The process of receiving relief cases in Gansu

This corruption case started as early as the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong (1774), and the truth was concealed for seven years. It was the forty-three anti-Qing uprising of Salar Su in Xunhuatang that triggered the thorough exposure of this major case.

In March of the 46th year of Qianlong, Su Sisan, a Salar in Xunhua Hall (now Xunhua County, Qinghai Province) under the jurisdiction of Hezhou, Gansu Province, led the Salar and Hui people to revolt against the Qing Dynasty and advance to Lanzhou. Emperor Qianlong was afraid of Lanzhou and urgently sent reinforcements from Liancheng, Liangzhou and Shaanxi to suppress it. Tens of thousands of loyal ministers gathered in the provincial capital, and military spending became a big problem. Because the loyalist couldn't win quickly, Qianlong was furious and was relieved of his post as governor of Shaanxi but Gansu. At that time, local officials in Gansu were in a panic. In order to get rid of the predicament, Wang Tingzan, the political envoy of Gansu at that time, took the initiative to play for Emperor Qianlong. The memorial said: "I am willing to pay the 42,000 pensions accumulated over the years to the treasury of Gansu Province." Wang Tingzan never imagined that one of his memorials was discovered by the shrewd Emperor Qianlong. Gan Long asked: "Wang Yanzan is just a vassal (that is, a political envoy) in Gansu. Why does his family have money? " A Gui, a university student who has been in Gansu, and Li Shiyao, acting governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, were immediately sent to closely investigate whether Wang Yanzan participated in the donation of prisons in Gansu because of his rich family.

Therefore, Emperor Qianlong concentrated heavily on suppressing the forty-three uprisings of the Soviet Union in Lanzhou. At the same time, it opened the inside story of Gansu's pursuit of local officials invading poverty at the expense of relief. The details of the case are as follows: In Qing Dynasty, Gansu implemented "prison donation". The so-called "prison donation" means that all scholars who are willing to obtain the diploma of imperial academy Guo Jian must donate food to the local official warehouse in a prescribed amount, and use the food to help the victims in case of famine. Later, the "donation to prison" once stopped. After Wang Danwang was appointed as the deployment envoy of Gansu Province, he persuaded Le Erjin, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu Province, to ask the Qing court for permission on the grounds that Gansu was short of grain storage and could use "donating prison" to help the victims. In the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong, it began to donate construction in various parts of Gansu. But this time, Wang Danwang found another way to let Guo Jianzi exchange the beans and wheat that should be donated for silver, and changed the "original order to only collect natural grain and rice" to "privately collect colored silver". In this way, grain and rice became silver, which facilitated Wang Danwang and officials at all levels to enrich themselves. At the same time, Wang Danwang transferred Jiang Quandi to be the magistrate of Lanzhou, in charge of "prison donation" affairs. Jiang Quandi acted in full accordance with Wang Danwang's intention, spending the hidden money at will in the name of disaster relief, and profiting from it. Jiang Quandi negotiated with Wang Danwang to book the disaster situation for each county, and set the donation amount according to the severity of the disaster situation reported by each county. The Francisco yamen will send bills to each county according to the predetermined number of copies, so that each county can provide relief according to the bill. This is "liberation".

It also discusses the method of establishing "sitting with the governor", sitting in Lanzhou and accepting stolen money. All counties gave Wang Danwang silver for disaster relief and sent it by the method of "sitting with the governor". Jiang Quandi also took the opportunity to extort feed from various places. Later, after Wang Tingzan took over as the minister in charge of Gansu Province, although he found that he did not meet the requirements of "donating prison", he also discussed with the governor and wanted to stop donating money. However, he can't resist the temptation of interest after all. Instead of telling the truth, he changed the matter of private collection from state and county to the general office of Lanzhou magistrate, making it worse and repeating the quagmire. The political envoys of a province in the Qing Dynasty (ministers, in charge of finance, personnel and criminal names) were assistant officials of the governor and the governor. Gansu is barren and poor, and the officialdom is poor. As an envoy of a province, Wang Tingzan couldn't donate 42,000 private silver anyway. At this time, Wang Danwang, a former Gansu military envoy who was promoted from Zhejiang to governor, was exposed to corruption because of his 45-year southern tour. What a coincidence. Why do two political envoys in Gansu have such huge sums of money? Do they seek personal gain from prison donations in Gansu? Therefore, on the one hand, Qianlong concentrated heavily on suppressing the uprising in Lanzhou, on the other hand, it opened the inside story of tracing the corruption of local officials in Gansu.

