My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 408 Emperor Qianlong writes vernacular comments in red ink, Zhang Tingyu resigns from office!

Inside the bright and clean Hall of Diligent Governance and Appreciation of the Worthy, Hongli was tapping on the bright yellow imperial desk with one hand and holding the newly arrived memorial from Shi Lin, the governor of Shanxi, in the other, while sneering.

Hongli couldn't help but sneer!

Because Shi Lin's actions were tantamount to saying that he, the emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, was essentially the biggest bandit in the world!

Hongli had to admit that he, as the emperor with the most violent power, did indeed need to exploit the people, especially the wealthy.

However, Hongli really had no intention of eating in such a clumsy and barbaric way.

Because their eating manners are so unseemly, it's practically tantamount to outright robbery.

The cattle and horses you raise will not eat grass or feed enthusiastically!

At the very least, it should be cloaked in a veneer of civilization and governed by a set of cannibalistic rules.

Therefore, Hongli lamented that many officials from the Eight Banners imperial family still saw themselves as primitive plunderers at heart, and that they still needed re-education before they were suitable to be governors and viceroys.

Otherwise, everyone would really treat becoming an official as a means to become a bandit who steals money, grain, and women, which would severely damage the credibility of the Qing Dynasty.

"Am I scolding you because you didn't share your money with me?"

"Just because you're greedy doesn't mean I'm just as greedy as you?"

"On the other hand, do I need to ask you for two million taels of silver in such a roundabout way? When have I ever been so poor that I would fly into a rage over two million taels?"

"I'll say it again: you must report the situation of the Shanxi fire loss silver to me truthfully!"

"But you can't just stop reporting the disaster and asking the court for relief just because you've really emptied the fire tax money. Everything must be reported truthfully! I am not a thief, and you can't be one either! An official should act like an official and follow the rules!"

Emperor Qianlong wrote a long comment on Shi Lin's memorial.

He can now understand why Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yongzheng wrote so much plain language in their imperial edicts.

no way.

Many ministers are impossible to communicate with unless they are clearly stated.

Therefore, even emperors don't always have to be aloof and not speak clearly.

Different people require different communication skills.

After writing this long document, Hongli sent someone to summon the ministers of the Grand Council and instructed them: "Shi Lin is not up to the job of governor. He is to come to the capital to await imperial orders. Liu Tongxun will be appointed as acting governor to investigate the situation of the return of the tax surcharge in Shanxi to the public treasury, the drought situation, and the situation of philanthropy and donation of grain to support the army."

"Whoo!"

After Ortai, Zhang Tingyu, and other Grand Councilors agreed, they drafted the edict accordingly.

Shi Lin's behavior made Hongli increasingly worried that local governors and viceroys, under the guise of philanthropy and grain donations, were colluding with the wealthy to exploit the common people, returning all the money to the gentry while splitting the money among the commoners 30/70.

Therefore, while criticizing Shi Lin, Hongli simply transferred Shi Lin back to his original position and sent someone he trusted to investigate.

of course!

More importantly, Hongli could also take this opportunity to place his people among the governors and viceroys.

Imperial edicts of the Qing Dynasty were divided into two types: those issued in writing and those sent by mail.

The latter, also known as a secret edict, was sent directly by the Grand Council and was called a court edict.

The former requires the cabinet to draft and issue an edict.

Major personnel appointments and removals such as Shi Lin's dismissal and Liu Tongxun's appointment as acting governor of Shanxi required official imperial edicts.

However, the specific matters that Hongli requested Shi Lin to return to, and the specific matters that he requested Liu Tongxun to investigate, could be conveyed by imperial decree.

Apart from the ministers of the Grand Council and Shi Lin himself, no one knew the real reason for Shi Lin's dismissal, or Liu Tongxun's primary task after taking office as acting governor of Shanxi.

Shi Lin was truly astonished for quite some time after receiving Hongli's vermilion remark again.

"How can this be!"

"The Emperor wasn't actually asking about the fire loss silver because I didn't give him a share; he really wanted to know about it and whether I was using the donation drive to make money!"

"It seems that His Majesty truly intends to be a benevolent emperor who loves his people like his own children!"

Shi Lin slumped into his chair, his eyes vacant as he glanced at the memorial with vermilion annotations in his hand, muttering to himself. He had no choice but to draft a new memorial.

He drafted a memorial to Emperor Hongli to apologize, truthfully stating that he had indeed deceived the public about the disaster and had also used the donation drive to make money. He also frankly admitted that he had almost completely depleted the public funds allocated for fire damage, intending to use the guise of relief to make up for the deficit.

