Chapter 11 Section 1 "People-oriented"

In addition to expelling the enemy and expanding the land, another significance of pacifying the Xinjiang war is its symbolism.It marks the "full prosperity" of Qianlong's prosperity, that is, the stage of basically perfection.This last prosperous age in Chinese history is usually called "the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong".In fact, the reigns of Kangxi and Yongzheng were far from perfect.After the Qianlong Xinjiang War, the Qing Dynasty fully realized the transcendence of history in all aspects and entered an impeccable "heyday". Although he was harsh and harsh to officials, Qianlong was very kind to ordinary people.This is very similar to Zhu Yuanzhang.

In Qianlong's nature, there is the kindness inherited from his mother.When a small animal in the palace died when he was a child, he often burst into tears.In Yongzheng's posthumous edict, he said that Qianlong was "benevolent in nature", which is not an empty reputation.Because of this, Yongzheng even worried for a time whether Qianlong was too benevolent and soft to be qualified for the position of emperor. The imperial education he received since he was a child firmly engraved the thoughts of "emphasis on agriculture" and "compassion on agriculture" into Qianlong's mind.Although he grew up in a deep palace, he has a lot of understanding of the hardships of farmers' livelihoods.When he was a student, he wrote many poems with the theme of "loving the people".On a severe winter night, he sat leaning against the fire in the warm pavilion of the Forbidden City, listening to the north wind whistling outside the window, and suddenly remembered how the poor in the thatched huts outside the city would survive this cold night: At this time, I miss the hungry and cold people, and the huts are full of sorrow."

When he went hunting with his father in Yeling, he saw the peasants harvesting autumn in the field, sweating profusely, so he wrote this poem: "I heard that among the four people, only the peasants suffer. Some years the price of grain is low, sorry for the ravine. That is to say, today’s abundant crops are harvested, and the rent is heavily demanded by the owner. Those who benefit the trust and govern the government, the benevolent people are the first to write.” The meaning of fist and fist in these poems is not much different from that of Li Shen, who is famous for writing poems sympathetic to farmers.Although many political concepts formed during the student period were greatly revised in the long political practice later, the thought of emphasizing agriculture and agriculture remains the same.Until the fifty-third year of Qianlong (1788), the emperor, who was more than a few years old, copied the "Chicken Chicks Waiting for Feed" by the Southern Song Dynasty painter Li Di, and then ordered multiple copies to be engraved and distributed to officials everywhere, so that they "don't forget the little people" The feeling of waiting to be fed".

Because of his concern for people's livelihood, Qianlong paid special attention to floods, droughts and famines.The weather and harvests in various places always affected Qianlong's heart.Historical data show that Qianlong shed tears many times in his life because of the disaster. One year, Taihu County, Anhui Province was hit by a disaster. When digging wild vegetables, the victims dug up a kind of "black rice", which was very large in quantity and could be used to satisfy hunger by mixing it with other grains.After Qianlong learned about it, he ordered the local officials to present some of this "black rice". After trying it himself, he couldn't help crying:

Digging ferns to make a living, getting rice by surprise. ... And present its rice sample, try it yourself when cooking. Sigh, my people eat here, and I cry first when I eat. ... Send it to the princes so that everyone knows this taste. He sent these "black rice" to several princes to let them understand the sufferings of the people. Qianlong said many times that disaster relief is "the country's top priority" and "the relief is the top priority of local officials", and he warned local officials that "the first thing to do is to avoid disasters."During his ten years in power, he has always adhered to this principle: "I have always lenient and forgive the punishment of oversight and misconduct among the governors. If there is a calamity, I will punish the crime again." He said so, and he did the same. of.In the first year of Qianlong (1736), shortly after he came to the throne, he dismissed Xu Rong, the governor of Gansu, because he concealed the disaster and did not report it.In the seventh year of Qianlong (1742), Nasutu, governor of Liangjiang, was also severely reprimanded by the emperor for reporting false information about the disaster.

