Chapter 23 The Diligent and Creative Emperor Yongzheng

Emperor Yongzheng, named Yinzhen. Born in 1678. In 1723, he came to the throne at the age of 45. He died of illness in 1735 at the age of 58.Reigned for 13 years. Emperor Yongzheng was a very creative emperor.During the Yongzheng Dynasty, he put forward many creative approaches in politics and economy. Economically, he has carried out major reforms that spread to the mu.It's a tax reform.The Qing government implemented the tax system of the Ming Dynasty.Taxes are divided into poll tax and land tax.The head tax is called Ding Yin, which means that the tax is paid according to the number of family members, and five people have to pay the tax for five people.Land tax is called land tax, which is taxed according to the amount of land owned by the family.Every farming family has to pay these two taxes.However, due to successive years of wars, poor peasants with little or no land could not pay poll tax.There is no way, they can only hide the population or flee to avoid the poll tax, that is, Dingyin.This has created a large number of refugees, destabilized the society, and affected national tax revenue.

This is a long-standing problem that has been dragging on for many years.Emperor Shunzhi and Emperor Kangxi did not completely solve the problem.Emperor Yongzheng was 45 years old when he came to the throne, and he knew the situation at the bottom of society very well.In the year when he came to the throne, some governors put forward the suggestion of "spreading the land into the mu".The main idea of ​​the proposal is to classify small silver (poll tax) into land tax (land tax), and collect the two taxes together.In this way, if you have land, you pay taxes, and if you don't have land, you don't have to pay taxes.This is good news for poor peasants with little or no land.They don't have to go to evasion and tax avoidance anymore.They can farm the land honestly, and the state naturally increases taxes.At the same time, the refugees were reduced and the society was stabilized.In order to be cautious, Emperor Yongzheng handed over this memorial to the Ministry of Households for discussion, and the Ministry of Households agreed.Emperor Yongzheng promulgated the decree, which was implemented throughout the country in the second year of his accession to the throne.This is a very creative and major reform in the taxation system, and it is also a prominent reform in the taxation of Chinese feudal society.

Emperor Yongzheng established the Military Aircraft Office in the central government of the Qing Dynasty, which was his first initiative. In 1729, due to the needs of military operations, Emperor Yongzheng ordered the establishment of a military computer room.In the second year, it was changed to Military Aircraft Department.Although the location has been changed several times, it has always been located near the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the residence of Emperor Yongzheng, so that important military and political affairs can be handled nearby.The military aircraft department is a row of low bungalows, which looks very simple.It only has value houses, but no yamen.It does not have a large organization, no government establishment, and no full-time officials.Several ministers of military aircraft and several military aircraft Zhang Jing were all transferred from various yamen.The Military Aircraft Department acted according to the emperor's will. In essence, it was the emperor's personal secretarial team and had great power.The imperial decree of the emperor, bypassing the cabinet, bypassing the political affairs office, is directly delivered to the governor and governor, and no one else has the right to read it. The speed is fast and the secret level is high.The Military Aircraft Office is fast and efficient.The establishment of the Military Aircraft Department enabled the emperor to tightly control the military and political power of the country in his own hands, which pushed the autocratic imperial power to an unprecedented peak.The following seven emperors also established military aircraft departments.

Emperor Yongzheng was a diligent emperor.He has been in power for 13 years, 13 years like a day, and personally manages government affairs.He never had a spare moment during the day.Going to court to study political affairs, listen to ministers' performances, discuss various suggestions, and deal with emergencies.In the evening, there are countless memorials to be reviewed.Because Emperor Yongzheng implemented the secret memorial system that he pioneered, only he had the right to open and read the secret memorials handed over from all over the country.He must read all the memorials on the same day, and write Zhu Zhu.The memorials he reviewed are all preserved now.It sometimes records the time when he reviewed the memorial, often in the middle of the night.Unlike his father, Emperor Kangxi, or his son, Emperor Qianlong, he did not tour the north and south, inspect the land of the motherland, and inspect the north and south of the river.He spent 13 years at a desk in Beijing, and his life was very monotonous.It can be said that he is an out-and-out workaholic.He died at the age of 58, which can be said to be exhausted.There has never been such an emperor in history.

Another major invention of Emperor Yongzheng was the secret storage system.The succession to the throne of the Qing Dynasty did not implement the eldest son inheritance system of the Central Plains Dynasty at the beginning.Emperor Kangxi studied the eldest son inheritance system of the Central Plains Dynasty and found it acceptable.Therefore, the eldest son inheritance system of the Chinese emperors of all dynasties was adopted.Before the emperor was alive, he publicly established the eldest son as the crown prince, the heir apparent.After the emperor died, he naturally inherited the throne.This inheritance system has its advantages as well as its disadvantages.The disadvantage is that if the conditions for the eldest son are not met, or the emperor is dissatisfied with the eldest son, once the crown prince is replaced, it will easily cause open and secret fights among many crown princes.Emperor Kangxi established twice and abolished the crown prince, which is a clear proof.This caused great pain to Emperor Kangxi throughout his life, and also made the political situation turbulent and unstable.

Emperor Yongzheng came to the throne at the age of 45, and he witnessed Emperor Kangxi's desperation for this.Knowing what he knew, he set out to solve this problem at the beginning of his accession to the throne.In the year he came to the throne, he ordered his ministers to discuss how to establish a reserve.In fact, he asked the ministers to discuss the written decree, and the ministers thought it was a good way.So, it was confirmed immediately.The so-called "secret establishment of the reserve" means that the secret establishment of the reserve is completely disclosed, and who the crown prince is is absolutely kept secret.The emperor wrote the crown prince he had chosen on paper, put it in a box, and placed it behind the "upright and bright" plaque in the Shunzhi Imperial Book of the Qianqing Palace.It will be opened again when the emperor is critically ill.Since they don't know who the crown prince is, the princes can only work hard on self-cultivation and hard work.

The implementation of this system played a role in consolidating the imperial power and stabilizing the political situation.Later generations of emperors such as Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Jiaqing, and Emperor Daoguang also adopted this mature model, which enabled the smooth transfer of imperial power in the Qing Dynasty from generation to generation.The political situation remained relatively stable.The implementation of the secret storage system in the Qing Dynasty was initiated by Emperor Yongzheng.