最会当皇帝的皇帝——乾隆

题图：cheva用bluewillow AI工具创建。看来，这个AI不懂清朝皇帝皇帝的装束

中国有两千多年的帝制历史.在这段时期，有人统计过当过皇帝的人数不下三百人。在这些人当中，大部分很大一部分只是某个割据政权小朝廷的皇帝。还有一部分人并没有实权，而是大权旁落。只是傀儡，有的在位时也是碌碌无为。真正能够在历史上青史留名的用一双手都能够数得过来了。

在这些给后人留下深刻印象的皇帝当中，乾隆皇帝是一个非常可以说是一个非常完美的皇帝。虽然他的名声比不上开创帝制的秦皇汉武，但是从各方面来说，他应该是古今中外最会当皇帝的人了。之所以这么说，并不是因为乾隆皇帝在当皇帝的人当中，才华有多么出众。才华和技能突出，对于皇帝这个职业来说，其实是算负分的。比如隋炀帝，他的诗文，比当年的科举状元写的还要好。他所推行的大业，比如，修大运河，征高勾丽，从经济发展和国家安全战略上来说，是没有任何问题。只是他完全没有考虑社会和民众的承受能力。诗文才华出众的，还有南唐后主李煜，结果却是亡国之君。明朝的天启皇帝则非常善于木工活，他打造的家具让太监化妆成普通商人在京城的市场上出卖，能够成为抢手货，但是他却把一个烂摊子留给了他的弟弟——崇祯皇帝。

乾隆皇帝自然不会希望自己在这方面落后，他也写过很多诗，但是能够传世的几乎没有，都是打油诗体。但这并不妨碍他成为最成功的皇帝。皇帝做的成功的体现，第一要有拿得出手的政绩。第二，能够维持住庞大国家的稳定和朝廷的权威。其实大清朝到了乾隆时候，已经进入中期了，各种社会问题和矛盾都开始显现和爆发。如果不是乾隆皇帝高超的统治术的话，清帝国的崩溃可能会提前到来。

乾隆皇帝高超的统治术体现在哪个方，哪些方面呢？第一条就是他大兴文字狱，因为对皇权挑战最大的就是人们的思想观念。因为观念是指导人的行动的，所以要从根本上消除对皇权的挑战，就要对思想观念严加控制，而达到这一目的的最佳方法，就是大兴文字狱。乾隆朝的文字狱达到了历史空前的水平。其实是明朝的太祖朱元璋开启了文字狱。不过那都是因为朱元璋出身卑微，当皇帝之前还当过乞丐和和尚。他觉得那些读过书的文人，总是看不起他这个土老帽、暴发户，在诗文中拐弯抹角的讽刺他。所以大兴路几次文字狱，这完全是出于个人自卑而偏执的性格，并不是制度化。乾隆的父亲雍正在位期间也搞过文字狱，动机与朱元璋差不多。乾隆皇帝的文字狱的不同之处就在于，他没有个人好恶，他完全就是出于前面所说的严格管控和压制民间的思想动机。所以他的文字与大多数是没有什么来由的，而是定期就要抓几起大案，杀一批人，几乎成为一种惯例。这造成了一个严重的后果，就是乾隆之后，满清的文人都只敢去研究考据学，而不敢发表自己的观点。没有新的思潮和学说产生，自然也就不会有危及皇权的观念冒头，也就没人造反了。

乾隆皇帝统治书的第二点就是编撰《四库全书》。他搞这个文化工程的首要目的，自然是宣扬自己的文治成果。因为之前他已经宣布自己有十全武功了。为了要把编撰四库全书搞成古往今来最大的文化工程，乾隆一开始还是摆出了很高的姿态，号召全国上下踊跃捐书，并且知道他之前搞文字狱，让大家人心惶惶，顾虑重重。还特别说，只要大家踊跃捐书，书中的内容与收藏人没有任何的关系，朝廷一律奖励。皇权社会，就是上有所好，下必甚焉。皇帝非常重视这项文化面子工程，底下的人自然也是层层加码，踊跃捐书。这些书收上来之后，乾隆的真正目的就曝光了。他将所有他与官方思想不和的敌视少数民族思潮有关的书籍，及他认为不合适的书籍全部都销毁。现在大致认为，乾隆皇帝销毁的书籍和《四库全书》中收纳的书籍应该是一样多的。因为编撰《四库全书》而再也无法面世的珍贵史料不计其数，但是不得不承认乾隆皇帝的远比秦始皇高明的多。虽然他们都做了几乎一样的事情。结果，乾隆皇帝还落了一个为万世立言的美名，而秦始皇却留下了焚书坑儒的千载骂名。

