"Ji Xiaolan with Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth" Honest officials and capable officials
In Mr. Qian Zhongshu's "The Besieged City", there is such a comment about the protagonist Fang Hongjian, that is, "You are a good person, but you are completely useless. ". This sentence can actually be applied to many officials. In the history of thousands of years, each dynasty has adopted different methods of selecting talents, but the standards cannot escape the words "virtue" and "talent". Only those who have both ability and political integrity can be regarded as capable and strong people. However, as the saying goes, it is difficult to be an honest official. Many officials lack the ability, but they are known as "upright officials". They either really have no ability, or they hope to use the word "upright officials" to protect themselves. During the Yongzheng period, Emperor Yongzheng had a different perception of talents than ordinary people. He promoted and appointed a large number of low-level officials in a drastic manner. These people were capable but had flaws in their talents. Through Yongzheng’s selection criteria, we can also see the changes in employment in the Qing Dynasty.
Fang Hongjian, the male protagonist of "Fortress Besieged"
1. Virtue or talent
The debate over who is more important, virtue or talent, has never stopped in the past dynasties, with both sides insisting on their own opinions. But overall, the party that values virtue is stronger. The famous politician of the Northern Song Dynasty Sima Guang even said, "It is better to get fools than villains." He believed that there were some "incompetent people" in the court. "An honest official is always better than a talented and corrupt official. In fact, this is the consensus of Confucian intellectuals who have been influenced by the Confucian concept of "benevolence and righteousness" since childhood, and that virtue should always be ranked second.
"Qingpingle" Sima Guang
Qing Dynasty The standards for selecting officials during the Yongzheng period were very different from before. He put talent before virtue, hoping to select and promote capable officials. This is not to say that Yongzheng completely gave up on the investigation of officials' morality. He also believed that the way to be an official was to be honest and honest, but a clean reputation cannot be an excuse for officials to do nothing or even dare not act. Among Yongzheng's selection criteria, having both ability and political integrity was the highest requirement, but what he hated most was officials who were just seeking fame but doing nothing. From a practical point of view, the well-known Yongzheng officials such as Li Wei and Tian Wenjing were not considered "good people" in terms of character. Tian Wenjing, for example, was known as a "cruel official", but this did not affect Yongzheng's attitude towards Yongzheng at all. The importance and trust of both of them.
Li Wei in the film and television drama
2. How to identify the talents and virtues of officials
Yongzheng had his own unique standards for the selection of officials, which made him must have a pair of discerning eyes to recognize people and do their jobs well, otherwise it would only result in officials having neither The negative ending of virtue without talent. Yongzheng has always been known for his diligence. All officials above a certain level will be interviewed by Yongzheng before taking office. In just a few minutes, Yongzheng can judge the person's true level. Yongzheng did not believe in the so-called market opinion and other people's comments. He believed that these were the opinions of others, and whether they were so-called honest officials or corrupt officials, they might be artificially created public opinions through certain means. For example, some people who are capable of doing things often harm the interests of the local forces and incur a bad reputation. If they blindly follow the comments of others, they will easily be in a passive state. In this way, they will not be able to truly find the capable and practical people that the Qing Dynasty needs. of officials.
Yongzheng
Yongzheng's official selection standards were somewhat influenced by his father Emperor Kangxi . During the Kangxi period, there was a governor of Jiangsu, Zhang Boxing, who was known as "the most upright official in the world". However, such an upright official got into trouble with his immediate boss, Ga Li, who was the governor of Liangjiang at the time, and called each other a corrupt official. . Gali himself is indeed very bad in character, but there is little reliable evidence to support Zhang Boxing's impeachment.People rushed to tell each other that Garli was dismissed from his post by Kangxi, and they also lamented the noble conduct of the first honest official of the Qing Dynasty. However, as far as Kangxi himself was concerned, he privately "complained" about Zhang Boxing many times, saying that although he was honest, he was He has no ability and is very confused in his work. As a governor of a province, he cannot even solve basic cases. As a result, documents pile up in the yamen and the government cannot operate normally.
Kangxi private interview in private Gari
Whether it was Kangxi or Yongzheng, they both believed that the first task of local officials was to take measures that were beneficial to the local people's livelihood, rather than deliberately creating a reputation for being clean and honest. In the eyes of Emperor Kangxi, upright officials such as Zhang Boxing were not suitable candidates for frontier officials. They did not have the ability to handle and control the government affairs of a province. But compared with Yongzheng, Kangxi had a relatively mild temperament. Although he had such views, he rarely mentioned them. Yongzheng had always been upright, and he looked down upon these so-called "honest officials."
3. Is competent officials a good way to govern a country?
Yongzheng reigned for only 13 years, but it was the most critical period of the Qing Dynasty. Many policies during the Yongzheng period not only became the foundation of the Qing Dynasty in the future, but their employment standards also became the standards for selecting officials for later emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The local frontier officials in the Yongzheng period, like Li Wei and others, were completely different from the frontier officials in the Kangxi period. Officials like Zhang Boxing were not popular in the Yongzheng Dynasty. On the contrary, most local governors were officials who implemented the "military and harsh policy" .
Kangxi
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, some censors severely criticized the Yongzheng Dynasty's employment policy and hoped that Qianlong could revise his father's employment policy and stop using "talent" as the criterion for employment. Such officials are very popular in the local area. He may be a corrupt person who has a great influence on the country. To be honest, this kind of reflection in the court in the early years of Qianlong was correct. The employment policy in the late Yongzheng period was indeed too much and not as good as it was. It was true that local officials were competent, but it was also true that they had no moral integrity. Such officials who have been serving in one place for a long time are likely to make the people's livelihood miserable. However, Qianlong did not intend to change the overall thinking of his father's employment policy. He agreed to pay attention to the conduct of officials. However, throughout the 60 years of Qianlong's reign, most of the feudal officials he promoted were "banner people". "Capable officials" rather than honest officials. The most typical examples are and Shen . In terms of official skills, He Shen can be said to have been brought to the extreme. He controlled the financial revenue and expenditure of the Qing Dynasty and was a shrewd "official businessman". He was also an He is extremely corrupt, but such a person has been favored by Qianlong for decades. This is not a reflection of the Yongzheng Dynasty's official selection standards.
Heshen and Qianlong
In short, the struggle between talent and virtue that has been pursued in China for thousands of years has been summarized in the Qing Dynasty. Emperors of the Qing Dynasty were not very fond of so-called honest officials. By the time of Emperor Yongzheng, he completely regarded talent as the primary criterion for selecting officials, and this continued until the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
Wen Shijun said
The standard for selecting officials today is still to have both moral integrity and talent. But the problem is that such officials are in the minority after all, so the question of whether to pursue morality or talent is still a key issue today. . Today we all know that anti-corruption is a top priority for the country, which means that no matter how great your talent is, it is no bigger than the word "virtue", and no bigger than the word "law". This also highlights the courage and determination of our government today. At the same time, the emphasis on law is the biggest difference between today's government and ancient times.
References
Guo Chengkang: "It is better to use capable officials with ordinary ethics than upright officials who follow the rules and regulations - Yongzheng's other view on the way of employing people", "Qing History Research" Issue 4, 2001.
Fan Ziye: "Talk about "Rong Zhi" - a standard for selecting officials in the medieval times", "Literary and Historical Knowledge", Issue 11, 2017.
(Author: Haoran Literature and History·Little Sun)
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