Chapter 15 Section 2 The Disillusionment of the Confucian Ideal of Governing the Country
In traditional society, there will always be a class of scholars who are penniless and worry about the world.Although they will not sell them all their lives, they are always unwilling to give up the grand ideal of "dedicating themselves to politics" and "to the king, Yao and Shun", because the sage told them that this is the only purpose of a scholar's life.
On the morning of July 5th in the forty-fifth year of Qianlong (1780), Zhu Chun, the governor of Guangxi, went out to visit Guilin.Just as the official sedan chair came out of the alley, an old man was snatched from the side of the road, knelt tremblingly by the side of the road, holding up a book of documents in his hand.Zhu Chun was annoyed. It seemed that he had met another person who sued him. He was really not free as an official!
It wasn't until the entourage handed the document to him that it was not the case.Inscribed on the cover of the document are the words "Policy Book", which turned out to be a policy proposal.When I opened it, I found that it was written in regular regular script with beautiful handwriting. There were five items: 1. Please ask the imperial court to further reduce money and grain, so as to reduce the burden on the people at the bottom; ; 4. Prohibition of growing tobacco for the benefit of people's health; 5. Reduction of monasteries and monks to reduce social burden.
The level of the article is clear, the text is clear, and it is a policy proposal with data, analysis, and methods.Different from general scholarly suggestions, this report also has many quantitative analyzes.For example, when discussing the harm of growing tobacco in Guangxi, it is written in the book: "Today, half of the ten families grow tobacco. Everyone plants 10,000 to 20,000 plants, and the small family does not reduce two to three thousand. Every 10,000 plants cost 10 or more workers. Seventy-eight, two to three hundred tans of ash and dung, bran and dung water are excluded...the labor costs of planting tobacco seedlings from the beginning to the end are used to plow crops and grow miscellaneous grains, and most of the people in the world can actually live."
The meaning of an old intellectual caring about his country is vivid on the paper.
After reading the policy book, Zhu Chun blushed and his head turned red, his expression changed drastically.He ordered several followers around him: "Take the old man and tie him up immediately, and he is absolutely not allowed to escape!"
You Xing had been wiped out, Zhu Chun immediately turned the sedan chair back to the house, and brought the old man over for interrogation.The old man saw that Mr. Fang Bo (local governor) did not extend him as a guest of honor as expected, and treated him warmly. Instead, he spoke harshly, as if he was facing an enemy, and was at a loss for a while, so he knelt on the ground and started from the beginning.It turned out that the old man's name was Wu Ying, and he was from Pingnan County, Guangxi. After studying all his life, he only passed the exam as a scholar.Now at the age of 60, sick and sick, seeing the precarious situation, unwilling to die like this, I want to turn my loyalty to the country and the emperor into this paper policy, if I can contribute to society, I will also die It's worthwhile to come to this world.
Zhu Chun wrote a report to the governor of Guangxi overnight, thinking that this was a serious political case.There are two crimes, one is that ordinary scholars dare to criticize the country's policies, and the other is that the writing violates sacred taboos.It turns out that in this policy book, "The Holy Majesty obeyed the Queen Mother's will and exempted the provinces from taxes and grains. His virtues are not indiscriminate... The Holy One has the great grace of thousands of dendrobiums, but the poor cannot fully benefit from their promotion." I used it twice. The word "Hong" in the emperor's name is not taboo.
The next day, the case was transferred to Guangxi Governor Yao Chenglie.Yao Chenglie put down everything in his hands and devoted himself to handling the case.He ordered the soldiers to divide into two groups and rush all the way to the Tu Dingmao inn on Gulou Street, where Wu Ying stayed in the provincial capital, arrest the innkeeper and Xiao Er, and search Wu Ying's carry-on luggage to see if there are other written documents.On the other hand, they rushed to Pingnan County, Wu Ying's hometown, ransacked the house and arrested people, searched Wu Ying's family thoroughly, and tied up more than 20 of Wu Ying's immediate family members to the provincial capital. He was punished and disabled two people on the spot.The focus of the interrogation is whether there are any accomplices behind this policy document.
The result of the interrogation is very simple: this is indeed Wu Ying's "practical thinking and suggestions, hoping to gain fame, not slander and slander", written by herself behind closed doors, and has nothing to do with anyone else.
Convinced that the facts of the trial had been obtained, Yao Chenglie immediately wrote a memorial and reported the case to the emperor.He proposes the following solution:
1. The scholar Wu Ying was born in the holy world...not knowing how to behave, and recklessly handing out policy letters...in which he even offended the emperor's holy taboo and criticized the government.He should be sentenced to death for the crime of "big treason".
2. Wu Ying's two sons, Wu Jiancai and Wu Jingcai, his younger brother Wu Chao, and his nephews Wu Dacai and Wu Dongcai are all over 16 years old. Please follow the law of "Yuan Zuo" to make a decision and tattoo first.
3. Wu Ying's stepwife Quan, concubine Meng, daughters-in-law Peng and Ma, minor sons Maocai and Zhang Cai, young grandsons Yaxuan, Yaer and Ya'er, young nephews Weicai and Guanqi He and Yasan were all assigned to the families of heroes as slaves.
