Li Wei, along with Ortai and Tian Wenjing, was known as the Yongzheng Emperor's "three favorites". This special status of Li Wei is not the inference and speculation of later generations, but comes from an evaluation of the Yongzheng Emperor in the sixth year of Yongzheng: "When the world is supervised, it is the ear of the three people of Ortai, Tian Wenjing, and Li Wei." The "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" evaluated Li Wei as "the most favored by the superiors and the most sensitive to the gathering of affairs", and even the Qianlong Emperor, who destroyed the temple where he was enshrined, also had a positive evaluation of him as "talented and capable, doing things in a down-to-earth manner, declaring strength to seal the territory, and taking care of everything".
The historical Li Wei, not born as a rogue beggar as depicted in film and television works, was included in the residence of the fourth son of the emperor at that time, Yin Chan, carefully adjusted, and then became a feudal official and a courtier. Historically, Li Wei was born in a wealthy family in Jiangsu, and entered the career path by "spending money to donate officials", and during the Kangxi Dynasty, he had already achieved the rank of Hubu Langzhong, and the rank was Zheng Wupin, which was basically equivalent to the current head of the departments and bureaus under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance.
At his peak, Li Wei dared to impeach orr qi, the younger brother of ortai, the first assistant of the cabinet, who was then the viceroy of the Nine Doors; dared to impeach the guards of Prince Cheng's palace who were competing with the people for land; and he was able to pull down the governor of Hedao in one fell swoop. In the third year of Qianlong, Li Wei was seriously ill, and the Qianlong Emperor "sent a royal doctor for medical consultation"; after his death, the Qianlong Emperor even gave him a huge honor of "giving sacrifices and funerals and giving titles".
Then, what position did such a generation of famous courtiers who could be regarded as a favorite of the Yongzheng Emperor, who could be treated so favorably by the Qianlong Emperor, and who dared to confront so many dignitaries and dignitaries, have such a strong position? What is his highest official position equivalent to now?
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Li Wei during the Yongzheng period</h3>
After the Yongzheng Emperor succeeded to the throne, he urgently needed talents in financial management because he needed to clean up the deficit of the national treasury and carry out fiscal reforms. On the recommendation of Yin Xiang, the Prince of Yi, and coupled with the Yongzheng Emperor's knowledge of Li Wei's appointment in Hubu Langzhong when he was in the residence, the Yongzheng Emperor appointed Li Wei, who was then the Hubu Langzhong, as a Zhili Yi Chuan, a Daoist official of Zhengsipin, with an administrative rank slightly higher than that of the bureau level. Without waiting for Li Wei to take office, the Yongzheng Emperor changed his name to Yunnan YanyiDao, which was basically equivalent to the assistant governor of Yunnan Province in charge of Yanzheng, and enjoyed the treatment of vice-provincial level.
Because of his outstanding performance in Yanyi Dao, Yunnan, Li Wei was promoted to the position of Yunnan envoy in the second year of Yongzheng, and became a senior official in charge of a province's finance and personnel, basically equivalent to the deputy governor in charge of the standing committee of the provincial party committee, and the administrative level was provincial and ministerial level. However, Li Wei's envoy, in addition to being in charge of the finances and personnel affairs of Yunnan Province, was also in charge of the Salt Administration of Yunnan Province, which can be described as a great power.
In the third year of Yongzheng, Li Wei was promoted to inspector of Zhejiang, officially stepped into the ranks of "feudal officials" and became the number one in Zhejiang Province. In the fourth year of Yongzheng, on the basis of the Governor of Zhejiang, Li Wei also concurrently served as the envoy of two Zhejiang salts, which was basically equivalent to the governor of Zhejiang Province and the chairman of the board of directors of the large central salt industry company. In the fifth year of Yongzheng, Li Wei was promoted to governor of Zhejiang and in charge of the governorship, holding the administrative, economic, and military power of Zhejiang Province, and was a veritable emperor of Zhejiang.
