In the fifteenth year of Qianlong (1750), the old minister Zhang Tingyu was appreciated by Emperor Qianlong because he went through three dynasties. However, when Emperor Qianlong decided to confiscate Zhang Tingyu's property, he did not suspect Zhang Tingyu's corruption, but hoped to find evidence through the raid to prove that Zhang Tingyu was innocent during his official career.
However, after careful investigation, Qianlong did not find any evidence of corruption, and finally had no choice but to accept Zhang Tingyu's innocence. Zhang Tingyu has a good reputation during his official career, and his income is also quite generous, so he doesn't need *** at all
So, why did Qianlong raid Zhang Tingyu's property? Let's take a look at Zhang Tingyu's income and treatment in the Qing Dynasty and Qianlong's motives.
With his family's background and his own talents, Zhang Tingyu had a top-notch income in that era. His family is a famous family in Tongcheng, Anhui Province, and his father Zhang Ying was a scholar in the Kangxi period and a teacher of Emperor Yongzheng, and the allusion to Six Feet Lane comes from his humility.
Even if Zhang Tingyu did not have an official position, he could live a wealthy life by relying on the family's ancestral property. In addition, since he was admitted to the Jinshi during the Kangxi period, he went through the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong dynasties, and was an official for more than 50 years.
His annual income as a third-class earl was 460 taels of silver, while the annual income of a scholar of the first rank was 180 taels of silver and 180 taels of rice, which was enough to show his status and wealth.
Although the Qing Dynasty officialdom system limited the maximum salary that ** could receive, this did not affect Zhang Tingyu's high income. While serving as a scholar, he was also made an earl, but because he could only receive the income of the highest position, his annual income during the Yongzheng period was 360 taels of silver and 360 Hulu rice.
During the Qianlong period, he was awarded the title of third-class earl, and his income increased, but because he could enjoy the double salary, he could not only receive the income of the earl, but also the income of the scholar, and the annual income reached 640 taels of silver and 180 Hulu rice.
Despite the constraints of the system, Zhang Tingyu's ingenuity and superb officialdom skills helped him achieve a high income.
In order to encourage honesty and honesty, the Yongzheng period implemented the policy of raising honest banks. The policy allows ** at all levels to use the surplus income of the department unit to open another salary, usually the income of the bank will be much higher than the salary of the ** itself.
Of course, the magistrates received more money than the Beijing officials, because the local revenue surplus was relatively large. However, the amount of incorruptible silver in the household department and the official department among the Beijing officials is not small, especially Zhang Tingyu, the governor of the household department and the official department.
According to records, the household department can issue more than 90,000 taels of incorruptible silver every year, and the officials can issue 10,000 taels of incorruptible silver every year. Although the historical sources do not specifically mention the amount of these incorruptible silver allocations, it can be speculated that the number one must have taken the most.
Therefore, Zhang Tingyu, as the leader in charge of both units, can earn at least 5,000 taels of silver every year by relying on the distributed incorruptible silver. Therefore, Zhang Tingyu's annual income from his position and his income from raising incorruptible silver can add up to about 6,000 taels of silver.
This amount of income is considerable.
According to the research of historian Mr. Fan Wenlan, the "General History of China" cites the archives of the Qing Dynasty to record that in the middle of the Qianlong period, an ordinary landlord and household worker earned about 2,500 copper coins a year, which was equivalent to 25 taels of silver, that is to say, the annual income of the ordinary wage earners in that period was 25 taels of silver.
In the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Tingyu's position income, title income, and incorruptible silver income added up to 6,000 taels of silver, which was equivalent to the money that ordinary wage earners could earn for 2,400 years without eating or drinking.
However, the 6,000 taels of silver are only the legal income of Zhang Tingyu's official position, and do not include the Qing Dynasty's ** use of the unspoken rules of officialdom, that is, the so-called "filial piety" income.
At that time, this kind of "filial piety" was not regarded as **, but as a kind of human exchange, such as the "New Year's respect" during the New Year, the "carbon respect" when the weather is cold, the "ice respect" when the weather is hot, and so on.
In general, the income level of the Qing Dynasty far exceeded that of the ordinary wage earners, which to a certain extent reflected the gap between the rich and the poor in the society at that time.
Although the incorruptible silver of the Beijing officials is not as rich as that of the local officials, as the most advanced governor of the locality, the annual incorruptible silver in rich places such as Jiangsu can reach about 20,000 taels.
Therefore, when the magistrate is promoted to Beijing to report on his work, according to the unspoken rules of officialdom, he will visit some Beijing officials related to his position, especially the local governors and governors, who will visit the university scholars and military ministers every year.
