Yong Zhengdi's political initiatives

Strengthen the secret folding system and expand the scope and content of Yong Zhengdi's secret folding. The secret folding began in the twentieth year of Kangxi (168 1), which helped the emperor to better understand the situation, master the dynamics, formulate targeted measures and effectively implement the rule. In order to give full play to the role of secret folding, Yong Zhengdi expanded the scope of secret folding to deployment, provincial judges, political studies and so on. And the content is extended to livelihood, customs and so on. During the Shunzhi period, in order to strengthen the imperial power, the Ministry of War restored the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty. Kangxi set up the south study room to disperse the discussion power of the king's meeting, but it did not fundamentally solve the problem. In the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729), the cabinet was outside the Taihe gate for fear of leaking secrets. It began with the establishment of a military office in Longzongmen, and the selection of cabinet confidential personnel, thinking that they could handle emergency military affairs and assist the emperor in handling government affairs. In the tenth year of Yongzheng (1732), it was renamed as "Handling Military Department" or "Military Department" for short. The military minister was selected by the emperor and concurrently held by the cabinet minister. They obeyed the emperor directly and knelt down to take notes. Their activities are under the supervision of the emperor, and their will is recorded in full accordance with the emperor's words. It can be seen that the military department was originally designed to handle military affairs, but once it appeared, it was seized by the emperor, which not only made it permanent, but also expanded its authority. After the establishment of the Ministry of War, princes and nobles were excluded, and cabinet ministers were also excluded, which made the emperor arbitrary-neither allowed the emperor to stand aside nor allowed his lieutenants to obstruct his will. The emperor issued orders directly to local officials through the military department, and the parliamentary hall since Nurhachi gradually became a dead letter.

When Yong Zhengdi established the military department, he had a regular assistant so that he could handle political affairs in time. Therefore, his power was more concentrated than that of Ming Taizu, and the power of other emperors in the past could not be compared with him. He is actually a combination of power, and the Prime Minister is in charge of everything. The establishment of the Ministry of War was a major change in the central organs of the Qing Dynasty, which marked the culmination of the development of the centralized monarchy in the Qing Dynasty. In the early years of Yongzheng, Nian Gengyao and Longkeduo were highly valued in the employment system. Nian Gengyao successively served as Governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi and General Fuyuan, and went to Pingping County, Qinghai Province, where Rutrob hid the Dan-Jin rebellion. After his success, he was made a first-class male and became the actual king of the northwest. Long is a senior official of the official department, an infantry commander and a hospital director. He was named Prince Taibao and honored as "Uncle" by Yongzheng. Both of them were prominent and abnormal, but they were purged by Yongzheng in a few years. Nian Gengyao ordered himself to commit suicide, and Longkodo was banned from death. At the same time, Yongzheng proposed a literary inquisition to crack down on two forces (Wang case and Qian case).

The four courtiers that Yongzheng once prized were: Li Jue (Jiangsu), Tian Wenjing (Fujian), Zhang (Anhui) and E Ertai; Among them, Li Jue, Tian Wenjing and Zhang are all Han Chinese, and Tian Wenjing is the flag bearer of the Han army. It can be seen that Yongzheng really understands and reuses the Han people. In view of Emperor Kangxi's failure to establish a prince in advance, Yong Zhengdi announced the secret collection method in August of the first year (1703)-he wrote down the name of his successor, Li Hong, put the Summer Boating Poem in a box, put it in a "fair and square" plaque in Ganqing Palace, and took it out of the box after his death. He also hid it in the palace with a secret message for verification. This method avoided the fierce struggle caused by the prince's struggle for power, and later generations followed suit. Improve the secret selection and custody system, that is, when the emperor was in office, he did not publicly announce the heir, but placed two imperial edicts with the name of the heir behind the "fair and square" plaque in Gan Qing Palace and beside the emperor. After the emperor died, the imperial edict minister * * * opened the imperial edict and established a new monarch. This institutionalized the way of succession to the throne, and also largely avoided the conflict between emperors in Kangxi's later years. Rectification and Yong Zhengdi's emphasis on bureaucracy. Yongzheng praised the officials who were strict in law enforcement, firm in style, strict in administration, pioneering and enterprising, and made remarkable achievements. For example, Tian Wenjing and Li Jue did a good job in checking money and grain in Henan and Zhejiang, and were known as "model governors". At the end of Kangxi, the fiscal deficit was serious, and after Yongzheng, a big inventory of money and grain was resolutely carried out. He organized an effective leadership team, which was jointly organized by Prime Minister Andrew, the thirteenth son of Emperor Kangxi, his uncle Longkeduo, the university student Huang Bai and the minister Zhu Shi. Check the deficit of the central government first. The local area has also carried out extensive inventory. Officials who have not been inspected are investigated and dealt with. The inventory improved the financial situation, but it should be noted that the silver deposit in the last year of Kangxi was more than 20 million yuan, and it was also more than 20 million yuan in the last year of Yongzheng, which greatly exaggerated the financial management effect of Yongzheng Dynasty.

