Chapter 19 Memorial of Yin Zhuangtu in the first section

The disappearance of Literary Inferno was as sudden as its rise. In the forty-seventh year of Qianlong (1782), under the repeated whipping of the emperor, all the officials in the frontiers of the country fell into a state of excitement and even madness.They put down their daily work and reviewed all the Chinese characters in the empire day and night, but the emperor turned away calmly at this time. At the beginning of this year, Zhu Wanqing in Guangzhou, Henan was reported.The whistleblower said that there was a serious problem with the couplet on the plaque hung in his family's ancestral hall.Its plaque reads "Dou Deng Chang Xin".The couplet is "My ancestor, my ancestor, my grandson's plan; if you are a descendant, if you are a son, you can increase your style." This kind of imposing words is only suitable for the emperor, how can ordinary people use it indiscriminately?

The accusation is, of course, ridiculous.However, it would not be surprising if Zhu's family was ruined because of this.After the forty-three years of Qianlong (1778), there were countless similar absurd and unjust prisons.The local officials did not dare to be negligent, and reported the case as a major case, waiting for the emperor's reward for their diligence. Unexpectedly, what was waiting was a scolding reprimand.The emperor said that he could see that this was a case of false accusation even with his eyes closed: "If you call these words and phrases incomprehensible, you can say that the grammar is incomprehensible, but you can't say that the sentences are incomprehensible. If you brag about the words and sentences like this, no one in the world will understand Exemption? The circumstances charged in this case seem to be dangerous and false, and we must not drag down the innocent and make them grow up!"

Since the emperor didn't do anything wrong, the magistrates were of course happy not to hurt the world.After the forty-eight years of Qianlong (1783), the literary prisons were sparse and significantly reduced. In the 50th year of Qianlong (1785), with the case of "Shen Yu Tang Ji", the emperor once again solemnly reiterated to the governors and governors of the world that the literary prison should not be expanded: "There are poems written outside, such as Qian Qianyi, Lu Liuliang, etc. If he and his descendants are both on the official page and yelling at lawbreakers, they should be searched and dealt with severely; if there is no intention to violate, but the words are slightly flawed, I will never intentionally complain." The case of "Nai He Yin" after this decree, It became the last word in the literary prison of Qianlong Dynasty.The bloody storm finally subsided, and the hearts of scholars who had been carrying it for decades were finally let go, and the whole country let out a long sigh of relief. ("Qing Dynasty Literary Prison Archives")

Why did the emperor stop the killing hand? Because the literary inquisition campaign has successfully achieved its purpose. As mentioned earlier, the purpose of the Qianlong Dynasty's literary inquisition was to eliminate all germs of thought that might endanger the rule by means of super terror.The literary inquisition campaign of more than 30 years is like putting the whole society into a pressure cooker for sterilization, completing a comprehensive cleaning from the outside to the inside.All those who have the guts, brains, and ambition to compete with him have disappeared from their bodies; all books and papers involving a little heresy have been burned; the guts of those who come down.

One sheet, one relaxation, and the combination of leniency and strictness are Qianlong's consistent ruling principles.After being strict for thirty years, it is finally possible to be lenient.Not only were the nerves of the subjects in the pressure cooker tensed to the brink of collapse, but even he, the person who added fire to the pressure cooker, was too tired. What's more, the victorious end of the Literary Inquisition Movement is like the capping of a super majestic building, marking the full completion of Qianlong's vision of a prosperous age.The material prosperity is easy to be short-lived, and only the prosperity that wipes out all spiritual enemies can be eternal.The success of the Literary Inquisition Movement marked the double victory of Qianlong's material spirit: materially, he had maximized the material production potential of traditional society; spiritually, he created a perfect situation to eliminate all germs of heresy.The prosperous age of Qianlong surpassed other prosperous ages such as Wenjing, Zhenguan, and Kaiyuan, and reached the peak. What his descendants will inherit will be an iron-clad country that will last forever.

