It is said that the monarch should be close to the wise and stay away from the villain, because this is the foundation of the prosperity of the dynasty! But throughout the history of five thousand years, it seems that not many emperors have been able to do this.
Because the wise men are loyal to the country and love the people, there is naturally not much room left for the emperor in their hearts. And this led to the fact that most of the time, the sages did not please the monarch.
But as an emperor, he had to rely on wise ministers to govern the country. Therefore, under the unpleasant emotions he was holding, the emperor always wanted to kill the majesty of his courtiers! It was out of this psychology that the Qianlong Emperor asked Liu Yong: How many people are born in the country every day? How many people died again?
There was often no harmony between monarchs and courtiers
People know that Guan Zhong and Qi Huangong are the models of a pair of rulers who have been talked about through the ages. However, Guan Zhong's ability to achieve "internal political cultivation" and "external strong princes" in the Qi state requires absolute power as a support.
And Guan Zhong's power in the country is greater, which means that the power in the hands of the monarch Xiaobai (that is, the Duke of Qi Huan) is much smaller. Therefore, there are only two choices in front of Qi Huangong: either be willing to be a mascot, or stand up and be in charge!
At the beginning, the young and vigorous Xiaobai was naturally reluctant to do waste. Therefore, soon after taking the throne, Qi Huangong wanted to prove himself with a victory in a foreign war.
He sent Bao Shuya to lead an army to march on the State of Lu, but the State of Qi was defeated in the Battle of the Long Spoon. In the pain, Xiaobai finally realized that he did not have much talent in governing the country, so he chose another path as a last resort and entrusted all government affairs to Guan Zhong.
After Guan Zhong took over the power that should have belonged to the monarch, he did make the Qi state stronger. However, when a person's power is unprecedentedly expanded, he often loses a certain degree of rationality.
Confucius once criticized Guan Zhong for also making a monarch-sized "gate" in his own home, which shows that it is not necessarily a good thing for a courtier to have too much power. As for the later generations of Wang Mang and Cao Cao, they went directly to the extreme.
Because of the relationship of power competition between kings and subjects, they will also compete for power and interests while complementing each other, which is the struggle between monarchy and power that has been running through Chinese history.
And the intensity of this struggle intensified during the Qing Dynasty.
Because the population base of the Jurchens at that time was simply not worth mentioning compared to the Han population. Therefore, in order to ensure the dominance of the Manchus, the Manchu courtiers were also relatively separated.
For example, when Helong answered Qianlong, he called himself a "slave", while Liu Yong and other Han scholars called themselves "ministers".
On the surface, it seems that Hejun has suffered a loss, and Liu Yong's self-profession is more decent. But in fact, that "slave" is the foundation of Qianlong's trust and the power of the adults. Because this includes not only the distinction between respect and disrespect, but also the difference between closeness and distance.
To put it clearly, "slaves" are people in their own families, and "ministers" are outsiders. All the actions of the adults are working for Qianlong. Liu Yong and Qianlong were cooperative relations, and Liu Yong always considered the country and the people first, and the Qianlong Emperor last.
A slave loyal only to himself and a pretentious minister did not need to hesitate at all for the emperor.
The reason why Liu Yong is not pleasant
Speaking of this, some people may have to ask, even if Helong is a slave in the Qianlong Emperor's family, is there no possibility of seizing power?
The answer is really. Because the foundation of all the power of the lord was based on the trust of the Qianlong Emperor.
Helong is a Manchu, so he will not have the sense of responsibility of Han scholars. As a slave, he only needs to use all his power to please his master.
And Qianlong will naturally trust him more because Helong is only loyal to him. Therefore, the head of the hundred officials has always been with adults instead of Liu Yong. Important departments such as the Hubu and the Ministry of Officials were also under the control of Hekan, and even part of the military power in the capital was in the hands of Lord He.
But even though Hejun has so much power, his status has never changed. Therefore, the emperor naturally did not worry about his head.
After Qianlong's death, the Jiaqing Emperor cooked a white aya and adults, and did not cause any "waves". This is because in the concept of both Han and Manchu, the master's killing of slaves is a matter of words.
However, when the emperor met a Han scholar like Liu Yong, he was most likely gone.
Once, Qianlong was provoked by Liu Yong and made Long Yan angry, so he told him to jump into the river and die. But Liu Yong pretended to go around the river and came back.
Qianlong yin and yang said strangely, why didn't he listen to the words of this monarch Chrysostom Jade Fang?
And Liu Yong showed a look of grievance, saying that he jumped into the river according to his order, and met Qu Yuan in the water, and Qu Yuan said a word, and he could only come back.
Qianlong was suddenly curious by Liu Yong's words, so he asked Qu Yuan what he said?
Liu Yong replied, and Dr. Qu said, "When I meet a faint king, you should die, and when you meet a clear lord, you should live!" ”。
Since Qu Yuan said so, Liu Yong could only survive "unwillingly", not for himself, but for Qianlong's reputation!
After Qianlong listened to Liu Yong's explanation, he was also resentful. This again allowed him to occupy the moral high ground. Killing him and ruining his reputation is not worth it, but it can only pardon Liu Yong's crimes.
In fact, after forming interest groups, Han scholars and doctors have always used "moral kidnapping" and "public opinion attacks" to limit imperial power. And the emperor had no good solution in the face of such a situation, and in the end he had to make concessions.
However, after the emperor had to make concessions, his mood must have been very unhappy. Therefore, he will set up a "bureau" with his minions to find the field. Even if you can't kill Liu Yong, you have to dampen his spirit!
So, during a conversation with Liu Yong, the Qianlong Emperor threw Liu Yong a double dilemma: How many people are born in the country every day? And how many people die every day?
As soon as Liu Yong heard the emperor ask two difficult questions, this must have been Hejun behind his back to "find a twist" for himself. Daqing is so big, how can he know how many people are born and how many die every day?
But how could Liu Yong, as a university scholar, be stumped by such deliberate difficulties?
Scholar Liu rolled his eyes and thought of the answer, and replied: "Two people are born, twelve people are dead!" ”
Qianlong was shocked, if the Great Qing was like this, wouldn't it have been premature to die?
Liu Yong explained that the two were born because the babies born every day were either boys or girls. And twelve died because there were twelve hours in a day, either at the time of the child or at other hours.
When Qianlong heard such an answer, he couldn't fault it, so he could only press the watch. And Liu Yong did not like the emperor precisely because of such cleverness, right?