Yongzheng, one of the most accomplished emperors of the Qing Dynasty, on the one hand, he was mean and unkind, cruel, and extremely power-hungry; on the other hand, he worked hard to govern and dared to fire at interest groups, and he was a rare reformer in Chinese history. In his lifetime, Yongzheng made countless enemies, from the relatives of the emperor and the state, to the Manchu bureaucrats, down to the non-governmental intellectuals, all of whom did not think much of him and were quite dissatisfied.
In the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728), a strange thing happened in the great Yongzheng Dynasty, that is, the Zeng Jing case.
First, Zeng Jing submitted a book
Yue Zhongqi was one of the most trusted Han generals in Yongzheng. After he was a general, he moved to Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan, and made great contributions to Yongzheng. By the sixth year of Yongzheng, Yue Zhongqi had been promoted to governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces and the general of Ningyuan, and had become a feudal governor with heavy troops. Under the favor of Yongzheng, Yue Zhongqi was boundlessly rich and noble, and he owned countless mansions in Sichuan and Gansu, with thousands of servants, and liangtian Quemo crisscrossing, which could be described as an extremely popular subject.
However, even so, Yue Zhongqi's heart has always had a hidden worry, that is, his identity. Yue Zhongqi was a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty, Yue Fei, and Yue Fei's nemesis was none other than the ancestor of the Manchurians, the Jurchens. Therefore, many Manchurians often impeached Yue Zhongqi, saying that after he was Yue Fei, he would definitely take revenge for Song Ming.
And the people in the folk row also believe that Yue Zhongqi, who has the blood of heroes flowing on his body, will be the best candidate to restore the glory of the Han people. This was known not only to Yue Zhongqi, but also to Yongzheng. Although Yongzheng was outwardly comforting to him, no one knew what this "gloomy emperor" was thinking in his heart. Nian Qianyao had been so favored by Yongzheng, what was the result? Therefore, Yue Zhongqi has been living in an extremely high-pressure environment.
As early as August 4, 1727, Yue Zhongqi was leading troops to sit in Chengdu Province. At noon that day, suddenly a man shook one hand in each hand and ran wildly on the street, shouting while running: "Grandpa Yue is leading the Sichuan and Shaanxi soldiers to turn against him!" There will be people at the city gates in the southeast, southwest, and northwest of Chengdu who will rebel at the same time, and they will kill people when they see them! ”
Later, it was found out that this person was really a madman. This frightened Yue Zhongqi not lightly, and he quickly wrote to Yongzheng and asked to be relieved of his duties and become an ordinary civilian. However, Yongzheng wrote back:
"In the past few years, I have received enough slander letters slandering you, saying that you are Yue Fei and intending to repair Song Jin's revenge." But I think these are absurd paradoxes that I won't believe! ”
As a result, Yue Zhongqi had just calmed down for less than a year, and he received a letter again, and the owner of the letter was named "Xia Liang". The letter said that Yue Zhongqi was after Yue Fei and should take advantage of the time to rebel and avenge Song Ming. The letter says:
"Since the emperor of the Ming Dynasty lost his virtue, his subjects lost their defense, the Central Plains Land Sank, Yi Di took advantage of the false theft of the artifact, and Qiankun repeatedly." It can be said that "the sky is dark, the gods are dusty, the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer." ”
At the same time as scolding The Manchu Qing, "Xia Liang" pointed the spearhead at Yongzheng. He listed the ten major crimes of Yongzheng, the so-called murder of brothers and brothers; plotting against the father and forcing the mother; suspicion and loyalty; although rich in the world and the treasury, but very greedy; sexually fond of killing, alcoholism, and indulgence. It is no wonder that "the sky is angry, the ghost cries wolf".
After receiving the letter, Yue Zhongqi was frightened like earth. The words of this letter are so bold and "reactionary" that if they are really implicated in this matter, let alone say anything glorious and rich, their own heads will be lost. Moreover, Yongzheng has many eyes and ears, and if he does not disclose this matter to the emperor early, he will be in big trouble.
