What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
When many people saw this problem, their first reaction was because Yue Zhongqi was a descendant of Yue Fei and the 21st grandson of Yue Fei, so although he was very talented, neither Yongzheng nor Qianlong dared to reuse him.
At the beginning, Zeng Jing also thought so, General Yue was a descendant of Yue Fei, and when General Yue Fei resisted Jin, his name went down in history; now General Yue Zhongqi is in power in the northwest, as long as he stands up and raises his arms, the world can spread the word, drive the Manchus out of the Central Plains, and restore the Han world.
If history is like Yanyi, if all the literati like Zeng Jing can change by imagination, there will be no Yue Zhongqi's later story.
To know Yue Zhongqi's historical situation in that historical period, you must start with the Zhuanglang Yue family in Liangzhou (present-day Yongdeng, Lanzhou, which belonged to Lintao at that time, so it was also called the Lintao Yue family).
Yue Zhongqi's father, Yue Shenglong, was originally only the general manager of the Yongtai Camp in Fuzhou, and he experienced the "Ping San Fan" and "Conquest of Gardan" step by step, starting from the grassroots level and finally stationed in Sichuan Town to guard Kangding.
Wu Sangui's rebellion gave him the opportunity to rise for the first time. Because he killed Xu Zhongchen, a guerrilla of the Yongtai camp who was recruited by Wu Sangui, and prevented the Yongtai camp from rebelling against the Qing Dynasty, he was appreciated by the viceroy Daniel Zhang.
Later, with the victory of Ping San Fan, Yue Shenglong followed Daniel Zhang's subordinate Wang Jinbao, killed back to Lanzhou, and then promoted to garrison of his hometown. As he conquered the rest of the northwest, he eventually took up the post of commander-in-chief of Tianjin.
Later, when Kangxi personally conquered Kaldan, Yue Shenglong was valued by Kangxi because of his meritorious efforts in protecting grain and supervising battles, and because of his great victory, he was given the title of Governor of Sichuan and promoted to viceroy of Sichuan, and from then on he was stationed in Sichuan and was regarded as a close confidant by Kangxi.
When he was in Sichuan, there were conflicts with other local officials, and in the end the other party was either beheaded or dismissed, only Yue Shenglong rose all the way, the main reason is that he is more good at fighting, and he is more aware of current affairs. Therefore, after becoming famous, he took the initiative to beg for a rest, retired and lived until the 51st year of Kangxi.
The reason why Yue Shenglong asked for retirement, in addition to his own injuries, was to pave the way for his son Yue Zhongqi, because being a close confidant of Kangxi came at a price.
Because he was not the only one in the Yue family who was promoted because of his military merits, his younger brother Yue Chaolong had achieved the title of Viceroy of Huguang; his nephew Yue Zhonghuang was also a blue-winged bodyguard by Kangxi's side.
However, his son Yue Zhongqi did not have any status and position, and served his old mother at home. Therefore, when I was old, I had to spend money to donate an alternate prefect, and there was no real shortage.
It was not until two years before the death of his father, Yue Shenglong, that Yue Zhongqi was allowed to become a Sichuan national, and only gave him a small guerrilla official.
This also means that Yue Zhongqi must also start from the grassroots level, not only can not get half the light of Lao Tzu, but also Yue Shenglong's enemies who were in the tree have all become the pressure of his career promotion.
Later, Tibet was in crisis, and Kangxi sent the Fuyuan general Yin Yu to oversee Qinghai. When the war resumed, Yue Zhongqi could be described as an official and prosperous, and he sat in a rocket-like position.
Because Kangding was the former territory of Yue Shenglong, Yue Zhongqi was soon promoted to deputy general of Yongning, Sichuan (present-day Xuyong, Sichuan), stationed in Kangding. Yue Zhongqi also took the lead in the entry of strange soldiers into Tibet and the suppression of rebellion in Lhasa, and Yue Zhongqi finally became the viceroy of Sichuan because of his merits, and since then firmly sat in the position before his father Yue Shenglong.
In the first year of Yongzheng, following the suppression of the rebellion in Qinghai, Yue Zhongqi successfully recovered the 600,000 square miles of territory in the Qinghai region occupied by the rebels, and Yongzheng rewarded it much more generously than Kangxi, not only did he seal Yue Zhongqi the Prince Taibao, a third-class prestigious public, and was also the viceroy of Gansu; he also personally wrote a very meaty poem on the fan and gave it to Yue Zhongqi.
This also led to the later time when Nian Qianyao was purged, Yongzheng believed that only Yue Zhongqi could replace Nian Qianyao's duties, but before that, his authority to Nian Qianyao was too large, so Yongzheng was not at ease with the general.
The way Yongzheng beat Yue Zhongqi was very special, very similar to the way he beat the root shake in those years. Find a beggar to spread rumors everywhere, saying that Yue Zhongqi wants to rebel, waiting for Yue Zhongqi to come to the door to ask for guilt, and then forgive himself. It was the same as the rumor in the capital that "Nian Qianyao ran into a tiger at home", but Nian Qianyao did not have Yue Zhongqi's understanding, so Nian Qianyao's end was more tragic.
Or perhaps it was precisely because of Nian Qianyao's tragic ending that Yue Zhongqi was more cautious. Therefore, when Zeng Jing's case occurred, Yue Zhongqi "made a villain" because he couldn't tell that this was Yongzheng who tempted him. However, if you follow those whimsical people, the consequences can be imagined. So no matter what choice Yue Zhongqi makes, it will eventually be that choice.
But later, with the establishment of the Military Aircraft Division, when the control of the border generals was gradually returned to Yongzheng himself, the life of those border generals who had been in the army for generations was not so good. Because when the frontier loses its autonomy when fighting wars, it will be relatively passive when fighting wars, and this has been the case in all dynasties and dynasties. The imperial court delegated power and was afraid that they would sit on their own; the imperial court lost the vitality of the army when it seized power.
Therefore, in the late Yongzheng period, there were many defeats, and it was suspicion, and there was no military merit that could be obtained, and Yue Zhongqi's situation deteriorated.
Yue Zhongqi's relationship with Yongzheng's favorite minister Ortai was very poor because of his return to the land, which directly led to Yue Zhongqi's near-death sentence just because he was impeached by Zhang Guangsi, which was unimaginable in the early stage, but this was in line with the logic of the fate of the military generals.
But later, Yue Zhongqi donated all his wealth and saved his life. However, Qianlong was not very rude, he regarded Yue Zhongqi as a mess, when there was trouble, he would look for Yue Zhongqi, and when there was no trouble, he would kick him.
Until March of the 13th year of Qianlong (1748), due to the Rebellion of the Great Jinchuan And the Qing court sent troops for a long time without success, finally there was no way, and Yue Zhongqi was revived. However, at this time, Yue Zhongqi was already more than 60 years old, but in the end, with his prestige in the hearts of Tibetans and his respect for Tibetan compatriots, he invited Sha Luoben, Lang Ka and all the toasts.
After that, as long as there was instability in Kangding, Qianlong used Yue Zhongqi. Yue Zhongqi became the person who cleaned up the mess for Qianlong.
Until the 19th year of Qianlong (1754), Yue Zhongqi held an illness to suppress the rebellion, and finally died on the road, this ending is also more in line with the ultimate fate of a general.