After Ruan Fei left, Chao Gai, Song Jiang and other brothers were all older, so they had to find jobs, take care of the housework, and practice martial arts diligently every day. Chao Gai was mature and prudent, and he was elected as the local guardian after his father, and he still worked in the wood industry.

Doing business.Song Dynasty

Jiang had been reading poetry and books since he was a child, was proficient in swordsmanship and writing, and was proficient in officialdom. He became an official in Yuncheng County. Wu Yong became a teacher, Wu Song opened the martial arts school, the Ruan brothers were fishing and boating, and all the brothers had their own duties.

, often get together and interact with each other frequently.

One day, everyone was having a drink at Chao Gai's house again. Brothers from all the families gathered together, and it was inevitable to have a drink. During the dinner, Wu Song saw that Chao Gai was unhappy, with worries on his brows, and couldn't help but ask: "Brother is unhappy, what's the matter?"

?Speak out, brothers and listen.”

Chao Gai said: "My family is loved by the villagers. Since Emperor Gaozu, several generations of people have been Baozheng. Small officials like Baozheng, on one hand, are on official errands, and on the other hand, they deal with trivial matters between neighbors and clans in the village. They coordinate left and right, deal with top and bottom, and are enthusiastic."

Keeping in touch with people and things is actually a casual job. Our government does not pay heavy taxes and the people's lives have always been easy, even for Zhenzong Tianxi

In the past three years, the floods in Yuncheng County have increased, and the water accumulation has increased. Although many fertile fields have been flooded, there are fewer acres. Fortunately, the government not only provided relief, but also exempted many taxes, which did not delay the people's life.

It is easy to maintain integrity. However, the lives of the people here are becoming increasingly difficult, and it is becoming more and more difficult for me to maintain integrity.

"Before the treacherous Prime Minister Wang Anshi came into power in Xining and the new law, a lot of land was bought by the big families, and they were short of acres of land. Although the harvest was not much, they did not pay much tax, but they could do other things to make a living. The big families

Although there is a lot of land, due to the rules of this dynasty, only four acres of land should be paid as rent for a hundred acres of land, and the per-mu tax is only one dou, and a lot of land has been concealed, so the tax revenue is very small. Emperor Taizu made universal reductions and exemptions at the beginning of the founding of the country.

Previous generations

Miscellaneous taxes, and even the tax on agricultural equipment that had been levied in the past were completely exempted. Products from the mountains, forests, rivers, and ponds could be picked by the people without tax, and ditches, roads, graves and other tools were not included in the tax. The people's life was really easy.

As soon as Wang Anshi and Xining’s new law came out, the Young Crops Law, the Protection Law, the Market Change Law, etc. all cost the people and money, and then there were Zhang Dun and Cai Jing, one after another, who persisted in the new law and made it even worse, making the people more and more miserable.”

Ruan Xiaoer heard clearly and said from the side: "Brother Chao Gai is right. The original rule that our government set that no tax be imposed on those with powerful ships has been broken. I am afraid that taxes will be collected in the future. I heard people say that Yunzhou

If this large area of ​​Liangshan River is to be returned to the government, the output of Sichuan Ze will be reduced.

The rules for collecting taxes are also going to change. If the government deliberately wants to collect taxes, it will definitely be necessary. Our family has made a living fishing and sailing for generations. Although we don’t accumulate a lot of money, we don’t have to worry about making a living. We can always live a happy life. I don’t know what will happen in the future.

." After saying this, Wu felt resentful to himself.

Wu Yong cursed loudly: "Wang Anshi went against the will of heaven, and the whole country was filled with complaints. He served as prime minister twice, but fortunately he retired in despair. First, he was strongly opposed by Sima Xiangye, and later because of the death of his eldest son Wang Yu, he felt the anger of God and the resentment of others.

While retreating, during this period Lu Huiqing was added to act recklessly. Later, Zhang Dun would be appointed as the prime minister.

, together with Cai Bian and Zeng Bu, were members of the new party. The three of them were constantly fighting internally, and they were fighting externally with the old party Yuanyou. Later, the new party had Cai Jing as prime minister again and again. The world today is dominated by these conjuring traitors.

Gifted by the Prime Minister." Wu Yong is an old scholar and has always hated new methods. In his mouth, new methods have become tricks.

In fact, since the founding of the Song Dynasty, "for a field of 100 acres, the minimum tax is four acres, and the yield per mu is between one and four stones." And "a tax of one bushel per mu is a common law in the world." This makes the Song Dynasty

At the beginning, "the taxes of today are regarded as trivial". In fact, the thirty taxes are less than one, and at the same time, many taxes are exempted.

