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During the Qing Dynasty, the Yongzheng Emperor was a ruler who had to be mentioned, and as the successor of the "Kang Qian Prosperous Era", he was a pragmatic emperor who could inherit the rivers and mountains laid down by his father, continue to carry forward, and leave a stronger empire to future generations.
The Yongzheng Emperor can become a generation of wise kings, in addition to his own ability, it is inseparable from the sages around him who are good at assisting.
Zhang Tingyu, Nian Xianyao, Li Wei, Tian Wenjing... Although the various ministers had different endings, they did all make great contributions to stabilizing the Qing Dynasty.
There is such a generation of famous ministers, the famous university scholar Zhang Tingyu petitioned for his life, was sentenced to death three times in his life, but each time he was able to escape death, and his life experience can be called legendary, he is Zhang Jia Actun.
Learned Eight Flags disciples
Since ancient times, the imperial examination system has been a means for the imperial court to select talents, and students have to study hard for ten years and enter Beijing to catch up with the examination in order to obtain the opportunity to become officials.
But in the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus were immediately gaining the world, and it was obviously unrealistic for those children of the Eight Banners to study the books of the sages like the children of the Han people, and then pass the exam to become officials in the dynasty.
The Han people can give the Manchus in minutes, but the imperial government in the Qing court cannot be controlled by the Han.
Therefore, after entering the customs, the Qing Dynasty established a system of selecting officials, that is, the children of the Eight Flags could spend money to buy officials, and did not have to study hard like the Han people.
Although this system is unfair, it can indeed maintain the rule of the Manchus, and the disadvantage is that the Baqi children are born with the privilege of being officials, so naturally they do not have to study hard, and most of them are only the children who can only listen to opera and sing.
Born during the Kangxi Dynasty, Actun was different, he was a native of Manchurian Zhenglanqi, he was quick thinking and hard work since childhood, and in the 48th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, he was admitted to the Jin Shi with his own efforts.
Eight Flags disciples with real talents and practical learning like Acton are rare, so after the middle rank, he was quickly reused.
Actun, like other people who had passed the imperial examination, entered the Hanlin Academy as an editor, was awarded the title of Shujishi, and was soon promoted to Bachelor of Attendants.
In the thirteen years from the forty-eighth year of the Kangxi Reign to the sixty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Acton was able to rise seven ranks in a row, and by the time of the death of the Kangxi Emperor, Acton was already the leader of the Guozi Sacrifice Wine, that is, the highest school in the country.
Zhang Tingyu was nine years earlier than him in the Junior High School exam, but the speed of promotion was far less rapid than him.
After the Yongzheng Emperor succeeded to the throne, he was somewhat jealous of some of the officials that the Kangxi Emperor had used during his lifetime, but he only revalued Zhang Tingyu and Actun, and let them be on duty in the South Study Room, responsible for drawing up holy orders and preaching to Yongzheng.
During this time, Yong Gong often said: "Zhonghe no Cai crowned Manchuria", and the "Zhonghe" here is the character for Actun.
Zhang Tingyu later stayed in Beijing as Shangshu of Hubu, while Actun was sent to Guangzhou to serve as the governor of Liangguang and the general of Guangzhou. For Acton, this was a transition from a civilian to a military attaché.
During the Yongzheng period, a series of high-pressure policies were implemented to crack down on corrupt officials, countless officials committed suicide because of corruption and bribery, and the Yongzheng Emperor also strictly investigated their families until all the dirty money was recovered.
As a result, Yongzheng earned the nickname "Emperor of the Raiding Family".
After Actun arrived in the Guangzhou area, he also followed the orders of the Yongzheng Emperor to strictly investigate corrupt officials for taking bribes.
But he was sometimes somewhat inflexible, and he did not handle some cases well enough, and he impeached some Guangdong officials, which offended many people invisibly and invisibly.
Therefore, as soon as his order to be transferred to the post of governor of Guangxi was issued, officials in Guangdong immediately wrote to impeach him, listing his many "crimes," including turning a robbery case into a theft case, misappropriating extra taxes and silver from Guangdong customs, and instructing his family to accept bribes from Siamese rice ships.
The Yongzheng Emperor hated corruption and bribery the most in his life, and when he saw Acton accepting bribes from foreign envoys, it was a shame that everyone was thrown abroad.
He was instantly furious, did not listen to any explanation, immediately ordered a thorough investigation, and after obtaining the corresponding evidence, took away Actun's official position and sentenced him to death.
Asking for bribes from foreign rice ships was punishable by hanging, and officials "reminded" the Yongzheng Emperor that Actun was harboring corrupt subordinates, so the Yongzheng Emperor sentenced Actun to "behead him", that is, put him on death row, and then behead him later.
In this way, Actun, such a learned noble son, became a prisoner in an instant, and no one dared to speak for him for a while.
