Immediately, I briefly told him some of Emperor Yongzheng’s actions in history——
The main contribution of Emperor Yongzheng was, first, to rectify the administration of officials. At the beginning of Emperor Yongzheng's accession to the throne, the administration of officials was derelict and corruption had become commonplace. He overcame resistance from all aspects, carried out a large-scale inventory of deficits across the country, established the Imperial College Examination Office, and implemented the return of corruption to the public.
, implemented the integrity-supporting silver system, banned bad regulations and many other tasks. Due to his decisive attitude and vigorous and resolute actions, the financial situation of the Qing Dynasty was significantly improved in a short period of time, and the bad situation of official corruption and government corruption was greatly changed. There are historical experts like this
Said: "Kangxi was generous, Qianlong was sparse. If it hadn't been for Yongzheng's order, the Qing Dynasty would have declined early.", "In the Yongzheng dynasty, there were no officials and no officials."
The second is to spread the head tax into acres. This is a major tax reform. China has had a head tax since ancient times. Adult men, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, must pay a head tax. Yongzheng implemented the reform and spread the head tax into acres.
The amount of tax is determined according to the number of acres of land. Those with more land will pay more, those with less land will pay less, and those without land will not pay. This is called "sharing the land" and abolished the head tax in one fell swoop. This measure is beneficial to the poor and
It is not conducive to landlords and is a major reform in the history of finance and taxation in our country.
The third is to return the money to the public. In ancient my country, silver and copper were used as currency. When taxing, the silver had a certain amount of loss during the exchange, melting, preservation, and transportation, so there was a certain surcharge when taxing. This surcharge is called " "Huo consumption" or "fire consumption" has always been collected by local states and counties as additional income for local offices and officials. There is no statutory collection amount for consumption, and states and counties can levy it as they please. It amounted to five or six yuan, and the people's burden was very heavy. Yongzheng implemented the "return of waste to the public", turning this surcharge into a statutory tax, a fixed tax amount, and unified management by the governor. Income tax, in addition to office expenses, was used as "integrity-supporting silver". Significantly increase the salary of officials. This not only reduces the burden on the people, but also ensures the implementation of clean government. Therefore, Yongzheng said: "Since this law was implemented, the administration of officials has been slightly clarified, and Lu Yanxian has been spared from troubles." This is what is called "High salary supports integrity".
The fourth was to establish the Military Aircraft Department and promote the memorial system. In the Ming Dynasty, power was concentrated in the cabinet, so it had the power to produce ministers. In the Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng further concentrated power in the hands of the emperor and established the Military Aircraft Department. As the emperor's secretarial team, he provided advice and wrote documents for the emperor.
, manages government affairs. It is characterized by the streamlined and fast handling of political affairs. The Minister of Military Aircraft directly deals with various localities and ministries, understands local conditions, and conveys the emperor's wishes. This organization existed for two hundred years until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Accompanying the establishment of the Military Aircraft Department was the promotion of the memorial system.
Because the formalities for transferring official documents were complicated in the past and had to be read by many people, the time was delayed and it was difficult to keep secrets. Memorials were submitted directly to the emperor and reached the emperor himself. Yongzheng expanded the number of people who could submit memorials to the emperor, and officials with different statuses
It can promptly reflect the situation and report on government affairs, allowing the emperor to gain insight into the situation so that he can formulate policies; it also allows officials to supervise each other, so that the emperor can understand their wisdom, diligence, performance, and ethics.
The fifth is to change the native land and return it to the locals. In southwest my country and other areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, the chieftain system is implemented. Their positions are hereditary and they only accept the canonization in name from the Qing Dynasty. The chieftains are free to kill and arrogant. This system hinders the country. The unification and regional economic and cultural development. After Yongzheng came to the throne, he abolished many chieftains in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Sichuan, and Hunan and changed them into the state and county system consistent with the whole country. "Returning native soil and returning to Liu" was a serious revolution During the war, many chieftains resisted with armed force, and Yongzheng resolutely sent troops to quell it. Although innocent people were involved in the counter-insurgency war and harmed ethnic minorities, in the long run, "returning native soil and returning to locals" was a progressive measure that combated and restricted the chieftains. The separatism and privileges are beneficial to the economic and cultural development of ethnic areas.
The sixth was to open up the foreign trade ban. In the early days of Yongzheng, the sea ban was strictly enforced. However, in consideration of the real sufferings of the people along the coast, the foreign trade ban was opened in the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign, allowing people to trade in Southeast Asia. The sea ban was implemented in Fujian and Guangdong provinces.
The opium trade was also taken seriously. His opium policy was: drug trafficking, severe punishment without credit, strict distinction between medicinal opium and drug opium cigarettes, strict prohibition of drugs, non-interference in medicinal use, and consideration of the legitimate interests of small businessmen. Treating people from Western Europe
The envoy Yongzheng also treated him with courtesy. Although he tried his best to oppose the spread of Catholicism among the Chinese people, he had no ill intentions towards Catholicism. When the Portuguese envoy Medellin came to Beijing, Yongzheng's preferential treatment of him deeply impressed him.
In order to express gratitude, they even prayed in the Catholic Church on Yongzheng’s birthday to wish him a happy birthday. Yongzheng also selected some talented missionaries to develop foreign instruments and firing materials in the palace.
In addition, the abolition of lowly status and the abolition of waist-cutting were also his achievements. In fact, the reason for abolishing waist-cutting was as follows: Emperor Yongzheng once killed a person and used waist-cutting, because waist-cutting was a knife cut from the waist. After the cut, the person was still alive.
After being beheaded, this man dipped his fingers in blood and wrote seven words "miserable" on the ground. Emperor Yongzheng felt very miserable after hearing this, so he ordered the abolition of beheading.
In just thirteen years of his reign, he made more reforms than his father Kangxi. It can be said that Yongzheng was a reform-oriented emperor.
After listening to my introduction, Director Wu immediately smiled and said to me: "What Emperor Yongzheng did is very similar to the period we are going through now. Don't you think so?"
I smiled and said, "Absolutely."
In fact, I don't agree with it in my heart: "In the Yongzheng Dynasty, there were no officials and no officials." But what about now?
Of course, I would not say that to him. As far as my personal opinion is concerned, although our country's reform has made great achievements, the shortcomings are also very obvious: environmental damage, waste of resources, corruption@
Corruption is common, the gap between rich and poor is getting wider, the privileged class and the vested interest class are becoming more prominent, etc.
Perhaps, this period of our history can only be commented upon by future generations.
After arriving at Yonghe Temple, we found that many tourists came here specifically to worship Buddha. Emperor Yongzheng was a devout Buddhist and built a Buddhist temple here when he was still a prince.
At first we were just wandering around, but later we found a strange man in the place where the lamas were chanting sutras. He was giving a private explanation to two foreigners. I found that his conversation was good and his explanation was profound and interesting.
Director Wu used to be the president of a university, and his foreign language proficiency was certainly good. The two of us were immediately fascinated by what he heard. Later we learned that this man had been working in the Lama Temple for more than thirty years and was a scholar specializing in the history of the Qing Dynasty.
We stood there and listened to his explanation, but he didn't take it seriously. He told us: Wherever the heart goes, that's where the Buddha goes. Worshiping Buddha is about the heart. The external form can be eclectic, and it can be said that Buddhism is also the same.
What gradually merges with real life comes from life, is higher than life, and is refined from the essence of life. (To be continued)