The "Hundred Officials' Behavior" in the "Yongzheng Dynasty" can be said to be a "time bomb" in the official field.
In this "Hundred Officials' Narratives", it covers the unknown handles and unsightly secrets of hundreds of officials, large and small, and it not only controls the political prospects and career fates of the recorded officials, but even holds some of their lives in their hands, and its deterrent effect on officials can be imagined.
The person who compiled this "Hundred Officials' Deeds" was Ren Bo'an, who had previously been deposed from jiangnan to patrol the salt road. In order to edit this "masterpiece", he took advantage of the opportunity of serving as the chief of the bureaucracy to spread his eyes and ears widely, searching everywhere and inquiring, and it took ten years to complete it. What he wanted to do was to use this "Hundred Officials' Narrative" to try his best to preserve his stable position in the court, and at the same time, at the right time, use it as a "chip" for trading in exchange for sufficient political resources.
However, even a powerful tool that everyone wanted to seize in their hands, and then hold hundreds of officials hostage and strengthen their own power, was actually burned in public by Yongzheng directly.
When you see this, some friends may say that Yongzheng has done a good job and done the right thing, which shows his integrity as a person and disdains to use these conspiracies and tricks. Of course, some people will also say that Yongzheng's behavior is too stupid, and this "Hundred Officials' Narrative" is nothing to the Eight Ye Party, which is strong and strong and has many personnel, but for Yongzheng, who is alone, being able to obtain the support and support of these officials is tantamount to increasing the weight of his victory from the "Nine Sons and Sisters", and now it is a pity that it has been burned by fire. If you hold the former view, it is too underestimated to look at Yongzheng; and if you hold the latter idea, it is undoubtedly more wrong to look at Yongzheng.
The public burning of the "Hundred Officials" seems to have deprived Yongzheng of an opportunity to blackmail hundred officials and expand his power and influence, but it is also such an unexpected move, but it has precisely played the effect of "killing three birds with one stone".
Establish the image of "lone minister" and continue to show favor to Kangxi.
"Orphan minister", this is Kangxi's requirement for Yongzheng, and it is also the image that Yongzheng needs to vigorously establish and display in front of Kangxi.
Kangxi asked Yongzheng to be a "lone minister", and the "lone minister" here should be understood by splitting it into two meanings: "lonely" and "subject". The so-called "lonely" is lonely and isolated, and it is Kangxi who is warning Yongzheng not only not to form a party, but also to maintain his independent personality and not to collude with other forces; the so-called "subject" is to "be a subject", which is also a hint that Yongzheng should put away his covetousness for the throne and assist Kangxi and the crown prince with peace of mind.
There is no doubt that at this time, Kangxi was not only for Yongzheng, but also for other princes, and did not want him to compete with Yin Rong for the position of crown prince, and if he showed the idea of seizing the throne, it would undoubtedly cause Kangxi to be greatly disgusted, which was the "red line" in Kangxi's heart, and the princes were also untouchable.
This point must also be very clear to this Yongzheng, so what he has to do is not to make Kangxi suspicious of him a little, not to let Kangxi have the slightest feeling that he has a covetous heart for the throne.
Therefore, Yongzheng not only had to burn the Hundred Officials' Commentary, but also had to destroy it in front of everyone and when everyone saw that they had not touched the Hundred Officials' Narrative, and all of this was actually done for Kangxi to see.
First of all, with Kangxi's personality, at this time, the capital and even the palaces of the princes and ministers must have the eyeliner of the Kangxi Emperor, and everything could not escape Kangxi's eyes.
Prior to this, the Kangxi Emperor could clearly understand that the three officials who were in arrears with the treasury of the household department had diverted the borrowed silver for other purposes, and they were still able to redeem the sword that Longkeduo had lost later, which showed that Kangxi's "espionage" work was really doing a very good job. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to hide this matter from Kangxi, and what he wants to do is to make everything perfect, so that Kangxi can see it in his eyes, and at the same time, he can also show his heart.
Secondly, it is necessary to completely dispel Kangxi's doubts and eliminate all "possibility" factors.
Why is the "Hundred Officials' Narrative" in Yongzheng's hands? Had Yongzheng seen it before? Will it burn a fake copy, but really be hidden by it?
In addition, there were many questions that would haunt Kangxi, even other princes and courtiers, and this must have put Yongzheng in a very unfavorable situation.
Therefore, Yongzheng and the thirteen brothers Yinxiang joined forces to use a set of "serial counts" to dispel the doubts of everyone, especially the Kangxi Emperor.
