Before Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he already hated the harsh and bad government in the imperial court, and his own character was also clear about love and hate, so after he succeeded to the throne, he took cleaning up the bad government as a key policy.
When Yongzheng was checking the deficit, he also knew that there was a large number of corruption problems in consumption, which was not only a simple problem of corruption, but also a direct relationship between the frequent occurrence of corruption and the rules of consumption and envy.
In order to rectify the problem of envy, fill the huge deficit in the national examination, and solve the problem of corruption from the root, Yongzheng started a years-long reform of consuming envy and returning to the public, and established a system of consuming envy and returning to the public. The system of returning envy to the public is a financial system arrangement to solve the financial crisis, and it is also a long-term institutional mechanism to eliminate corruption.
On the issue of envy, Yongzheng has a clear understanding. He knows very well that envy has become the first major harsh policy of the local government to exploit the people. Before the consumption is returned to the public, ** does not directly interfere, which provides a very good excuse for the local officials to loot the people's wealth, and the fire consumption provides the local officials with a huge amount of illegal income, and some local officials tend to increase the rate of fire consumption in order to increase their own income, and apportionment it privately.
They kept a part of the looted wealth for themselves to satisfy their extravagant lifestyle. What's more serious is that they give a large part of the money and food to their superiors in the form of gifts through bad rules. Therefore, the problem of envy involves the problem of corruption at all levels, and there is great resistance to reform.
Yang Zongren's recital made it clear why Xian Xian had to return to the public. First, because envy exists objectively and cannot be exempted, otherwise the deficit cannot be made up. Second, only when the state unifies the standards can we put an end to the apportionment at all levels and at all levels. The Shanxi governor Nuo Min's recital provided a reform plan.
First, reduce fire consumption, set the fire consumption rate, and hand over the fire consumption silver to the national treasury.
Second, use fire to make up for the deficit with silver.
Third, use fire and silver as office expenses.
Fourth, use fire to consume silver to raise incorruptible silver.
The success of the pilot project of returning fire consumption to the public in Shanxi, Henan Province has strengthened Yongzheng's confidence and tried to implement it throughout the country. But after all, there are many vested interests, and the reform is opposed by them. However, under the strong promotion of Yongzheng, the system of returning to the public was officially introduced in July of the second year of Yongzheng. It is also emphasized that the consumption of envy can only be reduced, not increased, and if there is additional apportionment, it will be punished with a felony.
The implementation of the system of returning envy to the public has achieved remarkable results. In the past, because there was no unified collection of envy rate, most of them were formulated by local **, and the envy consumption rate was up to 80%. After the envy rate was returned to the public, the national envy collection rate was controlled between 10% and 20%, and the burden on the people was reduced.
Due to the specific situation of each province, the fire consumption rate is also different in each province. However, since the return of consumption to the public, the rate of fire consumption levy in each province has been drawn up by **, and the fire consumption rate of local ** must be approved before it can be implemented. Since then, the expropriation of envy has a legal basis, and the power of fire consumption expropriation has also been withdrawn from the hands of the local government, and this financial power is firmly in the hands of the first place.
After the envy was returned to the public, the chain of interests of the upper and lower levels was cut off, and the corruption caused by the fire consumption was effectively controlled. It can be said that the establishment of the system of returning envy to the public is a useful attempt by Yongzheng to establish a long-term institutional mechanism against corruption, and has achieved the expected results. The significance of the return to the government is not only this, it is one of the most far-reaching institutional reforms in the history of the Qing Dynasty, which has influenced the Qing Dynasty for nearly two hundred years.
The low level of income at all levels in the Qing Dynasty was the direct cause of corruption. Before the consumption is returned to the public, local governments at all levels can also increase personal income and make up for the shortage of office funds through the apportionment of fire consumption. However, after the envy was returned to the public, this financial power was withdrawn, and the plan of all levels to meet personal interests and office expenses through fire consumption apportionment was frustrated.
Therefore, if the problem of income and local funding cannot be solved, the problem of corruption will break out, and the problem of the common people will not be avoided. Therefore, after the envy returned to the public, in order to solve the problem of "officials are not bored", Yongzheng decided to use a part of the silver consumption as the best incorruptible silver. The implementation of the system of maintaining incorruptible banks has made the income of the first level at all levels have been systematically guaranteed, and the situation of not wanting to be corrupt has been initially realized.
The idea of "being honest and honest" has a long history, and Guan Zhong once said that Cang Liao knows etiquette and knows honor and disgrace when he has enough food and clothing. Only when the people are rich will the people understand etiquette, and when they are well fed and clothed, will they establish a correct view of honor and disgrace. This idea has been circulating, the reform of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, combined with this thought, reformed the Yulu system, thereby curbing the corruption and bribery of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which is the successful case of the "** system" in history.
