Why did the strongest anti-corruption in history end in failure?

The famous anti-corruption case in history is 1. Song Zhenzong, Zhao Heng, in the Northern Song Dynasty, with a high salary, is known as the "Emperor China's first anti-corruption campaign" in history.

First of all, Song Zhenzong has a good concept of clean government, which has been passed down to later generations. He promulgated the Seven Rules of Civil and Military Affairs, warning officials: First, be pure in heart, be calm when things happen, and don't influence politics for your own emotions. The second is to be fair and honest. Third, Xiu De, we should serve others with virtue, not oppress others with force. Fourth, be pragmatic, and don't covet a hollow reputation. Fifth, we should be observant, be diligent in observing people's feelings, and refrain from exorbitant taxes and unfair punishment. Sixth, be diligent in class, politics, agriculture and mulberry. Seventh, reform the disadvantages and strive to eliminate all kinds of disadvantages.

Second, Song Zhenzong has established a strict and effective system for selecting and appointing officials.

Third, official files have been established in the public service department, and the official leave system has been improved.

Fourthly, a set of punishment system, selection criteria and post avoidance system for supervisory officials' dereliction of duty has been established. In the Song Dynasty, the Imperial History Desk was set up to perform the duties of the Supervision Department of the Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Brilliant achievements:

1. Although the area, population and resources of the Northern Song Dynasty were much worse than those of the Tang Dynasty, the economy of the Northern Song Dynasty was prosperous, the border trade was prosperous, tribute and taxes extended in all directions, and the total economic output accounted for 80% of the world.

2. The painter Zhang Zeduan described Tomb-Sweeping Day in the Northern Song Dynasty with the immortal riverside scene in The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival.

French thinker Voltaire praised China as the most beautiful, oldest, largest, most populous and best governed country in the world.

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Compared with officials in Qin, Han, Tang, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, officials in the Northern Song Dynasty became the happiest people. Song Guan is the best. The emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty only talked about ideological construction, not military strength. Ministers have no tradition of building the country through thrift. Is to eat, drink, be merry, take the lead in arrogance and extravagance, buy fields and castles widely, and dance with Dona. The emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty paid a high salary to maintain honesty and gave preferential treatment to officials. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were few officials who neglected their duties because of corruption, and there were also few officials who were beheaded and killed because of corruption. The political ecology of the Northern Song Dynasty not only made the Northern Song Dynasty have no political ideal, but also laid an excellent political, economic, scientific, cultural and social foundation for the Mongols to enslave the Han people and establish the Eurasian Empire.

2. Anti-corruption and self-discipline emperors: Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin.

Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, was the "Zhenguan Dynasty" and the most prosperous period in China, which was called the golden age in the history of China. Some scholars believe that the prosperity of Zhenguan Dynasty is unmatched by any dynasty in the ancient history of China, mainly in:

Social order is unprecedentedly stable, and every household does not close at night. "East of the sea, all the five ridges in Antarctica are not closed. You don't have to spend money to buy food when you travel, you can take it from the road."

The Tang Empire was the most civilized and powerful country in the world at that time, and Chang 'an, the capital, was a cosmopolitan metropolis. Outstanding talents from all over the world risked their lives to run to the Tang Empire.

Corruption has fallen to an all-time low. Zhenguan Dynasty is known as "the only dynasty without corruption in the history of China".

Highly developed business. The economic feature of China's traditional feudal dynasty was "emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce", but Zhenguan was the only feudal dynasty that did not discriminate against commerce, and Li Shimin's foresight provided many convenient conditions for commercial development.

Brilliant achievements:

1, known as "the only dynasty without corruption in the history of China", is perhaps the most commendable achievement of Li Shimin.

2. Under the rule of Li Shimin, in the Tang Empire, the emperor took the lead in setting an example, and officials were loyal to the public and performed their duties. Abuse of power and corruption and dereliction of duty have fallen to an all-time low. .

3. During the Zhenguan period, under the governance of Li Shimin, the society did not close at night. In 630, only 29 prisoners in China were sentenced to death. In 632, the number of death row inmates increased to 290.

