In the ancient feudal dynasty, the emperor was the son of heaven, with transcendent power and status, and the whole world could not be the king's land, and the four seas could not dare to disobey. Because of his extremely lofty status, the emperor has a vital role in the development of society, the emperor is diligent in government affairs, the world is too peaceful, and the emperor is absurd and has no way to live.
The emperor was able to change the country and mountains in a single thought, not to mention treating the people of the king. As the saying goes, the companion of the king is like a companion of the tiger, the Cao Xueqin family of the Qing Dynasty was greatly favored during the Kangxi reign, and many times stayed in the Cao family during the southern tour, but when Yongzheng took the throne, the Cao family was disgusted by the new emperor, the whole family was raided, and when the lists were presented to the saint, Yongzheng was also surprised.
Ancestral shelter
Speaking of Cao Xueqin, the first thing that the world thinks of is the literary classic "Dream of the Red Chamber" from his pen, but only a few people know that the prototype of Jia Fu written in the book is Cao Xueqin's own family, and the same as the Jia Fu encounter, the Cao family rose from the reign of the Shunzhi Emperor, reached its peak during the Kangxi Dynasty, and then declined rapidly, the reason for which was to start from the Entry of the Qing Army.
Cao Xueqin's ancestors were once the commanders of the Ming Dynasty's Shenyang Zhongwei and a fierce general who guarded Shenyang, but unfortunately the Ming Dynasty was decaying and it was difficult to resist Nurhaci's iron horse. The city of Shenyang was destroyed, the whole Cao family was captured, and Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather was also abducted by the Qing army when he was learning the language. After the Cao family was abducted, it became the wrapper of the Imperial Taiji Palace, and in the Manchus, the wrapping of clothes is the meaning of slave, but although the Cao family has a low status, it does not change its ambitions.
Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather Cao Xi grew up in this environment and still became a bold iron-blooded boy. At first, the Qing army placed the Cao family under the command of the Zhengbai Banner, and later because of Dolgun's outstanding military achievements, the Emperor Taiji handed over the Zhengbai Banner to him. Shunzhi was in his early teenage when he ascended the throne, and Dorgon was good at government affairs, which caused dissatisfaction in Shunzhi's heart, and after Dorgon's death, Shunzhi took his title, dug his grave, and took his white flag as his own.
As zhengbaiqi became the emperor's pro-army, the status of the Cao family also became lofty. Cao Xi was appreciated by Shunzhi for his martial arts handed down from his family, and was promoted to the second class bodyguard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Interior Ministry was founded by the Qing Dynasty and was dedicated to royal life, somewhat similar to the emperor's butler. The Cao family was able to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and naturally had many opportunities to contact the dignitaries.
Xuan Ye was born in 1654, according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, after the birth of the prince can not be raised by the empress and his birth mother, but by the nurse and nanny to be raised to understand things, and these nannies must be selected from the three banners of zhenghuang, inlaid yellow, and white, Cao Xi's wife Sun Shi is of good character, and is elected as Xuan Ye's nanny.
When the crown prince was young, the closest relationship was these nannies who had worked hard to raise him. In 1661, Xuan Ye ascended the throne, known as the Kangxi Emperor, and Sun Shi looked at the baby who was crying in his arms, and now he has become the supreme in the world, and his heart has infinite relief.
After Kangxi ascended the throne, he did not forget this former nanny, so he sealed Cao Xi as Jiangning Weaving. Cao Xi was loyal and conscientious, and won the trust of Kangxi, in order to show his sacred heart, he personally gave the python robe and was crowned with the title of a pint of Shangshu, and after Cao Xi's death, Kangxi specially ordered his ministers to worship him.
Generations of imperial merchants
Although Cao Xi died, Kangxi's favor for the Cao family increased unabated. Cao Xi's son Cao Yin (曹寅), who was able to write and be able to use martial arts and courage, became Kangxi's Luan Yi guard at the age of 17, responsible for the protection of the emperor when he traveled. Every time Kangxi swung his car, Cao Yin quickly arrived in place, always paying attention to the safety of the surroundings, and soon became a red man around Kangxi, and in his early 20s, he was promoted to the second class of the imperial bodyguard, and also took the position of the leader of the white flag and commanded a hundred emperors.
After the death of Cao Yin's father, Kangxi ordered Cao Yin to assist in the affairs of Jiangning Weaving, and soon after he was transferred to Suzhou Weaving, and in 1692 he was officially appointed Jiangning Weaving.
Jiangning Suhang area of the people are stable, rich merchants gathered, the production of silk world famous, the local weaving position is for the royal procurement of brocade silk and other royal clothes, daily expenses are royal pockets, folk and no one dares to grab business with the royal, weaving nature has become a fat oil of the beauty of the difference, all this is Kangxi in return for the sun's nurturing grace.
