Reform is imminent.
In fact, the situation at that time was not optimistic. According to the land policy cited by Zhao Yi in Historical Records of the Twenty-second in Qing Dynasty, in Song Renzong, the national fiscal revenue was 39 million, and the expenditure was13 million, accounting for one third of the income. During Song Yingzong's Pingzhi period, the national fiscal revenue was 44 million, and the expenditure was 8.8 million, accounting for one fifth of the revenue. During the period of Zongshen Xining, although the income reached 50.6 million, the expenditure was also 50.6 million, accounting for 100% of the income. So, isn't Zhao Yong's national treasury empty?
There are many reasons for the increase in expenditure. According to the history of Song Dynasty, there are three main reasons. First, Liao Xia threatened to fight for a long time and increase the annual fee. This article actually includes two items, namely "military expenditure" and "annual expenditure". The so-called "annual fee" is the money that Dasong bought peace for Liao and Xixia every year. The money is not only given every year, but also increasing. There is nothing we can do about it, unless we can destroy Liao and Xixia. But the Song Dynasty obviously didn't have this ability, so it's lucky that they didn't destroy it. But the peace bought is not reliable, so the military expenditure is increasing just like the annual expenditure.
Second, recruit soldiers, spread the imperial clan and increase the number of officials. There is nothing you can do about it, because you can't stop the population growth, and you can't stop relatives and grandchildren from having children. Therefore, we have to increase management personnel and institutions accordingly, and increase positions and official positions. As a result, "Lu Yu was given, thus being lenient."
The third issue is the system. In the Song Dynasty, it was an independent system of Zhongshu, Jimi and Sanshi. Zhongshu is the province of Zhongshu, in charge of administration; Parliament is the Privy Council, in charge of the military; These three departments are the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Salt and Iron and the Ministry of Finance. According to the Records of the History of Song Dynasty, Fan Zhen, an admonition official, saw the problem of this system as early as the years from Song Renzong to Hehe. Fan Shu said, "The Chinese book is for the people, the Council is for the soldiers, and the three books are for money. They don't know each other." As a result, the national treasury has long been empty, but the Privy Council is still recruiting (money is already in short supply and the Privy Council is benefiting from the soldiers); The people are already poor, and the Ministry of Finance is still blackmailing them (the people are already sleepy, and the three companies are still making money). Zhongshu province knows the situation of the people, but it can't stop the conscription of the Privy Council and the accumulated disadvantages of the Ministry of Finance. Of course there is no way. Because this system was originally designed to reduce relative power and strengthen imperial power, which emperor would change it?
In fact, the growth of national fiscal revenue has its own problems. From Huang You to Xining, the fiscal revenue has increased by more than 12% in just 20 years. Under the conditions at that time, how could the economic growth be so fast? It is obviously caused by increasing the burden on the people. The growth rate of expenditure is even more problematic, reaching more than 38%! How can the dynasty make ends meet to support itself?
Besides, Zongshen is still a man with extraordinary ambitions. From an early age, he was saddened by the humiliation and concession to Liao and Xixia, worried about the tight national finance and the depression of the imperial court, and wanted to make his dynasty strong overnight. He said to his courtiers many times, "There are many evils in the world, and we must reform them." He also said that "the country's heavy weapon, financial management first, talent first." The question is, where can I find people who dare to reform and are good at managing money?
He thought of Wang Anshi.
Make a hero twice.
Wang Anshi didn't lie. As long as there is no preconceived prejudice, it is not difficult to see that his new law is not only reasonable but also feasible. Wang Anshi's new laws can be divided into four categories. First, the relief for rural areas, such as the young crops law and the water conservancy law; The second is to manage finance, such as the square field method and the tax equalization method; Third, give consideration to both, such as exemption method, market exchange method and lose-lose method; Fourth, rectify the military equipment, such as setting the general law, armor law, horse protection law and so on. If these new laws are not distorted and enforced, and Qiang Bing, a rich country that the emperor yearns for so much, reviving the Chaogang will no longer be a dream.
Let's say immunity law.
