How much property does Zhuge Liang, the highest-ranking official in history, have?

Zhuge Liang, an outstanding statesman, military strategist, and strategist in China's five thousand years of history. Although he is not as predictable as Luo Guanzhong described in the novel "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", his noble character, outstanding talents, outstanding achievements and dedication of "working hard and dying" have played an important role in the vast history of China. It left a lasting mark. In legendary folklore, he is an almighty superman, a master of strategy that people look up to, a perfect wise man and several impeccable, almost perfect moral models, and an "invincible man" who represents wisdom and victory. god".

The ups and downs of Zhuge Liang’s legendary life are well-known in China. Among them, the plots of Luo Guanzhong's novels are influenced by mercury, and there are also some exaggerations and exaggerations. But there is no doubt about Zhuge Liang's integrity, which is rare in ancient and modern times. Zhuge Liang was born in a "civilian" family. As far back as the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, his ancestor Zhuge Feng was an upright official who dared to face the world's disapproval and was not afraid of having a strong background and even being dismissed from office. The Zhuge Liang family prospered during the Three Kingdoms and the Jin Dynasty. Although there were constant wars during this period, Zhuge Liang's children did not get involved in mud and never agreed with popular customs, so they were called talents. What is even more impressive is that all "civil servants" affiliated with the Zhuge family have a distinct brand and integrity: "loyalty, integrity, prudence, and dedication."

He is an outstanding representative of the Zhuge family. It can be said that the reason why the weak Liu Bei was able to "take three points of the world and one" was because of his contribution. Ever since Liu Bei was entrusted as an orphan in Baidi City, Zhuge Liang did not abandon or give up when faced with Liu Adou, whose qualifications were far inferior to his father's. "If you take over the government of a country, you will be the king of the people, and you will be loyal to the country only through etiquette and justice." Faced with a leader who has mediocre qualifications and cannot stand alone even if he is separated, he can show great respect in his heart. He never showed the slightest disdain, but strictly restrained his words and deeds at all times. He gave full help and courtesy to Liu Chan, the later leader who could not support him, and maintained the fine traditions of the Zhuge family until his death: loyalty, humility, and courtesy. Facing the weak Liu Adou, Zhuge Liang, who was fully capable of creating "the sound of candle shadow and axe, an eternal mystery", unexpectedly failed. Even his old enemy Sima Yi praised him and said: "I act cautiously and never take risks in my life." In his later years, he worked hard, knowing that he could not do it, and tried his best to protect and bless Liu Chan, who was addicted to pleasure. Not only that, but the monarch and his ministers must be united as one, with "no suspicion at the top and no rumors at the bottom." Only with one heart and one mind and without restraint can we engage in foreign affairs with all our strength. Zhuge Liang tried his best to keep the relatively weak Shu Kingdom in a safe corner between Wei and Wu for 42 years. Although he did not get off to a bad start in the end, he worked hard to make future generations cry for the hero and gained "fame during his lifetime and after his death."

Zhuge’s famous “civilians” include Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Zhan, Zhuge Dan, etc. His younger brother Zhuge Jin, named Liang, was a general and the shepherd of Yuzhou. Zhuge Jin is known for his open-mindedness, outspokenness, and strict self-discipline. Therefore, he made almost no enemies in the political arena, and gained the favor of Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, and eventually became famous in history. The word "prudent" seems to have been integrated into the blood of the descendants of the Zhuge family. Being modest and prudent does not mean doing nothing, going with the flow, and just wanting to be a peace officer who has never done anything. But be gentle, dare to do anything, stick to the bottom line under the appearance of gentleness and humility, adhere to principles, and contribute to great causes.

In 234 AD, Zhuge Liang became seriously ill in Wuzhangyuan. Before his death, he wrote a suicide note to the late Shu Han King Liu Chan. The content turned out to be a detailed personal property declaration: "My family has 800 mulberry trees and 15 hectares of fields in Chengdu. My children have no worries about food and clothing, and have a surplus of food." As for the foreign appointment, I had no choice but to dispatch and lead Food and clothing, learn from officials, don’t treat my life differently, take long dimensions. "I am dead because I don't have enough money inside. I won money outside to fail Your Majesty." After Zhuge Liang's death, people found that everything was as he said, and there was no lie. Even if Zhuge Liang was good at calculations and was good at strategizing to win thousands of miles away, it might be a dream. Unexpectedly. Today, more than a thousand years later, people call him "the first person to disclose the property of an official" in ancient and modern times. This aboveboard and almost morally clean behavior is the first declaration and publicity of the property of an ancient "civilian official". p>

Zhuge Liang was not only strict with himself, but also very strict in his control and education of his family's children, and was even a little unkind, which is worthy of reference and imitation by future generations. It is recorded in historical materials that "the concubines of the prime minister have no clothes."

