Preface
We are born in different places, and our fates are very different; The times in which we flow are very different, and the circumstances are completely polar. Today's fame and fortune may turn into ashes tomorrow; For a while, he was rich in the world, and in a blink of an eye, he returned to the ordinary. Who can predict the ups and downs of life and the final success of the splendid future?
In 1705, Mrs. Sun entered the palace to Emperor Kangxi, who was only 8 years old. Perhaps, this is the beginning of the Cao family's soaring prosperity. Today, the "Dream of Red Mansions" we see is made by an author who witnessed the prosperity and decline and the destruction of his family - Cao Xueqin. Is the glory of his day just a flash in the pan after all?
The dawn of a family of gold powder
At the moment when Emperor Kangxi gave birth, Tong Jiashi failed to take care of him. The withdrawn and introverted Empress Dowager Tong Jia has a high temperament and rarely appears in the palace. Therefore, the gentle and considerate Mrs. Sun accompanied him almost all of his childhood.
Mrs. Sun cared for the prince's growth like a relative, told him interesting folk stories, and taught him to read and write. The special bond between the nurse and the baby made Emperor Kangxi feel more intimate and trusting to her. He began to call her "grandma", and was the first to talk to her about any troubles; Mrs. Sun also regards the little prince as her own, and always loves him at the tip of her heart.
In 1722, Emperor Kangxi, who was only 8 years old, ascended the throne. He gave this "grandmother" as soon as possible, and took his son Cao Xi into the palace to serve around. The original ordinary clothed family was once favored and suddenly became a new upstart in the court.
Cao Xi was intelligent and steady, and soon replaced other children to become a celebrity at the emperor's side. They read books together, discuss world affairs, and even fight in private. When he was 20 years old, Emperor Kangxi sent him to Jiangnan Manufacturing in the south to serve as an assistant in Panyu. This is the richest place in the Central Plains, and it is also the largest producer of silk and silk invested by the royal family. A weaving bureau is making thousands of dollars every day, and the profits are unimaginable.
As an assistant, Cao Xi has the power of life and death in his hands. He began to learn how to use the power in his hands to his advantage, and the Kangxi Emperor acquiesced in what he did. The originally simple people who were clothed have accumulated money like a boom - they finally realized what it means to be rich in the world.
The resplendent Cao Mansion
After spending more than 10 years in the south, Cao Xi returned to the capital, and his son Cao Yin inherited his official position in Jiangnan Manufacturing. The young and vigorous Cao Yin knew more about business than his father, and he seized the opportunity to use his official position to resell silk, jewelry and other goods, and quickly accumulated a fortune of 10,000 yuan.
Specifically, Cao Yin often used his power to lower the price of silk fabrics, and then sold them to wealthy merchants and Jia clans at a high price, with the difference in price all his own. He cooperated with the richest man in the south to resell the rare and miscellaneous treasures collected by the people, and sold them at a high price to the dignitaries who came to play. Eventually, the Cao family had become famous and became the most powerful family in the capital.
They lived in a high-rise mansion with carved beams and paintings, and in the center stood a tall picture of a hundred sons. Upstairs and downstairs are hung with expensive famous paintings, calligraphy and paintings, to show the courage of the family. The Cao family has more and more antiques and treasures, and they are also more and more extravagant and squandered money, as if they can never spend it.
The ladies and ladies of the Cao family are all beautiful and moving, and they are all wearing satin clothes worth thousands of gold. On the head and wrists, expensive gemstone jewelry is worn all year round. They eat all the delicacies of the mountains and the sea, and the delicacies they come to eat are only able to eat with a lot of money.
The meticulous Kangxi Emperor was also aware of the Cao family's extravagance. However, in the face of his old friend's family, he only frowned slightly, and then smiled faintly. Emperor Kangxi decided to reward the Cao family with greater power again, giving them the opportunity to make up for these "losses".
Such a simple logic made the Cao family even more arrogant. They did everything possible to curry favor with the emperor, held grand Jiangnan driving ceremonies again and again, and did their best to show their wealth.
For the first time, the Cao family began to prepare for the construction of the new palace a year in advance. They collected 10,000 carpenters from all over the world, worked day and night, and finally created a magnificent palace on the shore of the South Lake. During the driving period, the lights are brilliant, the drums are noisy, and the silver light is brilliant and beautiful.
As soon as Kangxi stepped into the palace, he was greeted by the luxurious decoration in front of him. He couldn't help but exclaim: "Eh, how can you be so extravagant!" In his heart, he was not disgusted, but he thought that the Cao family was serving himself wholeheartedly. What makes him even happier is that after so many years, the Cao family still takes care of him as much as he did back then.
When the second time he took over, the Cao family spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to buy 10,000 books. The bookshelves rise from the ground to the ceiling, and the dense collection of ancient books reflects the dimness of the oil lamp, which makes people dizzy.
