Chapter 556: Nothing impossible

On August 15th, the sky is high and it is dusk.

Before the sun set, a light full moon hangs high in the east. The breeze blows gently and the cuckoo returns to the nest. It is the good time for the moon worshipers to be worshipped all over the fields and the golden rice.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a big day. At this time, every household in the capital should steam crabs, cook edamames, place chrysanthemums, and place tributes, preparing to worship the moon god happily.

Although what we should do this year has not been lost, we can no longer find the celebration atmosphere of previous years. The entire capital of Qi is shrouded in fear and anxiety...

The people heard from the escape from other places that the Qin robbers defeated the Duke of Baisheng in the Battle of Muyeyuan, and set out from Muye City to conquer Liyang, Puyang and Neihuang counties, burning the three million stones of autumn grain from the northern granary of Qi.

The Qin army, who tasted the sweetness, went east along the Jibei River, successively conquered the four prefectures of Yangping, Huafu, Gaotang and Pingyuan, won seven battles and seven victories, burned the county town, and more than 30 prefecture cities, beheaded more than 100,000, and burned 1.5 million stones of autumn grain... You should know that the northern part of Qi only harvested 7 million stones of food and grass in a year.

The Qin army robbed like locusts, sweeping across the three richest states in the east of Qi, causing millions of people to be displaced and directly losing tens of millions of taels!

Panic spread wildly in the two capitals and thirteen prefectures of Qi State, rumors spread everywhere on the streets and rumors spread endlessly. People said that the robbers of Qin did not eat food and were dedicated to the hearts of the people; sometimes they said that they had captured the Hejian Prefecture and invaded the capital area, and would appear under the Shangjing City soon; sometimes they also said that the soldiers brought to fight this time were the little proton that Shangguan Cheng had been strongly refusing to let go for a long time, which was a sin...

At first, the evil ones were reported and the few people believed in Yumeng Gong. Even if they knew that the Qi army was defeated by Munohara, they naively and stubbornly believed that this was another good show for my husband to "tempt the enemy into the depth" and "catch the turtle in the jar". They didn't believe that a fledgling boy could knock a god-like figure down the clouds.

But when the king-fighting troops from all over the country entered the capital one after another, Shuntian Prefecture searched for the capital city and searched for spies, the atmosphere of going to the capital city became unstoppable and tense. Prices soared, and every family was closed, looking like a storm was about to come and wind filled the building...

This is true for ordinary people, let alone their parents and officials, and what about the leaders of their parents?

The Prime Minister's Mansion is still as strong as ever, but it cannot withstand the destruction of the autumn wind. The dark green cap in summer is already a little withered and abalone area.

Two teams of mighty ceremonial guards were guarding a gorgeous sedan chair and waiting quietly in the yard. After a while, a bright and savage old man with silver hair and beard slowly walked slowly from the backyard.

The old man was wearing a python robe and a jade belt. He was the first-rank tutor of the dynasty, the left prime minister Shangguan Yunhe, whose courtesy name was Mingde. Compared with four years ago, he was thinner. His originally gray hair turned pure white, and his well-maintained face finally stubbornly climbed up some wrinkles representing aging.

Even his straight back seemed a little hunched.

He was too worried and too tired. Since the reforms began according to Zhang Jianzhi's "Zou Proposal on the Reform of Qi State", the Chaozhou Bureau has lost control day by day...

This matter starts with the crux of Qi. The problem with Qi is four words: "I can't make ends meet."

This country is so costly! Internally, due to the prevalence of the "recruitment and recommendation" system of officials, aristocratic families unscrupulously arranged their children in the court and enjoyed the support of the state. Even some servants from wealthy families could have the title of county magistrate or chief official, and they would receive the court's fortunes in a noble manner.

Under this circumstance, the number of government officials continued to expand and surge, with countless redundant officials. Before the new policy, it had reached more than 20,000, ten times that of the beginning of the country! This led to a surge in government spending, and this item alone consumed more than ten million every year?

On the outside, the century-old confrontation with Qin and Chu countries led to a high number of troops. Before this war, the number of registered personnel of the Ministry of War reached a historical peak, with about 1.259,000, which increased military costs. As stated in "Zou Yi", "The cost of raising troops is in the world."

What about the expenses, but what about the income?

