The six-dimensional pictures of emperors of all dynasties were exposed, and the ancestors panicked

Chapter 704: Fire Consumption Debts and the Iron-faced Emperor

Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period
Kangxi's complexion improved slightly.

Although He Tongbo lost miserably in the previous match, he finally got back on track in the end.

...Even if this place has nothing to do with Yongzheng...

"If you don't understand, don't point fingers!"

"Don't meddle in other people's business if you are not in their position! Don't you understand this principle?!"

Yinzhen knelt down and kowtowed.

"Khan Ama, I will die for you."

Kangxi shook his sleeves and said unhappily:

"Why do I want you to die? I want you to understand that you shouldn't think about success in everything you do!"

"Think about defeat first, then think about victory!"

"Look at the battle you're fighting..."

Kangxi pointed at the sky and wanted to say something but found that he had nothing to say.

In the end, he could only click twice and said angrily:
"It was a huge fight!"

Yinzhen lowered his head and just repeated words like "a thousand sins", "a thousand deaths", "Father, please calm down", "Take care of yourself", etc.

Kangxi looked at him sideways.

"Old Four, let's talk about the facts."

"You are useless when it comes to military affairs. Don't even think about it."

"I am looking at your internal affairs."

After a pause, Kangxi said without much hope:

"If you can handle the internal affairs well, I will let you work in the Ministry of Works or the Ministry of Revenue."

"If domestic affairs were like military affairs."

Kangxi pointed at Yinzhen who was kneeling in the hall.

"Then you should just be a rich and idle person."

Yinzhen naturally did not dare to refute and agreed.

Kangxi looked at his fourth son, who looked submissive, and snorted:
"Get up."

"Shekhan Amar."

……

[Yongzheng's military performance was very poor. It can be said that if he had not had some ideas in his mind and did not go to the battlefield in person, he would have been the "Emperor Yingzong of Ming" of the Qing Dynasty.]

……

Ming dynasty.

"Fuck..."

Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the dough in his hand onto the chopping board, put his hands on his hips and cursed.

The thing that made him most angry and regretful was that he couldn't strangle the bastard to death with his own hands.

“Sometimes it’s not good for the sky to be too clean and neat.”

Old Zhu muttered:

"I can't even vent my anger."

Queen Ma rolled her eyes at him and hit him with a rolling pin.

Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his shoulders with floury hands and said carelessly:

"It's okay. We've made it through this. That thing in the sky can't affect us now."

“As the saying goes, the county magistrate is not as good as the current manager.

"We are no longer under its control!"

Queen Ma narrowed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and raised the rolling pin as if she was going to hit him.

Old Zhu grabbed it and said with a smile:

"Girl, hurry up and cook! We're hungry!"

Empress Ma looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, who looked so righteous, and laughed out of anger.

"Okay! I'll stuff you to death!"

Zhu Yuanzhang touched his belly with a smile.

"Let's go call Biao'er."

After saying that, he turned around and walked away. After taking two steps, he turned back and pointed at a small pile of bread and said:
"We made those, you can't touch them."

Queen Ma looked at the pile of dough cakes that were all in all shapes and sizes, but not round, and said with disdain:

"Don't move, but you can eat these things yourself."

Zhu Yuanzhang patted his belly with satisfaction and said as he walked:

"That's easy!"

"And there's Old Four!"

……

【The reason why he was not able to lead the army in person is that his character can change his fate.】

[Compared to his father Kangxi's love of galloping across the desert grasslands. ]

【Emperor Yongzheng was extremely home-loving.】

[After becoming emperor, he stayed in Beijing and did not go anywhere except to visit the mausoleums outside Beijing.]

[He spent the first forty years of his life keeping a low profile, but after becoming emperor he began reviewing memorials every day, enjoying the process.]

【Hardworking, but not ineffective hardworking. 】

[It can be said that the worse Yongzheng's military was, the stronger his domestic affairs were.]

……

On the canopy.