There were few taxes and light taxes, and the people were very happy. Emperor Renzong and Yingzong lived for a short time, and the world was more benevolent and righteous, and the scholar-bureaucrats treated the people lovingly. During the reign of Shenzong Xining and Yuanfeng, the scene was even more prosperous and the world was peaceful.

, the products are abundant, the people are prosperous, and the people praise it even more.

But "the power of the world will decline if it does not prosper, and the governance of the world will retreat if it does not advance." As the saying goes, things must turn against each other when they are at their peak, and they must decline when they are prosperous. The political disadvantages of the Song Dynasty appeared long before the Qingli period, and they entered the "decline of the world". It was inevitable that all dynasties would prosper.

Extremely hurt.

In the early Song Dynasty, in order to weaken the power of officials, multiple officials were implemented, but there was still a certain number of officials to divide their duties. From the time of Zhenzong, the imperial edicts on officials' appointment to official positions increased day by day. By the time of Renzong, there were even more orders. At the same time, due to

The imperial examination was greatly promoted, the favor system was adopted, and the policy of "appropriating favors to hundreds of officials for fear of their inadequacy" was pursued, which resulted in many officials being greedy for power and position, and the bureaucracy was large and bloated, resulting in "redundant staff".

In order to prevent the southern invasion of Liao and Xixia, the early Song Dynasty implemented the strategy of "raising troops" and formed a huge military system; at the same time, in order to prevent military generals from taking power, they implemented the "replacement of garrison method", which made the soldiers and generals not familiar with each other and were at a disadvantage in foreign wars.

Although there are many soldiers, they are not elite, resulting in "redundant troops".

"Redundant staff" and "redundant soldiers" have even led to a surge in financial expenditures. The government cannot make ends meet, and there are large-scale construction projects, building temples, etc., which further leads to "redundant expenses". From the outside, the prosperity of the Song Dynasty and the people living in peace and prosperity are only superficial.

However, the three redundancies of "redundant personnel", "redundant soldiers" and "redundant expenses" are closely related, which eventually made the imperial court poor and weak.

Insightful people have already seen this situation clearly, so as early as the Qingli period before Wang Anshi's new law, some people proposed to reform the law. The most famous one is of course Fan Zhongyan. A court order issued by Wen Zhenggong to implement the new law is also the subject of current political affairs.

It is necessary, and not without reason; one is presided over by him, and his moral articles are famous all over the world, and are actually expected by the world.

At that time, Fan Wenzheng was in charge of the defense of Xixia in Shaanxi. From Shaanxi to Beijing, he passed through Luoyang and paid a visit to an old prime minister. The old prime minister asked, "Everyone expects you to heal this country. What do you have?"

Good medicine?" Fan Zhongyan was confident, he told everything about his plans, and he respectfully asked for advice.

The prime minister pondered for a long time and asked: "Is this the case?" Fan Zhongyan nodded immediately. The prime minister said: "Well, I will host a family banquet for you today, and it will still be the same today next year." Fan Zhongyan was confused:

"Why is this so?" said the old prime minister: "It will definitely be like this next year."

When Fan Zhongyan arrived in Bianjing, new laws were frequently introduced, but they brought many disadvantages. Only then did he realize that all the evils in politics today have their own consequences. Trees with big roots and deep roots may be uprooted, or innocent people may be injured. Strong medicines are used to treat them, which offends the public.

, those who have benefited are dissatisfied because the benefits have been lost; those who want to benefit are dissatisfied because they cannot redeem them.

.The public was angry and the superiors were also dissatisfied. Wen Zhenggong was demoted to Dengzhou because of this, but he did not know whether he went to Luoyang to drink again. Later, when Wang Anshi carried out the reform, Fan Zhongyan knew the difficulty very well, "If you do it slowly, you will gain great benefits; if you do it hastily,

, it will be a big harm." Therefore, it is also the opposite of laying it out too fast and using too much force.

This was already the case during the Qingli period, and even more so during the Xining and Yuanfeng years when Wang Anshi implemented the new law. It had already entered the "decline of the times" and the abuses were more serious. It is not easy to live in the decline of the times. Wang Anshi faced greater pressure and resistance, and was later

Empress Dowager Gao, who opposed the new law, appointed Sima Guang as her prime minister

It was abolished, so that he became prime minister twice and went out of power twice. Later, Zhezong came to rule personally and ordered Zhang Dun, Cai Bian, Zeng Bu and others to implement it again. Now the current Emperor Daojun orders Cai Jing and others to implement the new law.

Repeatedly, we can see not only the difficulty of the new method, but also the reluctance to give up the new method.

But it is said that after Wang Anshi's reform in Xining, Emperor Shenzong, the political situation was full of changes, and the people saw less benefits than harms. Although the national treasury was rapidly replenished, the burden on the people increased in vain. When Sima Guang, who strongly opposed the reform, became prime minister, he almost abolished the new law, and the people

Feeling a little relieved, the national treasury was still tight, so Su Shi and Fan Chunren, who opposed the new law, cautiously defended the new law.