Qi gave royal relatives, gentry, army, and public personnel great privileges, allowing them to be exempted from paying taxes and servitude. Even ordinary gentry and tyrants can bribe local governments and evade taxes. However, these privileged classes that do not contribute to the country have more than 50% of the land, more than 70% of the workshops, and almost all the salt and iron ore deposits...

Therefore, the huge national expenditures all fell on less than 50% of the farmers who only cultivated Daqi's land! How can such a treasury not be empty?

However, the officials, gentry and gentry of Qi were immersed in the pleasure of defeating the powerful Qin Dynasty, dreaming of being the most powerful country in the world, being arrogant, extravagant, corrupt and depraved, and the national treasury was sucked by these lees, which was not enough. Taxes were also increased, fishing for the pond, and farmers could not pay taxes, smash, rob, catch, and beat them! How could the people not rebel with such exploitation and oppression?

Four or five years ago, the situation had reached a precarious point. If there was no change, it would be self-defeating!

This is the background of Zhang Jianzhi's introduction to "Zou's Proposal on the Reform of Qi State" back then.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Prime Minister Shangguan decided to change the law...

In February of the 12th year of Xinghua, the Department of Reform of Government Affairs was established to discuss the implementation of new laws; in April, eight censors were sent to inspect the farmland, water conservancy, and tax service in the prefectures; in July, the four states of Qi, Lu, Yunhe, and the four states were allocated; in September, the Qingmiao Law was established; in November, the Farmland Water Conservancy Law was issued. If orders were issued one by one, the effect was immediate, and the income of the two taxes doubled that year!

The greatly encouraged Prime Minister Shangguan continued to work hard the following year and issued a total of thirteen orders, including the "City Change Law", the "Recruitment Law", the "Scale Military Law", and the "General Arrangement Law", which doubled the tax revenue in the second year!

These laws involve various aspects such as scholars, peasants, industry, commerce and soldiers in Qi State. They are complicated and abnormal. If they analyze and explain them one by one, they may have to say it for three days and three nights, but the root of it is the word "open source".

The so-called "open source" is naturally to increase national income. Specifically, it is to remeasure the land in the world and tax the newly reclaimed land that was originally hidden and unreported; to cancel privileges, tax the privileged class who originally did not pay taxes, and let them use ransom to pay labor; to invest by the government, borrow seeds and oxen from the people to promote agricultural development;

The government even provides funds to purchase unsold goods from vendors at a fair price, and wait until the market is out of stock before selling them. At the same time, loans are issued to vendors to encourage business development. This is used to achieve the purpose of "sharing the existence and wealth, accumulating prices, and curbing mergers."

Under the iron fist of Prime Minister Shangguan, a series of measures were implemented. The tax was originally not paid, so the country's income achieved a non-recurring growth; and the measures to develop agriculture and encourage industry and commerce have enabled the country's regular income to grow steadily, and the prospects are beautiful. If it can be implemented, why worry about not being prosperous or strong? Why worry about not being happy in people's livelihood?

However, we know that there is a gap between ideals and reality, and sometimes it even goes against each other. After the first two years of honeymoon period, problems began to emerge one by one...

Royal relatives, wealthy families, and central officials began to complain and hate reforms; local officials began to lie to disobey, and even changed their courses directly and restored the old system. Even the merchants and farmers who should have supported seemed to complain and feared them like tigers.

The treasury revenue, which was originally the best for Prime Minister Shangguan, also showed an irreversible decline after the surge in the first two years, and by the end of last year it was only less than 10% more than before the reform...

Losing such a magic weapon, the wealthy families of the gentry who suffered losses even criticized the new policy, intending to eliminate it quickly. Although they did not dare to directly attack the old prime minister, they criticized the officials who carried out the reforms, but they did not do anything to persecute the officials who implemented the reforms.

Even if Prime Minister Shangguan tried his best to protect the reform officials who were both internal and externally troubled, they were still worried and unforgettable, and they were discouraged and resigned when they said they could. They would be quite a bit avoidable.

This is nothing. More importantly, His Majesty the Emperor, who has always been dedicated to practicing Zen and does not care about the world, finally couldn't resist the noise of the royal relatives and began to ask about the reform. Although the old prime minister has experienced three dynasties, his disciples and former officials are all over the world, and he is deeply rooted in the court, and he has the mutual understanding and approval of Bai Shenggong, even the emperor cannot easily shake his status.

