In the past 60 years, Qianlong has repeatedly set up large prisons, killing and exiling countless corrupt officials.
However, even such a corrupt emperor went back and forth on the issue of dealing with a corrupt official --- Huangmei in Pingyang County, Zhejiang Province, and almost made a big mistake, which is enough to make people warn.
Pull out the radish and bring out the puree
In the 47th year of Qianlong, the cases of Wang Yuwang and Chen Hui were exposed one after another. Qianlong estimated that Zhejiang Province had "no backlog and shortage" of money and grain, and ordered Zhejiang to conduct a comprehensive inventory and verify the shortage of warehouses, and found that the warehouses of various prefectures and counties had a total deficit of more than 180 taels of money and grain.
In order to reverse the deficit situation in Zhejiang Province, Qianlong proposed the method of "not wanting to revive the prison, but ordering to try to make up for it." This is actually cutting flesh to mend sores, but it has opened a wide door for corrupt officials to enrich their private pockets.
Huang Mei took advantage of this opportunity to wantonly embezzle assets in Binh Duong, making the deficit bigger and bigger.
Huang Mei took office in the 43rd year of Qianlong and ended in the 51st year of Qianlong, and the recorded deficit has exceeded 100,000 taels. Huang Mei unscrupulously diverted the money and grain from the warehouse for her own use, and on the other hand, in the name of making up for the shortfall, she set up a clever name to loot the people's wealth, and the peasants had already paid taxes for farming, and Huang Mei used the sign to make up for the shortfall and distributed donations according to the acres of land, 50 wen per mu.
At the same time, money and grain were levied according to households, and the Changping Yicang set up to prevent a poor harvest in a famine year was used for distribution in disaster years, but Huangmei only collected two cashiers and did not buy grain.
Such a "big rat", "reigned for 8 years, and the price of the invaded valley was set and the money extorted was not less than 20 yuan. "Such a corrupt official, but the people dare not denounce it.
Benyang County is in the southernmost part of Zhejiang Province, more than 1,000 miles away from the provincial capital Hangzhou.
Huang Mei's bad deeds are a scholar and politician Dou Guangnai was very annoyed when he heard that Huang Mei in Benyang Zhi County, Zhejiang, "her mother died and did not want to mourn, and she was specially ordered to perform a drama", and thought that an official of the imperial court was so immoral, and investigated this person.
A preliminary investigation found that he had "lost more than 100,000 yuan in money and food". Dou Guangnai reported the investigation to Emperor Qianlong twice. But he never expected that reporting Huang Mei's problem almost cost him his life.
Dou Guangnai's report offended the local official Shi and several ministers. Zhejiang Province has been in deficit for several years, Qianlong has urged many times, it took 4 years to make up for 1 million, there is still a deficit of 300,000, Emperor Qianlong was greatly annoyed, Zhejiang Province is a rich province, the deficit of more than 1 million has not been completed, and Shandong's economic situation is much worse than Zhejiang, and the deficit of 2 million has completed the task in only 2 years.
At this time, Dou Guangnai reported that Huangmei was in deficit, and Emperor Qianlong saw Dou Guangnai's performance, praised it greatly, and sent him to thoroughly investigate the deficit of the prefecture and county with the ministers of the Qincha, and severely criticized the three ministers, thinking that they were ineffective, and ordered them to refer to the various paragraphs played by Dou Guangnai, and check them one by one, and not to "go back to protect the Zhan", otherwise "only three people will ask".
The deficit in Zhejiang Province could have been solved by Pu Yan, but after Dou Guangnai's toss, a leak was stabbed, and the local officials had to cheat privately, and the three ministers of the Qin Mission's case Pu Yan was suspected of favoritism, so that the local officials and the ministers of the Qin Dispatch hated Dou Guangnai very much, which invisibly increased the difficulty of investigating the Huangmei deficit case.
Fish that slipped through the net
It is said that Emperor Qianlong has praised Dou Guangnai, and sent him and several ministers to Zhejiang to investigate Huangmei and other deficit cases, and soon the investigation will come to light, who knows that when Dou Guangnai was full of confidence and ready to take office, Qianlong suddenly changed his hexagram and ordered him to complete the township test on time and did not have to participate in the inventory of the warehouse.
He was appointed to go to Zhejiang to investigate the case with Cao Wenyun, Jiang Sheng, and Yi Linghe. Dou Guangnai's report offended the minister, and Ah Gui and Cao Wenyun and others quickly reached a tacit understanding and began to attack Dou Guangnai.
Ah Gui and Cao Wenyun did not go deep into the county to investigate the case, but questioned Dou Guangnai face to face, and Ah Gui and Cao Wenyun and others questioned Dou Guangnai not to grasp more specific clues, but to have ulterior motives, but Dou Guangnai's truthful answer was grabbed by them and took the opportunity to retaliate against Dou Guangnai.