In that era, keeping concubines was beyond reproach, but the prime minister's concubine didn't even have a change of clothes. The embarrassment was even worse than that of a common person, which was enough to make people sigh, surprise, and lament. Moreover, judging from the property list published by Zhuge Liang, there are 800 mulberry trees and 15 hectares of Susukino fields. There is no gray income except official salary. The income of a "senior civil servant" who takes orders from the Prime Minister is even less than that of a private tycoon.

Zhuge Kongming was a smart man, but he was very cautious throughout his life. He is a true gentleman with a clear mind and cannot be regretted.

Zhuge Liang has a famous saying, "Quietness is used to cultivate one's character, frugality is used to cultivate one's character. Without tranquility, there is no wisdom, without tranquility, there is no distance." This is not only his self-motivation motto, but also his ardent hope for future generations. It is said that the children of the Zhuge family have been familiar with the "Book of Commandments" written by him since childhood, and this kind of cold, innocent, luxurious and thrifty character has taken deep root and sprouted in the minds of the descendants of the Miao people after Zhuge Liang's death. their whole lives.

Talents have been rare throughout the ages, and wisdom has its own strengths and weaknesses. Nan said: The reason why a talented person is called handsome is because he must have faith, righteousness, virtue, talent, and understanding. A noble person among the crowd must be kind, wise, trustworthy and honest. According to this standard, Zhuge Liang is undoubtedly the best among people, but there are very few wise men like him who are law-abiding, independent and indifferent. It seems unrealistic to expect all officials to be like him. It is far more feasible to build officials with both ability and political integrity, integrity, self-discipline, and self-denial at the level of personal cultivation, self-discipline, and extremely high moral standards than to establish a set of benign mechanisms to supervise and restrict evil and promote good.

"Being a teacher by example" is the real celebrity. Who has been equal to you for thousands of years.

In ancient times, there was no system for declaring the property of officials, and the property status of officials was generally not controlled by the court. Unless the officials were looted or their families were unable to bury them after their bodies died, the courts could only know which officials were corrupt and which were poor. Therefore, the properties of extremely corrupt officials such as Xiao Shenyang are recorded in history books, but there are few records of the properties of other officials.

Property lists of several prime ministers

The property status of Zhuge Liang, Wei Zheng, and Sima Guang can be found in relevant history books. A brief introduction is as follows:

Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, had 15 hectares of farmland, which was relatively barren. According to records in "The Biography of Zhuge Liang in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms", Zhuge Liang declared his family fortune in a memorial to the late master Liu Chan: "At the beginning of the year, the late master said, 'With 800 mulberry trees in Chengdu and fifteen hectares of thin fields, his son will have enough food and clothing. As for foreign treaties, I had no choice but to send, taking food and clothing with me, Lear

The property left by Wei Zheng, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, was worth a lot of money. According to the "New Tang Book Bai Juyi Biography", when Wei Zheng's house arrived at him. When the grandson got it, its value had increased to 6 million pounds. The grandson wanted to use the money to sell the house left by his grandfather. An official named Li Shidao paid 6 million pounds out of his own pocket and planned to redeem it for Zheng Wei's grandson. Returning to the property. After Bai Juyi learned of this, he made a speech to Tang Xianzong: The descendants of Wei Zheng cannot retain the property of Wei Zheng. Your Majesty must take good care of the descendants of this sage and redeem the house for them. This kind of good thing should be done by the court. , rather than Li Shidao himself. What he did was to "take advantage of the beauty".

Although Wei Zheng's real estate source was legal. Prime Minister, but his housing conditions were very poor. Until his death, his family did not have a main hall. Tang Taizong ordered the relevant departments to find some small materials from the palace construction materials to build a main hall for Zheng Wei's family. It took five days to build a main hall. He did not own the main hall until a few days before Wei Zheng's death. The most valuable part of Wei Zheng's house was the "welfare house" built for him by the imperial court. /p>

Sima Guang, the prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, owned three hectares of land and property in Luoyang. Three hectares of land was rare for a prime minister. Before taking office, there was an official named Yang who aimed to own 10. He had 10 hectares of farmland and 10 slaves, and even one Jie Yang could not afford it. According to records in the "Song History of Sima Guang", after Sima Guang's death, his family had no money and could not even pay for the funeral. "The wife sold her farmland for burial, and spent her whole life tired of food and clothing. "Sima Guang's wife sold the land before burying him. As the wife of a former prime minister, she lived a hard life, eating inferior food and wearing inferior clothes until her death. As for how many houses Sima Guang had in Luoyang, The citizens of Luoyang all know this.