But all the kings are in the world. After all, this Qi belongs to His Majesty the Emperor. No matter how awesome he is, he cannot change his identity as a worker. He has to patiently explain the doubts from his boss... If he is blindly stubborn and insists on his own, he will sooner or later betray his relatives and end up miserable.

But Prime Minister Shangguan knew that since the day of the reform, he had embarked on a path of no return, because the reform touched the interests of too many people and changed too many ancestors' achievements. Even if it succeeds, it is possible to repeat Wei Yang's mistakes, let alone if it fails... wouldn't it be torn to drink by those powerful people?

So he gritted his teeth and persisted while thinking hard about where the problem lies?

Where did it come from? This is also a question that later politicians and historians have been arguing endlessly. Some say it is a chronic disease of the new law itself; some say that the new law is good, but the people below are slanderous and have been badly implemented; some say that Prime Minister Shangguan is too arrogant and cannot unite the masses, so that everyone betrays their relatives, fails in the reform, etc., and there are many different opinions.

It was not until the great scholar Wang Anshi published the "Commentary on the Failure of Shangguan Yunhe's Reform" that he finally gained recognition from all parties that an official statement was formed:

Wang Anshi believes that there are three reasons. First, the "Shangguan Yunhe Reform" is only targeting the superficial problem, but it does not touch on the core problem - "too much spending"!

The expenditure is because the court has too many redundant officials and too many empty military quotas. If it is not targeted at the "redundant officials" and "empty quotas", the financial problem cannot be solved at all. However, Prime Minister Shangguan's reforms focus on increasing the treasury income, which cannot solve the financial difficulties.

Guantao's "Reformed Zou Proposal" clearly states that in addition to "opening the source", we must "reduce money"! By eliminating government redundant staff, we will reduce government spending; by strictly investigating empty military salaries, we will reduce military spending. According to Guantao's calculations, if the reduction is done well, military and political expenses will be reduced by at least 10 million taels per year, so how can the treasury be tight?

Now Prime Minister Shangguan only "opens up the source" and does not "reduce money". It is like pouring water into a bucket full of holes. How can he fill it up?

Secondly, the policy itself has fatal shortcomings - take the example of the "Qingmiao Law". The Qingmiao Law stipulates that all households in prefectures and counties can borrow cash or grain from the local government before the harvest is two summers and autumns each year to subsidize farming.

But when implemented, it is different from the ideal. If poor households voluntarily ask for official loans, it is still possible to say, but in fact, local officials force farmers to guarantee each other and then pay the number one by one, which is called "scattered green seedlings". The reason for doing this is to cope with the tasks assigned by the court, and on the other hand, to ensure that all principal and interest will be recovered after the autumn.

In the specific dispersal process, the target is a middle-class family rather than a poor family. It is because the poor family is afraid that the poor family will not be able to repay it. However, the middle-class family still needs to borrow money to lay seedlings to survive the spring famine?

If you can’t get what you need, but you can’t push away what you don’t need. What else can you talk about benefiting the people?

Some people want to say, why do you still have to push such a good thing out? Do you think you don’t want to pay it back?

The Qingmiao Law can stipulate that two cents of interest should be charged, that is, twenty percent of the total amount, which means that the government forces the government to lend a sum of money or food that is not needed at all, but in the autumn, they ask the other party to pay back 20% more. What is the difference between this and robbing money? It is no more than levying money and taxes.

As for the third reason, it was because His Majesty suddenly appeared, which caused the national strength of Qi to be severely damaged, and the situation worsened. He saved some of his family's assets in the past two years and quickly consumed them all, so the reforms naturally could not be sustained... This is suspected of flattery, so it would be better not to say it.

So the authoritative statement is the first two, but there is no third one.

As soon as this article was published, people's evaluation of Wang Anshi rose sharply. Many high-ranking officials and nobles might be "national weapons". They sighed: "If Prime Minister Shangguan had the knowledge of Mr. Linchuan, who is still in the world who is in charge of his subordinates?"

However, Sima Guang, who was in the same era as Wang Anshi, believed that the knowledge of the prime minister above was impossible to only know "open source" and not "reduce money". The reason why he knew but did not do it was because only "open source" had such great resistance. If he "reduce money" and cut off his wealth, he would be immediately angry and noble, civil servants and generals! He could not continue for a day...