Ah Gui, Cao Wenyun and others reported Dou Guangnai's answer to Qianlong in detail. Qianlong did not distinguish the twists and turns of Ah Gui when he brought him, and did not delve into it, but felt that Dou Guangnai was an unreliable person, and the name of the whistleblower in Huang Mei's case was not even clear, how could he slander people?
Qianlong was very satisfied that he had sent Ah Gui to investigate, and he believed that Dou Guangnai and Fei Wenyun might have a personal grudge, and if he hadn't cut through the chaos and corruption quickly, the matter would have been debated for no reason for a long time.
The Zhejiang deficit case was closed as soon as possible. Qianlong led a team of A Gui and Cao Wenyun to conclude the case in Chongqing on June 13, and the overall situation of the case of the deficit in Zhejiang Province has been decided. The unfinished silver of all warehouses to make up for the deficit was more than 250,000 taels, which was much less than the number reported by Fusong. This is tantamount to a slap in the face to Dou Guangnai.
Huang Mei was lucky enough to get through the internal disputes between Ah Gui and Cao Wenyun and Dou Guangnai and others in the court, and became a fish that slipped through the net.
Infighting
Huang Mei's case seemed to receive special attention at first, and Qianlong took the initiative to interrogate in person, over-supervised, and soon came to an end, capricious.
Emperor Qianlong has been under the Chongqing Zhejiang deficit case to conclude, Huangmei's case is no one to pursue, Dou Guangnai out of loyalty to Emperor Qianlong, as a result, Qianlong did not believe him, unintentionally offended several ministers of the Qin mission to Dou Guangnai, and did not give up because Emperor Qianlong issued an edict to end the Zhejiang deficit case.
Several ministers are well-known experts in handling cases, this time Dou Guangnai's performance made them ugly, and this Dou Guangnai is a complete nerd, Qianlong also felt "clumsy", but asked about it was not his job, and several ministers decided to give him some color.
Ah Gui and Cao Wenyun carefully planned for the rectification of Dou Guangnai, and played a copy of Dou Guangnai: Dou Guangnai's remarks about the relocation of Pingyang and other counties were carried out after a strict investigation, and there was nothing to do, and there was no act in the Huangmeimu Temple of Pingyang Zhixian County that Dou impeached.
Qianlong watched the impeachment of Ah Gui and Cao Wenyun, but he did not do it as hastily as the Zhejiang deficit case, but became serious, thinking that Dou Guangnai was suspected of being famous and slandered, and severely reprimanded Dou Guangnai.
Dou Guangnai never expected to be loyal, but he caused trouble, and Emperor Qianlong not only did not trust him, but stood on the side of Ah Gui and Cao Wenchu to attack him.
Dou Guangnai was full of complaints, but he couldn't resist, so he had to report truthfully: Huangmei's mother's funeral acting was said by the children in the county, and almost everyone in Pingyang knew that the shortage of money and food in Benyang County actually started in Huangmei. He had long been in the United States, and even though he ordered his son to extort the faction in various names, it was well known throughout the province that Ah Gui and others did not deal with Huang Mei seriously when dealing with the deficit officials; when the minister sent people to Pingyang to examine him, he was completely deceived by the local officials. In order to clarify the facts, we will "go to Pingyang in person, check the confirmation, and then go back." ”
If Qianlong really wanted to figure out Huangmei and other issues, he should have asked Dou Guangnai to go to Benyang to verify and get evidence.
However, Emperor Qianlong not only did not allow the performance, but handed over Dou Guangnai to the ministry to listen to the fate, Dou Guangnai felt that he was forced to a dead end, rather than sit and wait for death, it is better to fight a fish to die and break the net, Dou Guangnai ignored Qianlong's opposition, and went to Pingyang, Zhejiang Province in the starry night, determined to find out the problem of Huangmei, in order to wash away his injustice.
Dou Guangnai's arrival in Benyang caused a panic in the new governor of Zhejiang, Yi Ling'a, and once Dou Guangnai verified the case of Pingyang Huangmei, it was tantamount to proving that he was ineffective in his work, and he was dismissed from his post and punished. Therefore, he sent people to follow Dou Guangnai, monitor his every move, and report Dou Guangnai's charges to Emperor Qianlong, and use Qianlong to bring intimidation and punishment to Dou Guangnai.
Dou Guangnai never expected that his loyalty would lead to misfortune, and he was sent to Beijing to punish the crime, and the corrupt became criminals, but the corrupt officials went unpunished.