In the twenty-sixth year of Qianlong (1761), a flood occurred in Dezhou, Shandong.It rained continuously for seven days and nights. Dezhou residents, old and young, climbed the city tower and lived on the city wall for many days.Due to the lack of food in the city, the people were hungry and poor, crying loudly. At that time, Yan Xishen, the highest official in the city of Dezhou, was on a business trip to the provincial capital, and there was no person in charge in the city.Although there was food in the official warehouse, no one dared to decide to release relief.Yan Xishen's seventy-year-old mother Mrs. He heard the cries of hungry people in the government office, and asked why the staff in the office did not release food.The commissioner said that the release of food is a major national policy, and it must be approved by the superiors after Taoist Yan returns.Otherwise, tampering with the barn will be severely punished.Not only will he lose his official position, but he will also need to make up for compensation.

Hearing this, Mrs. He was furious, and said, "When will this be? Are you still sticking to the common law? Besides, Dezhou is far away from the provincial capital. If my son comes back and goes through the detailed review, then hundreds of thousands The victims of the disaster will starve to death! You don’t have to worry about it, just open a storehouse and release relief immediately. If the court blames it in the future, my son will bear everything. If compensation is required, I am willing to use all my family’s property and seize it to make up for it.” With the efforts of the old lady, the warehouse managers finally opened the granary, and hundreds of thousands of hungry people were able to survive.

The governor of Shandong was shocked when the news reached the provincial government.They tampered with the barn and despised the state system and reported it.When the emperor learned of this, he criticized angrily: "There are such virtuous mothers and good officials who serve the country and the people and are flexible. The governor not only refuses to recommend, but also impeaches them. How can we encourage those who think about the country!" , The used granary is allowed to be used as the main item of expenditure without compensation, and a special imperial edict is given to Yan Mu.From then on, the emperor left a deep impression on Yan Xishen's mother and son, and Yan's official career was smooth because of this, and he was promoted all the way to the top of the governor. (Xie Ji's "On the Three Highlights of "Yan's Culture"")

Just like the special treatment of Yan's mother and child, the emperor, who is fussy and discerning in everything, is "rarely confused" about the running, leaking, dripping and dripping during disaster relief.When a disaster occurs, he would rather the local officials report it more seriously and exaggerate, so that the fraudulent and indiscriminate relief will not be investigated.What he is most afraid of is that they will not do enough to provide disaster relief, so he has repeatedly said, "It is better to handle the relief than to waste it."Qianlong hated those local officials who were reluctant to spend money on disaster relief.In the seventeenth year of Qianlong's reign (1752), some areas in Shanxi were hit by disasters. The governor Asiha was reluctant to use the treasury silver, so he persuaded wealthy households to contribute money for disaster relief.The emperor was very angry and said: "This performance is really despicable and wrong. I am really appalled." Soon he dismissed his official position.

Inspecting Qianlong's disaster relief over the years, he was really serious about it and spared huge sums of money.In the seventh year of Qianlong (1742), there was a flood in northern Anhui, and the number of victims reached 2.2 million.Qianlong specially approved one-tenth of the country's annual fiscal revenue at that time, that is, 2.9 million taels of silver and 2.2 million shi of grain for relief.Around the eighteenth year of Qianlong (1753), the Ministry of Household Affairs compared the money used for disaster relief since Qianlong came to the throne with the previous two emperors.The report said: "During the thirteenth year of Yongzheng, 1.43 million taels of disaster relief funds in the south of the Yangtze River were used, which is already a lot. From the first year to the eighteenth year of Qianlong, more than 24.8 million yuan was spent. The grain is also more than 20 million shi." The officials in charge of water transport also reminded the emperor: "A total of 2.4 million shi of grain was intercepted during the Kangxi period for disaster relief, and only 2.9 million shi during the Yongzheng period. But the first year of Qianlong arrived. In twenty years, it has reached more than 13.2 million stones." Qianlong, who is known as the patriarch of everything, was also surprised when he saw this figure, and said: "I have encountered partial disasters, that is, some people are hungry and others are drowning in their arms. , Can’t help myself. I didn’t expect to use so much grain.” ("Records of Emperor Gaozong of Qing Dynasty") Surprised Although surprised, generosity is still generous.In the 50th year of Qianlong's (1785) national famine, Qianlong was in a hurry, day and night. Relief.The emperor said: "I miss the people's trust, and it is like repaying the injury." The silver taels used for disaster relief this year reached 14 million, accounting for more than one-third of the country's total annual fiscal revenue.