The immunity law is a reform aimed at the law on officers. Officers are also called forced labor, corvee and public office, which is actually voluntary labor. This is a collection (money and food) other than tax. The original intention may be to make up for the deficiency of the low tax system, or it may be that people can't afford so much money and food, so they use their own labor instead. But in this way, in order to ensure the operation of the state machine, the people not only have to pay (tax), but also contribute (corvee), which is really unbearable. In fact, there are too many kinds of forced labor in Song Dynasty. There are campaigns to keep public property, collect taxes, catch thieves, send messengers, and so on. People are naturally bored. But this is not the most troublesome. The trouble is, as the Book of Food in the History of Song Dynasty says, "There is a difference between work and rest, and there are differences between people who are strong and weak and rich and poor." Therefore, if they bear this burden for a long time, they will "breed traitors." Whether the rich and powerful gentry families do light service or not, the burden falls on the poor without complaint. These people are usually busy with productive labor all day, and there is no livelihood if they serve too much. Therefore, in order to avoid heavy labor, ordinary people "dare not plow more land, but avoid households (for fear of being rated as large households);" The flesh and blood dare not gather together, fearing the population (for fear of being rated as a crowded household). "They" or widowed mothers remarried and their relatives separated; Or abandon fields and people, so as not to be superior; If you don't want to die, you will be single-minded (single-minded) "; Even desperate, "as a last resort to be a thief. "This is of course very unfavorable to agricultural production and social stability.
Wang Anshi's method is to change "dispatch service" into "wage service", that is, the people turn their due service into "exemption money" and give it to the government, which hires people to serve. This has three advantages. First, farmers do not contribute and do not delay production; Second, it is fair for everyone to contribute (half of the official households and temples that are not in service are called "service money"); Third, people who are too busy make time, while idle people in society have an extra chance to live, killing two birds with one stone. Therefore, when the exemption law was abolished and the servant law was restored, even the so-called "old party" people disagreed. Su Shi said that exemption from service and officers have their own advantages and disadvantages. I'm afraid it's not easy to call the police suddenly. Fan Chunren also said that officers should go slow. This shows that this method is popular.
In fact, the exemption method was the best method that could be thought of at that time. Of course, the cure is to completely eliminate forced labor. However, this is impossible. When we can think of using hired labor instead of dispatched labor and using spare money instead of service labor, we have to marvel at Wang Anshi's advanced concept. Because this way is expressed in modern language as "monetized service", which is similar to today's "monetized housing distribution", but their purposes are different, but their ideas are surprisingly consistent.
It seems that Wang Anshi's reform plan is not impulsive, but the result of careful consideration. This is quite scientific, at least in theory. The determination of the highest authorities is also great. For this reason, a leading institution for reform, namely, the Legal Department of the Third Division, has been set up, which is similar to the State Commission for Economic Restructuring. A few days later, the equal loss law, the young crop law, the water conservancy law, the exemption law, the easy market law, the square field law, the even tax law, the armor protection law and the horse protection law were promulgated one after another, and a major reform movement related to the rise and fall of the national movement and the obedience of the people was rolled out throughout the country.
However, neither Song Shenzong nor Wang Anshi expected that this reform would not only encounter many obstacles, but also be a complete failure.
Three tit for tat
The number one person who opposes political reform is Sima Guang.
Sima Guang is not an idle person. His article is moral enough to compete with Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi lived a simple life, and Sima Guang didn't like luxury (smelling banquets without flowers); Wang Anshi, a gifted scholar, Sima Guang learned (author of Zi Tongzhi Jian); Wang Anshi Zhongjun and Sima Guang are concerned about the country and the people; Wang Anshi is brave and resourceful, and Sima Guang dares to speak; Wang Anshi appeared in the book of thousands of words, and Sima Guang also appeared in the book of three sons (one on monarch's virtue, the other on imperial envoys, and the third on selecting soldiers). It can be seen that Sima Guang and Rainbow have been paying attention to and thinking about the destiny and future of the country since Anshi. One thing is the same, that is, they are neither empty theorists nor nerds. When dealing with specific political affairs, we can always come up with operable methods. In the first year of Bao, Emperor Taizong Pang Ji greeted Bing and appointed Sima Guang as the general. At that time, the fertile land in Hexi was often eroded by Xixia, which threatened Hedong. Sima Guang suggested building castles in Linzhou and recruiting farmers to cultivate these fertile fields. In this way, not only land-lost farmers have obtained land, but also the country's border defense has been strengthened. When farmers farm more, food prices will drop, which will stabilize the prices in Hedong and avoid transporting rations from a distance, killing two birds with one stone. Such a plan of "opening up wasteland and guarding the frontier" can also be compared with some new laws of Wang Anshi. So Sima Guang and Wang Anshi are both pillars of the country. The two of them are fighting with each other. That's really diamond cut diamond. He will meet the right person.