Emperor Kangxi came this time and lived in Jiangnan for a year. He flipped through the books every morning, indulging in his learning. Over the years, his old body has become more and more erratic, and these books in front of him are like a number of treasures, and he misses them every time.
The third time he took over, the Cao family still did their best to welcome Emperor Kangxi to the palace for a night banquet. During the banquet, singing and dancing leveled down, and the beauties were full. The elixir and jade liquid are never interrupted, and there are all kinds of exotic fruits. A piece of court music lingers around the beams, and the dancers are light on their toes, and they are colorful
So far, the prestige of the Cao family is in full swing. In 1711, Kangxi made an exception and married a young lady of the Cao family to the son of the prince. Once they became relatives of the emperor, the power of the Cao family seemed to have reached its peak. No one would have thought that the Cao family, which had soared to this point, was also destined to fall in the same drama.
The sorrow of the loser
In the spring of 1722, Emperor Kangxi died in the Old Summer Palace, and Aixinjue Luo Yinzhen succeeded him as Emperor Yongzheng. The fourth elder brother Yinxi was purged by Yongzheng in the process of competing for the throne. However, the ignorant Cao family supported the doomed Yinxi side.
After Emperor Yongzheng ascended the throne, the Cao family was immediately implicated. The ministers were eager to find out all kinds of crimes, get to the bottom of it, and try to find evidence of their collusion with the prince. After more than half a year of review, there was no result, and finally Yongzheng made a ruthless move and raided his home in the name of "rehabilitating wrongful imprisonment".
Overnight, the Cao family's high-rise mansion was copied to nothing. Cao Yin and other men, who were tied up with five flowers, were imprisoned and imprisoned, and all their family property was confiscated and put into storage. Yongzheng heard about the large number of raiders, and looked forward to it, and smacked the list of family properties counted for a long time.
There were no imaginary millions of possessions on the list, and it was written in the center - 30,000 taels of silver and a few jewels. The rest are physical assets such as houses, land, and land.
Yongzheng frowned, looked up and down at the thin paper, and always felt that something was wrong. He originally thought that the Cao family, which was enough to alleviate the current financial crisis, only had 30,000 taels of silver and a small amount of jewelry left!
This extremely prestigious family of powerful people suddenly became destitute! Could it be that all the rumors are false and untrue? Where did the Cao family's savings go after many years of extravagant life of spending money?
Emperor Yongzheng couldn't help but ask left and right. The ministers kowtowed back, all of which were caused by Kangxi's successive rewards for official positions in his later years. What's more, in order to curry favor with the emperor, the Cao family has prepared huge ceremonies three times. Emperor Kangxi knew but did not stop it, so that the Cao family quickly accumulated a huge deficit
Yongzheng listened and sighed long. His old father, who didn't know whether he was mediocre or generous, allowed his henchmen to lose his family to such a point! Thinking of the embarrassment when he first succeeded to the throne, he almost had to repay his debts, and Emperor Yongzheng felt nostalgic.
The current situation is all due to Emperor Kangxi's doting on his tits and his family, and he is free to squander. Looking back on those years, Mrs. Sun's gentle and obedient appearance is still vivid. It's just that she never expected that she and her family would be so bold to bully the king, and the loser would be defeated to such an extent!
Just as Yongzheng frowned, his heart crisscrossed and crisscrossed, his gaze fell on the last line of the list - Mrs. Sun, and a few other women, girls and children. Only then did I remember that there were innocent people in this catastrophe. King Yongzheng couldn't help but be soft-hearted. Eventually, he pondered for a moment and ordered the rest of the old and young to be spared.
This is the prelude to Jinling Yihong Courtyard in Cao Xueqin's eyes. He spent most of his life in the shadows. When he was a teenager, he witnessed his father being imprisoned, and the family business was wiped out overnight; In the second half of his life, he could only rely on the powerful to make a fortune and live as a slave and servant. It wasn't until many years later that he came here alone and found this place to witness the former residence that was no longer prosperous. The impact of this scene and the surging torrent of memories gave rise to the rise and fall of the family
epilogue
According to legend, Cao Xueqin spent her childhood under the protection of the royal family. When he grew up, he studied hard all day long, and gradually became very confused and puzzled about his life experience-my ancestors were once infinitely beautiful and full of magnanimity; My father's generation suffered for no reason, and the family property was scattered. The ups and downs of this stormy fate really baffled me.
This strong contrast has triggered Cao Xueqin's thinking about the ups and downs of the world. Perhaps, the family we were born in was destined for a lifetime; When fate comes, who can escape? My master's family rises and falls, and even if my own family rises, it will not be spared in the end
As the saying goes, people are not as good as heaven. How many wise monarchs have ruled the country for decades; How many famous families have unlimited scenery; But after all, it was empty, but it was fate. The ancestors I never forget are high up; Now it has been trampled by the current situation, and there are no bones. What can I do with my destiny?