Li Wei, a special Hanchen in the history of the Qing Dynasty, did not pass the imperial examination, but entered the official career in Kangxi's later years, and finally ranked first. Although he was not highly educated, did not have much literacy, and had not even passed the imperial examination, he was extremely respected and trusted during the Yongzheng period, serving as the governor of Jiangnan and the secretary of the military department.
So, why was Li Wei favored by Yongzheng in such a short period of time? After Yongzheng died, what did Qianlong think of this important minister who was important to his father during his lifetime?
Li Wei, a rich second generation, although he was born wealthy, but did not take the road of studying and seeking officials, his family has been a wealthy family in Dashahe Town, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province for generations, and his father is a local rich man, and his family is extremely wealthy.
Although Li Wei's family is very wealthy, he is an out-and-out rich man, and his ancestors have never been officials. Li Wei did not like to read since he was a child, although his family allowed it, he had no interest in reading, he could only know basic Chinese characters, and preferred to dance with guns and sticks.
However, Li Wei's mind is very shrewd, with high emotional intelligence, and he is good at handling things. His parents liked him very much, and his father thought that he might not be suitable for studying and seeking office, but he could take over the family business.
Li Wei's success was due to changes in officialdom in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, in order to alleviate the pressure on the treasury, the imperial court allowed wealthy private households to enter the official career through donations, and Li Wei's father seized this opportunity and bought an idle ** foreigner from Wupin for Li Wei.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the official position of Yuanwailang was regarded as an idle official position, and was mainly obtained by wealthy people through donations. After Li Wei's father donated this official position for him, he made him release the position of a member of the military department, so that he left his hometown of Xuzhou and went to the capital to become an official.
However, Li Wei soon discovered that the official position of the staff wailang was too idle, there was not much to do, and he was soft-spoken. Therefore, he decided to make a difference in the capital, but his official position was too idle.
So, he asked his family for a sum of money, and by dredging the relationship, he was successfully transferred to the household department as the head of the five products. Overall, Li Wei's success stems from his ingenuity and grasp of opportunities, as well as his relentless pursuit of self-improvement.
The household department is in charge of the country's financial power, and things are complicated and complicated, but Li Wei chose to take on the heavy responsibility. He is not like those who spend money to buy officials who just want to live in comfort, but is willing to actively handle affairs and dare to take responsibility.
In the post of Hubu Langzhong, Li Wei works diligently, has a strong sense of responsibility, can put himself in the shoes of the people, and is an excellent **. However, at that time, the court officials were corrupt, and the princes and nobles took the lead, and the household treasury was seriously deficient, and the others did not dare to deal with it fairly because they were afraid of the powerful.
However, Li Wei was not afraid of these elites, dared to challenge authority, and dared to expose problems. Yin Qi is the tenth son of Kangxi, although he acted rudely and unpopular, but because his maternal family was the founding hero of the Qing Dynasty, the Curb Pilon family, he was loved by Kangxi and rewarded richly.
However, Yin Qi has become more arrogant and lawless because of this.
Yin ordered his subordinates to collect rent from tenants an additional 10 taels of silver per 1,000 taels of silver, and the annual profits of the princes and nobles of the Qing Dynasty should also be handed over to the state treasury. However, the household department stipulated that ten taels of silver should be added to the flat treasury for every thousand taels of silver, which should have been borne by the princes and nobles themselves.
However, Yinqi ordered that this burden be passed on to the tenants, which seriously harmed the interests of the tenants. Although the household department ** knew that Yinqi's identity was noble, only Li Wei bravely stood up and admonished.
However, Yinqi did not listen to Li Wei's advice. In order to stop this injustice, Li Wei set up a cabinet in the corridor of the silver treasury with the inscription "The king of Dunjun wins money".
This made Yinqi feel very embarrassed, and finally had to ask his subordinates to stop collecting more flat treasury silver from the tenants. Although Li Wei's actions showed his integrity as an official and his courage to speak for the people, he also offended Yinqi because of this.
Most of his superiors and colleagues shunned him and isolated him. Li Wei's situation in officialdom became more and more difficult, and he even wanted to resign and return to his hometown at one point.
