Demeanor is like nine years old, Lu position and Wei Ping. The chengjia family has great virtue, and the lord of the world is the name of the secretary.
- Qianlong
The most famous Han ministers in the history of the Qing Dynasty are not Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan of the late Qing Dynasty, nor Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengzu in the early years, but Zhang Tingyu, an old minister who entered the career during the Kangxi Dynasty and survived the three dynasties. The Qianlong Emperor praised him for not being rude or vomiting, being just and upright, and being generous and wise. And he is also the only Hanchen in the history of the Qing Dynasty who deserves to enjoy the Taimiao Temple.
Looking at Zhang Tingyu's body, from Kangxi's entry into the army in the 39th year to qianlong's sudden death in the 20th year, his body has experienced three generations of dynasties, and every monarch knows each other, with a beginning and an end. However, in his later years, he repeatedly "confused" the Qianlong Emperor, and yes, the monarchs and courtiers gradually became suspicious. Could it be that Zhang Tingyu has been sensitive all his life, and when he is old, he really becomes demented?
Zhang Tingyu was born in Beijing in 1679, his father was Zhang Ying, a minister of the Kangxi Dynasty, who passed down poetry from a small family and read a lot of scriptures. In 1697, he participated in the imperial examination, but because his father was the main examiner, he did not want to fall into the tongue and abandoned the examination. In 1700, he was admitted to the military and officially entered the official field.
Not long after, Zhang Tingyu was appreciated by Kangxi with his extraordinary talent and clever mind, and entered the Shang Study To participate in the discussion of major state affairs. From then on, Zhang Tingyu became Kangxi's inseparable confidant minister and was trusted by him. Until 1722, when the Kangxi Emperor died and Yongzheng ascended the throne, Zhang Tingyu was still reused.
Zhang Tingyu's father, Zhang Ying, was once Yongzheng's teacher, and Zhang Tingyu valued Yongzheng when Yongzheng was still in the "Nine Sons and Nine Sons". After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he continued to have Zhang Tingyu serve in Shang's office as his secretary and, like his father, as a teacher to his son Hongli.
It was not until 1728 that Zhang Tingyu finally entered the center and entered the cabinet to become a figure of zaifu level. The following year, Yongzheng founded the Military Aircraft Department, and Zhang Tingyu was one of the first military aircraft ministers. In the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735), before Yongzheng died, he also entrusted the Qianlong Emperor to Zhang Tingyu, and even went down to let Zhang Tingyu enjoy the Taimiao Temple after his death.
During the Qianlong period, Zhang Tingyu was still infinitely valued by the emperor, and he was also made a count, hereditary replacement, which was the peak of the Han ministers. However, in 1749, Zhang Tingyu began to write to the scholars, and the relationship between the two monarchs declined rapidly. On the one hand, Zhang Tingyu asked Qianlong to write a certificate and let himself enjoy the Taimiao Temple after his death, yes, Qianlong was very unhappy, but he still wrote a contract with a pen.
As a result, Zhang Tingyu was still not satisfied, and in the next few years, he still asked Qianlong for something, and there was nothing to do. In the fifteenth year of Qianlong, it was precisely the death of the emperor's eldest son, which made the Qianlong Emperor angry, and Zhang Tingyu's officials were not enough, and he was also asked to hand over all the rewarded property. It was not until the death of Zhang Tingyu in the twentieth year of Qianlong (1755), that Qianlong felt deeply guilty and let Zhang Tingyu's tablet be worthy of the Taimiao Temple.
From the perspective of Zhang Tingyu's life, the early and late periods are obviously not at the same level, why would Zhang Tingyu in his later years make such an unwise choice? In fact, if we look at Wang Qi of the Qin Dynasty, we may be able to know the answer. Before attacking the Chu state, Wang Qi asked Qin Shi Huang for two pieces of land and silver, precisely because he wanted to prove that he had no ambitions and let Qin Shi Huang hand over 200,000 troops to him with confidence.
In the same way, Zhang Tingyu's self-blackening in his later years and his unprovoked demands are similar to Wang Qi's. They are also all world-famous courtiers, and they are also highly meritorious masters, if they do not prove themselves to the emperor, then they may not have any accidents when they are alive, but their own families are difficult to preserve in the end. Therefore, Zhang Tingyu has always been very smart, he even his own hereditary title is too dangerous, only by letting his reputation be damaged, his descendants can live better.