But this is only in terms of the so-called old and new party leaders. It is out of proportion to say that they are "guerrillas". Wang Anshi is mostly a villain here, such as his right-hand man Lv Huiqing. Lv Huiqing, promoted by Wang Anshi, worked in the Legal Department of the Third Division at the beginning of the reform, and was the "Standing Committee" or even the "Executive Deputy Director" of the State Commission for Economic Restructuring. Later, together with Han Jiang, another important figure of the New Party, he served as Wang Anshi's "two generals". At that time, he called Han Jiang the "Shaman who preached the law" and Lv Huiqing the "patron saint" of the new law. But it was this Lv Huiqing who, in order to monopolize power for himself, fell down when Wang Anshi was in trouble and framed Wang Anshi for participating in the rebellion. It's a pity that this accusation is ridiculous. After Wang Anshi was dismissed from office, he took another photo. Lv Huiqing died unsatisfied and threw out some personal letters written by Wang Anshi. When writing these letters, Wang Anshi wrote the words "Don't let the emperor know" out of his trust in Lv Huiqing. This is suspected of deceiving the monarch, which is more serious than Hu Feng's private letters. Wang Anshi knew that he couldn't stay in Beijing any longer, so he resigned from his official position and bid farewell to politics. Isn't this Lv Huiqing a villain?
The old Party was full of talented people. Sima Guang, Ouyang Xiu and Su Dongpo are all heavyweights. The rest, such as Wen Yanbo, Han Qi and Fan Chunren, are also temporary choices. More importantly, they are also reformists. For example, Tang Yanbo once risked his life to reform the military system with Pang Ji, Sima Guang's mentor. Han Qi and Fan Chunren's father, Fan Zhongyan, promoted the "New Deal" of the Qing Dynasty in Song Renzong. Moreover, in a sense, Fan Zhongyan's New Deal is a prelude to Wang Anshi's political reform. In fact, as Chen Liang of the Southern Song Dynasty said, celebrities in that period were all "always suffering from the same law", and no one was conservative. But once Wang Anshi came to power, they could not be reformists, but only conservatives.
Then, what is the difference between the old and new parties, both reformists, who want to refresh politics?
In motivation and effect.
Wang Anshi is a motivational supremacist. In his view, as long as there is good motivation and perseverance, there will be good results. Therefore, in the face of repeated heckling by the ministers of the DPRK, Wang Anshi gritted his teeth and never let go: "Heaven is not enough to fear, people are not enough to speak, and the laws of the ancestors cannot be kept." This is his famous "three noes". Wang Anshi even threatened: "When the world doesn't know me, the world will thank me later." With this belief, he is confident, confident and fearless.
Indeed, Wang Anshi's political reform is characterized by arbitrariness and recklessness. In the fourth year of Xining (A.D. 107 1), Han Wei, the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, reported that some people in China had "cut their fingers and wrists" in order to escape the Garbo law. Song Shenzong asked Wang Anshi, and Wang Anshi replied dismissively that it was unreliable. Even if it is reliable, it is not a big deal! Those literati still can't understand the new law, let alone ordinary people! Even Zongshen felt that this was too much, so he said euphemistically, "When people talk together and listen, they win, so they must not be afraid." But Wang Anshi obviously disagreed. In his view, even the opinions of literati can be ignored, and what public opinion and popular support are even more insignificant! Even if the people's interests suffer some losses, it is only the cost of reform. These costs must be paid, so they can be ignored.
The funds needed to implement the young crops law are not a problem. Because there are often closed positions and wide positions everywhere. As we know, the agricultural empire is based on agriculture, with grain as the key link, and agricultural production depends on the weather, and the annual harvest is different. In good years, poor grain hurts farmers, and in bad years, poor grain hurts people, all by the government to stabilize prices. In other words, the government must take out a sum of money to buy grain at a low price, deposit it in the official grain depot, and then sell it to the people at a low price when the grain is expensive in the disaster year. This can prevent wealthy profiteers from hoarding and speculating. "Prices are always flat, and public and private benefits." This method is called Changping method; A warehouse dedicated to storing grain and stabilizing prices is called continuous liquidation. In modern times, it belongs to the head of the grain department and the price department.