When Zhezong appointed Zhang Dun as prime minister again, he corrected the inapplicability of the new law and restored its original feasibility. The world's output increased, and large areas of territory were opened to the outside world. The country was strong and prosperous for a while. However, Zhang Dun and Cai Bian, who maintained the new law, once

The three of them were fighting among themselves. Although Zhang Dun wanted to make internal adjustments,

The new law was implemented and was very effective. However, since Cai Bian was Wang Anshi's son-in-law, he insisted on enforcing the law in order to restore Jing Gong's old hope, and it was unavoidable to go too far in attacking Yuanyou's party. Moreover, Zeng Bu was the leader between Zhe Zong and Zhang Dun.

There are two sides of the rat, and it is hard to stop fighting outside. It is inevitable that Zhang Dun will be stretched thin and everything will be difficult to coordinate.

Then the current Taoist emperor Zhao Ji, just as Zhang Dun expected, was frivolous and unsuitable for ruling the world, but he used Cai Jing as his prime minister to restore the new law. Cai Jing was talented but not virtuous. He took the name of the new law and led to chaos.

In fact, they colluded with Tong Guan, Wang Fu, Liang Shicheng, Zhu Meng, Li Yan, and Gao Qiu to control the government, and promoted the words of "Feng, Heng, Yu, and Da" to Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and exhausted the wealth of the whole country for him to squander.

should be followed and made

In order to make up for the financial deficit, the Salt Law and Tea Law were changed; cloth and silk were banned,

The business was brought back to the official business, and many small businesses such as cloth could not be done. Ten coins were minted, and the currency system was in chaos, causing chaos in the world and bringing greater disasters to the people of Li, which inevitably boiled the people's resentment.

Ruan Xiaoer thought about his helpless livelihood, and said bitterly: "Zhang Dun and Cai Jing have done harm to the country and the people. They have acted recklessly. They have ruined national affairs and are obsessed with persecuting loyal ministers. Zhang Dun wants to whip Sima Xiangye to death, and Cai Jing wants to kill those who oppose them."

It was written on the monument of traitorous ministers. Together with Wang Anshi and others, they caused chaos for a while and caused harm to the whole world. Master Cai Bian is fine."

Song Jiang smiled and said: "Why is Lord Cai Bian okay? Is it because Lord Cai Bian has an old relationship with our sect?"

Ruan Xiaoer said sheepishly: "But Zhang Dun's desire to whip Prime Minister Sima to death is too much. Master Cai Bian has an old relationship with the master, so I can't help but prefer him."

Song Jiang looked directly at Ruan Xiaoer, who couldn't help but wonder, "Brother, why do you look at me like this?"

Song Jiangdao: "Actually, Master Cai Bian is obsessed with the new law. It is not as good as Zhang Dun who later acted expediently and really did something for the country. That Zhang Dun has a deeper relationship with our sect, but I do not protect him because of his relationship with the sect."

."

The waiter said strangely: "No matter how much I insist on the new law, I still act cheaply. I just want to ask our master and Zhang Dun why?"

Song Jiang no longer paid attention to the waiter alone. Hearing Chao Gai, Wu Yong, the waiter generals Wang Anshi, Zhang Dun, Cai Jing and others scold him, he stood up, straightened his clothes, bowed his hands to the brothers, and said: "Song Jiang

There is tyranny here!”

His eyes slowly glanced at everyone present one by one. The brothers were very puzzled when they saw that he was suddenly serious about his business.

I just heard him say loudly: "I am now going to tell you that the elders of our sect should keep things secret. No outsiders here are here. What I hear is kept in my own heart. Do not mention it to outsiders at all.

"Our ancestor still had a younger sister. Because she was never married, no one knew her name. She was called Ruan Yinu. Back then, she famously made a name for herself in the capital with her song "Flower Heart Moves. Spring Poetry"."

Speaking of this, Song Jiang slightly dressed up and said seriously:

"Spring is thick in the Fairy Garden, the peach blossoms are in bloom, and the branches are ready to be climbed and broken.

It rains and clears at first, with mild warmth and mild cold, and the flower viewing season is approaching.

The east wind is soft in the Liuyao Terrace Pavilion, the curtains are drawn quietly, and the quiet birds are singing their tongues.

The broken soul is far away, leisurely searching for the green path, and it suddenly becomes a knot of sadness.

No one can share this hatred. Even after dusk, my heart is empty.

The quilt is forcibly embroidered, the red leaf is covered alone, and the quilt pillow is laid for whom.

The longer the night, the more distant the sound.
Chapter completed!