The first step is to create the illusion of theft of the home, and at the same time arrange for Li Wei to go to the Wanyong pawnshop where the "Hundred Officials' Narrative" is stored, and to dispose of this batch of "stolen goods";
In the second step, through the Criminal Investigation Department acting by the Thirteenth Brother Yinxiang, through the Punishment Department, it was established as a case, took the normal channels, and made all actions public, avoiding the possibility of being accused of this as a "black box operation";
In the third step, Yongzheng and Yinxiang soldiers divided into two roads, Yongzheng went to the Eight Brothers Yinyu Mansion, intercepted the Eight Brothers and others, to prevent them from interfering, and at the same time Yinxiang sent people to wanyong pawnshops to copy the "Hundred Officials' Deeds";
In the fourth step, Yongzheng not only called out to a group of brothers of the Eight Masters Party, including Prince Yinrong, The Third Brother Yinzhi, and Ma Qi, the minister of the upper study, but also called out to Yongzheng, so that all the forces in the court gathered together to testify for Yongzheng, and then witnessed the burning of the "Hundred Officials and Deeds", which was considered to be witnessed by someone.
Again, while doing these things, Yongzheng also found a "protective umbrella" for himself.
After all, the Wanyong pawnshop in the "Hundred Officials' Narrative" was searched out, so that the Wanyong pawnshop, as the property of the Eight Brothers Yin, would inevitably make Yin Yu and others absolutely dare not embarrass Yongzheng in front of Kangxi on this matter, because once thoroughly investigated, the suspicions of the Eight Brothers Yin Yu and others far exceeded Yongzheng.
Whether from the motive or from the convenience, Yin Yu and others are undoubtedly closer to obtaining and seeing the "Hundred Officials' Narrative", of course, the initiator, Prince Yin, is even more unwilling to publicize this matter. As a result, Yongzheng was able to withdraw from the whole thing.
Of course, the matter was still known to the Kangxi Emperor in the end, but Kangxi did not express any opinions or make any explanations.
On the one hand, it was because he was very recognized of Yongzheng's behavior, but Yongzheng did not report to Kangxi in time after this, which made Kangxi feel a little confused. However, from Yongzheng's point of view, his failure to report shows that he does not want to "ask for credit" in this way, and does not want to add to the snake because of painting snakes, which will inevitably lead to unnecessary incidents.
On the other hand, at this time, Kangxi was still on his southern tour, and he did not want to cause turmoil in the korean situation because of the "Hundred Officials' Commentary", so that Kangxi must be beyond the reach of the whip, and it was very easy to change, which was also what Kangxi did not want to see.
It can be said that Yongzheng's practice of burning the "Hundred Officials' Deeds" shows that at this time, he did not have the intention of vying for power and seizing power, but continued to show his understanding of the overall situation, taking the overall situation into account, and focusing on the situation of the DPRK, which undoubtedly won the Kangxi Emperor a great favor for him.
Destroy the Hundred Officials' Sayings and prevent them from being accessed by others.
At this time, Ren Bo'an had already been executed by Nian Qianyao in the process of slaughtering Jiangxia Town, and about the "Hundred Officials' Narrative", what was left was only a pawn ticket that could extract this "private file", and it can be said that the "Hundred Officials' Narrative" that was burned was a single copy, and there was no possibility of appearing after this.
The reason why Yongzheng did this was because at this time he really had the "heart to take the wife".
Speaking of this, I have to mention that Yongzheng really did not have the idea of seizing the throne before, and he only had filial piety to Kangxi and loyalty to the prince, and to be an "orphan minister" according to the requirements of the Kangxi Emperor.
So what made Yongzheng have the idea of competing for the throne? There are two reasons for this.
First, at this time, The Crown Prince Yinrong had already "pit" Yongzheng many times, especially when Yongzheng chased after the arrears of the household department, not only let Yongzheng conceal and interfere with the normal pursuit work for him, but then openly questioned and even humiliated Yongzheng in front of hundreds of officials, which undoubtedly made Yongzheng suffer a huge humiliation, and he was also more and more dissatisfied with the prince Yinrong, and at the same time, he thought that Yinrong was an embarrassing task and was absolutely unable to govern the country well.
Second, it was the firm support of Wu Sidao and the thirteenth brother Yinxiang that made Yongzheng have enough confidence, especially the thirteenth brother Yinxiang's sentence "Why don't you fight", which made Yongzheng feel a great encouragement.
It was precisely for this reason that Yongzheng had the idea of breaking away from the crown prince and setting up another portal, and then participating in the competition for the throne, and began to put it into action.
At this time, Yongzheng's strategy was "to fight is not to argue, not to argue is to fight."
