In a feudal society with a highly centralized power, those in power need corrupt officials. The emperor, standing at the top of the power pyramid, cannot personally manage the entire country; he needs a bureaucratic system to help him govern. At this time, he must rely on the officials below him to realize his rule. How can these officials be willing to serve the emperor? You have to provide benefits to them! As for how to provide these benefits, there is a lot of knowledge involved.
As the emperor, you are the son of heaven, representing heaven to rule the people, so you must embody justice and fairness; otherwise, your regime lacks a legitimate foundation. Therefore, as the emperor, you cannot directly collect the wealth from the common people through heavy taxation; otherwise, when the people see the heavy taxes you impose, they will turn against you, and your regime will become unstable.
To stabilize the country, emperors typically do not directly engage in these dirty and tiring tasks; that would be too undignified! What to do? At this time, the emperor needs corrupt officials to step in. The emperor will delegate power to the officials below him, tacitly allowing them to use their power to extort from the people. In this way, corrupt officials can gain benefits, and the wealth from the people is secured.
Corrupt officials are also very clear that they can obtain these benefits because of the power in their hands, which comes from the emperor. Therefore, to protect their own interests, corrupt officials will naturally support and uphold the emperor. This way, the foundation of the regime becomes solid.
The position of emperor is very attractive, and many people covet it, even the Monkey King, who jumped out of a stone, shouted, "The emperor takes turns sitting; next year it will be my turn." Therefore, without this group of corrupt officials working hard to maintain the emperor's regime, it would be very difficult to sit steadily on the dragon throne. Thus, the brilliance of imperial strategy lies in the fact that the court employs corrupt officials while also raising the banner of anti-corruption.
Many people do not understand. Since those in power need to use corrupt officials, why do they also oppose them? In fact, when those in power raise the banner of anti-corruption, the purpose is to confuse the lower-class people, presenting a facade of representing fairness and justice. Some corrupt officials below may act too aggressively, extorting too much from the people, leading to visible discontent among the populace. When those in power oppose corruption, they announce to the people, "Look, these corrupt officials are so bad, extorting so much from the people. Today, I will take charge and deal with these corrupt officials; I am fighting for fairness and justice for everyone." This way, the lower-class people are deceived. Oh, it turns out the corrupt officials are the bad ones, and the emperor is still good; it’s just that the corrupt officials have mismanaged the emperor's affairs. Therefore, even when the people are suffering, like the rebel heroes in "Water Margin," they only say, "We only oppose corrupt officials, not the emperor." You see, through this wave of anti-corruption operations, the people recognize the emperor, and the emperor consolidates public support, thus stabilizing the regime.
For those in power, they do not need to worry about how much wealth the corrupt officials are embezzling; they only fear that these officials do not listen to them. Raising the banner of anti-corruption brings many benefits.
First, the emperor can gain the advantage of aligning with public sentiment by cleverly transferring the wealth that corrupt officials have extorted into the national treasury (which is essentially the emperor's pocket). So everyone here can understand that throughout history, has there ever been a time when an emperor returned the wealth obtained by corrupt officials to the people who were extorted?
Second, the emperor can conveniently eliminate disobedient corrupt officials, cutting off dissent. When the emperor opposes corruption, he does not aim to take down all corrupt officials; he will retain those who are obedient. The remaining corrupt officials also understand that their leverage is in the emperor's hands, and the emperor can eliminate them at any time, which makes them even more submissive to the emperor. This way, dissent can be eliminated, while also intimidating the remaining corrupt officials, and garnering the support of the people, achieving multiple goals with one action.
Thus, using corrupt officials is the intention of those in power, while opposing corrupt officials is their secret weapon. Between employing corrupt officials and opposing them, it is all a strategy for those in power to control the officials. When they need you, they let you be corrupt; when they don’t need you, they easily dispose of you. This is similar to a chamber pot, which is usually kept in a hidden corner, ready to solve the urgent needs of those in power. When those in power no longer need it, they kick it away. A chamber pot, after all, cannot be put on display; its role is to do the dirty work for the leaders while hiding its identity and purpose.
In the late Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen removed the corrupt Wei Zhongxian and appointed members of the Donglin Party. However, tragedy struck; these Donglin Party members could only engage in empty talk and could not raise funds. At that time, the Ming Dynasty needed to fight against the Later Jin and suppress the peasant army led by Li Zicheng, requiring a huge military budget. Although the Donglin Party members were not corrupt, they could not raise money to support the court in battle. Because they were not corrupt, the emperor had no excuse to remove them. In fact, the fighting capability of Li Zicheng's peasant army was not strong, but unfortunately, when the frontline situation was urgent, the Donglin Party members failed to raise sufficient military funds to boost morale and retain the loyalty of the troops, ultimately allowing Li Zicheng to enter Beijing and bringing down the Ming Dynasty. This is the true historical story of not properly utilizing corrupt officials and anti-corruption.
Therefore, those who are well-versed in the art of governance know that they must use corrupt officials, nurture them, and then oppose and eliminate them. Only then can they clean up the bureaucratic ranks and cultivate a group of officials who actively support their authority. This is the reason why corrupt officials are opposed year after year, yet still exist year after year. This is also the real reason we keep talking about anti-corruption while still being on the road. And the root cause of the emergence of corrupt officials is something those in power are naturally aware of. Anti-corruption is an endless battle.
Hayek once said, "Why are some problems never solved? Because the people who solve the problems are the ones who create them." The chamber pot is an indispensable tool for those in power. If you take away the chamber pot, when the emperor needs to urinate at night, who will he turn to? You certainly can't let the emperor expose himself in front of everyone, can you?!