As the saying goes: a companion is like a companion tiger. In the feudal society of the past, the emperor held the power of life and death for everyone, and if the emperor was slightly unhappy, he could invite the disaster of killing, which was a very sad thing for the people of that era.
But who would have thought that selling a melon on the side of the road would almost be killed by the emperor, and there was a hint of absurdity in the sadness. This incident occurred during the Qianlong period, but it is not recorded in the main history, only some clues are in some folk historical materials. On the one hand, it may be that because this matter was unfavorable to Qianlong, the historian did not write it down, and on the other hand, it may also be that this matter is not true.
First, micro-service private visit to meet melon farmers
Thanks to the two Ming emperors, Kangxi and Yongzheng, the Qing Dynasty reached its peak at qianlong's hands, at least that's what Qianlong himself thought. Therefore, he especially likes to visit the people, six times in his life in Jiangnan, the number of micro-service visits is as many as hundreds.
Once, Qianlong was on a whim, dressed in plain clothes and took a few guards to experience life in the folk, it was summer, and the sweltering heat of Jiangnan made Qianlong sweat without taking a few steps. But in order not to be discovered, Qianlong could not take the palace maid with him to fan himself.
In this way, just out of a distance, Qianlong's clothes were wet with sweat, and the guards around him were not stronger than him, and they were sweating with the same heat.
At this time, a melon field appeared in front of Qianlong, thinking that the sweet and delicious watermelon could both heat and quench thirst, Qianlong and the guards around him could not help but swallow a few mouthfuls of spit.
The guard of the organic spirit understood the emperor's intentions, and quickly took the initiative to request the melon farmer who sold melons, and after Qianlong agreed, the guards found the melon farmers in the melon shed next to the melon field, at this time the melon farmers were staying in the shed due to the hot and dry weather.
When the guards saw this, they wanted to come forward and wake him up, after all, where was the reason for the emperor and other ordinary people to rest? But at this time, Qianlong showed the demeanor of a Ming Emperor, and he reached out his hand to stop the guards, signaling himself and others to stand aside and wait.
Although these guards were reluctant, they did not dare to disobey the emperor's orders. I had to stand by and watch the melon field droole, thinking of the sweetness of the watermelon, I felt even more thirsty, and I hoped that the melon farmer would wake up quickly.
The sleeping melon farmer did not know that there was an emperor waiting for him, and slept for a quarter of an hour before waking up, but the scene in front of him really frightened him.
After all, a few men with big waists and round waists are staring at themselves, how can anyone not be afraid? Qianlong still opened his mouth to comfort the melon farmers: "The old man does not need to panic, we just passed by the melon field to beg for a few melons to quench our thirst, and when we saw the old man sleeping, we waited here." ”
The melon farmer saw Qianlong, who was richly dressed and full of vigor, and then looked at the few men next to him who really had no malice, so he calmed down. Thinking about Qianlong's words again, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, so he said yes in a row, and then went to the melon field to find a few large watermelons to cut out.
Looking at the half-red watermelon, Qianlong felt even more thirsty, and he couldn't care less about picking up the watermelon and eating it with the old farmer, and the guards on the side saw that the emperor had eaten it and was no longer restrained, and also ate it with a big mouthful.
After the two-petal watermelon went down, Qianlong felt that the sky was not so hot, and his mouth was not so thirsty, so he talked with the melon farmers. After all, he is a micro-service private visit, observing the people's feelings, so the topics of conversation involve many places, whether it is folk anecdotes or official habits.
This melon farmer was able to answer like a stream, which made Qianlong a little more interested in him, after all, a melon seller who had some understanding of folk anecdotes could be said to have rich experience in life, but it was very unusual to talk about the habits of the officialdom.
After chatting for a while, Qianlong asked the melon farmer why he did not enter the official field as an official since he had such insight. The old peasant replied, "I am just a rough man, and I am not interested in the intrigues and deceit in the official arena, so instead of being an official and trying my best, I should be a melon farmer to be at ease." ”
After hearing this, Qianlong felt very sorry, and began to list some of the advantages of being an official to the melon farmers: Let's not say that being an official has a fenglu, just in case of flying yellow Tengda, he will be able to honor his ancestors, which is something that countless people have pursued all their lives.
