The Cao family was once a wealthy family appreciated by Emperor Kangxi, with a prominent family background and great prosperity and wealth. However, during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, the Cao family suffered a complete annihilation and was emptied, and Cao Xueqin, who was only 12 years old, also suffered the fate of being ruined. Why did this son of a family who used to be rich in clothes and food fall into such a miserable situation? How did the Cao family offend Emperor Yongzheng and cause the family to suffer such a catastrophe? What was the reason that this once-prominent family of famous families went to the abyss of family annihilation?
The rise of the Cao family
The roots of Cao Xueqin's family can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the ancestor of the Cao family, Cao someone, was a general who was unfortunately captured in a war with the Qing army. As a captive, Cao was forced to serve the Aixin Jueluo family and became a clothed minion. Although the status is low, it also gives the descendants of the Cao family an opportunity.
When Kangxi was young, Emperor Shunzhi put all his efforts on his favorite concubine Dong E, and neglected the upbringing of other children. This heavy responsibility naturally fell to the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. The Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang searched everywhere and finally found that the grandmother of the Cao family, Sun, was a woman of excellent character and diligence, so she entrusted her with the important task of taking care of the young Kangxi.
Sun took good care of Xiao Kangxi and served him wholeheartedly. One year, Xiao Kangxi accidentally fell ill with smallpox, and the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was very anxious. Sun searched for a cure and finally cured Xiao Kangxi's illness. This credit allowed the Sun family to establish a very high status in the heart of the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, and also opened a road to glory and wealth for the descendants of the Cao family in the Qing Dynasty.
The Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang deeply felt Sun's kindness, so she allowed her son Cao Yin and Xiao Kangxi to study and grow up together. Cao Yin has been Kangxi's companion since he was a child, and the relationship between the two is as close as siblings. After Kangxi ascended the throne, in order to repay the Sun family's nurturing grace, he rewarded the Cao family with a fat difference - Jiangning Weaving.
Although Jiangning Weaving is only a petty official of the fifth grade, the power is unexpected. This position is directly under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and has the power to directly participate in the performance, and even the local governors and governors have to rely on the face of the Cao family. More importantly, the Cao family could do business in the name of the emperor, supervise the silk industry, and obtain a large amount of "gray income".
Cao Xi, the ancestor of the Cao family, was an upright person, and he did not make a lot of money in office, but did a lot of good things for the people. However, he died in 1684 due to overwork. Six years later, in order to continue the glory and wealth of the Cao family, Kangxi passed the position of Jiangning weaving to Cao Xi's eldest son Cao Yin.
Cao Yin not only inherited his father's integrity, but also had an outstanding business acumen. Soon after he took office, he discovered the business opportunity of selling copper, and directly borrowed 100,000 taels of silver from Kangxi as capital. Kangxi did not hesitate and took out his private money and lent it to Cao Yin. Sure enough, Cao Yin not only earned a lot of profits for Kangxi, but also made a lot of money himself.
Under Kangxi's favor, the Cao family was in the limelight for a while. Cao Yin's two daughters were named princesses, and his eldest brother Li Xi also supervised the salt affairs in Suzhou and obtained a large amount of oil and water. Kangxi made six southern tours, four of which were taken over by the Cao family, and he was ordered to lead merchants to donate silver to build palaces and temples to provide Kangxi with a place to rest and visit. Although the cost of each driver is huge, this imperial difference is undoubtedly the glory of the Cao family.
The glory and wealth of the Cao family in the Kangxi Dynasty
Emperor Kangxi's favor to the Cao family is unprecedented. During the Cao Yin period, the Cao family can be said to have been favored by the emperor, and the family status reached its peak.
Cao Yin's two daughters were both named princesses, the wives of Prince Yinxiang of Heshuo and Prince Yinzhen of Yi respectively. This was a very high honor at that time, which shows Kangxi's great love for the Cao family.