The emperor had a long braid, a blue robe and wore a pair of glasses.

He looked at the memorial in his hand in the dim candlelight.

From time to time, I have to put down a few words of approval.

There were no less than a hundred memorials of various sizes on the imperial desk.

……

【To be honest, the national situation that Yongzheng faced when he ascended the throne was not good.】

[Kangxi ascended the throne at the age of eight, took power at the age of fourteen, eliminated Oboi at the age of sixteen, pacified the Three Feudatories at the age of twenty-eight, recovered Taiwan at the age of thirty-six, resolved the Sino-Russian dispute at the age of thirty-six, conquered Galdan three times, and finally incorporated Mongolia into his territory at the age of forty-four.]

【With such brilliant achievements, the Qing Dynasty entered an era of prosperity and praise. 】

Kangxi believed that peace in the world was the most important thing, and that avoiding trouble was the most important thing. He said, "Every advantage that comes will bring disadvantages. The ancients said that less trouble is worse than more trouble, and this is what they meant."

【From then on, Kangxi began to implement the policy of "governing the country with leniency and benevolence as the most important thing". 】

[Once the emperor lets go, the officials will naturally be happy.]

[However, Kangxi's health declined and he suffered from repeated appointments of crown princes in his later years. Many drawbacks of government accumulated over time, the national treasury was empty, and the official style was corrupt.]

[In his later years, Kangxi was more concerned with benevolent governance, so his eyes were no longer sharp, and his sword no longer shone coldly.]

[Officials enjoy and indulge in this kind of rich and luxurious environment, living a comfortable life without being exposed to the wind and rain of the political arena.]

[The political situation was calm, which in turn proved that the Qing Dynasty was the "real" prosperous reign of Emperor Kangxi. ]

……

The period of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty
Liu Qi only felt a sense of irony, but he also understood it somewhat.

Whether it is a prosperous era or not, isn’t it all because of the officials?

If officials are not stable, it will not be a prosperous era.

If officials can have a stable job, then it is a prosperous era.

Since the extinguishing of the glory of the Tang Dynasty, all standards for evaluating prosperous times have become out of reach of the common people.

Just spinning around in it.

……

Datang.

Li Shimin twirled his beard.

Isn't the situation in the Qing Dynasty no different from that in the Ming Dynasty?

Did Yongzheng solve the dilemma between the Ming Dynasty’s rulers and their ministers?
Do not……

Li Shimin closed his eyes and thought.

Rather than saying it was a dilemma between the Ming Dynasty's rulers and their ministers, it was more like a dilemma of the imperial examination system.

Poor people had to rely on the imperial examinations to verify their proficiency and cultivation in the classics, history, and literature, which required at least more than ten years of study.

It is difficult for those who are financially strapped and have limited time to take this path, as they are already exhausted from being busy with their livelihoods and families.

Therefore, the group of people who can afford to read will gradually shrink to those who are rich and have free time.

Those who passed the examination to become minor officials had accumulated a lot of wealth before they had the capital to take the imperial examination.

After they became officials, the examiners became their nominal mentors and the leading figures in the political arena.

The examiner and the examinee form a teacher-student relationship, which means they form an alliance.

Candidates should pay tribute to their mentor regularly every year, so that the mentor will speak for you when it is necessary.

Once your strengths are discovered and they happen to be suitable for a certain position, promotion is a foregone conclusion.

This means you need money first, then go to school, take the imperial examination, find a mentor, give gifts, and let your mentor promote you.

This invisible vine will stretch to all places, forming countless crisscrossing huge networks, which are...

clique.

Li Shimin slowly opened his eyes.

This is the dilemma that besets Song, Ming and Qing...

If lower-level officials want to be promoted, they have to work hard to make money and show respect to higher-ups.

Where to make money?
Of course, it is to plunder the people.

This network formed from top to bottom was unbreakable, and even the emperor could not tear apart all the warps and wefts in one fell swoop.

We can only discover one and deal with one, while new webs are constantly being woven.