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Li Shimin relies on personal strength to fight corruption, and his power is highly concentrated, which has caused an important defect, that is, personal willfulness. As time went on, when he realized that he had achieved great success, Emperor Taizong was full of pride and ambition. With the death of Wei Zheng in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643) as the boundary, the relationship between monarch and minister and the political atmosphere of Zhenguan can be divided into two stages, the first stage is the rising period of Zhenguan rule, and the second stage is the declining period of Zhenguan rule.

It was in the later period that Emperor Taizong gradually abandoned the open-minded style of remonstration, rarely listened to correct opinions, and only trusted his own personal authority and a few confidants, and was replaced by a loner's arbitrariness. As a result, it destroyed the joint efforts of the group, curbed the vitality of managing the world, interrupted the dynamic policy, and seriously damaged the cooperation and trust between the monarch and the minister. With the loss of vitality and the growth of inertia, the once-prosperous "rule of chastity" inevitably declined.

In the late Zhenguan period, the whole think tank group began to acquire an easy-going, obedient and indisputable color, which was completely different from the diligent, enterprising and outspoken atmosphere of the think tank group in the early Zhenguan period. The ministers of the DPRK and China all abide by the golden mean and dare not say more to preserve their positions. There are also some senior bureaucrats who, with the promotion of their official positions and the increase of their power, gradually decline their will, covet comfort and pursue pleasure. Some people catered to the interests of Emperor Taizong, attached great importance to them and paid tribute to luxury goods, regardless of the decline of state affairs.

Some people treat diseases, spend their twilight years safely, and put national affairs behind them. Ministers often take bribes and pervert the law. The change of officials' group quality in the later period of Zhenguan is the projection of Tang Taizong's "declining and resisting to the end", and the change of officials in turn accelerated the decline of Tang Taizong.

After entering the flourishing age, the ruling group in history was satisfied with maintaining the status quo, tinkering with the immediate problems, even being arrogant, covering up contradictions and whitewashing prosperity, but failed to see the existing problems and their seriousness. Potential social contradictions and problems are growing in this state, accumulating over time, and small troubles become big troubles, which are out of control.

Emperor Taizong, who created the rule of Zhenguan, is no exception. With the rapid improvement of national conditions, he gradually slackened off and began to pursue a luxurious life, indifferent to the difficulties of creating the world, and embarked on a luxurious road. He drove soldiers and conscripted corvees, and built palaces and other museums everywhere, and the scale became larger and larger.

Due to large-scale construction, corvees are increasing, and people are too tired to cut off their limbs and run away. Because of his complacency, Emperor Taizong could not be completely prepared for danger in times of peace, and he could not really stick to a good beginning and a good end, and his reputation was at stake for life.

3. The cruel laws of Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty was the most severe dynasty in the history of China. The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty was the most dangerous industry for human beings. Officials in the Ming Dynasty are a group with the least sense of personality, dignity, privacy and security. The Ming Dynasty learned the lesson from the demise of the Song Dynasty and emphasized in the national political management: "To govern a country, we must first govern officials, and we must be strict in governing officials." The supervision of officials in the Ming Dynasty was stricter than that of prisoners. The means include: setting up eyes and ears, tracking and investigating prisons, reporting by subordinates, checking at any time, sitting next to each other, beating in court, extorting confessions by torture, killing Jiuzu, peeling and hanging corpses. In other words, the Ming Dynasty was the most ruthless dynasty in China. However, the Ming Dynasty was the most corrupt dynasty.

In history, especially in the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, the degree of "iron fist" or even "iron blood" against corruption far exceeded that of other historical periods. According to "Caomuzi", Ming Taizu stipulated that local officials should peel off the skin in front of the land temple and fill it with grass to remind the next official not to be corrupt: "The ancestors of the Ming Dynasty were strict with officials, and anyone who obeyed orders and embezzled more than 62% were beheaded for public display, and the grass is still peeled." On the left side of Weizhou County, there is a unique temple, which is a peeling place for sacrificing land and is called Pichang Temple. There is a bag of stripped grass hanging next to the official position, which is shocking. "This is not only shocking, but also creepy.

From the fourth year of Hongwu to the eighteenth year of Hongwu, he launched several vigorous anti-corruption campaigns throughout the country. For example, in the fourth year of Hongwu (137 1), the Guo Huan case in the eighth year (1375) and the eighteenth year (1385) was extremely powerful. Among them, Kongyin case and Guo Huan case were the biggest cases, with 70,000 or 80,000 people killed unjustly. Guo Huan case, "Since six assistant ministers died, seven million people were stolen, and even officials in the province were killed by tens of thousands of people. Nuclear weapons are sent to the world, and people's homes are broken. " It is generally estimated that the number of officials killed by Zhu Yuanzhang in the process of anti-corruption is between10000 and150000, which is not small.

