During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, a period so longed for by countless people, ordinary people could not afford proper salt and could only eat vinegar cloth. Ordinary cloth was soaked in vinegar and salt water and then dried in the sun. When cooking, a piece of cloth was cut off and cooked with grain, naturally imparting the flavor of salt and vinegar to the food.
The Song Dynasty was the dynasty that attached the most importance to commerce in Chinese history. All the country's economic policies had almost only one goal, which was to obtain more fiscal revenue from the market.
There are no longer fences at the entrances of streets and alleys, and people can walk freely in every corner of the capital. The walls of houses facing the streets have also been removed and they have been converted into shops, hotels and restaurants that are open to customers.
There were seventy-two large restaurants in the city, and countless foot shops. Every night, the streets were brightly lit and bustling with people. From the teahouses, brothels, restaurants, and teahouses, music and singing continued, the streets were filled with hawking, and everywhere people were performing strange arts.
The night market closes at three o'clock in the morning and reopens at five o'clock.
It is a place for fun that goes on all night long. It is said that the noise and music from the night market can be heard over ten miles away.
Only in an era with prosperous economy, flourishing culture and technological advancement can ordinary people have more opportunities to make a living.
What Chen Ge wanted to express was that as long as one had a little bit of life skills, and traveled back to Bianliang during the Song Dynasty, even if one set up a street stall, worked as a cook, worked in accounting, or at worst worked as a porter at the dock, one would not starve to death.
All the things like reciting poems and composing essays, enjoying the beauty of nature, preparing for war and fighting for world dominance are secondary. In a feudal society where one's position is uncertain and rule of man is more important than rule of law, filling one's stomach is the most important thing.
Chen Ge is not a fan of the Song Dynasty, and he does not think that the cities in the Song Dynasty are better than those in modern society. As the old saying goes, in a feudal society, one should not have too high expectations.
The fourth year of Zhiping marked the beginning of a turbulent era in the Song Dynasty.
In this year, the young Song Shenzong Zhao Xu ascended the throne and launched an unprecedented great reform in the history of the two Song dynasties - the Xining Reforms.
Reform was a good thing for the impoverished and weak Song Dynasty, but for those who led the reform, it was like dancing on the edge of a knife. If they were not careful, they would end up in disgrace. Well, there was also the possibility of their body being torn apart, like Shang Yang who was torn apart by five horses. It was miserable...
Chen Ge's idol, Wang Anshi, is a living example. For millennia, Wang Anshi and his new laws have been unfairly criticized. People regard him as the greatest traitor in history, slandering his new laws as a disaster for the country and the people. He is even held responsible for the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty...
How absurd! Liang Qichao pointed out that the reason was that "the scholars and officials were simply competing with each other out of personal feelings."
Of the great affairs of the world, three or four out of ten are ruined by treacherous ministers, while six or seven out of ten are ruined by gentlemen who are ignorant of the ways of the world.
To put it simply, those who obstructed Wang Anshi's reforms were not treacherous and evil people, but rather famous gentlemen such as Sima Guang, Su Shi, Ouyang Xiu, etc.
The difficulty of reform is obvious. It's like playing King of Glory. Even if you are a king player and in excellent condition, you can't stand four stupid teammates who are desperately dragging you down and giving you heads...
Wang Anshi: They are not just delaying the issue, they are almost pulling my loincloth off. I am so upset!!!
This is just one of the reasons. There are two, three, and more... Reform seems to be a smooth road to national prosperity and people's strength, but in fact, there are either roadblocks or hidden traps.
The so-called reform is a government decree that is proactively implemented from top to bottom; if it is implemented from bottom to top, it is not a reform, it is called a revolution, or it can also be called an uprising.
Reforms serve the ruling class, and the ruling class itself is often a vested interest group, so reforms are never truly thorough and have a high chance of failure.
Without exception, all reforms in feudal society were aimed at making money for the country. As for the suffering of the people, they rarely appeared in the content of the reforms. Reformers who could not increase the tax burden of the people in a disguised way were the most people-loving.
Roughly speaking, the world's wealth can be divided into three parts:
One part is ordinary people, including tenants, small farmers, small landlords, small vendors, citizens, etc. They have the largest population, are the most hardworking, and make huge contributions, but their income is meager, no different from cattle and horses.
One group includes large landowners such as gentry, wealthy merchants, dignitaries, and royal relatives. They own a large amount of resources and are wealthy, but they all wear armor and carry swords, and are not easy to mess with.
One is the imperial court as the country's administrator. Their income comes from national taxes, and they draw a share from the other two according to set rules. The common people pay the lion's share, and the big landowners pay the smaller share.
Since ancient times, conquering the world is easy, but keeping it is difficult! To conquer the world, a strong military force is enough; but to keep the world, judicial security, agriculture, forestry, water conservancy, official salaries, humanities education, and even the emperor's weddings and funerals all require money.
Things that do not directly create value require money, so taxation is compulsory, which can easily cause conflicts among people.
Taking someone's money is like killing their parents.
Sima Qian wrote in his "Biographies of Merchants": "The world is bustling with activity, all for the sake of profit; the world is bustling with activity, all for the sake of profit. Even a king with a thousand chariots, a marquis with ten thousand households, a ruler with a hundred houses, still suffers from poverty..."
The so-called reforms were nothing more than "traitors" among the landlords who shouted, "There's nothing left to exploit the common people. Let's kill the pigs and then turn the knife inward on our own people."
People have always hated traitors, no matter what the situation, just as much as those leading the internal conflict today. Only the emperor hid in the background, secretly rejoicing...
As a person who has been through it all, Chen Ge made up his mind that he must not touch upon the reform, as it is the foundation of his livelihood.
At the center of the storm?
The sun and moon rotate?
No, Chen Ge just wanted to stay away, become an official of some importance as a talisman, and then use the pen in his hand to record the real Song Dynasty.
I, Chen Ge, dream of becoming a note writer.
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