Li Wei had the courage to take responsibility and dare to ask for the people's life, and his conscientious and responsible spirit touched the then Prince Yong Yinzhen. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, people were uneasy, and he implemented the new policy but lacked a right-hand man.
So, he remembered Li Wei, who worked silently in the Kangxi Dynasty and was conscientious and responsible. Li Wei is not the only one who is favored by Yongzheng, and the governors Ortai and Tian Wenjing are also because of their conscientiousness, responsibility and practical ability, although they have not been reused in the officialdom, they have been exceptionally promoted by Yongzheng.
In Li Wei's life, in addition to going all out to implement the Yongzheng New Deal, his main achievements were reflected in the arrest of the Yan Zheng and anti-Qing and Ming restoration personnel.
Li Wei was exceptionally promoted to Yunnan Salt Road by Yongzheng because of his excellent management of salt administration. During his tenure, the well-organized salt administration and taxation made Yongzheng's treasury a lot fuller. This made Yongzheng gradually recognize and rely on Li Wei, and promoted him to the political envoy of Yunnan and the salt road.
More than two years later, Li Wei went one step further and was promoted from the Governor of Zhejiang to the Governor of Zhejiang and the Salt Inspector of the Two Huai Provinces, and the speed of his promotion was staggering. During his tenure as governor of Zhejiang, he strengthened coastal defenses, built dikes, organized armed forces to crack down on smuggler salt dealers, and significantly increased the salt tax on Lianghuai.
Therefore, Yongzheng once again promoted Li Wei to the governor of Zhejiang, responsible for the affairs of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.
When Fan Shiyi, the governor of Liangjiang, was in the Jiangnan region and was not conducive to cracking down on the Tiandihui personnel who opposed the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty, Yongzheng's prestige was greatly affected in the Jiangnan area. For this reason, Yongzheng decided to remove Fan Shiyi and put the three provinces of Liangjiang under the jurisdiction of Li Wei, who thus became the governor of the five provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.
After Li Wei took over, he did not relax his efforts to crack down on the Jianghu forces of the Tiandihui, and he personally led the troops to mercilessly arrest the members of the Tiandihui, including Gan Fengchi, a martial artist in the Qing Dynasty and a Jiangnan hero in the commentary.
By striking hard at the anti-Qing and Ming restoration forces in the Jiangnan region, Li Wei also actively promoted Yongzheng's kindness among the people, and finally succeeded in persuading Yongzheng to issue an order to restore the area that was banned from the imperial examination.
This measure greatly enhanced Yongzheng's prestige among the people in the Jiangnan area, which made Yongzheng very satisfied, and he also valued and trusted Li Wei more.
Although Li Wei is not very literate, his wisdom is outstanding, and his ability to deal with affairs is far above that of his staff who has read history books. He respects scholars and is deeply loved by Jiangnan readers.
He is an honest and honest official, and he has won the hearts of the people, especially among the people. Li Wei's family was wealthy, but he did not squander it because of it, but was known for his frugality. Despite this, after Yongzheng's death, Li Wei was still loved by Qianlong, but after his death, Qianlong condemned him and even executed his eldest son.
Qianlong was not satisfied with the important ministers of the Yongzheng period, and publicly condemned Tian Wenjing and others. Although Li Wei was not the richest, his wisdom and character earned him a high reputation among the people.
Emperor Qianlong admired Li Wei a lot, although at the beginning of Qianlong's accession to the throne, Li Wei was transferred to the governor of Zhili and concurrently signed the criminal department Shangshu, but Qianlong has always taken good care of Li Wei, and Li Wei's official position has been maintained.
One of the important reasons for this is that Li Wei's emotional intelligence is very high, and he has a very high reputation among the people. Li Wei is an official who is fair and honest, not afraid of power, and dares to severely punish the most corrupt officials, so he is known as "Li Qingtian" among the people and has a very high reputation.
This is also the reason why Qianlong is reluctant to accuse him. In addition, Li Wei's emotional intelligence is also quite high and he knows how to cater to Qianlong's intentions. He once ** Kangxi's third son, Prince Cheng Yinzhi's bodyguard Cook invaded the people's land.
Yinzhi was liquidated and imprisoned in Yongzheng's later years, but after Qianlong succeeded to the throne, in order to win the hearts of the clan, he deliberately rehabilitated him, and posthumously became the king of Chengyin County, and appeased Prince Cheng's family.