However, "not arguing" only hid his "heart to seize the wife", not discovered by Kangxi, and then disliked and suppressed by Kangxi, and at the same time could not be detected by the crown prince Yinrong and other princes, especially the Eight Brothers Yinyu and others, in order to avoid being excluded, framed and suppressed.
Therefore, Yongzheng used the method of publicly burning the "Hundred Officials' Deeds" to convey three very important messages to the outside world.
First, he did not have any intention of seizing the throne of the crown prince, otherwise he would not have destroyed this best "tool" that could be used to hold a hostage and command hundreds of officials.
Second, Yongzheng insisted on "justice" in the court, resolutely resisting and conscientiously putting an end to such acts that violated the "way of the saints" and wantonly ran rampant in the official arena.
Third, in front of the princes and courtiers, the image of a "cold-faced king" that continues to be established, although it does not rely on the "Hundred Officials' Description" to blackmail hundreds of officials, it can also play a role in subduing people with virtue.
From the root cause, since Yongzheng himself could not get and could not use this "Hundred Officials' Practices", then other princes were not allowed to get it.
One hand "anti-guest-oriented", excusing the thirteen brothers YinXiang and Nian Tangyao.
Looking at the process of Yongzheng obtaining the Hundred Officials' Narrative, the Thirteenth Brother Yinxiang and Nian Qianyao can be said to have played a very important role in it, and there are also many "violations" of behavior.
In particular, Nian Qianyao not only slaughtered the entire Jiangxia Town overnight, slaughtering more than 700 mouths in the whole town, but also burned the Jiangxia Town with a single fire. In the whole Tuzhen incident, not only Ren Bo'an, Liu Banu, Huang Tiren, and other important criminals of the imperial court were killed, but even the officers and soldiers of the Huai'an battalion who were responsible for assisting in the defense of Jiangxia Town were also killed, and this case was done without the permission of the Kangxi Emperor.
Correspondingly, Nian Qianyao listened to the arrangement of the thirteenth brother Yinxiang, and if it was really investigated, Yinxiang would bear more serious guilt, which also had to make Yongzheng afraid. What made Yongzheng feel helpless even more was that things could not have been so complicated, but because of Nian Qianyao's behavior, Yongzheng and Yinxiang fell into a very unfavorable situation.
Therefore, what Yongzheng has to do is to reverse this unfavorable situation in front of him.
Therefore, he first went to the Eight Brothers Yin Yu Mansion to preemptively explain the matter of Nian Tangyao's slaughter of Jiangxia Town, with the purpose of making Yin Yu and others eat a "dumb loss" first, and also enabling him and Yin Yu's people to reach an agreement on the relationship of interests on the issue of Ren Bo'an and Liu Banu, so as to avoid differences at that time. In the ensuing banquet, he also shifted all the blame to Ren Bo'an and the "Hundred Officials' Narrative", Ren Bo'an became a "chaotic thief", Nian Qianyao was "packaged" by him to become a "heroic figure" for the country and the people, and even the three brothers Yin Zhi could not help but praise Nian Qianyao's move as a "great achievement", which was a complete "whitewashing" for Nian Qianyao, and Yin Xiang could also withdraw from it.
Of course, although Crown Prince Yinrong was very angry, he had to express his support in the face of all the princes present and Ma Qi, and after the fact, he also knew that he was wrong, and he was even more worried about Kangxi until the origin of this matter, so he did not dare to over-assert.
In this way, including Yongzheng, the thirteenth brother Yinxiang, and Nian Qianyao, all of them were able to withdraw from this incident, and Nian Qianyao was even made the governor of Sichuan by the Kangxi Emperor, but instead of descending, he rose and was "blessed by misfortune".
Yongzheng's fire not only burned this "Hundred Officials' Deeds" that could hold hundreds of officials hostage and even cause turmoil in the korean situation, but also made it impossible for Prince Yinrong and The Eight Brothers Yinyu and others to achieve their ulterior motives through this. After this, the crown prince YinRong was known to Kangxi for his "conspiracy" to use the Hundred Officials' Narrative to control the situation, which led to the second and final deposing of his crown prince by the Kangxi Emperor because of his ren bo'an's appointment.
And Yongzheng, who burned the "Hundred Officials' Narrative", allowed all the previous acts of his team to be temporarily justified, and was able to withdraw from this matter, and also made the Kangxi Emperor have a new view and understanding, which greatly enhanced Kangxi's good feelings for him, and also benefited him a lot from the road to conquest after that.
It can be seen from this that after burning the "Hundred Officials and Deeds", Yongzheng not only did not have any losses, but achieved the effect of "killing three birds with one stone", and then became a real "winner".