The Qing Dynasty did not have a prime minister, and the power of the scholar and the minister of military aircraft was equivalent to that of the prime minister. Zhang Tingyu, as the prime minister, will have a large number of ** to visit him every year and send various filial piety.
According to the folk notes of the Qing Dynasty, when local officials visited scholars and military ministers like Zhang Tingyu in Beijing, the minimum standard was 200 taels of silver for filial piety.
However, these honors are only the minimum standard, and the upper limit of the amount is unknown. These are grey incomes, and no one knows the exact amount except for the parties.
Zhang Tingyu has been an official for more than 50 years in his life, all of whom have been by the emperor's side, and have served in important departments such as the household department and the official department, and there are many protégés and former officials. Even if he is an honest official, his annual gray income is at least 15,000 taels of silver.
His legal income and gray income together amounted to at least 20,000 taels of silver per year. Coupled with the special reward given to him during the Yongzheng period, the highest record was 80,000 taels of silver, and these irregular rewards were at least 20,000 taels of silver per year.
With Zhang Tingyu's power during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, the annual reward he received from the emperor was estimated to be at least 20,000 taels of silver on average.
Zhang Tingyu's annual salary was at least 40,000 taels of silver, which required ordinary people to work for more than 16,000 years to obtain at that time. His family's wealth is abundant, and with his high salary, there is no need to embezzle.
According to historical records, Zhang Tingyu was extremely honest during his official period, did not accept invitations, and did not covet one or two pieces of silver from others. Emperor Yongzheng was full of praise for his incorruptibility. Zhang Tingyu has a high status, and his reputation is more important than money, so there is no need for corruption.
Emperor Qianlong mistakenly thought that he was greedy, so he confiscated Zhang Tingyu's incorruptible family property. So, why did Qianlong raid the property of this old minister of the Three Dynasties?
Zhang Tingyu was stubborn and disagreed with Qianlong's political views, which eventually led to the breakdown of the relationship between the monarch and the minister. Qianlong's dissatisfaction with Zhang Tingyu reflected his political differences with his father Yongzheng. Zhang Tingyu has a close relationship with Yongzheng and was once known as a confidant.
Before Yongzheng died, he entrusted Zhang Tingyu, Ortai and other four people with the important task of assisting Qianlong, and warned Qianlong to respect them. In the early days of Qianlong's ascension to the throne, he respected these four ministers very much, and also gave them high positions and generous treatment.
However, with the death of Yinli and the removal of Yinlu, only Zhang Tingyu and Ortai remained as ministers of Gu Ming. After Ortai retired from old age and illness, Zhang Tingyu became Qianlong's only minister.
Qianlong hoped to make a difference and continue some of Yongzheng's policies, but made some changes to some aspects of Yongzheng's new policy. Zhang Tingyu, as Yongzheng's confidant and supporter, resolutely opposed these changes, which made Qianlong very disgusted.
The existence of Zhang Tingyu hindered Qianlong's administration to a certain extent.
It turned out that during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Tingyu was once the right-hand man of Emperor Qianlong and was highly respected. However, as time passed, Qianlong's trust and dependence on Zhang Tingyu gradually diminished.
For this reason, Zhang Tingyu considered returning to his hometown, but he was worried that Qianlong would not approve of the treatment of the Taimiao after his death in Yongzheng's edict, so he had a disagreement with Qianlong on the issue of returning to his hometown and enjoying the Taimiao.
In the end, because Zhang Tingyu's sons and daughters' in-laws were involved in the crime of Zhang Tingyu's joint sitting, Qianlong ordered the house to be raided, and demanded that his family property be checked on the grounds that Zhang Tingyu had a negative grace.
However, although Qianlong tried to use this to attack Zhang Tingyu, because Zhang Tingyu was upright, Qianlong did not catch any handles. Zhang Tingyu died in the twentieth year of Qianlong at the age of 84.
Although Qianlong once considered depriving Zhang Tingyu of the treatment of the Taimiao, after Zhang Tingyu's death, in order not to cause criticism, Qianlong still ordered Zhang Tingyu to enjoy the Taimiao, and Zhang Tingyu also became the only Hanchen in the history of the Qing Dynasty who was worthy of the Taimiao.
Zhang Tingyu's family background and income make him able to live an aristocratic life without relying on ** and encroachment, so he is an honest official. Even after the dispute with Qianlong, he was not caught by Qianlong, thanks to his incorruptibility.
Eventually, he was able to preserve his reputation and live out his old age. This is the result of his insistence on the principle of integrity.