Chapter 6 Section 2 The art of controlling ministers

Compared with the above-mentioned political forces, it is more difficult to guard against powerful ministers and cronies.Because of the emperor's administration, he could do without his family, relatives and eunuchs, but he couldn't do without his ministers.During the Qianlong period, there were about 20,000 civil officials and 70,000 military officials throughout the country.Managing and manipulating such a large team of officials is a huge problem for any emperor. Only when you sit on the emperor's throne in person, will you understand why so many men are willing to sacrifice everything for this position.The feeling of sitting on top of the world is indescribable, it is almost the feeling of being God.From the moment his father died, Qianlong noticed that the expressions of all the officials around him changed when they faced him.They didn't dare to look at him directly, it seemed that his face exuded a special light, which made them unable to open their eyes.He understood that it was because from that moment on, he held everything about them in his hands: from the honor and disgrace of the official title to their wealth and life.He became their "master", and his relationship with them was the relationship between a master and a dog.

As Mr. Dai Yi said: "Once a new emperor takes over power from the previous generation of rulers, he will immediately find himself in the whirlpool of vagaries of bureaucratic politics. There are cheers and praises, deceit and rumors all around, Wagging their tails to flatter and beg for favor, and trembling with fear and fear. All these often make an immature ruler dizzy." ("Qianlong Emperor and the Times") Qianlong was not dizzy.He knew very well that these officials were definitely not as loyal and simple as dogs.These successful people who have struggled all the way through the turbulent waves of the officialdom all have unique skills.Under their docile appearance, there are endless ambitions, desires and calculations hidden.These people are both his political tools and his natural political enemies.The greatest enemy of the dynasties of all dynasties is not the insurgents, aliens, or famines, but the bureaucracy.Almost without exception, the long-lived dynasties in Chinese history were killed by these well-dressed and elegantly behaved people.

This statement sounds appalling, but in fact it is absolutely true.As an individual, no matter how cunning and powerful an official is, he is often no match for the emperor.However, once these officials were combined into a bureaucracy, the situation was reversed.Originally, the bureaucratic system was established by the emperor himself, but once it was established and operated, it became an uncontrollable behemoth with its own life, personality and interests.A monster like Frankenstein, although created by the master, is beyond the control of the master. What the emperor cares about is the long-term stability of the world, and the rule of one family and one family name will never change; the officials' consideration is not so long-term.In the final analysis, the world belongs to the emperor, and the officials only earn their wages.What they are more concerned about is how to take advantage of policy loopholes, take advantage of the emperor, and reap the greatest benefits for themselves, their relatives and friends.The law of the operation of the bureaucratic group is: when there is no motivation for profit, officials always tend to respond passively when implementing the emperor's policies, and only seek formal explanations, which leads to perfunctory, formalism, and even fraud.And when they find policy loopholes, they usually disguise their personal interests in national interests and deliberately distort the scriptures.Based on the principle of maximizing benefits, officials are keen to weave a network of relationships, inform each other, and coordinate actions tacitly.With their collective efforts, national politics will soon fall into the quagmire of corruption, and every official will become a "big rat" who fills his own pockets. The "people's fat and people's cream" that originally belonged to the emperor or the country will be consumed in large quantities, and the country's governance costs will be greatly reduced. Ascent, and finally the fateful ending of "officials force the people to rebel".

As a young politician who is familiar with history and has a deep understanding of the world, Qianlong's "lenient" is not without scale.Behind the soft hand, he also has a hard hand.While being polite, he carefully observed every performance of the officials and listened carefully to every abnormal sound of the bureaucratic machinery. Once he found a problem, he would never let it go. In the fourth year of Qianlong (1739), the Ministry of Industry reported that in order to repair the "Qingcheng Lantern" in the Taimiao, it applied for three hundred taels of silver and two hundred strings of money.A mere few hundred taels of silver is nothing more than a drop in the bucket for the royal family who spend a lot of money.Moreover, this small incident was mixed among dozens of major incidents reported by the Ministry of Industry, and no one would have thought that it would be noticed by the emperor.Unexpectedly, Qianlong was so energetic that although he had to read memorials with tens of thousands of characters every day, he never ignored a single word from the beginning to the end.Seeing this number, the emperor felt that the money was used for "adhesive patching" lamps, which seemed a little too much, and there seemed to be disadvantages in it, so Zhu Pi asked, this lamp is just a small patching repair, how can so much silver be used? ?