On the one hand, Yue Zhongqi arrested Zhang Zhuo, a scholar who submitted the book, and tortured him, asking him to explain who "Xia Liang" was behind the scenes. On the other hand, Yue Zhongqi immediately submitted the reverse letter to Yongzheng to show his loyalty.
Second, Yongzheng shed tears
Soon, Yongzheng received a reverse letter from Yue Zhongqi Pegasus. When he saw "Xia Liang" scolding himself for the crimes of "killing his brother, slaughtering his brother, plotting against his father, and forcing his mother", he was actually angry and wept. Yongzheng often said that he was "such a man", but now he is scolded and cried. Obviously, this reverse letter hurt his soul a lot.
Since Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, his doubts have continued. As we all know, Kangxi once made Empress Hesheri's son Yin Rong crown prince. However, with the passage of time, the father and son fell out of harmony, resulting in the second time the prince was deposed. As a result, the nine princes of Kangxi all participated in the struggle to seize the concubine. Later, Kangxi had to adopt the method of "secretly establishing a reserve", hiding the candidate for the imperial heir in a box and waiting for Kangxi to open it after his death. The results show that Kangxi passed the throne to his fourth son, Yin Chan, also known as Yongzheng.
As the fourth son, from the perspective of the relationship between concubines and concubines, Yongzheng is not a concubine, nor is he the eldest son, and his age is not high or low. In terms of talent, Yongzheng's talent is outstanding, but his brothers are not bad; from the point of view of favor, Yongzheng is not much better than the Fourteenth Prince.
Therefore, when Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, his brothers were quite dissatisfied. The Fourteenth Prince returned to the capital from the Qinghai front and threatened in front of Yongzheng: "Now that my brother is the emperor, he still expects me to kowtow!" I returned to Beijing but I was only in the Zi Palace, and after seeing the empress, I was finished. ”
In a fit of rage, Yongzheng drove this brother of a mother to the imperial tomb to guard the mausoleum, not only depriving him of his military power, but also taking away his freedom.
As for the Eight Princes and his gang, who had been opposing him before, Yongzheng disregarded his brotherhood and imprisoned the Eight and Nine Kings he hated the most, and expelled his clan. He even changed the name of the Eighth Prince to "Archina" and the Ninth Prince to "Seth Black". In Manchu, it means "pig dog" and "nasty ghost". Yongzheng's cruelty and meanness can be seen. Soon after, both the Eight and Nine Kings died in prison.
In Yongzheng's heart, his throne was justified. In society, however, the Remnants of the Eight Kings had been spreading news unfavorably to Yongzheng. Yongzheng's mother, Wu Yashi, has always disliked this son. Yongzheng was called empress dowager, and she was not very clever. What was even more coincidental was that Wu Yashi actually died in the first year of Yongzheng. This also gave the Eight Kings Yu Dang a pretext, they said that Yongzheng not only conspired with his father, but also forced his own mother to die.
In addition to the death of his mother, Yongzheng's children also seem to have received retribution, and his concubines had nine sons and four daughters, of which four daughters and six sons died.
For Yongzheng, his public opinion environment is quite passive. First of all, the Qing Dynasty approached the large clan with a small clan, and after entering the customs, the killing was extremely heavy, and there was also harsh national oppression after the founding of the country. Therefore, in terms of legitimacy, the Qing Dynasty is insufficient.
Secondly, for Yongzheng himself, he has been facing the above-mentioned legitimacy problems. The reverse letter that Yue Zhongqi received almost fundamentally denied the legitimacy of Yongzheng's succession. Xia Liang not only charged Yongzheng with being incompetent, mean and cruel, but also said that he violated human morality and rebelled against morality, which was a complete denial of him. Therefore, it can be said that Yue Zhongqi's reverse book broke the last string in Yongzheng's heart.
