Wang Mang, the founder of a new dynasty in Chinese history. He was an important member of the Wang family, a relative of the Western Han Dynasty, and in his youth, he was humble and thrifty, courteous and virtuous, and was praised as a model of morality.

The Wang family was a family of relatives who leaned towards the government and the opposition at that time, and the Wang family had nine marquis, five of whom served as the Great Sima, and it was the most noble family in the Western Han Dynasty. Most of the people in the clan are generals and marquis, who live extravagantly, and compare themselves with each other. Only Wang Mang is pure, simple in life, and humble. And he is diligent and studious, and his teacher Peijun Chen Shen learned the Analects.

Wang Mang served his mother and widowed sister-in-law, raised his brother's widowed son, and behaved strictly and carefully. He befriended the wise men externally and served his uncles internally, and was very thoughtful. Wang Mang was an outlier in this family, and almost all of them became moral models at that time, and soon became famous.

Later, he usurped the power of the Han Dynasty and was regarded as a model of hypocrites by later generations.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, social contradictions intensified unprecedentedly, and Wang Mang, who had the reputation of "the reincarnation of the Duke of Zhou", was regarded as the best candidate to save the Han Dynasty.

In 8 A.D., Wang Mang built a new Han Dynasty, he tried to alleviate social contradictions, and implemented a series of reforms, known as "Wang Mang's reform". However, the reforms did not save the crisis, but instead intensified social contradictions, and uprisings continued everywhere. In 23 AD, the rebels invaded Chang'an, Wang Mang was killed in the chaos at the age of 69, and the new dynasty became one of the short-lived dynasties in Chinese history.

In recent history, Wang Mang has been a controversial usurper.

Some say he's a thief, others say he's a hypocrite.

Saying that he is a chaotic minister and thief is nothing more than that he kicked the emperor and ascended the throne himself.

If this is considered a chaotic minister and thief, then what is the later Cao Pi Sun Quan Sima Zhao?

Some people also say that he is a hypocrite, when he was young, he was a corporal of Lixian, and won the support of the people and nobles, thinking that he was the Duke of Zhou in the dynasty, and Wang Mang was the only one in Zhongxing. But when he ascended to the throne, he began to tear through his disguise and do some dictatorial things.

This is not close to hypocrites, Cao Cao was also pinned on the world's hopes at that time to support the capable ministers of the Han family, but what happened later? It's not that he kicked Emperor Han Xian away, and his descendants became emperors.

History is written by the victors.

If Wang Mang succeeds in restructuring and the new dynasty continues, the history books of later generations will naturally write big books to praise and flatter, and there will be no 200-year history of Guangwu Zhongxing and the Eastern Han Dynasty.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, political corruption, extravagance in the imperial court, and local looting and exploitation. In addition, a large number of powerful landlords annexed land, which caused the people to be displaced, lived in hardship, and the economy withered, so people's hearts fluctuated and the political crisis intensified.

Since Wang Mang came to power, in order to win the hearts and minds of the people, he has adopted a series of policies to ease social contradictions and try to solve the problem fundamentally.

Looking at Wang Mang's new policy, he really wants to solve the problem fundamentally.

For example, Tianxiatian was renamed 'Wang Tian', and the Jingtian system was restored in the name of Wang Tian, and slaves and maids were renamed 'private belongings', and they were not allowed to buy or sell with Wang Tian. Subsequently, the currency system was repeatedly changed, the official system and official name were changed, and salt, iron, wine, coinage, and mountains, forests, and rivers were nationalized.

This was basically the prototype of the later Celestial Empire system.

If it can really be implemented smoothly, it will be a blessing to the society and the people at that time.

However, Wang Mang was a little too eager for quick success. Although these policies are good, they are very difficult to implement.

Take the Wangtian system as an example, his original intention was to collect the land under the heavens and then lease it to the people of the world, so that they could have land to cultivate and live and work in peace and contentment.

This is a good thing in the first place, but the means and methods are not correct when it comes to implementation.

First of all, most of the land belongs to the nobles and landlords, and if you take other people's land, they are naturally unwilling.

Therefore, after the introduction of the system, it was immediately fiercely opposed by the aristocracy and large landowners, and even the relatives of the Wang family and other people who originally supported him were opposed.

People support you Wang Mang, because they want to wait for you to get some benefits after you take the throne.

This benefit was not reaped, but it was a great loss.

Therefore, Wang Mang soon lost the support of the nobles and large landowners.

At that time, the influence of the imperial court was only at the county level, and below the county level was basically in the hands of large landlords and wealthy families. county

What do the common people know?

They didn't even know who the emperor was, so they began to riot under the bewitchment of these nobles and landlords.

This was the first mistake Wang Mang made.

In order to reform the system, regardless of whether they are friends or enemies, they offended all strata with one stick.

After the new policy was resisted, Wang Mang did not repent, and tried to enforce it through harsh punishments, so that countless princes, ministers, and even commoners were punished for serious crimes for violating the law, which exacerbated social unrest.

This was the second mistake he made.

There is no longer a seizure of absolute power before forcibly suppressing the opposition.

The people did not benefit from it, but suffered first, and various policies were changed day by day, so that the people and officials did not know what to do, which led to the dissatisfaction of all the powerful and common people in the world.

Since ancient times, where there is oppression, there has been resistance.

So, not long after the New Deal was implemented, a mighty uprising broke out.

As the so-called good deck of cards was broken by Wang Mang.

The new dynasty came to an end after more than ten years of existence, and Wang Mang himself died at the hands of the rebels.

So, he was a failed reformer.

To sum up, Wang Mang is a qualified speculator, but not a qualified politician, and his reforms and methods are full of idealism.

Since ancient times, reform has to shed blood, because you are harming the interests of others, and others will naturally stand up and fight with you.

This is not a problem that can be solved by drinking and having a meal.

Qin Shi Huang unified the six countries, abolished the feudal system, implemented the county system, and unified the written weights and measures.

Because he stood at the pinnacle of power, he killed those who opposed it.

Therefore, the essence of reform is not that you kill others, or that others kill you.

Obviously, Wang Mang did not have the means of Qin Shi Huang, and he did not do anything to others, but was killed by others.

Either Caesar or nothing!

The reform is completed, you are the Qin Emperor, Han Wu, Tang Sect, and Song Ancestor.

If the reform fails, you will be a rebel and a thief, and everyone will be punished. Either Caesar or nothing!

Nothing ends well for failed reformers.

The Shang Martingale reform method was cracked. King Wuling of Zhao was shot in Hufu and starved to death in solitary confinement. Wu Qi changed the law in the state of Chu and was killed by random arrows. Zhang Juzheng practiced a whipping method, and after his death, his home was raided, and his bones were scattered. The six gentlemen of Wuxu ordered to cut off the entrance of the vegetable market. Wang Anshi is one of the few lucky people, because Song Taizu's ancestors do not kill scholars.

Therefore, Wang Mang is a failed reformer, and his defeat is also a matter of course.

(End of chapter)