After the death of the Qing Dynasty, only eight people were given "Wenzheng", followed by Tang Bin, Liu Tongxun, Zhu Jue, Cao Zhenyong, Du Shoutian, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzao, and Sun Jianai. Of these eight people, seven were given the title of "Wenzheng" by the emperor of the dynasty after their deaths, with the exception of Tang Bin.
Tang Bin was a famous Qing official of the Kangxi Dynasty, along with Yu Chenglong and Zhang Boxing. However, the Kangxi Emperor did not have a high overall evaluation of him, saying that he was a "pseudo-Taoist", and Tang Bin lived a very wronged life in his later years, repeatedly criticized by Kangxi, and when he died, Kangxi did not express any inconclusiveness about him, let alone give him a title.
Tang Binqi
Tang Bin (唐斌), also spelled Kong Bo , a native of Suizhou , Henan , was born in a family of scholars , and was elected as a Shu Jishi ( 庶吉士 ) in the ninth year of Shunzhi , and successively served as a reviewer of the National History Museum , a Taoist member of Shaanxi Tongguan , an attendant of the Hanlin Academy , and a commentator of the Qiju Dynasty. Kangxi served as the governor of Jiangsu for twenty-three years.
Tang Bin was known for his incorruptibility as an official, and when he went to Jiangsu to inspect, he rode in an ox cart, dressed in cloth, and his entourage had only one old servant. In terms of personal life, Tang Bin is extremely frugal, his wife and son are dressed in cloth, and they can only eat leeks and bean soup every day, and the folk are known as "three soups".
Although Tang Bin only had more than two years as governor of Jiangsu, his political achievements were very outstanding, and he was vigorous in promoting religion and changing customs, and all stereotypes and bad customs that he considered to be uncivilized and obstructed the customs were eliminated.
Under Tang Bin's vigorous advocacy, the customs of Wudi gradually changed, the folk customs returned to simplicity, and the people all had a sense of awe for Tang Bin, and once someone had bad behavior, relatives and neighbors would warn: "Why do you still not know how to repent, are you not afraid that Lord Tang will know?" ”
Of course, Tang Bin's greatest achievement was to rectify the administration of officials. At that time, the phenomenon of collecting money and grain from officials and officials in Jiangsu Prefecture and county, extorting fire and consumption, and arbitrarily dispatching them was very serious. For every one or two pieces of silver levied on the positive tax, the people had to pay an additional amount of eight or nine cents to one cent, and even worse in the Jiangbei region, as much as one dollar and five or six cents. As for the other miscellaneous items, they were even more arbitrary, and the people were miserable.
After Tang Bin took office, he repeatedly issued bans to severely punish those who indiscriminately levied and arbitrarily. In order to eliminate the rule of officials, Tang Bin also strictly forbade improper practices such as asking for entrustment and giving gifts, and asked subordinate officials to swear to sever personal relations in front of the Guandi Temple. In addition, Tang Bin has also achieved great results in eliminating redundant military service, cleaning up the government, carrying out armor protection, revolutionary miscellaneous fees, and prohibiting private factions.
Tang Bin was a rare official in the early Qing Dynasty who loved the people honestly and loved the people, and was deeply loved by the people of Jiangsu. He has only been the governor of Jiangsu for a little more than two years, but the achievements he has made are obvious to all, and under his administration, the folk customs of Wudi have improved, and the rule of officials has also been clear.
In the 25th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Tang Bin was promoted to the rank of Libu Shangshu and appointed by the Kangxi Emperor as a prince teacher. On the day of leaving Su, almost the entire city of the local people wept bitterly, and even blocked the land and water passages with agricultural tools in an attempt to save Tang Bin. In the face of the kind and simple people, Tang Bin had to issue a final message, saying that although he was "in Beijing in the future, this heart should especially travel here." ”
Officials in Beijing were wronged
After Tang Bin returned to Beijing, he appointed Shangshu of the Ministry of Ceremonies as the president of the History of Ming and served as the crown prince. He rented an ordinary house in the capital and wore only an old sheepskin jacket to protect himself from the cold in winter. When entering the dynasty, the palace guards, whether they knew it or not, knew that "the one who wears the old sheepskin jacket is Tang Shangshu."
During this period, the party that held power above the court was Mingzhu and Yu Guozhu, in addition to Xu Qianxue jumping up and down. Xu Qianxue was at odds with Mingzhu, and he was favored by Kangxi and would challenge Mingzhu from time to time. Mingzhu wanted to use Tang Bin to oppose Xu Qianxue, so she recommended him as the prince's teacher in front of Kangxi.
Mingzhu did not expect that Tang Bin was a loyal person and did not give him affection at all. In the twenty-fifth year of Kangxi, there was a great drought in the provinces, and Kangxi ordered hundreds of officials to jointly discuss the law of drought resistance, and Yushi Dong Hanchen offended Mingzhu with his omissions. Many ministers therefore echoed Mingzhu and impeached Dong Hanchen one after another, suggesting that Kangxi condemn him to death.
Tang Bin stood up and spoke for Dong Hanchen, and his minister should say bluntly that there was no reason to condemn him to death. Although Kangxi eventually exonerated Dong Hanchen, Tang Bin offended Mingzhu as a result. In this way, Xu Qianxue saw the opportunity and hoped to win Tang Bin over for his own use.
Xu Qianxue has more eyes than Mingzhu and is even more skillful in repelling dissidents. In the twenty-sixth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Xu Qianxue instigated Tang Bin and asked him to go to the imperial court, hoping to set up a customs office in Jiangsu to compete with the people for profits, but Tang Bin refused. During the court discussion, Tang Bin said: "How can the matter of competing with the people for profit be beneficial to the locality?" But only their people are fine, and if they are not allowed to do so, they will go around and patrol the people, and the harm to the people will be endless. ”
Afterwards, Xu Qianxue went to Kangxi to misinterpret Tang Bin's words, and Kangxi summoned Mingzhu to inquire about it. Obviously, Mingzhu would not say good things for Tang Bin, but instead added fuel to the fire, saying that Professor Tang Bin had no way to do so, and Kangxi was more and more dissatisfied with Tang Bin.
Kangxi's evaluation of Tang Bin was also inconsistent, with good times and bad times. Previously, the overall evaluation was still very high, saying that he "was difficult to learn from ancient times, and Tang Bin had been in harmony with the people of Henan, so it was still close to Taoism." Later, he said: "In the past, Inspector Tang Bin of Jiangsu province was good at compiling books and engravings, and his books were all seen, but when he was the inspector, he did not try to do anything." ”
Objectively speaking, at that time, Mingzhu, Xu Qianxue, and others were talking badly about Tang Bin in front of Kangxi, and Kangxi was inevitably deceived, but as a Ming Jun, Kangxi obviously misbelieved the rumors and did not know the people.
In such a political environment, it is obviously impossible for Tang Bin to make a difference. After several blows, in October of the 26th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Tang Bin died of illness in office, and the imperial court did not say anything about it, and at this time he had only been in Beijing for more than a year. It can be said that Tang Bin completed his life with regrets and grievances. What is even more emotional is that after Tang Bin's death, the family had only 8 taels of silver, and even the coffin could not afford to buy, fortunately, the colleagues funded 20 taels of silver before they had to be buried.
Ten years after Yongzheng, Tang Bin was finally rehabilitated by the imperial court, and the Yongzheng Emperor enshrined him in the Ancestral Hall of Xianliang. In the first year of Qianlong, the Qianlong Emperor was grateful for Tang Bin's life's achievements, and even more so he was given the title of "Wenzheng" in one step, and it was only after two dynasties that Tang Bin was able to build a coffin.
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