In July of the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729), the continuous heavy rains in the Jianghuai area caused the water level to soar, and a flood followed. Upon hearing the news, the Yongzheng Emperor decided to immediately send a Chincha minister to direct the disaster relief, but he was embarrassed about the selection of the candidate.
There were not many people who could shoulder this heavy responsibility and gain his trust, Yin Xiang, the Thirteenth Prince of Yi, had recently fallen ill and was lying in bed at the moment; Li Wei, who was deeply affected, was still on his way home to Ding Worried, and the disaster could not wait for the recovery.
As for Zhang Tingyu and Jiang Tingxi, the wise men around the Yongzheng Emperor, they naturally had to accompany the Yongzheng Emperor to sit in the center, and they could not be sent out.
So the Yongzheng Emperor asked everyone to recommend candidates, and Zhang Tingyu replied: There is a ready-made one in the death row.
At this critical juncture, why did Zhang Tingyu dare to recommend a death row prisoner to be beheaded? Was it Zhang Tingyu's whim or was this death row inmate extraordinary? This dying death row prisoner was named Zhangjia Aktun, who was born in Manchuria and entered the rank of 48th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1709 AD).
Since the birth of the imperial examination system, successive dynasties have used it as a means of selecting officials, and entering the army and the first is a key step for many people to enter the career. As a system invented by the Han Dynasty, the imperial examination system is obviously more suitable for Han people who attach importance to farming culture.
This also led to the Manchus, who were based on riding and shooting, and could not win the Han people in the imperial examination. Coupled with the large population base of the Han nationality, the blind adoption of the imperial examination system in the Qing court was bound to make the Manchus weak.
In order to ensure the Manchus' absolute control over the bureaucracy, the Qing Dynasty designed another system of electing officials after entering the customs, donating officials. In the vernacular, it is to spend money to buy officials.
This method of selling official positions at explicit prices seems to have only appeared on the eve of the collapse of certain dynasties. However, this seemingly corrupt system proved to have made a great contribution to the stability of the Qing Dynasty's regime.
This has led to another trend, the Manchu youth, mainly the children of the Eight Banners, are more reluctant to study and participate in the imperial examination. Anyway, if you can spend money to become an official, who wants to suffer from the cold window of that decade?
Therefore, many Manchu officials in the Qing Dynasty mostly spent money to enter the army, and jinshi like Actun naturally became a rare person.
After being set by the Kangxi Emperor as an example for the children of the Eight Banners, Acton's career began to rise rapidly. In the 13 years from the 48th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1709 AD) to the 61st year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1712), Actun was promoted to the 7th rank and became the head of the Guozijian, roughly equivalent to the current Minister of Education and the president of Tsinghua Peking University. After the Yongzheng Emperor ascended to the throne, he was also very important to Actun and sent him to the south to serve as the governor of Liangguang.
Here, however, something happened to Acton. After he took office, he vigorously rectified the bad habits of the two Guangdong officialdoms, so that almost all local officials dared to be angry and dare not speak out. Therefore, as soon as he was transferred, various report letters appeared on the desk of the Yongzheng Emperor.
For some bad habits that he took for granted, the Yongzheng Emperor chose to turn a blind eye, but one of them made him furious. Acton actually instructed his family to ask for bribes from the Thai caravan, which undoubtedly made the "heavenly kingdom of heaven" lose face in the Qing Dynasty.
In a fit of rage, the Yongzheng Emperor took Actun from his post and put him on death row. In fact, the Yongzheng Emperor did not want to kill Aktun, but this scandal must have an explanation. Otherwise Acton would not have been beheaded but decided, and the difference between the two is only whether the execution is suspended or immediately executed.
Therefore, at the recommendation of Zhang Tingyu, the Yongzheng Emperor immediately approved this proposal, and Actun was quickly sent to Jiangnan to control the water. The Draft History of the Qing Dynasty states: "Shang ordered Akdun to redeem himself by serving in jiangnanhe. ”
For this heavenly opportunity to break the merits, Acton naturally did not dare to be sloppy, and in order to cure the water, he ate and ate. After some treatment by him, not only was the disaster controlled, but even the river channel was cleaned up by him. In order to hit the iron while it was hot, After Actun returned to Beijing, he took the initiative to ask Miao to go to the northwest to participate in the war, and he finally washed away his sins after making military achievements. Acton's story is much more than that, and his son Ah Gui is also deeply respected, and later grew into a famous player.
Akdun and Ah Gui were one of the same men and women, and they were rare and famous generals of the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties. The story of Acton's sin deeds also tells us that opportunities are reserved only for those who are prepared and capable. If Actun had been ineffective in controlling the water, there would have been no place for the father and son in the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty.
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