During the Yongzheng period, there were treacherous clouds in the court, and there were endless open and secret battles in the officialdom. Li Fu, a little-known official, unexpectedly participated in the surging political struggle Tian Wenjing, the governor of Henan who was highly used by Yongzheng at that time.
This move made many people wonder: wasn't he afraid of offending the emperor because of this?
Is this move of his move really a desperate and brave move, or a far-sighted strategic layout?
What exactly are his true intentions in this intricate political whirlpool?
Background
Emperor Yongzheng, who is Aixin Jueluo Yinzhen, was a diligent and pragmatic emperor in the history of the Qing Dynasty.
During his tenure in office, he pushed through a series of reforms aimed at strengthening centralization, improving administrative efficiency, rectifying the rule of officials, and improving the country's fiscal revenue and national defense capabilities. In this context, Yongzheng attaches great importance to the development of agriculture and puts forward the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and rejuvenating the country", hoping to strengthen the country's economic foundation through the rectification of agriculture.
Yongzheng implemented a special policy, "Banner people cultivate their own land", that is, the Manchurian banner people were required to engage in agricultural production in order to reduce the state's financial burden on them. The implementation of this policy has met with tremendous resistance, especially from some vested interests and conservative forces, who believe that it will undermine the traditional way of life of the banner people and weaken their privileges.
The implementation of the new policy naturally caused a huge response from the court.
The opposition forces were mainly composed of the Eight Princes Yinxu and some ministers of the Shangshufang, who instigated opposition to the New Deal behind the scenes and tried to obstruct the smooth progress of the reform through various means. Lao Bayinxi, one of Yongzheng's brothers, is a famous "Eight Princes" in the history of the Qing Dynasty, he has always been at odds with Yongzheng politically, and has a strong opposition to Yongzheng's reforms.
In this complex political environment, Yongzheng and his important minister Zhang Tingyu launched a meaningful dialogue.
As an important Han minister of the Yongzheng Dynasty, Zhang Tingyu was well versed in the way of governing the country, and once put forward the proposal of "emphasizing agriculture and rejuvenating the country", hoping to strengthen the country's economic foundation through the development of agriculture. Zhang Tingyu pointed out that agriculture is the foundation of the country's economy, and only by developing agriculture can the country become rich and strong. He believes that the key to the new policy is to select a group of officials who are truly capable and willing to promote reform to implement these policies. Yongzheng took his suggestion very seriously and began to look for suitable candidates to promote the implementation of the new policy.
In Yongzheng's eyes, the position of governor of Zhili was very important, because Zhili was not only the emperor's direct jurisdiction, but also the political and economic center of the Qing Dynasty. Yongzheng needed a person who could resolutely implement the new policy and possess high political wisdom to hold this important position. In the end, he chose Li Fu, an official known for his honesty and pragmatism, to take on this important task.
Li Fu to Henan
Li Fuzi Meiqing was an important official in the Qing Dynasty, who served as the governor of Huguang and the governor of Zhili. He was known for his honesty and uprightness, and was deeply admired by scholars and ordinary people. After being appointed as the governor of Zhili, Li Fu did not immediately go to Beijing to thank him as usual, but chose to go directly to Henan, a move that attracted a lot of attention and speculation.
At that time, the situation in Henan was very complicated.
Tian Wenjing, as the governor of Henan, was implementing the policy of "one errand and one grain", aiming to weaken the power of the local gentry and increase local fiscal revenue. This policy offended many local gentry, who were deeply dissatisfied with Tian Wenjing's reform policy, and even privately united to try to oppose and obstruct Tian Wenjing's reform through various means.
Tian Wenjing
Tian Wenjing, as Yongzheng's right-hand man, promoted a series of reforms in Henan with his iron-fisted means and pragmatic style.
His reform policies touched the vested interests of the local gentry, triggering strong discontent and revolt from them. Tian Wenjing's policy of requiring the local gentry to share the obligation of paying taxes and serving with the common people undoubtedly weakened the gentry's privileges and provoked their backlash.
Tian Wenjing
After Li Fu arrived in Henan, he did not directly contact Tian Wenjing, but chose to have a private conversation with Lu Shengnan, a scholar and politician in Henan. Lu Shengnan, as a local education official in Henan, was very familiar with the situation of the local gentry. He gave Li Fu a detailed account of Tian Wenjing's implementation of the new policy, as well as the local gentry's dissatisfaction and rebellion against Tian Wenjing.
After a detailed discussion with Lu Shengnan, Li Fu decided to meet Tian Wenjing in person.
The meeting between them can be said to be a fierce exchange of ideas. Tian Wenjing briefed Li Fu in detail on the specific situation and difficulties he encountered in implementing the new policy in Henan, and tried to win Li Fu's understanding and support. Li Fu disagreed with some of Tian Wenjing's approaches, believing that he was too radical in the implementation of the New Deal and did not fully take into account the interests and reactions of the local gentry.
A heated argument ensued during the meeting.
Tian Wenjing firmly believed that reform must be carried out to the end, and could not be compromised because of the opposition of the gentry. Li Fu, on the other hand, believes that reform should be gradual and gradual, not one-size-fits-all, and should be gradually advanced on the premise of maintaining local stability. The conflict erupted due to differences in reform tactics between the two sides.