In the forty-fifth year of Qianlong (1780), the 70-year-old emperor wrote an "Ancient History", which described the situation in the whole country as follows: Three generations or more can be discussed, but under the third generation, those who are emperors and live to the ancient times can only get six people, which has been seen recently.As far as achieving the righteousness of the country, the expansion of the territory, the universality of subjection, and the peace of the people, although it is not a big deal, it can be called a well-off.Moreover, those who subjugated the country in the previous dynasties were called strong vassals, foreign invaders, powerful ministers, foreign relatives, daughters, eunuchs, traitors, and sycophants. There is no such thing as today.That is to say, the six ancient emperors, the second ancestors of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, were the kings of entrepreneurship.The other four emperors are not enough to be the law, and the government at that time is not as good as it is today, it is just ancient and rare.It is not a gift from heaven that the husband is worth this rare person.

It means that since the founding of China, the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties are ancient, and things are unbelievable, let alone.Take Qin Shihuang's establishment of the emperor system as an example. In two thousand years, only six emperors lived to the age of seventy.However, among these six people, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fell out of power in his later years, Emperor Wu of Liang died unhappily, Emperor Tang and Ming were lucky to Shu in a hurry, and Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty favored peace, all of them are not great emperors.Only Yuan Shizu and Ming Taizu can be called truly great men, but when they first founded the country, they had martial arts but lacked literary governance, and they were still not as grand as the Qianlong Dynasty.In the Qing Dynasty, the legitimacy of the establishment of the regime was firm, the territory was the largest in history, the surrounding countries were generally accepted, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.Although the society has not reached Datong, it has entered a well-off society.Moreover, the major drawbacks in the autocratic politics of the past dynasties, such as strong local separatist forces, foreign aggression by enemies, powerful officials, foreign relatives, harem, eunuchs, treacherous officials, and villains, have all been eliminated.The security of the country is unprecedented.This great situation of prosperity, peace, stability and unity can be said to be "rare in ancient times".He is indeed the most blessed emperor of all time.

Seventy-year-old Qianlong can finally breathe a sigh of relief.During the ten years from the age of seventy to eighty, the old emperor was still so energetic and diligent, but he did not raise any major political movements, but focused on stability and unity in everything.During the ten years from the forty-fifth year of Qianlong (1780) to the fifty-fifth year (1790), there were only three most important events that happened in the Qing Dynasty. The seventy-fifth birthday of fifty years, and the eightieth birthday of fifty-five years. The royal family in the Qing Dynasty paid special attention to celebrating birthdays.Qianlong's great-grandson Cixi took this tradition to the extreme. Wars can be ignored, but birthdays can't be missed.Although Qianlong's concern for birthdays is not so exaggerated, the emperor's entire birthday is still one of the most important things in the life of the empire.Although the birthday is only one day, the celebration of the 80th birthday actually lasted continuously for three months.Grand and enthusiastic celebrations with a variety of tricks were held all over the country.

Unexpectedly, just after all the celebrations died down, Yin Zhuangtu, a cabinet scholar, made a note, which spoiled the emperor's good mood. This book says that the current "criminal silver system" has serious drawbacks and should be abolished. The so-called "criminal silver system" was a political invention of the Qianlong Dynasty.Some ministers, the emperor was using them smoothly, but accidentally made mistakes. The emperor thought that talents were rare and he was unwilling to replace them, so he fined them some money to settle the matter.However, Yin Zhuangtu said that this system has huge problems.Because it actually encourages officials to violate the law and discipline, and condones the spread of corruption.At present, the huge fiscal deficit, that is, the fiscal deficit, in some local governments is related to the implementation of the crime-disputing silver system.He said: "Governors and governors have committed the crime of guilt, the emperor's grace, if they can't be dismissed immediately, and they will be fined tens of thousands of silver and confiscated, there are also governors who ask themselves to punish tens of thousands of people." People with bad habits can even act recklessly and embezzle public funds. Anyway, if they find out in the future, they will be fined some money and paid for it.However, due to financial constraints, it is difficult for clean and honest members to avoid deficits during their tenure, so they have to make friends with their subordinates so that they can get their help when deficits occur behind them. "The unruly people use the excuse of fasting their gluttonous selfishness, even the honest ones have to rely on the help of their subordinates. In the future, if there are serious cases of deficit and selfishness, they will not be treated as shelter. Although the fine is strict, it is not only shameless The heart of fear, and the idea of ​​playing with it is latent."