Although the disaster relief during the Qianlong period could not avoid the common encroachment and exploitation in a society ruled by man, but comparing Chinese history vertically, it can still be said with certainty that Qianlong was the ruler who took the most effective disaster relief measures in traditional society. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty always took the Ming Dynasty as a lesson for them, and the biggest lesson the Ming Dynasty taught them was "water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it."Everyone knows that the Qing Dynasty was able to enter the customs because it took a big advantage, and the Ming Dynasty was actually overthrown by hungry peasants.The immediate cause of the subversion was the excessive exploitation of peasants.During the Wanli period, three additional rates were paid, and more than 10 million taels of silver were collected from farmers every year, and the foundation of the Ming Empire was shaken.Therefore, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty often said that Ming did not die in Chongzhen, but in Wanli. Qianlong, who was familiar with history, knew that hungry peasants were the most dangerous enemies of the country, while well-fed peasants were the staunchest supporters of imperial power.For the sake of the country for generations, Qianlong must reduce the exploitation of farmers so that the vast majority of ordinary people have food to eat.This is at the heart of national politics. The ruler's self-restraint was more obvious in Qianlong.Qianlong once encouraged farmers to spare no effort to reclaim wasteland, but the starting point was only for the livelihood of the people, not to increase taxes for the country.At the beginning of his accession to the throne, Emperor Qianlong added a new article to the "Laws of the Qing Dynasty": "Officials in various provinces shall no longer re-measure farmers' land, nor shall they force farmers to report to the government the wasteland they have reclaimed." , The land newly reclaimed by farmers will never have to pay taxes to the country.During the Qianlong period, due to the emperor's encouragement to reclaim wasteland, the country's cultivated land has exceeded one billion mu.However, during the Qianlong period, national taxation was always only collected on the basis of more than 700 million mu.Just as Qianlong said: "The people are the foundation of the country, and the wealth and wealth are related to each other. But if the common people leave a surplus in addition to the official offerings, they will save a little more. What is and what is not enough', this is also." The first major decision Qianlong made after ascending to the throne was to decide to exempt the agricultural tax that had been in arrears for many years nationwide.In the enthronement edict, Qianlong announced that all agricultural taxes owed for more than ten years, that is, three years before Yongzheng, would be exempted from payment.Only 20 days later, the emperor issued another decree, announcing that all unpaid agricultural taxes before last year, that is, before the 12th year of Yongzheng, would be exempted.The people of the Qing Empire, especially the many poor people, got rid of the heavy burden of tax arrears for many years and entered the Qianlong era.This is a very influential decision in a traditional society where agricultural tax is the main fiscal revenue. In the long reign of more than 60 years since then, Emperor Qianlong has repeatedly partially or completely exempted farmers from agricultural taxes, thus making himself the emperor who reduced or exempted farmers' taxes the most in Chinese history.In the eleventh year of Qianlong (1746), thirty-five years (1770), forty-two years (1777), fifty-fifth years (1790), and the first year of Jiaqing (1796), he has five times , The country's money and grain are generally exempted, and a total of 140 million taels of silver and 12 million shi of grain are reduced from farmers.The vain money and heavy food were originally the legal income of his Aixinjueluo family, and they could be disposed of by him at will.Such a handwriting is not unreasonable.According to the figures provided by the book "The State and Society in the Qing Dynasty", the total amount of agricultural taxes reduced and exempted by Qianlong was 202.75 million taels of silver, the highest in all Chinese dynasties.If roughly calculated by converting one tael of silver into RMB 200, it can be worth 40.5 billion RMB in today's currency.If this figure is still not intuitive enough, let’s use another figure to express it: the agricultural tax reduced or exempted by Qianlong accounted for 7.57% of the total fiscal revenue of the Qianlong Dynasty.However, my country announced in 2005 that it would exempt all agricultural taxes, which accounted for only 1.7% of the national tax revenue. Qianlong deeply understood that the large gap between the rich and the poor was the source of social unrest, so he took many measures to take care of the people at the bottom.On December 27th in the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735), Hongli, who succeeded to the throne for more than three