It is said that after Ruan Fei left, Chao Gai Song Jiang and other brothers were old, and they inevitably found jobs, took care of household chores, and practiced martial arts diligently every day. Chao Gai is old and serious, and his father was promoted to the local Baozheng, and he is still doing the business of the wood industry. Song Jiang has read poetry and books since he was a child, is proficient in knives and pens, and is proficient in Taoism, and has become the director of Yuncheng County. Wu Yong became a teacher, Wu Song opened the martial arts hall, the Ruan brothers fished and boated, and the brothers of the family had their own affairs, and often gathered together and exchanged more with each other.

One day, everyone ate and drank at Chao Gai's house again, and the brothers gathered together, and a drink was indispensable. During the banquet, Wu Song saw that Chao Gai was sullen, and there were many hidden worries between his eyebrows, so he couldn't help asking: "Brother is depressed, is there anything wrong?" Speak up, brethren, and listen. ”

Chao Gai said: "My family is loved by the villagers, and since Gaozu, several generations have been upright. To maintain such petty officials, one is to be an official errand, and the other is to deal with trivial matters between neighbors and clans in the village, reconcile left and right, deal with them up and down, and warm up and down with some people and things, which is actually an idle errand. Even in the third year of Zhenzong Tianxi, our Yuncheng County rose sharply due to floods, and the more water accumulated, although it flooded a lot of fertile land, and there were fewer acres of land, fortunately, the government not only gave relief, but also exempted many taxes, and did not delay the people's lives in those years. But at present, the life of our people here is getting more and more difficult, and it is becoming more and more difficult for me to keep upright.

"Before the treacherous minister Wang Anshi implemented the new law in Xining, the land of ordinary people was bought by large families, and there was a shortage of land and few acres. Although large families have a lot of land, because of the rules of this dynasty, only four acres of land are rented, and the tax per mu is only one bucket, and a lot of land is concealed, and the tax is very small. At the beginning of the founding of the country, Emperor Taizu generally exempted all kinds of miscellaneous taxes of the previous generations, and even the agricultural tool tax that has been levied in the past has been completely exempted. As soon as Wang Anshi Xining's new law came out, the Qingmiao Law, the Baojia Law, and the City Yi Law all cost the people and money, and then there were Zhang Dian and Cai Jing who were traitorous one after another, and the persistence of the new law became even more intensified, making the people's livelihood more and more difficult. ”

Ruan Xiaoer heard the difference, and said from the side: "Brother Chao Gai is right. The original rule that I set for the government not to collect taxes on ships has also been broken, and I am afraid that taxes will be collected in the future. I heard that Yunzhou wants to collect this large area of Liangshan Shuibo to the government, and the rules of not collecting taxes on the production of Sichuan Ze will also change. Our ancestors have been fishing and boating for a living, although they do not accumulate a lot of money, but they do not worry about their livelihood, and they can always live happily, and they don't know what will happen in the future. After saying that, he hated himself.

Wu Yong scolded loudly: "Wang Anshi went against the sky, the whole country complained, twice he was appointed as prime minister, fortunately he retreated, first he was strongly opposed by Sima Xiangye, and then because of the death of his eldest son Wang Yan, he felt angry and complained, and retreated, and during this period, he also added a Lu Huiqing to do nonsense. Later, Zhang Dian was the prime minister, and Cai Bian and Zeng Bu were the same as the new party, and the three of them fought endlessly, and the old party of Yuan You was even more than fighting, and later the new party had Cai Jing repeatedly as the prime minister. "Wu Yong is an old pedant, and he has always hated the new law, and the new law has become a trick in his mouth.

In fact, since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, "all 100 acres of land, the starting tax ends at four acres, and the yield per mu is mostly between one stone and four stones", and "the mu tax is a fight, the general law of the world", which makes the early Song Dynasty "the tax of the present generation, regard tithes as light", in fact, the thirty taxes are not one, and many taxes are exempted, the taxes are few, the taxes are light, and the people are very good. Emperor Zhirenzong passed through Yingzong's short life, and he was even more benevolent and righteous in the world, and the scholars treated the people lovingly. Then to the Shenzong Xining, Yuanfeng years, more prosperous scene, the world is peaceful, the products are abundant, the people are rich, the people are more praised.