This memorial was sent to Beijing at an expedited speed of six hundred miles.It was already September when I traveled thousands of miles to Beijing.At the end of September, Emperor Qianlong made the following decision after carefully studying this major case with the scholar Jiuqing and others:
The first and third articles are as drafted by the governor of Guangxi, that is, Wu Yingling Chi, women and minors will all be assigned as slaves.But the emperor was merciful, and changed the second article, the execution of Wu Ying's younger brother and nephew to be executed in the autumn. ("Qing Dynasty Literary Prison Archives")
In traditional society, it is common for low-level intellectuals to write letters and take power.In the early history of China, there were many legends of "a word can be addressed to a minister".Su Qin and Zhang Yi won the seal of Xiangguo with only a sharp mouth; Dongfang Shuo wrote a letter to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty with three thousand bamboo slips, and became an official.In fact, before the Tang Dynasty, offering advice and suggestions to the imperial court, and even presenting literary and artistic works that praised meritorious deeds (such as Du Fu's "Three Rites and Fu") was a major way for intellectuals to enter.Therefore, in the past dynasties, there have been countless scholars who have nowhere to go and who think they have geniuses and abilities. They embraced the dream of "visiting the emperor with a stick and driving a horse out of the gate". Poetry, dedication.Its purpose is nothing more than two kinds. One is to expose the suffering and plead for the people out of social responsibility;
At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, Emperor Qianlong also "opened up his voice". Every year, some strange suggestions were reported to the emperor's imperial court.Most of these works from low-level intellectuals were crude and uneducated. The emperor just laughed it off and never offended anyone for it.But from the 16th year of Qianlong (1751), the emperor went out of his way and suddenly started killing.In August of the 16th year of Qianlong, a man named Wang Zhaoji from Shanxi Province, who was a little mentally unstable, went to the government to present a couplet of poems to congratulate the Empress Dowager on her birthday.In Wang Zhaoji's own words, "I wish the empress dowager a long life, but I do my best to please the emperor..." "It's because I am loyal and ask the emperor to use me, so I write down what I think in my heart. one article".There is also a short discussion at the end of the couplet of poems. Although the words and sentences are confused, it can be roughly seen that it is a comment on current affairs.The magistrate reported the case to the emperor, and Qianlong ordered him to be "dead under the stick, so that the foolish people will know what he is warning".This is the first case in the Qing Dynasty that those who contributed literature and policy were sentenced to death.
Since this incident, the literary inquisition of offending people because of offering advice has continued.Among these document offering proposals, the most ridiculous thing is this one.
In the forty-first year of Qianlong (1776), the emperor went out of Beijing to pay respects to Tailing.When the guards were patrolling the imperial road, they found a young man wandering around the side of the imperial road ghostly, with something still on his body.The guards took the man and sent him to the officer for interrogation.
His surname is Feng and his name is Qiyan, from Linfen, Shanxi Province. He is thirty-one years old and a scholar.It turned out that he wanted to dedicate a book he wrote to the emperor.The content of the book is based on "Yi" to explain "Poetry", the level is not high, but the motivation for presenting the book is unexpected: it is actually for love.
It turned out that Feng Qiyan's family was poor and it was difficult to marry a wife, but he secretly fell in love with two cousins named "Little Girl" and "Xiaofeng" from his Aunt Zhang's family and Aunt Du's family. , Marry the two beauties into the home as wives.In the case file, he explained this way: "The minister... whose name is Feng Qiyan, whose name is Nanzhou, tasted the house of the minister's third aunt Zhang, and saw a daughter who could be married, but her hatred was not strong enough to do this. The girl's name was The little girl is seventeen years old... I went to Chendu's fifth aunt's house again, and saw a girl who could be married, but I didn't have enough hatred to do it. The girl's name was Xiaofeng, and she was thirteen years old. At the time when I can write." My family is poor and the imperial examination is not going well, so this wish is of course difficult to come true.This person is usually fond of books about beauties, talents and sons. He is a literary youth with romantic fantasies in his head.After all kinds of methods failed, he made a sharp turn in his brain, trying to show off his talent and dedicate a book to the emperor.Maybe when the emperor saw him, he would exclaim that he was a genius.Then he took the opportunity to confide his long-cherished wish to the emperor. When the emperor was happy, he would give him a silver crown and jade belt and order him to marry according to the order.
Before being sent to prison after suffering many boards, Feng Qiyan still expected that the emperor would take pity on his infatuation, fulfilled his long-cherished wish, and asked the trial officials to tell the emperor: "If you use your majesty's power, send one officer to choose Take a fast horse and drive to Linyi in the near future" to be a matchmaker for him.
Presumably, Emperor Qianlong has never encountered such a ridiculous thing in the 41 years since he came to the throne.After laughing heartily and passing the joke on to his favorite concubine in the harem, the emperor showed rare kindness and kindness.Of course, speaking of kindness does not mean that the emperor really sent someone to marry Feng Xiucai's daughter and Xiaofeng, but that he did not take his head, which is rare.Fortunately, Mr. Qi Yan saved his life. He was "dispatched with tattoos" for the crime of "infatuation and delusion" and "desire to blaspheme the saint". .
In addition to this type of literary prison case of "showing off your talent and offending you", there was another kind of literary prison in the Qianlong Dynasty, which was even more puzzling, and that was the "madman's literary prison".
In the eighteenth year of Qianlong's reign (1753), a man with a yellow face, thin skin and shabby clothes came to the Confucian mansion in Shandong, knocked on the door and wrote a letter, claiming to be a relative of the Confucian family.This person claimed to be from Zhejiang, called Ding Wenbin, and said that God came to the world in a dream the day before yesterday and betrothed to him the two daughters of Duke Yan Shenggong of Confucius, and he came to be his son-in-law today.He claims to be not an ordinary person, although he is poor, but he is rich in learning and has written many articles, "All the articles of destiny, the study of life", please Yan Shenggong have a look.The Confucian government reported the matter to the officials, and found out that this person was actually a mentally ill patient. Both his parents died when he was young, and he was still unmarried when he was very old. Therefore, his spirit became more and more abnormal. While talking, he instructed him to rewrite "Hong Fan" and "Spring and Autumn", and said that he had been ordered to be the emperor, to manage the people of the world, with the year name "Tian Yuan", and secretly named his elder brother Xia Wengong, the uncle of the family. Sealed as Dazai.
Yang Yingju, governor of Shandong Province, made a reasonable analysis of the cause of Ding's illness in the memorial: "I inspected his situation and found that Ding Wenbin was a very poor and humble person. Once he knew a few words, he thought he was a genius. There is nothing like it. Therefore, delusions of wealth and beauty, infatuation with visual perception, become phantoms, which cannot be broken by trial." He said, "Listen to what he says, no matter who he is, he will know his delusion."