months, issued an edict to "persuade the reduction of rent".He said in the edict: "I reduce or exempt the agricultural tax, and the landlords get most of the benefits. The unemployed poor rent and plant other people's land and work hard all the year round, but they don't get my favor. They still have to pay the land rent according to the original proportion." This is undoubtedly inappropriate. It would be best if these landlords who have received my favor gave half of the favor they received to the tenants." Therefore, Qianlong often ordered officials from all over the country to persuade landlords to reduce land rent, and to encourage those who gave up rent.He believes that only in this way can a harmonious and prosperous world be built. "I regard the business households and tenant households in the world as my own sons, and I want them to be equal. The business households share my kindness, so that the tenant households can also benefit from the business households. Then the monarch and the people will be of one mind, sympathize with each other, and inspire the harmony of heaven with human harmony." , When the wind and rain come, there will be many harvests to celebrate." In addition to measures such as tax exemption for disaster relief and encouragement of land reclamation, Emperor Qianlong took effective measures in building water conservancy projects, promoting high-yielding crops such as sweet potatoes and corn, and encouraging population migration. The results of each work surpassed those of other emperors in Chinese history. Some people say that the population growth during the Qianlong period was not an isolated phenomenon in China, but a common law all over the world.Throughout the 18th century, the world's population grew from 641 million to 919 million, an increase of 43%, which is unprecedented in human history.The emergence of this phenomenon is mainly due to the two "food revolutions in the 18th century" of sweet potatoes and corn. Indeed, sweet potatoes and corn were two powerful boosters for Qianlong's "heyday".Emperor Qianlong played a huge role in the promotion of these two crops.He vigorously promoted sweet potato cultivation in the north and encouraged people to study sweet potato cultivation methods.Chen Shiyuan, a Fujian supervisor who was the first to promote sweet potato planting technology in Shandong and Henan, was awarded the posthumous title of Guozijian Xuezheng by the emperor.The local official Lu Yao was promoted to governor of Hunan because of his compilation of "Sweet Potato Records".Under the emperor's persuasion, Sichuan, Chu, Shaanxi, Anhui, Guangxi and other provinces "grow mountains and valleys, all planting corn".Advocated by Qianlong, sweet potatoes and corn have become the basic rations of poor farmers in China. Of course, we cannot say that the prosperity of Qianlong was mainly due to the contribution of these two plants.During Qianlong's 60-year reign, China's population doubled, 108 percent to be exact, 65 percentage points higher than the world level. At the beginning of the 18th century, China's population accounted for 23.4% of the world's population, and by the end of this century it had reached 34.06%.In addition to the food revolution, another credit is attributed to water conservancy. Due to the clear political discipline during the Qianlong period, especially in the middle and early stages, and the country’s strong governance ability, the Huang, Huai, Yongding River, and Zhejiang seawalls have all been treated unprecedentedly effectively, and the main rivers in each province have also been improved. Dredging has played a huge role in ensuring the safety of people's lives and property and developing agricultural production. The landmark achievement of the agricultural development of the Qianlong Dynasty was the increase in national grain production.According to Wu Bin's article "On the Problems of Food Security in Ancient China and Its Influencing Factors", the development of the total amount of rations in China in the past dynasties showed a general upward trend.Among them, it was 41.7 billion catties in the Qin and Han Dynasties, 62.6 billion catties in the Tang Dynasty, 83.5 billion catties in the Song Dynasty, and 139.2 billion catties in the Ming Dynasty.In the late Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it jumped to 208.8 billion catties, and reached the highest level in history.It was the achievements of agriculture that caused the population explosion of the Qianlong Dynasty and supported various social and economic development indicators to reach the peak of Chinese history. Before the Qing Dynasty, China's population was in the tens of millions most of the time, and only a few historical periods exceeded 100 million.After the two peaceful eras of Kangxi and Yongzheng, China's population has returned to the highest level in history.In the sixth year of Qianlong (1741), the first nationwide census conducted by Qianlong showed a total population of 143.41 million. Due to economic prosperity and agricultural development, by the 60th year of Qianlong (1795), the population had increased to 296.96 million, 50 doubled during the year.