In the Qianlong Dynasty, there was a prime minister named Chen Dafu, who was born into poverty, and he was particularly concerned about the well-being of the people. Wherever there was a famine, he was always the first to stand up for the people. When he played to the emperor, he had a habit of weeping and weeping when he talked about the suffering of the people. At that time, the territory of the Great Qing Dynasty was vast, and although it was the prosperous era of Kangqian, it was inevitable that disasters would occur somewhere, so of course he could not stop the things he played for the victims. Because he had become a habit of crying, whenever he wanted to play for the victims, the Qianlong Emperor couldn't help but smile and say, "You have to cry for the people again!" No matter how Qianlong laughed, Chen Dafu said that when he was emotional, he still cried.
Chen Dasheng, a native of Qiyang, Hunan, came from an ordinary peasant family and cultivated several acres of thin fields at the foot of the mountain, while his father ploughed the fields for others. Because his family was poor, he did not even have a place to live, so he had to live in a fisherman's house, and the fisherman went out to fish every day, and he studied in the fisherman's home, while waiting for the fishermen to come home. Until he reached the age of marriage, he could not afford to marry his daughter-in-law.
One of his clan members was in business, so he often went out, because Chen Dasheng was of good character, so he let Chen Dafu take care of his family. Coincidentally, this businessman's family had a lot of books, and Chen Dashou was able to read a lot of books.
Speaking of the daughter-in-law he married, it is really chilling, his wife is a numb face, and she is fat and ugly, and she is let the family marry and retire. And that's not all, he also became the door-to-door son-in-law. His wife was a rich woman, originally married, when the flower bridge was carried to the husband's house, the groom lifted the red hijab, found that it was an ugly woman with a numb face, and the groom immediately stopped doing it. At night, the rich woman slept alone in the new room, probably tired and nervous during the day, and did not dare to go to the toilet, and actually found the toilet in the dream at night, and woke up to find that the defecation was all pulled in the bed. At this point, the groom's family finally made up their minds to return the bride to her mother's house.
At this time, some well-meaning people matched Chen Dashou, but the ugly girl's parents heard that Chen Dashou's family was too poor, and first they disagreed. However, it is difficult for a divorced woman to marry out, coupled with the matchmaker's mention that Chen Dafu is a scholar and has a promising future in the future, the ugly woman's parents reluctantly agreed to this marriage, but put forward a condition, the man must enter the money. Chen Dasheng had no choice but to agree, so he became the door-to-door son-in-law of the ugly woman. However, the ugly woman's family conditions are good, so Chen Dashou can have the conditions to study with peace of mind.
The reading conditions provided by these two accidents have in a sense achieved Chen Dasheng. Chen Dafu was definitely a scholar, participated in the scientific examination, became famous in one fell swoop, and after he won the jinshi, he finally became a civil servant, and the names of the official positions he had done alone could be listed in a large list. To put it simply, he has served as a waiter in several departments, and has served as a shangshu of the bureaucracy, the household department, and the military department, and the bingbu shangshu is equivalent to the commander-in-chief of the three armed forces. He also served as a local governor, and also served as a feudal governor such as the viceroy of direct subordination and the viceroy of Liangjiang. He once served as a prince taibao and a prince taifu, equivalent to the prince's teacher. He used to serve the scripture feast, that is, he was a teacher of the emperor. The biggest officer he did was the Minister of War, and that was the Prime Minister! He is the typical out-and-out of the phase.
Although Chen Dashou became an official and had a fixed income, at first because of his small official size and low salary, he could not even afford to raise his parents, because he would not be corrupt, let alone accept bribes! His life was still hard, he only ate a pot of white rice every day, and he couldn't even afford to eat greens, let alone fish. Because of severe malnutrition, he was as thin as a wood and lived like a man named Hanako. He later became prime minister and maintained this tradition.
Once, he met a blind fortune teller with another prime minister, Shi Yizhi, who was said to touch bones, and when he touched a bone, he could feel the fate and misfortune of a person, and he touched it very accurately. The two prime ministers then asked the fortune teller to touch it. The fortune teller touched Shi Yizhi first. Before he could finish touching it, the fortune teller threw himself on his knees and shouted, "Lord Zhongtang." It was time to touch Chen Da, but after the fortune teller finished touching it, he said that Chen Dafu was a beggar. Shi Yizhi said, "This is the famous Chen Zhongtang, who is the prime minister of the dynasty, and you actually say that he is a beggar!" The fortune teller did not believe it, so he touched it again, and regrettably told them that he was a beggar. Chen Da was laughed at. It is estimated that it is because Chen Dafu is too thin, and the fortune teller said so.
When Chen Dashou was a magistrate, he was truly diligent in government and loved the people and showed compassion for the people. When he was serving as an inspector in Anhui and Jiangsu, he was catching up with the famine, and the people had no food, to the point of eating leaves and Guanyin soil. He tried his best to raise grain to help the victims of the disaster, and in addition to opening official warehouses, he also borrowed grain from the community valley, bought grain from other provinces, and blocked the grain transported in the canal. Because of the famine and the swarming of thieves, he sent servants to arrest them, and arrested more than sixty thieves at once, but after interrogation, it was learned that these people were not real thieves, but were forced by hunger and had to do it. He then released all these people and told them to go home to produce and save themselves, and the people who were released were grateful to Dade and never again became thieves.
Chen Da was not dogmatic in disaster relief and created many effective methods. At that time, the policy was to emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce, but in the years of famine, he did not stop merchants from operating and hoarding grain. His approach has been criticized, saying that businessmen derive only a small profit from it, but through adjustments, they benefit the people. He also used the work-for-work method to help the hungry people get through the difficulties. He asked the imperial court to pay for the construction of cities and houses, or to carry out some water conservancy construction, so that the people could earn income through labor. In doing so, we have not only carried out public welfare undertakings, but also saved the people. He used his wisdom to keep millions of households in his jurisdiction alive, a feat rare among his peers.
Because Chen Da suffered, he was most sympathetic to the suffering of the people, and he was most sympathetic to the suffering of the people, which was the case when he was a magistrate, and it was still the case when he became the prime minister. As the prime minister, everything in the world must be managed, but he is particularly concerned about the suffering of the people, which is of course deeply related to his life, but more related to his cultivation. Whenever he received news of a disaster in the local area, he always reported to the emperor at the first time. The people's life and death and misfortune touched his heart, so in the court, he was always unable to play calmly, often moving his feelings when he spoke, and when he was in love, he often couldn't help but cry and sob, and even choked up and couldn't speak. Whenever Chen Da was ordered by the people, the Qianlong Emperor expected that Chen Dafu would definitely cry for the people, so before he could shed tears, Qianlong laughed and laughed at him. Of course, Qianlong was also a generation of sages, and his "kai shabu" was not only kind, but also with appreciation and love for his subordinates.
People praised the Qianlong Dynasty as the heyday of China's feudal society, and praised him and Kangxi for jointly creating the Kangqian dynasty. The emergence of the prosperous world is indeed inseparable from the sages, and even more inseparable from Chen Dasheng, a courtier who is loyal to his duties, diligent in government and loves the people, and honest in performing official duties. Salute to Chen Dafu such a good official who has not been met in a hundred years!
Author: Tu Lao Hat
bibliography:
Lin Keguang: Anecdotes of the Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty, Henan People's Publishing House, 2007
Shan Weihua: A Cultural History of China's Honest Government, Shandong Pictorial Publishing House, 2010