Death row inmates who have made great achievements
Then back to the Yongzheng Emperor's side. The Yongzheng Emperor has always been regarded as a "model worker" by posterity, but the world is so big, he cannot solve everything smoothly.
The contradictions between the Qing dynasty and the Dzungar tribes are far from over. Dzungar's generals were always unconvinced by the imperial court, often invading Qing territory, and Yongzheng wanted a peaceful settlement, but was repeatedly refused, and war was inevitable.
However, the Qing court got off to an unfavorable start, losing a large number of generals at the beginning, so Yongzheng decided to accumulate strength first and fight again the following year.
However, at this time, heavy rains fell in the southeast region of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River for several days, flooding a large number of farmland and crops, and causing huge losses.
The northern section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is blocked with silt, traffic is blocked, and grain on the southeast coast cannot be transported to Beijing through the Grand Canal.
The capital has a large population, but the food it produces is far from enough to supply, and every year it has to transfer grain from the southeast coastal areas, and once the capital runs out of grain, the financial situation is not good, and the consequences are unimaginable, then before the war with Dzungar, it has already been defeated.
Many officials asked the emperor to quickly send people to dredge the river, and Yongzheng also knew the seriousness of the matter, but he had a headache that there was no one around him, either he could not be transferred out, or he was not good at water control.
Yongzheng had many capable people under him, but at this time, Nian Xinyao was sent by him to the northwest region to deal with military affairs, and Tian Wenjing was sent to Henan to implement new policies.
His heavy Thirteenth Brother and Zhang Tingyu could not leave the military aircraft... If you send a random person to treat the water, things will get worse.
Yongzheng then sighed to Zhang Tingyu beside him: "The great imperial court, is there no one to use?" Unexpectedly, Zhang Tingyu said to Yongzheng: "There is a ready-made person on death row who can be used." ”
Zhang Tingyu naturally refers to Actun, who has become a death row prisoner. Zhang Tingyu and Acton had known each other since they were in the Hanlin Academy, they both appreciated each other's knowledge, and the two were good friends who cherished each other.
For Actun's rapid promotion during the Kangxi period, Zhang Tingyu was also convinced. Zhang Tingyu knew that this was an opportunity for Actun to escape death, so he recommended him to the Yongzheng Emperor, and also hoped that he could really cure the rivers in Jiangnan.
Zhang Tingyu has never been an idle person, not only is he shrewd and capable, but he is also smooth enough to handle things, and no one in the imperial court can catch his handle.
It is a dangerous thing to fish a death row prisoner out of the prison and make him guilty and make meritorious service, and if it is difficult for this person to make meritorious service, then Zhang Tingyu will not escape punishment. The person who can make Zhang Tingyu trust, Yongzheng Emperor thinks about it, this person must also have his ability.
Therefore, Yongzheng followed Zhang Tingyu's advice, released Acton from prison, and sent him to the river embankment to see if he had the ability to make meritorious contributions.
The "Qing History Manuscript" recorded: "Shangshi Actun went to Jiangnan River to work for self-redemption. ”
Acton knows that he must seize this opportunity, otherwise it will only be a dead end. After arriving in Jiangnan, Acton immediately murdered and impeached people by fierce means, eliminated some useless local officials, and appointed talented people.
Then, he found that the most serious canal blockage was in the Huai'an area, and to manage the river well, it was necessary to start from this place.
Therefore, after he arrived in Huai'an, he carried out the survey as quickly as possible, using the most convenient and economical means such as digging the branch river to complete the task of transferring grain, so that the transportation problem could be solved, so that the capital would not fall into a situation of no grain, and then slowly build embankments and clear the silted river.
After two years, Actun successfully solved the river problem in Jiangnan, controlled the disaster, and incidentally helped the Yongzheng Emperor solve some corrupt local corrupt officials, regaining Yongzheng's trust.
The Yongzheng Emperor then sent Actun to the northwest to deal with the grassland dispute between Dzungar and the Khalkha Mongols, and Actun also lived up to his expectations and solved the problem in just a few days.
Later, Actun took advantage of the victory and took the initiative to ask Yongzheng for orders, asking to go to Ili to negotiate with the Dzungar leaders to solve the problem between the tribe and the imperial court. In the twelfth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty, Actun arrived in Ili to negotiate peace with the leader of Dzungar.
It has to be said that Actun had a certain talent for negotiation, and although there were some differences between the two sides, Dzungar and the Qing court basically reached an agreement on the armistice agreement.
Decades of war were over, and Acton at least bought peace for the country.
After several great achievements, the emperor wrote off Actun's sins and reappointed him as the commander of Manchuria with the blue banner.
Until the death of the Yongzheng Emperor, he was a more favored Manchu minister around the emperor.
