Chapter 3371 3573 [First Southern Tour]
In the thirty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign, after the completion of the Yangtze River Bridge, Xiang Nan issued an order to conduct his first southern tour.
Kangxi made six trips to the south of the Yangtze River. One is to inspect river defense. The Yellow River, Yangtze River, Huaihe River, Canal, Qiantang River, etc. are all very unruly, and floods occur almost every year.
Once a flood occurs, both sides of the river will be in bad luck. Not only will there be no grain harvest, but the people will also be displaced and miserable. At that time, the rule of the empire will even be shaken, so river defense is crucial.
The emperor walked along the canal, so he could check the situation of the canal along the way. In addition, the southern tour also passed through the Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River, Qiantang River and other places. Emperor Kangxi would also inspect local river affairs and see the lives of the people around him.
The second is to win over the people. During the southern tour, the emperor will pardon the taxes, money and food of the people along the way. If there is a disaster, disaster relief will be arranged immediately. They will also inspect local officials' governance and punish those who are corrupt, those who disregard human lives, those who oppress good people, and those who do evil, which will naturally win the support of the people.
In fact, ordinary people no longer care who is the emperor, as long as he treats them well.
Historically, Qianlong also made six southern tours.
But unlike his grandfather who worked hard to govern, care about river defense, and win people's hearts, Qianlong's six southern tours were all done for show.
Every time he went on a southern tour, he always took the queen, concubines, princes, ministers, etc. with him. With so many people, more than a thousand large ships were needed, and the canal had to be specially widened for this purpose.
On the road, the situation becomes even more grand, requiring more than 6,000 horses, more than 400 carts, more than 800 camels, and more than 10,000 civilians.
Moreover, all prefectures and counties along the way had to build roads, splash streets with clean water, pave roads with loess, and build dozens of palaces for the emperor to rest. Each palace is extremely gorgeous, with antiques, furnishings, and flower pots.
In order to help the emperor enjoy his travels, delicacies, beautiful scenery, and beauties were naturally indispensable. As said in "A Dream of Red Mansions", money is spent like flowing water.
According to incomplete statistics, during Qianlong's six southern tours, the Ministry of Revenue alone spent more than 20 million taels of silver, accounting for about 30% of the national treasury's annual revenue. This does not include how much money the local government spent on picking up the driver.
In his later years, Qianlong regretted his six southern tours. "I have been in the imperial government for sixty years and have not lost any virtue. However, my six southern tours wasted people and money. It was useless and harmful."
…
Xiang Nan's tour to the south was not to show off, but mainly to check the folk customs and administration along the road, as well as the river affairs of the canal, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River, and Qiantang River.
After Xiang Nan reformed the political system, although the authority of the Ministry of Supervision and the Ministry of Supervision was increased, they were qualified and capable to control officials and crack down on criminals.
But politics is not that simple. This is not a business simulation game. With a few clicks of the mouse, those NPCs will do what you want.
In fact, even in modern times, with so many censorship systems, so many surveillance technologies, and so many exposure channels, it is still inevitable to prevent similar incidents, let alone ancient times.
The only thing Xiang Nan can do is to kill one person to serve as a warning to others, so that those people can think carefully about the consequences before reaching out.
Now that the railway is connected, the sea route is also very smooth, so the role of the canal is not as crucial as before.
But if nothing happens, it’s better to do so. After all, every flood not only costs tens or millions of taels of silver, but may also cause tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced. This is no joke.
Therefore, official administration and river affairs are very important, so Xiang Nan wanted to inspect the south. However, in order to avoid disturbing the people along the way, Xiang Nante issued an edict to local officials not to build palaces, increase taxes, offer gifts, offer beautiful women, or recruit civilian husbands...
Moreover, he was traveling by train, and the train would stop at any time. When the time comes, he will pay a private visit incognito to investigate the people's customs and governance. Therefore, local officials should not try to whitewash the situation. A place is what it should be, and even if it can be hidden for a while, it cannot be hidden forever.
After receiving such an order, local officials in various places gritted their teeth.
If it were another emperor who visited the south, they would be eager to seize the opportunity and show their filial piety, so as to win the emperor's favor and seek advancement.
But Xiang Nan is an iron-faced emperor, even more ruthless than Bao Qingtian. He hates corrupt officials as much as he hates them, hates corrupt officials to the core, and is eager to kill bully landlords and gangsters.
Therefore, once he is found out, he will definitely be dismissed from his position, his home will be confiscated, and he will be exiled. Therefore, in order to avoid this, officials from all walks of life quickly launched severe crackdowns within their jurisdictions.
He first dealt with the officials with a bad reputation, the gangsters on the street, and the local tyrants and evil gentry in the countryside. In case Xiang Nan finds out later, he will be implicated.
…
In May, Xiang Nan officially visited the south. He was accompanied by nine elder brothers, twenty-three concubines, and a group of princes and ministers. Everyone travels together by train.
Usually everyone is bored in the capital. My brother, princes and ministers live outside the palace and can still see the world. It was rare for someone like Xiang Nan to leave the palace, let alone his concubines.
Different from folklore and film and television romances, where Qianlong often went on patrol incognito, in history Qianlong never went out on patrol incognito. Because the real Qianlong was very busy.
According to "Records of Qianlong's Daily Life", Qianlong got up at three o'clock in the middle of the night, went to Kunning Palace to pay homage at four o'clock, listened to politics at five o'clock, that is, let officials from various ministries report on their work, had breakfast at six o'clock, and had breakfast at seven o'clock. Zhong summoned the ministers and reviewed the memorials, and was busy until he started eating at two or three o'clock in the afternoon.
During the Qing Dynasty, the emperor only ate two meals a day, and would eat snacks when he was hungry at night. After lunch, there will be an hour's rest, and then there will be another round of memorials, summoning ministers to discuss state affairs, and they will be busy until six or seven in the evening.
After six or seven o'clock, Qianlong could freely arrange his time, read books, write, write poems, etc. At this time, Jingshifang asked Qianlong to turn over the signs.
At eight o'clock, the concubines were sent to Qianlong's palace after bathing, usually for thirty to forty-five minutes, and then were carried back. This system is to prevent the emperor from indulging in women and delaying state affairs.
At nine o'clock, Qianlong could rest by himself and get up to work at three o'clock the next day. Except for the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival and my birthday, I have to spend this time almost all year round.
Therefore, Qianlong slept for less than eight hours a day, not to mention private visits incognito, so how could he be so interested in visiting outside the palace.
Although Qianlong was criticized by later generations, his achievements were actually very high. Destroy Junggar, recover Qinghai-Tibet, win over Mongolia, conquer Bagan, and pacify Nepal...
Under his rule, the Qing Dynasty's land area reached 13 million square kilometers. In the later years of Qianlong, China's population exceeded the 300 million mark, and its GDP accounted for more than 40% of the world economy.
Compared with all dynasties in ancient China, Qianlong can be regarded as the best. Just in terms of opening up territory and multiplying the population, no one can match it.
It just happened to catch up with the great changes unseen in a thousand years, and no matter how great his achievements were, he could not show them.
(End of this chapter)