Gansu is located in the northwest, where disasters occur frequently. In the early Qing Dynasty, it was once practiced that all scholars who were willing to obtain the qualification of imperial academy should donate beans, wheat and grain to local official warehouses in a specified amount. Qualified people can take exams and enter official positions, which is called "donating to prison". In case of famine, the food will be used to relieve the victims. However, in the process of implementation, due to many drawbacks, it was once stopped. In April of the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong, after Wang Danwang was appointed as the special envoy for deployment in Gansu, he persuaded the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu to take Le Erjin on the grounds that Gansu suffered from famine for years and lacked grain storage, and the old practice of donating grain for disaster relief could be restored. So, in thirty-nine years, all parts of Gansu began to donate money. In fact, the so-called shortage of storage is just a cover, and donation supervision is to gain a "name" of jobbery. Wang Danwang adopted a different way of donating money to the prison, so that the prison could exchange the grain it should donate for silver, instead of "collecting only the raw grain and rice" into "privately collecting colored silver". When the Qing court approved the reopening of the donation to the prison, it was stipulated that each Guo-zi-jian diploma should donate 43 stones of grain. Wang Danwang changed the 43 stones of grain into 47 taels of silver, plus 8 taels of silver and miscellaneous fees, and each Guo-zi-jian diploma donated 55 taels. In this way, the grain supervisor suddenly became glistening money.

To do such a big and outrageous thing, you need a right-hand man. Wang Danwang transferred his confidant Jiang Quandi to the magistrate of Lanzhou, and publicly instructed Jiang Quandi to be in charge of the money collected by the counties. After Jiang Quandi came to power, he converted the grain supervisor into silver, which he collected at will in the name of disaster relief. From April, 1939 to early, 1942, less than three years after the donation, he spent more than 6 million stone on food supervision. And these sold grains actually turned into silver and fell into the hands of corrupt officials. In order to make full use of the profit opportunity of this donation, Jiang Quandi and Wang Danwang discussed the disaster situation for each county, and set the donation amount according to the severity of the disaster situation reported by each county. The company will send the reservation form to each county, and each county will provide relief according to the order. In other words, the county can report as much as it wants.

At that time, there was a rule that Wang Danwang accepted money, that is, his subordinates could not let him see it, otherwise he would not accept it. The briber put the money in a jar, put it in a vegetable basket, or send it through the janitor, so Wang Danwang and his subordinates naturally know. In order to accept bribes, state officials also played an extremely disgraceful role. Some of them directly participate in sharing stolen money, some accept bribes, and some report false information to cover up their subordinates. At that time, there was a saying in Gansu officialdom: "Meet 1,200, eat 2,200, and shoot 3,200." This is a true portrayal of Wang Danwang's bribery. After Wang Danwang was transferred, Wang Tingzan took over as ambassador to Gansu. At first, Wang Tingzan found that the conversion of prison grain into silver did not meet the conditions for donating to prison. He also discussed with Governor Lel to stop donating money, but he couldn't resist the temptation of interest. Wang Tingzan also illegally cashed in. During the forty-second year of Qianlong's reign, from June to the beginning of forty-six, he handled more than five million mangokus of grain supervision, but Rainbow was the king and was repeatedly mired in the quagmire.

Wang Tingzan was an Anding county magistrate before he was appointed as the deployment envoy of Gansu Province. He is also honest and devoted to public service. He also did many good things for the people of Anding County. Up to now, there are still the remaining "Wang Gong Bridge" in Dingxi area, which is praised by the people, bridging roads and benefiting one party. However, after he took over as Gansu's political envoy, he was greedy for money and colluded with Ler in donating prisons. Emperor Qianlong sent people to investigate Gansu cases, and Xiao Shenyang was one of them. Wang Tingzan has a good personal relationship with Xiao Shenyang. After Shenyang arrived in Lanzhou, Wang Tingzan grabbed a lifeline and asked him for advice. Little Shenyang asked him to hand over some money, pay soldiers and help the poor to hide their eyes and ears and reduce their guilt. This is why Wang Tingzan presented the throne to Emperor Qianlong. After Wang Tingzan played, he quickly tipped off provincial officials and hid gold and silver, so when the case-handling officials ordered the seizure of his property, there was little left.