The original intention of returning envy to the public was to solve the long-standing problem of the deficit of the state treasury, and with the implementation of the return of envy to the public, the deficit of the state treasury was slowly solved. The usefulness of consuming envy to the public has slowly faded, and on the contrary, more consuming silver has been invested in office work and maintenance. As a result, the income is also getting higher and higher. **, who was worried about his livelihood before, has now become a bulging pocket.
After the implementation of the system, the local governor raised 13,000 taels to 30,000 taels of silver a year, and the county governor raised 400 taels to 2,265 taels of silver a year. The amount of incorruptible silver is dozens or even hundreds of times that of the original Yulu, far exceeding the expectations of all levels. In the face of this situation, which ** is willing to be corrupt?The implementation of the system of maintaining honest banks has enhanced the self-discipline and honesty of the people at all levels, and the goal of the first has been initially achieved.
However, there are also some loopholes in the Yongzheng period's incorruptible silver system, coupled with human greed, so it cannot be completely corrupted. In fact, there is no legal system that can solve all corruption problems in one fell swoop. The incorruptible silver system is a mechanism created in the Yongzheng period to deal with corruption, which is intended to eliminate corruption for a long time. On the whole, it has curbed the spread of corruption. Yongzheng clarified the rule of officials through coordinated promotion of the return of envy to the public and the government, solved the problem of treasury deficit, and alleviated class contradictions, which is a major innovation in the system of anti-corruption.
Successive rulers have attached great importance to the role of moral education, especially advocating Confucianism, and equating the maintenance of Confucianism's moral status with the maintenance of its dominant position. Yongzheng eliminated the stock of corruption through a series of anti-corruption combination punches, and on the other hand, disciplined hundreds of officials through moral education. As early as the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, in order to improve the ideological and moral level of the first level at all levels, and educate and guide the subjects to be virtuous, Kangxi put forward the "Sixteen Articles of the Holy Message" on the basis of summarizing ethical and moral education, and then implemented it throughout the country. In the second year of Yongzheng (1724), in order to cooperate with the anti-corruption struggle, Yongzheng explained the "Sixteen Articles of the Holy Message" one by one, and combined with its anti-corruption needs, issued the "Holy Decree Guangxun", which was published throughout the country.
In order to consolidate the imperial power and control the hundred officials, Yongzheng vigorously promoted Confucian moral ideas that were conducive to his rule, and guided all levels to discipline their own behavior with morality. The problem of unspoken rules and bad rules prevailed among the yamen at all levels, and these problems wandered on the edge of law and morality, in a gray area, pervasive, and the legal system of the imperial court was helpless against them. However, if it is not resolved, it will affect the administration of the country.
There is a phenomenon of "nothing bad rules can not be done, and nothing can be done unless it is bad etiquette". Therefore, Yongzheng increased the moral education of officials at all levels, and Yongzheng once issued an edict to warn the governor, governor, judge, governor, and county to be good officials. Of course, the role of moral education cannot be seen or touched, and it cannot be evaluated as an anti-corruption effect. However, in the anti-corruption struggle, it is true that a better anti-corruption effect can be achieved through a combination of punches.
Yongzheng gradually solved the stock of corruption accumulated since the late Kangxi period by punishing corruption with heavy fists, and hundreds of officials were shocked. At the same time, under the personal supervision of Yongzheng, the inventory deficit from the first place has achieved good results, which not only standardizes the sales, but also alleviates the financial pressure. Yongzheng successfully disintegrated the three major factions of Yinzhuo, Nian Qianyao, and Long Keduo, re-established the authority of the imperial power, realized the re-centralization of power politically, and reversed the situation in which the imperial power was hollowed out since the late Kangxi period.
The collapse of the punk group provided an opportunity for Yongzheng to reshape the order of officialdom and created good conditions for Yongzheng's reform. Yongzheng realized the centralization of personal power through the Military Aircraft Department, got rid of the shackles of the bureaucracy, and reorganized the order of officialdom. While fighting corruption, the bureaucratic system is brought into supervision through regular personnel adjustments and introductions, which is conducive to Yongzheng's grasp of the anti-corruption personnel power.
By improving the folding system and promoting the secret folding monograph, Yongzheng has a more comprehensive supervision of hundreds of officials. Yongzheng has established a relatively successful anti-corruption long-term mechanism through the coordinated promotion of the system of returning envy to the public and the highest quality. Thirdly, strengthen the role of Confucian ideology and moral education, and use ideological discipline to restrain behavior. In short, the above anti-corruption measures cooperated with each other to successfully rectify the rule of officials, break the situation of the late Kangxi Dynasty, further purify the atmosphere of officialdom, and lay a solid foundation for the reform of the Yongzheng Dynasty.