Yang Yingju's analysis is very reasonable and conforms to the principle of compensation in modern psychology.Of course, the purpose of his in-depth analysis is to prove that the Ding family has no other henchmen, and it is not a real case of rebellion, not to forgive Ding Wenbin himself.The minister, who knew Qianlong's psychology well, suggested that the emperor kill Ding Wenbin.
Emperor Qianlong also thought that this person was a lunatic.Yang's memorial mentioned that Ding's health was not good, and he was dying after being tortured.The emperor attached great importance to this.He calculated that it would take nearly a month for this case to go through the joint trial of the three judicial divisions according to the normal procedures, and then go to Shandong for writing. Even if it is urgent, it will take more than ten days.If Ding Wenbin died in prison during this period, it would be too cheap for him.So he immediately ordered Yang Yingju to decide Ding's execution date according to Ding's physical condition. If Ding was really critically ill, Ding Wenbin could be executed early and early.
Under Yang Yingju's order, he immediately went to the prison to check on Ding Wenbin's health.He found that Ding was short of breath when speaking, and his spirit was extremely listless. He might not be able to last for a few days, so he immediately ordered the prefect of Jinan to wait for the day to set up the dharma field.At noon on June 14th, the eighteenth year of Qianlong, Ding Wenbin was put into a prison cart and taken to the execution ground. At that time, he was still murmuring words, chanting God's grace.
According to incomplete statistics, during the reign of Qianlong, there were as many as 21 cases of literary prisons for lunatics like Ding Wenbin.Wang Zhaoji mentioned earlier was also a mentally abnormal person, and his poems and couplets were incomprehensible and his thinking was confused. Even Qianlong thought that he was "just a madman".However, none of these madmen escaped the emperor's justice.In 7 of these cases, the lunatic was executed by Ling Chi, and the relatives of the lunatic were also imprisoned, or sentenced to prison, or rewarded as slaves to meritorious families.The other 14 cases were dealt with lightly, but even if they were lightly treated, they were basically "killed" or "killed immediately".
Another type of literary inquisition in the Qianlong Dynasty that exceeded the comprehension of ordinary readers was the "picture stele" literary inquisition.
In August of the 33rd year of Qianlong (1768), Li Hao, a peddler from Fujian, came to Zhejiang Province to sell pictorial inscriptions. "Bandit Anliang Picture", "Kongming Stele", reported to the county magistrate.In fact, selling these things is as common as selling statues of the God of Wealth, and there is no risk, because these things are nothing more than propaganda materials for the people to persuade people to be good. The "Picture of Alliance" is to persuade the world to abide by the holy law, and the "Punishment of Bandits and Anliang" persuades bad people to abandon evil and turn to goodness. In "Steles of Kongming", except for the slightly harsh sentence "the two are fighting each other without seeing the sky", it is nothing more than Some absurd prophecies have no intention of causing trouble.According to Li Hao, the background of this "Kongming Stele" is not small.It is said that on February 28 of this year, there was a strong wind and heavy rain.After the storm, a stone tablet appeared in the Dongshan Temple in Guangdong. The inscription was inscribed by Zhuge Liang, and the content was to predict good and bad things in the future.The people all said that Zhuge Liang appeared, so they copied it one after another.
It stands to reason that the matter of selling good words is not worth asking, but the officials all knew that since the case involved words in the Qianlong Dynasty, they had to prefer to left rather than right, otherwise the emperor would be too much to blame, so they reported it directly to the emperor through the governor and the governor. There.Sure enough, the emperor attached great importance to this matter, and instructed, "Understood, it should be re-drawn, and it cannot be tolerated."
Grasping the emperor's intentions, the magistrates immediately launched a major case, traced several provinces, and implicated many people.In the process of handling the case, the emperor also specifically instructed, "A criminal must never be allowed to slip through the net or commit suicide", which shows his mentality of being a soldier.
The final result of this case is not recorded in the file.However, based on Qianlong's consistent method of dealing with literary inquisition, it is not difficult to imagine that many families were separated and their families were destroyed.
These literary inquisitions of the Qianlong Dynasty are really incomprehensible at first glance.It seems that Qianlong's handling method can only be described by the words "demented".Reading these literary prison files, one can't help wondering whether it was Qianlong or the "criminal" who went crazy.
Anyone who knows a little about Qianlong knows that this person himself is not absurd.He has a rational and resolute personality, is shrewd and meticulous in his dealings, and has a high IQ and EQ.How could such a person do such an unreasonable thing?
In fact, on the issue of literary inquisition, Qianlong was very sensible and rational, and could even be called tolerant.
As we all know, Qianlong's father, Yongzheng, made many famous literary cases during his reign, such as the Lu Liuliang case, the Zha Siting case, and the Wang Jingqi case.Just like disapproving of his father's many other practices, Qianlong, the prisoner of these words, has been slandering him all the time, and immediately set things right after he ascended the throne.Yongzheng killed Wang Jingqi and hung Wang's head at the entrance of the vegetable market for public display.Qianlong ordered people to take it down and bury it on the grounds that the hanging head was "obscure" in the capital's most benevolent area.Then, he pardoned many people implicated in the Lu Liuliang case, Zha Siting case, and Wang Jingqi case, and released the relatives of Zha Siting and Wang Jingqi.
In order to stop the literary prison, Qianlong also took a very powerful measure: he stipulated that in the future, anyone who reported the crime of writing, if the report was false, would be charged with false accusation.