What's more, the melon farmers have been in the people for a long time, and they must have a better understanding of the needs of the people, and after becoming officials, they can also serve the people's welfare, and perhaps they can still get the appreciation of the emperor.
After hearing this, The melon farmer laughed, first thanked Qianlong for such advice, and then refused: "You look up to me, I am just a grass people, my qualifications are stupid, I dare not ask to be an official to do things for the people, and I dare not expect to be appreciated by the emperor in the future." ”
In the face of the melon farmer's two refusals, Qianlong's face was a little hanging, after all, he admired the melon farmer's insight is only one of them, on the other hand, he felt that if the melon farmer entered the dprk as an official, then his ability to choose the best and the best would definitely become a good story.
But he never expected that the melon farmers were so ignorant of good villains, so Qianlong stopped this topic and continued to eat melons. Without waiting for Qianlong to take a bite, the melon farmer said, "It is not right for you to eat melon like this." ”
Qianlong was angry with qianlong by this remark, he was already angry that the melon farmer refused his invitation, and now the melon farmer had actually begun to teach himself to do things again. But Qianlong was an emperor after all, with some cultivation, and did not show the anger in his heart, but only asked the melon farmer why he said this.
The melon farmer replied: "Eating melons is actually the same as being a person, and we must understand the principle of bitterness before sweetness." This melon is the sweetest in the middle and the taste on both sides is weak, if you eat it from the middle, when you eat it on the side, you will feel tasteless, and even feel a little bitter, and eating from both sides is just the opposite. ”
As soon as Qianlong heard that it was quite reasonable, he ate a clove according to the method of the melon farmer, and suddenly felt that this clove of melon was much sweeter than what he had just eaten, which made the anger in Qianlong's heart disappear suddenly, but he sighed that he did not expect that a farmer who sold melons still understood such a truth.
So he once again invited the melon farmer to join the DPRK as an official, but the melon farmer was not impressed by his invitation of "Three Gu Maolu", but just smiled and shook his head to refuse.
Qianlong sighed and there was no way, after all, he was only micro-service private visit this time, and he couldn't always show the identity of the emperor to force the melon farmers, right? Not to mention that this melon farmer may not be worth it.
Just at this time, he and the guards around him also ate well, so they got up to pay and resigned. When walking on the road, Qianlong still felt a little pity, and the guards around him were patting their backs, praising Qianlong for not having a shelf to talk with the people, and saying that Qianlong was well governed and even the people had such an insight.
Qianlong listened to this a lot, just nodded, but when he thought back to what the old farmer had just said about eating melons, he felt that it was not right, eating melons should be eaten from the side, and being a person should be bitter before being sweet, but Qianlong had never experienced any wind and rain in his life, because the bitter heads were eaten by the previous emperors, and he only enjoyed the sweetness in his hands.
So Qianlong felt that the old peasant seemed to be cursing himself for eating melons, after all, the other people were ignorant and did not know about royal affairs, but what the old farmer had just said had already proved that he was a learned person, which made Qianlong think more and more wrongly, and the more he wanted to be angry.
It just so happened that there were still White Lotus Sect forces in the civil uprising at that time, although they could not turn over any big storms, but in the final analysis, it was because there were no learned people in this gang, and they could not be united together, and once people like Gua Nong joined just now, maybe something would happen that would cause Qianlong a headache.
Of course, everything is just Qianlong's inner imagination, and the reality may not be able to beat a stroke of eight shots, but is this important to Qianlong? It doesn't matter.
So Qianlong ordered the guards around him to return to the melon shed just now and kill the melon farmers, although the guards were confused, but they did not have the courage to resist the will and disrespect, not to mention that the lives of ordinary people were not valuable in their hearts.
