Chapter 242 Sima Guang
As the saying goes, imperial power does not extend to the countryside.
The lowest administrative unit of the ancient imperial court was only at the county level, and there were basically only three or five real officials in a county.
Because the Song Dynasty favored scholars, there were many officials and various government offices were bloated.
However, the number of county magistrates in a county shall not exceed ten.
This number of people is definitely not enough to manage a county, so they need to recruit some minor officials and yamen runners to assist them.
Even so, the county government only manages the county town, and the villages under it rely on self-government.
This is why there is a saying that imperial power does not extend to the countryside.
The county is already short of staff, and the implementation of the Qingmiao Law and registration and verification require manpower.
Fortunately, there are not many people who actually borrow money, so they can still handle it.
As the landlords and gentry took action, the counties became somewhat overwhelmed.
So they all turned to the government office for help, but there was no response from the government office.
Officials from various counties were not in a hurry since they had already reported the matter.
In fact, except for a small number of officials in various counties, most of them were very opposed to the Qingmiao Law.
If you want to govern a county well, you cannot do without the help and cooperation of landlords and gentry.
Normally they would receive some tributes from landlords and gentry.
Moreover, many of their relatives were landlords and gentry. The Qingmiao Law not only harmed their own interests, but also the interests of their relatives.
However, when Zhao Xing was checking the land before, he had dealt with some officials, and the deterrent effect was still there, so they did not dare to disobey.
Those landlords and gentry got together to discuss countermeasures, and also secretly contacted some officials in various counties with whom they were originally on good terms.
It was the officials who suggested that the tenants be sent to borrow money.
After all, those officials were responsible for the implementation of the Qingmiao Law in each county and knew where the weak points were.
The Kaifeng government has not responded yet, which also means that there is no way to deal with it.
The news was soon spread to landlords and gentry by some officials.
Those landlords and gentry thought they had won and were celebrating happily.
Seven or eight days passed and there was still no movement.
The places in each county where green seedling loans were processed were surrounded tightly by tenants sent by these landlords and gentry every day.
They didn't make any trouble, they just said they wanted to borrow money.
This results in people who really need to borrow money queuing in vain every day without ever getting their turn.
In addition, with the help of someone secretly fanning the flames, the reputation that had just improved plummeted and was even worse than before.
In the past, people did not trust the government and did not have much hope or expectation.
Now, some people just had some expectations and hopes, but they were shattered soon after. Naturally, they have even less good feelings towards the government.
…………
When problems arose in the counties of Kaifeng Prefecture, there were also movements in Bianliang.
As if it was pre-planned, nearly half of the officials in the court impeached Zhao Xing that day.
These officials had only two reasons for impeaching Zhao Xing.
1. Zhao Xing implemented the new law without the approval of the court.
2. Although the Qingmiao Law had a low interest rate, it was still a form of usury and was damaging to the reputation of the imperial court.
The fact that people in various counties are now filled with resentment is the best proof of this.
The official looked gloomy and said that he would order someone to investigate and discuss the matter another day, then he announced the adjournment of the court.
After the court was dismissed, the emperor ordered someone to summon Zhao Xing to the palace, and when they met, he scolded him harshly.
Since Zhao Xing was born, in more than ten years, his father had never scolded him, and even rarely spoke to him to emphasize the point, which shows how angry his father was.
"I have already told you not to mess around. The land investigation has not yet been completed, and you have come up with the Green Seed Law. I know you are doing this for the people's sake, but the most important thing now is to investigate the land. Things must be done step by step, and there is no rush. Didn't you listen to what I said to you before?"
When the official saw that Zhao Xing kept his head down and remained silent, as if he could accept being beaten and scolded, he became even more annoyed.
"Father, please calm down first." Zhao Xing apologized with a smile, "Father, you said that I was messing around, but was what I did really messing around? If I hadn't done that, there would be countless people in the court who opposed the land inspection. Although no one opposes it now, it doesn't mean that there is no opposition. What I did was also a diversion. Now those people are focusing on the Qingmiao Law and have no time to care about the land inspection."
"So you have made some achievements?" The official snorted coldly, "Do you know that the Qingmiao Law is a new law? If you implement the Qingmiao Law now, what will the officials in the court think?"
"They will think that I have the intention to reform the law, so they will be on guard against me in everything." Zhao Xing said indifferently.
"You knew you were doing this, but you still did it?" The official became even angrier when he heard this.
He did not object to Zhao Xing's desire to reform, but he could not show any signs of it before he ascended the throne and completely controlled the situation in the court.
Otherwise, after Zhao Xing ascended the throne, the conservatives in the court would be wary of him, which would be detrimental to his control over the situation in the court.
"You told me before that if you want to reform, you don't have to use the banner of reform, and don't think about solving all problems at once. I originally thought you were steady and was very pleased, but look at what you are doing now." The emperor said coldly.
"Father, I did say so, but it does not conflict with what I have done. What I meant was that I knew the truth but pretended to be ignorant. The reform cannot be concealed. I said there is no need to publicly announce the reform, not to guard against those people in the court who impeached me, but to guard against those pedantic officials who say that the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed." Zhao Xing said.
It is true that reforms must be carried out step by step, but the officials in the court are not fools. If investigating the salt administration and measuring the land are not considered reforms, won’t there still be a lot of people opposing it?
