"It sounds good, and the government won't let farmers mortgage their land. If this creates a virtuous cycle, it will truly be a good thing for both the country and the people."
"The problem was that Wang Anshi failed to manage the civil service properly, which led to too many crooked officials among his subordinates, and ultimately distorted the Qingmiao Law, a good sutra."
"For a policy to be implemented, it must pass through various levels of officials. But by the time of Emperor Shenzong of Song, the grassroots officials of the Northern Song Dynasty had become rotten. There were corrupt officials, those who were idle and idle, and even those who were only focused on political achievements."
"For example, in a certain area, the weather was good and the people didn't need the loan. But local officials, driven by political achievements, pushed it through, causing public outrage and public resentment."
"In some places, local officials arbitrarily raised interest rates. Wang Anshi stipulated a 20% interest rate, but local officials added a few percentage points, and the extra money naturally went into the pockets of those officials."
"Historical records show that in one case, local officials raised interest rates by 35 times. Instead of the original 20% interest rate, they were actually required to pay back seven times the principal."
"It's obvious that the local government of the Song Dynasty is too gentle. They can just rob directly, but they still have to set a name. He really, I am crying..."
"Even worse, some even colluded with local tyrants, taking advantage of the people's illiteracy, tampering with contract documents and deliberately withholding repayments from the people, stalling for time. Once the deadline was up, they claimed the people hadn't paid back and seized their land, severely increasing the burden on the people."
"With such a huge implementation problem, even the best policies are useless."
"So what's the root cause of the civil service problem? It's still the problem of redundant officials during the Song Dynasty. There were too many incompetent and corrupt officials at the bottom, which made it impossible to implement the Qingmiao Law smoothly."
"So if the administrative problems had been solved during Fan Zhongyan's time, making grassroots officials more efficient and capable, the reforms wouldn't have completely failed during Wang Anshi's time due to problems with local execution."
"That's why I say Fan Zhongyan's direction is right and Wang Anshi's direction is wrong."
"If we want to solve the problem, we must first discipline the officials!"
By the end of his speech, Zhao Jun was already very passionate, and his voice permeated the room, giving people a sudden enlightenment.
The three redundancies are deeply rooted and cannot be solved overnight.
If you want to cure it completely, you have to take it step by step.
Which step should I take first?
It’s the administration of officials, of course.
Policies can only be promoted if they are run by lower-level officials and institutions.
If the lower-level officials remain corrupt and lazy, even the best policies will be useless.
That is why Zhao Jun believed that Fan Zhongyan’s direction was correct. Only by dealing with the problems of grassroots officials first could other problems be easily solved.
As expected of a later generation, Zhao Jun's profound understanding of the problem is far beyond theirs. Only such a later generation can summarize the reasons for the failure of the reform.
At that moment, everyone, including Song Renzong Zhao Zhen, looked at Zhao Jun as if they were looking at a reformer with outstanding ideas and a deep understanding of social structure, who was pointing out the way forward and making powerful statements.
The Song Dynasty needs such talents.
Everyone sighed.
But soon, Zhao Jun, who had been giving a passionate speech, licked his dry lips, a flattering smile appeared on his face, and said to Yan Shu: "Uncle Lari, give me some saliva."
This flattering smile immediately exposed Zhao Jun's image as a reformer.
It was as if everything that just happened was an illusion.
Zhao Jun was just a commoner asking for water with a flattering smile.
Zhao Zhen, who had just been thinking that if Zhao Jun stopped scolding him and his eyes recovered, he would reuse Zhao Jun, suddenly trembled.
He swore that after getting all the information out of Zhao Jun, he would spank him hard!
How can my descendants be so fawning just to ask for a glass of water?
However, if Zhao Jun knew, he would probably be confused.
Are you blind and being well taken care of by others, asking them for something to drink and still having a stern face?
Of course you have to be respectful.
However, Zhao Jun obviously didn't know that he was not in the new era at all, but in the old Song Dynasty. After drinking the water handed to him by Yan Shu, he said to Fan Zhongyan, "Well, Uncle Nima, am I right?"
“I see…I see…”
Fan Zhong murmured to himself in a low voice: "It seems that my future direction is correct. I should continue on this path."
"ah?"
Zhao Jun didn't hear clearly and asked, "Uncle Nima, what did you say?"
Fan Zhongyan came back to his senses and immediately said, "Nothing, then how can Fan Zhongyan succeed?"
"Of course it's with the support of Song Renzong."
Zhao Jun said without hesitation.
"Can we succeed if we get the support of Emperor Song?"
Fan Zhongyan still didn't dare to mention Zhao Zhen's posthumous title, but he also lowered his head and looked at Zhao Zhen with hope.
Zhao Zhen hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly.
"I don't know about that."
Zhao Jun spread his hands and said, "Gaining Zhao Zhen's support is only the first step. You may not realize how much resistance there is to civil service reform. That would mean going against all officials in the world. Even with Song Renzong's full support, other changes might still occur."
"What changes?" Fan Zhongyan asked subconsciously.
"Who knows? I'm not from the Song Dynasty, so I don't know the actual situation. If you want me to give you some advice, I can only say something polite like the changes shouldn't be too radical, they should be moderate."
Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "However, our country has always used a competitive recruitment policy to motivate civil servants and cadres. The problem with the Song Dynasty was that there were too many officials who were doing nothing all day. If we subdivide their responsibilities, give them more power, and then use competitive recruitment and performance appraisals, it might work."
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