Excerpted from Yongzheng, the Great Reformer-A Record of the Opposition of Interest Groups

Author: Mei

Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty believed that a person should be honest and upright in order to uphold justice. To this end, Yong Zhengdi warned officials: "Take good behavior as an example, take greed as a warning ... Honesty is the foundation of being an official. Therefore, anyone in an official position must take his own integrity as the foundation in order to be a good official. "

Yong Zhengdi cherishes honest and clean officials. Li Wei, the governor of Zhejiang Province, is famous for his strictness and incorruptibility. Yong Zhengdi once wrote the inscription "Diligence and Honesty". Li Wei doesn't quite agree with the habit of officialdom. He doesn't care, isn't selfish, doesn't avoid powerful people, and has offended many powerful people. These people colluded to tell tales. Yong Zhengdi had a good idea. He pointed out that Li Wei was rude and arrogant, but he was an upright man. "I think he is honest and brave." In order to save the past and follow the rules, we should regard national politics as a decadent ear outside the film! "

Although Yong Zhengdi attaches great importance to honest officials, he will also make a concrete analysis of them. He said: an official, no matter how good his character is, is just a puppet, and can't play a role in governing the world and helping the people. The magistrate of Wuqiao, Zhili, is always happy, clean and quiet, and there is nothing wrong with him, but he is timid and cowardly, so that many things in the local area have been delayed for a long time and it is difficult to improve his work. Li, the governor of Zhili, wanted to promote Chang Sanle from the position of county magistrate, but the official department thought Chang Sanle had no bad record and refused to approve it. After Yong Zhengdi knew it, he unequivocally pointed out that Chang Sanle was incompetent as an official, which was dereliction of duty and should be dismissed. Therefore, Yong Zhengdi not only requires officials to be honest and clean, but also requires them to be knowledgeable. In order to build an efficient team of officials, Yong Zhengdi also ordered civil and military officials to recommend talents.

Yong Zhengdi demands that officials must be incorruptible, but at the same time he also opposes that some officials pursue fame and fortune in the name of incorruptibility. To this end, he pointed out: "taking it properly does not hurt integrity, and using it properly does not involve abuse." You have to cut people, and you don't need to stir up and sell them. "

In other words, it is not cheap for officials to take the money they should take, and it is not abuse to use the money they should use. Therefore, we can neither exploit ordinary people nor pretend to be honest.

Officialdom, there is indeed a phenomenon of making money. The word "fame and fortune" was very popular in the Qing Dynasty. In this regard, Yong Zhengdi made an incisive analysis: "The so-called famous person is also an official; The so-called real people, goods and wealth. " He further pointed out: "Today's official, the fish is famous, the fat family is true, and the cloud name is true." In other words, these bureaucrats, who accept both name and reality, seem to be fair and loyal, and their ethics seem to be honest and selfless, but in fact they are good at making profits. They don't pay attention to their people's livelihood responsibilities. They meet their superiors specially, even meet secretly, ask for help privately, and take it by surprise, which is very miraculous. As a result, it not only gained benefits, but also won a good reputation, which can be described as fame and fortune.

In order to effectively build a clean government, Yong Zhengdi set an example and called on ministers to advocate frugality with practical actions. Yong Zhengdi is always light, and the "imperial meal" is often a few simple vegetarian dishes, such as fried bean sprouts and a bowl of brown rice. Pick up every fallen grain and eat it, while the untouched food will be put back in the pot and heated before eating. Even Li Jue lamented that the emperor was too "poor", but Yong Zhengdi smiled faintly: "I am as rich as an enemy, and I am as expensive as ever. Why can't I ask for something? Why can't I eat? From frugality to luxury, from luxury to frugality! " Yong Zhengdi has never been to chengde mountain resort, nor has he been to Jiangnan. Even if he wants to go to the ancestral tomb, he doesn't agree to put too many temporary facilities along the way, and spending a little money is considered a luxury. In addition, he also strongly disapproved of the rare treasures presented by ministers. On the contrary, he believes: "It is better to benefit the people than to sacrifice rare treasures; Recommend a useful talent, it is better to recommend a treasure of Gong Liancheng. "

