Which emperor is the cleanest in history?

Yongzheng dynasty-the cleanest era in feudal history

2006-6-7 14: 18:00

Emperor Kangxi, the predecessor of Yongzheng, personally created a "peaceful and prosperous time", which also left serious sequelae: official corruption, tax shortage and empty treasury. When Yongzheng took over, there were only eight million and two thousand in the national treasury, but the deficit was staggering. Yongzheng said: "Over the years, the treasury of the Ministry of Finance has lost millions, and I know it very well in the mansion." He also said, "Recently, many people in prefectures and counties are struggling for food." "There is a lack of money and food in the treasury, or as many as several hundred thousand recently." From this perspective, the Qing Empire is open and empty. It looks terrible outside, but it's empty inside. The emptiness of the national treasury also has a lot to do with it. How can the new emperor sit idly by?

However, the shortage of money and food is not just an economic problem. Where are the money and food that are in deficit everywhere? Yongzheng saw it clearly: either the boss blackmailed him or he profited from it, and the money of the household department was "borrowed" by the emperor and the dignitaries under the psychological control of "borrowing for nothing" (actually embezzling). With so many people coming to dig the corner of the country, what reason does the state treasury have not to lose money? It can be seen that the deficit is related to bureaucrats, and bureaucrats are related to systems. This is a series of sets. Every link in this chain is ambiguous. If we say that fighting the country depends on guns, we have to make up the deficit if we want to seize the money bag to rule the country. Bureaucratic corruption is the biggest corruption, so bureaucracy cannot be ignored. Since these two things are related to the system, the system cannot but be changed. Yongzheng saw all this clearly. Therefore, cleaning up the deficit has become a system reform for him. However, things have to start with cleaning up the deficit. This is the best breakthrough and a top priority.

On December 13th, the sixty-first year of Kangxi (A.D. 1722), just one month after the death of Emperor Kangxi, Yong Zhengdi ordered the Ministry to conduct a comprehensive inventory of the money and grain deficit. Yongzheng ignored his father's "bones are not cold" and wanted to fight the legacy left over, which shows his great determination and urgency. This is the first big battle after Yongzheng ascended the throne, which is related to the country and the throne. Once you return in vain, or give up halfway, not only will Yongzheng be discredited, but the country may also be shaken. Therefore, we can only win, we can't lose, we can only advance and we can't retreat. However, Yongzheng was full of confidence. Yongzheng's self-confidence is reasonable. He is really not a confused emperor, nor is he a brother. And compared with his father, Emperor Kangxi, he has another advantage, that is, he knows the situation. He knows all the tricks and tricks at all levels, and knows what bad habits and habits there are in officialdom. He is well aware that the lower level has always been "there are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom" for the higher level and local governments. The central government decree has bottomed out and will not be discounted. How can checking the deficit affect the vital interests of so many officials without studying countermeasures? All right, you study, I study. You have countermeasures, and I have more countermeasures. My countermeasure is: study your countermeasure first, and then introduce my policy. My policy is aimed at your countermeasures, see how many countermeasures you have! As a result, corrupt officials were caught off guard.

Yongzheng really knows the situation too well. He knows that if a corrupt criminal investigates his own corruption, it will never be discovered. Their boss is not feasible either. Because there are no corrupt criminals who don't curry favor with their bosses and don't give bribes and gifts to their bosses. If he didn't curry favor with the boss, or the boss didn't take bribes, how could he be today? I have already found out, impeached and dismissed. Even if his boss is innocent, he is not reliable. Because the local deficit is so serious and the greed for ink is so rampant, they actually have no action. There are only three situations: either unconscious officials are ignorant of the next situation; Either a mediocre official, knowing but afraid to report, or unable to picket; Either an asshole, in order to keep his official position and official voice, turned a blind eye to the following abuses, sheltered and connived, and engaged in "local protectionism." It's useless to rely on these people to check the deficit. So even if they have clean hands and feet, they can't rely on them. Yongzheng's countermeasure was to send an imperial envoy. These provincial or deputy ministerial commissioners are all directly under the central government and have nothing to do with local governments. They are all capable and honest officials. These people, who have no lessons from the past and no worries, are directly under the leadership of the emperor and will try their best if they don't try their best. Besides, these members are not a one-man army. Yongzheng transferred a large number of alternate counties from all over the country to the province to audit the accounts with the inspectors. Find out a corrupt official, immediately dismiss him on the spot, and choose an official at the same level from the investigation team to take over. This is a smart move, but also a malicious move. Because Yongzheng knows that officials protect each other, it is a stubborn disease in officialdom. Successive officials always fill in the holes for their predecessors, and then leave a large deficit to wipe the ass for their successors. This is one of the reasons why the deficit can never be made up. But this time it is my successor who will audit the accounts, and of course he will not cover for him. In this way, corrupt officials will have nowhere to escape, and they can only bow their heads and plead guilty and accept punishment. And because there is no successor to fill the hole for him, he certainly doesn't want to take the blame for his predecessor. Therefore, even his predecessor, even his predecessor, embezzled and misappropriated, can not escape the legal sanctions. Corrupt officials certainly don't want to give in easily. They also have a countermeasure, which is to borrow money to grow grain to make up for the deficit. This is also the old method: when the above-mentioned personnel want to audit the accounts, they borrow some money and food from local rich households and put them into the state treasury. The people above saw that there was a lot of money. As soon as the inspection team left, the money came back. Because it is borrowed by officials, the interest is high and I am not afraid of not paying it back. Besides, the rich don't want to offend the local officials, so this method works time and again. Unfortunately, this move did not escape Yongzheng's eyes. When Yongzheng sent special commissioners, he also greeted the people in this place first: no one can lend money to the government. You can borrow it. Since money and grain are all said to belong to the government, I think they belong to the state. You people who lend money to the government will never get your food back. This time, no one will lend money to corrupt officials Rich people don't want to offend officials, but they are even more afraid of offending the emperor. Besides, they don't want to give their money and food to the public for nothing. Another countermeasure of corrupt officials was crushed in advance by Yongzheng. However, this is only part of Yongzheng's series of countermeasures.