乾隆皇帝统治书的第三点就是营造出一种天威难测的形象。乾隆经常和他的大臣发生像下面这样对话。有时大臣会按照儒家的经典提出一些政治正确的建议，其实就是正确的废话。而这时乾隆可能会突然大怒，说道，你说的这些道理，朕在十几岁的时候就读过书，搞明白了，用不着你来教我。这时，大臣就会吓得匍匐在地。接着乾隆皇帝又会话风一转，说你说的这些都中规中矩，也都是至理名言，说明你是个老实人，嗯，还是值得朕信赖的。大臣刚舒一口气，乾隆又会话风一转。接着说你，们这些大臣啊，没有一个能够体谅朕的想法，也不会也不会充分领会朕的心思，用心办事，要你们又有何用。一番对话下来几起几伏。对面的大臣早已吓得肝胆俱裂，不知如何是好。这就是乾隆皇帝把皇帝这个职位做到极致的表现。他是一个PUA高手，能够真正的操控自己的属相下，而不像有的皇帝那样需要用利益去笼络。但是并不是所有的皇帝都能这样把大臣玩弄于股掌之间。他能够做到这一点的深刻原因，也是做皇帝的不二法门，说穿了就是人治。以皇帝的意思为标准。而皇帝的标准是，一般人不可能摸得到规律，不可能为普通人所掌控和利用。相对于更有可预测性的法治，这种人治所带来的结果也是不可预测的。在乾隆这种权术高手手上，能够应对各种危机，让帝国转危为安。但是到了他资质平庸的后代手里，就只能由着帝国江河日下。

总之，乾隆皇帝把他的帝国管理的很好，但这个代价就是消灭了社会向前发展的可能性，让一切都陷于停滞，让他自己成为所有事情的标准。他的谥号是对他非常完美的总结——纯皇帝。

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China has more than two thousand years of imperial history. During this period, no fewer than 300 people have been counted as emperors. Most of these people, a very large part, were only emperors of a small court with a separate power. There are also some people who do not have real power, but have power. They're just puppets. Some of them have nothing to do when they're in power. The number of people who can truly go down in history can be counted with one pair of hands.

Among the emperors who left a deep impression on later generations, Emperor Qianlong was a very perfect emperor. Although his reputation is not as good as that of the Qin Emperor and Han Wu who created the imperial system, from all aspects, he should be the most capable emperor in all ancient and modern countries. The reason for this is not that the Qianlong Emperor has any outstanding talent among those who have become emperors. Outstanding talent and skills, for the emperor's profession, is actually a negative score. For example, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty wrote better poems and prose than the imperial examinations champion of that year. The great things he promoted, such as building the Grand Canal and conquering the Kao Guli, were no problem in terms of economic development and national security strategy. It's just that he doesn't consider the social and people's ability to bear it at all. There was Li Yu, the late master of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who turned out to be the king of the subjugator. The Ming Emperor Tianqi was very good at woodworking, and the furniture he built was sold in the capital market by eunuchs disguised as ordinary merchants, which could be a hot item, but he left a mess for his younger brother, Emperor Chongzhen.

Emperor Qianlong certainly did not want to lag behind in this respect, and he wrote a lot of poems, but few of them can be handed down to the world, and they are all in the style of limber poems. But this did not prevent him from becoming the most successful emperor. The emperor to do the embodiment of success, the first must have a hand in the achievement. Second, it was able to maintain the stability of a large country and the authority of the court. In fact, by the time of Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty had entered the middle stage, and all kinds of social problems and contradictions began to appear and break out. The collapse of the Qing Empire might have come sooner had it not been for Emperor Qianlong's mastery of governance.

