Hangzhou Shiqiao fortune teller

The case of evocation seems to be a small rumor, but its hidden political influence is actually very great, because it has been upgraded to a direct game between bureaucratic groups and imperial power. If this incident is not clarified, then the Great Qing Dynasty will really be shaken.

Summon the soul? event

1768, Qianlong ascended the throne in thirty-three years, which was the peak event of Qianlong's prosperous time. At this time, the water gate and the city bridge on the east wall of Deqing collapsed and needed to be renovated. The government hired Wu masons to repair the bridge. Farmer Shen Shi turned to magic for help because of family conflicts. They think masons can make a person evil by putting his name on a stake.

So, they handed a piece of paper with the nephew's name on it to Wu bricklayer and asked him to stick it on a stake. But Wu Meisen was afraid that this kind of witchcraft would bring trouble to himself, so he reported the Shen Shi couple. The government tried the case and punished Mr. and Mrs. Shen Shi, so it was over.

But the incident is far more than that. In April of the same year, Ji Laihang, a native of Deqing, begged and was arrested by the government for his strange behavior. He is also considered as a soul killer because of the rumor that Deqing needs a soul to build a bridge and pile. After extorting a confession by torture, Ji confessed at random, saying that it was instigated by Wu masons, and finally suddenly admitted that he made it up himself.

After these two incidents, the incident of evocation intensified, and similar cases appeared one after another from Xiaoshan to Suzhou, including many monks and beggars. The method of summoning souls was buried at this moment, and then the people spread around. It seems that this is the case all over the country.

Prosperous times in crisis.

After the case of evocation, people can't help asking why such superstitious events occurred in the heyday of Qianlong, and such events were not two together, but spread all over the country.

From Kong Feili's book Evocation, we can know that the criminals who evoke souls are monks, Taoist priests, beggars and other people at the bottom of society. /kloc-during the Qing dynasty in the 0 th and 8 th centuries, the frontier pacified the country and prospered. With the development of handicraft industry and commerce, the population exploded during Qianlong period, which led to an increasingly unbalanced relationship between supply and demand during labor.

On the one hand, with the prosperity of handicraft industry and commodity economy, people exchange their labor for benefits; On the other hand, selling labor means that these people don't have to rely on land, but the market can't accept all the labor. As a result, the rapid development of commerce has led to a large number of unemployed people, including monks, Taoists, beggars and vagrants.

Every place has a fixed crowd, that is, its own interest circle. Whether it is the upper class or the lower class, after too many vagrants enter the Jiangnan society, it will cause the population to compete for benefits and there will be competition between people. Those foreigners who enter the local interest circle will be regarded as dangerous people.

Gan Long's anger.

What is the ancient Confucian doctrine? Son not language Machamp disorderly god? These bureaucrats don't all believe in souls. They like shiny silver and rice bowls on their heads. At first, the incident of evocation was just a small matter among the people, but after it spread all over the country, those officials panicked, but even so, for the sake of official positions, Qianlong must never know. As a result, the evocation incident broke out for two months, endangering the whole country, and local officials blocked the news from the supreme ruler of the country and concealed it.

However, Gan Longan inserted spies from all over the country and finally reported it to him, which made Gan Long furious. Why did a small evocation case shake the Qing Dynasty? It is precisely because officials in all provinces and regions of the country bully their superiors and deceive their subordinates, treating senior officials and rulers of the country as fools, which is tantamount to an act of overhead imperial power.

So, Qianlong ordered the round-up of necromancy witchcraft, a lot? The devil party? Was caught and learned from them that it caused this incident? Demon head? Hiding in Jiangnan. Qianlong ordered the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River to arrest the demon head, and then launched a nationwide campaign to crack down on necromancy witchcraft. The crackdown lasted for several months, during which countless unjust, false and wrongful cases were caused, and many people died innocently and were forced to stop.

Three forces that shake the foundation of the country

As a politician and ruler, Qianlong certainly didn't believe in soul magic. He believes that behind the so-called witchcraft is a huge political conspiracy and a huge organization against imperial power. These people opposed the rule of the Qing Dynasty by witchcraft, incited hatred against the Qing Dynasty, and even finally launched the anti-Qing war.

What makes Gan Long angry most is that those officials in the case of evocation deceive their superiors and delude their subordinates, which comes down in one continuous line. As emperors, they didn't know until two months after the incident, which made witchcraft spread in Jiangnan area and even the whole country. The witchcraft case seems to be a small rumor, which contains conspiracy against politics and official corruption.

The so-called shaking the Qing Dynasty is not witchcraft, but official corruption, which is the cancer of the whole Qing Empire and the main reason for shaking it. After this incident, a large number of officials across the country were punished. Let's just say that Gan Long took this opportunity to clear the officialdom and clean up those vegetarian officials.

Under the combined effect of soul-stirring rumors, conspirators' provocation and officials' corruption, the prosperous period of Qianlong in 1768 fell into a great panic, which was actually a national panic, except for the people and Qianlong. The explosive development of population led to the surplus of labor force, the competition between people, and was provoked by a willing heart, which also became an uneasy factor in Qing society.