It has become a habit for the Ministry of Industry to collude with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to spend excessively on royal projects.The Ministry of Industry itself didn't take it seriously for an extra one hundred taels of silver.The officials of the Ministry of Industry did not know how powerful the young emperor was, so they only replied vaguely that this was an advance payment, and that they would be reimbursed according to the actual amount in the future, and the remaining silver would be handed back.Their wishful thinking is that the emperor has a lot of things to do every day, and if he hesitates to pass it at this moment, the emperor will forget it the next day.Unexpectedly, since Qianlong ascended the throne, what he has been guarding against day and night is the deception of his ministers. He said, "if you are willing to be deceived, you will be deceived by others, and there will be many disadvantages", not to mention the deceit of the Ministry of Industry so blatantly.He decreed that all projects should be assessed first and then paid for, and not returned. After checking the files of the Ministry of Industry, there has never been a record of returning the remaining money. "The officials in the hall thought I was ignorant of affairs, and they pretended to be ambiguous at will, which is very perverse."

What he said made the officials of the Ministry of Industry speechless, so Qianlong made a big fuss about a small matter of a few hundred taels of silver for a single lamp in the Taimiao, and made an example of others, and the entire Yamen of the Ministry of Industry was condemned.Shangshu Laibao, Zhao Dianzui, ministers Acton, Han Guangji, etc. were either demoted or transferred, and the lightest ones were also fined.As soon as this incident happened, the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were shocked for a while, and they looked at the young emperor with admiration. ("Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty")

Not long after Qianlong ascended the throne, a minister named Wei Tingzhen was deposed on the charge of "sluggishness and lack of progress" because of reports from others.A few years after this incident, the emperor summoned Tao Zhengjing, Minister of Dali Temple, to discuss the business, and asked him if there was anything wrong with the recent government affairs. Tao Zhengjing said with a righteous expression that Wei Tingzhen, who was deposed a few years ago, was actually He is upright, has no major faults, dismissed from office, and mishandled.Tao's several reasons were very aboveboard, and the emperor immediately agreed, praising Tao Zhengjing's outspoken spirit.

But looking back, the emperor began to wonder whether Tao Zhengjing's motives were as pure as he had shown.He began to secretly investigate whether Tao Zhengjing and Wei Tingzhen were in the same year of the imperial examination, or were from the same village.After some investigation, the emperor discovered that Wei Tingzhen was the same year as Ren Lanzhi, Minister of Rites (the same year he passed the Jinshi examination), and Tao Zhengjing was Ren Lanzhi's student.From this, the emperor determined that it must be Ren Lanzhi who ordered his disciples to play for Tongnian in order to protect Tongnian.So Ren Lanzhi was dismissed and Tao Zhengjing was demoted. ("Drafts of Qing History · Biography of Wei Tingzhen and Ren Lanzhi").

Once vigilant, the bureaucrats' tricks of deception cannot escape Qianlong's eyes.Once when reading a memorial, a minister reported that he discovered a bad thing in the local area and wanted to report it to the emperor: "I am in the process of editing, and according to reports from the two ministers, it is no different from what I visited. That is to say, while the report was being written, the chief envoy and the inspector also happened to report this matter to him, which was the same as what he knew. Qianlong smiled knowingly.This is where the local ministers "know how to be a man" and where they "trick the king".If he only reported this bad thing, the official would certainly have made meritorious service, but the chief envoy and the procuratorate of the same province who were both high officials were suspected of dereliction of duty.Why did people find out about this bad thing, but you didn't?Therefore, this senior official changed his pen and mentioned it in this way, which not only kept the "first achievement" he discovered first, but also shirked the responsibility for negligence for the chief envoy and the inspector. How ingenious and how concealed!Qianlong sighed softly without realizing it, and wrote on the memorial with a pen: "This kind of thing happens once or twice in thousands of cases. How can it be so coincidental every time?" ("Calling the Soul - The Chinese Sorcery Panic of 1768")