It should be said that Yong Zhengdi was indeed an enterprising emperor. He will do what he orders and stop what he forbids. During his thirteen years in office, he made great efforts to govern and carried out unique reforms in all aspects of governance, and achieved certain results. In particular, he resolutely cracked down on corruption, advocated a clean government, and rectified the bureaucracy. To a certain extent, he got rid of the bureaucratic malpractice left over from the late Kangxi Dynasty, and fired the first shot of "Yongzheng changed the yuan and made a political comeback", which laid a good foundation for the early development of Qianlong.

Severely punish corrupt officials and be resolute.

Yong Zhengdi found a large number of corrupt officials in the activities of checking the deficit. In order to eliminate bureaucracy, establish a clean wind, dismiss officials and confiscate property, which is a severe disciplinary measure taken by Yong Zhengdi against corrupt officials.

Yong Zhengdi's strategy of dismissing officials is aimed at the so-called "staying in office to make up for losses", which is also the old method of past dynasties, that is, after finding out the losses, ordering officials to make up for them within a time limit. However, which corrupt official will dig meat from himself to fill the gap? Their usual means is to strengthen 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. Yong Zhengdi wants to reform, not only to make the country rich and strong, but also to make the people strong. We can't let corrupt officials have nothing and increase the burden on ordinary people. Therefore, his countermeasure is to dismiss first and then claim compensation. Once a corrupt official is reported, he will be dismissed and resigned, and he is not allowed to stay in office as before to make up for the deficit. If it has been returned, you can still be an official, and the official department will invite you.

Implement socialized storage and save food.

It can be said that it is impossible for Yong Zhengdi to take charge of grain production first. In the Qing Dynasty, the poor living standards and poor traffic conditions in some areas hindered the economic exchanges in China. In this case, it is impossible to achieve reasonable coordination of industrial structure nationwide, and we can only try to ensure that the people have enough to eat first, solve local problems on the spot, and coordinate the planting structure in isolation. Obviously, although this method is not conducive to future generations, it is a realistic way out under the conditions of Yongzheng Dynasty.

Advocating the implementation of social storage is the way for feudal rulers to save the famine. As early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties, feudal rulers introduced a relatively mature famine relief measure-Yicang. Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty issued an uprising warehouse, while Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin promoted Yicang. The method is that the government stores people's surplus grain in good years for use in lean years. At that time, the bureaucracy was clean and the phenomenon of accepting bribes was relatively light. Some ministers in Li Shimin live a very poor life, such as Zheng Wei's family without purlin and Cen Wenben's family without rulers. This kind of top-down good world style provides a realistic basis for the implementation of the warehouse, and officials dare not use the grain in the warehouse. But in fact, this storage method of storing grain in good years and preparing for famine in poor years was difficult to implement as early as the Song Dynasty because of the decline of official camp, so although the famous Zhu strongly advocated it, it has been difficult to achieve it. However, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, some officials suggested the implementation of Yicang, but Emperor Kangxi refused to allow it. There is an assistant minister named Zhang who has the loudest voice. Emperor Kangxi gave him practical experience and sent him to Shanxi for an internship. As a result, he hit a wall everywhere. Assistant minister Zhang was ashamed and took the initiative to give up.

Yong Zhengdi is very different from his father Emperor Kangxi. Shortly after he ascended the throne, he ordered Yang Zongren, governor of Huguang, to set up a social warehouse. In order to cater to him, local officials forced the people to pay for food, stipulating that every one or two pieces of silver would be given a stone of food, and the amount of storage as the assessment result of state and county officials was tantamount to new and heavy. In the second year (1724), Yong Zhengdi put forward a clear method for the management of social warehouses: private contractors, unofficial; Officials should only persuade them to hold a meeting, not force them to order the amount of food stored in the warehouse and the way to get in and out. At the same time, the management reward and punishment measures are determined: the warehouse grain is donated by the people, and the bonus of ten stones is donated, hanging more than 30 stones, and wearing more than 300 stones for eight products; Every club has a president and a vice president, whose family is well-off, and those who have performed well for more than ten years will be crowned with eight products; Strictly deal with eroded stored grain according to law; Take advantage of the valley to collect interest, raise interest rates by one stone, and win two battles. In case of famine, small apologies are halved, big apologies are free, and only grain money is collected.

