History has its own life, it is like a person, both easy-going and self-respecting. ——Yu Qiuyu
In ancient times, entering the DPRK as an official was the dream wish of many readers, because once they entered the DPRK as an official, it meant that power and wealth were firmly held in their hands, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, where officials were not only high- but also seriously corrupt.
As the saying goes, "three years of Qing prefects, 100,000 snowflakes of silver", it can be seen how great the benefits of being an official in the Qing Dynasty, in the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu Dynasty did not take bribes in the civil and military affairs of the minister is simply rare.
However, the minister below was a down-to-earth clean official, and for the sake of his life, he did not even save the coffin book, and in order to support his face when he returned to his hometown, he actually installed several large boxes of bricks.
This person was Sun Jiagan, an old minister of the Three Dynasties who had gone through Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong.
Stone statue of Sun Jiagan
body
Sun Jiagan's family was poor in his early years, but he was intelligent and studious since childhood, and through his unremitting efforts, he finally entered the Kangxi Fifty-second Year Examination and entered the Hanlin Academy.
Later, the Kangxi Emperor died, Yongzheng took the throne, it is said that at the beginning of the new emperor's succession, many people should not touch his moldy head, but Sun Jiagan did not care, he said bluntly to the Yongzheng Emperor, should collect troops in the northwest, stop collecting donations, and recuperate with the people, this time ignited Yongzheng's anger, fortunately, several surrounding ministers interceded for him Yongzheng did not punish him.
However, after Yongzheng returned home, he thought that he had just succeeded to the throne, and few people could be so outspoken and advised, and Sun Jiagan's suggestion was also the current top priority. Therefore, Yongzheng, who had just calmed down his anger, was very appreciative of Sun Jiagan, so he praised him greatly and entrusted him with a heavy responsibility.
Stills of the Yongzheng Emperor
During the Yongzheng Dynasty, Sun Jiagan's official position was greatly promoted, and by the time the Yongzheng Emperor died in 1735, Sun Jiagan had achieved the position of official attendant. After the Qianlong Emperor ascended the throne, Sun Jiagan was promoted to the post of Inspector General of the Imperial Household, and in the following year he was promoted to Shangshu of the Punishment Department.
During his tenure in shangshu of the Punishment Department, Sun Jiagan handled the case impartially, and many unjust, false and wrongly decided cases were turned over in his hands, and all the government and the public praised him, and in April of the third year of Qianlong, Sun Jiagan was promoted to the post of Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, and still concurrently served as the Shangshu of the Punishment Department.
The official position of Shangshu can be said to be the head of the hundred officials, because the official department is responsible for the selection and appointment of officials throughout the country, and the official Shangshu is the leader of the official department, so at this time Sun Jiagan is already an extremely popular subject.
The position of the official Shangshu can be said to be the official position with the most oil and water among all the official positions in the Qing Dynasty, except for the Hubu Shangshu, because the power to appoint and dismiss all the officials in the country is in their own hands, and it is inevitable that many people will give gifts and bribes to themselves, so the successive officials shangshu are rich in oil, of which the corrupt official he Yan once held the post of official Shangshu.
However, what is surprising is that although Sun Jiagan has served as an official Shangshu for many years, he still has two sleeves and a clean wind. Because he is too upright and rarely accepts bribes from others, it is inevitable to offend some people.
In the eighth year of Qianlong, Sun Jiagan was released as the governor of Huguang, and in the case of Xie Jishi, Sun Jiagan was dismissed from his post and investigated for improper handling.
It is reasonable to say that after retirement, most officials will be happy without asking about political affairs and pensions, but Sun Jiaganquan has a difficult face, why is this so?
Because in ancient times, people who were officials abroad would be warmly received by local officials when they returned to their hometowns, but they had not saved savings for many years as officials. Forced to be helpless, Sun Jiagan thought of a way, he ordered someone to find five large wooden boxes, and then loaded them with heavy bricks.
Sun Jiagan did this in order to disguise himself as a rich and noble man, and look at my five large chests, which were filled with gold and silver jewelry and silk silk, which were given by the emperor, otherwise who would pull five large boxes to hurry.
In this way, Sun Jiagan pulled five large carts of bricks to "return to his hometown", but he did not expect that his "return of clothes to his hometown" was actually reported to the emperor by local officials. After receiving the complaint, the Qianlong Emperor was furious, "Hey, Sun Jiagan, this old boy usually has a moral appearance and a gentleman with two sleeves and a clean wind, but he didn't expect that he was also a corrupt hypocrite!" So the Qianlong Emperor sent someone to secretly investigate the matter.
Stills of the Qianlong Emperor
As a result, the people who went to investigate found that the "treasures" of Sun Jiagan's five carts were all loaded, and Qianlong was greatly moved when he learned that he could not cry and laugh in the future; in order to reward this honest old minister, Qianlong ordered that all the bricks in his box be replaced with real gold and silver.
epilogue
In fact, in the author's opinion, Sun Jiagan did not have to do this, he spent his life for the country and the people, his sleeves were clean, and he accumulated such a high prestige and reputation, which is already an immeasurable wealth, which is incomparable to gold and silver and other common things.
In the end, Sun Jiagan came up with such a bad idea for the sake of good face, and if he didn't handle it well, he might let himself be late, but fortunately he met an enlightened monarch, did not listen to the impeachment of the magistrate, but did a field investigation, and after finding out the truth, he gave Sun Jiagan a reward of real money and silver.
Having such a subordinate is a blessing for the emperor, but having such a monarch is also the happiness of the courtiers.