This time, the wave of literary hell was stopped all of a sudden.From Qianlong's accession to the throne (1736) to the 16th year of Qianlong's reign (1751), the cultural field of the Qing Dynasty was calm and calm.The only case that can be called a literary inquisition is Xie Jishi's case of privately annotating scriptures, and this case just highlights Qianlong's tolerance.It turned out that Xie Jishi was talented but stubborn. During the Yongzheng period, he believed that there were many mistakes in the Four Books Annotated by Zhu Xi, so he annotated "Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" by himself. He was dismissed from office, punished, and dispatched to the Western Regions.Qianlong ascended the throne and called him back to the court. He did not change his pedantry, sorted out the "Notes on the Great Learning" and "Shu of the Mean" written by himself, and dedicated them to Qianlong.Although Qianlong was lenient, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was the ideological orthodoxy of the Qing Dynasty. How could he allow such deviant behavior, so he "threw the restoration book and sent an edict to reprimand".In a fit of anger, Xie Jishi asked to resign and go home to adopt his mother.Qianlong was quite accommodating to him, and did not let him resign, but changed him to Hunan grain storage road so that he could be close to his adoptive mother.
Unexpectedly, after experiencing so many turmoil, Xie Jishi's character did not change, and he actually published "University Notes" and "Doctrine of the Mean" in Hunan.Although Emperor Qianlong was angry, he only ordered the book editions to be destroyed. He also specifically said in the order that Xie Jishi, "There are people who know the left and right. When it comes to officials, I can guarantee that there is nothing else. I never use language sinner".The governor of Huguang replied that he followed the emperor's order and only burned Xie Jishi's books, but did not attack Xie Jishi personally. In terms of words, Qianlong was very clear about the boundaries of dealing with this kind of literary inquisition. That is to say, out of the need to maintain ideological orthodoxy, a dynasty should suppress heresy as necessary, but it should not exceed normal human principles.
Precisely because the ruler’s mentality was so rare and normal, the early years of Qianlong was one of the few periods in the Qing Dynasty when the cultural ecology was relaxed.Those literati and scholars who had put down their pens began to recite poems and comment on the past and the present. For a while, the literary and art circles of the Qing Dynasty showed a scene of prosperity in full bloom.It is speculated that Cao Xueqin started writing during this relaxed period.
It can be said that Qianlong sixteen years ago was one of the most understanding and tolerant rulers in Chinese history.However, from the 16th year of Qianlong, the emperor's mentality changed suddenly.
On the second day of July in the 16th year of Qianlong, Shuo Se, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, secretly reported to the emperor that he accidentally discovered a widely copied "playing manuscript" among the people in Puding County, Anshun Prefecture, Guizhou Province. What Sun Jiagan did was nothing more than vulgar language and inaccurate content. It is obvious at first sight that it is a false pretense.Its content is to attack the current emperor's immorality and commit "five incomprehensions and ten mistakes".
The specific text of the "five puzzles and ten faults" no longer exists. According to existing data, it is speculated that one is that Qianlong held a southern tour, wasting the people's fat and anointing, and the other is that he accused him of indiscriminately killing officials because of the Jinchuan battle.In addition, it is possible to exaggerate the extravagance of the emperor's daily life, saying that the fundamental purpose of his tours to the south of the Yangtze River was to seek beauty.In the end, "it even challenged the legitimacy of the Manchu dynasty."
We can imagine Qianlong's mood when he read this report.This was a complete blow to him, without the slightest mental preparation.
At the beginning of his accession to the throne, Qianlong once wholeheartedly wanted to be a wise emperor in Chinese ideals: enlightened, self-denying, benevolent, just, upright, and loving the people like a son.
His father was his example.He watched his father rack his brains in order to govern the world and feed and warm the people.However, all kinds of unbelievable rumors about his father are floating around in the world, saying that he murdered his father, forced his mother, killed his brother, butchered his brother, greedy for money, fond of murder, drunk, lewd, punishing loyalty, fond of love, etc. Flattery, treachery.
Qianlong knew very well that the reason why his father was treated so harshly by public opinion was mainly because he was too observant, and many policies were harsh and serious, hurting too many people.He didn't want to make the emperor as stupid as his father, but hoped that he could go down in history forever with a magnanimous and benevolent image like his grandfather Kangxi.
It should be said that Qianlong's efforts were quite successful sixteen years ago.In the past sixteen years, he reduced the criminal law, exempted taxation and food, rehabilitated unjust prisons, and treated his officials with kindness. Like the sun, he continuously released his kindness and care for his subjects.Almost all he heard were words of gratitude from his subjects.The so-called "thousands of people are joyful, and the sound of praise is like thunder. In Wuzhong, there is a saying of 'Qianlong treasure, longevity test; Qianlong money, tens of thousands of years'".This period is his honeymoon period with his subjects.
Therefore, the emergence of the "Pseudo-Sun Jiagan Memorial Case" was completely beyond his expectations.
He immediately ordered Shuo Se to trace the source of this manuscript, and after this investigation, the result shocked him even more.
When Shuo Se first reported the case, Qianlong thought it was just a few people's rumors, and the source would be found out and destroyed soon, so as to eliminate the bad influence of this matter to a certain extent.Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the investigation, Qianlong discovered that this was not a matter of Guizhou province. The fake manuscript was discovered one after another all over the country, and even the remote minority areas were scrambling to spread rumors about its contents.As for the people who have copied and read it, there are countless people who have read it. From officials at all levels, scholars and scholars to ordinary people, even those who pull their feet, sharpen kitchen knives, beggars, and wandering monks, they all know the contents of the manuscript.In just a few days in Sichuan Province, more than 280 people who had copied the CCP were arrested, not to mention the whole country.Such a fake manuscript, which is obviously absurd and slanders the emperor, has aroused such great interest from the people of the whole country.However, since he came to the throne, the countless good governance he has implemented have been forgotten by people.
He suddenly discovered that he was actually facing the danger of becoming the same fate as his father.
Qianlong did not understand a basic principle of mass communication: gossip is an important part of folk life.The public often doesn't care about the positive clichés spread by the government. On the contrary, they are most enthusiastic about the negative ones, especially the irritating and sensational rumors.No storytelling or opera can compare to the super-entertainment pleasure brought to people when disseminating these explosive news.This is true all over the world.