After Yongzheng calmed down, he immediately issued orders to Yue Zhongqi:
"I never dreamed that someone in the world would comment on me like this, nor did I expect that the rebellion would be so great!" Isn't it providential that such a rebellious thing should throw itself into the net? I hereby express my deep gratitude to God for my great kindness..."
So Yongzheng ordered Yue Zhongqi to quickly find out the mastermind behind the scenes.
Third, Zeng Jing was arrested
In order to obtain a confession, Yue Zhongqi tortured Zhang Zhuo. However, Zhang Zhuo's mouth was hard and he refused to reveal a word, which made Yue Zhongqi have a headache.
After all, Yue Zhongqi was a resourceful general, and he saw that he was too hard to do, so he came to be soft. Yue Zhongqi lifted Zhang Zhuo out of prison, then summoned the man to the official office and offered him a bowl of tea.
Yue Zhongqi said gently to Zhang Zhuo, "I agree with you and your teacher Xia Liang. But the emperor has many eyes and ears, so he has to torture you severely, otherwise I will not protect myself. Now that my eyes and ears have been removed, you can tell me the truth. ”
At first, Zhang Zhuo was still wary and refused to say who Xia Liang really was. However, Zhang Zhuo was only a student after all, and his social experience was insufficient. Especially when he heard Yue Zhongqi crying bitterly and saying that he "swore to heaven that he would not divulge half a sentence", he finally relieved his guard.
Zhang Said that his teacher Xia Liang's real name was Zeng Jing, and his family lived in Putan Village, Yongxing County, Hunan Province, and there were three other people who conspired with him. All three were skilled in strategy and firearms. Yue Zhongqi, who had received the most precious treasure, quickly wrote a secret letter to the emperor, telling Zeng Jing's story as it was.
After Yue Zhongqi learned of this news, if he received the most precious treasure, he immediately flew to report to Yongzheng. In the book, he explains how he talked to Zhang Zhuo and learned about Zeng Jing and the situation of the rebels. After reading Yue Zhongqi's secret fold, Yongzheng specially circled the two words of "oath of alliance" and then wept again:
Reading the word "oath of alliance", I did not feel tears. ”
However, he also comforted Yue Zhongqi, saying: "Such an oath of alliance is a change of power that must be taken, and the gods know that not only will they not bring calamity, but they will certainly eliminate disasters and eliminate sins and bless Yanlu." After that, Yongzheng immediately ordered his confidant Li Wei to arrest Zeng Jing and his gang.
Soon, Zeng Jing, as the "culprit", was taken to Beijing and detained. For other emperors, even the most benevolent monarch, Zeng Jing will be beheaded by the door. Surprisingly, however, Yongzheng, known for his "cruelty", was not prepared to kill him. Not only that, but he had to have an unprecedented debate match with this repeat offender. He wanted Zeng Jing to see what a wise and diligent monarch he really was.
IV. The Mystery of the Great Righteousness
How did Zeng Jing, who was originally a rural scholar, come up with anti-Qing ideas? It turned out that although Zeng Jing had read some books, he had never obtained a meritorious name. In my hometown, I can only make a living by teaching. Later, he read the works of the anti-Qing scholar Lü Liuliang and began to have the idea of anti-Qing restoration.
Later, the eunuchs who served the Eighth And Ninth Princes were sent to the southern land of smoke and miasma, and along the way spread unfavorable remarks about Yongzheng everywhere, which were heard by the people and spread everywhere. And these news entered Zeng Jing's ears again. Therefore, Zeng Jing combined the attack on the Qing Dynasty itself with the attack on Yongzheng himself with his brilliant brushwork, and wrote a rather programmatic "Rixinlu". Later, Zeng Jing had a whimsical idea, thinking that after Yue Zhongqi was Yue Fei, he would definitely avenge his ancestors, so there was another case of submission.
