The Yongzheng Emperor is actually a very controversial emperor in history, he was the Kangxi Emperor before him, he was followed by the Qianlong Emperor, and he himself was a major architect of the Kangqian prosperous era, but why the Yongzheng Emperor became emperor is a mystery, and it is widely believed that he was not in the right place. But in terms of his actions after ascending the throne, he was indeed a good emperor, far more reliable than his son Qianlong, and even compared with Kangxi. In terms of diligence, Yongzheng was among the top few emperors in ancient times, but while he was diligent, he was also relatively cold, and this coldness may be related to the many problems left to him by his father Kangxi.
In China's more than two thousand years of feudal history, official corruption seems to have been a big problem. This is inseparable from the greed in people's hearts, especially those in high positions, in the face of huge financial temptations, it is difficult to maintain a clear mind, abide by their moral ethics and professional ethics. Therefore, the integrity of officials, on the one hand, requires the ideological consciousness of the officials themselves, and on the other hand, it needs the corresponding supervision mechanism to increase the cost of crime and make officials dare not be greedy. Such an incident occurred during the Yongzheng period, which was originally caused by a very small thing, but eventually led to the killing of three people.
During the Kangxi period, the Qing government marched south to the north, the consumption of the national treasury was huge, to know that the war is inseparable from money and grain, so the money and silver spent by the Kangxi Dynasty is innumerable, and on the other hand, the corruption of officials is also very serious, in the late Kangxi period, although the Qing Dynasty is still prosperous and strong, but the treasury funds are not sufficient, Kangxi himself may also be aware of the problem, but he has no way to solve the problem, and finally left the financial problem to Yongzheng. So much so that after Yongzheng took the throne, he had to pay attention to the problem of the treasury's capital reserves. Yongzheng knew as early as Kangxi's lifetime that there were problems with the flow of funds in the national treasury, and the existence of such problems was inextricably linked to the officials of the DPRK. It's just that he lacks evidence, or doesn't have a deep enough grasp of this awareness, how did the officials embezzle? How many officials and authorities are involved, and what kind of interest networks are there?
A coincidence happened in this situation, the Yongzheng Emperor liked to drink Longjing tea, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was in charge of all the emperor's expenses, purchased a large amount of West Lake Longjing tea for the emperor in early spring. The taste of spring tea is naturally good, and Yongzheng is very satisfied with it. It's just that the price of "thirty-two pounds" made the emperor a little stunned. But he did not pay much attention to it, in fact, the emperor is deceived by the people around him a lot of times, they are in the palace, and the distance between the common people is not just a palace wall, the emperor's understanding of the outside world is mostly derived from the explanations of the people around him, the people around him say how it is, the emperor can not really go out of the palace to experience life.
But the Yongzheng Emperor happened to be out once, he paid a private visit, and when he passed by a tea house, he wanted to sit down on a whim. So he took a few people around him into the tea house to drink tea, and listened to the stories of the people by the way, and the magistrates such as the ancient tea house were the fastest places for news to circulate. Although the owner of the shop does not know the emperor, he can feel from the temperament of several people talking that this is not an ordinary person, and the boss service who is good at observing the color is naturally extra enthusiastic. Take the initiative to recommend the best spring tea in the store for the Yongzheng Emperor.
Yongzheng instantly thought of the West Lake Longjing purchased by the palace every year, and ordered some here by the way. When the tea was served, the fresh aroma simply made the Yongzheng Emperor irresistible. Carefully tasting, the West Lake Longjing of this tea house is really authentic, almost exactly the same as the West Lake Longjing purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Yongzheng Emperor subconsciously asked the price of the West Lake Longjing in the teahouse, and he did not expect that the boss's answer almost made the Yongzheng Emperor drop his jaw. The West Lake Longjing in the shop is only five hundred copper plates and one pound. This made the Yongzheng Emperor very angry. But he exercised great restraint and did not show it outward.
After returning to the imperial court, he immediately summoned the steward of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and resolved to investigate the matter thoroughly. The steward of the Ministry of the Interior knew that the matter had been exposed, and instead of dying and struggling, it was better to confess honestly. It turned out that he conspired with the imperial eunuch and the merchant Qin Yong'an to earn a large difference in price. This infuriated the Yongzheng Emperor, who ordered the three to be executed and raided their homes.
It is precisely because of this incident that Yongzheng was deeply touched. Corruption has spread under its own eyes, and if it is not rectified and allowed to develop, then the country will eventually embark on the road to extinction. At the same time, in this matter, we can also see that the introspective spirit of the Yongzheng Emperor is precisely in this way that paved the way for the prosperity of the Qianlong period.
However, this incident is mostly just folklore, and there is no relevant record in the historical records. But this incident can still explain some problems from the side, not just the kind of simple story that makes people listen to a lot of music.