After receiving Shi Lin's new memorial, Hongli gritted his teeth for a long time, thinking to himself that these local officials were really better at spending money and causing deficits than he, the emperor.

Therefore, Emperor Hongli directly ordered Shi Lin to be arrested and brought to the capital for deliberation by the Ministry.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' decision to impose punishment means that everything Shi Lin has done will be exposed.

For example, his concealment of the disaster while soliciting donations, and his embezzlement of the fire tax.

Emperor Hongli wanted to hand Shi Lin over to the Ministry for deliberation in order to make some adjustments to the system of returning fire loss funds to the public, and to see how the officials would react after they learned that Shi Lin had embezzled fire loss funds.

In Hongli's view, it was acceptable to return the fire tax to the public treasury.

Because there needs to be a clear standard for collecting fire loss.

However, after the fire loss tax was centralized, the fire loss tax, as an important source of local revenue, could no longer be solely collected by the provincial government as it had been at the beginning of the Yongzheng reign.

Once the provincial governors and other high-ranking officials have spent all the money, the local prefectures and counties will be in a very passive position.

Therefore, Hongli planned to make slight adjustments to the system of returning fire loss funds to the public treasury implemented by Yongzheng, leaving some fire loss silver for the counties so that they could handle some emergencies more flexibly, such as disaster relief, fighting epidemics, and armed conflicts.

After all, in the current situation, the matter only falls under the jurisdiction of the province. Once the governors and other officials have spent all the money, the local prefectures and counties can only accept the reality and dare not blame their superiors.

At the same time, even if the fire-exploited silver is not exhausted, local prefectures and counties will still need money due to some unexpected events. However, the back-and-forth reporting to the province will affect administrative efficiency, turning ordinary conflicts that could have been calmed down into large-scale civil uprisings.

In addition, leaving a portion of the fire loss funds for prefectures and counties can also slow down the rate at which local provincial officials embezzle the fire loss funds.

If the officials sent to the prefectures and counties were trusted confidants directly appointed by the emperor, they could even exert reverse control over the provincial officials in those areas.

Therefore, Hongli had plans to make minor adjustments to the system of returning fire losses to the public treasury.

It is said that since the Song Dynasty, every centralized empire on the land of China has racked its brains to figure out how to limit the growth of local powers.

To prevent local areas from becoming too powerful, two things must be done: first, prevent them from having independent armed forces; and second, prevent them from having independent finances.

However, due to limitations in communication conditions and the unpredictable nature of many events, in order to prevent small problems from escalating into major issues that threaten the stability of the nation, it is also necessary not to overly restrict local armed forces and independent finances.

Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, it became necessary to provide some independent finances to local areas through the fire tax system.

What Hongli needs to do now is to transform the two-tiered fiscal system of the imperial court and the provincial treasuries into a three-tiered fiscal system of the imperial court, the provincial treasuries, and the county treasuries.

However, after Emperor Qianlong issued an edict to hand Shi Lin over to the Ministry for deliberation, calls began to emerge to abolish the fire tax and return it to the public treasury.

It was mainly the officials from the gentry class who strongly advocated abolishing this system.

"Your Excellency, this is an opportunity. The new emperor has realized that even after the tax levy is returned to the public treasury, it will still cause serious deficits in local finances. I'm afraid he really intends to abolish the tax levy."

After news spread that Shi Lin had been handed over to the Ministry for punishment, Zhu Quan, a retainer of Zhang Tingyu, brought up the matter in front of Zhang Tingyu.

Zhang Tingyu gave Zhu Quan a deep look, remaining noncommittal.

Zhu Quan smiled and said, "Your Excellency, this is the common sentiment of scholars throughout the land!"

Zhang Tingyu simply nodded slightly and waved for Zhu Quan to leave.

Zhu Quan could only bow and say, "Thank you for your trouble, Your Excellency."

But after Zhu Quan left, Zhang Tingyu only sighed.

The following day, Zhang Tingyu submitted a memorial to Emperor Hongli requesting to retire.

After receiving Zhang Tingyu's memorial requesting resignation, Hongli fell into deep thought, and then ordered: "Summon Zhang Tingyu!"

Not long after.

Zhang Tingyu then arrived before the emperor.

After exchanging greetings, Hongli asked with a smile, "You are retiring at this time. What pressure have you been under?"

Zhang Tingyu's face twitched slightly: "Your Majesty is wise beyond reproach. The people of the world yearn for the abolition of the tax surcharge, just as a drought-stricken land yearns for rain."

(End of this chapter)