Cao Yin's eldest brother, Li Xi, also supervised the salt industry in Suzhou and obtained a large amount of oil and water. Kangxi once reminded Cao Yin in his instructions: "Cao Yin and his colleagues are one, and this is very good." I am afraid that if the day changes, it is better to be only for myself, that is, dogs and horses!" It can be seen that Li Xi was also reused because of the relationship between the Cao family.
More importantly, four of Kangxi's six southern tours were taken over by the Cao family. Every time Kangxi made a southern tour, there were thousands of people such as princes and princesses, concubines, palace maids, guards and eunuchs, and the Cao family had to be responsible for eating, drinking, and Lazar for these people, and they had to be received with high standards. "Dream of Red Mansions" wrote: "It is like spending all the silver in the sea...... ＂
The cost of each car is huge, but this imperial mission is undoubtedly the glory of the Cao family. Kangxi was also ordered by the Cao family to lead merchants to donate silver to build palaces and temples for Kangxi to rest and visit. Although the expenses are huge, the Cao family is still happy.
In addition to taking over, the Cao family also shoulders the heavy responsibility of managing the silk industry. The position of Jiangning weaving is directly under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and has the power to directly participate in the performance, and even the local governor and governor have to rely on the face of the Cao family. More importantly, the Cao family could do business in the name of the emperor, supervise the silk industry, and obtain a large amount of "gray income".
Under Kangxi's favor, the Cao family was in the limelight for a while. Kangxi made six southern tours, four of which were taken over by the Cao family, and he was ordered to lead merchants to donate silver to build palaces and temples to provide Kangxi with a place to rest and visit. Although the cost of each driver is huge, this imperial difference is undoubtedly the glory of the Cao family.
However, this favor did not last long, and after Cao Yin's death, the Cao family began to decline from prosperity. Kangxi wanted to continue to take care of the Cao family, so he let Cao Yin's eldest son Cao Hao take over, but unfortunately Cao Hao died young, and there was no successor to carry the crown.
Intra-family illness
The glory and wealth of the Cao family in the Kangxi Dynasty did not last, and as time went by, the Cao family was in internal and external difficulties, and new family internal and external troubles continued to emerge.
First of all, the Cao family's heirs are talented, and poor management has led to serious family deficits. After Cao Yin's death, Kangxi originally wanted his eldest son Cao Hao to succeed him and continue the glory of the Cao family. Who knew that Cao Hao died young, and died at the age of only 25, and he was unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the family at all.
In order to pity Cao Yin's wife, Kangxi had to let Cao Yin's nephew Cao Fu succeed him.
However, Cao Fu was still young when he took over, and he was completely unfamiliar with the business, coupled with his timidity and inability to open up, the Cao family's family business became more and more ruined in his hands. Kangxi has also lost trust in Cao Fu, and only 12 years later, the Cao family has fallen from a wealthy family to a family of criminals.
Secondly, the entanglement and party strife between the Cao family and the princes also brought serious hidden dangers to the family. In order to seek greater political interests, the Cao family continued to use money to pave the way for the family, but as a result, they stood on the wrong side in the open and secret battles of many princes of Kangxi.
At first, the Cao family curryed favor with the deposed prince Yinren and maintained a close relationship with him. Later, seeing that Yinren was hopeless, he turned to woo the eighth elder brother Yinren and the fourteenth elder brother Yinyu, and they had a lot of friendship. Who knew that it was the fourth Yinzhen who had never crossed paths with the Cao family who finally ascended the throne. The Cao family's political investment not only did not make a profit, but was affected and became the key target of Yongzheng's exclusion of dissidents.
Moreover, the extravagance and waste of the members of the Cao family and the ruined behavior are also a major bane of the family's decline. Kangxi made six southern tours, and the Cao family received four times, each time it was a vast and mighty one, with thousands of people such as princes and princesses, concubines and palace maids, guards and eunuchs. The Cao family has to manage the eating, drinking, and Lazar of these people one by one, and they also have to receive them with a high standard, which is a huge expense.