Xiucai rebelled, and it did not succeed in three years. In fact, Zeng Jing's "conspiracy to rebel" can only be a verbal cannon. The threat to Yongzheng was actually not as great as imagined. From the attack on Yongzheng himself, he really only did "Tu Di". As for what kind of greed for money and lust, flattery, and murder of loyalty, it is all unjust and nonsense.
Yongzheng was born to love to debate, and he was both shocked by Zeng Jing's attacks and happy at the same time. It would be better to expose the problem, and he could take this opportunity to wash away the discussion of him from the government and the public. Therefore, for him, it is better to live in Zeng Jing than to die in Zeng Jing. Thus began the unprecedented debate between the emperor and the conspirators.
The first step in the debate tournament is to let Zeng Jing re-understand and let him see how Yongzheng works. He asked the inquisitor to collect the reports sent from the provinces, all of which contained Yongzheng's extremely long instructions.
After reading the emperor's approval, Zeng Jing was dumbfounded, and it seemed that Yongzheng was indeed not an emperor who was full of food and had nothing to do. Busy working like this every day, where is the time to be greedy for money and lustful, and drunk all day? What surprised Zeng Jing even more was that when Yongzheng was reviewing the folds, he also acted as a proofreader, and even the typos and numbers were marked. Zeng Jing couldn't help but sigh: "The ants live in the sky, where to measure their height and depth." ”
Subsequently, Yongzheng handed over the text of the criminal case he had approved to Zeng Jing to read. In these cases, Yongzheng's meticulous instructions were written everywhere, and it was not at all obvious that Yongzheng's "excellent killing" disposition was not seen.
Subsequently, Yongzheng continued to beat Zeng Jing in writing. He started by criticizing Lu Liuliang, the "teacher" whom Zeng Jing most admired, to completely curse Zeng Jing's heart.
"Can the rebellious Lü Liuliang really be compared with Confucius?"
"Why did you respect Lu Liuliang, who walked in the city?"
"Can you Zeng Jing really be a big figure in "Heavenly Wisdom, Qianzhi Ninth Five-Year Plan"? ”
"You once quietly claimed to be a worldly talent, do you really have the weight of a "prime minister", or do you have different ambitions and plot against you? ”
This series of questions asked Zeng Jing was powerless, so he confessed his sins and repented one by one in his confession:
"How did The traitor Lü Liuliang lead us astray?"
"How did I get poisoned by Lu Liuliang's thoughts and become a repeat offender?"
"How did I, the beast of the past, get born into an adult?"
"Doesn't the emperor intend to follow the ancient system of keeping filial piety for three years, but only to be at ease for the sake of filial piety?"
YongZheng saw that Zeng Jing had repented in this way, so he granted mercy to Zeng Jing and his disciple Zhang Qi (whose actual name was Zhang Xi) from death.
At the same time, Yongzheng also wrote his own argument into a book of great wonders, "The Mystery of the Great Righteousness". This kind of book systematically refutes Zeng Jing's accusations against herself.
Judging from Zeng Jing's Huayi argument, although he was a Manchu, he did not hide his identity as "Yi". However, Yongzheng also believed that "Manchuria of this dynasty is the birthplace of Judah China." King Wen of Zhou was also from Xirong, so wouldn't they have "holy virtues"? Just as the so-called entering Yidi is Yidi, and entering Huaxia is Huaxia. China has always been a cultural nation, as long as you accept the way of loyalty and filial piety, barbarians can also become Chinese. What's more, after the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, the unification of the sea and the disaster of the subjects' ignorance of the military revolution for a hundred years were much better than those of the Ming Dynasty.
After discussing the legitimacy of the Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng also discussed the legitimacy of his succession. In "The Mystery of The Great Righteousness", Yongzheng dresses himself up as a good son and brother who honors his parents and loves his brothers. As for Akina and Seth, it was because they were rebellious and rebellious, so they had to carry out this "Curse of Cai Cai". As for what is good to kill, greedy for alcohol, slack in government, and good at slander, it is even more nonsense. He is clearly a diligent, frugal, and benevolent "good monarch."