Li Fu believes that although Tian Wenjing's reform has a good starting point, it lacks flexibility in the specific implementation process, which leads to local instability and dissatisfaction of the gentry. Therefore, he decided to fold and participate in Tian Wenjing, pointing out the problems existing in the reform process, hoping that in this way, the imperial court could re-examine Tian Wenjing's reform strategy.
The conflict between the Qing school and Tian Wenjing
As an important force in the Qing Dynasty officialdom, the Qing School was known for its incorruptibility and self-discipline, advocating justice, and daring to speak out. They were strongly opposed to Tian Wenjing's new policy in Henan, believing that its reforms were too radical and did not take into account the interests and reactions of the local gentry. The rise of the Qing school added more resistance to Tian Wenjing's reform.
After Li Fu folded and participated in Tian Wenjing, the Qing school quickly responded to them, asking the imperial court to re-examine Tian Wenjing's reform policies in Henan. These actions of the Qing school brought great pressure to Yongzheng, because these letters not only reflected the dissatisfaction of the local gentry, but also revealed some problems in the process of Tian Wenjing's reform.
At the same time, the Eight Masters also seized this opportunity and began to attack Tian Wenjing and Yongzheng's new policy.
The Eight Masters Party, led by Yinxi, has always been opposed to Yongzheng's reform policies, believing that these reforms have shaken their vested interests. Taking advantage of the opposition of the Qing faction, the Eight Masters tried to weaken Yongzheng's reform efforts by uniting the power of the gentry.
Against this backdrop, there was also a student boycott in Henan, which further exacerbated local instability.
As local scholars, they were deeply dissatisfied with Tian Wenjing's reform policy, believing that it had undermined their vested interests, so they decided to unite and express their dissatisfaction with Tian Wenjing and the imperial court by boycotting the examination. The occurrence of this incident not only caused a shock in the local area, but also aroused great concern in the imperial court.
Yongzheng's attitude
Faced with the opposition of the Qing School and the Eight Masters Party, Yongzheng decided to send Hongli and Liu Molin to Henan to find out the truth of the matter.
Hongli, later the Qianlong Emperor, was Yongzheng's most trusted son, while Liu Molin was an important official of the Yongzheng Dynasty, responsible for investigating and handling some complex cases. Yongzheng hoped that through their investigation, they could gain insight into the real situation of Tian Wenjing's implementation of the new policy in Henan, as well as the reaction of the local gentry to the reforms.
In the course of the investigation, Yongzheng gradually learned that although Tian Wenjing had taken some radical measures in the process of implementing reforms, his starting point was good, aiming to improve the local economic situation and increase fiscal revenue. Therefore, Yongzheng decided to keep Tian Wenjing and continue to let him promote reform, and at the same time asked him to pay attention to methods and strategies in the process of reform to avoid intensifying contradictions.
The Qing faction was still unwilling after learning that Yongzheng had decided to keep Tian Wenjing, and they jointly folded their names again, asking the imperial court to re-examine Tian Wenjing's reform policy. They believed that Tian Wenjing's reforms were too radical and did not take into account the interests and reactions of the local gentry, which led to local instability.
In this dispute, Li Fu's question caused Yongzheng to think deeply. In the upper compromise, Li Fu raised a key question: What is the purpose of reform? Was it to weaken the privileges of the gentry, or to achieve long-term peace and stability in the locality?
This question triggered deep thinking about the direction of reform within the imperial court, and also prompted Yongzheng to re-examine Tian Wenjing's reform strategy.
Li Fu resigned
Under the pressure of the Qing School and the Eight Masters Party, Li Fu finally decided to resign to show his dissatisfaction with Tian Wenjing's reforms.
After Yongzheng received Li Fu's resignation, he decided to demote him and transfer him from the post of governor of Zhili. In the resignation excerpt, Li Fu clearly stated his position and said that he would no longer participate in Tian Wenjing. He believes that his duty is to maintain local stability, not to attack Tian Wenjing and sabotage reform through participation. Therefore, he decided to resign to show his dissatisfaction with Tian Wenjing's reforms, and also to avoid further involvement in this political dispute.
Li Fu's resignation is actually a well-planned double end of fame and fortune.
By participating in Tian Wenjing, he won the support of the Qing school and increased his prestige. At the same time, by resigning, he avoided a head-on conflict with Tian Wenjing and protected his political future. By participating in Tian Wenjing, Li Fu successfully won the prestige among the scholars. These scholars, as representatives of the local gentry, were deeply dissatisfied with Tian Wenjing's reform policies. Li Fu's participation just catered to their emotions and won their support and praise.
epilogue
Although Li Fu's political plot seems to be successful on the surface, there are huge risks. Although his resignation won him the support of the scholars, it also deprived him of the opportunity to continue the reform. At the same time, his resignation also triggered more political disputes and brought more resistance to Yongzheng's new policy.
Li Fu's conspiracy also exposed his complexity and multifaceted nature as an official. He has both an incorruptible and upright side, as well as a calculating and scheming side. It was this complexity that left a lasting impression on his history. Through Li Fu's story, we also see the complexity and treacherous nature of Qing Dynasty officialdom.
What do you think of Li Fu's choice?
Do you think his move is worth it?
Feel free to share your views in the comment section and discuss the significance of this history.