The four great masterpieces of China are known to everyone. "Journey to the West" about gods and monsters; "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that spans Wei Shuwu; "Water Margin" by Liangshan Haohan Zhongyi Qianqiu; and Jia Baoyu's marriage genealogy "Dream of the Red Chamber". In contrast, the scene in the dream of the Red Chamber may not have a big action of swords and soldiers, but it is still very exciting, and the author Cao Xueqin is also an excellent literary artist.
Cao Xueqin was poor all her life, but the Cao family also had a Jiangning weaving industry. However, after the family road collapsed and was raided by the Yongzheng Emperor, he was half-hearted and embarrassed. Once the Cao family was also a merchant of a large family, but now only a small amount of silver was searched. Cao Xueqin also returned to live in an old mansion in Beijing after raiding her home.
First, Cao Xueqin's life
Cao Xueqin was a famous scholar of the Qing Dynasty. His real name is Cao Xia, and he is a native of Liaoning, Northeast China. Other people's families may be poor students who are idle to create texts. But Cao Xueqin is not an ordinary person, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is from a rich family. In today's parlance, he was a standard rich kid.
If it is said that the Cao family has a relationship with the royal family, it must be unbelievable! Yes, Cao Xueqin's great-grandmother was once the nanny of the Kangxi Emperor. His grandfather, Cao Yin, was Kangxi's companion and bodyguard. Therefore, the Cao family and the royal family have a deep friendship. Later, with the ascension of the Kangxi Emperor to the throne, this companion of the school boy also had a patron and became a supervisor of the imperial history.
There is also a position behind the inspector Ofeshi, Jiangning Weaving. The shop in charge of the silk business, which was a state-owned enterprise and was only operated by Cao Yin. Therefore, the Cao family is also a rich family, and the Grandchildren of the Cao family also run the silk business together.
He soon became the richest man in the region. The Kangxi Emperor went down to Jiangnan many times to play and write poems, and Cao Yin also accompanied him throughout the whole process. Not only introduce the local customs and customs, but also take the emperor to taste local food. Therefore, the Kangxi Emperor was also very kind to Cao Yin.
Originally, Cao Xueqin should have studied hard, and after Cao Yin's recommendation to become an official in the DPRK, after which he was dressed in fine clothes and food, food and clothing were worry-free, but this was not the case. Cao Xueqin can be described as a standard clumsy child, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a young man. After all, it is food and clothing, so I play with my own beards every day.
Cao Xueqin was still very naughty, and when she had nothing to do, she dragged the girls to read and write, chanted poems and painted. Although it is very stubborn, it is also familiar with many literary masterpieces. Especially love to read novels and listen to operas. In short, as long as it is not an article such as the Four Books and Five Classics of the Comprehensive Text, even if it is a medical book, the textile book is particularly concerned.
Second, the rise and fall of the Cao family
But the extremes of things will be reversed, and the prosperity of the poles will decline. The Cao family made a lot of money under the care of the Kangxi Emperor. All the ministers were also well aware of the relationship between the Cao family and the emperor, so they all showed their favor one after another. But with the death of the Kangxi Emperor, it also disappeared.
At that time, several of Kangxi's sons were eyeing the throne, so there was an incident in which the nine sons seized the throne. These princes fought openly and secretly with each other, and the whole court was in turmoil. Each prince also has its own characteristics, and it is difficult to make a decision in a time.
After a fight, only two princes were left with hope. At this time, Cao Yin, a close relative of the Kangxi Emperor, had to make a decision, and his decision was likely to affect the heir to the throne. Cao Yin thought for a long time, and finally stood behind Brother Ba. But who knew that brother Ba'a still did not get the emperor's throne in the end.
The ascension of the fourth brother to the throne means that he will begin to exclude dissidents from the DPRK and China. At this time, Cao Xueqin was still talking about poetry with the servants in the family, and did not know that the Yongzheng Emperor of the Fourth Brother had begun to plot to get rid of the Cao family. However, after all, Cao Yin's family is a big business, and the roots of the DPRK and China are deep and broad, and it is still necessary to consider the long term to overthrow such a person.
Cao Yin died soon after, much to the surprise of the Yongzheng Emperor, but still secretly investigated. Suddenly, it was found that there was a large deficit in the warehouse of the silk business. However, the former person in charge, Cao Yin, has passed away, so this is returned by the person in charge at that time.
3. The Yongzheng Emperor raided his home
The Cao family was preoccupied with the silk business, but in fact, there was no corruption. However, the Yongzheng Emperor did not believe it, so he once again launched a more detailed investigation into the Cao family. But it has been fruitless.
At this time, Cao Yan, the helmsman of the Cao family, simply did not have so much money to make up for the arrears. So he came up with a solution, he prepared a lot of money and decided to bribe the Yongzheng Emperor in exchange for the stability of the Cao family. This made Yongzheng, who was already angry, even more angry.
He directly ordered Cao Yan to be arrested and then raided his home. In fact, the former Cao family was rich, and there was no deficit in the silk business, because Cao Yin played when the Kangxi Emperor was alive, saying that he wanted to do business in buying and selling bronze while the silk industry was developing steadily, so the Qianlong Emperor happily agreed.
But this bronze business first made some money, and then it began to lose money, and it kept losing the principal. He also lost a lot of money from Jiangning weaving. After all, there was the support of the emperor behind him, so he told the Kangxi Emperor that he was old and did not have the energy to manage such a large foundation and did not do this industry. The Kangxi Emperor also smiled slightly and agreed without asking more.
Therefore, at this time, a large deficit was found in the silk business. The Yongzheng Emperor thought that he could harvest a full harvest, not only filling the void of more than 300,000 taels of silver, but also filling a part of the treasury.
However, unexpectedly, after searching the entire Cao family, only 60,000 taels of silver were found. This is simply not enough for the fraction of the deficit owed in Jiangning weaving. At this time, Yongzheng's heart was particularly cool. Therefore, all the people of the Cao clan were dismissed from their posts, and all the property collected was filled into the government treasury.
At this time, Cao Xueqin suddenly changed from a life of golden clothes and jade food to the day of eating chaff vegetables. Of course, in the face of such a serious negligence, it is still good to be able to leave your life. So Cao Xueqin followed her family back to live in an old mansion in Beijing, and naturally there would not be so many girls to accompany him to read and write all day.
Later, during the Qianlong period, Cao Xueqin, who was in her forties, wrote the famous "Dream of the Red Chamber". But halfway through writing, his young son died. This made Cao Xueqin feel like a thunderbolt in the sky, and she was bedridden from then on, and she died soon after. The latter small part was supplemented by the Qing Dynasty writer Gao Yan.
4. Summary
Cao Xueqin's life can be described as a big ups and downs. When he was a child, he had no worries about food and clothing, and the elders in the family were busy with their careers, so they did not manage their children too much. So he wants the wind to be windy, and the rain to be rainy. Every day, not only is there food and clothing, but also beautiful beards accompanying you. However, after the collapse of the family road, he suffered a lot of diseases, and finally the big thing was late.
In his later years, he embarked on various travels, not only to explore his knowledge, but also to make friends. Diligent and studious, he finally created "Dream of the Red Chamber" that has been passed down through the ages. Therefore, we must learn from Cao Xueqin's efforts in her later years. If he had worked so hard in his youth, he would have reached new heights on the path of literature, and more works would have been published.