After the completion of the "Mystery of the Great Righteousness", Yongzheng ordered his people to print it into a book, up to the provinces, prefectures and counties, down to the market towns, villages, and garrison barracks, and everyone must be able to understand.
Subsequently, the school palaces of various states and counties were mobilized, and the scholars led the students to give the rural people the "Mystery of great righteousness", and even the illiterate rural people had to let them know through the lecture tour.
As for Zeng Jing and Zhang Zhuo, they were sent to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shaanxi to give lectures on a tour and present their accounts for the "Mystery of the Great Righteousness". With the support of international forces, the "Mystery of the Great Righteousness" was so widely popular and the scale of its readers that the Qing Dynasty rarely matched it, becoming the most widely read and narrated strange book Chinese in the early 1730s.
Yongzheng left Zeng Jing's life, can it really show that he is very benevolent? This is naturally impossible. Yongzheng did not kill Zeng Jing, but extended the butcher knife to Lu Liuliang's family. At that time, Lü Liuliang had died a long time ago, but Yongzheng killed his son, and all his children and grandchildren were exiled to Ningguta to be used as slaves by the Phijia people. As for his body, he was crushed to ashes and his writings were burned to the ground. All book engravers and book collectors involved in the case were beheaded.
Compared with physical crimes, Yongzheng paid more attention to the resistance of the Han people's hearts. Fueled by Yongzheng, the prison of writing since Kangxi has become more intense. In the Qianlong period, it reached its peak.
5. Death of Zeng Jing
On October 8, 1735, Yongzheng died of an overdose of Dan medicine. Before his death, Yongzheng had always stressed the need to keep Zeng Jing alive. Who knew that after his son Qianlong succeeded to the throne, things changed in the direction of the peak and loop.
Soon after Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he ordered that Zeng Jing and Zhang Zhuo, who had appeared all over the country, be arrested and brought to justice. On December 10, Qianlong issued an order. By December 29, Zeng Jing and Zhang Zhuo were arrested and arrested, embarking on a long road of escorting Beijing.
On January 31, 1736, Qianlong issued a cruel holy decree:
"Zeng Jing and Zhang Xi were rebellious and fierce, rebellious, and my imperial father was kind and kind, and spared their lives." But I will not condone their sins, and should therefore be executed immediately in order to satisfy the people's wishes."
After Zeng Jing and Zhang Xi were executed, their concubines were killed one after another, and men under the age of sixteen and some female dependents were sent to Ninguta to be enslaved, and all property was confiscated and confiscated.
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he changed Yongzheng's will. At that time, it was against filial piety. But why did Qianlong do this? In qianlong's view, a superdistor, there was no need to argue with his subjects. What the emperor said, the subjects listened to. If you don't listen, you'll have to kill.
The "Mystery of the Great Righteousness" seems to be defending Yongzheng, and the effect caused by the facts is actually to cover up. Most of the subjects did not actually understand the secrets of the palace. However, Yongzheng made the legitimacy of the Qing Dynasty and the secret affairs of the palace public, which caused speculation and orchestration among his subjects.
Therefore, Yongzheng not only failed to wash away his notoriety, but made his reputation more infamous, and he himself offended the cultured interest groups, so he became one of the least famous Qing emperors. The yeshi that was unfavorable to Yongzheng was even more impoverished, and some people even said that Yongzheng was killed by Lü Liuliang's daughter Lü Siniang. It wasn't until the broadcast of "Yongzheng Dynasty" that we really recognized The positive image of Yongzheng as a reformer.
After killing Zeng Jing, Qianlong also strictly ordered the confiscation of the "Mysteries of the Great Righteousness" in various places and destroyed them in a concentrated manner. Since then, "The Mystery of the Great Righteousness" has become a treasure in the hands of collectors from a book that was published nationwide.