tea and snacks to everyone.

Immediately, Wang Anshi spoke first.

"Guan Jia, the reform strategy that you and I implemented in Qizhou was to alleviate the negative effects of land annexation in the early stage, and in the later stage it was a strategy to enrich the country."

"In my mind, enriching the country is the main thing and enriching the people is the supplement. It is impossible for reforms to be carried out without harming the interests of anyone. Take the Green Crops Law as an example. It can increase revenue for the national treasury and save poor tenants from high-interest loans. I think there is no such thing. The problem is that the current forced apportionment, false claims, and difficulty in getting loans for the poor are all caused by the inaction of lower-level officials and are not the fault of Qingmiao Law."

Sima Guang shook his head.

"Jiefu, you are too idealistic. When it is beneficial, there will be disputes. It is impossible for all the officials at the lowest level to be selfless and benefit the people without seeking political achievements. This flaw means that the Young Crops Law is not perfect. If it were implemented throughout the Song Dynasty, These defects will definitely be magnified and problems will inevitably arise. Even if they are severely punished, it may not be able to fundamentally solve the problem."

……

After Wang Anshi and Sima Guang debated for a few words, Ouyang Xiu couldn't help but said: "After all, it is still an issue of officialdom. In the officialdom, I suggest that redundant and mediocre officials be reduced. Only by clarifying officialdom first can we achieve much!"

Hearing this, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang also looked at Zhao Zhen.

Due to the failure of Fan Fu's New Deal, the administration of officials is something that the new law has not dared to change, but it is also a big problem that is facing everyone.

If "redundant officials" can be eliminated, many unsolvable problems will be solved.

Zhao Zhen shook his head slightly.

"As you have said, the most stable tax payers in our government are all wealthy and landlords, and these people are all connected with the officials. If I lay off officials on a large scale, I don't think I will encounter resistance from the officials in the court. , the people will definitely be in turmoil! Are you not aware of the New Deal four years ago? If the problems accumulated in the past hundred years can be solved with one stroke, how can I oppose it!" As soon as these words were said, everyone lowered their heads helplessly.

The reform made a big circle and returned to the starting point again, but there was still no way to move the big stone in front of me.

At this time, Su Liang raised his head.

"Removing officials will not enrich the Song Dynasty and the people. After cutting officials, a large amount of wealth will still be concentrated in the hands of a few people. The root cause is that there is a problem with our official system."

When they heard the word "official system", everyone else smiled helplessly.

At present, changing the official system is more difficult than cutting officials.

The fundamental reason why the Song Dynasty had redundant officials and excessive expenses was that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order to prevent civil servants, generals, relatives, clans, eunuchs, etc. from taking power, power was dispersed infinitely, resulting in the separation of duties and powers. Therefore, there were a lot of people who were receiving salaries but doing nothing. of officials.

It is simply unrealistic to change the current official system.

Just like a game of chess, cutting officials removes several more important chess pieces, while changing the official system is equivalent to overturning the game of chess.

It was impossible for the Song Dynasty not to be in chaos.

Su Liang continued: "At present, it is difficult to subvert the official system of our court. How about we change our approach."

"Officials, I dare to ask, do you want to rule the world with the scholar-bureaucrats, or do you want to rule the world with the people?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was stunned.

Fortunately, this is Qizhou.

If Su Liang said this in the court, a group of scholar-officials would beat him up.

This statement not only violated the laws of the ancestors, but also offended the entire class of scholar-bureaucrats.

Su Liang continued: "If the officials and the scholar-bureaucrats govern the world together, the imperial power will be limited; if they govern the world together with the people, the imperial power will be supreme. In other words, do you want the scholar-bureaucrats and officials to be your brains or your hands? "

The decentralization of power among officials in the Song Dynasty was originally a manifestation of the concentration of imperial power.

However, too much emphasis on literature over military affairs has led to the rise of scholar-bureaucrats. If it were not for the checks and balances of Taiwan's remonstrances, according to the current situation, the scholar-bureaucrats could easily control the imperial power.

If Zhao Zhen is willing to rule the world together with the people of the world, he can continue to strengthen the imperial power in the future. For example, Chen Zhizhong and Xia Song can be deposed directly without any reason if they are not conducive to the reform.

When Zhao Zhen becomes tougher, only then can official governance be clarified and the reform fundamentally be carried out normally.

Su Liang had wanted to express this idea for a long time, but he never found the opportunity.

Zhao Zhen can naturally understand Su Liang's thoughts.

He thought for a while and said: "Jing Ming, I understand what you are thinking. Let me think about it again. I don't want to be a mediocre king, but I don't want the future emperor to become a tyrant!"

Those with arbitrary imperial power are prone to tyrants.

Zhao Zhen thought more profoundly and was more conservative, so he did not give a definite answer.

But Su Liang was already very satisfied with this attitude.

at this time.

Zhao Zhen suddenly saw two bamboo baskets behind Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, and the bamboo baskets were full of documents.

He couldn't help but asked curiously: "What's in the bamboo basket behind you?"

Wang Anshi said: "Back to the official house, the two of us have also studied some strategies for enriching soldiers, recruiting scholars, and reforming the salt, iron, wine, and tea business taxes in the past two years. They are all in the bamboo basket. I kindly ask the official to take a look at them at his leisure!"

Not far away, Zhang Mao couldn't help but gulped and murmured in his heart: The official family stayed up until late at night every day, and it was estimated that they would have to watch for seven or eight days.

On the side, Ouyang Xiu and Su Liang couldn't help laughing.

With such diligent ministers around, officials can't be lazy even if they want to.

(End of this chapter)