Another important move of Yongzheng was to set up the "Examination Institute". HKCEE is an independent verification audit institution, which was established on the 14th day of the first month of Yongzheng (A.D. 1723). Its task is to check and verify the money and food sales of central ministries and hospitals. Yongzheng knew that there were big loopholes in money and grain trading. First, when the provinces pay taxes or reimburse expenses to the household department, the household department will charge the household department fee, which is now called the "benefit fee" and "tea fee". If there is no "department fee", even if there is no problem with normal expenses, procedures or calculations, the household department is not allowed to sell it, or even refuses to pay taxes. On the contrary, if there are "departmental expenses", even millions of wastes will be written off. Second, ministries and hospitals sell their own money and food, and there is no supervision at all. This is also a long-standing problem, which has existed since ancient times. For example, when Harry was appointed as the governor of that day, the tax paid to the state treasury was rejected by the Ministry of Housing because there was no "departmental fee". Harry wrote to the head of the Ministry of Housing and asked them whether it was for public or private purposes. Knowing that Harry was not to be taunted, the housing department collected taxes. Harry is of course a local official, so it must be. Yongzheng is the head of the empire. How can you tolerate the greed of officials of the Ministry of Education? But he knows that it is useless to reason, do ideological work, and even set an example for others. The only way is to reform the system. As a result, there is a centralized audit institution, the Examination Institute. From then on, all localities have to pay taxes or reimburse expenses, and all ministries and hospitals have to pass the government review (inspection and verification), and no one can control it. The director of the Ministry can't be corrupt, and it is impossible for local officials to spend millions of losses. There are only three main ways for the ink collector to cover up the deficit and cope with the inspection: relying on the superior to cover up, borrowing money to pay the bill, and reimbursing the consumption tip. These three retreats were blocked by Yongzheng, and I have to admit it. But they also have a trick, that is, they call corruption embezzlement. This is the way to avoid the heavy and the light. We know that there are two reasons for the shortage of money and grain, namely, corruption and misappropriation. Although they all committed the king's law, the crime of corruption is heavy and the crime of misappropriation is light. What's more, misappropriation is sometimes a business trip, such as emergency disaster relief, temporary entertainment, dealing with superiors, etc. That is to say, the practice of "extenuating circumstances" in previous dynasties was to investigate corruption first and then misappropriation, leaving loopholes for corrupt officials. Yongzheng knew this disadvantage like the back of his hand. He said: "It is a consistent trick of corrupt officials to cover up their abuse of power in the name of relocation." If it is "hard to hide", the large amount is said to be misappropriation, and the small amount is said to be corruption, "in order to get rid of its felony." The result is that "inferior officers have nothing to fear, usually bully the weak and fear the hard, hoping to be implicated (reported) in the future, but they just close the case when they move, and they will not hurt their lives. They all regard the national law as a document and lose money for many days." Yongzheng, of course, could not let them succeed, so he did the opposite, checking embezzlement first and then corruption. Moreover, when making up the compensation, you must pay the corrupted part first and then the corrupted part, and you can't lose a penny. More importantly, regardless of corruption and misappropriation, every account must be checked clearly and cannot be confused. As a result, the last retreat of corrupt officials was blocked. Now Yongzheng can "close the door and beat the dog". There are also three ways to play: one is to dismiss an official, the other is to claim compensation, and the third is to seize property. The dismissal of officials is aimed at the so-called "staying in office to make up for losses". This is also the old method of past dynasties, that is, after finding out the deficit, ordering officials to make up for it within a time limit. However, which corrupt official will dig meat from himself to fill the gap? It must be to step up the exploitation of the people. As the saying goes, "Take it from the people, don't take it from the people, where do you come from?" As a result, the national treasury was enriched, but the people suffered greatly. Yongzheng wants