However, "if the world is not prosperous, it will decline, and if the world does not advance, it will retreat." "The so-called things must be reversed, and the prosperity must decline, and the disadvantages of the Great Song Dynasty for the government appeared early before the Qingli, showing the image of "declining world", which inevitably hurt the prosperity of the past dynasties.

At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, in order to weaken the power of officials, one post was implemented with multiple officials, but there was still a fixed number of officials to be divided into posts. At the same time, due to the great promotion of the imperial examination, the adoption of the grace system, and the pursuit of the policy of "entrusting hundreds of officials for fear of their insufficiency", officials were greedy for power, and the bureaucracy was large and bloated, resulting in "redundant staff".

In order to prevent the southern invasion of Liao and Western Xia, the early Song Dynasty implemented the policy of "raising troops" and formed a huge military system; At the same time, in order to prevent the dictatorship of military generals, the "method of changing the military force" was implemented, so that the soldiers and generals did not get used to each other and were in a disadvantageous position when fighting abroad.

"Redundant personnel" and "redundant soldiers" have led to a surge in financial expenditures, and the government has been unable to make ends meet. From the outside, the prosperity of the Great Song Dynasty and the prosperity of the people are only seen on the surface of its hypocrisy, and the three redundancies of "redundant personnel", "redundant soldiers" and "redundant expenses" are closely linked, and eventually become the poor and weak of the imperial court.

People of insight have already seen this situation clearly, so as early as before Wang Anshi's new law, during the Qingli period, some people proposed to change the law, the most famous of which was of course Fan Zhongyan. A court order to enforce the new law is also necessary for today's government, and it is by no means without reason; One is presided over by him, and the moral article is famous all over the world, but it is actually expected by the world.

Shi Fan Wenzheng was impartial in Shaanxi to preside over the defense of Western Xia, from Shaanxi to Beijing, during which he passed through Luoyang and visited an old prime minister. The old minister asked, "Everyone is expecting you to heal this country, what medicine do you have?" Fan Zhongyan was confident, and he explained his plans and plates, and asked for advice. The prime minister pondered for a long time and asked, "Is it going to be so?" Fan Zhongyan nodded immediately. The prime minister said, "Well, today I will hold a family banquet here to entertain you, and it will still be the same today next year." Fan Zhongyan was puzzled: "Why is this so?" The old minister said, "Next year will be like this."

Fan Zhong drowned in Bianjing, and new laws were frequently issued, but Xingyili had many disadvantages. Only then did I realize that the evils of today's politics have come out, and the roots of the tree are deep, or they are not clean, or they hurt the innocent. Fierce medicine cures it, offends the anger of the public, and the vested gainers are dissatisfied because of the loss of profit; Those who want to profit are dissatisfied because they cannot redeem it. The public was angry and dissatisfied, so Wen Zhenggong was demoted to Dengzhou, but I don't know if he went to Luoyang to drink again. Later, when Wang Anshi changed the law, Fan Zhongyan knew the difficulty, "Slow down and try to do it, it will be a big benefit; If it is done in a hurry, it will be a great harm", so it is also the opposite of spreading too fast and making too much force.

This is already the case in Qing, and the new law in Wang Anshi during the Xining and Yuanfeng years is even more so, which has already entered the "declining world", and the disadvantages are even heavier. It is not easy to deal with the declining world, Wang Anshi faced greater pressure and resistance, and then was abolished by the Empress Dowager Gao, who opposed the new law, with Sima Guang as the phase, so that two degrees were phased and twice went into the wilderness. Later, Zhezong was personally in charge, and ordered Zhang Dian, Cai Bian, Zeng Bu and others to resume it, and then the current Daojun Emperor ordered Cai Jing and others to implement the new law. Over and over again, it can be seen not only the difficulty of the new law, but also the reluctance of the new law.

However, it is said that after Wang Anshi changed the law in Emperor Xining, the political situation was full of changes, and the people rarely saw its benefits and more harms, although the treasury and silver were rapidly enriched, but the burden of the people increased in vain. When Sima Guang, who strongly opposed the change of the law, almost abolished the new law, the people felt a little relieved, but the treasury was tight, so that Su Shi and Fan Chunren, who opposed the new law, carefully defended the new law.

