Do you know that during the Qing Dynasty, there was an emperor who tried to reform the rule of officials and crack down on corruption during his reign, but because of problems in methods and ideas, he ultimately failed to save the Qing Dynasty from declining. He is the Jiaqing Emperor. In 1799, after the abdication of Emperor Qianlong, Jiaqing succeeded to the throne and immediately launched a series of anti-corruption actions. However, the more he tried, the more corrupt the officialdom seemed to be, and why was this? Could it really be that the "good old man" ruined the Qing Dynasty?
Emperor Jiaqing, an emperor who may not be so conspicuous in the pages of history, but his reign was definitely lively. In 1799, after the death of Emperor Qianlong, Jiaqing ascended the throne, and he faced a corrupt court. During the time of his father, Qianlong, corrupt officials had become an open secret, the most famous of which was He Shen.
He not only seized Heshen's family property, but also let Heshen apologize for his crime by death in prison, the original plan was to let Heshen be executed at noon, to show the world that there is no way out of corruption.
But why did you choose to let He Shen die with relative dignity in the end? There is a deep meaning in this. Liu Yong's (Liu Luoguo)'s words may have influenced Jiaqing's decision. Liu Yong suggested that although He Shen was a heinous crime, he was an important minister in the Qianlong period after all, and if Ling Chi was executed, it would be tantamount to a complete negation of Qianlong's employment strategy, which would be a blow to the prestige of the entire imperial family.
In the following years, he was even more resolute, and a series of high-ranking officials were severely punished for corruption, either beheaded or hanged, and exiled to Heilongjiang. On the surface, Jiaqing is indeed ruling the country with an "iron fist", but in fact, this high-pressure policy does not fundamentally solve the problem.
Jiaqing also pays attention to its own clean image in the fight against corruption. He restricted his subordinates from giving gifts, and his life was extremely simple, even on his birthday, he did not accept any gold or silver treasures. From reading books left by the emperor to dealing with court affairs, Jiaqing tried to lead by example and bring about a change in the atmosphere of the entire imperial court.
However, the irony of history is that the more Jiaqing tried, the more corruption in the DPRK and China seemed to be fundamentally uncheckable. On the one hand, Jiaqing's iron-fisted policy has made many officials respectful on the surface, but trembling behind the scenes, and this fear has not been transformed into positive energy, but has made the government more undercurrent. In addition, those real talents have also chosen to retire or remain silent due to the fear of being implicated, which is a huge loss to the entire political ecology.
During this period, although the Jiaqing Emperor vigorously promoted reforms, it was difficult to eradicate the deep-rooted corrupt system by punishment alone. What is needed is systemic reform, including the improvement of the rule of law and the universalization of education. Due to various constraints, including Jiaqing's own vision and the political environment at the time, these deep-seated reforms did not advance substantively.
On the other hand, Jiaqing's approach also harmed the majesty of imperial power to some extent. Especially in the case of dealing with He Shen, although he did not choose to be executed in an extreme way in the end, the incident itself has caused huge repercussions among the people. In the discussion, people not only paid attention to the corruption of He Shen, but also paid attention to the way in which the imperial power was executed, which invisibly weakened the image of the emperor.
Although Jiaqing's personal morality and governing philosophy were relatively upright, he failed to fundamentally change the operation mode of the entire political system, nor did he inject new vitality into the Qing Dynasty. This situation directly led to successive defeats and territorial losses in the later part of the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty's national power gradually declined, and finally went to extinction.
In such a historical background, it is not difficult for us to find that the efforts of a single emperor are often a drop in the bucket and cannot resist the trend of the entire era. Although Jiaqing's anti-corruption campaign has shown its might, it is powerless and even helpless in the face of the complicated political situation. Although his series of policies seemed to be justice at the time, the actual effect was a drop in the bucket and failed to really save the fate of the Qing Dynasty.
Looking back on Emperor Jiaqing's path of governing the country, we can feel his helplessness and efforts. In the face of corruption that goes deep into the bone marrow, even the emperor seems to be powerless. The story of Jiaqing tells us that any reform is not achieved overnight, and requires the accumulation of time and systematic cooperation. Perhaps, in his time, what was really needed was not just an "iron-fisted" emperor, but also a profound change involving all levels of society. But this is undoubtedly a difficult challenge for a dynasty that has gone into decline.