In the seventh year of the Qingli era of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jiangnan region was plagued by continuous rain, lasting from March to September. Crops in the fields failed completely, affecting 127 counties. Rice prices soared; by October, they had risen from the original 400 wen per dan to 1,500 wen, leaving the common people in utter misery.
Officials in various prefectures of Jiangnan requested aid from the imperial court while simultaneously cracking down hard on price gouging and punishing profiteering merchants. Once someone was found inflating rice prices, they faced severe punishment: light offenses resulted in confiscation of property and conscription into military service, while serious offenses led to immediate execution. Through these thunderous measures, rice prices in Jiangnan finally stabilized, remaining around 500 wen per dan.
However, in a remote coastal county called Yin County (present-day Ningbo), a highly unconventional magistrate not only refrained from suppressing rice prices but issued an official document mandating, in the government's name, that rice prices within Yin County be set at 3,000 wen per dan!
This bold magistrate was none other than the historically renowned Wang Anshi.
Immediately, public outrage erupted throughout Ningbo, especially among ordinary citizens, who cursed the most vehemently. Due to the high rice prices, many families could only subsist on porridge. Rice merchants, on the other hand, celebrated and made huge profits. They promptly sent silver and gold to Wang Anshi as a gesture of gratitude. Wang accepted every offering without refusal. Occasionally, if merchants from other regions forgot to present gifts, Wang would send his clerk to collect them.
Lü Xianggao, the then-prefect of Hangzhou, upon hearing this, was furious. However, because the Wang family had generations of high-ranking officials and considerable influence, and because Wang Anshi himself was a nationally recognized scholar and literary leader, Lü temporarily refrained from taking action. He thought to himself: "Wait until Ningbo descends into chaos, then I'll deal with Wang Anshi! That way, I won't earn the reputation of being jealous of talent and intolerant."
Unexpectedly, due to consecutive years of severe drought in the Shaanxi region, the imperial court had been providing relief for many years. Now, with the treasury depleted, it was powerless to assist Jiangnan with the flood disaster. By March of the following year, there was virtually no rice left for sale on the Jiangnan market. On the black market, rice prices reached 5,000 wen per dan, yet often there was no supply despite the price. Large numbers of starving people emerged; many families fled their homes, and daily, many died of hunger. The once picturesque Jiangnan region became a scene of widespread suffering and desolation.
In stark contrast, within Ningbo, grain supplies were abundant, and the people lived in stability. As merchants from all over the country heard that rice prices in Ningbo were high and profitable, they rushed to transport rice there. Although Ningbo's residents quickly exhausted their life savings, there were almost no cases of starvation. For families unable to afford rice, Wang Anshi provided silver for relief.
Later, as rice stocks in Ningbo accumulated and supply gradually exceeded demand, merchants, having already transported the rice, found it impractical to take it back and were forced to lower prices locally. Rice prices slowly dropped back to 1,500 wen per dan.
Compared to other parts of Jiangnan, Ningbo was practically a utopia.
The reason was that Jiangnan differed from impoverished regions like Shaanxi and Gansu. It had always been prosperous, rich in fish and rice, and highly developed in commerce. Ordinary families, over decades, had accumulated modest savings. Thus, when faced with a famine, people primarily needed food. Even with high rice prices, by being frugal, they could endure for a year or so.
Only then did Lü Xianggao realize that Wang Anshi truly had remarkable strategies—he was indeed brilliant. He immediately commended Wang Anshi and issued an order across Jiangnan to raise grain prices to 3,500 wen per dan.
Merchants, upon hearing this, were greatly encouraged. They exerted all their efforts, using horses, donkeys, and waterways, to transport rice from all over the country to Jiangnan. The people of Jiangnan exhausted their wealth, but ultimately survived this crisis.
After this incident, Wang Anshi's reputation soared, and he rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming a celebrated minister of the Northern Song Dynasty.
(Huang Yu, excerpted from "Niu Cheng Evening News," November 11, 2009)