Back to the beginning, Chu Ge was filled with anger.
He now somewhat understands how Li Hongyun felt at the time.
In the Scribes dungeon, Li Hongyun was tortured by the dog emperor Wei Zhaodi, and he changed his job as an assassin in anger. He was filled with such anger.
"I found a problem.
"As a civil servant, it is easy to mess up something; but it is very difficult to get something done.
"Is this reasonable?"
Two consecutive rounds made Chu Ge's mentality a bit broken.
As the saying goes, there is no such thing as three and four. Chu Ge clearly realized that the reform was definitely not as simple as he initially thought.
It is useless to treat headaches and head and foot pains. You still have to analyze it carefully and thoroughly to find the only correct solution.
Thinking of this, Chu Ge calmed down and continued to analyze the reasons for this failure.
"clique.
"This word is absolutely unacceptable to the emperor.
"After all, the immutable law may lead to the destruction of the country in a hundred years, and the changeable law may lead to the destruction of the country within a few decades.
"In Yongjun's eyes, they may be able to see the prospect of reform for the time being, but once some unexpected problems arise in the reform, they will easily retreat and return to their comfort zone.
"From Wang Wenchuan's point of view, others criticize him for being a clique. This is nonsense. It is not worth refuting at all, and there is nothing to refute. To introduce new laws and rectify the administration of officials, a group of people must come forward and let them
Another group of people went down.
"However, as long as those old-school officials bite the bullet and say that they are engaging in cliques, they will be invincible.
"Because it is impossible for the emperor to completely trust Wang Wenchuan. In other words, it is impossible for him to completely trust anyone.
“Even if someone else is randomly chosen to rectify the administration, they will only end up like this...
“It’s really speechless!”
After some analysis, Chu Ge discovered that rectifying the administration of officials was simply not feasible.
The two items proposed by Chu Ge in order to rectify the officialdom were already the most basic in his opinion, but in the eyes of other scholar-bureaucrats and officials, they were also the most fatal.
This leads to a paradox.
The redundant officials in the Qi Dynasty were because the emperor gave these scholar-bureaucrats too many benefits, so these civil servants had formed a huge vested interest class.
They were bureaucrats from top to bottom, and they were also the high-level force that secretly connected the landlords and wealthy businessmen. In other words, they were the ruling class of the Qi Dynasty itself.
Are you going to attack this class?
This in itself will make you a minority.
Therefore, if the reform is shallow, it will inevitably be insignificant and will not have much effect; but if it wants to have an effect and enrich the country and strengthen the army, it will inevitably seriously touch the interests of these people and they will attack them in groups.
After some analysis, Chu Ge came to a conclusion.
This is simply an unsolvable problem!
“Have any of the previous reforms been successful?
"Of course there is. It's just that those that succeed are called prosperous times and resurgences, and those that fail are called reforms.
"In the final analysis, reform does not actually depend on officials, but on the emperor. There is no problem in using imperial power to promote reform, but if you use the power of the prime minister to promote reform, you will almost certainly end up with the demise of the person and the government.
"Because the reform was originally a life-and-death conflict with the vested interests. The power of the prime minister came from the imperial power, and it was too easy to be shaken..."
Chu Ge went through several well-known reforms in the past and present in his mind, and realized more clearly the crux of it.
In the past, although he had read these historical records, like others, he often attributed the failure of the reform to the personal abilities of the reformers.
For example, there are omissions in policy formulation, or there is a rush for reform, or there is not a step-by-step approach to rectifying the administration of officials first...
Under this kind of thinking, Wang Wenchuan is obviously a typical example of "big ambition but little talent".
You are the Prime Minister, and you want to change the law, but in the end it fails, of course it is because you did not think carefully.
If you think of all the problems in advance, won't you avoid failure?
But after Chu Ge tried it himself, he realized that this problem was not as simple as he thought.
Manpower is ultimately exhausted.
Has there been any successful reform in history that was driven by the power of the prime minister? Strictly speaking, there has never been one.
It is true that some reforms were driven by aspects, but those reforms, without exception, received absolute support from the emperor who was almost completely hands-off and completely trusting.
In some cases, the emperor and the prime minister trust each other like green hills and cypresses, and they will never let each other down; in some cases, the emperor himself becomes the mastermind and lets the prime minister do whatever he wants; in some cases, the prime minister completely ignores the emperor and becomes the uncrowned king himself.
.
Whenever the prime minister tried his best to push forward, but the emperor hesitated and acted on both sides, almost all ended in tragic failure.
When it comes to the necessary conditions for the success of the reform, there are undoubtedly at least three points.
First, it is the absolute support of the imperial power, which can suppress all opposition forces.
Second, it is a long period of time, such as more than ten years, more than twenty years, or even the life of an emperor in his prime.
Third, it is based on the premise of the first two points. It is a powerful interest class that was created as a result of the reform.
Only when this interest class exists can the reform receive continuous and strong support and not be overturned in the future.
