Lin Chong sneered: "It does sound good, for example, during the Zhenzong Dynasty, the scholars at that time were not bad as a whole, the politics were relatively clear, and the country was rich."

However, because of the problems of redundant officials, redundant soldiers, and redundant expenses, which have been planted since the Taizong Dynasty, they have become more and more serious in the future. No matter how rich the Great Song Dynasty is, no matter how great the profits of opening up the sea trade are, they can't withstand the increasing number of redundant expenses.

So there was the Qingli New Deal presided over by Fan Wenzhenggong, Ming Dethroned, Suppressed Luck, Jing Gongju, Selecting Officials, Jun Gongtian, Hounongsang, Reducing Forced Labor, Qin Enxin, and Ten Heavy Orders. That article is not to fundamentally solve these three redundant diseases.

But as a result, the Qingli New Deal completely failed in less than a year! He also, because the new policy touched the interests of all literati and doctors, it was resolutely opposed by all scholars! ”

Speaking of the changes of the Song Dynasty, the most famous is of course Wang Anshi's reform, but few people know that in fact, for the three redundant issues, there was a Qingli New Deal presided over by Fan Zhongyan before Wang Anshi.

The central idea of the Qingli New Deal could not be clearer, that is, to reduce redundant officials and streamline institutions.

For example, the first article is to reform the setting of official positions, because there were too many officials in the Song Dynasty, and the children of officials could become officials without going through the imperial examination, so there were many official positions where they could get high salaries without doing things, and official positions where officials at all levels retired for retirement.

The first knife of Qingli's new policy is cut here, and official positions cannot be set up arbitrarily, and the children of officials who want to be officials must also take exams;

Article 2 is to strengthen the evaluation of officials, on the one hand, to select the best and promote capable and good officials, and on the other hand, to dismiss old, incompetent, infirm, and corrupt officials;

On the one hand, the content of the examination was reformed, and the emphasis on poetry and fu was changed to the theory of emphasizing policy, and at the same time, the number of scholars was streamlined, and if the examination did not meet the standards, they would definitely not be admitted......

All of these are fundamental solutions to the problems of redundant officials, redundant troops, and redundant expenses.

However, at that time, the literati and doctors had already seized power in the actual chapter, and Fan Zhongyan's reform was actually to move the interests of these scholars, civil officials, and doctors.

This is like the original Song Dynasty only needed 3,000 officials, working 24 days a month, working 8 hours a day to govern well, and the average monthly salary of 50,000 yuan per person could ensure that these officials lived a very superior life.

But now there are 20,000 officials, many of whom have serious positions who only need to work 15 days a month, only five hours a day, and the rest of the time they can go around to play, drink, feast, and enjoy poetry and wine; More than half of the officials play almost every day; And it is already superfluous, and many new officials are recruited every year, many new positions are added, and high salaries are paid if they continue to do nothing.

Now Fan Zhongyan said that if this continues, the finances will not be able to afford it, so they will lay off employees, reduce the number of officials recruited, and reduce salaries, so they will lay off 10,000 officials at once, and leave 10,000 officials to do what 3,000 people can do well.

Of course, this is a reform that is better for the country and the people!

But for Wenchen and Doctor, it is like killing people's parents!

The mediocre official Zhang San could get a salary of 100,000 yuan for nothing every month without doing anything, but now that he has been laid off, can he not be mourned and hate the New Deal?

Although the good official Li Si kept his official position, his salary dropped from 150,000 to 100,000 at once, he still had to do more work every day, and he had to face the assessment from time to time, and he was afraid that he would be brushed down next year and lose his official position, could he not resolutely oppose the new deal?

Juzi Wang Wu's grades are average, and he can pass the test with 60 points every time, which is very likely to be admitted to the Jinshi, and then live a life like a fairy. Now that Fan Zhongyan said that the exam only admits students with more than 95 points, and Wang Wu will never be able to score this score in his life, can he not be furious and lash out at this new policy?

Lin Chong sneered: "This is the king and the scholar share the world, this is who has the reason to listen to whom."

Zhang Xianggong, you say, the matter of Qingli's new policy, it is Fan Wenzhenggong and Emperor Zhongzong (this time and space Zhongzong replaced Song Renzong Zhao Zhen) is reasonable? Or are officials who oppose the New Deal justified? ”

Uncle Zhang didn't speak at night, and Zhang Bofen and Zhang Zhongxiong were also speechless when asked.

Lin Chong continued: "Everyone has selfish intentions, and the moral gentleman who really wants Fan Wenzhenggong to worry about the country and the people is a minority after all. Most literati and doctors are usually full of benevolence, righteousness, morality, and the teachings of saints, but when it comes to their own interests, what they see in their eyes and what they think in their hearts is only the word self-interest!

That's why I said that the biggest problem in the Great Song Dynasty was that the literati and doctors had the actual political power, and the resources you got were too many to gain benefits, and you were reluctant to give up these benefits!

Therefore, in my opinion, the literati and doctors are not so much afraid of the warriors as they recreate the story of the division of feudal towns, the chaos of five generations of warlords, and the incessant rebellion. In fact, more thoughts may not be that if the status of the warriors improves, they will not be able to control the government alone as before, and the interests in their hands will also be divided! ”

"You, you are living the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain!" Zhang Zhongxiong's face turned red suddenly, and he said with wide eyes.

Lin Chong smiled, he didn't expect to persuade the father and son at this time, he just thought it was a bickering to find fun.

"The Qingli New Deal soon failed, and the problem of three redundancies has not been solved, and the financial problems have become more and more serious, and by the time Wang Jinggong (Wang Anshi) arrived, he was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Although the imperial court uses civil power to suppress military generals, it also uses the means of buying and appeasing, and the annual military expenditure accounts for half of the income (most of them are greedy by officials including civilian officials, and the soldiers are actually very poor).

Because of this, Wang Jinggong did not care about his reputation, and he did not hesitate to change his reputation. With the lessons of Qingli's new policy, Wang Jinggong knew that the interests of Wenchen and Doctor were untouchable. Since it is impossible to reduce expenditure, it can only be open source, so there are many means of accumulating money in the reform.

I don't talk about the quality of Wang Jinggong's change of law here, but after the change, although the court made some more money, the finances were temporarily alleviated. But the problem of redundancy has not been reduced in the slightest, and the extra money will soon be consumed again.

So Cai Jing came up with the methods of casting ten coins and indiscriminate payment of banknotes, as well as the Fangtian method and the salt tea method, which were almost open to robbery, to loot the world's money. All of a sudden, the people were forced to have no way to live, so they had to go up the mountain to become bandits, this is the official forcing the people to rebel!

And the most important thing is that Wang Jinggong's change of law also provoked party strife, making the government more and more chaotic like turning over a cake, and the morale was greatly damaged. Many scholars and scholars have no regard for right and wrong, regardless of the safety of the country, and are only focused on fighting for power and profit.

Such a doomsday qi can be seen by a discerning person......"

Lin Chong wanted to say more, but saw that Mei Jiasheng, a personal guard, was not far away, and hurriedly led a herald with a red pennant behind him and ran over.

Lin Chong immediately stood up and strode forward: "What's the matter?" ”

The passana glanced at the three of the prison guards behind Lin Chong, Zhang Shuye, father and son, and hesitated, but Lin Chong said, "Don't hide it, let's talk about it quickly." ”