Huang Tingjian, a great writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, has a poem: "A hundred battles and a hundred victories are not as good as a forbearance, and a thousand words are not as good as a silence", the second half of this sentence was taken as his motto by Zhang Tingyu, a heavy minister of the Qing Dynasty.
Obviously, these eight words reflect Zhang Tingyu's professional ethics and also summarize his magnificent life. He was well versed in the way of being a vassal, and had never missed a mistake in his forty-seven years as an official.
Zhang Tingyu was astute and intelligent, and by virtue of his birth and writing, he established himself in the late years of the Kangxi Dynasty, and after the succession of the Yongzheng Emperor, he became his confidant.
Yongzheng stills
Zhang Tingyu was a clean and honest official, loyal and cautious
As we all know, the middle of the Qing Dynasty was the ultimate period of centralized power of the feudal imperial system, and the "Military Aircraft Department" was only the executive unit that carried out the emperor's orders. Then Zhang Tingyu, as a military minister, was only the nominal prime minister, and did not have the power to call the wind and rain, nor was he a famous advisor like Wei Zheng in the Tang Dynasty.
During Yongzheng's reign, he was very fond of Zhang Tingyu. According to the current version, Zhang Tingyu was a competent "emperor's secretary": whenever the emperor dictated, Zhang Tingyu could grasp and understand the emperor's holy will, and what was even more valuable was that he could also swing his pen on the spot, which made everyone marvel.
In addition to the fast and good writing of the edict, Zhang Tingyu was also very efficient in handling things. Throughout Zhang Tingyu's life, he was a clean and honest official, loyal but cautious. In fact, the word "prudence" was a very important ability for those who wanted to serve the emperor well. Especially in serving an emperor like the Yongzheng Emperor, who was rigorous and demanding, and had a unique personality, this trait was even more important.
The Yongzheng Emperor personally promised that in the future, Zhang Tingyu could "enjoy the Taimiao Temple" after his death.
To put it bluntly, Zhang Tingyu is a competent secretary and assistant to the chairman. He improved the operation and folding system of the Military Aircraft Department, and helped the Yongzheng Emperor operate the political machine so that it could move freely. The Yongzheng Emperor even personally promised that in the future, Zhang Tingyu could "enjoy the Taimiao Temple" after his death.
The Taimiao Temple was a place of worship for successive emperors during the feudal period. After the death of the heavy subject, it was a great honor to be able to share the sacrifice with the emperor. We all know that almost all the people who deserved to enjoy the Taimiao Temple in the Qing Dynasty were military generals who died on the battlefield, and Zhang Tingyu was able to have this honor as a Han Chen, which is unprecedented.
Unfortunately, the Yongzheng Emperor died relatively early, and he died of overwork after thirteen years as emperor. His son Qianlong ascended the throne, and Zhang Tingyu, who turned sixty, became the elder of the Three Dynasties.
Qianlong stills
Zhang Tingyu, who is close to retirement, feels that "accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger"
Regarding the Qianlong Emperor, everyone knows that he was a lucky emperor. Qianlong inherited the political legacy accumulated by his ancestors, so as soon as he came to power, he was able to show his skills. What is even more precious is that Qianlong was still a diligent "rich second generation", who was bent on following the example of his grandfather Kangxi and thought about how to make the rule of the Qing Dynasty more stable. In fact, he did not spend as much effort on the harem as he did in the popular court TV series now.
Zhang Tingyu, who was already close to retirement, just crashed into Qianlong's knife edge, and he could feel the atmosphere of accompanying the king like a companion tiger day and night. Seventy-three-year-old Zhang Tingyu had the idea of returning to his hometown, but he was retained several times by Qianlong's soft and hard policies.
Qianlong was a perfectionist, and he hoped that the important ministers of the previous dynasty would also be able to serve him loyally. Even though Qianlong did not want Zhang Tingyu to interfere in the affairs of the dynasty, he still hoped to leave Zhang Tingyu as an adviser by his side, and even took Zhuge Liang as an example to ask Zhang Tingyu to bow down and persist until the last moment.
Zhang Tingyu, who was more than seventy years old, knelt in front of Qianlong and wept bitterly
The following year, Zhang Tingyu went to the table again to express his intention to retire. At the same time, he also did a strange thing, he was worried that after his death, Yongzheng promised to "enjoy the Taimiao Temple" was forgotten by Qianlong, so he "begged for a word as a coupon".
That is to say, Zhang Tingyu ran to the qianlong emperor and asked him to write a contract in black and white. This was a very dangerous request, and Qianlong was already dissatisfied with his insistence on going along, and when he heard him ask for a contract, he was even more angry.
Zhang Tingyu's behavior violated Qianlong's great taboo. In Qianlong's view, Zhang Tingyu trusted his father Yongzheng's verbal promise, but did not trust him at all. How could Such a face-loving person as Qianlong bear this breath!
Zhang Tingyu saw that Long Yan was angry, and immediately "prostrated without a crown" and "whimpered and could not win himself". A white-bearded old man in his seventies knelt in front of Qianlong and wept bitterly.
When Qianlong saw Zhang Tingyu's appearance, he was moved by compassion. In fact, Qianlong still wanted to show his tolerance and generosity. He wanted to take advantage of Zhang Tingyu's early morning to give him the edict when he came to Xie'en the next day, and then give him the edict out of anger, but he did not expect that the next day the weather was bad, and the old and frail Zhang Tingyu did not come to the court, but only sent his son to the court to thank him.
When Qianlong saw this scene, the anger that had accumulated in his heart erupted, and he immediately issued a holy decree and severely reprimanded Zhang Tingyu. Someone reported to Zhang Tingyu that after Zhang Tingyu received the news, he immediately entered the court to plead guilty, but he forgot the holy will promulgated by the emperor, in fact, he had not yet had time to send it to his own palace!
Zhang Tingyu suddenly violated another sensitive nerve of Qianlong - arranging eyes and ears around the emperor! Therefore, the two crimes were punished together, and Zhang Tingyu was removed from all official positions, and later all the rewards that Zhang Tingyu received were withdrawn. Zhang Tingyu lived for another five years in trembling, and then he died, and when he died, he must have felt that his life's efforts were in vain.
Qianlong later followed his father Yongzheng's promise to make Zhang Tingyu worthy of the Taimiao Temple, becoming the only Hanchen in the Qing Dynasty who was worthy of the Taimiao Temple. And whether Zhang Tingyu knew about the spring or not, there was no way to know.