This is how corruption breeds and it can never be eradicated.

Because the executor is also someone on the Internet.

"Ugh……"

"Eight out of ten people are not satisfied."...

[On the first day of the first lunar month in the first year of Yongzheng's reign (1723), Yongzheng issued imperial edicts in succession to instruct civil and military officials in various provinces.]

[The general meaning of the article is: Some people consider it as their ability to cater to the will of the emperor, and consider it as their virtue to seek fame and reputation, and even accept bribes privately. These are unacceptable.]

[I have just ascended the throne and will strictly abide by the law. I hope you will train the troops diligently, verify the military pay, and not pursue empty fame. ]

[And he directly pointed out that I already know that the provinces are in deficit. I will give you time to quickly replenish your stocks. Please do not let down the emperor's grace.]

[From the governor-general and provincial governors to the admirals, generals, provincial governors, provincial governors, provincial governors, provincial governors, deputy generals, lieutenant generals, and prefects, Yongzheng gave detailed instructions to all of them.]

[Until Yongzheng pointed out the root cause in his instructions to the county magistrate.]

[“How can the people bear the arbitrarily increased consumption of money and grain? This should be stopped in the future.”]

……

Ming Dynasty - Tianqi Period
Zhu Youxiao stood up suddenly!
Fire consumption?!

Suddenly I felt that I was not gentlemanly enough, so I slowly sat down again.

But he couldn't sit still, so he stood up and paced back and forth.

Huohao, this really hits the nail on the head.

Zhu Youxiao looked a little excited.

Fire consumption is not important; what is important is the background system behind its characteristics.

If Yongzheng could solve the problem of fire consumption, doesn't that mean he could also turn around his own distorted system?

He stopped and looked up at the old man in the sky in disbelief.

"……real or fake……"

Fighting sucks...

wrong……

Zhu Youxiao suddenly came to his senses.

Aren’t war and domestic affairs directly proportional?

"Get a pen and paper!"

……

[The new emperor's political declaration is very clear. It is to tell everyone that the world has changed and everyone needs to change their thinking.]

[The first of the three fires a new emperor sets upon ascending the throne is to burn “fire consumption”]

[Huohao is an unspoken rule in official circles and one of the important means for officials to make money. ]

[Originated during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, when Zhang Juzheng implemented the "One Whip Law", requiring all taxes collected by officials at all levels to be turned over to the national treasury, and the loose silver collected by officials needed to be re-melted into silver ingots.]

[Qing Dynasty law stipulates that the tax that each province transfers to the Ministry of Revenue must be fifty taels of silver per ingot.]

[The silver collected by local government offices from the people was loose silver. To comply with national regulations, it had to be melted into 50-liang yuan before it could be turned in.]

[During the melting and casting process, impurities are removed and high temperature consumption occurs, which naturally results in losses.]

This kind of loss is called "fire loss"

[In order to pay the full amount to the central government, officials had to increase "surcharges" by asking taxpayers to pay more. This surcharge was called "fire consumption silver"]

【By taking advantage of the publicly increased additional taxes, local officials took the opportunity to collect more to make up for their official activities, honoring their superiors, and their own expenses and savings.】

[This has led to an increase in taxes for the people and a threat to national security.]

……

{Why didn't Kangxi deal with it? Logically speaking, this kind of mess should be dealt with by a wise and capable ruler.}