As for Guanghui Warehouse, it is the national grain reserve for disaster prevention and relief, which was built in the second year of Song Renzong Jiayou (AD 1057). At that time, due to the death of landlords and other reasons, some ownerless land appeared in various places. These lands have always been sold by the government itself. Han Qi, an envoy of the Tang Dynasty, suggested that the land should be cultivated by the government, and the land rent should be earmarked for the relief of the elderly, the sick and the disabled in China. This is Guanghui Warehouse. In modern times, it belongs to the head of the civil affairs department.
Wang Anshi's method is to change the "Changping method" to the "young crop method", that is, in the case that the money is not paid, the money from selling old rice in Changping warehouse and Guanghui warehouse is used as a "mortgage loan". This is also killing two birds with one stone. When green and yellow crops don't meet, food prices soar, and selling Chen Gu in the warehouse can stabilize prices. The proceeds from grain sales can be used for loans, and secondly; Cheap food and mortgage loans can help farmers, third; This is the fourth country that can get interest. Of course, it is also one of the benefits to curb profiteers and the rich and reduce the burden on farmers. In short, the interest on young crops loans is low and farmers can afford it; The old grain sold in the warehouse is not a heavy burden for the country. Besides, the government lending surplus grain can solve the urgent needs of farmers; Recovering interest after autumn can increase the capital of the dynasty treasury. Isn't this public and private? No wonder Wang Anshi boasted that I could increase the national treasury income without raising taxes.
However, the result of actual operation is extremely terrible.
First of all, the interest is not low. Wang Anshi's standard is an annual interest rate of two cents, that is, a loan of 10 thousand, a loan period of one year, and interest of two thousand. This is actually very high, and prices have to be raised everywhere. The local practice is to issue a loan once in the spring and recover it after half a year, with a profit of two points. In the autumn, another loan was issued, which was recovered after half a year, and then the interest was divided into two points. As a result, the loan was 10 thousand, with a term of one year and interest of 4 thousand. Low-interest loans, which should fully consider the interests of farmers, have become a kind of usury monopolized by the government. And because of the different implementation, the interest rate in some places is as high as 35 times that of the original set!
Not to mention the high interest rate, the procedure is still troublesome. In the past, farmers borrowed money from landlords, and the two sides agreed on the price. To borrow money from the government now, you have to apply first, then examine and approve, and finally repay the loan. All formalities need people to entrust them with "benefits" for small officials. Every time I go through a procedure, I am exploited and blackmailed by corrupt officials. This is still a simple procedure. If it's a little cumbersome, I don't even know how to pay! How much hair can farmers bear their pull?
What is even more frightening is that in order to implement the New Deal, Wang Anshi issued loan indicators to all parts of the country, stipulating how much each state and county must borrow each year. In this way, local officials have to apportion it rigidly. Of course, at the same time of apportioning at different levels, we also increase the price as usual. As a result, not only the poor peasants go down to the middle peasants, but also the rich peasants, rich peasants and landlords have to be "ordered to lend". It is impossible not to lend because the loan has been "legislated". It is illegal not to borrow!
As a result, the burden on ordinary people increased and the income of local officials increased. Moreover, their rent-seeking has another banner, which can be corrupted in the name of reform. Reform contributed to corruption, which was probably unexpected by Wang Anshi, right?
Therefore, don't think that corrupt officials are afraid of reform. No, they are not afraid of reform, nor are they afraid of not reforming. They are afraid that nothing will happen, nothing will be done, nothing will be done. If they do nothing, they have no reason and no way to make money. On the contrary, as long as the court has an action, they have a way, regardless of whether it is reform or something else. For example, if the court wants to recruit soldiers, it will collect conscription fees; If they want to eliminate pornography, they have to charge; To run a school, they charge tuition; If they want to suppress bandits, they will be charged a fee. Anyway, as long as the above command, they will take the opportunity to pull the goose!
