In the Qing Dynasty, the houses of Han officials and eunuchs generally took the road of entering the shi. However, in general, there is also a law, that is, the father is a courtier, the son is generally not too bad, and some even generations are high-ranking officials.
There are many such examples, such as the Zhang Tingyu family, the Liu Tongxun family, the Pan Shien family, and later the Zeng and Li families. However, another famous minister of the Qing Dynasty, Ji Xiaolan, was "killed in one generation", as the most famous talent of the Qing Dynasty, why did Ji Xiaolan's son not become a tool? So much so that none of the sons have been recorded much in the history books.
Ji Xiaolan's origin is at best a scholarly family, not a shangguan eunuch family, which is a big gap with Liu Yong. Although Ji Xiaolan's ancestors had meritorious names, they did not become any high-ranking officials, only his father Ji Rongshu, who was born as a person, served as a low-level official in the bureaucracy and punishment department during the Kangxi period.
Ji Xiaolan passed the entrance examination, all by his true ability, and if he said that the background was probably only his teacher Liu Tongxun. Because after Ji Xiaolan entered the army, Liu Tongxun helped him more or less.
As for being an official, Ji Xiaolan's official position is not top-notch, and he is only a co-founder of a university from Yipin until he is old, and he has never entered the military aircraft department. To say that Ji Xiaolan can be called the first talent of the Qing Dynasty, he won qianlong's favor by virtue of his talent, but that was all. In Qianlong's eyes, Ji Xiaolan was useless, and at best he could only be a literary attendant or compile some books.
In terms of serving as an official, Ji Xiaolan did not have any outstanding political achievements, and the greatest achievement in his life was to compile the "Four Libraries of the Whole Book", unlike Liu Yong, who was good at government affairs, and did not have the talents of Wang Jie and Dong Yu. We can position Ji Xiaolan as a literati rather than a bureaucrat.
As for his family situation, it was not complicated, he married a wife in his lifetime, took three concubines, and gave birth to four sons: the eldest son Ji Rutuo, the second son Ji Ruchuan, the third son Ji Ruru, and the fourth son Ji Ruyi.
There are not many records of Ji Xiaolan's four sons in the historical records, which is also because their official positions are not high and their merits are not great. The eldest son, Ji Ruyi, did not have the literary talent of Ji Xiaolan, and it was difficult to be admitted to a show talent, and after several township examinations, he barely won a lift.
Perhaps Ji Ruyi was also deliberately taken care of by Qianlong, after all, his father Ji Xiaolan was famous, and his son could not even pass the examination, even Qianlong probably felt that he could not say it. After Ji Ruyi took the exam, he participated in several examinations and was named Luosun Shan and did not have the opportunity to enter the meritorious name. Later, Qianlong looked at Ji Xiaolan's face and gave him the title of alternate Zhixian, in fact, his life did not let Go of Zhixian's actual shortage, and he died in his forties.
Ji Xiaolan had high hopes for his eldest son Ji Ruyi, but he was helpless to have his son not become a tool, and he once commented on Ji Ruyi in the "Notes of the Moon Wei Caotang", saying:
"The deceased son Ru Tuo was born with Qianlong Jiazi." Young and intelligent, not much reading, that is, can make eight comparisons. Yi Youju was raised in the township, and began to rule poetry slightly, and the ancient text had not yet been recognized. Hui Yu joined the army in the Western Regions, but since the Poetry Society was talented, he mistakenly sent in from the Public Security and Jingling. Later, zhu Ziying was in Tai'an, seeing the manuscript of "Liaozhai Zhiyi", (when the book had not yet been engraved) and mistakenly fell into his own place, and shen Shen did not return, so as to die. ”
From Ji Xiaolan's personal point of view, although Ji Ruyi was talented and intelligent, he did not read much. It is obviously unrealistic for such a person to make a difference in the official arena in order to obtain the name of a meritorious soldier.
The second son, Ji Ruchuan, was even more unreliable than the eldest brother Ji Ruchuan on the road to entering the army. Historical records record that he did not even pass the examination for a show talent, and finally donated the name of a prisoner. According to the Qing system, invigilators can take the township examination, but Ji Ruchuan cannot even pass the examination.
After Ji Xiaolan was responsible for compiling the Siku Quanshu, he transferred Ji Ruchuan to his side to engage in some chores such as transcription. Fortunately, Ji Ruchuan's work was diligent and good, and Qianlong tejian had experience as a political envoy in Hubei, and later he was repeatedly transferred to nanchang and Jiujiang provinces, and this official was not salty or light, but he was just a subordinate official of the prefect.
The third son Ji Ru also did not seem to be the material for reading, and the historical records do not record that he had any talent in reading, nor did he receive any meritorious name. He also became an attached student with a donation and spent money to donate an alternate county beggar. In the records of the Ji family, Ji Ru seems to be a county clerk in Dongguan County, Guangdong.
The fourth son, Ji Ruyi, was born to Ji Xiaolan at the age of 64, which can be described as an old son. This son is even more incomplete, there is no word introduction to him in the historical data, according to Yushi's personal speculation, he may not even have the meritorious name of Xiucai, even if he is a low-level official such as a county clerk, I am afraid he has not served, and most likely he is a stupid disciple.
Ji Xiaolan's four sons can be said to be one inferior to one, the highest meritorious name is only a person, and the biggest official position is also a general judge. This is in stark contrast to Ji Xiaolan's Congyipin.
According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty officialdom, the children of the first and second grades of the great officers would generally be a middle-ranking soldier, not to mention the official to shangshu and the inspector, at least they had to mix with a mid-level official such as a prefect.
Ji Xiaolan was born as a scholar and a leader of the literati, and it was difficult for him to think of such a family background. The only explanation is that Ji Xiaolan does not attach importance to tutoring at home, or that he is tired of the deceit in the official arena and does not want his descendants to continue to be officials and be at ease to be a rich child. However, in the era of official-based autocracy, it seems that this explanation is a bit unreasonable.
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