In which aspect and in what aspect did the Qianlong Emperor's superb ruling skill reflect? The first is that he vigorously promoted literary inquisition, because the biggest challenge to the imperial power is people's ideas. Because the idea is to guide people's actions, so to fundamentally eliminate the challenge to the imperial power, we must strictly control the idea, and the best way to achieve this goal is to promote literary inquisition. The literary inquisition in Qianlong Dynasty reached an unprecedented level in history. In fact, it was Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who opened the literary inquisition. But that was because Zhu Yuanzhang came from a humble background and worked as a beggar and monk before becoming emperor. He felt that those literati who had read books always looked down on him as an old man and a nouveau riche, and satirized him in their poems. Therefore, Daxing Road several times literary inquisition, which is completely out of personal inferiority and paranoid character, and not institutionalized. Qianlong's father Yongzheng also engaged in literary inquisition during his reign, with similar motives as Zhu Yuanzhang's. The difference of Emperor Qianlong's literary inquisition is that he has no personal likes and dislikes, and he is entirely motivated by the above-mentioned ideological motives of strict control and suppression of the people. Therefore, most of his writings have no reason, but regularly arrest several major cases and kill a group of people, almost becoming a routine. This caused a serious consequence, that is, after Qianlong, the literati of the Manchu Dynasty only dared to study textual science, but dared not express their own views. Without new ideas and doctrines, there would naturally be no rise of ideas threatening imperial power, and no rebellion.

The second point of Qianlong Emperor's rule book is the compilation of the Four Libraries. His primary purpose in this cultural project is, of course, to publicize his achievements in cultural governance. Because he had already declared himself a perfect fighter. In order to make the compilation of the four libraries into the largest cultural project through the ages, Qianlong at the beginning or put on a high posture, calling on the whole country to actively donate books, and know that he had engaged in literary prison before, so that everyone was afraid and worried. In particular, he said that as long as everyone actively donated the book, the content of the book has no relationship with the collector, the court will reward all. The imperial society, that is, the upper is good, the lower will be even more. The emperor attached great importance to this cultural face project, and the people below naturally added layers and enthusiastically donated books. After these books were collected, Qianlong's true purpose was exposed. He destroyed all books that he thought were at odds with the official ideology and hostile to minorities, as well as books that he considered inappropriate. It is now generally believed that the books destroyed by the Qianlong Emperor and the books collected in the Siku Quanshu should be as many. There are countless precious historical materials that can no longer be published because of the compilation of the Siku Quanshu, but we have to admit that the Qianlong Emperor's work was far superior to that of Qin Shihuang. Although they all did pretty much the same thing. As a result, the Qianlong Emperor also earned a reputation for speaking out for the ages, while the First Emperor of Qin left a reputation for burning books and burying scholars for thousands of years.

The third point of the Qianlong Emperor's rule book is to create an image of unpredictable power. Qianlong often had conversations with his ministers like the one below. Sometimes ministers make politically correct suggestions according to the Confucian classics, which are actually correct nonsense. At this time, Qianlong might suddenly get angry and say, "I read the books you said when I was a teenager, and I understood them, and you don't need to teach me." At this time, the minister would crawl to the ground in fear. Then the Qianlong Emperor changed the conversation and said that what you said was normal and wise, indicating that you are an honest person, well, still worthy of my trust. The minister just breathed a sigh of relief, Qianlong and conversation wind turn. Going on to you, these ministers, none of them can understand my thoughts, nor will they fully understand my thoughts, and do things with their heart, what is the use of you? The conversation had a few ups and downs. The minister on the opposite side had already been so frightened that he did not know what to do. This is the Qianlong emperor to the ultimate performance of the position of emperor. He was a PUA master, able to truly control his own subordinates, and did not need to use interests as some emperors did. But not all emperors were able to manipulate their ministers in this way. The profound reason why he was able to do this is also the only way to be an emperor, which is to put it bluntly, the rule of man. According to the emperor's wishes. And the emperor's standard is that ordinary people can not touch the law, it is impossible for ordinary people to control and use. In contrast to the more predictable rule of law, the results of this rule of man are also unpredictable. In the hands of such a master of power, Qianlong was able to deal with various crises and turn the empire around. But in the hands of his mediocre descendants, the empire can only decline.

In short, the Qianlong emperor managed his empire very well, but at the cost of eliminating the possibility of social progress, bringing everything to a standstill, and making himself the standard for everything. His posthumous title sums him up perfectly - pure Emperor.