This is not to say that Yong Zhengdi is not aware of the difficulties in dealing with social warehouses. He knows that rich people have their own savings, and even if they encounter famine, they don't rely on granaries, so they don't want to lose; Poor families want the social warehouse to run well, but they can't afford it. In order to avoid losses, people do not want to pay for food. Officials still have the disadvantages of eroding and misappropriating the positions they have passed the exam, and they don't want to do a good job in the social warehouses that they have not passed the exam. Yong Zhengdi is not ignorant of this truth. It's just that he's full of challenges. Even though he knows it is difficult to succeed, he will try. This also shows that he is eager to save the famine and wants to benefit the people. Moreover, social warehouses did play an unexpected role in alleviating hunger in disaster years. When the Northwest War broke out suddenly, Yue Zhongqi, the governor of Shaanxi Province, was ordered to set up a social warehouse and buy nearly 400,000 stones of grain and wheat, which played a great role at a critical moment.

If advocating social storage is a good way to save the famine in Yong Zhengdi, advocating food conservation in Yong Zhengdi is another preventive measure. Yong Zhengdi not only knows the truth that "food is the most important thing for the people" and "agriculture is the most important thing for the world", but also sees the problem that the population is increasing day by day and the grain output is limited, making ends meet. To this end, while taking a series of policies and measures to increase grain production and carefully store it, he also emphasized the need to cherish and save food.

In the second year of Yongzheng (1724), he ordered the canteen: "After eating porridge, rice and vegetables, the surplus grain shall not be abandoned. Or eat it with the waiter. If people can't eat it, feed it to cats and dogs. If they can't finish eating it, dry it and feed it to birds. Never abandon it. " I'll send someone to check. If we still don't correct our methods, we will be punished. "A few years later, he learned that there were still dumped meals in the gutter water of the dining room, so he admonished the eunuch in the dining room:" There are many discarded rice grains in the gutter water of the dining room. Once upon a time, I was told from time to time that you were not strict with the people you were in charge of. If I find out again, I won't forgive you. I will not only punish you for your salary, board house and other money and food. Be careful! Be careful! "

Here, Yong Zhengdi has made great efforts to save food, from human food, cat food to bird food, all of which are clearly explained. The highest feudal emperor made a special law on the disposal of leftover porridge and leftovers, which is probably unique in the history of China for thousands of years.

In March of the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727), a long imperial edict was issued, saying, "Fumi Valley is a treasure for life. Since we live by it, we should cherish it and not give up easily. There are many people who have resources, especially those who are restrained at any time, not the desire to talk. Everyone can save a spoonful, but I don't think too little, many a mickle makes a mickle, and more people can be raised. " If everyone does this, won't they accumulate more and raise more people? In order to dispel people's concern that eating less is harmful to health, he said: "Eating less is the key to a healthy family, so it is healthy and harmonious, so it is frugal and cherishes happiness. When the spleen is dominated by faith, habit becomes nature. Obviously, everyone who eats less has a strong spirit. " He also warned the gentry and the people with the theory of "harmony between man and nature": "Millet is given by heaven to raise all the people, and I am the master of the world. Only by respecting the treasure and cherishing the heart of the sky, if the rain is abnormal and there is autumn in the year, the people will have a place to live, sing and laugh. I am for the benefit of all the people, and I dare not neglect the sky. Why not treat the people as a family? It is necessary to have a baby every morning, because it is given by God. If you cherish it and save money at any time, God will always give it and enjoy Ying Ning's blessing. If you indulge yourself, you will be furious, get no reward, and floods and droughts will inevitably happen. What is the reason? "