It turns out that there was a custom in Luoyang in the Northern Song Dynasty. Every spring, the private gardens of high-ranking officials were opened to the public. Traditionally, visitors automatically pay a small or large "tea fee". The "tea fee" is equivalent to ticket revenue. For a spring, the total amount is considerable. Every time the servant gave this income to Sima Guang, Sima Guang always asked the servant to keep it for his own use. In fact, the opening of private gardens plays a role in publicizing officials' properties. This is not a court order, but a social trend.

Why did Zhuge Liang dare to take the initiative and truthfully declare his family property?

Among the three prime ministers mentioned above, Zhuge Liang was the only one who took the initiative to declare his family property to the court. According to the historical data I have access to. I looked through the "Three Kingdoms" written by Chen Shou of the Jin Dynasty again. Except for Zhuge Liang, I found no officials in Wei, Shu and Wu who declared family property. I dare not say that Zhuge Liang's initiative to declare his property is unique in ancient Chinese history, but to say the least, it is extremely rare.

Why did Zhuge Liang dare to take the initiative to declare his property? There are two main reasons: First, he is not very rich. Judging from the fact that his family has no remaining wealth, he may not even be considered "middle class". Disclosure of his family property will not surprise anyone; secondly, the source of his property is legal and can withstand questioning and investigation. For example, if a modern man is upright and has no mistress or mistress, he will not be afraid to reveal the contents of his address book and text messages to his wife, because he has not done anything shameful and has no ghosts in his heart.

How much is 15 hectares for a prime minister? Give a contemporary example. The general of the Wei State was full of favors, and in his later years he was granted the title of Qiu. He was granted fifty hectares of land at a time, and received guests in the valley for five hundred yuan, totaling two hundred thousand yuan. General Jiang Qin of the State of Wu was ordered to fight against Guan Yu, but unfortunately he died of illness during the march. In order to commend him and comfort his wife and son, Sun Quan gave his wife and son 200 hectares of farmland and 200 households in Wuhu. In 280 AD, Sun Hao, the ruler of Wu State, surrendered to the Jin Dynasty and came to Luoyang. Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty rewarded him with 30 hectares of farmland. Every year, he received 5,000 dendrobium, 500,000 yuan, 500 pieces of silk and 500 pounds of cotton. In comparison, Zhuge Liang's letter to the late emperor Liu Chan, mentioned above, specifies the source of his and his family's income. One *** two pieces: income from 15 hectares of fields and 800 mulberry trees; income from the position of prime minister. The income of the former is used by family members and can be more than self-sufficient. The latter kind of income was used by Zhuge Liang himself to solve the problem of "worrying about food and clothing". Apart from these two incomes, Zhuge Liang had no other income. What he meant by “no other arrangements” was that there were no other “arrangements” or “recruitment,” that is, he did not instruct or imply others to send him money or materials, nor did he ask the government to reimburse him for extra expenses. What he said "don't treat life differently and do what you can" means that he himself does not engage in other family businesses, including commercial activities, and does not rely on commercial activities to increase personal and family income. It can be seen that Zhuge Liang's income is legitimate. After his death, the court learned that he had declared his property as stated in the memorial: "If you don't have much money inside, you can make money outside." Zhuge Liang was indeed indifferent, self-disciplined and frugal. He has neither gray income nor black income. His heart is open and he doesn't have to hide anything.

Sima Guang and Wei Zheng’s property is not too much, and the source is also very clear. They are all officials with bright hearts, selfless hearts, and frank hearts. Take Sima Guang for example. His creed is to say nothing to others. Said, "Say to yourself: I have never been superior to others, but I have never done anything in my life that I cannot tell others." When talking to people, he always speaks out and has nothing to hide. He has been like this all his life. . Why didn't Sima Guang and Wei Zheng take the initiative to declare their property like Zhuge Liang? Apparently it wasn't because they were afraid to take their property out into the sun. They have strict self-discipline, are not greedy for money, and are in a bad mood. They have no illegal income other than official salaries and obviously do not have to be afraid of disclosing their family assets.

Innocent officials like Sima Guang and Wei Zhengzhe have nothing to hide from the court. It may be because the court has not established a system for officials to declare property, so it will not be the first to take advantage. It should be noted that in the feudal era, people would be disgusted if they were the first to declare their property.

Why couldn’t declaration of property be promoted in the feudal era?

After Zhuge Liang declared his property, the reaction from the outside world seemed to be very cold. On the one hand, good examples like Zhuge Liang were not promoted in the Shu Han court, and on the other hand, officials did not follow Zhuge Liang's example in declaring their property.

