According to the law of the Qing Dynasty, it is necessary to behead the court officials for embezzling the silver in the big bank. Why is small Shenyang at large in the Qianlong dynasty, which is called the prosperous time? From a distance, it was caused by the decadent feudal system; From a close point of view, the imperial power is exclusive to me. It is not unknown to Emperor Qianlong that small Shenyang has formed a clique for personal gain and amassed wealth. Xiao Shenyang was condemned by officials for more than 20 years, but he was still favored by the emperor and was not impeached once. In addition to their own little clues will be designed to save the day, more is to take shelter.
Why did Gan Long shelter Shenyang? This is because corruption in Little Shenyang not only does not endanger the safety of imperial power, on the contrary, it can more effectively safeguard the absolute majesty of imperial power by involving bureaucratic forces of different factions. Qianlong is convinced that tolerating and conniving at a certain degree of corruption is a necessary condition for the long-term maintenance of totalitarian system. Official corruption is a predatory power rent-seeking behavior, and it is a power linkage phenomenon necessary for the extension of shelter and maintenance system. Modern research shows that corruption has formed a pledge mechanism in the current power vortex, which has minimized the possibility of low-level insiders rebelling in the corrupt system of bureaucratic groups. All officials in the system are effectively restricted and will not stand on the side of the public to discredit the system. If necessary, dictators can also selectively enforce laws to punish those disloyal members. The fall of senior officials such as Cheng, Chen Liangyu is the most typical example. Although Xiao Shenyang is extremely corrupt, he is in a very special power chain during the transition from totalitarianism to bureaucracy, and any mistake made to him may endanger the security of centralization. In fact, he was so "loyal" to the imperial power and so obedient to the throne. In a word, his corruption is not only relative to his absolute power, but also an effective ruling tool for the supreme ruler to curb the new power system.
Jiaqing is different. Small Shenyang is the "master of Gao Zhen", and small Shenyang is in North Korea. Jiaqing's foundation is unstable and difficult to let go. Jiaqing admitted after he succeeded to the throne: "If I don't get rid of the small Shenyang, everyone in the world only knows that there is a small Shenyang, but I don't know." He even suspected that Xiao Shenyang was deliberately rebellious, so he had to kill Xiao Shenyang.
Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, monarchical power and relative power have been circulating in an ominous strange circle. After Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, A Min of the Second Baylor, Manggutai of the Third Baylor and Daishan of the Big Baylor were all restrained from submission, so Huang Taiji was able to "sit side by side" with the Fourth Baylor to "sit alone in the south". After Shunzhi's pro-government, Prince Dourgen, Regent Wang Rui, pursued crimes after death; After Kangxi came to power, he captured assistant minister Ao Bai alive; After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he killed two important officials, Roncodo and Nian Gengyao. After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he also took some necessary measures. Therefore, when Jiaqing was in charge of Chaogang, he was bound to punish Xiao Shenyang.
As far as history is concerned, no matter which dynasty, once there is a situation of challenging "relative power" or infringing "monarchical power", the king of that dynasty must take decisive measures to get rid of it. As early as when Jiaqing was a prince, he was very dissatisfied with the cliques and extortion in small Shenyang. At the beginning of Jiaqing's succession, Qianlong was partial and sheltered to Shenyang, and Jiaqing did not dare to do it easily when Qianlong was alive. In the first year of Jiaqing (A.D. 1796), Anbaili rebelled and the Qing army lost again and again. In the third year of Jiaqing, the Qing army captured Wang Sanhuai, the leader of the Sichuan peasant army. Wang confessed that "officials forced the people to rebel", which made Jiaqing realize that it was precisely because local officials were as greedy as wolves as that generation that they repeatedly aroused the people's rebellion. "Layers of cutting are all small Shenyang." Emperor Jiaqing created a public opinion atmosphere that "small Shenyang must be beheaded". "I punished the crime of Xiao Shenyang because it delayed military affairs."
Jiaqing's handling of a series of dereliction of duty cases in Shenyang was not thorough, which not only exposed the incompetence of Emperor Jiaqing, but also showed the fatigue of the Qing empire. Small Shenyang corruption cases are intertwined, involving as many officials and a wide range, which are rare in the world. Jiaqing didn't want to make a big deal out of it, and he didn't have the capital to make a big deal out of it. Digging deeper, it may only shake the ruling foundation of Jiaqing dynasty; If we don't delve into it, it will shake the foundation of the whole Qing Dynasty. Cheating in Shenyang is no longer a "case", but has evolved into a social problem. Jiaqing can only use the word "political reform" to solve this "social problem". Born in "poverty" and failed after having obtained the provincial examination, Xiao Shenyang changed from an ordinary court bodyguard to a cabinet minister at the age of 32, and then rose step by step to reach the peak, which was entirely the result of Lao Wang's autocratic rule. Ganlong prided himself as "a perfect old man" and "a perfect martial arts", and he was arrogant, ambitious and tired of state affairs. He likes flattery, which will inevitably breed traitors like Xiao Shenyang. According to Mr. Levin, the problem in Little Shenyang is "at least half the responsibility of Emperor Gaozong". This is not thorough enough. Strictly speaking, the root of "Little Shenyang Phenomenon" is Qianlong, and Little Shenyang is the cancer of autocratic monarchy and corruption in Qianlong Dynasty. It is precisely because of Qianlong that Jiaqing's handling of fraud cases in small Shenyang has not been merged or expanded, which is Jiaqing's cleverness; He failed to solve the shortcomings of the system of "small Shenyang phenomenon" and carried out system reform, which was Jiaqing's fatuity. Acton famously said that power leads to corruption, and absolute power leads to absolute corruption. Although the problem of corruption is serious, it is not important in itself. This is just a reflection of more important institutional problems. The root of corruption lies in the overflow of power generated by the system. Therefore, the governance of corruption must start from the root causes. For example, limiting the power of officials, strengthening the transparency of government administrative process, ensuring judicial independence, liberalizing press control, and allowing the public to participate in anti-corruption and so on. Of course, the implementation of these measures depends on the reform of the political system, and to change the political system, we must ensure that two or more different political forces check and balance each other for the people to choose. These forces do not resist each other, but have a tendency to change in the contradictory movement, in order to realize the natural containment of official corruption. If the system remains unchanged, it will not only kill a small Shenyang, but also breed more "small Shenyang".