"Yongzheng Dynasty" is a masterpiece of Qing Dynasty court drama, and in some details it is closer to historical facts. In the play, the characters of Kangxi, Yongzheng, Eight Brother Yinyu, Thirteen Brother Yinxiang and other characters are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and there is another role that is also very outstanding, he is Zhang Tingyu.
Director Hu Mei, teacher Du Yulu, portrayed and performed Zhang Tingyu in place, highlighting his personality characteristics - stability. The historical Zhang Tingyu was a very cautious person like in the Yongzheng Dynasty, and whether it was Kangxi, Yongzheng or Qianlong, they all had similar evaluations of him.
However, "Yongzheng Dynasty" is a film and television work after all, if careful and understand the history of the Qing Dynasty readers have seen this drama, they will find that Zhang Tingyu in the Yongzheng period is more in line with the historical truth, while Zhang Tingyu in the Kangxi period obviously has a lot of differences. In the author's opinion, Zhang Tingyu in the Kangxi period is more like another figure in history - Li Guangdi.
Here is a first look at Zhang Tingyu in the Kangxi period
Zhang Tingyu, a native of Tongcheng, Anhui, was born in Beijing in the eleventh year of Kangxi (1672), and his father Zhang Ying was a favorite of the middle Kangxi Dynasty and a scholar of the official university. In the thirty-ninth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1700), Zhang Tingyu passed the imperial examination and became a Shujishi of the Hanlin Academy.
In the forty-second year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1703), Zhang Tingyu officially entered the army, and the first official position he held was the Review of the Hanlin Academy (Seven Pin Officials). Because Zhang Tingyu was influenced by his father Zhang Ying at an early age and was quite accomplished in literature, he gained the appreciation of the Kangxi Emperor and served as the Kangxi Emperor's literary attendant for a long time thereafter.
However, from Zhang Tingyu's experience, he only entered the examination and entered the career after the middle of the Kangxi Dynasty, and it is obvious that he was far inferior to other favored Hanchen at that time in terms of seniority, so it can be basically judged that Zhang Tingyu could not have become a figure at the core of power in the later years of Kangxi.
In fact, this was also the case, and it was not until the fifty-fifth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1716) that Zhang Tingyu held the rank of Cabinet Scholar and Ceremonial Attendant, which was not a high official position, and was below the Six Ministries of Attendants. In the fifty-ninth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1720), Zhang Tingyucai became a member of the ranks of senior officials, and was appointed as a squire of the Punishment Department and a scholar of the Hanlin Academy.
Zhang Tingyu was 29 years old and 49 years old, and the official Ju Zheng Erpin was not slow, although the speed of this promotion was not slow, but after all, it was still far from the highest grade university scholar of the civil official, let alone a confidant of the Kangxi Emperor.
The Yongzheng Dynasty begins in the forty-sixth year of Kangxi, when Zhang Tingyu was only a servant in the Southern Study, and was only granted sipin official clothes under the grace of Kangxi. However, Zhang Tingyu in the play is obviously the Zaifu of the Kangxi Emperor, ranking below Tong Guowei and Ma Qi.
According to the custom of the Qing Dynasty, the person who can be called the prime minister must be a university scholar and a military aircraft minister, and there was no military aircraft department in the Kangxi period, and the university scholar was considered to be the nominal prime minister, and since Zhang Tingyu was Zaifu, he must also be a university scholar.
It can be seen from the play that Zhang Tingyu was very favored by the Kangxi Emperor, and although he ranked last in the upper study, in the specific government affairs, the Kangxi Emperor was obviously more willing to consult Zhang Tingyu's opinion, and his influence was greater than that of Tong Guowei and Ma Qi. Even in such a major matter as the abolition of the crown prince, Zhang Tingyu also played a great role.
Let's take another look at Li Guangdi
Li Guangdi was a jinshi in the ninth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1670), who stood out when he pacified san francisco and was appreciated by the Kangxi Emperor. Since then, he has successively served as a cabinet scholar, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, a waiter in the Ministry of Works, and a directly subordinate inspector.
In the forty-fourth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Li Guangdi was promoted to a scholar of Wenyuange University. Li Guangdi not only won the trust of the Kangxi Emperor politically, but also won the appreciation and reliance of the Kangxi Emperor in terms of ideology, culture and learning. Compared with Chen Tingjing, another Han chancellor of the same period, Li Guangdi was obviously more valued by Kangxi, and many important military affairs often consulted Li Guangdi.
In his later years, Kangxi was always troubled by the problem of Li Chu. In November of the 47th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, after weighing the pros and cons, the Kangxi Emperor deliberately restored the deposed prince Yin Rong as the crown prince, summoned the Han Wen and Wu ministers, and asked them to play one of the brothers. As a result, all the ministers worked together to protect the Eight Brothers.
Kangxi ordered his subjects to ensure that the performance was false, and to test whether it was true. He then consulted Li Guangdi, who was well aware of the Kangxi Emperor's intentions and replied: "The former emperor asked the emperor how to cure the illness of the crown prince before he could be cured, and the minister once said that it was a blessing to slowly adjust the rule of the world. ”
Li Guangdi accurately understood the intentions of the Kangxi Emperor at a critical moment, and the next day, the Kangxi Emperor summoned his ministers and publicly announced that the deposed prince had been cured of his illness, indicating his intention to make a comeback, and four months later, the Kangxi Emperor restored Yin Rong as the crown prince. This scene is similar to the details in "Yongzheng Dynasty", except that this person is not Zhang Tingyu but Li Guangdi.
The author wrote this article, not to pick the thorn of "Yongzheng Dynasty", this aspect must be more researched by the director and producer than the author, after all, this Qing Palace drama involves too many characters, it is not easy to create a complete character image, and Li Guangdi died in the fifty-seventh year of Kangxi, replaced by Zhang Tingyu is obviously more able to connect the plot.