Li Wei's ** action seems to have the meaning of working against Qianlong. However, it can be seen from Li Wei's attitude towards this case that his emotional intelligence is very high. He understood that Qianlong wanted to win over the clan after succeeding to the throne, and rehabilitating Prince Cheng was a signal, so he made it clear in his recital that this matter was purely the personal behavior of the guard Cook and had nothing to do with Prince Cheng's mansion, and hoped that Qianlong could severely punish this guard and return the reputation of Prince Cheng's mansion.
Li Wei's wisdom and fairness are breathtaking. He skillfully solved the problem of encroaching on people's land, and at the same time maintained the reputation of Prince Cheng's mansion, which Qianlong appreciated.
Li Wei's emotional intelligence and wisdom made him like a fish in water in officialdom and won Qianlong's trust and respect. However, Li Wei did not live long and died of illness at the age of 51.
Despite this, Qianlong still paid tribute to Li Wei's contribution and gave him the nickname "Minda". This epithet fully reflects Li Wei's life, although he is illiterate, but his insight into world affairs and understanding of human feelings are unmatched.
His intelligence and high emotional intelligence made him highly valued among the emperors of Yongzheng and Qianlong. Li Wei's deeds prove that the use of wisdom and human affection is the secret of success.
Although Li Wei's sons did not have high official positions, Li Xingyuan was awarded the post of second-class guard in the first year of Qianlong, and was later promoted to the chief soldier of Youjiang Town.
However, despite his father's incorruptibility and integrity all his life, Li Xingyuan has become a big **. In the end, he was taken by the imperial historian, and Qianlong sent Li Shiyao, the secretary of the household department, to investigate him.
Li Shiyao, a famous general in the early Qianlong period, was Li Xingyuan's top boss, and he also recommended Li Xingyuan as the chief soldier of Youjiang Town. Therefore, when Li Shiyao served as the governor of Liangguang, Li Xingyuan was not strictly investigated, but he was easily let go of the motions.
However, this kind of behavior aroused Qianlong's dissatisfaction, because what Qianlong hated most was forming a party for personal gain. This relationship between Li Shuyao and Li Xingyuan had already shown signs of forming a party for personal gain, so Qianlong was furious, and Li Shuyao was removed from his post as governor of Liangguang.
In the thirtieth year of Qianlong (1765), Li Xingyuan was ordered to die by the angry Qianlong, and was lamented by the people at the time for his corruption and humiliation. Shortly after Li Xingyuan's death, Qianlong visited the south of the Yangtze River, and while visiting the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, he discovered a flower temple dedicated to the male flower god very similar to Li Wei.
When Qianlong asked the locals why, he learned that this flower god was specially shaped by Li Wei according to his own appearance when he was serving in Zhejiang.
Although Li Wei was honest and upright during his official period, he was arrogant and indulgent because of his wealthy family. He once built the flower temple, deliberately asking craftsmen to build the male and female flower gods in the temple according to the appearance of himself and his twelve wives and concubines, for the people to worship.
Despite his excellent reputation during his tenure in Zhejiang, the local people still rushed to offer incense. However, this incident made Qianlong very angry, especially after Li Wei's eldest son Li Xingyuan was given to death for corruption and illegality, Qianlong's impression of Li Wei immediately deteriorated.
At that time, Qianlong was furious and ordered people to smash the statues of Li Wei and his wives and concubines in the Flower Temple, and forbade the people of Hangzhou to worship the statue of Li Wei again. Later, Qianlong said to the courtiers: "Li Wei acted arrogantly because of the favor of the emperor, and he was not a fair and pure minister.
It is surprising that he built a temple in the name of it. ”
Li Wei's image in Qianlong's heart collapsed in an instant, and even he, who had been dead for many years, began to be publicly blamed. Although Li Wei was no longer able to respond, his son Li Xingyuan made Qianlong angry with him because of his actions.
Although Li Wei did not have much education, his conscientiousness, responsibility and honesty made Yongzheng appreciate and value him. However, most of his descendants are just grassroots petty officials and have never been ** again, which may be because Li Wei himself has used up the shrewd minds of his children and grandchildren.