Sima Guang also believed that Prime Minister Shangguan knew the power of it very well, but he knew better how empty the Qi treasury was. If he did not increase his income and could collapse without waiting for Qin to fight. But he still did it without hesitation, not to be exhausted, but to extend his life to this country on the verge of collapse...

Sima Guang went deep into the soul of Prime Minister Shangguan and believed that the reason why he did this was because of his foresight... After two hundred years of confrontation, the three countries had already become strong outside and had suffered from all kinds of diseases.

He should think that the situation in Qin is worse than that of Qi... He must always compare who is stronger in the world, and sometimes he is more miserable than who... If he cheers up and stimulates all his potential, he can pass on his own crisis to Qin.

Sima Guang believed that Prime Minister Shangguan really hoped that Duke Yum could make a contribution in the national battle and defeat all the main forces of Qin in one go. From then on, he asked for it and used the wealth of Qin to support the whole country. This was a huge adventure to bet on the national destiny. If it succeeded, it would be difficult to solve the dilemma; if it failed, it would be just a quick death.

This can explain why Shangguan Yunhe agreed to Duke Baisheng’s plan to fight against Qin... He was relieved of his death!

It can be seen that Sima Guang still appreciates Prime Minister Shangguan's courage to take responsibility. Although he had to admit that Shangguan Yunhe underestimated the greed and stupidity of his foolish people. When the building was about to collapse, those people continued to plunder the people's wealth, which made the conflict that would have only exploded a few years later appear so early.

But no matter what, Prime Minister Shangguan still fulfilled the request of Duke Yum and gathered the power to fight against Qin.

Before the final outcome is decided, the outcome is unknown, isn't it?

At least for now, that's the case.

No matter whether future generations demonize him or praise him as a saint, Shangguan Yunhe doesn't care. The only thing he cares about is when that fat man Zhao Wujiu can win this damn war!

The sedan chair headed westward into the royal garden west of the capital, and finally stopped in front of the Wanshou Hall. The Emperor Xinghua of Qi lived here all year round...

This Wanshou Hall is different from ordinary palace buildings. It is more like the main hall in the temple. Because the Emperor Xinghua of Qi was a fanatical Buddhist, and his nature to be a monk was higher than that of being an emperor. He even wanted to be a monk several times, but he could not afford to lose this person by all means. He was forced to die without any faction. This made the emperor give up the idea of ​​shaving his head... If he knew the current situation of the Emperor of Qin, he would have gloated and had some admiration...

But not shaving his head does not mean that the emperor's religious enthusiasm will disappear. Since Concubine Yi passed away five years ago, he moved out of the palace and brought his hair to practice in this Wanshou Hall, and even nine cows could not be pulled back.

Today, Prime Minister Shangguan is here to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the emperor. People who practice like quietness, so they only have a few caring ministers to accompany them during festivals and will not attend those big occasions.

As soon as the sedan chair stopped, the housekeeper gently lifted up the curtain of the sedan chair and said, "Prince, I'm here."

Taking a deep breath, looking at the full moon gradually brightening in the sky, Prime Minister Shangguan slowly stood up. The housekeeper wanted to come up to help him, but he waved his hand and said lightly: "I can still walk..." As he said that, he got out of the sedan chair and walked towards the door of the hall.

The housekeeper quickly smiled and said, "That's right, the prime minister lives a hundred years old, and he is still very nimble with young people..." Before he finished speaking, he saw that the old prime minister was lifting his legs too short and tripped by the high threshold, and then he fell straight forward, which was so shocked that everyone was stunned.

Fortunately, the prime minister should not have suffered this disaster. At this time, someone came out of the door and was knocked to the heart of Prime Minister Shangguan. With a whisper, he was knocked straight to the ground and became the prime minister's flesh pad.

The servants rushed forward and helped the prime minister up with all their might. Fortunately, the old man was safe and sound.

Looking at the crushed one on the ground, Eunuch Huang, the eunuch in the palace. I saw that the old guy who was usually pampered and had a good night's nose was flowing out: "Oh... my ancestors, I'm here to fight you for disaster..."

"You haven't helped your father-in-law up yet?" Everyone quickly helped your father-in-law up and rubbed his shoulders and back. Shangguan Yunhe also bowed and smiled, "Don't be angry, I didn't do it on purpose."
Chapter completed!