Stills of Li Wei, who was the inspector of Zhejiang at the time
In the sixth year of Yongzheng, Li Wei's specific powers were further enhanced, and he was granted the right to "oversee the theft of the seven provinces and five prefectures in Jiangnan" and "the civil and military officials were subject to his control". That is to say, at this time, Li Wei was not only the absolute leader of Zhejiang Province, but also the anti-theft affairs in 12 cities and counties in the Jiangnan region, and more importantly, he could also control the civil and military officials in these areas. As far as the situation was concerned, Li Wei was undoubtedly the most powerful official in the Jiangnan region, and coupled with the absolute trust and special grace of the Yongzheng Emperor, the viceroy of Liangjiang was probably willing to bow to the wind.
In the seventh year of Yongzheng, Li Wei ended his local post and began to enter the central government, becoming Shangshu of the Bingbu From Yipin, which is now the minister of national defense and the state councilor, and the administrative level is the deputy post of the state level, which is what we often call the deputy state-level high-ranking official. In the 10th year of Yongzheng, Li Wei acted as Shangshu of the Punishment Department (temporarily acting), which was basically equivalent to the secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission and minister of public security, the minister of justice, the deputy procurator general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the vice president of the Supreme People's Court.
Soon after acting as the head of the Punishment Department Shangshu, Li Wei was transferred to the post of Governor directly under him, becoming the head of the "Nine Governors" and thus embarking on an arrogant career of not fearing the magnates and impeaching them without a word. However, Li Wei's promotion to an official position in the Yongzheng Dynasty came to an end, and the highest administrative level was the vice-state level, which was basically equivalent to that of the governor of the province directly under the province and the commander of the Gyeonggi Military Region (at the level of the Grand Military Region) and the state councilor.
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Li Wei during the Qianlong period</h3>
After the Qianlong Emperor ascended the throne, Li Wei, who had lost the protection of the Yongzheng Emperor, did not lose his position, but instead in the first year of Qianlong, on the basis of directly subordinate to the viceroy, he also led the direct subordinate general river and the observation envoy of the camp field, which was equivalent to adding the official positions of the governor of the river and the head of the central Tuntian inspection group. At this time, although Li Wei's administrative level has not changed, he is still the absolute leader of a province directly under him.
During his time in charge of the affairs of Hehe and Tuntian, Li Weishang impeached Prince Cheng's palace guards for competing with the people for silt fields, and was praised by the Qianlong Emperor for "enforcing the law impartially" and rewarding him with "four regiments of dragons to supplement the service".
The old system of the Qing Dynasty, "the prince serves the four positive dragon supplements, the county king serves the two positive two lines of dragon supplements, and the different surnames are not given to the four groups of dragons", since the Kangxi Emperor gave the Wujin shi Ma Jinbo "four regiments of dragon supplements", this special grace began to fall on Han Chen with a small probability. Throughout the Qing Dynasty, there were only 5 Hanchen who could receive this honor, and Li Wei was one of them. In the late Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang saved the Qing Dynasty from falling, and they failed to receive the "Four Regiments of Dragon Supplements" for the qing Dynasty by relying on their own strength, which shows the high level of this reward.
However, after this honor, Li Wei's official position was no longer promoted, and his administrative level did not change until Qianlong died of illness in three years. That is to say, although Li Weisheng was not able to rank in the imperial court and enter the military plane on duty, his highest position was basically equivalent to that of the governor of the province directly under him, the commander of the Beijing Military Region (at the level of the grand military region), the chief of the first general river of the province directly under the province, the leader of the Tuntian Affairs Inspection Group, and concurrently serving as a state councilor, and his administrative level was a state deputy post.
Directly under the Governor Yamen
< h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > postscript</h3>
In October of the third year of Qianlong, Li Wei died of illness, and in addition to sending bodyguards to pay tribute, the Qianlong Emperor also issued two orders: 1. "Officials of the province." 2. "Li Wei's coffin passed through the local civil and military officials and sent people to escort and take care of them out of the country within twenty miles." With such a kind of grace treatment, how many of the Qing Dynasty's feudal officials could get it? However, perhaps only in this way can it be worthy of its title of "one of the three favorite ministers of the Yongzheng Emperor".
References: "Qing History Manuscripts , Liechuan 81 "Yongzheng Emperor Zhu Zhi Zhi Zhi", "Qing Shilu Gaozong Shilu", "Kokura Shanfang Collection"