The eighteenth year of Hongwu to the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu was a special period for Zhu Yuanzhang to crack down on corruption. At that time, there was no killing almost every day. Due to excessive punishment, from the first year of Hongwu (1368) to the nineteenth year (1386), none of the administrative officers in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian completed their term of office, and they were often demoted or beheaded before the final exam. In some yamen, because too many officials were killed and no one worked, Zhu Yuanzhang had to practice the methods of "wearing the death penalty as an apprentice" and "wearing a beheading, strangling, being an apprentice, and living in exile", which were called criminal officials after sentencing and returned to work with shackles.

Zhu Yuanzhang's anti-corruption not only used prisons and severely punished them, but also added additional punishment to the law. If the crime is serious, they will be punished with non-punishment such as writing ink, picking tendons, picking knees, chopping fingers, breaking hands, gouging out feet, scrubbing, balancing bars, pulling intestines, castrating, beheading, being late for the year, sending the whole family to be slaves from afar, and clan punishment.

Therefore, being an official in the Hongwu era is really an extremely dangerous thing. It is said that the emperor goes to court every day, and if he sticks the jade belt high on his chest, fewer people will be killed that day; If the jade belt is held low under the belly, a large number of people will be killed on this day, and officials will be pale with fear. In this horrible atmosphere, officials, big and small, are scared, and they don't know when there will be a catastrophe. Legend has it that Beijing officials say goodbye to their wives every morning when they enter the DPRK. When they came home safely at night, they celebrated with their families. They were happy to live another day.

Therefore, the scholars who originally loved to be officials also regarded their official career as a fearful road during this period. They are "blessed by not having heard it, blessed by not having recorded it" and "unwilling to make progress". Some families have studious sons, and they are afraid of being known by counties and counties, so they are sent to be officials. Instead, they were told to drop out of school and go to agriculture. Some people hurt themselves to avoid being forced to be officials.

Many people still have a lingering fear when they recall the scene of Hong Wuchao after the passage of time.

Results: Did Zhu Yuanzhang succeed or fail in fighting corruption?

Compared with other historical periods, the era of Zhu Yuanzhang was a period of less corruption. However, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's own standards, his anti-corruption is far from achieving his goal. Zhu Yuanzhang has repeatedly said that the rectification of the ranks of officials has not achieved remarkable results: "The stubborn traitors are difficult to treat, and they help each other and help each other. Look at this treacherous and stubborn, although the fairy can do anything! " Looking through the multi-channel communiques issued by Zhu Yuanzhang in Hongwu from 21 to 31, the phenomenon of officialdom that dissatisfied Zhu Yuanzhang still abounds: "Officials in counties, States and provinces often turn their benevolence and righteousness upside down, adding fuel to the flames and getting into trouble"; "Abusing kindness and taking bribes"; "Rape stubborn little people, rely on their wealth, dominate the city, and force civilians to be slaves. Although they have tasted the accumulated punishment, rape is stubborn and eventually unconscious "; "I don't want to do this without borrowing, and I often rape and be a thief. If it is not handled outside the law, it is difficult to ban it? "

Although the anti-corruption efforts were so great, the immaculate situation expected by Zhu Yuanzhang did not appear in the end. Under Zhu Yuanzhang's policy, it is almost impossible to get away with it in officialdom. Therefore, some people think it's better to make profits early, and instead step up corruption and search activities. They are "self-disciplined, cautious and law-abiding." Once in office, you are banned from the Internet, and you don't seek a future, so you abandon your shame, or you are embarrassed to repair the land and enjoy it every day, so corruption incidents will still emerge one after another. "The corpse of the abandoned city has not moved, and new crimes will come." "If you commit a crime in the morning, so do you in the morning. If the body does not move, it will be followed. If it is cured, it will commit many crimes! " Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly sighed: "It seems that he is really a confused person. I am so old, thirsty and panting. I said he is not awake."