During the two years from the sixteenth year of Qianlong (1751) to the seventeenth year of Qianlong (1752), all the emperor's attention was put on this fake manuscript.He felt extremely wronged, angry and wronged.He paid attention to the case day and night like crazy, issued countless edicts, spent countless sleepless nights, and ordered officials from all over the country to pursue him relentlessly.Officials at all levels across the country were mobilized, thousands of people were arrested and imprisoned, and the whole country was in turmoil.However, after more than a year of investigation, the net has been cast wider and wider, and more and more people have been involved, but it is still a mess with no clue.Seeing that going on like this, there could be no results other than spreading the content of the fake manuscript more widely, Qianlong had no choice but to hastily close the case, designate the two low-level military officers who had copied the manuscript as the masterminds, and kill the matter.
This incident gave Qianlong an extremely serious psychological stimulation.If the real culprit could not be caught, the emperor transferred his hatred to the people who spread the manuscript.The emperor remembered what Han Feizi said. For the common people, what they need most is to be constantly spurned like animals, instead of "cultivating a loving heart", because the common people have no brains.
Just when the counterfeit manuscript case was not solved, Ma Chaozhu's anti-Qing case occurred again, which was another blow to the emperor's confidence.
On April 18th, the 17th year of Qianlong, Yin Jishan, governor of Liangjiang, reported to the emperor in secret. When the local officials were investigating the case of forged manuscripts, they discovered a mass rebellion incident in the Dabie Mountains in northeast Hubei.According to the investigation, there was a middle-aged man named Ma Chaozhu who claimed to have magic powers. He used the name of burning charcoal in the deep mountains to gather people with illegal intentions.He also engraved a big seal, which has the words "Control the mountains and rivers, put the country in peace, and receive the destiny, blessings and prosperity forever", and the heart of misconduct is clearly visible.
After the case was reported, Qianlong attached great importance to it.The emperor, who was completely absorbed in the counterfeit manuscript case, first reacted to suspect that Ma Chaozhu was the one who made the counterfeit manuscript, so he ordered the local officials to quickly suppress it.Ma Chaozhu fled to Sichuan alone, only capturing Ma's mother, wife and nephew.Under interrogation, it was found that Ma Chaozhu had nothing to do with the case of the forged manuscript, but the threat of this person was not under the forged manuscript.
Ma Chaozhu, a native of Huoshan, Anhui, has great ambitions since he was a child.Since the twelfth year of Qianlong (1747), he has discussed with the monk Zhengxiu of Huoshan Baiyun Nunnery to "start a big event" and become emperor.Following the example of uprising leaders in the past, he declared to everyone that when he was sixteen years old, he dreamed of a fairy coming, and pointed him to a certain place to worship a famous teacher, and learned a whole body of magic. He could turn beans into soldiers and cut paper into horses.He also publicized, "There is a young master named Zhu Hongjin in the West, who is a descendant of the Ming Dynasty, a scholar Zhang Xiyu, a general Wu Chengyun, who is a descendant of Wu Sangui, Li Rongjue is Li Kaihua, etc., with 37,000 troops as assistants", saying himself He has been appointed as a military adviser. If everyone rebels with him, there will be high-ranking officials in the future.
These claims left many people skeptical.In order to attract disciples, Ma Chaozhu came up with many strategies.In October of the 14th year of Qianlong (1749), he made a bronze sword with a strange shape and quietly hid it in a cave in Louzishi. Take everyone to find the sword in the cave.In the fifteenth year of Qianlong (1750), he announced to everyone that he had obtained a magical sky support fan from the sky. With this fan, "it can travel in the clouds and mist, and it can reach the West in three o'clock. , revive the Ming Dynasty".These pretentious tricks were very successful, and everyone believed them one after another, and gave him money to register as a member of the gang.
Of course, there are times when tricks are played.In order to reward the backbone of his subordinates, Ma Chaozhu sent people to other places to make many "boa robes" and "crown belts", and distributed them to his "officials", saying that the Lord of the West descended from the sky.These "officials" excitedly took the "boa robes" and went back to take a closer look, and found that they were clearly used for singing in theatrical troupes, and some of them had the names of tailors and troupes written on them.This mistake made Ma Chaozhu's efforts almost bankrupt.In order to restore the influence, Ma Chaozhu also claimed that the Western Lord sent an edict from the clouds and descended to the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan.He sent people to Wuhan, and sure enough, he took out more than a hundred edicts from the Yellow Crane Tower, talked about the bright future after the uprising, and sealed a large number of "officials" again, stabilizing the hearts of the people.
After painstaking efforts, Ma Chaozhu has developed a large number of believers in various places.He also "scattered letters to recruit troops, hoard grain and make weapons" in various places, practicing swords and guns.In addition, personnel have been sent to contact believers in Huoshan, Taihu, Tongcheng, Bozhou (now Bozhou City) in Anhui, Shangcheng, Kaifeng, Nanyang in Henan, Mount Emei in Sichuan and other places to echo each other. righteous.When local officials led troops into the mountains to search and arrest, they confiscated more than 300 pieces of ordnance and hundreds of catties of nitrate (the raw material for making gunpowder); they captured more than 200 people who were the backbone of the uprising.
The case of Ma Chaozhu shocked Qianlong.During the nine months from April to December in the seventeenth year of Qianlong, his nerves were always tense, he reviewed fifty-one memorials to the horse case, and passed down fifty-eight edicts, with tens of thousands of words.If it weren't for this major anti-Qing case brought about by the counterfeit manuscript case, it is very likely that a huge anti-Qing uprising sweeping several provinces would start in a year or two.Thinking of this, Qianlong couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.
After the two major cases occurred one after another, Qianlong suddenly discovered that the country under his rule was far from being as peaceful and sunny as he had seen.In the corners that I can't see, they are everywhere, and there is the possibility of a large-scale outbreak of peasant uprisings at any time.