Yin Zhuangtu asked the emperor to "stop this case forever". The emperor's first reaction was to remind himself, don't be angry, don't hold the prejudice of rejecting advice, and don't be like those mediocre masters who get angry when they see criticism.In order to show this gesture, after the first paragraph of Yin's excerpts, he wrote "not for ignorance", that is to say, quite insightful. The emperor knew very well that the system of discussing crimes and silver was indeed prone to disadvantages.Especially after He Wen came to power, the criminal punishment system was institutionalized. As long as the ministers committed not serious crimes, they can probably be punished lightly after paying the fine money.It is hard to guarantee that there will not be one or two fish that slipped through the net that should have been focused on.

But the emperor had his own reasons.He Arsenic institutionalized the crime silver in order to get some pocket money for the emperor.A huge amount of fine silver flowed into the emperor's small treasury, which was used for the emperor's extra expenses, such as flowers on the southern tour and rewards on birthdays.If there is no such silver, the emperor's hand will be embarrassing immediately.What's more, the quality of a system depends on how well it is implemented.The emperor believed that he was as wise as ever and could minimize the disadvantages of this system.Therefore, he changed his pen and said that talents are rare, "I think the governor can't win people for a while, so I abandon the flaws and hire them, and punish them lightly."Things happen for a reason, and it seems that there is nothing wrong with it. After explaining himself, the emperor asked another question.The emperor said that everything can be justified only if it has evidence.What Yin said, "The governors of various provinces use the name of fines to send numerous subordinates, and there are many shortages in warehouses." Is this Yin's subjective speculation, or is there any real evidence?The emperor believed that the Qing Dynasty was in its heyday, so how could there be a downfall of "many warehouses with deficits"? "The Zhuangtu is playing for this purpose, and I must have seen and heard it, so I will repeat it." In other words, please ask Yin Zhuangtu to provide one or two factual evidences for his suggestion. The emperor knew that officials often wanted to speak out, but they were unwilling to offend others, so their comments read impassioned and filled with righteous indignation, but they did not implicate specific people and events when studied carefully.The emperor has always hated this "practice of ingenuity and falsehood".If you, Yin Zhuangtu, really have reason and evidence, then I'm sorry, please don't be afraid of offending others, and explain one or two things. How unrealistic it is for Beijing officials who have no position and no power to grasp the criminal evidence of local officials.If it is a slightly more well-behaved official, guessing the tone of the emperor's reply, he will naturally understand the emperor's displeasure.The emperor's refusal to remonstrate was revealed between the lines, and the smartest response was to turn the steering wheel in time, replying that he had no evidence, the suggestion was indeed absurd, and he had suddenly realized it after being educated by the Holy Lord, and so on.Although you lose face, you can protect yourself safely. However, Yin Zhuangtu is different.In his replay, he said that there was a reason why he made this suggestion.Three years ago, his old father passed away, and Ding You returned to his hometown in Yunnan. This year, when his filial piety expired, he returned to Beijing from Yunnan to take up a job. This trip traveled thousands of miles and traveled across most of China.This trip made him discover that the current Qing Dynasty is almost rotten: people he met along the way all told how local officials were corrupt; the people’s livelihood he saw along the way was far less prosperous than he imagined Prosperity, but poverty everywhere, financial deficiencies, almost every province has a financial deficit. "All the governors are notorious, and the officials are slack", "Among the border officials, Li Shijie and Shulin are the only ones who are good at themselves." Yin Zhuangtu said that the common people all over the world are saddened by the political situation of the Qing Dynasty. "I passed through Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Huguang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and other provinces, but I saw merchants and people frowning and sighing, and the customs of all provinces are generally the same." The corruption of those officials is almost unheard of. I can't even think of it.However, as an official of Ding You, he has no time, power and responsibility to investigate and collect evidence one by one. "If you ask the flatterers Le sent, how can outsiders see when those superiors and subordinates give and receive in the dark? It's hard for me to point out one by one." At the end of the replay, Yin Zhuangtu said that if the emperor did not believe his words, then he would ask the emperor to "send Manchurian ministers to various provinces to conduct secret investigations" and send a trustworthy Manchurian minister to go with