Why does Yong Zhengdi want to fight corruption and clean up the bureaucracy?

At that time, Emperor Kangxi put down civil strife and created a peaceful and prosperous time for the people to live and work in peace and contentment.

However, in his later years, the emperor's lenient policy directly led to collusion between government officials and businessmen, corruption of officials of all sizes, and a serious deficit in the state treasury. According to historical records, in the sixty-first year of Kangxi, the inventory of the household department was only over 8 million!

At that time, China was definitely the first powerful country in the world, but the name of a powerful country was seriously out of proportion to the national treasury deposits. In the long run, it will only accelerate the demise of the Qing Dynasty.

After Yong Zhengdi acceded to the throne, he was determined to be a monarch when he saw such a mess left by his father. The first thing he has to do is to fight corruption with an iron fist, rectify bureaucracy and reverse the wind of being an official.

Next, JIU ge will tell you what Yong Zhengdi did.

Before fighting corruption, Yong Zhengdi also did his homework. He knows the hidden rules of officialdom. There are only a few tricks of official corruption: covering up in series, borrowing money and grain to offset accounts, and making false accounts for reimbursement.

Therefore, Yongzheng formulated the anti-corruption strategy of breaking the retreat first and then calculating the general ledger.

Please listen to me for details.

First of all, Yong Zhengdi was an imperial envoy selected from people around him and alternate officials from all over the country, and went down to all provinces and counties to thoroughly investigate local corruption. A better way is to arrest corrupt officials immediately after they have all the stolen goods and dismiss them on the spot. At the same time, choose one of the accompanying substitute officials to fill the vacancy directly.

This move is absolutely brilliant. Think about it. As backup officials who have worked for so long, they are already eager to see these positions. Faced with such equal opportunities, how can they not be moved? How can you not try your best to handle a case?

On the other hand, Yong Zhengdi promulgated the system that successors check predecessors, that is to say, after taking office, every official should strictly check the accounts of his predecessor. If corruption is found, it will be severely punished. If it is concealed, the two will be guilty of the same crime. This has also increased the anti-corruption efforts to a certain extent.

Finally, let's look at those corrupt officials who were caught, and what happened to them.

First, catching corrupt officials has harmed the whole family. Yong Zhengdi knows that some corrupt officials are not afraid of death. They will feel that it doesn't matter if they die, as long as they can leave their property to future generations. Therefore, after a corrupt official is arrested, none of his descendants can escape. If they return the stolen money, they will deal with one person. If they don't come back, the whole family will be finished.

Second, suicide is unacceptable. Once, an official committed suicide because corruption, bribery and deficit cases were investigated. Yong Zhengdi ordered to settle accounts with his family, and all those who could not afford it were arrested.

It was Yong Zhengdi's iron and blood fight against corruption that made the official atmosphere clear during his reign, and officials of all sizes were walking on thin ice, leading a totally clean life.

It was also under his administration that in just a few years, the national treasury increased from 8 million taels to 5,000 taels.

Tian Wen believes that the problem of corruption has a long history. Although it cannot be eradicated, it is also a good thing if those in power can contain it in time. Corrupt officials are, after all, moths attached to the country, and if left unchecked, they will only bring their own destruction.