Historical stories are always full of surprises, and the Qing Dynasty is a legendary period in China's history. Today, we will explore a rather compelling historical figure in the Kangqian era of the Qing Dynasty, the Yongzheng Emperor.
The Qing Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history, lasted for 268 years. The Kangqian era, especially the reigns of the three emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, is known as the pinnacle of the Qing Dynasty. In this prosperous era, Emperor Yongzheng has become a dazzling star in this history with his outstanding contributions.
Yongzheng, the fourth son of Kangxi, faced many difficulties inside and outside the country when he ascended the throne at the age of 45. Although Kangxi created a prosperous era of national peace and security in his later years, in fact, there are serious contradictions within the country. Corrupt officials are rampant, the treasury is empty, and land is concentrated in the hands of a few. When Yongzheng came to power, he was determined to solve these problems.
Yongzheng's concept of governing the country can be described as "diligent and hard-working". Historical records show that he approved more than 50,000 pieces of work, ruled for 13 years, and wrote an average of 9,000 words a day. This amount is breathtaking to the modern age. Yongzheng is not only a civil official, but also a doer. He eliminated corrupt officials, rectified officialdom, and completely solved the problem of an empty treasury.
In the process of solving the treasury problem, Yongzheng adopted extremely harsh measures. He launched a strict review of officials who owed money to the state treasury, even dating back to the Kangxi era, and finally found more than 10 million taels. He has been even more merciless in dealing with corrupt officials, not only bringing them to justice, but also their families. Such an iron fist may have seemed too harsh at the time, but in an era of rampant corruption, it was the only way to save the country from crisis.
Through a series of measures, Yongzheng let the common people and other officials witness the severe punishment of corrupt officials as a warning. Under Yongzheng's rule, the treasury not only increased from 8 million taels to 50 million taels, but also the officialdom was completely renewed. During the Yongzheng period, the saying that there were no officials and unclear was widely spread at that time.