Kangxi hated corrupt officials for blackmailing people. He paid great attention to rectifying the bureaucratic ranks, especially dealing with corrupt senior bureaucrats. He severely punished corrupt Shanxi Governor Murce, Huguang Governor Cai Yurong and others, and demoted Le Manhong, a college student who sheltered his behavior.
Kangxi not only punished corrupt officials, but also praised honest officials, trusted Yu Chenglong and others who were praised by Kangxi himself as "the first honest official in the world", and gave Yu Chenglong four characters of "noble conduct and clear essence".
In order to win the hearts of the people and consolidate the rule of the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi respected the historical tradition of the Han nationality and Confucian culture. During his southern tour, he personally paid a visit to Ming Taizu Mausoleum for many times, and personally inscribed the plaque "Governing the Tang and Song Dynasties" and hung it in front of the Mausoleum. He also personally went to the Confucius Temple to offer sacrifices to the descendants of Confucius. In addition to the normal imperial examinations, Kangxi also set up a special "erudite and lyrical department" to attract the elders of the Ming Dynasty and all kinds of talents to participate in and discuss state affairs. In A.D. 1679, Kangxi personally reviewed the examination papers of Tierenge, which was very accommodating to Han scholars who did not want to be an official. Even though they deliberately wrote articles in different arts and sciences because they didn't want to be admitted, Kangxi hired them and made them a bachelor's degree in Hanlin, responsible for compiling Ming history. Through these methods, some of them really gave up their anti-Qing stance.
At the same time, Kangxi was also very suspicious of the Han people. During his reign, there were many literary investigations.
Nevertheless, Kangxi summoned a large number of talents and made contributions to the development of social production. Kangxi's series of measures in economic development are also very practical.
In A.D. 1669, Kangxi ordered the abolition of the land representing the serfdom mode of production, but it was stopped by Ao Bai and others, with little effect. Kangxi also banned enclosure for the second time in A.D. 1685, and returned a large amount of land to farmers. At the same time, Kangxi took measures to reward reclamation, and also stipulated that newly opened land was not allowed to be occupied. He also issued an order to recognize the ownership of some small and medium-sized landlords and farmers to the abandoned land in the Ming Dynasty, that is, to change it to "renamed farmland", and the land reclaimed by himself was owned by himself. Kangxi also attached great importance to the reclamation of remote areas and encouraged people to go to Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou to reclaim land. Driven by Kangxi's policy of encouraging reclamation, during his reign, the cultivated land in China increased from 5.27 million hectares to 85 1 10,000 hectares. At the same time, Kangxi ordered a reduction in taxes and a major reform of the tax system, stipulating that the national tax should be based on the fifty years of Kangxi, and no more population will be levied in the future, which is called "prosperous times, never increasing taxes." At the end of Kangxi, the methods of "spreading land into mu" and "where to start" were implemented in Sichuan, Guangdong and other provinces, and were later extended to the whole country.
Another important measure taken by Kangxi to restore and develop production was to build water conservancy and harness the Yellow River, Huaihe River and Canal. Since the late Ming Dynasty, due to frequent wars, the Yellow River has been in disrepair for a long time, resulting in serious floods in the early years of Kangxi. After the flood in Huanghuai, the flood poured into the canal and blocked the water transport. In order to radically cure the Yellow River and turn the flood into water conservancy, Kangxi appointed Jin Fu, a water conservancy expert, as the governor of the river, and used the method of dredging and embankment construction to harness the Yellow River and restore the old road of Huanghuai. After a long time, the threat of flood was lifted and water transportation was resumed. Kangxi himself was also very good at water conservancy and surveying and mapping. In the course of thirty years' river training, he has made six southern tours and gradually became an expert in river training. After the third southern tour, the project of harnessing the Yellow River was basically designed and implemented by him personally.
Kangxi also paid great attention to thrift. He lived a simple life and became a model for the Qing emperor. He asked government agencies to reduce expenditure and strictly check the expenditure system, and ordered to report the currency and food used by families and industries every ten days. However, even if it costs millions of dollars, it is never stingy.
Kangxi was not only a brilliant politician, but also a well-read scientist. He was the emperor who paid the most attention to science and respected scientific and technological talents among the monarchs in feudal society. Compared with the emperors of past dynasties, his own achievements and contributions in natural science can also be said to be unprecedented and unprecedented. He seriously studied algebra, geometry, geography, seismology, astronomy, medicine, anatomy, agriculture, meteorology and other natural science knowledge, and attached importance to the popularization and application of science and technology.
When Kangxi visited the paddy fields in Fengzeyuan, he found that one kind of rice was superior to other rice and had already produced grains. So he put the rice away for trial planting in the second year, and the rice matured early in June the next year. Kangxi began to order people to try planting in Beijing and Chengde, so that Chengde, an area that never planted rice, had rice fields from then on. After more than 30 years of experiment and cultivation, he began to spread to the south of the Yangtze River. Kangxi also attached great importance to exterminating locusts, and once wrote a book "Catching Locusts".
Kangxi also attached great importance to the study of geography and conducted geographical surveys. It organized surveyors to travel all over the country, and it took more than ten years to draw the famous panorama of the Forbidden City, which became a great achievement in the geographical history of China and a great event in the geographical history of the world.
Kangxi also attached great importance to learning advanced western science, and once turned hall of mental cultivation into a classroom for studying natural science. In addition to learning mathematics from Europe, he also attaches great importance to cultivating his own mathematical talent. After ten years' efforts, he and famous mathematicians, such as Mei Gucheng, Chen, He Guozong and Ming Jiatu, compiled a masterpiece "The Origin of Fa Li", which was a masterpiece of music, astronomy and mathematics at that time.
Kangxi also dabbled in astronomy. In order to solve the endless debate between the old and new calendars, he became an astronomer after twenty years of research. He also studied horticulture and meteorology, and ordered the establishment of a meteorological station in Beijing, and ordered the provinces to make meteorological records day by day and report to him. His article on earthquake research is of great historical value in the history of science.
"Full loss, modest benefit" is a famous saying that Kangxi often said. He emphasized the practical effect of politics and opposed exaggeration. After pacifying Gardan, ministers wanted to give him another honorific title, which was the fifth time, but Kangxi resolutely refused. He said: "The sky depends on the sky, and people depend on people's livelihood. Later generations have their own public opinion. If you win a temporary reputation by boasting, it is not my intention, so you don't have to give it up. " Kangxi was not only a pragmatic emperor, but also a diligent king. He devoted his life to reading and managing politics. Get up at three o'clock every morning and be busy with government affairs. During his tour, many officials presented beautiful women to please the emperor. He opposed this temptation and corrosion, treated them coldly and punished them. His practice is really rare among emperors in feudal society.
This great Kangxi became emperor in 6 1 year. 1722 died on November 7 of the lunar calendar, becoming the longest-serving emperor in history.