flstandardbreds Chapter 138 Emperor Yongzheng: He Has a Special Method for Investigating Corrupt Officials
Chapter 138 Emperor Yongzheng: He Has a Special Method for Investigating Corrupt Officials
Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty
Upon hearing this, the other princes in the other timeline who were also vying for the throne were stunned.
They never imagined that future generations would think being an emperor was a miserable job, but it certainly opened their minds.
They jumped around trying to catch the emperor's eye, but they all ended up disliking him. In the end, the fourth prince even imprisoned them all. In the end, none of them got away with it!
But it turns out this position comes with a mess! What's the point of even fighting for it?
……
The live stream from another dimension continues.
"On the other hand, when Yongzheng ascended the throne, he was already forty-five years old. Compared to the ages of other emperors, some of them might not have even lived to see him."
Some short-lived emperors who had been stabbed in the chest: ...
"With such an old emperor, it wasn't that no one among the officials wanted to deceive him. For example, when Yongzheng was investigating the deficit due to the empty national treasury, Manbao, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, wanted to falsify accounts to cover it up."
"As a result, Emperor Yongzheng directly and vehemently replied: 'Why bother reporting such words to me? Am I a ruler who ascended the throne at the age of eight?' Good heavens, if Emperor Kangxi were here, he would surely call him a rebellious son and say that he was too filial to his father!"
Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (feeling offended): Rebellious son!
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter! You really are your father's good son!
A civil official of the Song Dynasty: He really didn't mock his father!? Hahahaha, what a great son!
……
"As mentioned earlier, there was factional strife, meaning that the Eighth Prince still had many supporters. Therefore, Kangxi appointed the Eighth Prince, the Thirteenth Prince, Grand Secretary Ma Qi, and Minister Longkodo as prime ministers as soon as he took office."
"While stabilizing the situation in the court, the central government quickly ordered a thorough investigation into the embezzlement of funds, and gave a three-year deadline."
"Before this order was issued, almost all the officials were not flustered. Generally speaking, when a new emperor ascends the throne, he is unlikely to investigate the previous dynasty's deficits."
"But the problem is that this group of people never expected that Yongzheng would use such swift and decisive measures to investigate the deficit. So, they were visibly panicked and even resorted to falsifying accounts to deceive Yongzheng, as mentioned earlier."
"Subsequently, Yongzheng ordered his thirteenth son to establish a central agency called the Examination Office, which was mainly responsible for the national finances, including the finances of the provinces and the central government."
"The thirteenth prince's math skills were taught by his fourth brother. At that time, it was discovered that the Ministry of Revenue's treasury was short of 2,592,957 taels, 6 mace, and 3 fen."
A skilled farmer in the Ming Dynasty: My God! So many!!?
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: This throne is truly a mess! My dad is much more reliable!
Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty: ...
"Prince Yi's investigation undoubtedly offended many people, so there are all sorts of rumors about him. Somehow, these rumors reached the ears of the fourth prince."
"The fourth brother is a habitual offender who makes exceptions for the thirteenth brother. You can say whatever you want about the fourth brother, but you just can't say anything about the thirteenth brother."
"So Yongzheng immediately summoned his ministers to a meeting and made a special statement: 'It was I who ordered my thirteenth brother to investigate! It was also I who ordered him to investigate thoroughly. Why are you all blaming my thirteenth brother! Let me tell you! I must find out the truth about this embezzlement!'"
"Your Ministry of Revenue has such a large deficit of public funds. Originally, I required you to pay it off in three years, but my thirteenth brother secretly pleaded for an extension of ten years. How come some of you are still criticizing Prince Yi for being mean?"
A poor scholar from the Song Dynasty: This emperor is not bad!
A young peasant boy from the Han Dynasty: A brother-obsessed maniac! Anyway, those ministers are the ones who prey on the common people!
A young woman from the Tang Dynasty, who was just observing the drama, said: "A good emperor is one who gets things done!"
……
"If a country's finances are in trouble, the consequences will be a chain reaction. So it was necessary for Yongzheng to recover the deficit. But in fact, the easiest place for many officials to embezzle money is from the people."
"Yongzheng naturally understood such a simple principle, so he issued an order early on: Do not take money from the people to cover up your deficits."
"The deficits in local finances are invariably caused by officials embezzling or misappropriating funds, or by threats from superiors."
"But to be honest, official corruption and bribery have existed in every dynasty. It is unstoppable. Moreover, there are many ways to deal with it. It is very common that when one person is found to be corrupt, someone else will stand up and plead for leniency."
"The usual reason given is that this person has worked hard and made great contributions, and is quite capable. However, he has embezzled some money. Your Majesty should dismiss him from his post but allow him to remain in office and repay the money by performing meritorious service."
"This isn't something no one has done before, but he ran into Emperor Yongzheng. He's incredibly ambitious! All this trouble was just to thoroughly investigate the embezzlement, so how could he possibly agree to it!"
Heshen of the Qing Dynasty: You can just say my name!
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: If it were us, we would just kill him directly. Why would we make such a request in front of us!
Judy, the General Who Conquers the North: Father! No one dares to make such a request to you!
Crown Prince Zhu Biao of the Ming Dynasty: ...
"If it were Zhu Yuanzhang, he would have skinned you alive, but you were allowed to stay in office. However, when it was Yongzheng, he bravely said no."
"Because one thing is very clear: since he was able to become a corrupt official, he must be a habitual offender who preys on the people. If this continues, it will inevitably implicate the people. So next time, think carefully and don't bring up this kind of suggestion again!"
"That's when you see what it means for officials to protect each other! After Yongzheng arrested a group of people, some people stood up to plead for them, and they even carried with them petitions from the people that they had somehow obtained."
“Some people took these and said: Your Majesty, this person is a very good official. Now that the people know about it, they are all willing to contribute money to make up for the deficit. I still have the people’s petition in my hand. I hope Your Majesty will give it a good consideration!”
People: We are not! We did not!
"In the end, Yongzheng did not allow the people to pay off the deficits on his behalf, and he even went to the local area to investigate whether anyone had forced the people to sign the document."
"No matter what, it's still impressive that Yongzheng was able to go deep into the grassroots to investigate. But sometimes, it's not that we're afraid of thugs who are bold, it's that we're afraid of thugs who are educated!"
"Yongzheng's move caused many officials to simply give up, acting as if they had no money and what could you do to them? At worst, they would just die!"
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: These people are truly not wronged! They even put up a petition!?
An old farmer from the Ming Dynasty said: Anyway, we don't want to donate money to protect corrupt officials!
A spoiled young master from the Song Dynasty: Hey, if we confiscated more corrupt officials, wouldn't the national treasury be full of money?!
All emperors: !!!
All the trembling corrupt officials: ...