Regarding the fake manuscript case and the Ma Chaozhu case, Qianlong was puzzled.He recalled that since he came to the throne, he has been doing his best to the people of Li, and there is nothing wrong with him.He said:
Since Lin Yu, the heart of love for the people has always been like a day. When there is a disaster, there are no less than millions of funds in various ways.As for those who have postponed the loan, it is even more difficult to count.There is no selfish millet levy on the outside, and it is not like the previous dynasty that condoned the corrupt officials who stripped the people of their fat.That is to say, there are unscrupulous officials from time to time, who have slightly tired the people, and they all set up heavy codes. This has never happened before.
The people should be grateful for the grace of the country to recuperate and live together, and share peace and happiness. I really don't understand why these rioters are so cowardly and ignorant, willing to step into the law? ("Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty")
Real politics shattered Qianlong's idealism of governing the country with Confucianism.It turned out that the "fools" only remembered the pain caused by the whip, but could not remember the mercy of the Lord.Most of them are ignorant and credulous, without brains, without judgment, only keen to enjoy the pleasure of spreading gossip, and are easily deceived by false words. It is almost impossible to expect them to give the ruler a fair evaluation.
Qianlong believed that as long as he paid full attention to the people's livelihood and did not displace the Li people, there would be no threat of peasant rebellion.The Ma Chaozhu case overturned his assumption.From the 12th year of Qianlong to the 17th year of Qianlong, it was the "happy time" when the Qing Empire was flourishing and approaching the peak of prosperity. The problem of food and clothing for the people of the whole country had been basically solved, and the governance level of traditional society had reached the extreme. Most of the people here live and work in peace and contentment.Under such circumstances, the Ma Chaozhu uprising still occurred, which made Qianlong believe that "unruly people" will exist at any time. No matter whether they are full or not, there will always be people who are obsessed with the emperor's dream and cannot extricate themselves.
Qianlong became more and more obsessed with reading "Han Feizi".He found that the words of this political theorist, which he was extremely disgusted with, could not be read today.Han Feizi clearly pointed out that all relationships in the world are the relationship between the tiger and the wolf.People's hearts are full of "self-interest" and "self-interest". Whether they are monarchs, fathers and sons, or friends, they actually "treat each other with a calculating heart."The common people only have interests in their hearts, but no gratitude: "The reason why other people are used by me is not because of my love, but because of my power." I won, not in a hurry to be loyal to the emperor: "The love of a minister may not necessarily be able to love his king, because of the importance of profit."
Therefore, Han Feizi said that the monarch should control his subjects, and he should not rely solely on moral education, let alone "cultivate a heart of love". The deterrent force of power prevents subjects from talking or acting indiscriminately. "Punishment wins and the people are quiet, and rewards are rich and treacherous. Therefore, those who govern the people are the first to rule the people, and rewards are the root of chaos." ("Han Feizi·Xindu")
If it is admitted that human nature is inherently evil, then of course the Confucian idealist governance plan based on the goodness of human nature is wishful thinking, and only Han Feizi's proposal is feasible.
Not long after the detection of the Ma Chaozhu case, in October of the seventeenth year of Qianlong (1752), Jiangxi seized the fourth rebellion case of He Ya, followed by the first month of the eighteenth year (1753), the Cai Rongzu rebellion case broke out in Fujian.He Yasi, a native of Shangrao, Jiangxi, originally made a living by "cultivating and burning charcoal".One day, he got three hundred and seventy taels of silver from digging the ground. The fortune teller Li Dexian said that he was destined to be rich, and instigated him to invest in casting letters, making flags, and making knives and sticks. He also used the name of "Li Kaihua" in the Thomas Chaozhu case to gather local villagers in an attempt to rebel.Cai Rongzu, a scholar in Zhangzhou, Fujian, dreamed of being an emperor together with Taoist Feng Heng, and conspired to raise troops and establish the "Da Ning Kingdom", but they were uncovered because of the confidentiality of the matter.Although these two cases were detected in time, the emperor, who was accustomed to crisis thinking, could no longer rest in peace.How to prevent peasant uprisings has become the new focus of his political thinking.
Indeed, as Qianlong himself said, he was the emperor who valued people's livelihood the most in Chinese history.However, the social problems in the mid-Qianlong period could no longer be solved by a few livelihood measures.Population pressure led to the gradual intensification of social turmoil, and the social turmoil at the bottom. In addition to the struggle against rent and tax, folk religion and association activities also flourished.According to statistics in the book "Baguajiao in the Qing Dynasty", historical materials only recorded 16 secret religions and association activities before the 20th year of Qianlong (1755), but there were as many as 199 kinds after the 21st year of Qianlong (1756).Twenty years after Qianlong, folk religions and associations were active, and new religious organizations continued to emerge. Secret religions and associations were of all kinds, with more names than any previous dynasty.What Wenxiang Sect, Wuwei Sect, Hongfeng Sect, Mahayana Sect, Shanyouhui, Hongyang Sect, Qingjingmen, Baiyang Sect, Baiyang Sect, Guiyi Sect, Jinzhuan Sect, Huangtian Sect...there are so many, countless.The reports on the teaching plans from various provinces continued to come in, which made the emperor a headache.
