The last shot of the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty" is:
When the new emperor succeeded to the throne, the national treasury had exceeded 50 million taels... At the beginning of the succession of Emperor Yongzheng thirteen years ago, the total silver deposit in the Qing treasury was less than 7 million taels......
Actually, the above statement is wrong.
Kangxi ascended the throne at the age of 8 and reigned for 61 years.
During his reign, he captured Ao Bai and regained the power of the imperial court. He put down the rebellion of the three times, defeated the Tsarist Russia, and conquered Galdan three times, maintaining and expanding the territory of the Qing Dynasty.
However, in his later years, Kangxi spent too much energy due to the battle of "Nine Sons to Seize the Inheritance", coupled with a tolerant attitude towards the problem of T pollution, which eventually led to a serious deficit in the treasury.
However, Kangxi was the pioneer of the prosperous Kangqian era, so he was respected by later generations as "the first emperor of the ages".
After Kangxi's death, the treasury was left with 27.16 million taels of silver.
The Qing Dynasty that Yongzheng took over was actually a mess. The government was corrupted, the treasury was empty, there were constant wars on the border, and there were a lot of social contradictions. Therefore, the burden on Yongzheng's body is very heavy. For this, he lived the life of "007".
After Yongzheng ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to straighten out the finances and strictly investigate the deficit in various places. Those who fall short shall be made up within 3 years, otherwise they will be dealt with.
In addition, he implemented the "New Deal":
The poll tax should be apportioned into the land, and the tax should be paid according to the land, so as to reduce the burden on the peasants.
The fire consumption is returned to the public, and the state unifies the proportion of consumption and loss to collect taxes, which also reduces the burden on the people and is conducive to the rectification of the rule of officials.
The officials and gentry paid the grain as a whole, and the officials, landlords, and those who did business all had to pay taxes and serve as servants.
These policies have reduced the burden on the people and increased the country's tax revenue. Because of these new policies, the interests of scholars and gentry were harmed, so Yongzheng was infamous.
However, the real Yongzheng is dedicated to the country and the people. During his 13-year reign, there were more than 41,600 pieces of Zhu Pi's recitals and 192,000 pieces of six-part recitals.
According to historical records, he wrote more than 10 million words of Zhu Pi, an average of about 4,000 words a day, and he wrote it with a brush.
Yongzheng has been in power for 13 years, and it is completely a "night and day" job, and he is worthy of "ruling the world with diligence". It can be said that his 13 years of governance laid the foundation for the Qing Dynasty to reach its peak and played a key role in the continuity of the "prosperous Kangqian era".
After Yongzheng's death, he accumulated 34.52 million taels for the treasury, leaving Qianlong with a full treasury.
Qianlong, the emperor, has a really good life.
He did not experience the battle of "nine sons to seize the heir", and his father Yongzheng removed all obstacles for him and carried a lot of infamy for him.
Before the middle of Qianlong, he still continued the legacy of Yongzheng, and was diligent and thrifty. Moreover, he will also manage his finances, maximize the use of gold and silver, and the treasury reached 8 million taels at its peak.
It's a pity that he later pursued personal pleasure and followed the example of his grandfather Kangxi's southern tour, which cost as much as 20 million taels of silver on 6 southern tours.
In order to be able to see the beautiful scenery of the south of the Yangtze River at any time, he built the four major gardens in the south of the Yangtze River in the Old Summer Palace, and imitated the Zhenjiang Jinshan Temple and the Jiaxing Yanyu Tower in the Chengde Summer Resort. In order to celebrate his mother's birthday, he also built the Qingyi Garden (Summer Palace).
Moreover, there is also the phenomenon of favoritism and connivance in the selection and appointment of officials. For example, He Shen's T dirty behavior was connived at by Qianlong.
When Qianlong abdicated, the treasury had 69.39 million taels of silver, which seems like a lot. However, at that time, inflation was severe, the purchasing power of silver was declining, and the money was no longer valuable. Moreover, after his abdication, he still lived a luxurious life and spent extravagantly.
In the 4th year of Jiaqing, after the death of Qianlong, there were only more than 20 million taels of silver left in the treasury, less than one-third of the previous one.
No wonder some people say that it only took one Qianlong time for the Qing Dynasty to go from prosperity to decline. That is, starting from Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty gradually went downhill.
Therefore, the "prosperous era of Kangqian" actually refers to the period from the middle of the Kangxi period to the middle of the Qianlong period.
The car of history is rolling forward, and we should learn from the past and the present. If a country wants long-term peace and stability, it cannot do without economic support.