To some extent, Zhao Huan's task was almost impossible to complete. If he hadn't forcibly abolished corvée labor, the Eastern Palace could still make money by exploiting the people. But now that the emperor had abolished corvée labor with a single word, the ministers of the Eastern Palace were all on the verge of collapse.
Fortunately, the emperor promised to abolish miscellaneous taxes within two years; otherwise, Wang Boyan, Tang Ke, and others would have really hanged themselves.
Meanwhile, in the Song Dynasty court, a turbulent situation arose. The news of the emperor's proposed reforms quickly spread through the heavily guarded imperial city, causing widespread discussion throughout the capital. Officials in various prefectures and counties remained calm in their offices, unlike the officials in the capital who were filled with anxiety.
After all, the people below are far from the emperor, so the impact isn't that great. At most, whatever policies come from Tokyo, they'll just do what they're told. As for whether they can actually do it, there's no need to think about that. Anyway, everything is handled by the officials above first, and it's never my turn to be a minor official. I'll just continue collecting my rent, counting my money, and playing with women. What do I care about the life or death of the Song Dynasty?
As for the specifics of how it will be changed, there is no definite news yet. However, what is certain now is that this corvée labor is definitely being abolished.
The grain transport case arose from forced labor. The emperor used more than a thousand heads to show his determination to the whole world. Even now, those officials who only have money on their minds dare not allow their subordinates to openly tell the people that they have to perform forced labor.
At most, the common people would have their wages deducted after they did the work, and then some reasons would be found to make things difficult for them, saying that the work was not done well and that their wages would be halved. In short, the money that the court extracted had to be scraped off several times before it reached the common people. Otherwise, how could one be a qualified official of the Song Dynasty?
After discussing matters with the ministers of the two offices, Emperor Zhao Huan did not rest for a moment. He summoned Qin Hui.
"Your Majesty, may you be well."
"You may dispense with the formalities."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I do not know why Your Majesty has summoned me."
What do you think of Bi Sheng?
Qin Hui's mind raced like lightning. From not knowing why the emperor asked this question to guessing the emperor's meaning, he quickly replied, "Your Majesty, although Bi Sheng is just a commoner and his status is not as high as that of the officials, his improved printing techniques have played a great role in the inheritance of our dynasty's culture. At the same time, he has also greatly reduced the waste of raw materials and time in commercial printing. This is a great achievement!"
What do you think of Shen Kuo?
Qin Hui secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that he had guessed correctly. This young emperor wanted to carry out construction projects, which was why he mentioned Bi Sheng and now he was mentioning Shen Kuo.
“Mr. Cunzhong is a man of great talent. His ‘Dream Pool Essays’ is a masterpiece of unparalleled excellence. If future generations study it diligently, there may be a second or even a third Bi Sheng. I believe that this project is beneficial to the people and the country, and the court should promote it!”
What do you mean by that?
"Your Majesty, I believe that we should educate people with righteousness and govern the world with benefits in order to prosper the country!"
Qin Hui's sudden remark left me somewhat bewildered. I was asking you why you evaluated Shen Kuo and Bi Sheng in that way, and you suddenly started talking to me about governing the country. Your thought process is pretty much the same as mine.
"Please tell me in detail."
“Your Majesty, the power of the scholar-officials is so great that they should be taught with righteousness and bound by law in order to be of high rank. However, Your Majesty’s ambition is for the country to be rich and the people to be prosperous. Now the people are starving and selling their wives and children in order to survive. How can you talk about righteousness and propriety?”
"What does your statement have to do with Bi Sheng and Shen Kuo?"
"Bi Sheng, a commoner, invented a printing technique for the Song Dynasty that could reduce material consumption and save time. His contribution to the Song Dynasty was no less than that of some loyal and righteous scholar-officials in the court!"
Zhao Huan was shocked. He thought that Qin Hui was really a genius. No wonder the people in Zhao Gou's court could not defeat him. This man's thought process was simply unrestrained to the extreme. In the Song Dynasty, where the education of interests was so strict, he could actually say such shocking things.
Zhao Huan did not immediately express his agreement with Qin Hui, but instead said with a stern face: "So you think that loyalty and righteousness are less important than personal gain?"
"That is not my intention. The scholar-officials wield great power and should be taught with righteousness and bound by law before they can be given important positions. However, the common people are already starving. Only by making them profitable can they become rich. Therefore, the court should combine profit with propriety, rather than abandoning righteousness as gentlemen say!"
Qin Hui's words made him break out in a cold sweat. What was he doing? He was openly opposing Mencius's theory of righteousness in front of the emperor. You must know, which scholar-official in the Song Dynasty did not regard Mencius as a sage? Although he was a semi-sage, he was still a sage in the spiritual realm. How could a mere Left Censor be allowed to spout nonsense here?
It was alright during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song. After all, half of the integrity of the scholar-officials in the court had been shattered after the reign of Emperor Shenzong. If this had happened during the reign of Emperor Shenzong, there would have been no moral exemplar like Sima Guang. If these words had reached the ears of Sima Junshi, he would have united the people of the world to condemn you to death and make you infamous for ten thousand years!
Zhao Huan somewhat agreed with Qin Hui's statement. Etiquette and moral education were certainly necessary, but if they were to be relied upon as a means of subsistence, it would be utter nonsense. Many ordinary people in the Song Dynasty were already suffering enough; why would you keep telling them, "Hang in there, you're a good person!"? What? You're hungry? Think of the words of the sages and you won't be hungry anymore; think of your integrity and you won't be hungry anymore!
While wise rulers may not govern in this direct way, isn't this the underlying logic of their ideological framework?
Take Sima Guang for example. He believed that the only way to govern a country since ancient times was to have officials perform their duties and to assign responsibilities to them. The only way to allow farmers to recuperate was to reduce taxes and levies and exempt them from arrears.
He believed that as long as the people are capable and the government is efficient, all the political ills would naturally disappear if Wang Anshi selected and appointed excellent officials. If the officials were not of good quality, then even if you gave him a new law every day, there would be no good result in the end.
This is Sima Junshi's political view. You can see that all his ideas are based on high standards of other people's character. In his mind, humanity is glorious. His starting point for thinking is to govern the country with benevolence and righteousness. However, benevolence and righteousness in the political field cannot make the common people have enough to eat. In the end, it has become his own self-indulgence.
Ironically, he set a benchmark for benevolence and righteousness and won a good reputation among the scholar-official class. It was fine for everyone to follow his example, but benevolence and righteousness are the easiest things for people to use as a new political tool. Cai Jing seized on this point and thus rose to power with great success.
Therefore, as Qin Hui said, people like Bi Sheng and Shen Kuo made greater contributions to enriching the country and its people than people like Sima Guang, because Bi Sheng and Shen Kuo solved practical problems rather than governing the country with slogans.
This is also what Zhao Huan thought was acceptable. Human nature has both good and bad aspects. Even if we use etiquette to educate and laws to restrain people, a large number of corrupt officials will still emerge. However, if we use actual contributions as the evaluation standard, we can make the country prosperous.
Of course, Zhao Huan did not completely deny Sima Guang's merits; at least his "Zizhi Tongjian" is a masterpiece.
Zhao Huan then asked, "How can we ensure that the Song Dynasty has more figures like Shen Kuo and Bi Sheng?"
Qin Hui said, "The imperial court is full of scholars, but the talent for construction comes from the common people."
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