Preface
In the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728), a major event occurred that shocked the Qing Dynasty, and a scholar in Hunan actually sent a "letter of complaint" to local officials denouncing Yongzheng, in an attempt to overthrow Yongzheng's rule and subvert the rule of the Qing Dynasty through the help of the official.
The official was greatly shocked, and in order to protect himself, he quickly presented the letter to Yongzheng, hoping to obtain Yongzheng's leniency. However, Yongzheng did not handle the matter as officials expected. Instead of punishing the scholar, he showed courtesy to him, and even did not forget to tell Qianlong before the scholar died, hoping that Qianlong would not execute the scholar after he succeeded to the throne.
However, surprisingly, the first thing Qianlong did after succeeding to the throne was to order the scholar to be executed. Why did Qianlong do this, betraying his father's last words and choosing to exterminate all the scholars?
It is difficult to get rid of the root cause of complacency
Yue Zhongqi looked at the letter in his hand, only to feel that his back was cold, and he was in chaos. The letter was from a young scholar named Zhang Xi, and it had been delivered to him a few days earlier. The scholar's tone was impassioned, and between the lines he was questioning the saint, bluntly saying that he would abolish his throne.
The letter angrily accused the Holy Lord: usurping the throne in vain, drinking and lustful, killing brothers and killing brothers, and punishing loyalty and adultery. Then, I want to coerce Yue Zhongqi to rebel together and overthrow my Qing Dynasty. Yue Zhongqi is cautious in everything, and has always been the most taboo about these wild words.
He knew that this letter was not an idle one, and that someone must have cheated on it. For a while, Yue Zhongqi pinched a cold sweat, and thought twice in his heart, and finally presented the song to the emperor. He is well aware that if this matter is not revealed in time, the consequences will be unimaginable. Especially now that it is the time of the change of thrones, a slight difference in the pool, I am afraid that it will harm the whole dynasty.
However, what Yue Zhongqi never expected was that there was a bigger conspiracy hidden behind this letter. It turned out that the letter writer Xia Jing was the pseudonym of Yue Fei's descendant Yue Zhongqi's teacher, the disobedient courtier Zeng Jing. He intends to unite with Yue Zhongqi to rebel and reenact the story of Song Jin's revenge in the past. When the news came out, it shocked the government and the opposition. The then emperor Yongzheng was furious when he heard the news, and immediately sent Zeng Jing and others to Beijing to ask for the guilt.
Zeng Jingsu knew that he had committed the crime of rebellion, and he couldn't help but feel afraid. As soon as he entered the palace gate, he knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, begging for mercy from the saint in every way. Although Yongzheng's temperament is suspicious and irritable, he is a wise gentleman after all. Although he wanted to wipe out Zeng Jing on a whim; After thinking about it, it is better to live and die than to learn a lesson.
So he ordered the mountain-like twists and turns to be moved to Zeng Jing in front of him, and the amount was so huge that it filled a huge room. The Zhu Pi in these compromises is full of fine words and sharp words. Zeng Jing read it carefully, and knew that the saint seemed to be silent, but in fact, he was diligent and loved the people, and was meticulous.
Not only that, but Zeng Jing was also forced to participate in a debate night. That night, Yongzheng scolded Zeng Jing's enlightenment mentor Lu Liuliang from head to toe. Zeng Jing was already at a loss, but now he was even more speechless - he finally recognized his mistake and confessed to the saint.
Yongzheng saw that Zeng Jing had already realized his mistake, so he nodded and signaled, but he still did not put him to death after all. However, Lu Liuliang's master and apprentice were not so lucky. Yongzheng sent them all to the frontier, and killed Lu Liuliang's son, so that the rest of his dependents would be enslaved for life. Set an example and put an end to future troubles.
Fortunately, the Holy One is generous and merciful, and does not blame our teachers and students. I was able to save my life this time, thanks to his old man for not remembering his past suspicions. However, in the eyes of the world, the reputation of the ministers has become notorious. All this, the ministers should carefully examine it, and dare not exceed the slightest in the future.
Yongzheng's deathbed instructed Qianlong to make a difficult choice
In the winter of 1735, Yongzheng, the founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty, returned to the west. Before he died, he specially told the fourth son of the emperor, Hongli, not to harm Zeng Jing, the person who rebelled back then.
However, Hongli has always trusted a eunuch named Yonghui, who is insidious and treacherous, and good at slander. He stared at Zeng Jing, a confidant, and vowed to get rid of it as soon as possible. Once Dezhi ascended the throne as the emperor, Yonghui instigated in Qianlong's ear, repeatedly reciting that the emperor disobeyed his father's orders and beheaded Zeng Jing to the extent that Tianli was revealed.
Qianlong was weak by nature, and he had just ascended the throne as the emperor, and it was difficult to refute it for a while due to the huge power of Yonghui. Moreover, he was young and vigorous, and he wanted to sweep away all the hidden dangers left by the reign of the previous emperor. So he began to waver, and he could not make up his mind for a long time.
It wasn't until a year later that Zeng Jing once again instigated a popular uprising in Suzhou, in a vain attempt to seize power. Now that it's okay, Zeng Jing threw himself into the net, and Qianlong finally made up his mind to get rid of him. Although this is contrary to the edict of the previous emperor, he has no other way - if he does not kill Zeng Jing, he is afraid that this scourge will spread ten or ten hundreds; I'm afraid it will cause a big disaster in the future!
In the winter of 1736, Qianlong issued an edict, disobeying his father's orders, and ordered Ling Chi to execute Zeng Jing and his teachers and students. At this point, the dust of this infighting in the Manchu court has settled.