Emperor Qianlong's IQ and EQ were beyond the reach of ordinary emperors.Those official tricks that make other rulers look dizzy can't escape his eyes, not to mention that he is becoming more and more vigilant.After several confrontations, the emperor's shrewdness left a deep impression on the officials, so that some officials said to him, "Since ancient times, people have not understood their troubles, but the emperor has too much trouble. Since ancient times, people have always been troubled, but only The emperor's judgment is too fast". It is a normal phenomenon in political life that people divide into different groups because of different interests and opinions.From this point of view, cronyism in China has the same origin as party politics in the West.However, the premise of Western party politics is the virtualization or demise of monarchy, and the mode of operation is that the competing parties compete in an open and honest manner according to clear rules.Under an autocratic system, the division of ministers into different factions means the decline of ruling effectiveness.Because party politics is open, legal, and dedicated, while crony politics is covert, illegal, and has ulterior motives.Once different cronies are formed, the political behavior of the ministers is mixed with the motives of joining the same party and attacking dissidents.Recommending talents, implementing policies, and appearing to be a prince, in fact, they all start from the interests of small groups first.The origin of this kind of fighting is because of interests, but in the end it almost evolved into a way of survival and joy of life. They fought with such relish that in the end, they were fighting for the sake of fighting.In this poisoned political environment, everyone has to be attached to a certain faction in order to gain a foothold in the officialdom, and some elite figures who want to make a difference have no choice but to do so: The hard work of doing things, the thought of saving the past is overwhelming, sighing in the court, sighing in the room."