Besides, the direct purpose of this reform is to increase the national fiscal revenue. At best, such reform is called financial management, at worst, it can only be called convergence. We know that the gross national product was basically a constant under the conditions at that time. Wealth lies not in the country, but in the people. There is more money in the state treasury, but less money for ordinary people. After the political reform, 32 new warehouses in Zongshen were full of silk knots and had to be rebuilt. But where did this wealth come from? Did it fall from the sky? Does it grow from the ground? Obviously not. As Sima Guang said, "If you don't take the people, how can you take them?" ?
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the so-called conservatives advocate gradual reform or even temporary non-reform. According to the Records of the History of Song Dynasty and Grain Goods, at the beginning of the reform, Sima Guang clearly pointed out to Zongshen: "The country is under-used, the expenditure is too extravagant, the reward is not festival, there are many imperial families, redundant official positions and the army is not refined." Obviously, these are political issues, not economic issues or technical issues. Therefore, reform must be a systematic project, and of course it can only be discussed from a long-term perspective (even in our view, these problems cannot be solved at all). No wonder Sima Guang said, "Your Majesty, ministers of the two dynasties and officials of the three dynasties must think deeply about the art of saving the disadvantages and hone it with time to be effective. A stupid minister can't cut them down overnight. " Is there any reason why a brave man like Wang Anshi can't fail?
Why does reform contribute to corruption?
As mentioned above, the original intention of many new laws of Wang Anshi is to give consideration to both public and private interests. This is the case with the young crop method, as well as the simple market method and the equal loss method. In the fifth year of Xining (A.D. 1072), a civilian named Wei Jizong wrote that the prices of Shi Jing department stores are unpredictable, rich profiteers take the opportunity to control them, and profiteers run rampant, and the victims are naturally ordinary people. Therefore, he suggested setting up "Changping Yi Shi" to manage the market. Buy at a higher price when the price is low, and sell at a lower price when the price is high. This is the reason why cities change laws. The specific method is to set up the "Yishi Company" by the imperial court and allocate one million yuan to control commercial trade. This method, like Changping Law, also uses state power to stabilize prices. Of course, "Yi Shi Company" does not specialize in losing money, but it also makes profits, but it is not profiteering. For example, a rich profiteer buys a penny and sells it, while "Yi Shi" buys a penny and sells it. Although the profit is not too much, it can also fill the national treasury. Coupled with the government's deep pockets and market control, price fluctuations will not be too great.
The purpose of the lose-lose method is also good. We know that during the dynasty, local governments sent property to the central government every year for the necessary needs of the country, which is called "loss". Of course, the variety and quantity of transportation have certain rules. This has disadvantages. For example, in the same place, sometimes the years are good and sometimes the years are not good; The same thing is expensive in some places and not expensive in some places. This is normal. However, according to the old method, it is not allowed to change the variety and quantity of transportation in good years and bad years, which is of course unreasonable. Wang Anshi's method is to change "shipping" into "lose-lose", that is, to allocate 5 million yuan (plus 3 million stone meters) as the basis, and the "shipping envoys" appointed by the court will co-ordinate the supply of goods, so as to "move expensive and easy to approach, that is, buy things in cheap places". The surplus materials in the national treasury are sold to high-priced areas by "shippers". In this way, there will be a price difference between the two ends, and the extra money will become another income of the state finance.
This method can also be said to change "local tribute" into "central procurement", and the concept is advanced enough. But in this way, the so-called "shipping government" has become the largest state-owned enterprise and a monopoly enterprise. In fact, the problem of young crops is also here. Young crops method is yamen or bank, and market change method is yamen, shop or bank. Because "Yi Shi Company" not only does business, but also lends money. Businessmen can use property as collateral, and five people can guarantee each other, borrow money from "Yi Shi Company" or buy goods on credit, with an annual interest of two cents. Therefore, the government offices in Yi Shi and Shipment and the state and county governments that issue young crops loans are both government offices and enterprises (companies or banks).
Now, almost everyone in China knows what will happen if government departments run enterprises. What's more, Wang Anshi's method is not that government departments run enterprises, but that the government does business directly. The result can only be to open the door for corruption. Su Shi, who was promoted as an agent in Kaifeng at that time, said that the lose-lose approach had many disadvantages: "Books are too expensive, because the fees are already thick", for one thing; "If it is not good, it will not be sold. If it is not a bribe, it will not be sold." This is the second one. Therefore, the "official price" must be expensive for the people. And selling it, the disadvantages are not as good as before. " Therefore, he asserted that the imperial court was afraid that even the capital could not be recovered! Even if it is "thin", it will not be more than taxing businessmen.
