Since Yongzheng ascended the throne, there have been rumors that he seeks his father, forces his mother, kills his younger brother, kills his younger brother, is greedy for money, likes to kill people, drinks too much, is lustful, doubts loyalty and likes to be jealous. Whether before or after death. Folklore, the most concentrated is his three notorious names of "changing the imperial edict to seize the throne", "cannibalism" and "natural death".
During the Kangxi period, the eight-year separatist war in San Francisco was solved, Taiwan Province Province, which had been separated by Zheng Jing for many years, was recovered, Russian troops occupying Heilongjiang Province in China were expelled, and they went to Mongolia and Tibet to pacify the separatist forces of Mongolian nobles in Junggar. These battles cost a lot of money. On the other hand, corruption in the imperial court is rampant, and officials of all sizes often use "borrowing" as an excuse, and the private use of silver in the national treasury is as high as tens of millions. These officials borrowed money and didn't pay it back, resulting in a "deficit" in the national treasury. If the treasury has no money, it has to raise taxes and ask the people for it. Later, Kangxi felt that the people were too bitter. In the fifty-first year of Kangxi, it was decreed that taxes would never be increased. The national treasury has only 78 million taels of silver, but it cannot be "replenished". In his later years, Kangxi was exhausted. Not only is he no longer committed to fighting corruption, but he also thinks that "if there is nothing to give", then "how can he make a living by officials and his family?" When this theory came out, officials at all levels naturally became more unscrupulous, which was the financial status quo when Yongzheng took over.
On the first day of the first month of the first year of Yongzheng (1723), the emperor who succeeded to the throne for only 40 days did not have a holiday and rest, but wrote a letter in one breath, stating the official position and the way to be an official, detailing the serious crimes of accumulated malpractices in officialdom and wanton corruption of officials, and demanding that all means be taken to punish officials for crimes, make up for the deficit and collect money and grain.
The household department in charge of money and grain was listed as the focus of inventory, and it was quickly found out that the household department actually lost 2.5 million taels of silver in recent years. At the same time of checking the central ministries, Yongzheng also ordered the provinces to clean up the money and grain in a big way, demanding that all the officials from the governor, the governor, the minister in charge, the provincial judges and generals, down to Wu Zhi officials, such as the official seals of Dao, Fu, Zhou and County, and the officials of the participating and guerrilla groups, be checked without distinction.
In order to maintain the operation of the Qing empire, Yongzheng focused on the "deficit" and wanted to recover the money owed by officials to the country. Yongzheng decided to start with the rectification of official management, and the money and grain deficit was mainly due to the corruption of officials. 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 short of money and food." "The money and food in the accounting room have been short of money, and have recently reached hundreds of thousands." So the first decree under Yongzheng made a comprehensive inventory of the accumulated money and grain, requiring all localities to strictly implement it, and ordered all the deficits to be filled within three years and not to be distributed to the people.
The policy given by Yongzheng is to 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. These candidates see through their eyes and finally hope to have such an opportunity to get ahead. Therefore, their eyes are all blue now, staring at the imperial envoys and officials under investigation. Whoever "mixes" is moving his "top hat" to escape the protection of officials. At the same time, there was a cycle in ancient officialdom: the last one lost money, the successor made up for it, and when he left office, he lost money to the next one, and the deficit could never be made up. But this time, the successor is here to audit the accounts. Why not take the opportunity to write off the deficit account of the predecessor? Moreover, if he can't find the deficit, he won't have his own successor. So the auditor will go to the end with his bare hands. .
Yongzheng this skill, the action is really not small, Yongzheng used two "killing sticks" to completely crush the hopes of the following officials to "go through the motions." First, investigate and deal with the deficit of the ministries and commissions in charge of finance, with a deficit of 2.52 million. Yongzheng ordered the Ministry of Finance to compensate all officials, such as ministers, assistant ministers, card servants and principals. In addition, Yongzheng's own twelve brothers, the county king, used to be the head of the office, and the office also lost money. At that time, the whole country was watching this. If the money is not collected, the debt will be settled. In order to show his determination, Yongzheng laid hands on the twelve brothers. Finally, in order to pay back the money, he had to sell his household appliances in the street. Although it means making it difficult for Yongzheng to be the county king, you still have to pay back the money anyway, even if the emperor's closest relatives are still like this, which official can default. However, Yongzheng also gained a despicable reputation.
In August of the first year of Yongzheng (1723), Yongzheng adopted the suggestion of Qian, an official of the General Political Department: property seizure. Once the deficit officials are found out, their property will be sealed up, and their families will monitor and recover the sold property to prevent them from transferring and hiding the 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: "I can't see the past. Please help me. We must discuss it strictly." After all, it is only my intention to make his descendants poor. "This command, the sound of the seizure of property throughout the country.
