Introduction: What is the "Qianlong Prosperous Age" and what is the "Ten Perfect Old Man"? People are still chattering about it to this day. However, according to the Qianlong Emperor, he followed the example of Emperor Shengzuren throughout his life and strove to become an emperor for thousands of years.
However, in the middle and late period of his reign, he was self-conscious, profligate, missed the development brought about by the great changes in the world, and was stunned to squander the countless wealth left by Yongzheng, leaving only a rich and invincible Hezhen, and the devastated Qing Dynasty to his son Jiaqing.
Although the history books do not dare to evaluate Qianlong so blatantly, the common people and those literati who like to compile wild histories are different, and they have written the process of how Qianlong declined during his reign to the fullest.
For example, the story of Qianlong eating watermelon that I want to talk about today is one of the representatives.
Of course, here is the emphasis on stating that the story originates from folk tales and wild history records, everyone looks happy, as for the authenticity does not have to be more true and elaborate.
Love to play Emperor
As we all know, Qianlong often went down to Jiangnan to play with his father's rich savings, and each time he spent more than 10 million taels of silver. This caused the dissatisfaction of some imperial historians, who had the right to see, and for this reason many imperial histories jointly played, hoping that the emperor would not be so extravagant and wasteful.
Although Qianlong was angry in his heart, he could not make trouble. After all, Kangxi had a testament, not to block the way of speech, and to always pay attention to the advice of the officials.
But Qianlong was an emperor who liked to play, and he really couldn't stand not letting him go out to play. What to do? Learn Kangxi micro-service private visits.
In the early summer of one year, Qianlong traveled with a few guards to go out for a private visit. Saying that it is to come out to observe the people's feelings is actually to travel around in the mountains and rivers. However, Qianlong was momentarily oblivious and went out of the capital to the junction of Hebei and Shandong.
Seeing that at noon, the hot weather made Qianlong a little overwhelmed, and he was ready to quickly find an inn to rest his feet. After about half an hour, the two came to the gate of a town.
Qianlong just wanted to enter the city, but he saw an old farmer selling watermelons under a big tree outside the city shouting.
Eat watermelon
Qianlong saw the red tongtong, watermelon with juice, and immediately had an appetite, so he went forward to pick a few large and beautiful watermelons to eat, and also beckoned the guards around him to eat together.
Knowing the chirping, the sun is poisonous, and the extreme heat of the summer is instantly eliminated by a few mouthfuls of watermelon. Qianlong praised the watermelon as sweet while eating it, and it seems that the melon farmers cultivated it with their hearts.
Of course, the melon farmer goes down the slope of the donkey, saying that he lies out day and night, and takes good care of it every day, so the watermelon will be so good.
Qianlong was overjoyed and could not help but sigh to the old peasant: "They all say that it is now the prosperous age of Qianlong, and it is indeed true that it is true that it is now true." Now Min'an Guoqiang, just like this watermelon, is incomparably sweet. ”
However, Qianlong's words were opposed by the melon farmers. The melon farmers talked about it and counted the bad government of the imperial court over the years. For example, the emperor reused corrupt officials and officials, resulting in the prevalence of corruption. For example, Qianlong went down to Jiangnan many times, and each time he wanted more than ten million silver. In particular, the "word prison" case has so far been no less than a hundred cases, and even the words spoken by the crazy people have not been spared, which has made everyone who reads endanger themselves.
Of course, there are also the so-called "Ten Complete Martial Arts", the Four Libraries and so on, all of which are unrealistic and arrogant behaviors of Ye Lang.
Finally, Gua Nong said that the current seemingly prosperous world is actually "outside the golden jade", and if it continues, the Qing Dynasty will be dangerous.
The more Qianlong listened, the more angry he became, and an old man in the field actually said that the ancient and prosperous world in his mind was worthless, and he really deserved to be killed. However, thinking about it for a moment, as an emperor, how could he be angry with the old man in the field, so he was very unhappy to let the guards leave the melon money and leave.
Fish that slip through the net
However, qianlong immediately felt that it was not right after he entered the city, and the peasants in his impression were all honest and honest people who were not good at words, and should not have such meticulous and sharp words. And this melon farmer particularly focused on the "prison of words", is this person a fish who has written rebellious poems before?
Thinking of this, Qianlong suddenly ordered that the guards execute the melon farmer. But when the guards arrived, the melon farmer was long gone.
Gua Nong was indeed one of the victims of a "literal prison" in Hebei province, when his wife and children were killed, he had the privilege of escaping and hiding everywhere, and finally fled to the homes of distant relatives, and has since made a living as a farmer.
And this time, when he saw Qianlong for the first time, he felt that this person was popular and heroic, and he was by no means an ordinary person. In addition, when he judged the "Prosperous Age of Qianlong", this person turned from joy to anger, and he guessed eight or nine points in his heart.
When Qianlong left, he didn't want the stall anymore, so he immediately went home to pack up his things and fled.
And Qianlong, because he was on a micro-service tour, was inconvenient to trace this matter, and this matter was finally closed.
Later, this incident spread more and more widely from the mouth of melon farmers, and eventually became a folklore story. Of course, the degree of credibility is debatable. For example, he had fled, so how did he learn that Qianlong had sent someone to kill him after he entered the city? And how could he be sure that the person who ate the melon was Qianlong? If it is a Manchu, or what kind of prince and minister it is, it may not be certain.
But then again, even if the melon eater is not Qianlong, or whether he has sent someone to execute the melon farmers in reverse, what the melon farmers say is the truth. The Qing Dynasty in the middle and late Qianlong period was indeed devastated by him. Of particular importance was the refusal to trade with britain and the closure of trade ports, which directly led to the Qing Dynasty losing the best opportunity for learning and development.
It can be said that it was precisely this decision of Qianlong that led to the crisis of the nation, led to the humiliation of the next hundred years, and made it almost impossible for the Chinese people to turn over.