However, Yongzheng also had serious shortcomings and limitations. Yong Zhengdi's repressive measures are very severe. No matter what the specific circumstances, anyone who resists the official will be punished as treason and beheaded. Even when resisting arrest, some people "* * * in one place, although not the initiator, but watching, that is, the same evil * * * economy", and they are determined to win. For private secret associations, officials are instructed to "visit irregularly, get the first blame, uproot and find the roots, and break contact forever." Suzhou handicraft workers demanded higher wages, and the strike was called a rest. Yong Zhengdi severely punished them, and the monument was banned forever. Yong Zhengdi is carrying out a human rights reform, that is, canceling the Dalit citizenship of a certain category of people. In the first year of Yongzheng (1723), Shaanxi and Shaanxi were listed as descendants of "musicians (official prostitutes)" because they were not affiliated with Judy in the late Ming Dynasty. Yongzheng ordered the cancellation of their registration as "musicians" and made them a civilian family. In September of the same year, he ordered that those "idle people" who had opposed Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants in Shaoxing be registered and removed and changed to civilian households. Main measures and results ① Returning farmland to forests.

In the first year of Yongzheng (1723), at the request of Li, the governor of Zhili, Yong Zhengdi implemented the principle of collecting land tax jointly with Ding Yin, which changed the previous double collection standard of per capita and per mu, and reduced the burden on landless and landless farmers. By the time of Ganlong, this policy had been extended to the whole country.

(2) Return the fire consumption to the public.

In the early Qing dynasty, the Ming system was followed, and all localities collected money and grain, adding "fire consumption" (the loss of broken silver when it was cast into silver ingots by fire, also known as consumption envy). In practice, officials arbitrarily increase cakes and count one or two as money. Because it is not within the amount paid, it is a bad habit for officials to arbitrarily invade corruption. Emperor Kangxi once said that even honest officials take fire. In the last years of Kangxi, officials all over the country arbitrarily forced a hunger strike in the name of burning fire, which could not be stopped. When Yong Zhengdi was cleaning up the money and grain, Shaanxi Governor Nuomian and Minister Gao Chengling requested in the second year of Yongzheng (1724) that the extra fire consumption in all parts of the province be reduced to the treasurer of the minister, so as to make up for the deficit in the province, with 202,000 yuan, which was distributed to local officials except for public use, called "Lian". Yong Zhengdi pointed out that fire consumption has always been levied by prefectures and counties, and the national treasury has been eroded by millions. The reason is that counties collect fire consumption and distribute it to superiors, and all kinds of feed are varied. Counties are wantonly corrupt and bosses pretend to be hermits. This is a long-standing problem and should be eliminated. He adopted the construction strategy of Shanxi officials and said: "Instead of fanning the flames to support the boss, it is better to keep the fire to support the boss." It is an open and illegal bribe for States and counties to raise bosses. When the boss allocates funds to counties, it becomes legal "honesty", that is, official salary subsidies. After Shanxi's implementation, various provinces followed suit, using fire consumption to make up for the deficit of money and grain, and dialing counties to ensure honesty. In the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727), he also ordered provincial governors to set provincial conditions and make them fixed. The system formed by this reform is called the "Lian Lian Yin System", which is also called "abandoning envy and returning it to the public", that is, the higher authorities distribute it to officials according to the quota. In the future, the use of fire will be divided into three parts: one part will be used to keep local officials clean, the other part will be used to make up the local deficit, and the other part will be used for local public use. This not only increases fiscal revenue, but also helps to build a clean government.

(3) Officials and gentry receive food as policemen.