There is no doubt about it. Because we know better than anyone what "officials fall off the horse" is, we all know what official (government or state-owned enterprises) procurement is. That's really not the right thing to buy. Just buy expensive ones, not brands (not bad ones) or kickbacks (not bribes). So it is not surprising that official procurement is more expensive than private procurement. As for official business, it is even more harmful. In fact, the so-called "Yi Shi Company" later became the biggest profiteer. Their task, originally to buy unsalable goods, is actually to snap up tight materials. Because only in this way can they achieve the profit targets issued by the court, and they can also profit from them and enrich themselves. Obviously, at this point, the so-called "conservatives" are actually right: commercial trade can only be a private matter. Officials and businessmen are bound to bring disaster to the country and the people.
The same is true of the problem of young crops law. Young crops law is not bad, but it should not be borrowed by the government. It is not difficult to imagine that if there were a number of competitive commercial banks to issue loans and independent judicial and civil courts to solve economic disputes at that time, but the courts only carried out macro-control (for example, stipulating that the interest should not exceed two points), the implementation of the Young Crops Law would never make the world angry, and people's grievances would boil, and corrupt officials could not turn the reform into an opportunity for corruption.
In fact, not only loans, but also taxes can be handled in this way. Even though China has implemented a low tax system in past dynasties, it is also very impressive because of its large population. These taxes include money and things, but if they are taken from the people, they may not be used by the people or even by the court. In the last years of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty, the copper coins hidden in the imperial court accumulated to one million, and the string of money was rotten, and the scattered money was left unattended everywhere. The grain hidden in the imperial court, old and new, has nowhere to pile up, so it has to be left moldy. Song Shenzong relies on Wang Anshi's new method to enrich Qiang Bing. The 32 warehouses in the Inner Temple are all silk knots, and the warehouses are rebuilt. Isn't it more prosperous to leave so much money to the bank? So much grain and silk, if put into market circulation, wouldn't it enrich the people? Once there is a problem, it will be tried by the court. Is it not more efficient and worry-free?
But this is completely impossible. Because many competitive commercial banks and independent judicial and civil courts can only be the products of commercial society, the agricultural empire is unheard of and unimaginable. This is like an unimaginable system in which the ruling and opposition parties take turns to sit in the village and supervise each other. As a result, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, who used to be good friends, had to become irreconcilable opponents and finally fell into endless and fruitless arguments. One was labeled as "Xifeng villain" and the other was denounced as "Yuan You traitor" by later generations.
Along with Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, there is also the Dasong Dynasty. Shortly after the death of Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi (A.D. 1085, A.D. 1086), there was a "difficulty in getting well-being" (A.D. 1 127), as the saying goes, "Song people are undecided, Jin people have passed". From Xining political reform to the subjugation of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was only fifty or sixty years before and after. Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi not only failed to save the decline of the dynasty, but accelerated its demise.
In fact, it may be more tragic that Sima Guang. Because although Wang Anshi was "dead before he could conquer", he can still be "the hero cried on their coats from now on". Sima Guang, on the other hand, can only bear the stigma of being "conservative" and "die-hard", and is even called "the most brainless person". Yes, Sima Guang's Zi Tongzhi Jian is really different from Sima Qian's Historical Records, and this Sima is also different from Peter Sima. However, Sima Guang is by no means brainless, or even "conservative" or "die-hard". Even so, if we can let him criticize and supervise Wang Anshi as an opposition party under the stage, can't we correct some mistakes of Wang Anshi? In fact, if Wang Anshi's reform can be stabilized, wouldn't it make people's grievances boil like that? Du Mu's "Epang Palace Fu" finally said: "Qin people can't help but mourn for themselves, and later people mourn for it. Future generations mourn without learning lessons, and let future generations mourn for future generations! " Similarly, if we only know how to draw a clear line with political attitude (whether to reform or not) and criticize history and historical figures on the moral level, but we don't know how to take the success or failure of that reform more than 900 years ago as a warning, it will be really sad!