to reform, not only to enrich the country, but also to strengthen the people, so that corrupt officials can't lose a penny, and ordinary people can't increase their burden. Therefore, his countermeasure is to dismiss first and then claim compensation. Of course, a dismissed official can no longer fish the people, but can only pay for himself and bleed himself. As for how these officials achieved that position, Yongzheng can ignore it. His view is: "What reason do I have to pity this greedy official?" This statement is also unambiguous. Is there any reason not to pay compensation for killing people, borrowing money and losing money to the state treasury? Yongzheng ordered that no matter who participated in the inventory, no loans would be granted. For example, the household department found a deficit of 2.52 million taels of silver. Yongzheng ordered ministers, assistant ministers, practitioners, principals and other officials to pay1520,000 yuan, and the rest1200,000 yuan was repaid by the Ministry year by year. Wang Yun, Yongzheng's own twelfth brother, was in charge of the internal affairs office. He didn't pay when chasing the deficit, so he had to sell utensils in the street. The emperor's closest relatives are still like this. Which official can acquiesce? Yongzheng also stipulated that it is strictly forbidden for anyone to advance or pay compensation. In the past, the memorial service was often paid by subordinates and ordinary people. As long as the court could recover the money, it often ignored where the money came from. However, Yongzheng disagreed. He said that even if the subordinate state officials and county officials have more money, they can only be used to benefit the local people. How can they return the stolen money to corrupt officials? As for the compensation for the sergeant, it is even worse. One is that local tyrants and evil gentry collude with the government and want corrupt officials to remain in power; Second, hooligans took the opportunity to collect money and extorted money in the name of paying debts for the Chief Executive. Therefore, Yongzheng explicitly prohibited it. His board must be firmly hit on the ass of corrupt officials. This is not only to recover compensation, but also for property. In August of the first year, Yongzheng adopted the suggestion of Qian Yigu, an official of the General Political Department: once the deficit officials are found out, their offices should be strictly searched, their original officials should be written, their property should be sealed up, their families should be monitored, and the sold property should be recovered, so as to prevent the possibility of transferring and hiding stolen money. Once the crimes of corrupt officials are verified, they will make clean copies of his family property, even the homes of their relatives and children. Yongzheng ordered: "Don't look at the feelings of the Japanese at all, ask the public for help. It must be strictly discussed. In the final analysis, it is only my intention to make his descendants poor. " As a result, the whole country is buzzing with the sound of property theft, and Yongzheng has also been dubbed the "property theft emperor", and even the poker table has a new way of playing: property theft and (pro-Hu). It seems that corrupt officials really only have a "dead end". Unfortunately, in the Yongzheng era, they didn't even have a "dead end". Yongzheng's policy is: never let him go! In the past four years, Li Bin, a Taoist priest in Guangdong, and Fan Tao, a Taoist priest in Fujian, committed suicide because of corruption and bribery. Yongzheng ordered to settle accounts with their children and families! Yongzheng pointed out that these guys know that they are sinful and difficult to protect themselves, so they want to die and deny it, sacrificing their lives to keep their property for future generations to enjoy. Because according to human nature, killing people is not excessive. Once a person dies, no matter how big the matter is, it must be solved. It's a pity that Yongzheng didn't buy this set, no matter what natural feelings, he didn't complain. What he wants to do must be done in place, and no one can take chances. Yes, fighting corruption doesn't even spare the dead, chasing poor bandits all the way to death. On the surface, it seems a little cruel. However, in the era of greed for ink, without such a cruel heart, the wind of corruption cannot be stopped.

Facts have proved that Yongzheng's series of policies and countermeasures have really dealt a heavy blow to corrupt officials, and the government bureaucracy has also been eliminated. Only five years after Yongzheng's anti-corruption, the national treasury has increased from 8 million to 50 million in the last year of Kangxi. More importantly, the social atmosphere has changed. The statement that "Yongzheng has no official" may be exaggerated, but it is a fair evaluation of Yongzheng's rule of the country.