For a time, officials all over the country were dismissed because of deficits and seized property everywhere. In the first year of Yongzheng alone, hundreds of local officials were investigated. In the second year of Yongzheng, Bowman, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, said: "There are many officials in Zhejiang and Fujian. If you ask questions again, I'm afraid no one will do anything. " Wei Tingzhen, the governor of Hunan Province, also said that "more than half of the provincial officials have participated", but there are very few former officials in Zhili. Yongzheng also got the title of "property-copying emperor", and even the poker table had a new way of playing: property-copying.
Yongzheng eliminated corruption and evil without mercy. He once said, "If you don't look at it at all, you must be strictly investigated. It is in line with my original intention to chase corrupt officials to the end of their tether and make his descendants poor. " In the fourth year of Yongzheng, Guangdong Taoist Li Bin and Fujian Taoist Fan Tao committed suicide because of the deficit case. Want to die? It's not that easy! Yongzheng pointed out: "The official wealth cannot be guaranteed. If you don't deny it by death, you will leave your property to your descendants. " Monks who become monks can't run out of the temple. Yongzheng ordered to settle accounts with his children and family. Yongzheng said: "These people know that they are sinful and difficult to protect themselves. They just want to die and leave their property to future generations to enjoy. This is absolutely impossible. "
Yongzheng's large-scale dismissal and compensation for local corrupt officials caused strong repercussions and shocks. Some people who are dissatisfied with the current situation say that "the imperial court has amassed wealth and punished thieves", and the people even talk about Yong Zhengdi's "easy copying of other people's property". From the third year of Yongzheng, Yong Zhengdi continued to hunt down corrupt officials and tortured property. It is stipulated that anyone who embezzles or defrauds money, grain, silver 1200 yuan or above will be punished according to the law of "inside job stealing", and anyone who embezzles the salary will be punished without amnesty.
Yang Wengan, governor of Guangdong, Gao Qizhuo, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and governor of Fujian were all severely interrogated by Yongzheng, and finally "all the money was recovered". Jiangning weaving Cao family in A Dream of Red Mansions is a famous example. In fact, officialdom storm, like Yongzheng Dynasty, never stopped for almost a day, and its punishment became more and more severe. In the tenth year of Yongzheng, Li Wei, the governor of Zhili, said that there were only a handful of county officials who had served in the province for more than three years. One reason is that too many people have been fired. Yongzheng set off this stormy special rectification, the deficit disappeared, and the national treasury was solid, but Yongzheng also fell into the notoriety of killing people.
Scholars of Qing history found from the cultural relics left by Yongzheng that Yongzheng ascended the throne at the age of 45, and during his reign 13 years, he was diligent, anti-corruption and honest, and the state treasury was enriched. His artistic taste is exquisite and elegant, and he is more proficient in calligraphy and literary talent. Yong usually lights the imperial edict at night to commemorate it. Among the manuscripts on display this time, at least a few words are crossed, and many words are thousands of words, all of which are personally instructed, which is amazing. It can be seen that he punishes corruption, advocates clean government, and rewards and punishments are clear.
Yong Zhengdi is determined to reform the long-standing abuses, crack down on corruption and rectify official management. He ordered the provinces to make up the deficit of the state treasury within a time limit, severely punish the found corrupt officials, recover the stolen money and confiscate the property. From the first year of Yongzheng to the ninth year of Yongzheng, the scale and coverage of money and grain cleaning operations in various provinces in China were unique in the whole Qing Dynasty. During the period, the inventory of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the temple supervisors of various governments, as well as the money and grain of local governments and counties, were cleaned up successively, and thousands of corrupt officials were dealt with and punished.
The large-scale and thorough action to punish corruption in Yongzheng period basically put an end to the corruption in the last years of Kangxi, dealt a heavy blow to the habit of official corruption and refreshed the official management in Qing Dynasty. The direct financial effect of making up the deficit is also quite obvious: by the end of Yongzheng (before 1735), the savings of the treasury of the household department reached more than 60 million yuan, more than eight times that of the treasury of the end of Kangxi. At that time, it was recorded that "all warehouses are full and can be stored for more than 20 years", and the financial distress of the country has been fundamentally improved. Although it ended in complaints, the legacy left by Yongzheng to Qianlong was real. More important than money, Yongzheng left a relatively clean and efficient administrative system for Qianlong, which laid a solid foundation for Qianlong to be a "generous" celebrity. So some historians say that without the thirteenth year of Yongzheng, there would be no subsequent prosperity.