In 1766, the Qianlong Emperor was 55 years old, at the height of the Qing Empire.
During this period, the country's agriculture, industry and commerce have achieved tremendous development, the population has soared, the national treasury has overflowed, the Old Summer Palace has completed round after round of expansion, and the unprecedented emperor's departure and inexhaustible unprecedented wealth have shaped the Kang Qian era recorded in history.
During this period, the Qianlong Emperor was satisfied, and how to spend money became the number one problem.
During this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, civil and military officials from all over the country were busy offering tribute to the emperor, and there were countless rare treasures, delicacies and deliciousness.
And at that time, the official worshiped Liu Luoguo, the governor of Guangxi, because he was a big Qing official, not to mention rare treasures, that is, his own expenses had to be saved and frugal.
The upward festival can not be sloppy in the slightest, and his own pocket has to be guarded, this old man rolled his eyes and counted his heart.
"One Thing"
So, Lord Liu carried an iron bucket to the Golden Luan Hall, and the Qianlong Emperor did not know why, and asked Liu Yong "what is his intention."
At this time, the arch-rival Hejun and the adults also jumped out and shouted and questioned, threatening to cure Liu Yong's crime of cheating the monarch.
Liu Yong was confident and full of confidence, and leisurely asked Qianlong: "Long live master, look at the contents of this bucket, what shape does it look like?" ”
Qianlong saw that the bucket was full of ginger, layered on top of each other, so he said, "It's like a mountain undulating." ”
Liu Yonglang continued: "This gift is a bucket of Jiang Shan, I wish the great Qing Jiangshan eternal solidity, and my emperor long live the ruling of the rivers and mountains." ”
As soon as these words came out, the Qianlong Emperor laughed, and all the civil and military officials were amazed, and even Helong had to close his mouth.
The above story comes from the once popular TV series "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo".
The story cannot be verified, but the luxury of the Qianlong period is not fake, and the emperor's good and great achievements are not fake, and Liu Yong is quick-witted, smooth and elegant, which is both in line with history and flattering, no wonder Qianlong, who calls himself the "perfect old man", was also coaxed, and hundreds of years later, we all heard it flutteringly.
At the end of the story, Qianlong Longxin was happy, rewarded Liu Yong's yellow horse coat, and asked him to stay in the palace for the banquet, because the TV series had other loves, so he hastily ended this paragraph.
However, the story has only just begun.
The king is the horse, and the subject is the donkey
Around the time of the afternoon, it is time for dinner. It was the emperor's most sumptuous meal of the day.
Judging from the introduction of the full Han banquet, the royal food is naturally luxurious and exquisite, and each dish is unique.
However, the emperor could neither be gluttonous nor specialized, firstly, Qianlong Tiantianshan delicacies were already tired of eating, and secondly, he had to beware of others assassinating and be careful of poisoning food.
After the meal, it was a rare idle time for the emperor.
On this day, Liu Yong, accompanied by Hejun, and drove to the North Study Room.
He Juan had just eaten up in the upward direction and held a grudge against Liu Yong, which coincided with a few days later, it was Qianlong's birthday, so he took advantage of his status as a favored courtier, stepped forward, and whispered to Qianlong.
Qianlong was originally rejoicing, listening to Hejun's words, his face suddenly sank, and he turned to Liu Yong and asked, "I heard that Liu Aiqing is also going to celebrate her birthday?" I don't know if you're a noble this year? ”
Liu Yonggang wanted to say that he was also 55 years old this year, but when he saw the bad smile behind the emperor and the adults, he knew that these two people probably did not have any good intentions, thinking that he and the emperor celebrated their birthday at the same time, which was really taboo.
So, without knowing the holy intention, Liu Yong tentatively replied: "Your Majesty, Weichen was 54 years old last year. ”
Qianlong didn't react for a while, and said angrily: "Who asked you about last year?" I ask you what you belong to this year? ”
Liu Yong smiled slightly, bowed and said, "It's a donkey!" ”
Qianlong did not smile angrily, and said loudly: "Nonsense, where in the world is there a donkey?" You were born in the same year as Xuan, and you belong to a horse, how can you belong to a donkey? ”
He Juan hurriedly took the opportunity to fan the wind: "Your Majesty, this Liu Yong is clearly a fraud, and he should be executed by Ling Chi!" ”
Liu Yong was still full of confidence this time, and replied leisurely: "Since the ancient dragon and horse are one, starting from Zhou Yi, they have used horses and elephants as trigrams, tianxingjian, gentlemen are self-improvement and unceasing efforts, and horses are dry trigrams, which means something, horses gallop thousands of miles and are tireless, and the world belongs to it, but there is no match and no match." ”
"You, this..." Kazuki's eyes widened, and he wanted to argue a few words immediately, but he was suffering from having no ink.