Even the popular supervision that Zhu Yuanzhang placed the greatest hope on soon went bankrupt. The public can catch illegal officials in one fell swoop, and the negative effects will soon be reflected. The duration of mass movements is the most difficult to grasp. Soon, local officials in many places threatened to lure people to recommend themselves and attack others for political interests, and people in many places arrested tax officials who were working normally in Beijing in order to resist taxes. This kind of thing is far more than corrupt officials really caught, which made Zhu Yuanzhang sigh.

In his later years, Zhu Yuanzhang was confused and wavered in controlling greed with violence. In the twenty-third year of Hongwu, he said to the officials of the Ministry of Justice: "Fools break the law, like to eat and drink, and are addicted to it. If you try to stop it, the criminals will benefit the public, but if you forgive them, you will be able to influence them. "

Aside from Zhu Yuanzhang's own harsh standards, objectively speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang's iron and blood anti-corruption has indeed achieved great success in a short time. However, judging from the long-term historical effect, Zhu Yuanzhang's anti-corruption is a failure and a complete failure. Although corruption was temporarily suppressed before his death, he accumulated great rebound energy. After his death, corruption developed rapidly, and Daming finally went down in history as one of the most corrupt dynasties in China history.

Zhu Yuanzhang's fault is not anti-corruption, but emotional anti-corruption. Shen Jiaben, a modern jurist, has made textual research on the cases contained in Da Gao one by one, and thinks that almost all criminal cases in Da Gao have problems of extrajudicial punishment, improper punishment and improper punishment. In the face of corruption, Zhu Yuanzhang was too superstitious about violence. He almost exhausted all means on the issue of anti-corruption, that is, he did not reflect on the low-wage system he established. He is quite single-minded as a robber when it comes to punishing corruption. He believes that violence and intimidation can replace all other efforts, and the use of swords can create a pure world without corruption. Facts have proved that without a reasonable basic system, even tough policies and measures can only achieve temporary results.

4. Yongzheng anti-corruption: corrupt officials confiscated their property and implemented "yanglianyin".

During the reign of Kangxi, official corruption was quite serious. Some powerful bureaucrats embezzle public funds and accept bribes unscrupulously, such as the Manchu minister Suoetu and Mingzhu and the Han minister Xu He. At that time, the folk song said: "Nine days in the East China Sea (Xu), the Golden Pearl People (Gao Shiqi)."

After Yong Zhengdi succeeded to the throne, he was determined to reform the accumulated malpractices, crack down on corruption, and rectify official management. He ordered the provinces to make up the deficit of the state treasury within a time limit, severely punish the found corrupt officials, recover the stolen money and confiscate the property. At that time, Yongzheng's punishment of some ministers obviously had complicated political reasons, but it did play a role in cracking down on corruption. At the same time, Yongzheng solved the problems of low salary of officials and insecure expenditure of local governments. The specific approach is to implement "yanglianyin". During the Yongzheng period, the official administration was obviously improved.

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Yongzheng died suddenly, and after Qianlong took over the scepter, he changed his father's harsh and cold behavior into a peaceful and laissez-faire style. Especially in the late Qianlong period, corruption prevailed and bureaucracy was abandoned. According to the example of Kangxi, Emperor Qianlong made six southern tours, "which will be ten times more expensive than that of Kangxi." In order to maintain a luxurious life, Qianlong used various excuses to extort money from officials, businessmen and the people. Emperor Qianlong stipulated that officials who committed certain mistakes or failed to perform their duties could pay fines or atonement money to the emperor in exchange for forgiveness or exemption. The money turned over was pocketed by the emperor. What else does Emperor Qianlong like best? He served as Assistant Minister of Housing and Minister of Military Aircraft. He was in power for more than 20 years and was deeply trusted by Emperor Qianlong. During the Jiaqing period, he was ordered to commit suicide and confiscate his property. People say that his family wealth is 80 thousand, and the enemy earned more than ten years in the Qing Dynasty. With the extravagant life of bureaucrats, the atmosphere of corruption is prevalent, and bribery is used in public affairs, which leads to political success. Corruption is rife among officials at all levels, and the whole officialdom is permeated with the unhealthy atmosphere of abusing power for personal gain, seeking profits and flattering others. Officials at all levels live a decadent life of debauchery, extravagance and extravagance, regardless of the national economy and people's livelihood.