"Several wars with the Western Xia led to widespread devastation within the Song Dynasty, with waves of uprisings and a worsening fiscal deficit. Under these circumstances, if no change was sought, serious consequences could result."
"The three redundancies are: redundant expenses are directly caused by redundant soldiers and redundant officials. Fan Zhongyan didn't dare to address the redundant soldiers, so he could only address the redundant officials first. However, his measures were too radical, leading to opposition from the entire court."
"In fact, many officials don't want to work, but they don't have the power, and they don't have any other options. As long as we select good officials, let them meet their KPIs, and implement a reasonable punishment and reward system, I believe we can mobilize the enthusiasm of officials."
"So expanding the pie is important. Some of his reforms are relatively reasonable, but you can't just dismiss so many officials right from the start. That would easily create a sense of crisis, making more than 99% of officials afraid of being dismissed. This would then be exploited by those with ulterior motives, who would incite an offensive and abort the new policies."
"And promoting the system also requires methods. Chairman Mao said that the correct path is to make enemies as few as possible and friends as many as possible, win over some people and suppress others, and reduce resistance."
"Also, the Northern Song system was already very rigid. Fan Zhongyan's reforms only made a lot of minor adjustments, not drastic changes at all. Yet, even so, they were still so opposed by these conservative bureaucrats. This is because the officialdom of the Song Dynasty lacked vitality."
"How can you conduct good politics with a bunch of insects? So, besides having a clear reform path, we should also inject more vitality. As for how to inject vitality, I don't know. I'm really not very interested in Song Dynasty history and haven't studied it in depth."
Zhao Jun told Fan Zhongyan all his understanding of the New Policies of the Qingli Period, and Fan Zhongyan wrote them all down carefully. He had been listening to lectures for a long time these days. These contents not only broadened his horizons, but also helped him find practical solutions, which was of great help to him.
It wasn't until the afternoon, when Zhao Jun had dinner and went back to his room to rest, that Fan Zhongyan left work with his harvest of the day. On the way back, even while sitting in the sedan chair, he thought about the content of the day over and over again. This had become his habit.
At the beginning of the You hour, Fan Zhongyan returned to his home in Daguan Lane. It was sunset at that time, and a ray of sunlight shone through the door of the study, casting a long orange light wave on the ground.
Mottled spots of light fell on the ground, windowsill, bookshelf, desk, and scrolls. Most places in the room were dark, except for Fan Zhongyan's resolute face on the south side, near the windowsill, beside the desk. The lower half of his face was exposed to the sun, and the upper half was hidden in the shadow, a mixture of light and dark.
He sat solemnly at the desk, which was covered with countless papers.
The record books in the palace could not be taken out of the palace because the emperor and the prime ministers had to read them every day. But after he came back, he would write down his thoughts of the day and hide them in a secret compartment. Every day after get off work, he would lock himself in the study and take them out to read.
It records a lot of things that he thinks should be done now and what needs to be changed in the future.
"Zhao Jun said that reform is not a dinner party; it requires perseverance and the courage to burn the boats. But now is not the time for reform. He is right. In the face of internal and external troubles, we must first quell the external troubles and then resolve the internal ones."
Fan Zhongyan cast his gaze on the several pages of paper that were picked out separately on the right. Those were some of his ideas for preparing for his future trip to the northwest to serve as the governor of Shaanxi and to help Li Yuanhao establish his country.
Zhao Jun believed that it was unlikely that the Song Dynasty would defeat Li Yuanhao, and that Fan Zhongyan could only defend against Li Yuanhao's attack at most. However, the government hoped that he could win a battle, which was a rather difficult task, so he made a lot of efforts for this.
For example, he hoped that after arriving at the border, he would change the military system in the northwest, strengthen the training of border soldiers, repair dilapidated city walls, and allow local border residents and some imperial troops sent by the court to the northwest to build water conservancy projects, establish military farms, and reclaim wasteland.
The Guanzhong region was extremely prosperous during the Tang Dynasty, but it declined by the Song Dynasty. Today, there are still a lot of abandoned arable land. If it can be reclaimed, it will greatly alleviate the pressure on food and fodder.
Mainly due to the Anshi Rebellion and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Guanzhong region suffered repeated wars. By the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the population of the Guanzhong Basin was less than one-fifth of that during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. Chang'an, an international metropolis with a population of one million, had a permanent population of only 120,000.
But there is another problem in reclaiming wasteland. That is, the Tang Dynasty was too brilliant in Chinese civilization, and Guanzhong could not withstand such prosperity. The soil erosion in the upper reaches of rivers such as Jinghe River, Weihe River, and Yellow River was extremely serious.
The clear distinction between the Jing and Wei rivers has existed since the Zhou Dynasty. By the Song Dynasty, the Wei River had become turbid. In later times, the Wei River was even deeper than the Jing River.
Therefore, Fan Zhongyan knew that it was not easy to reclaim wasteland on the border, and water conservancy facilities must also keep up.
There were still two years before Li Yuanhao established the country and three years before the war broke out. Fan Zhongyan felt that he could do a lot of things in these two or three years.
Then the next step is reform.
Fan Zhongyan looked at another pile of papers on the left side of the table. Compared with the war in the northwest, he was more interested in the new policies in Chongqing.
After all, this is what can change the country's poverty and weakness.
He wrote a lot on the paper, which was the memorial he was going to submit to the government.
Things like "clear promotion and demotion", "suppressing luck", "careful selection of imperial examinations", "selecting superiors", "equal distribution of public land", "encouraging agriculture and sericulture", "improving military preparations", "reducing labor service", "emphasizing orders", and "extending favor and trust" are all included.
And more than ten more were added.
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