Preface
Since ancient times, court intrigues have often been shocking, filled with endless drama and mixed stories of tragedy and joy. During the Jiaqing years, a shocking power struggle surfaced and unfolded in an earth-shattering manner.
At that time, the powerful ministers and Shen of the Qianlong Dynasty were beautiful for a while, but he did not escape the fate of bad luck after all. However, his ending was only a small episode in this court turmoil. Ji Xiaolan, who is the same name, is another favored eunuch who was in power in the late Qianlong period.
However, after Jiaqing came to power, what will be his fate? Will Ji Xiaolan follow in the footsteps of Shen and fall into the purge of Jiaqing's New Deal? Or will he be able to reverse the fate of the Qianlong Dynasty and continue to write his own legendary story on the stage of power?
1. A talented literati
Ji Xiaolan, whose name is Yun, is from Qingzhou, Shandong. Since childhood, he has read poetry and books, and he is only eight buckets high, and is regarded as the hope of the ancestors of the family. At the age of 31, he overwhelmed the others in the township examination, and became a high school jinshi, adding supreme glory to the family.
After entering the Shi, Ji Xiaolan was soon elected to the Hanlin Academy and started his career. At first, he was just a small groom, but he worked hard and conscientiously, and soon showed extraordinary talent. After a year of hard work, he won the first prize again in the in-house examination and was appointed as an editor.
Emperor Qianlong has always attached great importance to talents, and Ji Xiaolan's outstanding performance soon attracted his attention. Soon, Ji Xiaolan was sent to Shanxi, Shuntian and other places to be in charge of the township test, and all of them were upright and upright, and won excellent evaluations. In the end, he was exceptionally promoted to the prefect of Guizhou.
In Guizhou, Ji Xiaolan has done a good job. However, fate is often unpredictable, and one of his small mistakes actually put him in a situation from which he will never recover. It turned out that Ji Xiaolan's daughter was married to the grandson of Lu Jianzeng, the salt transport envoy in charge of the salt merchants.
As a family of salt merchants, the Lu family naturally inevitably has some corruption. Qianlong sent an edict to send ministers to arrest officials suspected of corruption. After Ji Xiaolan learned the news, she actually reported the news in private, so that the Lu family was prepared.
This small action was discovered by his colleagues and soon reached the ears of Emperor Qianlong. Qianlong was furious and immediately ordered Ji Xiaolan to be arrested. After some review, the evidence was conclusive, the Lu family was beheaded, and Ji Xiaolan was also removed from his official position and sent to distant Urumqi.
Second, merit has its own price
In Urumqi, Ji Xiaolan did not give up. On the contrary, he worked harder to make up for his past mistakes. He wrote a large number of works describing the local humanities and geography, leaving a valuable record for future generations.
At this time, the imperial court began a huge compilation project of "Siku Quanshu". Ji Xiaolan finally got a chance to atone for her sins and was recalled to Beijing to participate in this major project.
Siku Quanshu is an encyclopedia that brings together the classics of previous generations. Ji Xiaolan paid decades of hard work, and finally witnessed the completion of this masterpiece in Qianlong's later years. Emperor Qianlong naturally attached great importance to this, and he personally inscribed the plaque of "Wenyuan Pavilion" for Ji Xiaolan as a reward.
There is a price to be paid for, and Ji Xiaolan's efforts have finally paid off. He was soon promoted to the rank of Scholar of the Ministry of Rites and served as the Minister of Education for the Princes. In the court, he was not only known for his talent and learning, but also favored by Qianlong for his witty and humorous personality.
Once, at Qianlong's 75-year-old birthday banquet, a 141-year-old man was invited. Seeing this, Qianlong couldn't help but sigh that he hoped that he could live to such an advanced age, so he came up with a couplet: "Reunion of the sixtieth year, another three or seven years."
This upper link really stumped the literati and scholars present, only Ji Xiaolan responded wittily, and said the next couplet: "Ancient and rare double celebrations, add another spring and autumn." Qianlong was overjoyed and immediately rewarded him with 5,000 taels of silver.
Ji Xiaolan's life can be described as ups and downs. With his outstanding talent and unremitting efforts, he finally won Qianlong's appreciation and reuse. Although he was imprisoned for a while, he did not give up, but worked hard to make up for his mistakes, and finally won a good death at his own price.
3. The fate of the villain in the drill camp
Unlike Ji Xiaolan, He Shen's career is a different matter entirely. He Shen was originally a small catcher, but with a clever mouth, he turned into a minister of military aircraft in just three years.
Emperor Qianlong appreciated He Shen's alertness and bravery, and quickly reused him. The last time the flag was raised, He Shen was directly raised from the positive red flag to the positive yellow flag. For the sake of the family's future, he even let his son marry Qianlong's favorite tenth princess as his wife.
The temptation of power and money made He Shen gradually lose himself. At first, he was able to turn away those who wanted to buy and sell through him. But as power grew, so did the temptations, and he finally fell.
When it was the most arrogant, He Shen didn't even pay attention to the prince Yongyan, and provoked everywhere. Although Yongyan understands the weight of He Shen, he is also a reasonable person and knows that He Shen will pay the price for what he has done sooner or later.
Sure enough, after Qianlong's death, Yongyan immediately attacked He Shen, beheaded his entire family, and filled the treasury. This is not only to retaliate against He Shen's provocation to himself, but also to warn the government and the opposition that they must not repeat the mistakes of He Shen.
Fourth, a clean official with a bumpy career
In contrast, Liu's fate is a different story. He was born in a famous family, and his ancestors were all Jinshi for five generations. Liu Yong himself is also a top talent, but because of Qianlong's benevolence, he was overtaken by the ordinary children who ranked second.
After entering the Hanlin Academy, Liu Yong's career at the beginning was also mediocre, just a small Jiji. But with the deep accumulation of the family, he soon began to rise rapidly, and the future is bright.
It's a pity that the good times didn't last long. For the first time, Liu Yong was implicated because of the failure of his father Liu Tongxun, and the father and son were removed from office and imprisoned together. Although Qianlong later reactivated Liu Tongxun, the blow to Liu Yong had already been done.
The second time, Liu Yong angered He Shen, who was the most favored at the time, because of a trivial matter, and was suppressed and retaliated by him. The third time, he was framed for participating in the emperor's conversation and was removed from his post by Qianlong for investigation.
In this way, Liu Yong's career is like a roller coaster, high on the top for a while, and then at the bottom. Even after he was reactivated and served as the priest of the country, there was a scandal of bribery of candidates under his subordinates, and he was demoted by Qianlong again.
Until Qianlong's later years, when Liu Yong was in charge of the study and gave lessons to the princes, he was demoted because he was late once, which annoyed Qianlong again. It can be said that Liu Yong's life is a process of constant blows.
Fortunately, after Jiaqing ascended the throne, he purged He Shen and other corrupt officials, and Liu Yong was able to re-emerge. He devoted himself to the management of the Yellow River floods and made significant contributions to the country. However, just when his career was in the red, an illness took his life.
epilogue
The Qianlong Dynasty was an era of power struggle. Some people have won the ultimate success with outstanding talent and unremitting efforts, some people have been ruined because of greed, and some people have had a rough life and a bad fate.
Ji Xiaolan, He Shen, and Liu Yong, their fates and trajectories are different, but they all vividly show the various lives of that turbulent era. Some choose to maintain integrity, others become prisoners of power and money, and some have a life of inactivity that makes it difficult for them to carry out their ambitions.
These vivid characters are like a mirror, reflecting the various lights and shadows of that era. Their stories may be a microcosm of each of us, allowing us to look back on the past and find direction for our own future.