Therefore, after entering the middle period, Qianlong's control over society became more and more high-pressure.Qianlong spared no effort in cracking down on folk religions and associations.乾隆说：“左道惑人，最为风俗人心之害，必当严绝根株。”（《宫中档乾隆朝奏折》）乾隆十三年（1748年）他说：“务须加意查办，杜绝根株。嗣后凡有干涉烧香聚匪之处，俱当留心查察，一有访闻，即行擒捕，不可稍有怠忽。”乾隆朝以前，清代统治者对于民间宗教首领和帮会首领也采取严厉打击政策，不过仅限于处以监禁之刑。乾隆却一改前例，查出即处死。
乾隆朝的文字狱就是在乾隆对社会底层控制由松转紧，对底层民众态度由宽转严的背景下发生的。表面上看，乾隆朝的文字狱多数看起来荒诞不经，但是如果我们把这些文字狱放到一起进行分析，背后的脉络隐然可见。
乾隆朝文字狱的一个重要特点是打击重心在社会底层。中国历代文字狱，都以士大夫阶层为打击对象。据郭成康、林铁钧之《清朝文字狱》一书统计，康熙、雍正两朝文字狱大约三十起，其中涉及官绅、名士者至少二十起，占全部案件的三分之二。而乾隆年间触犯文网者，则多数是下层知识分子及稍解文义的平民。在约一百三十起文字狱中，低级知识分子，也就是童生、秀才、监生、武生等，占近四十起，平民五十多起，二者合计，占总数的百分之七十二。这些人的职业五花八门，其中有裱背老板、酒店老板、当铺老板三人，童生四人，教书先生四人，江湖郎中一人，菜农一人，帮工两人，轿夫一人，算命先生三人，裁缝一人，无业游民一人，和尚五人，职业不清者二十二人，又各种职业的疯汉十八人。这一现象，是乾隆以前任何一个朝代的文字狱从未发生过的，这就打破了士大夫阶层“垄断”文字狱“专利”的局面。
这些乡野小民、精神病患者和小知识分子之所以身陷文字狱，大抵有三个原因。一是为人不安分，“出位妄言”，妄议国家大政；二是涉嫌传播有民间宗教内容的“邪书”“图谱”，被怀疑有秘密传教和结社的背景；三是自称“托梦”“天命”“下凡”等，举止荒唐，“妖言惑众”。
乾隆对历朝农民起义的规律深有研究。通过总结中国历史，他得出一个结论，社会底层最危险的人物是“失意文人”。他多次提醒地方官，要注意地方上的“失意文人”作乱。
乾隆认为，读书人大多功名心极盛，读书的目的，就是为了荣华富贵。一旦科举不顺，腾达无望，也不会甘于埋头做农民，而一定要想方设法改变自己的命运，所以他们最容易起不轨之心。而这些人又粗识文字，头脑灵活，因此是大清王朝最危险的潜在敌人之一。事实上，在乾隆朝前期几起起义中，“失意文人”的身影确乎不时隐显其间。马朝柱本人就识文断字，似乎算得上是“失意文人”。福建蔡荣祖反清案中，蔡荣祖本身是一名秀才，与他共同起事的冯珩则是道士。王伦起义中的军师范伟也是个底层文人。乾隆三十一年（1766年），在全国范围内发生了另一起莫名其妙的大案“割辫案”。乾隆即提醒地方官员，追查案源时最可注意的是“士子内屡试不第自负才高学广而不得志者”。
乾隆蓄意痛惩这些“满怀好心”的献策献词者，无疑是为了“以昭炯戒”，杀一儆百，消灭他们的“不安分”之心。皇帝治国的理想是“总一海内，整齐万民”，使全国人民都生活在高度纪律化之下。他认为，政治是肉食者谋的事。作为民间知识分子，他们唯一的晋升途径就是老老实实读书进学，此外任何一种钻营都是不正当的。
对于没有任何政治企图的献词者，比如为了爱情而献书的冯起炎，他可以放一条生路。而对“妄议国政”，事干政治者，他绝不放过，非使其家破人亡不可。通过这些惨案，皇帝严肃提醒底层民众，国家不需要任何底层社会的自发政治热情，只需要他们的驯服和沉默。
乾隆朝另外许多文字狱，其实是与打击民间宗教密切联系在一起的。
民间宗教和秘密会社历来是农民起义的温床。自汉代以后，几乎所有大的农民起义，都有着民间宗教的背景。东汉末年的黄巾军，以“五斗米教”聚敛人心。方腊起义，借的是明教的招牌。元末彭莹玉起兵，以“白莲教”为旗帜。而马朝柱案件也典型地具备民间秘密结社的特征。
自马案以后，乾隆对于那些有任何民间宗教及结社嫌疑的文字，都十分警惕。
乾隆二十二年（1757年），阜宁查出老百姓周瑞家有“妖书”一本，名叫《古圣遗书》，内中不过是刘伯温推背图，预测天下运数等，原是民间常见之物。乾隆得知后，神经紧张，小题大做，批示道：“甚可恶！非寻常劝人吃斋之可比，当尽法穷究。”
乾隆三十三年（1768年）九月，山西一个算命的游民席守业在外地游荡时，被搜出身携一纸，所写内容据说是湖北武当山上，一场大雨之后，冲出的一块石碑上的文字，也是预测未来吉凶，说将有刀兵临世。皇帝对此事的批复是：“此等荒诞不经之事，流播民间，惑人听闻，自当严切查拿，务得造作为首之人，重加惩治。”
这些案件，历来被归为“文字狱”档，实际上这只是乾隆为防范民间宗教及结社而采取的恐怖手段，与传统文字狱性质截然不同。
乾隆朝此类“文字狱”，大多是无中生有，小题大做，除了反映统治者的“杯弓蛇影”外，没有什么意义。但是瞎猫有时也能碰到死耗子，乾隆通过大撒文字之网，居然还真侦破过一起货真价实的教案。