{Kangxi had also imposed sanctions, but the officials had their own reasons. Because he wanted to have a good reputation in his old age, he was soft-hearted and difficult to deal with, so he turned a blind eye.}
{Besides, this matter is actually quite troublesome.}
{The officials also had a good reason for their refusal: the salary was too low.}
｛The Qing dynasty inherited the Ming system, and the salaries of officials were low. The normal salary of a county magistrate was less than four taels of silver per month.｝
{But the county magistrate's daily expenses for food, drink, and horse feeding alone cost five or six coins, and his monthly salary could only cover six or seven days' expenses.}
{In addition, the county magistrate also has to employ staff, legal advisors, doormen, and servants, and these people have to be paid by the county magistrate, which is indeed not in line with common sense.}
{The county officials could only secretly take money from the fire-consumption silver because the income was not enough to cover the expenditure.}
{Due to the lack of legal constraints, the additional taxes on fire consumption silver continued to increase in various places.}
{By the late Kangxi period, the proportion of fire consumption silver collected by each province to the regular tax varied, with Jiangsu accounting for 10%, Hunan accounting for up to 30%, Shaanxi and Shanxi accounting for 30% to 40%, and Shandong and Henan accounting for the most, reaching 80%.}
{In addition, the national treasury was empty. In the 59th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, there were only 8 million taels of silver in the Ministry of Revenue. The provinces were seriously short of money and grain.}
{Kangxi left all the problems such as the right of the rich, such as the exemption of the gentry and the shortage of military pay, to Yongzheng.}
{After fighting so hard for the throne, Yongzheng ended up in such a situation. This was his fate.}
……

Song Shenzong Period
No matter how Zhao Xu looked at it, he felt that the four words "fate determines it" sounded like the three words "bad fate".

"It looks like Yongzheng is serious about this!"

but……

"Anti-corruption...all talk and no action is the norm."

But issuing eleven imperial edicts in such a large scale is indeed rare in the world.

It can also be regarded as a wake-up call to all officials in the world.

……

[On the 14th day of the first lunar month, Yongzheng called his most trusted 13th brother and others to jointly launch the first reform of the new policy. ]

[It should be noted that after Yongzheng ascended the throne, in order to avoid the character "Yin" in his given name "Yinzhen", all of Kangxi's princes changed the character "Yin" in their names to "Yun".]

[Prince Yi Yunxiang, his uncle Longkodo, Grand Secretary Bai Huang, and Minister Zhu Shi all came to the Yangxin Palace at the same time to listen to Yongzheng's arrangements.]

……

On the canopy.

Yongzheng leaned on the couch, looked at the four people below, and said seriously:

"The late emperor also knew about these malpractices, but he did not want to investigate further and dealt with them leniently."

"I cannot be as tolerant as my father."

The four people in the hall looked solemn.

Then everyone said that it was time to clean up.

Yongzheng glanced at the leading prince and said softly:

"If my Thirteenth Brother cannot conduct a thorough investigation, I will send another minister."

"If the ministers are unable to investigate, I will investigate myself."

Prince Yunxiang understood what the emperor meant.

No matter how strict the system is, it is useless if it is not implemented.

The emperor was afraid that he would offend others.

Then he patted his chest and immediately stated:

Your Majesty, please rest assured that I will conduct a thorough investigation."

Yongzheng smiled and sat up straight, patted the corner of the table, and said loudly:
"When the new policy begins, we must punish thoroughly from top to bottom, from inside to outside! Clean up the deficit!"

"No tolerance!"

……

[Reporting cancellation means that each prefecture and county reports the actual amount of money and grain collected each year to the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Revenue cancels the unpaid money and grain.]

【The original cancellation system had loopholes.】

[Officials at all levels often give "departmental fees" to various departments in order to keep their jobs. To put it bluntly, it is a bribe given to officials in the department in order to achieve their goals.]

[If you have paid the "Ministry Fee", even if you have a deficit of several million, your debt will be written off.]

Therefore, Yongzheng ordered Prince Yi Yunxiang and others to set up the Examination Office to put an end to collusion between the inside and outside, fraud and fraud, and to rectify the long-standing malpractices in the payment of money and grain in various provinces.

[Because the original system was that each ministry and agency would report and pay for the use of money and grain on their own.]

[Once the Examination Office was established, all accounts had to be audited and verified. No one could give money to get things done, and no one dared to accept bribes.]

[Soon, Yunxiang discovered that the Ministry of Revenue had a deficit of 2.5 million taels.]

