Wang Anshi's Change of Law

Although he used some upright ministers like Fan Zhongyan and Bao Zheng, he did not have the determination to reform and the country became weaker and weaker. He had no son, and after his death, a son of the royal family became his successor, which was Song Yingling. Four years after his reign, King Yingzong fell ill and died. Prince Zhao Oh (pronounced xū)

became Emperor Shenzong of Song.

The reign of Song Shen Zong was only 20 years old and he was a young man who had a lot to do. He saw that the country was in bad shape and wanted to reform it, but the people around him were all old ministers from the reign of King Renzong, and even those who had supported the new government like Fubi had become dull. Song Shenzong thought, to reform the status quo, he had to find a competent assistant.

Before the reign of King Shen Zong, there was an official named Han Wei who often talked about some good ideas in front of him. When Shen Zong praised him, he said, "All these opinions were said by my friend Wang Anshi." Although Song Shenzong had never met Wang Anshi, he already had a good impression of Wang Anshi. Now he wanted an assistant and naturally thought of Wang Anshi, so he gave an order to transfer Wang Anshi, who was working as an official in Jiangning, to the capital.

Wang Anshi was a famous writer and politician of the Song Dynasty, a native of Linchuan, Fuchuan (west of Fuzhou, Jiangxi). When he was young, he wrote very well and was appreciated by Ouyang Xiu. Wang Anshi is twenty years old in the scholarship and has been on a few terms with local officials. He was a county official in Yin County (now Yin County, Zhejiang Province, Yin sound yìn), when it was a serious disaster there, the people's life is very difficult. Wang Anshi builds water conservancy and improves transportation, and governance in good order. Whenever there is a shortage of green and yellow season, the poor can not receive food rations, he will open the official warehouse and the grain loan to the farmers, and after the autumn harvest, they have to add the official interest to repay. By doing so, the peasants could no longer be exploited by the big landlords and powerful people, and their life was better.

Wang Anshi had been a local official for twenty years and his reputation was growing. Later, Song Emperor Renzong transferred him to the capital as an official to manage the finance. Once he arrived at the capital, he submitted a ten-thousand-word letter (a zheng) to Emperor Renzong, putting forward his ideas for reforming finance. Song Renzong had just abolished Fan Zhongyan's New Deal and got a headache when he heard about the reform, so he put Wang Anshi's petition aside. Wang Anshi knew that the court did not have the determination to reform and he could not get along with some ministers, so he took the opportunity of his mother's death to resign and go home.

This time, he received the order to be summoned by Emperor Shenzong of Song and heard that he was looking for talents, so he happily answered the summons to the capital.

As soon as Wang Anshi arrived at the capital, Song Shenzong asked him to come to the palace alone for a talk. As soon as he met him, Shen Zong asked him, "Where do you think we should start to govern the country?"

Wang Anshi replied calmly, "Let us begin by reforming the old laws and establishing a new legal system."

Song Shenzong asked him to go back and write a detailed reform proposal. After Wang Anshi went home, he wrote an opinion that night and sent it to King Shenzong the next day. Song Shenzong thought that Wang Anshi's opinions were to his liking and trusted him more and more. In 1069 AD, Song Shenzong promoted Wang Anshi to the position of vice-chancellor. At that time, there were four nominal chancellors in the court, some of them were sick and some were old. Some of them were not sick or old, but when they heard about the reform, they screamed in pain. Wang Anshi knew that he could not do great things with this group of people. With the approval of Emperor Shenzong of Song, he appointed a group of young officials and set up a body specializing in making new laws, and seized the right to change the law. In this way, he let go of his hands to carry out the reform.

The main contents of Wang Anshi's change of law were.