Wang Wenchuan's reform actually did not have these three points.
The support of the imperial power was actually very limited support. The emperor only wanted to see immediate benefits from the reform, such as the filling of the treasury and the smooth flow of government decrees, but he could not accept the problems that arose during the reform process, such as the temporary emptiness of the treasury, or the
Criticism and chaos in the court.
Once problems arise, the emperor will become suspicious of the reform and even become suspicious of Wang Wenchuan.
And Wang Wenchuan doesn't have a long time.
Putting aside the issue of the emperor, the Qi Dynasty at that time was in a period of serious internal and external troubles. The north was eyeing it and might go south to destroy the Qi Dynasty at any time. Wang Wenchuan did not actually have a particularly stable window period, so many measures could only be taken.
Do it quickly and quickly.
Because he was also very worried, he tried to figure it out slowly, but there was no time at all.
As for the third point, even less so.
Assuming that during the reform process, Wang Wenchuan can obtain the active support of the majority of farmers, or the active support of some farmers and some wealthy businessmen, then this reform may last for a longer period of time, and the possibility of success will be greater.
But in fact, Wang Wenchuan's reforms offended almost all strata, whether landlords, farmers, bureaucrats or wealthy businessmen, all of whom were absolutely opposed to his reforms.
In this way, his failure is doomed.
But if you think about it carefully, even if Wang Wenchuan understands this, which class can he win?
If he could get the absolute support of the imperial power, continue the reform for decades, rectify the government, and let the benefits of the Green Crops Law be reflected, then he could indeed gain the support of the farmers, but it is obvious that he has no such chance at all.
"So...this is an impossible mission at all?"
As Chu Ge analyzed and analyzed, the ideas in his mind became clearer and clearer, but the hope of the reform's success became increasingly slim.
After thinking about it, there is actually only one way to succeed in reform.
That is to use unwavering imperial power to promote reforms.
Either Wang Wenchuan found a way to evade the emperor and become the uncrowned king himself; or he himself was the emperor; or the emperor was a peerless and famous emperor who had absolute support and trust in him.
Only when you have accomplished this can you be qualified to talk about the details of the reform.
But this is obviously impossible for Wang Wenchuan.
"No more playing!
"Why should I work so hard to be Wang Wenchuan? This is just a game!
"Since being a good official can't save the Qi Dynasty, then I might as well become a bad official!"
This time Chu Ge was really a little angry.
As the top scribe player, he has always relied on his profound historical knowledge and flexible mind to solve dungeons one after another, and he feels very good about himself.
From Governor Lin to Sheng Taizu, Chu Ge was always able to find an optimal solution in chaotic and complex situations.
But with Wang Wenchuan, he was completely stuck.
When he played the role of Governor Lin, although he gave up his own future, he still obtained military supplies from the emperor and helped General Deng put down the bandits;
When he played the role of Taizu Sheng, although he was tortured by the mountains of eucalyptus tablets and memorials throughout his later years, at least he was able to continue the great prosperity of the country.
But what about Wang Wenchuan?
I racked my brains, but found that every path was unavailable.
I was so busy that I was not only physically and mentally exhausted, but I also had to be blamed by the emperor and other ministers, and be scolded for hundreds of years.
Why?
If it were in reality, then Chu Ge really didn't have a good solution.
Either you know you can't do it and do it, and follow Wang Wenchuan's old path; or you can be wise and protect yourself, and simply join the conservatives, eat high-ranking officials in the Qi Dynasty with generous salaries, visit brothels, recite poems and write poems, and wait to die.
In fact, Wang Wenchuan's method at that time was indeed the least bad method.
Although the forced implementation of the new law resulted in the bankruptcy and displacement of many farmers, it did make the Qi Dynasty's treasury sufficient, built many water conservancy projects across the country, and also achieved some military victories in the northwest.
Although Wang Wenchuan finally died in depression and the new law was abolished, in general, he still had a clear conscience.
But Chu Ge is not Wang Wenchuan. He has not been educated in Confucianism. It can be said that he is a man without a father and a king.
Wang Wenchuan finally had a clear conscience, but Chu Ge couldn't accept such an ending.
Maybe if he follows Wang Wenchuan's old path, he can at least get enough military resources, and he can also cooperate with Yu Jiaxuan to train a new army and win the Battle of Niuzhu.
But what's the point?
It’s so frustrating!
Since it's a game, and since it's just a simulated trial, it's better to play something more exciting. It doesn't matter whether you pass the level or not, the key is that you have to have fun.
Thinking of this, Chu Ge suddenly had a bold idea.
Don’t you all call me a traitor?
Don’t they all say that I am a clique?
Okay, then I will really be a traitor! I will really be a clique!
After all, in the previous dungeons, I have never seen a traitorous official like Yan Maoqing, so how can I imitate the gourd?
The reform may not succeed, but you old party ministers and this dog emperor will die!