"Dream of Red Mansions" wrote: "It is like spending all the silver in the sea...... In order to make up for the shortfall, Kangxi had to order Cao Yin's eldest brother Li Xi to manage the salt affairs for a year, and subsidize the Cao family's deficit with the surplus of the salt administration.
What's more, the members of the Cao family still have extravagant and wasteful behavior. According to the impeachment, Cao Yin's uncle Li Xi spent 800 taels of silver in the 52nd year of Kangxi to buy five women in Suzhou and give them to the eighth elder brother Yinxi, which eventually led to Li Xi's exile in the Yongzheng Dynasty.
These ruined behaviors undoubtedly exacerbated the internal troubles of the Cao family and laid the foundation for their future demise. Although the Cao family was once unmatched, with the continuous accumulation of internal and external troubles such as lack of talents, party defeats, and extravagance and waste, the foundation of the family has gradually collapsed.
The fall of the Cao family during the Yongzheng period
After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he immediately set about rectifying the rule of officials and severely punishing corruption. The Cao family, as the favored vassals of the Kangxi Dynasty, was naturally not spared.
In 1727, Yongzheng dismissed Cao Fu and seized him on charges of mismanagement, misconduct, and transfer of property of the Cao family. Subsequently, Yongzheng ordered a thorough investigation of the Cao family's property. The result was unexpected, the Cao family, known as the "richest man", had a negative family property, and there were only more than 100 pawn tickets and IOUs left, which can be called the "first loss".
It turned out that the Cao family was indeed wealthy in the Kangxi Dynasty, but due to extravagance and waste and mismanagement, they had already lost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Kangxi made six southern tours, and the Cao family received four times, and each time he had to receive thousands of people to eat, drink and Lazar with a high standard, and the expenses were huge.
In order to make up for the shortfall, Kangxi had to order Cao Yin's eldest brother Li Xi to manage the salt affairs for a year and subsidize the Cao family with the surplus of the salt administration. However, even so, by the time Cao Yin died, the Cao family still had a deficit of more than 100,000 taels that had not been paid off.
After Cao Yin's death, his son Cao Hao also died young soon after he succeeded him, and he had no heirs. In order to pity Cao Yin's wife, Kangxi let Cao Yin's nephew Cao Fu succeed him. However, Cao Fu's young and incompetent youth not only failed to reverse the decline, but instead put the Cao family in an even worse situation.
After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he found that Cao Fu owed at least more than 80,000 taels to Yan Zheng, as well as 9,200 taels of silver that had not been handed over from selling ginseng. Yongzheng ordered Cao Fu to pay off the deficit within three years, otherwise he would be dismissed from his post and his family was raided.
In the face of Yongzheng's strict requirements, Cao Fu initially issued a military order, promising to pay off the deficit within three years. But soon he regretted it, after all, more than 100 members of the Cao family had to be fed. So, Cao Fu took a risk and transferred his family property everywhere.
At the end of the three-year period, Yongzheng raided Cao's house and found that Cao Fu not only failed to pay off the deficit, but instead hid or transferred a large amount of property elsewhere. This is undoubtedly a blatant disobedience to the emperor's order, which deepens Yongzheng's dissatisfaction and suspicion.
In the end, Yongzheng ordered a complete raid of the house and dismissed Cao Fu from his post and confiscated into the army. Cao Xueqin, who was only 12 years old, went from a rich son with fine clothes and food to an upheaval and porridge overnight.
The collapse of the Cao family was certainly caused by its own mismanagement and extravagance and waste. But more importantly, the Cao family was on the wrong side in the party struggle of the Kangxi princes, and was retaliated against by Yongzheng. As the new monarch, Yongzheng was anxious to rectify the rule of officials, and the Cao family happened to be his key target.