Even before he ascended the throne, Qianlong already had a deep understanding of the history and harm of crony politics through history books.He said: "The subject of the Ming Dynasty, the protection of officials and officials, and even the secession of the party, the misconduct of the public, and the unbreakable bad habits are those who I hate and condemn." However, this political harm that he hates is really the most difficult in Chinese politics. One of the chronic diseases eradicated. During Qianlong's more than 60 years in power, how to deal with cronies has always been a question he has thought about painstakingly. The most important political legacy left by Emperor Yongzheng to Qianlong were two heavyweight politicians: Ertai and Zhang Tingyu.These two ministers are both high-ranking and powerful, with outstanding talents.Ertai, a Manchurian Xianglan bannerman, was the chief assistant of the cabinet in the late Yongzheng period, and was the most trusted Manchu minister in Yongzheng.Emperor Yongzheng even once said: "Sometimes I am less confident than I believe in Ertai's specialization." Zhang Tingyu was the Han minister most relied on by Emperor Yongzheng. Minister of Power". As mentioned earlier, at the beginning of Qianlong's accession to the throne, he continued to appoint the old ministers of Yongzheng.When I have something to go out, E and Zhang will stay in Beijing to deal with daily state affairs.The power of the two of them far exceeded that of the Yongzheng period.But it is always difficult for capable people to be compatible.Ertai and Zhang Tingyu have equal status but different personalities, and they refuse to be inferior to each other in everything.Zhang Tingyu, who has an early name and deep qualifications, looks down on Ertai, a rocket-like cadre who came from behind. Ertai, who is arrogant and ranks ahead of Zhang Tingyu, does not buy Zhang Tingyu's account, so the relationship between the two is very cold. "Colleagues for more than ten years , often go all day long without speaking a word." ("Xiao Ting Miscellaneous Records") This situation is the best condition for starting crony politics.Although E and Zhang had no intention of planting a party, the ministers each had the intention of clinging to each other. Manchu ministers gradually began to defect to the E family in order to be promoted, and Han ministers gradually gathered at the Zhang family to communicate with each other.The embryonic form of crony gradually appeared.Just like the "Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records" said: "In the early years of the Shang Dynasty, the two prime ministers, E and Zhang, were in charge of the country, and their hobbies were uneven. He devoted his whole life to fighting cronies. He destroyed the Zhuwang Party, Nian Gengyao Party, and Longkodo Party all his life. Unexpectedly, in his later years, he cultivated the seeds of the Ezhang Party and the Zhang Party Party under his nose.This is just one example of the self-mockery of authoritarian politics. In the first important issue to be dealt with after ascension to the throne, "Miaojiang affairs", Qianlong immediately smelled cronyism. Ertai started politically thanks to the vigorous implementation of the policy of "reforming land and returning locals" during his tenure as governor of Yunnan and Guizhou.But everything is prone to repetition. In May of the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735), the Miao people in Guizhou rebelled again because of excessive exploitation by the government.Emperor Yongzheng was quite dissatisfied with Ertai because of this, thinking that it was caused by his improper measures in "reforming the land and returning the natives".Then he appointed Zhang Zhao, Shangshu of the Ministry of punishment, as "Minister of Fuding Miaojiang" and went to crusade. Emperor Yongzheng chose Zhangzhao, which was a bit inappropriate.Because Zhang Zhao has a deep relationship with Zhang Tingyu, he has always been the opposition of Ertai.After Zhang Zhao arrived in Guizhou, instead of working hard on countering the rebellion, he spent a lot of time collecting Ertai's "mistakes" in his tenure as governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and kept reporting them to the emperor, intending to take this opportunity to ruin Ertai's reputation.At the beginning of Qianlong's succession to the throne, after receiving Zhang Zhao's report, he could see at a glance the crony background behind this seemingly fair report.He commented on Zhang Zhao's memorial: "Zhang Zhao made selfish speculations and exaggerated." Moreover, due to the focus on finding the handle of Ertai, and not focusing on the military, the counter-insurgency war repeatedly made mistakes.In a rage, Qianlong transferred Zhang Zhao back to the capital, dismissed him and sent him to prison under the pretext of "frauding for selfishness, disrupting military aircraft, and many crimes". At the same time, he sent Zhang Guangsi to Guizhou to suppress the rebellion instead of Zhang Zhao. Friends of Ertai were very excited when they heard the news.Because Zhang Guangsi has a good relationship with the E family, he is considered a member of the "E party".They thought this was an excellent opportunity to counterattack the "Zhang Party", and many "E Party" figures went to the Internet one after another to expose Zhang Zhao's various mistakes in an attempt to create a big prison