However, Qianlong's move caused a lot of shock at the time, and the government and the opposition discussed it a lot. In order to appease the anger of the public, Qianlong ordered the confiscation of the admonition book "The Mystery of the Great Righteousness" promulgated by Yongzheng before his death. On the one hand, he wanted to kill Zeng Jing to be a righteous monarch, and on the other hand, he wanted to ban books and speech, so as not to spread the word of mouth and add fuel to his biological father.
Qianlong's move is too incredible. Ask Tianliang, what is the difference between what he did and Zeng Jing and his ilk that he denied? You must know that all kinds of acts of killing rebellion and brothers in the past were exactly the heart disease of Yongzheng's life. He didn't kill Zeng Jing, just because he wanted to make up for his previous mistakes with generosity and kindness. However, his own flesh and blood have just become the culprit of destroying his merits!
Qianlong disobeyed his father's orders and killed Zeng Jing, which was really against human morality. Regardless of whether his son is filial or not, as a king, he needs to enforce the law impartially and honestly with the people. There are many opinions, but not all of them are true; But in the end, we must still rule the world and calm down in order to stay away from the dispute between right and wrong.
The words of men are terrible, and the king should be suspicious
Since ancient times, folk rumors have always been a headache for kings. For example, if you talk nonsense and nonsense, you don't mind. However, those who slander the government often end miserably. Among them, the most typical is Zeng Jing's master and apprentice.
The old god Zeng Jing, who had been in time for a long time, was sitting in the study on the ground. Sitting across from him was his disciple Zhang Xi, who was listening to the farce coming from outside the wall.
Zeng Jing smiled and waved his hand lightly: "The truth of this statement has yet to be verified." However, this turmoil has also given us a golden opportunity! As long as you are willing to act together with the old man, you will definitely be able to rise to the top and make me change the master of the Qing Dynasty all over again!"
Zhang Xi was confused and puzzled. And at this moment, he didn't know that a storm that could change his fate was quietly approaching
The words were not enough to prove it, and Zhang Xi finally listened to the master's demagogy. He and Zeng Jing joined hands with Yue Zhongqi, a squire and a prominent clan, in an attempt to overthrow the imperial court. Who knew that their conspiracy was soon revealed, and they were captured by Emperor Yongzheng and taken to Beijing for questioning. Seeing that his life was in danger, Zhang Xi regretted it. However, this political turmoil is just about to reach its climax.
Yongzheng was furious when he heard that his disciples had openly rebelled. Just as he was about to execute the two in a fit of rage, Zeng quietly knelt down and begged for mercy. Only then did Yongzheng wake up and realize the importance of capturing the enemy alive. He ordered people to collect the folds, and debated with the two men, and finally persuaded them to get rid of the old and make the new.
In the end, Yongzheng Kaien spared the lives of the two. When he was dying, he repeatedly told Emperor Qianlong, who succeeded to the throne, not to harm those who rebelled back then. However, unexpectedly, Qianlong temporarily repented and disobeyed his father's order to execute Zeng Jing and others!
There is a reason for the incident, and the fault is not Qianlong. Although he disobeyed his father's orders, he would inevitably be dishonored. However, at present, he has no choice but to eradicate hidden dangers and have no distractions. Among them, the overnight grudge is really not something that can be broken in a few words. If you can look at it with a normal heart, you will definitely be able to cleanse away the bias and reach the middle way!
Life is like a play, when you measure yourself
This brings this article to a close. Without presumptuousness, the author intends to summarize the full text as follows. I hope that readers will be interlocking with aphorisms in the vast text, and experience the hardships behind the words.
At the beginning, Zeng Jing's master and apprentice intended to overthrow our Qing dynasty, and their actions constituted the crime of treason. Yongzheng could have been put to death, but he couldn't bear to harm the ignorant scholar. It's a pity that he finally thought wrong, and people are sinister.
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, Zeng Jing once again gathered a crowd to rebel. The new emperor could not tolerate his existence in both sense and reason. Otherwise, once there is a change, I am afraid that it will cause a bloody storm. Therefore, Qianlong had no choice but to disobey his father's order and execute him.
However, Qianlong's move is also quite controversial. He not only ignored his father's life, but also wantonly burned his father's posthumous work "The Mystery of Great Righteousness". How is it different from the rebellious ministers he denies so tyrannical and so ruthless?
Life is like a drama, you don't have to take it too seriously. Zeng Jing's master and apprentice wanted to conquer the world, but they failed because they couldn't do it. They made the wrong bet from the start. If you want to catch a fish in turbid water, you can't be sure that you won't be self-defeating.
As for Qianlong, he only made a last resort choice from his personal standpoint. We might as well put ourselves in his shoes and think about this grievance. If you really let Zeng Jing fight fiercely, there will be endless troubles. So judging from the results, Qianlong's approach is also very important.
However, after all, he turned his back on his father's order, which is embarrassing. It is interesting to note that he turned off the dissemination of his father's posthumous works, as if to erase what he had done. This is beyond the realm of power politics and is more like a tragedy in which it is defeated.
However, Qianlong, who reigned over the world, couldn't help himself after all. His actions may never be measured by the yardstick of morality. Therefore, you might as well put aside the judgment of merit and demerit and look at all this from the outside.
epilogue
Life is like a play, and each has its own role. No matter what the outcome is, the world is a sea of things, tied to a thought. Why don't we look at the righteous but desperate gentlemen in the world to make up for regrets and eliminate those helplessness and sorrow?
History rolls forward, and the established situation is powerless. However, the battle between good and evil is not over. What is lost is no longer asked, and all that remains is the quiet beauty of waiting for the seeds of hope to sprout and bear fruit.