There are many famous emperors in our country, but there are not a few famous courtiers in history, although there is still a step away from the peak of power, just because only ministers can do this, it will be more admirable. Zhang Tingyu is definitely a famous minister, and he has left his mark on the history of the Qing Dynasty.
He entered the official arena from a teenager, and spent his life in it, but in the end he almost ended up with a tragic result of late life. The reason for all this is that he values his reputation too much, and even does not want his own dignity for a virtual name; this also leads to his constant challenge to Qianlong's authority in his later years, and constantly humiliated by him, but is this worth it?
Zhang Tingyu was born into a family of eunuchs, and his father, Zhang Ying, was also a prominent politician of the Qing Dynasty and a minister who was deeply loved by Kangxi. But later history shows that Zhang Tingyu is obviously more suitable for the way of government than his father, he is an old minister who has experienced Kang Yongqian III, and he is also a veritable great politician.
He originally planned to take the imperial examination at the age of twenty-six, but the chief executive at that time was his father Zhang Ying, and in order to avoid suspicion and provoke unnecessary criticism, his father decided to let him take the examination later. So he waited until three years later to take the imperial examination, successfully passed the entrance examination, and became a Shujishi of the Hanlin Academy; it was from then on that that he began his political life.
Zhang Tingyu, who officially entered the career life, has always been conscientious and do his job; he has not taken advantage of his father's relationship, and Zhang Tingyu's father, Zhang Ying, has grown older and slowly left the official field. Later, he went to the South Study To be responsible for the compilation work, and Zhang Tingyu's excellent level of compilation was recognized by the Kangxi Emperor.
Zhang Tingyu actually gradually gained the emperor's admiration by relying on his talent; it is said that Kangxi once summoned Zhang Tingyu and talked about his parents three or two sentences, asking about his father's physical condition. In addition, Kangxi also heard that Zhang Tingyu's writing and creation talent was outstanding, and asked him to compose two poems on the spot to help him.
Zhang Tingyu was also not ambiguous, and after a moment of thought, he took up his pen and wrote two seven-sentence poems; Kangxi praised him one after another after reading it, and promoted him to an official on the same day, and he also won a good favor in front of Kangxi through this incident, laying a good foundation for his future career development.
Although he was appreciated by the Kangxi Emperor, it was in Yongzheng's court that Zhang Tingyu really made a big punch. After the death of the Kangxi Emperor, the struggle for the throne led by Yin Chan was very fierce, and Yongzheng successfully won the throne with his skillful calculations, while the other princes who participated in the struggle for the throne could only end tragically.
After too many calculations and power struggles, the Yongzheng Emperor was naturally cautious and equally suspicious. Generally speaking, when the new emperor ascends the throne, he will clean up the government and establish his own team of ministers. Zhang Tingyu, a minister of the former dynasty, would logically be discarded by Yongzheng, but he was deeply valued and loved by Yongzheng.
A large part of the reason for this is that Zhang Tingyu can be counted as Yongzheng's hand pulling up, why do you say so. Kangxi also knew that the new emperor would not reuse his old subjects, so he dismissed Zhang Tingyu from most of his official positions when he was seriously ill.
Zhang Tingyu once again won the approval of the Yongzheng Emperor with his talents and learning, yongzheng worked hard to get the throne, and when he first ascended the throne, he must be busy with government affairs and have to deal with all aspects of things. So Zhang Tingyu played his role again at this time, and there was also a point that Yongzheng's teacher was Zhang Ying, Zhang Tingyu's father; so he was once again entrusted with a heavy responsibility.
During the Yongzheng period, Zhang Tingyu's official position rose step by step, directly to the military minister; he really sat on the treatment of ten thousand people. And the important reason why he is deeply loved by Yongzheng is that he can perfectly speculate on the holy will, Yongzheng's holy will is basically from his hand, he can always express the meaning of Yongzheng concisely, and Yongzheng is very happy.
Not only the Rebbe Shangshu, but also the Hubu and the Official Shangshu he has done over and over again, and he has performed well in each position. Until Yongzheng was terminally ill, he also left his last life, that is, to let Zhang Tingyu enjoy the title of Taimiao after his death.
After Yongzheng's death, Qianlong succeeded to the throne; the Qianlong Emperor could only obey the will of the former emperor. However, the three ministers reused during the Yongzheng period, Zhang Tingyu, Ortai and Yunlu, were very distracting to Qianlong. After a long time, Qianlong found some suitable reasons to trip up Yun Lu and Ertai and let them both fall one after another.
Zhang Tingyu was indeed diligent and earnest in his life, and he gave a lot to the Qing Dynasty, he did not have any handles, and Qianlong was not good at taking him. However, he was blinded by vanity, and he went to provoke Qianlong himself and ended up with a late and unsafe end.
Before Yongzheng's death, he left a will for Zhang Tingyu to enjoy the position of Taimiao in the future, which was a great honor; because the Qing Dynasty was the world of the Manchus, and it was not very fond of the Han people, and even the people in the palace had more or less Manchu blood. But zhang Tingyu as a Han minister to receive such a special honor is extremely honorable for him.
The problem was in the honor of the Taimiao Temple, precisely because he valued this false name too much, resulting in his lifelong humiliation of being caught by Qianlong and repeatedly. The elderly Zhang Tingyu saw that both Ertai and Yunlu had a tragic ending, and felt that Qianlong was also deeply dissatisfied with himself, so he took the initiative to resign and return to his hometown to recuperate.
But Qianlong disagreed, he felt that he was going to serve the imperial court for the rest of his life, and the gap between kings and subjects was getting bigger and bigger. Coinciding with the death of Empress Fucha, Qianlong was deeply saddened and severely punished many ministers who made minor mistakes, and Zhang Tingyu was no exception.
Because it was the last will of emperor Xian, Zhang Tingyu was afraid that Qianlong would not fulfill it, so he ran to qianlong to sign a document similar to the letter of guarantee, guaranteeing that he would still be able to enjoy the Taimiao Temple after his death. Such an approach was undoubtedly an expression of distrust of Qianlong, and Qianlong was bitter in his heart but still gave him assurances. But Zhang Tingyu's next move was really stupid.
The day after receiving the holy will, he did not personally thank Him but sent his own son to Xie'en, which made Qianlong even more angry, and issued an edict to rebuke Zhang Tingyu, not thinking that the next day before the edict arrived, Zhang Tingyu came to apologize, which undoubtedly showed that there was his power around Qianlong. What the emperors most disliked since ancient times was to form parties for personal gain and secretly cultivate forces.
This incident made Qianlong completely lose patience with Zhang Tingyu, but he still did not kill him completely, but the matter of retirement could only be discussed again. He did not think that he would actually propose to return to his hometown again when Qianlong's eldest son died the following year, and Qianlong was furious and directly deprived him of the treatment of the temple, and Zhang Tingyu could only return to his hometown.
After returning to his hometown, the matter was not over, he was inexplicably involved in a case, qianlong already had an opinion on him, so he took this opportunity to order someone to raid his home. It was the last straw that crushed the camel, and he lost his face and ended up depressed. However, Qianlong finally gave him the title of Taimiao, which was also considered to be his death and blind.
Old and confused, he forgot that his companion was like a companion tiger, and he provoked the authority of the emperor several times, making Yongzheng intolerable, which was also his own iniquity and inability to live. In ancient times, courtiers were not good, and the heavy courtiers around the emperor were even more difficult to be.