Emperor Aixin Jueluo Yinchen of the Qing Dynasty, era name Yongzheng, reigned from 1722 to 1735, the third emperor after the Qing Dynasty entered the Guanguan. During his 13-year reign, Yongzheng worked hard to strengthen imperial power, and quell the Rebellion of Lobzang Tenzin, with quite outstanding political achievements, which played a role in linking the prosperity of Kangqian from top to bottom.
Yongzheng pays attention to the employment of people in the process of governing the country, and he has said many times: "The only way to rule the world is to use people, and the rest are all branches and ears!" He put "both ability and political integrity" in the first place, took the use of people as the foundation, and clearly practiced the phrase "using people's strengths and avoiding people's weaknesses".
Let's talk about a few stories of Yongzheng's eclectic use of people.
Resolutely replace the mediocre
Hui Shiqi was a Kangxi fifty-year-old scholar and a Shuji of the Hanlin Academy, who twice served as a meeting examiner. In the fifty-ninth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Chonghu Guangxiang was the examiner of the examination, and then the governor of Guangdong Xuezheng. He presided over the province's cultural and educational scientific examinations, which was the highest-ranking cultural and educational chief of a province and was the hardest hit area for bribery. But Huishiqi is a clean man with a clean sleeve.
In the early years of Yongzheng, Yang Lin, then the governor of Liangguang, played the Yongzheng Emperor and said that he was a clean and honest official and a rare talent. Yongzheng wanted to reuse him and learn more from Yang Lin: "Huishi wonders about his people, can the officials use it?" Yang Lin truthfully echoed to Yongzheng, believing that Hui Shiqi was a man of integrity and justice, only suitable for being a civilian official, and that the rule of officials was not his strength.
Yongzheng summoned Huishiqi to the dprk to personally investigate, but the result was not satisfied, and he was punished to be responsible for the construction of Zhenjiang City, but the work was stopped due to a shortage of funds, and Yongzheng took off his top wearing a flower and cut the book and put it back to his hometown.
Officials were evaluated every three years in the Qing Dynasty, and 1724 (the second year of Yongzheng) was an examination year, and the Yongzheng Emperor's treatment of Chang Sanle, who was directly subordinate to Wuqiao County, surprised officials at all levels.
Li Weijun, the inspector directly under him, was responsible for assessing Chang Sanle and wrote him two comments: one was "honest and honest" and a clean official; the other was "cowardly and weak" and did not have the courage to innovate. He suggested that the flat tone Chang San le should manage education. The officials asked Li Weijun to give an example of chang Sanle's incompetence in his work.
Li Weijun frowned, although Chang Sanle's work was mediocre, there was really nothing wrong with it. The official replied: Since no substantive problems have been found, it is just a warning and will not be dismissed for the time being. However, Li Weijun insisted on his own opinion, and both sides insisted on their own opinions and finally asked the emperor for a ruling.
Yongzheng learned about the situation and gave instructions: Dismissal! His reason was that the county was the cornerstone of the society, and the county order's lack of responsibility was dereliction of duty, and did he have to wait for something big to happen?
Reuse without mentioning origin
In the first year of Yongzheng (1723), Yongzheng appointed Li Weiyu as the governor of Yunnan Province. Li Wei was not from the Academy, and was appreciated by Yongzheng for his talent and courageous style. He carried out drastic reforms in response to the shortcomings of the official arena and blamed it, and took a fierce medicine to clean up the arrears of more than 110,000 taels. Li Wei's style of being an official with the courage to do things and integrity was favored by Yongzheng, and two years later he was promoted to the post of inspector of Zhejiang. Li Wei forged ahead and achieved political achievements that satisfied Yongzheng.
In just a few short years, Li Wei was promoted from a small to a feudal official, integrating the three positions of governor, fu, and salt administration, and at the same time making an exception to participate in the affairs of the governor of Jiangnan, and his authority was unprecedented.
On the night of the Lantern Festival in the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728), only one clerk in the cabinet was on duty, and everyone else went to see the lanterns. Suddenly, a person walked in and chatted with this staff member, who asked him why he didn't go to the Lantern Festival to enjoy the lights, didn't he like it? He replied that the current emperor is very dedicated and has heard that he does not sleep at night, and that this cabinet is an important institution, and it is not okay if no one is on duty. In case the emperor has an expedited official document, no one will run errands to make a big mistake.
The man bowed his head and asked the young clerk what his plans were for the future. He replied: His family has many children, and if he can work in the fishing boat management office in the future, it will be good, so that he will not die of hunger even if there is a famine. The visitor laughed and resigned.
The person who chatted with the small clerk was none other than the Yongzheng Emperor. The next day, when there was a drought, Yongzheng asked the minister of the bureaucracy which ship managed all the vacancies? After receiving a reply, he immediately asked the officials to arrange for the person on duty in the cabinet last night to take up his post. Everyone was confused, no one knew what was going on, and in their surprise, Yongzheng asked the official to send a message to this staff member: You must eat fish and fish yourself, and you cannot take advantage of the fishermen.
Finally, Yongzheng told what had happened last night, and the emperor's reuse of diligent politicians spread among the government and the public.
Death row inmates can also be regenerated
In the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729), the northwest war ended again, and the flood in Jiangnan was sent, and the pillar areas of the Qing Taxation were in trouble. Yongzheng then expected Li Wei to cure the water, and when Li Wei's mother died, he wanted to go home to guard filial piety. Yongzheng wanted to find a capable person who could not find it for a while, and Zhang Tingyu recommended a death row prisoner to the Yongzheng Emperor for the sake of Sheji.
This death row prisoner was Acton, who was born in the Imperial Examination and was one of the few Manchu officials with real learning. During the Kangxi Dynasty, he was given the title of Shu Jishi (庶吉士) of the Hanlin Yuan, a rebbe attendant, and a guozi supervisor of wine. Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, arranged for Akton to enter the Southern Study, and sent Actun to be the governor of Liangguang, becoming a feudal official. Acton was upright and offended many local officials. When he left office, the folds of his impeachment were piled high with Yongzheng's imperial cases, including one accusing him of asking for bribes from Siamese emissaries. Yongzheng was furious and ordered him to be put on death row.
Yongzheng knew of Acton's ability, and put Acton on death row in order to teach him a lesson and to show people that he wanted to let him out but could not open his mouth. Zhang Tingyu's recommendation was just and his heart, so he made a promise to let Actun deal with the flood. After two years of governance, the results have been remarkable, and it can be said that it has achieved the role of a national pillar. Yongzheng was satisfied and transferred him back to the capital as a university scholar. In the war with Dzungar, Acton again made a contribution. Later, he served as shangshu of the punishment department and became a major courtier of the imperial court.
Yongzheng is energetic and has a strong memory. An official named Wang Chenglie was received by Yongzheng five times, and when he came the second time, Yongzheng asked him, "Are you the last of the eight people summoned to come in at Xi Nuan Pavilion last time?" Everyone present at the moment was amazed, and the emperor remembered it so clearly.
When Wang Chenglie was placed outside by Yongzheng, he was worried that he had no experience and was afraid that he would not be able to do a good job, and Yongzheng encouraged: "Where in the world is there a reason to learn to raise children first and then marry people." "Tell him to learn by doing."
Yongzheng employs people just to do things, and it is impossible to do things without doing things to cope with the surface. For those who aspire to achieve a career, meeting Yongzheng can be said to be a blessing in life. Under the iron fist governance of Yongzheng, the official atmosphere was rapidly reversed, showing that "Yongzheng dynasty, no official is unclear". This is really a miracle of China's feudal society.