As early as the day when Gansu reopened the donation prison, Emperor Qianlong always attached importance to the handling of grain supervision. At the beginning of the forty-second year of Qianlong, Emperor Qianlong sent Yuan Shoudong, a minister of punishments, to Gansu to open a warehouse to check grain. Officials from various counties in Gansu colluded and cheated, laying boards under the granary and scattering food on the boards, which gave Yuan Shoudong the illusion that the granary was full. Yuan Shoudong wrote back to Beijing, saying that "the grain storage system is true", and Emperor Qianlong believed it. The Gansu disaster relief case is obviously not an isolated case. The clever emperor Qianlong investigated Gansu and Zhejiang. Emperor Qianlong immediately ordered Chen Huizu, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, to inquire about Wang Danwang in his hometown in Zhejiang, and ordered Wang Tingzan, who succeeded Wang Danwang as the ambassador of Gansu, to report the private donation. At the beginning of June, Wang Tingzan argued that after he took office, he was not allowed to change color. As no one reported the donation, he had to go through the formalities as usual. I am also worried that food prices are different, and counties deliberately make things difficult. Therefore, it is uniformly stipulated that the donation amount shall be 55 taels. Of course, Wang Tingzan's words are "extremely unreliable". Emperor Qianlong pointed out on June 10 that the donation of grain in Gansu was originally for food relief and should be collected as it is. How to publicly verify the price discount? Why have officials at all levels in Gansu never mentioned such an important matter to the court? Besides, the price of 55 taels of silver shows that the food price in this province is not high and the food source is sufficient, so why bother to provide relief! He ordered Agui and others to continue the investigation. Three days later, on June 13, the memorial of Fujian and Zhejiang Governor Chen Huizu was also sent to Beijing. Chen Huizu reported that Wang Danwang admitted that he did hear about the discount during the donation process, and once blamed his subordinates for it, but later he thought that he could buy more food after the cashier, and it went away. Emperor Qianlong said that it is still difficult to accept this explanation. He thinks this donation was originally intended to enrich the warehouse. Since we can supply at such a low price, we know that there is enough food in the province, but why should we give it every year? With such a large amount of food supplement, how can food prices not rise? Well, it seems that "this matter has accumulated for a long time, and all provincial officials are guilty", so A Gui and others were asked to get to the bottom of it. After a period of hard work, by the beginning of July, Agui basically found out and reported Wang Danwang and others' illegal activities in Gansu, such as fundraising and selling grain for disaster relief. Emperor Qianlong immediately issued an imperial edict on July 30, summing up the case: Wang Danwang colluded inside and outside, openly collecting discounts; Le Erjing is like a puppet and has no knowledge. Wang Danwang relied on Jiang Quandi, the magistrate of Lanzhou Prefecture, to make up for the drought at all levels in the province and submit an expense account. The following local officials colluded with each other and had nothing to fear, which caused such a major corruption case. How much did Wang Danwang and others collect and embezzle? Today, we don't know the exact number, but what is certain is that this number is bound to be huge. For example, Zhejiang seized Wang Danwang's property. Although Chen Huizu, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, occupied a lot privately, the reported figure was still as high as 3 million taels. In addition, according to Wang Danwang, more than 8 million stones were donated, so a total of180,000 people were donated. According to the calculation of 55 taels per person, there should be more than 100000 taels of silver confiscated, and both of these 1000000 taels of silver eventually disappeared in the "disaster relief" activities, that is to say, they are all "moths". The amount of corruption is huge, the highest since the Qing dynasty entered the customs.

In the forty-six years of Qianlong (A.D. 178 1), on July 30th, Emperor Qianlong wrote a letter and immediately executed Wang Danwang. Le Le wanted to commit suicide, and Wang Tingzan hanged the marquis. On August 18th, Emperor Qianlong dealt with other officials. By that year 10, as many as 56 people were taken to the execution ground. Since then, as many as 46 people have been exiled from death, and officials in Gansu Province are almost "empty". This kind of large-scale collective crime, from the governor to the county magistrate, is unique in history of qing dynasty. It is unheard of to slay, strangle and exile so many corrupt officials at one time. Master Qianlong was furious and didn't know who to start with. Finally, he handed the begging eyes to Xiao Shenyang: "I hate corrupt officials the most in my life. What about the heart that loves you? " -It is said that the wrath of the emperor buried millions of corpses, but when Qianlong really wanted to kill such a nest, his old and fragile heart was already chilling; He knows how many honest officials are left in the country if he keeps killing like this. If this continues, will the prosperous and peaceful dynasty of the Great Qing Dynasty be left with a pile of smelly dog shit? -Little Shenyang read hopeless grief and indignation, sadness of being unable to return to heaven, and helplessness of eating navel; He is calm and calm, and calmly responds; "I thought the Gansu case was a grievance. Should I kill or not? Whose head should I kill? When it is delivered to the public, I will make a sacred decision. " I kicked the ball to all the ministers. Civil and military officials are like ants, silent. They know best, if the platform is lax, which one is not the bane of your small Shenyang? When it comes to dealing with the corruption of foreigners, which one can be said to be related to small Shenyang? Gansu bureaucrats are all your henchmen in Shenyang. Who can you blame? For today's sake, how dare you talk eloquently in front of the court, and the thief shouted to catch the thief! Little Shenyang is in power and rarely manages politics. In addition to fooling around, it is blindly plundering wealth. He not only took bribes, but also publicly blackmailed; It is not only secret corruption, but also open plunder. Small Shenyang will never give up in a more barren and backward border area like Gansu. The wealth of capital cities such as Gansu is like a bottomless pit, and bribes from officials all over the country are poured into their mouths like waterfalls. 1799, Qianlong died, the iceberg fell, and small Shenyang also fell. When the new emperor Jiaqing immediately arrested and executed Xiao Shenyang and liquidated his property, the total amount was 900 million taels of silver, which did not include the huge sum of money embezzled by his family. At that time, the total revenue of the national treasury was only 82 million. Small Shenyang has been in power for 20 years, and the amount of corruption is equivalent to the total fiscal revenue of the whole country 12 years, which is outrageous. When King Louis XIV of France died in 17 15, all his property was only 20 million francs, which has attracted the reviled people. According to the calculation that 3.75 francs was equivalent to one or two silvers at that time, the king's property was only1170 of China, a corrupt official. Yan Song, a big corrupt official in the Ming Dynasty, embezzled only 2 million yuan, only 1/450 in Shenyang. So there was a saying among the people at that time: "Small Shenyang fell, Jiaqing was full."