[Yongzheng ordered all the officials, department officials and subordinate clerks of the Ministry of Revenue, regardless of their position or whether they were royal relatives, to take up their respective tasks and first make up 1.5 million taels. The remaining 1 million taels would be made up by the Ministry of Revenue year by year.]

……

{Yong Zheng is a tough guy who really does what he says.}
{The 12th prince, Prince Yunlu, owed money to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and seeing that the repayment deadline was getting closer, he had no choice but to sell his household utensils on the street.}
{The tenth prince, Prince Dun, Yun, racked his brains to pay back tens of thousands of gold, but still couldn't pay off all the debts. He tried to delay the payment, but in the end his house was confiscated.}
{Li Yinggui, an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, colluded with Zhang Dingnai and others to embezzle more than one million taels of grain and money, and the court confiscated his property to deduct the money.}
{Zhang Shengbi, the governor of Huguang, Zhang Anshi, the provincial governor of Hunan, Li Jimo, the provincial governor of Guangxi, Wu Cunli, the governor of Jiangsu, Li Shiren, the governor of Jiangsu, etc. The high officials of the frontier provinces were successively dismissed.}
{Even former officials who were unemployed at home were not spared.}
{This trend of clearing debts also caused many officials to attack Yunxiang, saying that he had become "harsh". The Thirteenth Prince, who used to be loyal and righteous, was now obsessed with power and had no regard for his relatives.}
{After hearing this, Yongzheng took the initiative to clarify: No one should resent Yunxiang. This was my idea. I am thinking about the country.}
{…This is true love, I won’t blame you now.}
{The emperor took the initiative to take the blame and admit that he was the one who made it. Yongzheng was really good to Yunxiang... I cried my heart out!}
{Nian Gengyao: I am the one who should cry to death!}

……

Ming Dynasty - Renzong Period
"To be able to push forward reforms so resolutely."

"This alone is better than countless emperors."

Zhu Gaochi stroked his knees and sighed.

Zhu Zhanji looked at the Thirteenth Prince, then looked at Yongzheng in the sky.

"I'm afraid the history books won't have a very good opinion of him."

Zhu Gaochi smiled.

"You, those who serve the country and the people only seek achievements in this lifetime."

"As for the history books..."

"For those in power, the clear will be clear, and the turbid will be turbid."

“When the people experience it, they understand it.”

"You will naturally see who is good and who is not."

"All things in the world are one thing."

“It’s not something that can be changed by a few books or a few words.”

Zhu Gaochi looked at the sky and said softly:

"This justice is in the hearts of the people."

……

[In order to make corrupt officials pay off their debts to the treasury, Yongzheng also adopted the method of confiscating both the government offices and their hometowns at the same time. ]

[The "cunning rabbit" who was hoping for a lucky break and was prepared to send one person to jail in exchange for the wealth of his whole family lost his last hideout. ]

[All corrupt officials will be dismissed without exception. The previous practice of retaining them in office to make up for the deficit will not be adopted, so as not to leave them with opportunities to embezzle again.]

[Some officials who hid their property at their relatives' homes were also confiscated.]

[It is also forbidden for successor officials to compensate for deficits of their predecessors, and local officials and gentry are prohibited from colluding with each other or using local treasury silver.]

[Royal relatives, princes and sons of the royal family, those who cannot make up for the deficit will have their property confiscated.]

【Only follow one sentence. 】

……

On the canopy.

A large portrait of Yongzheng appeared.

He pointed at something with his eyes wide open.

There is a sentence below the avatar.

"You are responsible for the embarrassment, but you must pay back the money you owe!"

……

[For a while, the scope of the implicated people expanded rapidly, and complaints began to rise. ]

[Yongzheng, with the force of thunder, swept through the officialdom and triggered an earthquake in the Qing Dynasty. ]

[The once invincible and indestructible official interest chain. ]

[Within a few months after Yongzheng ascended the throne, the empire was torn apart by the overwhelming force.]

(End of this chapter)