It is said that Li Wei donated money to become an official, so is he really illiterate?

The movie "Li Wei Becomes an Official" made Yong Zheng's famous star popular all the way to the present.

In the TV series, Li Wei, who was born as a beggar but was extremely talented, illiterate but humorous, won the favor of the audience and also aroused many questions: Is this how the real Li Wei served as an official in history? ?

Historical records show that Li Wei did exist. His ancestral home was Tongshan, Jiangnan, which is today's Xuzhou, Jiangsu. He was born in the twenty-sixth year of Kangxi (1687) and died in the third year of Qianlong (1738).

Li Wei did not come from a beggar background, but came from a wealthy family. Because of this, he was able to spend money to donate his qualifications as a supervisor, avoiding the official path of the imperial examination and entering the officialdom.

Although Li Wei made a lot of jokes despite the burden of being illiterate, he did act like a deputy officer with his sharp mind and careful thinking.

1. "Secretly making up for the shortfall"

Not long after Yongzheng came to the throne, he found that various provinces were in debt and were in deep food shortages. He ordered a thorough investigation. Officials in various provinces were panicked after hearing the news.

Li Wei was the governor of Zhejiang at the time. When he heard about this incident, he took the initiative to report to the court, hoping that he could help the imperial envoy handle the investigation on the grounds that he might have a lot of inconvenience when he first arrived.

After reading Li Wei's memorial, Yongzheng agreed to his proposal and approved him to assist Peng Weixin, the imperial minister sent to Zhejiang, in the investigation work.

Subsequently, Li Wei used his birthday as an excuse to order officials from various states and counties to come quickly to congratulate him. During the birthday party, he summoned a group of people into a secret room and asked everyone to truthfully report their debts to show that he had Ways to resolve.

Everyone had already been frightened by the fact that the imperial envoys came to investigate. After hearing what Li Wei said, they all truthfully confessed and registered them in a book and handed them over to Li Wei.

Furthermore, the Imperial Envoy Peng Weixin was the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs at that time. He was serious and careful in his work. He had already uncovered a bunch of corrupt officials in various provinces south of the Yangtze River. He was so arrogant that no one dared to stop him.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in Zhejiang, he was overwhelmed by Li Wei's instructions to assist in the investigation, and had to discuss with Li Wei how to handle the investigation.

Li Wei mentioned that there might be a dispute between the police and the investigation process, so it was difficult to do anything and he didn't know what to do, forcing Peng Weixin to propose a plan to conduct an investigation by county. And this played right into Li Wei's heart.

Li Wei immediately asked his entourage to write the names of the states and counties in Zhejiang on paper, crumpled it into balls, and drew lots with Peng Weixin to divide the counties.

How could Peng Weixin have expected that the paper ball had been secretly manipulated? Almost all the states and counties with debt problems were in Li Wei's hands, and what Peng Weixin caught was just some problems. It’s just a big state or county.

In this way, Peng Weixin’s careful investigation will not help. On Li Wei's side, it was called an inventory, but in fact he urged all states and counties to make up for the shortfalls.

After all the inventory work was completed, Li Wei pretended to be anxious and asked Peng Weixin: "Are there any debts from various places?" Of course, the answer he got was the answer he had already affirmed: "No."

Li Wei pretended to be surprised, and at the same time happily said that there was no such thing in the state or county he was responsible for.

Once the matter was reported, Yongzheng was overjoyed and appointed Li Wei as the crown prince's Taibao, and generously rewarded him.

Officials at all levels in central Zhejiang were also promoted to one level. After this incident, everyone under Li Wei admired him with admiration and looked at this illiterate playboy with admiration.

2. "To stir up trouble with open swords and clear guns"

As an official, Li Wei is quite upright and stubborn.

Regarding injustices in the officialdom, it is like grains of sand in the eyes, not getting rid of the displeasure. Not only did he submit an impeachment memorial to Emperor Yongzheng, but he also sent a copy of the memorial to the officials he impeached, publicly declaring war, denounced their evil deeds, and hit their sore spots.

Those officials who were impeached by Li Wei hated him so much that they could not touch him.

Tian Wenjing, who was an official in the same dynasty as Li Wei, was jealous and secretly complained about Li Wei in front of Yongzheng.

Yong Zheng was well aware of Li Wei's character and did not take Tian Wenjing's provocation seriously. Tian Wenjing failed to do harm, so he turned to please Li Wei and wanted to make friends with him.

When Li Wei's mother passed away, Tian Wenjing prepared a lot of money and gifts and sent people to express condolences.

Li Wei not only did not appreciate the kindness, but also cursed in public: "My mother will not drink a spoonful of water from a villain!" Throw it into the toilet.

The above are just the comments of future generations. How Li Wei actually served as an official during the Yongzheng period can only be fully understood by that period of history.

If you have any questions, you can discuss and leave messages in the comment area. We will reply to you in time when you see it in the background.