The Cao family is prosperous: pampered and arrogant
The Cao family was originally just an ordinary family, and it was not until the rise of Cao Yin that it ushered in unprecedented prosperity and prosperity.
Cao Yin is very smart and very favored by Kangxi. Cao Yin had an idea and wanted to make money for the royal family's business, and Kangxi readily allowed it. Cao Yin seized the opportunity, and with his business acumen, coupled with the support of the emperor's power, he soon achieved great success in business and accumulated a huge fortune.
flattered, this has become the life motto of Cao Yin and the whole family. They deeply felt the emperor's grace and thanked them day and night. The Cao family lived a luxurious life of worry-free food and clothing for a while, with fine clothes and fine food, and did whatever they wanted.
Cao Xueqin and other siblings spent their days chanting poems, painting, playing games and laughing. It's a lively scene.
However, the good times did not last long, and wealth was fleeting. The Cao family was lost in the sound of dogs and horses, and they were so complacent that they did not notice the crisis hidden behind the prosperity. They have forgotten the truth that "profit is the only thing, and everything is bad", and they are arrogant and arrogant, and eventually cause great disaster.
Yongzheng ascended the throne: Cao's family was raided
After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, the good days of the Cao family came to an end.
The Cao family has occupied a high position for a long time, which has aroused the jealousy of others. What's more, the new emperor Yongzheng doesn't like the Cao family and won't spoil them like Kangxi. The Cao family lost the protection of the royal family, just like losing a backer, and suddenly lost power.
In the past, the Cao family relied on imperial power to do business, and their accounts were chaotic. Yongzheng checked and found that there was a serious deficit in the Cao family's business. Yongzheng was furious, thinking that the Cao family embezzled public funds and was a rebellious sinner.
So Yongzheng ordered the house to be raided and sent troops to loot all the Cao family's property.
On that day, the Cao family was still immersed in a luxurious and lazy life, without the slightest defense, and suddenly the soldiers arrived at home, only to hear the crying shocking the sky. The Cao family's gold and silver treasures were confiscated, and all the real estate and land accumulated for many years were confiscated.
The men, women and children of the Cao family all cried into tears and were heartbroken.
Overnight, the Cao family fell from fine clothes and food to destitute, and they could no longer afford such a blow. So, the Cao family decided to leave here and fled to Beijing with the remnants of their belongings to start a new life.
The Fall of Beijing: See Learning
After the Cao family fled to Beijing, their lives were in dire straits, and they were as prosperous and wealthy as before.
Cao Xueqin was still very young at this time, and he witnessed the tragic fall of the family from the peak to the bottom overnight. Cao Xueqin fell into deep pain and self-blame.
He thought about it repeatedly, the middle fall of the family road is God's punishment for the Cao family's arrogance and endless endlessness, which is an inescapable fate.
Cao Xueqin knelt in the dilapidated house with red eyes, confessing her guilt and remorse in front of the ancestral tablet. He vowed to take this as a warning, not to repeat the mistakes of his ancestors in the future, to love this family, to let the Cao family go on the right path, no longer stick to the rules, but to innovate and forge ahead, which is the key to the family's century-old inheritance.
Cao Xueqin wrote down this painful life experience one by one and incorporated it into his famous novel "Dream of Red Mansions". Through literary creation, he hopes to use the past as a metaphor for the present, so that more people can learn the lessons of history and not repeat the same mistakes, so that the Chinese nation can move towards progress and strength.
Eternal questions of life
The rise and fall of the Cao family indicates a law: the good times do not last long. When a family achieves extraordinary achievements, it often finds itself in a fatal predicament. This reflects the universal truth that "the extreme of things must be reversed", and the development of anything to the extreme will produce reversal.
For example, to be spoiled. It seems like a great thing for a person to get the favor of the emperor and to obtain extraordinary favor. But in fact, the grace of over-the-top often hides a great crisis, which will attract the envy of others, and even the punishment of extermination.
Historically, many families have prospered and then perished because of favors and misfortunes.
Another example is that wealth and wealth cause trouble. A family acquires great wealth and could have lived a privileged life. However, if you accumulate too much money, it will lead to extravagance and accumulate the root cause.
When wealth reaches its peak, there is a reversal, which provokes the resentment of others and leads to the decline of the family.
Only when you are not surprised by changes can you be new with the world. When a person or family is in a variety of seemingly beautiful but full of pitfalls, the most important thing is to maintain a humble, cautious, reflective and enterprising attitude.
If we want to jump out of adversity, we must not stick to the rules, but dare to reform and innovate and conform to the torrent of the times.
Perhaps, we have all been like the Cao family, caught in some kind of life dilemma of "things must be opposed". It is important to keep thinking, to gain insight into the essence of things, to jump out of the dilemma of transformation, and to make life continue to sublimate.
Each of us must constantly improve ourselves, and a family must also continue to improve in order to adapt to the new era.
I believe that as long as we maintain a modest and cautious and enterprising heart, we will be able to stand firm in this era of change and move towards a brighter future.
The rise and fall of the Cao family, as Cao Xueqin wrote in "Dream of Red Mansions", is like a dream that penetrates life.
In just one generation, this family has experienced ups and downs from the peak to the bottom, and the various life lessons contained in it are worth pondering for everyone.
As a family, only by constantly reflecting on the lessons of the past, summing up lessons and maintaining a humble and cautious style, can we gain a foothold in this rapidly changing world; Only by daring to innovate and change can we keep pace with the times and achieve a century-old inheritance.
Life in the world, there are ups and downs, prosperity and decline. What we need to do is to absorb the wisdom of history, stick to our original intentions, and constantly improve ourselves, so that we can live a meaningful life for ourselves and our families, and let the flower of life bloom brightly.