and put Zhang Zhao to death.Especially Zhang Guangsi, after he arrived in Guizhou, he kept reporting the various "big crimes" committed by Zhang Zhao in the military operations in Guizhou. Qianlong had expected this for a long time.When he dispatched Zhang Guangsi, he clearly warned: "The way to be a minister and serve the emperor is to be honest and impartial according to the facts, without partiality and without party." Although Zhang Guangsi repeatedly attacked, Qianlong did not rehabilitate Zhang Zhao as the E Party had hoped, but released Zhang Zhao unexpectedly, and only dismissed him from office.In the second year, he was awarded a cabinet bachelor and entered the South Study Room.In the sixth year of Qianlong (1741), other officials were reinstated, which greatly disappointed the members of the Hubei Party. Qianlong's move was also helpless.Before forming his own team, he could only use the bureaucratic machinery left over from Yongzheng.In order to keep this huge state machine running normally, he can only carefully maintain the balance between the two parties, ease their mutual struggle, and adopt a balancing strategy of "neither defeating one, nor hurting both".Because once either of the two factions completely loses power, a large prison will inevitably rise up and kill a large number of officials, resulting in a major loss of human resources and a major imbalance in the political situation of the court. In order to maintain this balance, Qianlong really took great pains.In terms of employment and administration, he paid special attention to treating E and Zhang equally and impartially.As he read the memorials, he was vigilant, trying to discern their proposals and personal purposes in their administration.He worked hard to let officials across the country know that he would not be manipulated by cronies.One year, Celing, the son-in-law (attached to the horse) of Inner Mongolia, came to Beijing. In his majesty's meeting, he told the emperor that Minister Tegurdur was old and weak. He asked the emperor to call him back to Beijing. He also praised Famin and Fude to the emperor , Chang An and others said that their abilities are outstanding and should be reused, especially Fude should be supplemented as a follow-up reader.Qianlong observed the words and expressions, and based on the friendship between Cering and Ertai, he judged that Cering's remarks were instigated by Ertai. "This must be what Ertai said to Yi, so Yi said so."Qianlong then questioned Ertai directly.E Shizuo argued that he did not ask Celing to say these things.The emperor didn't believe it, and said: "It's impossible for a husband to play to Yi Yanzhi. If he didn't speak to Yi Yan, and Yi tried to figure out Ertai's meaning, then he would have more power!" Therefore, if there is nothing, we will encourage you. ("Qing Barnyard Banknotes", "Records of Emperor Gaozong of Qing Dynasty") In the fifth year of Qianlong's reign (1740), there was a vacancy in the post of assistant minister of the Ministry of Punishment. Qianlong originally wanted to instruct Zhang Zhao, who had been dismissed from office, to take up the post.But at that time, Ertai was unable to go to the court to handle affairs due to something, and only Zhang Tingyu was by the emperor's side, and Zhang Zhao was usually classified as Zhang Tingyu's party.The emperor "feared that Zhang Tingyu would be recommended, so he used Yang Sijing instead", and later found a suitable opportunity to use Zhang Zhao.He guards against cronies to such an extent. In the fifth year of Qianlong's reign, the emperor had successfully completed his political internship period.He is no longer a political freshman who is confused about the complicated and treacherous political situation.He got started very quickly and had an in-depth understanding of the performance of the machine of the Qing Empire, and he knew every part by heart. The emperor was no longer so inseparable from Ertai and Zhang Tingyu, and no longer obeyed their political suggestions as before, and showed more and more autonomy in the administration of personnel.The emperor, who had secured his seat on the throne, felt that he could go deep into solving the crony problem. In April of the fifth year of Qianlong, Emperor Qianlong issued a long edict, publicly pointing out that the current situation is in danger of party struggle.He counted Ertai's insincerity, and asked all ministers to be careful and stop forming cliques.For example, he said that Cui Chaoqian, the general soldier of Yongzhou, was convicted and handed over to the Ministry of Punishment. Ertai believed that Cui's family could be forgiven.After the incident, ministers outside talked about Ertai's merits.Qianlong was very displeased, thinking that since Ertai's secret performance was approved, he should keep it secret. How could he leak it to others and show his favor to the lenient?This is not what the central ministers should do, but the beginning of party planting.From this, he commented that "Ertai is not as meticulous as Zhang Tingyu".He publicly warned E to "be careful when speaking in the future." He said bluntly: The disadvantage of ministerial work has never been greater than catering to speculation.University scholars Ertai and Zhang Tingyu are the ministers who used the imperial examination slips.But the ignorant people think about it arbitrarily, such as the Manchurians want to attach themselves