Put all one’s eggs in one basket
Just when Huangmei and a group of corrupt officials were lucky enough to pass the test, Emperor Qianlong received the performance and physical evidence sent by Dou Guangnai's envoys. The evidence is conclusive, and Emperor Qianlong must not re-issue an edict when he sees it: the case of Huangmei's greed must be thoroughly investigated, Dou Guangnai must be released, and he will return to Zhejiang to cooperate in handling the case.
It turned out that Dou Guangnai knew that Huangmei's case was extraordinary, and the minister repeatedly confirmed that there was no problem, but his stubbornness had already violated the emperor's deed, if he couldn't find out the evidence, he would either die or the net would be broken.
Why did the people grit their teeth with hatred for Huang Mei, and the news of his corruption spread loudly, but the minister sent someone to investigate the matter, but no one dared to report it.
Dou Guangnai was very cautious this time, first sent a few students to Benyang for a private visit, openly and secretly visited, and mobilized the people of Benyang to rise up to expose Huangmei, so that the good people could not be wronged, and the bad people would get away with it, and continue to do evil. Huang Mei didn't expect this trick.
Although Huangmei and his son covered the sky in Pingyang, and the people did not dare to speak out in court, they provided a lot of evidence to the students sent by Dou Guangnai. Just when Yi Linghe played Dou Guangnai to Qianlong, and Qianlong decided to hand over Dou Guangnai to the Criminal Department for investigation, Dou Guangnai's "Wang Yizhi and Wang Yiduowu, who came to see him as protégés, entered the mansion and said that he was wearing a cotton jacket, in order to report the favor of the teacher. Dou Guangnai folded open the cotton jacket and took a look, only to see that there were more than 2,000 land deeds, printed tickets, receipts, etc., which were collected by the yellow plum according to the mu. ”
Dou Guangnai sent people to travel 500 miles a day to quickly send Huang Mei's corruption evidence to Qianlong, and Qianlong saw that the evidence was conclusive before retrying Huang Mei's case.
According to investigation, Huang Mei, "has been in power for 8 years, and the price of the invaded valley is set and 3 dollars are extorted, and the stolen goods are no less than 20 yuan." ”
Huang Mei's case is thought-provoking. Why is it so difficult to investigate a corruption case in Zhixian County, and why Emperor Qianlong reversed his word, causing twists and turns in a case that is not complicated, which illustrates the following problems.
First, anti-corruption is a thorny problem in all dynasties, and many emperors want to solve this stubborn problem, but they are unable to do so. It is often the beginning of the determination and decisive handling, the more difficult it is to go back, the greater the resistance, the tiger and the hasty end is many.
The second law does not punish the public, and Pu Yan is in trouble. This was the case in the case of Huang Mei. At the beginning, Qianlong felt that Dou Guangnai's report was loyal to the imperial court, and appointed him to thoroughly investigate the case.
The main reason is to engage in irregularities for personal gain, and the loss of money and food has become a common problem throughout the country. Therefore, Qianlong did not want to get by in the process of thorough rectification, and was unwilling to adopt Dou Guangnai's proposition of thorough investigation. This was the main factor in Qianlong's reversal.
As soon as the Huangmei case was revealed, the three ministers of the Imperial Mission, Cao Wenyun, and the chief attendant of the Criminal Department, maintained their conclusions and denied Dou Guangli's statement.
Therefore, when Qianlong appointed Ah Gui and Cao Wenyun to verify again, Ah Gui and Cao Wenyun continued to challenge Dou Guangnai, and reported to Qianlong: Dou Guangnai had no evidence and was purely framed.
Zhejiang's new governor Yi Aling made obstacles everywhere, because once Huang Mei's case was true, it meant that he was derelict in his duty and used imperial power to suppress Dou Guangnai. Officials and officials protect each other layer by layer, and Huang Mei has several layers of protective umbrellas.
Fourth, Huangmei's father and son acted in an embarrassed manner, forming an evil force in the local area, doing evil, and the people dared to be angry but did not dare to speak. This is also one reason why Huang Mei's case has been pending for a long time.
Fifth, Dou Guangnai is as vicious as hatred, and he is chasing after him. Dou Guangnai ordered that he should not interfere in this matter and threatened him with the punishment of the criminal department, but he still dared to contradict the emperor and fight to the death before Huang Mei's criminal evidence was seized and the emperor was played again.
The evidence was conclusive, and Qianlong had to order the investigation of Huang Mei again, so that Huang Mei could finally be brought to justice and Dou Guangnai would be spared from being wronged. History is a mirror, and we should draw a lesson from today's anti-corruption struggle, and those who handle the case should learn from Dou Guangnai's upright character, and the Emperor Lao Tzu should also investigate and deal with those who stop it, and pursue it to the end, so that those fish that slip through the net will not be able to escape the law.