him to various places to conduct secret investigations. Evidence can be obtained quickly. Yin's first memorial only made the emperor slightly displeased, but this second memorial made the emperor deeply irritated.When the emperor read the paragraph "All the governors are notorious, and the government is abolished..." "Half the merchants and people sighed, but the customs of all provinces are generally the same", his hands trembled violently, and his face flushed.The old eunuch serving next to him saw that something was wrong, so he hurried forward and handed him a cup of tea.The old emperor drank a few sips, closed his eyes for a moment, and then slowly calmed down. He raised his pen and commented tremblingly: "It seems that people live in this world, and their lives are unbearable!" In other words, it seems that in today's world under my leadership, ordinary people can't survive! Then he threw the pen aside, leaned on the back of the chair, and gasped for breath. No wonder the emperor was so angry. The emperor never expected that when the Qing Dynasty was in its heyday, which he had worked so hard to achieve, someone would actually carry out such an unimaginable attack that confused black and white.If there are deficits in one or two provinces and corruption in one or two officials today, this is expected.There is no perfect thing in the world, and no matter how glorious the prosperity is, there will be a dark side, but this is the relationship between one finger and nine fingers, tributary and mainstream, phenomenon and essence.But Yin Zhuangtu almost wiped out the governors and governors of all provinces in the country, saying that all the big officials in the frontiers were "notorious" and that all places were "abolished".Isn't this replacing nine fingers with one finger, and depicting the political situation of the Qing Dynasty as a dark mess with no light? What made the emperor even more unbearable was that Yin Zhuangtu said that the merchants and people all over the country "frowned and sighed". Doesn't this mean that the people are strongly dissatisfied with his rule?Doesn't it mean that his rule should be overthrown? The emperor had a good impression of this Yin Zhuangtu.This person is an out-and-out honest person. Although his talents are not particularly good, he is diligent and never takes tricks.Because he was not tactful enough, after the 31st year of Qianlong's high school (1766), he was always dangling in idle positions such as head of the Ministry of Rites, doctor, censor, and bachelor, and he couldn't solve the problem of rank.It was still the emperor's kindness. A few years ago, he was deliberately promoted to the title of cabinet bachelor and minister of rites, so that he could enjoy the treatment at the deputy ministerial level.It stands to reason that this person would only be grateful to the emperor and the Qing Dynasty, and should not have any hostility.Why is there such absurd and violent attack on the political situation of the Qing Dynasty at this time?The emperor was really puzzled. The emotionally agitated emperor issued a long decree on the same day, disclosing his correspondence with Yin Zhuangtu. The emperor said that he would never believe Yin Zhuangtu's words, because "it has been fifty-five years since Yuji" and "that he claims to be diligent in government and love the people, and he is worthy of the world, and all the people in the world will never have any good grievances against me." By". "If it is like Yin Zhuangtu's play, all the ministers and workers, big and small, are all false words, flattery, and deceit. However, for more than fifty years, I have been blinded by people, and I have no awareness of everything outside, and I finally don't know. By." The emperor sternly questioned Yin Zhuangtu, "Who did you hear it from? Where did you see it?" You must "tell the truth and repeat it"! The emperor decided that, as Yin Zhuangtu had requested, he ordered Qingcheng, the servant of the household department, to take Yin Zhuangtu to Zhili, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu and other provinces to check the warehouses.The emperor wanted to openly make a bet with the Yin family, that is, whether the official team of the Qing Dynasty is basically good or basically bad; whether the warehouses of the Qing Dynasty are basically full or empty everywhere.If it is really like what Yin said, then I will admit that I have done nothing for fifty years, and all the ministers are deceiving and perfunctory me.If Yin's statement is not true, the emperor hides his murderous intentions and says that he must also "take the blame for deception"! The Qing political circle, which had been silent for a long time, revived, and people opened their eyes wide to see how the bet between the emperor and the Yin family would continue. The open bet between the emperor and the ministers was not because they were old and foolish and lowered their status, but because what Yin said involved such a fundamental issue as how to view the political situation of the Qing Empire and how to evaluate the achievements of the emperor's fifty-five-year rule. . For the same country and the same era where they lived together, Qianlong and Yin Zhuangtu made diametrically opposite judgments.So, what was the political situation