During the prosperous Qing Dynasty and the Qianlong period, there was an old minister named Sun Jiagan in the imperial court, and his life was full of legends. In 1747, the 64-year-old decided to return to his hometown, but in the process caused a huge misunderstanding.
Sun Jiagan was born in a modest family, but with his diligence and intelligence, he was admitted to the Jinshi in 1713 and began his career. At that time, he was nearly 30 years old, which was a relatively late start for a scholar of that era. But his persistence and hard work paid off in the end.
During the Yongzheng period, Sun Jiagan won the emperor's appreciation because of his outspoken and daring character. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he ordered that the ministers could speak out. Sun Jiagan asked Yongzheng to do 3 things: "Relatives of flesh and blood, stop donating, and stop the Western soldiers." ”
Yongzheng showed Sun Jiagan's comb to the ministers and asked how the Hanlin Academy could tolerate such negligent words. Zhu Shi, a university scholar, replied that Sun Jiagan was honest and outspoken, and his courage was commendable. Yongzheng laughed for a long time and said that he also admired Jiagan's courage. So he was promoted to Jiagan as the director of the Guozijian business.
At that time, there was an atmosphere of tension and suspicion in the DPRK and China, but Sun Jiagan dared to put forward the suggestion that "His Majesty should be close to his brothers", which was an extremely sensitive topic at that time. Although Yongzheng was furious for a while, he finally expressed his appreciation for Sun Jiagan's frankness and loyalty.
During his tenure, Sun Jiagan has always maintained an honest and honest image. During his tenure as governor of Zhili, he went deep into the people, understood the people's feelings, and strived to relieve the people's worries. Emperor Yongzheng once said to Zongchen: "Since I ascended the throne, Sun Jiagan has been blunt in everything, not only am I not angry, but I also appreciate it, you had better take him as an example." ”
Despite his high position, Sun Jiagan's family life was very simple. Sun Jiagan has been honest all his life and has not saved much, however, when he decided to return to his hometown, an unexpected thing happened.
In 1747, Sun Jiagan wanted to return to his hometown on the grounds of old age, and Qianlong agreed without hesitation. However, when Sun Jiagan left, someone reported to Emperor Qianlong that Sun Jiagan had left the capital with more than a dozen boxes of treasure. This news made Qianlong very shocked and disappointed, because he had always believed that Sun Jiagan was a Qing official in the court.
Qianlong immediately ordered the officers and soldiers to investigate the matter. When the officers and soldiers chased Sun Jiagan and opened the heavy boxes, they were full of bricks.
It turned out that in order not to look too shabby when he returned to his hometown, Sun Jiagan deliberately installed these bricks to show that he had been an official for many years and had some savings. This scene surprised and moved Qianlong, and he immediately ordered that the bricks in the box be replaced with gold and silver to show his appreciation for Sun Jiagan's incorruptibility.