But not long after, the guards came back to report that the melon farmer had just left, and Qianlong was stunned after listening to it, but it was not a surprise to think about it carefully. With the insight of the melon farmers, they may have guessed that their identities are not ordinary, and the escape is expected.
Second, the merits and demerits of the Qianlong Emperor
The above is all the causes and events of the incident, but friends who are familiar with history will find that things are actually full of loopholes. Although in "Iron Tooth Copper Tooth Ji Xiaolan" and some other TV series, everyone thinks qianlong is still very cute, does he really have the grace to stand by and wait for the melon farmers to wake up?
At the same time, Qianlong spent countless manpower and material resources in his life in Jiangnan six times, and it did not look like a person who could travel lightly and carry only a few guards for private visits.
Even Qianlong himself admitted in his later years that he had caused labor and wealth caused by the search, and also warned his descendants not to continue to go south, so that the emperors after Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty completely cut off the phenomenon of going down to Jiangnan.
Now there has been a lot of controversy about the emperor Qianlong, some people say that he is a Ming Jun, and some people say that he is just a loser.
Both of these statements may be too extreme, after all, Qianlong still has merit in his lifetime, and China's territory has reached its peak under his rule, laying a solid foundation for the vast territory of today.
However, the closure of the country also occurred during the Qianlong period, which made China stand still and failed to catch up with the general trend of the world entering the era of industry. Of course, from another point of view, if Qianlong had not closed the country to the outside world, perhaps China would now implement the same constitutional monarchy as Japan instead of a socialist system full of bright prospects.
However, right is right, wrong is wrong, and we cannot use this reason to excuse Qianlong.
Throughout Qianlong's life, he was actually very lucky, and it was only one of them that he did not go through any big winds and waves, and the most important thing was that the feudal system in the Hands of The Qing Dynasty in Qianlong's hands was actually very close to perfection.
Iii. The prosperity and decline of the Qianlong Dynasty
The Han Dynasty's Han disciples had no way to ascend, and the shijia clan controlled the opportunity to enter the dynasty as officials; the Tang Dynasty had divided the feudal towns, and many of the emperor's orders could not be passed down and issued; the Song Dynasty's force was too low, not only was the territory small, but it was often bullied by the minority regimes; the Yuan Dynasty divided the people of the whole country into four classes and did not know how to govern the country; the Ming Dynasty had factional disputes, and the eunuchs were too strong. At the same time, these dynasties also had the problem of establishing heirs.
But when the throne passed to Qianlong? These problems have been basically solved, the emperor has great power in his hands, there is no shortage of money in his hands, and it is really as dashing as he wants to be.
Therefore, on the surface, Qianlong went out on tour many times in his life, but if you think about it carefully, there are many reasons for this, after all, if the country is not peaceful, then who does the Yellow Emperor have the heart to play around? Not everyone is Yang Guang.
Of course, Qianlong himself did not think that the tour was a play, his purpose was to experience the suffering of the people, and he did not know that every trip was a labor and a loss of money, but it made the people even more unhappy, and how ironic it was to think about it carefully.
summary
However, regardless of whether the story of the melon farmers is true or not, there are not a few people who have insight in the Qing Dynasty who do not want to enter the microcosm of the DPRK, because the Qing Dynasty has a thing that everyone is familiar with - the literal prison.
It is not possible to say that someone was killed one day because of what he wrote, which is really a little too exciting, so instead of going to the emperor's side to live a precarious life, it is really better to be at ease in the folk, but Qianlong obviously did not think about these things.
Buddhists pay attention to the existence of bad emptiness, and we often say that prosperity and prosperity will decline. When the various systems of the feudal dynasty were perfected, it showed that he actually had no need to exist, and the Great Qing in Qianlong's hands had reached its peak, and the next step could only be downward development, after all, it was impossible to stand a stone on the tip.
There was great corruption hidden under the bustling exterior, and the so-called giants of the East had long been devastated, but Qianlong did not understand, and the ministers of the imperial court did not understand. Only the people's uprisings again and again know that the decline and fall of the Qing Dynasty is only a matter of time and night.