When Cao Yin was still a 5-pin inner court official, he could cross the rank and directly present the fold to the emperor, which was the right of the 4-pin official, but Kangxi did not blame him, but encouraged him to present more folds.
Cao Yin also handed over the fold, saying that buying and selling bronze ware is a good business, can increase the income of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, specially borrowed 100,000 taels of imperial silver, who knows Kangxi Zhu batch a hook, immediately quasi-played. The Treasury silver of the Ministry of Internal Affairs can be regarded as the emperor's wallet, and the fact that he can borrow such a huge amount of money shows how much Kangxi values Cao Yin.
Often walking by the river where there are not wet shoes, Cao Yin borrowed 100,000 taels, but the copper sales business has always been a state of loss, he made up a reason at random, said that he did not want to do it, Kangxi was immediately accurate, and even the principal did not ask. The Cao family received this imperial favor, the family property became more and more abundant, and the local magnates knew that Cao Yin's words carried great weight in the emperor's heart, and they all brought heavy gifts to make friends. Cao Jiajin doujin, the family gold, jade, pearls, antiques countless, became one of the most powerful families in the local area.
Cao Yin knew very well that the Cao family could have today, all because of the love of the Kangxi Emperor, in order to repay the saints, Kangxi had toured the south 6 times during his reign, and 5 times the Cao family undertook various matters of the southern tour. Kangxi also drove to Cao Mansion, met the former nanny, and said kindly, "This old man of my family is also", expressing that at this time, Kangxi has already regarded the Cao family as his own.
Falling in the middle of the road
Most of the things in the world are prosperous and will decline, and the famous Cao family in the Jiangnan area will also have a day of decline. In his later years, Kangxi neglected the government of the dynasty, which led to the secret struggle between the princes and the emperors in order to compete for the crown prince, and engaged in turmoil in the government and the public. First, the prince formed a party for personal gain, and the gap with Kangxi deepened, and then the prince and Suo'ertu conspired to seize power, and finally angered Kangxi, Soetu was killed, the prince was deposed, and all the princes saw that the position of crown prince was vacant, and they all began to have ideas about the supreme position.
The eldest son of the emperor was Shu Chu ( 庶出 ) , who was sinister and vicious , and Kangxi was quite displeased , and he knew that there was no hope of ascending the throne , so he turned to support the 8 brothers and promised to kill the deposed prince. Kangxi was disgusted, and in order to stabilize the situation, he helped the deposed crown prince to regain the Eastern Palace, imprisoned the emperor's eldest son, and imprisoned the 8 brothers as punishment, and soon released him.
After that, the crown prince tried to rebel again and was deposed again, leaving only 8 brothers and 4 brothers in the dprk to have the strength to compete for the position of prince, in order to win over the powerful people in the dprk, the two princes each showed their own magic. The highest prestige of the Jiangnan clan is the Cao family, and obtaining the support of the Cao family has become one of the most important conditions for the Brothers.
The Cao family was in the undercurrent of power struggle and had to make a choice, so Cao Yin stood behind the 8 brothers and repeatedly wrote to protect the 8 brothers as the prince. But who knew that after the death of Kangxi, the opponent of the 4 elder brothers was far outside the sai, and he was able to preemptively attack near the water tower and ascend to the emperor's throne.
4 After Brother Ah ascended the throne, he changed his era name to Yongzheng, and just after taking the throne, he liquidated the forces that supported 8 Brother, Cao Xueqin had just turned 7 years old at this time, living a life of fine clothes and food, but he could not imagine that a storm was on the way. Cao Yin vassals are elegant, when Jiangning weaving, he likes to make a lot of money, daily expenses are many, especially several times to tour the south, so that the Cao family is heavily indebted, after Cao Yin's death, it was found that the weaving treasury silver deficit of 370,000 taels, Kangxi Nian in the nanny's sake, let this money be repaid by Cao Yin's brother-in-law.
However, when it came to Cao Xueqin's father, Kangxi was estranged from the Cao family a lot, but the Cao family still misbehaved, and even defaulted on the silver they earned, which was punished by Kangxi.
After Yongzheng ascended to the throne, he was already disgusted with the forces of competitors, and after hearing that the Cao family had been in jiangning weaving for many years, he could no longer tolerate them and immediately launched an investigation.
The Cao family has been operating Jiangning weaving for more than 40 years, Yongzheng originally thought that after raiding the family, he could find a lot of silver two, but after reading the list of family properties, he was cold in his heart, and found that the Cao family had only 60,000 taels of silver, which was not enough to make up for the deficit, so he dismissed the Cao family, confiscated all the property, and Cao Xueqin, who was accustomed to the taste of mountains and treasures, had to follow the family and return to the old mansion in Beijing.