For these people, it doesn’t matter whether there is reform or not. What they care about is whether it will affect their interests.
If the reform is beneficial to them, these people will definitely become supporters, while those who care about the country will oppose it.
When Zhao Xing said not to announce the reform to the outside world, he was actually guarding against those pedantic people.
There are actually two types of officials who oppose the reform. One type is to protect their own vested interests, and even if their interests have not been affected for the time being, they will worry that they will be affected in the future, so as soon as the government has any signs of reform, they will oppose it.
The other is the belief that ancestral laws cannot be changed.
This kind of person is not doing this for his own selfish reasons, he is just being pedantic.
Their starting point was to do good for the court, of course, this was just their wishful thinking.
However, this type of person is more difficult to deal with than the previous one.
The former is ultimately just for profit. As long as they are intimidated and then given some benefits, it may not be that intense.
On the contrary, those pedantic people are the most difficult to deal with. They are stubborn and difficult to be shaken.
If the emperor doesn't listen, they will keep submitting memorials, and it is not impossible that he will die in the end.
Although this kind of person is self-righteous, he has his own ethics and is very honest as an official. Apart from being pedantic, he is impeccable in other aspects and there is no handle to find him.
"I understand what you said. Can't you wait until you ascend the throne in the future and take control of the situation before doing it?" said the emperor.
"Don't worry, father. I am not a reckless person and this matter will be settled soon." Zhao Xing assured quickly.
"You are not going to use the same method as last time, are you?" The official frowned and said, "I'm telling you, you are not allowed to use that method again."
"Father, I don't intend to do that." Zhao Xing shook his head.
"Then what are you going to do?" the official asked worriedly.
Zhao Xing had no choice but to reveal his plan.
The emperor was silent for a while, then nodded and said, "This is feasible. After this incident is over, you should behave yourself, otherwise you will have to come to court every day in the future!"
From beginning to end, the government never said anything about abolishing the Qingmiao Law.
He also learned about the Qingmiao Law, which was indeed beneficial to the country and the people.
Moreover, this was created by the Crown Prince Zhao Xing. If it was cancelled due to opposition from officials, it would be a big blow to Zhao Xing's authority.
It will be even more difficult for Zhao Xing to implement reforms in the future.
He called Zhao Xing over not only to scold him, but also to discuss how to deal with this matter.
Since Zhao Xing had a solution, he thought it was feasible and agreed.
However, he was worried that Zhao Xing would cause trouble in the future, so he threatened Zhao Xing out of concern.
"Don't worry, Father. I will behave myself from now on."
You know what, he might not be afraid of other things his father said, but he was really afraid of having to go to court every day.
Although the morning court is held once every five days, it does not mean that there are no other court meetings besides the morning court.
As mentioned before, the morning court was a grand court meeting, which was more for the emperor to prevent himself from being deceived and also to give officials an opportunity to make suggestions.
All officials of the fifth rank and above in Bianjing could attend the morning court. There were so many people and so many things to say. If they were discussing some national affairs, wouldn't it be easy for information to leak out?
In addition to the morning court, every morning my father would summon the ministers and other important officials including the six ministers and vice ministers to discuss matters. This was called the inner court.
This is the parliament that truly discusses national affairs.
When the emperor said that he should attend court every day, he was referring to the morning court and the inner court.
As the crown prince, it was only a matter of time before Zhao Xing got involved in these things.
But he was not very interested in it. He had participated in it before, but his father told him to listen more, watch more and talk less.
To put it bluntly, he has no say at all, so what's the point of participating?
The official gave Zhao Xing a few more instructions and then sent him away.
Zhao Xing went to pay a visit to Empress Cao and his mother, chatted with them, and then left the palace.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
An official in his forties, wearing a scarlet official uniform, was waiting at the palace gate. When he saw Zhao Xing coming out, he stepped forward and bowed.
Zhao Xing felt a little headache when he saw the visitor, but he smiled and said, "Sima Tongzhi, please don't be polite."
Sima Guang now served as the fifth-rank Tongzhi Jianyuan and the sixth-rank Jiushisheren.
The former was responsible for giving suggestions and admonishing the officials on their words and deeds, while the latter was responsible for recording the officials' daily words and deeds.
The reason why Zhao Xing felt a headache when he saw Sima Guang was that he was as stubborn as Wang Anshi.
Compared with Wang Anshi, Sima Guang was not only stubborn but also very pedantic.
Before he was born, Sima Guang had written a letter to the emperor requesting that he be adopted by the royal family and made the crown prince.
This displeased his father, and even though the then Prime Minister Li recommended Sima Guang many times, Sima Guang still stayed in the local area for many more years because of this.
This is also for the imperial court, which is true.
But at the beginning of last year, a favored concubine in the harem passed away. The emperor was so sad that he posthumously conferred her an excessive title, and Sima Guang also wrote a letter to oppose it.
The person was dead, and posthumous honor was just a title. Other officials in the court did not object, but Sima Guang wrote a letter to oppose it, and listed a series of reasons, which made his father very angry.
This shows how pedantic he is.
Of course, although Sima Guang was pedantic, he was not only very capable, but also an honest official.
Now Sima Guang suddenly came to see him, and it seemed that he had been waiting for a long time. How could Zhao Xing not have a headache?
(End of this chapter)