In May of the 10th year of Qianlong's reign, Emperor Qianlong received a report from the Ministry of Punishment , saying that Arsai, the then Minister of Household Affairs, was killed by a slave at home. Qianlong was shocked after seeing this report. A high-ranking official was killed by his own slave. This was the first time in the Qing Dynasty that this happened.
The crime of killing a member of the imperial court is very serious. If it is an ordinary citizen, it will be beheaded at least, but if it is a domestic slave, the nature is even more serious. Therefore, the civil and military officials of the entire court were filled with indignation, and everyone stretched their necks, waiting for Qianlong's final outcome.
The origin of the matter
Arce's name is Manchu at first glance. In fact, he is not Manchu. His original name is Cui Zhilu. He is an authentic Han Chinese . He was born in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province. Due to his ancestor's meritorious service, he belonged to the Zhenghuang Banner of the Han Army.
Arsai was not well-known during the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties, and this was even the first time many readers had heard of this person. If he hadn't been killed by a domestic slave, historians would probably have brushed aside his life story.
However, as a bannerman, Arsai's official career was still very smooth. During the Yongzheng period, he started as a sixth-rank official and was promoted repeatedly since then. Starting from the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign, he served as deputy general and rose through the ranks. In the eighth year of Qianlong's reign, he served as the governor of Huguang , and finally was promoted to the position of Minister of Household Affairs in the early tenth year of Qianlong's reign.
According to the regulations of the Ministry of Punishment, all major and important cases involving human life must have three trials and three decisions, and detailed records must be kept. Officials of the Ministry of Punishment must archive the Manchu and Chinese case files and make them public to the world.
However, the handling of the Arsay case made the Manchu ministers quite puzzled and dissatisfied. Because Qianlong gave instructions to the Ministry of Justice, there was no need to disclose the details of the case, and all closing documents were to be in Manchu. In the end, the criminal department was simply killed for "restraining family members from gambling" and the case was hastily finalized.
In the "Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty", there are only a few words about Arsai's case: Arsai, the former Minister of Household Affairs, restrained his family from gambling, and was about to be revolted, and died . And it is even simpler in " Qing History Manuscript ": The Minister of Household Affairs, Arsai, was killed by a domestic slave, and the family slave died in the world.
Qianlong took such a major case so lightly, which is obviously not in line with common sense. Therefore, Li Shenxiu, who was the censor of Jiangxi Province at the time, wrote to Emperor Qianlong, saying that the truth of the case should be made public to serve as a warning to others, and criticized the Ministry of Punishment for deliberately avoiding the case during the closing process. Li Shenxiu was nominally criticizing the Ministry of Punishment, but in fact he was criticizing Qianlong.
Li Shenxiu and Arsai were ministers in the same dynasty, so he naturally knew something about his character. In his memorial, he told Qianlong: I don't know what kind of person Arsai is, but I heard that his behavior must be that he is unable to control his subordinates, or he may be harsh, uneducated and incompetent. It is caused by anger and anger for a moment.
The censor agreed with Li Shenxiu's statement. When Arsai was killed, he must have made many mistakes. He might have been too harsh on his domestic slaves and did not know when to stop, which led to tragedy.
In the Qing Dynasty, there was a strict "master-slave distinction". This custom was brought in from outside the customs, and it was also a backward system unique to Manchuria that was mixed with the nature of slaves. Banner people have always been strict with their domestic slaves. Slaves must obey their masters unconditionally. If there is any slightest resistance, they will be punished with one hundred lashes according to their descendants' violation of the teachings. It can be seen that the slaves of the Banner people have no personal freedom and personal dignity, and are slaves who can be trampled on at will.
" The Laws of the Qing Dynasty " stipulates various provisions for domestic slaves. It stipulates that those who scold the master will be punished by hanging , and those who beat the master will be beheaded. If the master is seriously injured or killed, he will be executed at 10:00 pm. Moreover, the criminal law has no sympathy whatsoever for the crimes committed by domestic slaves. It does not ask about the plot, but only about the identity.
The mainstream public opinion that "the distinction between master and servant is the strictest in this dynasty" keeps servants in fear all the time, and they dare not go even half a step beyond the boundaries. Therefore, it can be basically concluded that if Arsay's domestic slaves were not forced to die, they would never have done such an extreme behavior. After all, the consequences of Lingchi's execution would be terrible.
The fate of the slaves who killed Arsai was destined. Emperor Qianlong ordered the Ministry of Punishment to draw up a plan immediately, and the Department of Justice followed the law and sentenced him to death. Other slaves who failed to rescue him were also punished by execution or exile.
What did Qianlong want to hide?
In the Arsay case, Qianlong ordered the Ministry of Punishment to archive the case files in Manchu, without setting up Chinese files. Without telling the details of the case to China and foreign countries, handling it this way will easily make people suspicious, and the public opinion will spread rumors, which will harm the national system.
It was not just Li Shenxiu who called for the disclosure of the truth of the case. Many ministers at the time suggested that the court inform the provinces about the case. In view of the pressure of public opinion, Qianlong had no choice but to explain. He said:
In the case of bannermen, the word "Qing" was used to end the incident, so the ministry also used the word "Qing" to punish the ear as usual. Everyone in Beijing knows about this matter, and when it spreads to other provinces in the future, everyone will also know about it. There is nothing ambiguous in it that cannot be told to others, so why bother to cover it up!
It seems that Qianlong was a little unhappy, saying that banner people cases have always been handled this way, and it was not to hide anything. If it was really necessary to hide it, then how did Li Shenxiu know about it. For this reason, Li Shenxiu was severely reprimanded, saying that he had "insidious intentions", but nothing happened after that.
However, the facts are not as Qianlong said. Banner people were injured or harmed by domestic slaves often happened since the early Qing Dynasty. Before Qianlong, when handling such cases, the court did not use only Manchu to close the case, but Do not use Chinese conventions. Therefore, Qianlong's theory is simply untenable.
The reason why Qianlong kept secret about Arsay's case was that the more he concealed it, the more it proved that Arsay himself was the main person responsible in the whole process, and it should be a certainty that he abused and abused the domestic slaves. If everything was made public, Qianlong would think it was a disgrace to the banner people.
Arsai is a bannerman after all, and bannermen are born with privileges. If this matter is made public, it will definitely cause shock and may have an impact on the status of masters and slaves of bannermen. If this is the case, not only will Qianlong feel that he has lost the face of his bannermen, but it will also make people all over the world feel that the court is unfair, and they will even call for the abolition of this backward and ruthless system.
Once the privileges of the bannermen are questioned, it will not be conducive to rule, and it will also violate the laws of the ancestors. This is the main reason why Qianlong was unwilling to announce the case. Therefore, it was Qianlong's last resort to settle the case in Manchu. After all, during the Qianlong period, there were not many people who really understood Manchu, let alone Han people.
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