Yuan Day

During the reign of Renzong in the Northern Song Dynasty, redundant officials, redundant soldiers, and redundant expenditures eroded the country's foundation. There were endless border troubles externally, and people's livelihood was difficult internally. Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu and other far-sighted people were determined to innovate and implement the New Deal, hoping to help the world with their integrity. However, due to many obstacles, their ambitions were not realized, and it became an unfinished ideal tragedy. Over the past few decades, the old shortcomings have not been eliminated, and the country's fate has become worse. Until the ambitious Shenzong of the Song Dynasty came to the throne and decided to change things and save the day. This was the beginning of a Xining reform that swept the government and the public. When the new law came out, it was earth-shattering. Above the court, the old and the new clashed, and the clouds were treacherous. This was the era when the spirit of the scholar-bureaucrats in the Northern Song Dynasty was the most radiant and the most torn. Some people stick to their orthodoxy, some pledge their lives to the country, and some are in a dilemma between ideals and reality. Between the ups and downs of the New Deal, the struggle and glory of a generation of dynasties are described, as well as the eternal character of scholars serving their country despite the death of thousands of people.