to Ertai, and the Han people want to attach themselves to Zhang Tingyu... If everyone thinks about it, it means that the second minister is a powerful person who can use the handle of giving up. Why does it regard me as the master? ... Ertai and Zhang Tingyu are good ministers who have been used by the emperor for a long time and I have used them for a long time. Wouldn't it be very good for everyone to make them perfect, make them full of fame and integrity, and receive the grace of the country forever.If you must want to cling to flattery, it will accumulate over time, so you will be framed. ("Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty") This decree is the first time since Qianlong ascended the throne that he directly touched on the issue of cronies.However, the interpersonal relationship in the officialdom is intricate and deeply rooted.Of course, it is impossible for the emperor's decree to make the grievances and hatreds among the ministers disappear overnight.In particular, Ertai has always been arrogant and flamboyant. Although Emperor Qianlong's edict made him shudder at the time, he put it behind him afterwards. Huang Tinggui was a minister who was highly valued by Qianlong, but he had always been at odds with Ertai. In the sixth year of Qianlong (1741), Ertai took advantage of Qianlong's tour and caught Huang's pigtails. An official recommended by Huang had a problem. For the reason, he said that Huang "indiscriminately raises inhumane people" and pursued it in depth.In order to ensure the success of the crackdown on Huang, Ertai specially took care of the officials of the Ministry of Criminal Justice to try and close the case before Qianlong returned to Beijing at the fastest speed and in the shortest time, and proposed to deal with this person by "downgrading to a second level". Opinions, played to Qianlong.In Ertai's view, Qianlong was far outside Gubeikou, so he should not be too careful in reviewing the memorials, and he would be able to get away with it. Qianlong, who was as careful as a hair, never treated any memorial hastily.In the palace outside Gubeikou, he could see the problem at a glance.After returning to Beijing, he bluntly pointed out to the ministers: "This discussion is very wrong. People who are not at peace with Huang in the Ming Dynasty will surely commit Huang's crime." , Before I returned to Beijing, I wrote a reply, hoping to confuse my approval. I am ashamed to act like this because of my trusted first-class minister. Why do Yi and others regard me as a master?" Therefore, they ordered "I will do this Ertai and others in the case of the university strictly enforced the order."This is the most severe punishment Ertai has received since Qianlong ascended the throne.This heavy blow made E's sober up. From then on, he was cautious in his words and deeds, and did not dare to do things for his own party members. The tree wants to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop.Just after E's restraint, his party members committed crimes.The speech officer Zhong Yongtan is a student of Ertai. As a censor, he specifically finds faults with Zhang Tingyu's faction.Qianlong didn't understand the mystery for a while, and thought that he was upright and promoted him.In December of the seventh year of Qianlong (1742), Zhong Yongtan's motives were revealed. It turned out that when he impeached the ministers of the Zhang faction, he often consulted secretly with Ertai's eldest son E Rong'an, and was exposed.Emperor Qianlong was furious, and he reprimanded Ertai: "Zhong Yongtan is such a dishonest person, and Ertai has repeatedly played "uprightness and straightforwardness" in front of me. I was able to use you in the past, and I can forgive you today, can't I punish you for your crimes in the future?" Ertai heard the decree and thought that a catastrophe was imminent, and he was in panic all day long.Fortunately, the emperor didn't want the seemingly perfect relationship between monarch and minister to break down in his later years, and he didn't want the E clan to be defeated.He only ordered E Rong'an to withdraw from the South Study Room, and said in the decree: "If Ertai is dismissed and questioned, the country will have one minister who can handle affairs." Form a party to aid", he was arrested in prison, and he was killed in prison.After this case, the Hubei party figures hid for a long time and did not dare to take any further actions.Zhang Dang also learned from the overturn of the previous car, and was cautious and cautious, always on guard.The court was calm for a while, and Qianlong finally achieved preliminary results in governing crony parties. ("Notes on Living in Qianlong Dynasty", "Records of Emperor Gaozong of Qing Dynasty") According to the evolution trend of the political situation in the Qianlong Dynasty, with Ertai's temper and character, if he lived to the thirteenth year of Qianlong (1748), he would definitely not be able to die well. The guarantee ticket is bound to be torn up by Qianlong.Because Qianlong, after the thirteenth year of Qianlong, is no longer the "benevolent" emperor who was lenient in everything in the early days of his accession to the throne.Fortunately, Ertaifu had a great life and luckily died of illness in the tenth year of Qianlong (1745). Finally, he basically preserved his reputation and became one of the few famous ministers in history who had a good death.