When Zhezong reappointed Zhang Dian as the prime minister, corrected those that were not applicable in the new law, restored their original feasibility, increased the number of people in the world, opened up a large territory to the outside world, and made the country strong for a while. However, Zhang Bian, Cai Bian, and Zeng Bu, who maintained the new law, continued to fight infighting, although Zhang Dian adjusted the new law internally and implemented it with great results, but Cai Bian was Wang Anshi's son-in-law, and in order to restore the old hopes of Jing Gong, he insisted on his law and cracked down on the Yuanyou party.

Then the current Daojun Emperor Zhao Ji, as Zhang Dian expected, is not suitable for the world, but he uses Cai Jing as the phase to restore the new law. Cai Jing has talent, but lack of virtue, in the name of the new law, the reality of defeat and chaos, colluded with Tong Guan, Wang Huang, Liang Shicheng, Zhu Mian, Li Yan, Gao Yu, control the government, to Song Huizong into the words of "Feng, Heng, Henan, and Da", and exhausted the wealth of the whole country for him to squander. Set up the Bureau of Worship and the Bureau of Making, and the battle of the Flower and Stone Gang will be greatly promoted; The construction of Yanfu Palace and Genyue cost a huge amount of money; Set up the "Xicheng Kuotian Office" to search for people's fields; In order to make up for the financial deficit, the salt law and the tea law were reformed; The cloth was forbidden, and it was bought and sold by the officials, and some small business such as cloth could not be done. When the ten coins were minted, the currency system was chaotic, causing chaos in the world, and also bringing greater disasters to the people of Limin, and it was inevitable that the people's resentment would boil.

Ruan Xiaoer thought about his helplessness in his livelihood, and said hatefully: "Zhang Dian and Cai Jing have brought disaster to the country and the people, and they have done wrong, they have ruined national affairs, and they are also bent on persecuting loyal ministers. Together with Wang Anshi and a few others, they are all a disaster for a while, and they will harm all generations. Lord Cai Bian is fine. ”

Song Jiang said with a smile: "Why is Lord Cai Bian okay, is it because Lord Cai Bian has an old relationship with our teacher?" ”

Ruan Xiaoer said embarrassedly: "But Zhang Dian wants to whip Sima Xiangye, which is too much." Master Cai Bian has an old relationship with Master, so I can't help but prefer it. ”

Song Jiang looked directly at Ruan Xiaoer, and Xiao Er couldn't help but wonder in his heart, and said, "Why does my brother look at me like this?" ”

Song Jiang said: "Actually, Lord Cai Bian is obsessed with the new law, and it is better for Zhang Bian to act cheaply later and really do something for the country." That chapter has a deeper relationship with our master, but I don't protect him because of his relationship with his master. ”

Xiao Er said strangely: "No matter how obsessed I am with the new law or acting cheaply, I just want to ask what is the reason for our master and Zhangdun?" ”

Song Jiang no longer paid attention to Xiao Er alone, and heard Chao Gai, Wu Yong, and Xiao Er scolding Wang Anshi, Zhang Dian, Cai Jing and others so much that they were all scolded, stood up, straightened their clothes, arched their hands to the brothers, and said: "Song Jiang is arrogant here!" ”

His eyes slowly swept over everyone present one by one, and the brothers of the family were puzzled when they saw him suddenly solemn.

I only heard him say aloud: "I want to say that the elders of this sect are secretive now, there is no outsider here, and when you hear it, it is in your heart, and you can't mention it to outsiders at all."

"Our ancestor still has a sister, because she has never married, no one knows her name, she is called Ruan Yinu, and she used a song "Flower Heart. Spring Words" is known as the Beijing Division. ”

Speaking of this, Song Jiang dressed up a little and groaned:

"The fairy garden is in spring, the small peach is open, and the branches have been climbed.

The rain is sunny, warm and cold, and the season of flower appreciation is approaching.

The willow shakes the platform and the east wind is soft, the curtain is quiet, and the ghost bird adjusts the tongue.

The soul is far away, and the green path is idle, and it suddenly becomes a knot.

No one shares this hatred. It is also dusk, and the heart is empty.

Strong embroidery, cover the Zhu Fei alone, and lay the pillow for whom.

The night is long, and the sound is far away, the screen window is reflected, and the silver cylinder is bright and extinguished.

Dream back, plum blossoms half cage light moon. ”