乾隆三十七年（1772年），山东小长治村李孟炳等人携带“邪书”，到河南临颍县一带传八卦教，为地方差役查获。地方官随即展开调查，又在临颍县一个教徒家中搜得《训书》一部，内容荒诞不经。河南巡抚将“经书”上呈御览。这些地方大吏的“阶级斗争”弦远没有乾隆绷得紧，审查数遍，也没看出书中有什么“悖逆情事”。倒是乾隆皇帝极为精细，“经书”报送上来后，他细细阅读一遍，“敏锐”地发现了问题。他发现，书中有一字经过了涂改，把“胡”改成了“明”：逆书中有“平明不出周刘户，进在戊辰己巳年”之句。朕阅“平明”之“明”左旁日字有补改痕迹，细查笔法，系“胡”字迁就改易而成，其为大逆显然。
乾隆皇帝平时深文周纳，而这一次他确实抓到了一点真东西。地方官员又查获其他经书，证明乾隆的推测正确，原文确是“胡”字。也就是说这些字句中确实含有反清思想。这就坚定了乾隆把此案办到底的决心。严查之下，终于揭开了八卦教的神秘面纱。
原来，早在康熙初年，一个叫刘佐臣的人在山东创立了八卦教。这个宗教的特点是“儒教专制化”。八卦教教主刘佐臣被教徒尊为“太阳神”，号“圣帝老爷”。徒众每次进餐之前都要向圣帝老爷献饭，口称“求圣帝老爷慈悲”，每日磕头三次，每年上供五次。它宣传，宇宙三世分别由李老君、释迦如来佛和孔夫子掌管。孔夫子是掌管最后一世的“收元祖师”，是宇宙的最后主宰。他说刘家是孔子转世，所以教内强调分尊卑，明长幼，用儒学纲常为教内纪律服务，要求他们“非礼勿听，非礼勿视，非礼勿言，非礼勿动”，愚忠于教首。这个教派的最引人注目之处是它实际上就是一个庞大的敛钱系统，各地卦长像地主收租一样，定期收取教徒费用，并将所敛钱财送到山东刘家。教主之下，设八个卦长，每个卦长之下设六个爻长，再下是真人、流水、点火、全仕、传仕、麦仕、秋仕等职。谁收的徒多、敛的钱多，封的教职就高，“管的人多，如同当官一样”，其原理与传销异曲同工。他们敛钱名目繁多，手段多样。收徒弟要敛钱，作会要敛钱，封某人的教职更要敛钱，教主过生日还要敛钱。他们“以出钱多寡定来生福泽厚薄”，敛钱名目大同小异，如根基钱、扎根钱、跟账钱、种福钱、四季钱、香火钱、进身孝敬钱等等，不一而足。
由于创立了世袭家长制的继承方式，把宗教当成了家族事业，教徒当成自己的“吃饭本儿”，这一教派成了刘家兴旺发达的基础。经过刘佐臣、刘儒汉父子两代惨淡经营，刘家通过传教已经获得巨大的现实利益。
从康熙初年到乾隆三十几年，八卦教存在了一百多年，刘家后代始终充当八卦教教首，传承五代，几如一个王朝。教徒众多，组织严密，极为兴盛。“辗转煽惑”，已“蔓延数省”，“从其教者动辄千百人”，发展成为一个庞大的地下秘密宗教王国。教内组织盘根错节，已成不可解之势。他们在掌握巨大资源的基础上，产生野心，要“火焚幽燕”“平胡”也是自然的事。当然，还没有等他们真正有所动作，就被“英明”的皇帝通过“文字大网”网了出来。乾隆“如梳如篦”的文字密网终于功效大显。这件事更鼓励皇帝对这类“文字之狱”不能放过。
历代民间宗教教首中，都有一些人，通过“装神弄鬼”的方式，来宣扬自己的神异，以获众人拥戴。他们或者说自己梦到了天神托言，或者说自己突然获得了异能。也有些教首，本身是癔症患者，通过民间巫术来吸引信众。
“农民属于低度文化、浅层思维的社会群体。”（《晚清乡土意识》）他们的生活方向，主要靠习俗、直觉、群体无意识、群体情绪为主导，缺乏理性精神和分析能力。他们可以轻易相信他们的领袖具有神通，“刀枪不入”“撒豆成兵”，相信洋人“剜人眼睛做药”，相信“耳屎可以致人哑”，相信种种奇奇怪怪的偏方。因此，他们很容易被那些“心怀不轨”的人所利用，充当炮灰，成为社会动乱的主力。
基于对历代农民起义的研究，以及精细求全的个性，乾隆对那些“疯人造反案”，一律宁可信其真，不可信其疯。即使审讯证明确实是疯子，他也认为这样的人留在地方，是不稳定因素，保不定什么时候会为心怀不轨者所用。乾隆为了给自己的残忍找借口，还解释自己的动机说：“此为疯人之言。然此等无知妄作，病废之时尚复如此作为，其平昔之不安分，作奸犯科，已可概知，岂可复容于光天化日之下？”就是说，这些疯人好的时候必然也是不安分之人，所以病时才暴露内心的罪恶。因此，杀掉他们并没有什么不妥。
乾隆三十六年（1771年），寓居湖北的流亡文人刘三元自称汉朝后裔，“要天下官员扶持”，并将这些话写在纸上，被官府查获。据其亲属和乡邻招供，刘三元一向患疯病。经过反复研讯，湖北巡抚宋邦绥等虽认为“其疯癫似非尽由捏饰”，但“恭逢圣世，胆敢假借梦语，肆行狂吠，不法已极”，奏请依照大逆律凌迟处死。奉旨准行。
同年八月，又有疯人王宗训以书写“我有天神扶助”“可为天下之主”等“逆词”而被盘获。经查王宗训已有八年的精神病史，但承审官广西巡抚冯钤等仍以其胆敢妄造逆词，不法已极，奏请照大逆律凌迟处死，亲属缘坐。
以上诸案，经过审实，与宗教和起义无关，乾隆仍然不放过。这固然是统治者的过度防御，背后仍然有其他策略考虑。对乾隆来说，这是一种低成本的、省事而高效的处理方法，可以最大限度地防止个别心怀不轨者装疯卖傻，逃过法网。同时还有一个好处，就是可以制造恐怖，恫吓“愚民”，“务必重处，以儆其余”，使那些正常人越发不敢犯法。底层民众的几条性命，在他的“政治大局”中是不值一钱的。
我们不能不承认乾隆皇帝对农民起义规律的认识颇为深刻，防范的手段也确实老辣阴狠，然而这并不能阻止清代后期风起云涌的一次次大起义。一味地迷信打压和控制的统治者甚至自身就受到了惩罚，就在他前所未有地打击民间宗教的过程中，白莲教起义的怒潮差一点掀翻了他的统治。而在他故去五十年后，正是四次科举没能考上秀才的“失意文人”洪秀全，利用“上帝教”起事，再一次沉重打击了大清朝。