in Qianlong's fifty-five years like? Yin Zhuangtu did not lie. About forty-five years before Qianlong (1780), the Qing Dynasty was indeed at the peak of its prosperity, as Qianlong judged.In the middle and early Qianlong period, the country was stable, the politics was clear, and the bureaucratic system was extremely efficient. However, in the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign (1790), the political situation of the Qing Dynasty had changed, and it was no longer what it used to be. Let us first look at the experiences of the North Korean envoys who frequently traveled to and from China at that time.The Korean envoys who paid tribute to China in the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong described the Qing Dynasty to their king after returning to China: "(The Qing Empire) is mostly officials and elders. The bureaucrats, the upper and the lower, and the protection." ("Records of the Korean Li Dynasty") and until the 60th year of Qianlong (1795), their evaluation developed into "the public trade of goods and bribes, and the common officials all set prices." ("Records of Joseon Lee Dynasty") North Koreans may only know superficially about China, but Chinese officials have expressed more enthusiasm than North Koreans.After the death of Qianlong, Hong Liangji, the editor of the Imperial Academy, said the most painful words: "For more than ten years, the governors and governors have been corrupt and bullying the government everywhere." For forty-five years... the upper and lower sides have been ignorant, but the greed and slander of the goods, began to eat away, and gradually devoured... The greedy and ink officials are accustomed to being lavish and extravagant. It is a matter of catering to officials. It is not as good as it used to be, and it cannot be learned once. The officialdom is like this, and it is getting worse day by day.” When Hong Liangji described the prevalence of corruption in Qianlong’s later years, he said that the ratio of those who were clean and self-respecting to those who were corrupt among officials at that time , It is one to nine or two to eight.And these two-tenths of self-sufficient people do not mix well in the officialdom. "Even if there are some people who know a little about self-love and can actually plan for the people, they can't be one or two out of ten. These one or two people are often laughed at by seven or eight people as pedantic, clumsy, and not good at making plans for themselves. One or two people also feel that it is out of season, out of level, unfortunate and has a public fault, and they will go away if they are not quick, so that the momentum of one or two people will not be attributed to the actions of seven or eight people." From these descriptions, what we see is a bureaucracy that is basically rotten to the bottom. In fact, Yin Zhuangtu's resolute resignation was entirely out of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.During the twenty years he lived in Beijing as an official, he had always listened to official propaganda, believing that the Qing Dynasty was thriving and was in the best period of history, as the emperor repeatedly said in the imperial edict: "Although it is not a great deal, it can be said to be well-off." Ji Gang purges...official administration is purged" "All the people are happy, the world is peaceful".Although there are occasional gray phenomena in the official circles in the capital, such as the rumors of Hearn's bribery and bribery, he also believes that these are only partial phenomena and have nothing to do with the big picture.However, what Ding You saw and heard along the way shattered the illusion of prosperity in his mind.He originally thought that the favor was universal and that everyone in the world would praise the imperial court, but unexpectedly, no matter whether they were chatting with old gentry at the wine table or chatting with traffickers and pawns on the road, almost everyone was cursing the officialdom and lamenting current affairs.What's more serious is that he found that most of the local finances are operating at a loss, and warehouse deficits are everywhere.The amount of grain and silver stored in the warehouses reported by governments at all levels to the emperor is probably a false report.Once a national emergency occurs, the consequences will be disastrous. In the first memorial, Yin Zhuangtu did not talk about his specific feelings.One is because it is all hearsay and has no real evidence.Second, he also realized that the picture intertwined with these rumors was too dark, and the contrast with the government's usual portrayal was too great, and the publication would cause adverse effects.He is a loyal person, and he believes that listing the phenomenon and expressing grievances will not be of any help. Only finding out the cause is the urgent task.Therefore, his memorial only mentioned the criminal silver system, but not others.It was only when he was pressed by the emperor that he confided all his feelings in a hurry.That's fine, he hoped that by lifting the cover of darkness, the emperor would be shocked and awakened, and he would try his best to turn the tide. So, why did the political situation of the Qianlong Dynasty undergo such earth-shaking changes in just over ten years?