I only listened to Liu Yong again: "It is mentioned in the "Rite of Zhou" that eight feet is a dragon and six feet is a horse. It is also recorded in the "Book of Rites" that the Son of Heaven drives the Azure Dragon, dressed in Qingyi, spring is green, and Tianshun is shun, so the emperor is evergreen, and the Azure Dragon is a cyan horse. ”
Qianlong bowed his head slightly when he heard this, and a smile appeared on his lips.
Liu Yong finally said: "Before I entered the customs in the Great Qing Dynasty, I was a nation on horseback, the dragon was a foreign envoy, the horse was the dragon on the earth, His Majesty was getting thousands of miles away day by day, and he was running away from the dust, but the minister was born in Qingzhou and moved slowly, but he was willing to be a subordinate, only a little green donkey, and did his best to serve the dog and horse." ”
"Good!" After Qianlong listened to the words, he laughed again.
This Ai Qing is resourceful, well-read, rare and so clever, pandering to the prosperous world, the words are funny and reasonable, I wanted to rectify him, but I had to let him go again.
As a result, Liu Luoguo was killed by Chengxiang because of a good.
History is a lesson and a difficult one
The things in the story, say yes is, say no is not. In fact, the Qianlong Emperor was born in 1711, and he was 9 years older than Liu Yong and 39 years older than Hejun.
In 1766, Hejun was only 16 years old, and he had to wait another 3 years before he participated in the imperial examination, and after another 15 years, he became an official Shangshu and fell to the opposition.
In 1784, Liu Yong was almost seventy, although as a heavy minister of the imperial court, he served as the vice president of the Jade Pavilion of Zongrenfu, and was the head of the Yushi faction, and he could still stand on the same level with the corrupt official faction, but it was already the end of the strong crossbow.
In the years that followed, Liu Yong made many mistakes and his official voice gradually declined, and he was repeatedly rebuked by Qianlong, working lazily, and neglecting political affairs.
In fact, Liu Yong's family has been an official for generations, and his father has also been the prime minister, and he has long been well versed in the way of officialdom, and he knows very well the truth that accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger.
In his early years, Liu Yong experienced ups and downs in Guanhai, his father was imprisoned for neglect of duty, and he was sentenced for negligence, and in his later years, the natural edges and corners were gone, and his words and deeds were round.
In folk tales, he and Kanming fight in secret, fighting wits and courage, which makes people think.
In fact, both of them were clever and smooth, one became a favorite, the other was a self-sufficient, and even answered the emperor's daily question thoughtfully.
When these two meet, of course, they will not fight fiercely, nor will they fight to the death in the court.
The difference is that Liu Yong is indeed a clean and honest official and cares about the national economy and the people's livelihood.
When Hunan was hit by the disaster, he provided relief to the victims and personally supervised the strict handling, and when the "Cathay" case broke out, he upheld justice and punished private interests and corruption.
His talent was appreciated by Qianlong, and his incorruptibility was also loved by the people, and when Helong gained power, he only had to be false and evil, and after Jiaqing took the throne, at the age of eighty, he once again ran for Helong's illegal case and wrote a statement.
He was deeply aware of the loopholes in the national situation, and his feelings of concern for the country and the people were also overflowing.
Merit is complete
Historically, in his life when he was less than fifty years old, his greedy wealth was enough to be one billion taels of silver, plus gold treasures, which totaled more than the total revenue of the fifteen years of the Qing Dynasty.
Historically, Liu Yong died at the age of 85, was posthumously crowned crown prince Taibao, and his merits were complete, his life was simple, and his burial after death was not a silver or a penny.
At the end, Liu Yong preserved his face for Hejun and pleaded with the emperor, changing from "killing in the city" to "hanging himself in prison".
In the story, Liu Yong, who is one meter and nine meters tall, is said to be Luo Guo, but he is extremely intelligent, and he is not bent at all for the official Gangzheng.
Maybe it was something that never happened, we talked about it, but the true feelings of the world were also revealed.