Actun's son A Gui studied in the official school since he was a child, because of his father, Yongzheng treated him well and deliberately cultivated him, and later, A Gui became a famous general of the Qing Dynasty, making great contributions to pacifying Ili and unifying the country.
A father and son, two generations of famous ministers, is a good story of the Qing Dynasty, of course, that is an afterthought.
Ill-fated
Life will never be so smooth, not to mention "a companion to a king like a tiger", as a courtier, you will never know what the emperor will be angry about. Actun, who had experienced imprisonment, almost became a revenant under the knife during the Qianlong period.
After the Qianlong Emperor ascended the throne, he also valued Actun as a talented minister, and he transferred Actun back to the imperial court, making him the shangshu of the criminal department, the highest judge at the time, and also made him a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.
Three years later, Qianlong also appointed Actun as an attendant of the Ministry of Works to solve the problems in the Dzungar region. Actun again sent an envoy to Ili to appease the Dzungar people.
The people of the Dzungar region still wanted to maintain peace, so Actun held another consultation with his leader and finally agreed that "with Mount Atai as the boundary, Erut nomads must not cross the east of the boundary and Khalkha nomads must not cross the west of the border."
The success of the peace talks brought more than 20 years of peace in Xinjiang, promoted economic exchanges between Xinjiang and the hinterland, and laid an important foundation for the complete unification of Xinjiang by the Qing Dynasty. It can be said that Actun is a rare hero of the Qing Dynasty.
In the thirteenth year of Qianlong, Empress Fucha died, which made the emperor very sad.
At this time, Actun hit the muzzle and translated the Manchu word for "Imperial Concubine" as "Empress Dowager" on the pamphlet written for Empress Fucha.
When Qianlong saw the text, he was furious, thinking that this was a great disrespect to the royal family, and immediately asked Acton to come to Xingshi to question him. Unfortunately, Acton was not in the DPRK that day.
At this time, Qianlong was even more angry, and sent people to Actun's house to arrest him, and without allowing him to plead, he sentenced him to death and "beheaded him." Shangshu of the Tangtang Criminal Department became a prisoner in a blink of an eye, which is really a trick.
Later, other ministers of the Hanlin Court believed that Acton did not mistranslate it, but that the emperor himself had misunderstood. At that time, Qianlong's anger was more than half, and he felt that he had indeed wronged Actun, so he ordered him to be released.
However, within a few days, Qianlong turned his face again - the emperor made a mistake too faceless, no matter how it was the fault of the courtiers.
Therefore, Qianlong said that the people of the Hanlin Academy were suspected of covering up Actun, and they still wanted to teach Acton a lesson.
He asked Dali Temple to come to a retrial, specially treated Acton for a serious crime, and sentenced him to a "beheading", which was the third time Acton was sentenced to death in his life.
Six days later, Qianlong announced a pardon for Acton again, but instead of immediately reinstating him to his official position, he was fined for three years and suspended from office.
A month later, he was given the title of "Han Military Capital with a White Banner" and asked him to act as Shangshu of the Criminal Department.
Within a year, Qianlong restored all his former part-time jobs and titles, and until his retirement, Acton was considered a high position, and there were no waves.
He was sentenced to death three times in his life, but each time he escaped death, which is also a strange story in the history of the Qing Dynasty.
Being a minister under the emperor has always been dangerous, and to be so "lucky" can be regarded as Acton himself has his own way of being an official.
On one occasion, Acton asked his son Agui, "If you were in my official position, how would you treat prisoners?" Ah Gui, who did not change his life, replied, "Those who break the law should be punished according to the law, and the number of crimes they commit should be given multiple punishments." ”
Acton was not satisfied with his son's answer and raised his crutches to hit him. He warned Ah Gui that when enforcing the law, he must first investigate clearly and not convict easily, which is a good official. Ultimately, this is also what Acton learned from his own experience.
If it weren't for Zhang Tingyu, Actun might not have been pardoned, perhaps not a generation of famous ministers, and his son A Gui might not have become a generation of famous generals.
Compared with Actun, Zhang Tingyu has been dripping all his life, and he has been a secretary around three emperors, and he has not been caught a little handle.
However, in his later years, he and the Qianlong Emperor gradually became discordant, and Qianlong caught a small mistake out of nothing, and he was about to be stripped of all official titles and honorary titles, and removed from enjoying the grace of the Imperial Temple, and ended up with hatred.
Although Qianlong eventually made him worthy of the temple, the evening scene was bleak after all. Old friend Acton has experienced several ups and downs in his life, but he was also calm in his later years, and these two people can be said to interpret the two states of being an official.
Resources
[1] Zhengzhou Daily, "Shangshu of the Criminal Department of the Three Calendars Death Penalty"
[2] Zhao Ersun, Manuscripts of the History of the Qing Dynasty
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