In ancient times, taxes were collected only in the homes of ordinary people, and officials and gentry came from outside. Ordinary people still have to be policemen, that is, military service and corvee. Officials and gentry belong to the ruling class, so they don't have to be policemen or pay taxes. "Officials and gentry are police officers, and they are paid as a whole" means that they have to pay taxes when they are police officers. Of course, they are not really required to perform military service and corvee, and they can be bought with money. However, because it touches the interests of officials and gentry, it is more difficult to implement. However, in order to consolidate the rule of the dynasty, the interests of bureaucrats must be sacrificed temporarily, and this temporary sacrifice of the interests of bureaucrats is to enjoy more interests after the consolidation of the dynasty.

(4) copper ban

Yong Zhengdi spent a lot of energy to carry out the policy of banning bronzes, which is the need of money protection law. In the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727), the provincial capitals were ordered to send officials to set up bronze purchasing offices, and the money, grain and silver from the vassal treasury were used as funds to vigorously carry out private purchasing. Yong Zhengdi attaches great importance to the production of copper, but its output cannot meet the needs of minting currency. Therefore, he tried his best to ban copper and strictly carry out private casting, which still failed to achieve the expected goal. Shortcomings and shortcomings ① Emphasis on agriculture over business.

Yong Zhengdi continued to implement the late king's policy of developing production. Like his predecessor, he encouraged land reclamation. From the 60th year of Kangxi (172 1) to the 12th year of Yongzheng (1734), the cultivated land in China increased from 7.35 million hectares to 8.9 million hectares, and the Weihe River, He Dian River, Ziya River and Yongding River were dredged. Completed Zhili farming project, Zhejiang seawall project, Jiangnan seawall project and other water conservancy projects, and built the Yellow River and canal dikes. Yong Zhengdi continued to abandon the policy of money and food. According to Qing History, he was in office for 13 years, and he was exempted from taxes in the disaster area 12 years and grain in some areas.

However, he overemphasized agriculture and restricted commerce. He said that agriculture is the best in the world, and workers and Jia are the last. People who work more in the market plant less crops in the fields. If the crowd leans towards the workers, there will be more producers of things, and if there are more things, it will be difficult to sell and the price will be low. There are many people who rear-end the train, which is harmful not only to agriculture but also to industry. The policies formulated according to this theory are bound to be detrimental to the development of industry and commerce. He also thinks that mining is not feasible. Because mining will tempt people to leave the farm and pursue the last business, and miners gather in one place, which is easy to make trouble.

(2) Being eager for success and being too strict.

Yongzheng was eager for success, so he reclaimed land in Henan, cleared Zhang in Sichuan, dug wells in Shaanxi and plowed fields in Zhili. The original intention was to benefit the people, but in vain, it became a burden to the people. He is quick-tempered, moody and harsh, resulting in many unjust, false and wrong cases. After his death, Qianlong succeeded to the throne, rebelled against the harsh rule of Yongzheng, and implemented the policy of "tempering justice with mercy" to avenge the dead, release prisoners and ease contradictions. Therefore, later generations commented: "The pure emperor (Qianlong) ascended the throne, and the serious rule of Seung Heon Emperor (Yongzheng) was based on leniency. The sea ban policy began to strictly implement the sea ban, and later, considering the livelihood difficulties of the people of Fujian, they agreed to lift the ban appropriately; In the second year of Yongzheng, Cantonese were allowed to immigrate to Taiwan Province Province. However, people who come back from abroad are still very vigilant.

At that time, more and more foreign businessmen came to China to trade, but Yongzheng banned Chinese businessmen from going abroad to trade and set up various obstacles, claiming that the sea ban was strict but not wide, and there was no good policy. Later, at the repeated request of coastal provinces, although the sea ban was slightly relaxed, there were still various restrictions. Especially for overseas Chinese businessmen and workers who have lived in foreign countries for a long time, "those who fail to return after the deadline are willing to emigrate and are not allowed to return to the mainland." At that time, advanced western countries were encouraging overseas trade, while China, even an outstanding monarch, lacked a world vision, restricted foreign exchanges and became a laggard in the international trend. In the fifth year of Yongzheng's policy toward Russia (1727), Yong Zhengdi sent Ling Ze as the chief representative to sign the Blenski Treaty with Russia, and signed the Chaktu Treaty the following year, which demarcated the middle border between Qing and Russia, stabilized the situation on the border between Qing and Russia, and promoted the economic development and trade exchanges in the border areas between Qing and Russia.