On August 23, 1313, the 58-year-old Yongzheng Emperor died. On the day of his death, the imperial court issued a testament reviewing Yongzheng's political achievements in the past thirteen years since he was in power: the government has gradually been purged, the people's hearts have gradually become good, and the program has been disciplined, the law is small and incorruptible, and the people are happy.
This is the official evaluation of Yongzheng as a whole, compared with other emperors' wills, Yongzheng's will does not say much praise, but still objectively evaluates his life. The Yongzheng Emperor also had a basic evaluation of himself: although he did not dare to compete with more than three generations of holy kings, if he was the lord of the Han, Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties, he was really worthy of it.
Whether it is the official or Yongzheng himself, the evaluation given is generally true. Yongzheng is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished emperors in Chinese history, and Yongzheng is also the inheritor of the longest prosperous era in history, the Kangqian dynasty.
The prosperity of Kang, Yong and Qian lasted for more than one hundred and thirty years, accounting for half of the history of the Qing Dynasty, which is unique in chinese history. Yongzheng reigned for only thirteen years, which is indeed not long, but it is indeed an important part of the ink and color, and its historical scale is very deep.
With extraordinary courage and boldness, and with a sense of urgency that time is not waiting, Yongzheng implemented a series of institutional innovations, reversed the political atmosphere of Kangxi's sluggishness in his later years, and was the main founder of the powerful and prosperous qing dynasty. He made great efforts to govern himself, saying many times: "As for the praise and criticism of the people, the right and wrong of the hereafter, do not ask." ”
Many experts and scholars in the field of Qing history have a basically positive view of Yongzheng. For example, Mr. Meng Sen, a well-known expert in Qing history, believes that if Kangxi is regarded as a generation of kings who consolidate the cornerstone of the country, the peak of prosperity began with the Yongzheng Emperor.
The Japanese scholar Miyazaki Ichi also said in the book "Yongzheng Emperor": "Proverb Yun, the foundation of the dynasty was laid in the third generation, and the Yongzheng Emperor was the third generation of monarchs after the Qing Dynasty, and there was a foundation plate of two hundred and ten years of the Qing Dynasty, that is, it was laid for it." ”
Yongzheng's achievement also lies in the fact that he passed on a Guotai Min'an Jiangshan to Qianlong. He said with great satisfaction in his last will: "To this day, I am confident that I can live up to the weight entrusted by the emperor' examination." At the same time, he said that "the volunteer is not completed, and there is no regret." His unfinished wishes were handed over to future generations. In his will, he expected to honor the righteous people, do the right things, and hear the right words, and wished that the ministers inside and outside would be loyal and virtuous, and that they would become a generation of rulers.
Yongzheng's greatest contribution lies in his innovative spirit, when the Jia Dao was in decline, due to the spread of the old-fashioned wind, Yongzheng's various negatives were sealed by history, and the people of the Great Qing Dynasty were looking forward to the innovative spirit of Yongzheng at that time. The Jiaqing Emperor said that Yongzheng was "the whole program of the discipline and the establishment of the government minglun", and the Jiaqing Emperor's evaluation of his grandfather was a classic.
Of course, like all ming emperors in history, Yongzheng was not perfect. During his thirteen years on the throne, he also did some negative, negative things. Overall, there are roughly three things:
1. Promote mysterious politics
In the feudal autocratic society, the system of co-rule between kings and subjects was promoted. The inscription of the Shunzhi Emperor in the Qianqing Palace "Zhengda Guangming" and the Kangxi Emperor's imperial court listening to the government are the best interpretations of the system of co-governance between the monarch and the subject. However, in the Yongzheng period, major changes occurred, especially the appearance of the Military Aircraft Department, so that "university scholars can not be slightly praised during the period."
The same is true of the secret folding system, although there were also secret folds during the Kangxi period, but the major affairs of the state were still handled through the cabinet. Yongzheng extended the secret folding system to officials above the middle level, and used it as a means for local officials to monitor each other, even in the following system. In this way, Yongzheng changed the basic way of national decision-making.
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, ministers petitioned for the abolition of the Military Aircraft Department and the secret folding system. Therefore, at the beginning of Qianlong's succession, the Military Aircraft Department was briefly abolished, but later Qianlong believed that the abolition of the Military Aircraft Department and the secret folding system was not conducive to the high concentration of imperial power, and eventually followed the old path of Yongzheng.
2. Treat people harshly
After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he treated his brothers, especially those who participated in the struggle for reserves in the later years of Kangxi, with too vicious methods. Members of the "Eight Masters Group", such as Lao Eight, Lao Jiu, Lao Shi, and Lao Xi, gave severe crackdowns out of political necessity. But after all, they are all brothers, and the punishment for the imprisonment of the knight is still reasonable, and there is no need to give insults such as "Akina" and "Seth Black".
As for the other brothers and clans, Yongzheng's methods of attacking were also too harsh, and many of them were falsely accused, which seemed to be suspected of being the same as the party. This is also a major reason for Yongzheng's bad reputation for a long time.
In addition, Yongzheng was also too harsh on some officials and ministers who committed crimes. For example, in Yongzheng's Zhu Batch, almost all of the instructions to the feudal officials have the words "Beware of the leader's protection", which can be said to be full of murderous spirit. In the secret edict given to Li Wei, Lü Liuliang was not only to be discouraged and ashes, but even said, "Not even a single powder is allowed to remain."
In fact, there were many unjust prisons in the Yongzheng Dynasty, many major and important cases often could not withstand scrutiny, and there were too many innocent people implicated. After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, tens of thousands of unjust and wrongful cases were rehabilitated, and the clan office was also opened. This is not that Qianlong intends to do a good job in self-esteem, but Qianlong also believes that the political atmosphere of the Yongzheng Dynasty is too tense and is not conducive to the unity of the monarchs and subjects.
3, quite superstitious like Xiangrui
Eight years after Yongzheng, Yongzheng also began to pursue immortality, allowing some monks and Taoists to refine Dan medicine. In addition, Yongzheng pushed Xiangrui to the extreme, and the feudal officials whitewashed Taiping, and there were many fake and empty things.
This kind of atmosphere makes officials afraid to tell the truth, but only to tell lies. For example, after Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he clearly pointed out that the numbers reported were untrue, called the reclamation of the wasteland, but in fact they were given additional endowments and harmed the people, especially in Henan. After the provinces have been cleaned up, the number of false reports generally reaches about 40 percent, and some as high as 90 percent.
Many of Yongzheng's practices were corrected during the Qianlong Dynasty. In the case of the three emperors of Kang, Yong, and Qian, the focus of policy was constrained by the environment facing the country. During the Kangxi Dynasty, after twenty or thirty years of war, the country needed to recuperate, so it practiced a lenient government. During the Yongzheng period, after sixty years of leniency by the Kangxi Dynasty, he wanted to rectify the officials, but he overcorrected it, so the Qianlong Dynasty took it back.
But in any case, yongzheng's problems are still within the acceptable range overall, and it is certain that the merit is greater than the excess. If quantified, then the Yongzheng Emperor is seven points of merit and three points. In terms of merit, he is worthy of being a promising monarch in Chinese history.