Guo Youzhi, Fei_, Dong Yun and others were all highly praised and recommended by Zhuge Liang in the "Song History of Sima Guang Biography", but none of them flaunted Zhuge Liang and declared their family property. Another example is Jiang Wei, the general of the Shu Han Dynasty and the mainstay of the later period. He was honest and frugal. Xianzheng is quoted as saying: "Jiang Boyue is on the right side of the ministers. His house has shortcomings. He has no wealth and no concubines in his side room. He likes to listen to silent music in the backyard. He brings clothes, carriages and horses, and eats moderately. Extravagant demands. The fees paid by the government are easily consumed. Jiang Wei can be regarded as another example of frugal officials in the Shu Han Dynasty after Zhuge Liang, but he did not learn from Zhuge Liang in declaring property.

Zhuge Liang’s typical property declaration was not only in the Three Kingdoms. It was impossible to promote it in other dynasties. In the feudal era, it was impossible to implement a property declaration system for officials because there were too many obstacles to overcome. The highest rulers in the past dynasties did not dare and refused to try easily.

< p>In feudal society, there were only a small number of royal relatives, powerful ministers, and corrupt officials in the court and government, but they seized most of the wealth of the entire country. Some of these powerful people would never approve of property. Declaration system. They are the biggest obstacle to property declaration.

Ji Liang, a concubine and general of the Eastern Han Dynasty, had three queens. , two generals, and seven people were knighted. "He has been in power for more than 20 years and has been extremely poor and wealthy. He is arrogant internally and externally, and dare not disobey orders. The emperor respects himself and cannot have relatives. ”

After the fall of Ji Liang, more than 30 million yuan of confiscated property obtained from the auction was turned over to the state treasury. With this large amount of revenue, the imperial court immediately improved its financial situation and announced that half of the taxes in the world would be reduced. When Ji Liang was on the stage, the sky was lit with flames, and all the officials were afraid of him, even the emperor was promoted. For such a powerful official who is a relative of the emperor, you are not talking when you ask him to declare his property. Not only will he not declare his property, he will also overthrow you.

Another example is Xiao Shenyang, a powerful minister during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, who served as minister of military affairs, minister of interior affairs, and minister of state, etc. before the Ming Dynasty. The prime minister, so he was called Guo Xiang. He was the relative of Emperor Qianlong. He had been in power for more than 20 years and had been "favored by the imperial court". No official in the court was as favored by Emperor Qianlong after his death. The Emperor Jiaqing who succeeded him performed an operation on him, issued an edict, announced 20 charges against him, and ordered him to commit suicide. Among the charges were: "Searching the house, overstepping the nanmu house, imitating the Ningshou Palace system, decorating the garden, and the Old Summer Palace." Pengdao Yaotai is no different. This is the mortal sin of being thirteen. The tombs in Jizhou are equipped with pleasure halls and tunnels, which the residents call He Ling, which is the fourteenth crime. There are more than 200 pearls in the collection, several times more than those in Ouchi, and the big pearls are bigger than the crown, which is a mortal sin in the fifteenth century. Dozens of gems on top, countless big gems are better than Ouchi, this is a great sin. There are tens of millions of pieces of silver clothing hidden, and 17 major crimes have been committed. There are more than 26,000 taels of gold in the wall, more than 6,000 taels of gold in the private treasury, and more than 3 million taels of silver buried in the cellar. This is a grave crime. Pawn shops in Tongzhou and Jizhou, and Qian Bao, with a capital of more than 100,000 yuan, competed with the people for profits and committed the 19th major crime. House slave Liu Quan had a family fortune of more than 200,000 yuan, a large pearl bracelet, and 20 major crimes. "How did Xiao Shenyang declare his property when he was in power? As Xiao Shenyang's in-laws, Emperor Qianlong who doted on Xiao Shenyang, how could he ask Xiao Shenyang to declare his property? If Emperor Long was killed first, the current generation and future generations might not know that he was a Great corrupt officials.

Tang Taizong, a wise monarch, did not use property declaration as a means to prevent, curb and correct official corruption. His method of dealing with official corruption was to educate beforehand and punish afterward. It is to persuade officials not to be greedy for money, and not to lose big for small things. He once said to the ministers around him: I say that corrupt officials do not know how to love money. Officials with grades above five have generous salaries and a considerable amount of income per year. "If the bribe money paid by ordinary people is only tens of thousands, once it is exposed, Lu's official rank will be reduced. Is this a concern for property? Those who gain little and lose big. "Officials should know that corruption and bribery are not worth it economically and politically. Emperor Taizong knew that some officials took tens of thousands or tens of thousands in bribes and made huge illegal gains, but he just didn't take up the trump card of declaring property. He didn't think of this. A trump card, or do you think of it but don't dare to use it?

After all, Tang Taizong was a monarch in the feudal era, and he was not too harsh on the anti-corruption system. From this point of view, Zhuge Liang. Taking the initiative to declare property is "advance".