In the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735), the Yongzheng Emperor was critically ill, and before his death, he summoned the ministers Zhang Tingyu, Prince Yunlu of Zhuang, and Ortai, a scholar of the university, and ordered all three of them to be the ministers of gu orders, and left a testament: Zhang Tingyu could be worthy of the Taimiao Temple after his death. Han Chen deserved to enjoy the Qing Emperor's Taimiao Temple, which was the first case in the history of the Qing Dynasty, so why did Zhang Tingyu let the Yongzheng Emperor make an exception for him?
Zhang Tingyu was born in the Zhang family of Anhui Province, and his father Zhang Ying was in the inner court, deeply trusted by the emperor, and was honored with the throne. After Zhang Tingyu entered the dynasty as an official, he was deeply favored by the Kangxi Emperor, "Saiwai Qicong, where eleven times, Xia is to avoid the hot river, and Autumn is hunted in Biansai.". Obviously, the Kangxi Emperor had cultivated Zhang Tingyu as a small secretary and was ready to leave it to his son Yongzheng in the future.
The Yongzheng Emperor's hard-won throne, he fought with his brothers for twenty or thirty years, during which the dangers and thrills were thrilling, and these experiences made him deeply aware of the importance of cultivating his own power. Therefore, Yongzheng inspected the courtiers left by his father, and he believed that all the unqualified ones were eliminated. Zhang Tingyu received Yongzheng's weight for his calm, capable personality and outstanding ability, and became his right and left hands.
Yongzheng chose Zhang Tingyu, there is also a layer of relationship, his mentor is Zhang Tingyu's father Zhang Ying, so with Zhang Tingyu, Yongzheng dares to confide. The Yongzheng Emperor's trust in Zhang Tingyu was extraordinary, and he had just taken the throne and ordered Zhang Tingyu to concurrently receive the title of university.
In his later years, Kangxi was corrupt and the affairs of the DPRK and China were complicated, and Yongzheng was determined to exert great efforts to govern, and as soon as he came to power, he carried out drastic reforms, and there may be dozens of edicts a day, all of which were personally undertaken by Zhang Tingyu. Zhang Tingyu was "sensitive and meticulous, and he knew the holy will", so Yongzheng made him the Rebbe Shangshu, and Zhang Tingyu has since become the center of power in the imperial court.
The most important thing in the Yongzheng period was the military war with the Dzungars, due to the annual loss of finances, the front war was in urgent need of grain, and the original department was difficult to deal with, so Yongzheng began to set up a military aircraft department, and hand-picked Zhang Tingyu to lead the aircraft department on many matters. The Military Aircraft Department was newly established, there are no relevant regulations, and its improvement is basically the responsibility of Zhang Tingyu, and it can be said that most of the rules and regulations of the Military Aircraft Department are from Zhang Tingyu. Because of this, Zhang Tingyu has always been extremely special in the heart of the Yongzheng Emperor.
Due to the seizure of the nine sons, the legitimacy of Yongzheng's throne has always been questioned, and the rest of the princes have often opposed Yongzheng, coupled with Yongzheng's action against the gentry class and the readers, making him a sworn enemy of the world's readers. In this way, there were very few courtiers who could know Yongzheng's heart, and Zhang Tingyu became his close self-reliant. When Yongzheng was exhausted and sick, he would summon Zhang Tingyu to come and give him important things to do.
Zhang Tingyu did not live up to the trust of the Yongzheng Emperor, who had been diligent and diligent since he took charge of the Military Aircraft Department, and had devoted himself to Yongzheng and the Qing Dynasty, never daring to slack off in the slightest. Although Zhang Tingyu was in a high position, he never arrogantly boasted of power, nor did he form a party for personal gain, and because his son had only just learned to enter the tanhua examination, he immediately asked Yongzheng for his guilt and requested that his son's noun be lowered backwards. Because of this, Yongzheng was relieved to hand over the crown prince to Zhang Tingyu to assist, and promised to give him the honor of the Taimiao Temple.
When the Qianlong Emperor first came to power, his feelings for Zhang Tingyu were actually not bad, after all, he was a heavy minister of the Yongzheng Dynasty, a minister left by his father, and he was known for his prestige in the dynasty, and he was more just. Therefore, the newly enthroned Qianlong Emperor followed Yongzheng's will and asked Zhang Tingyu to assist ortai and others together.
Qianlong made Zhang Tingyu the crown prince's master and also in charge of the affairs of the Hanlin Court, and every time he left the capital on a tour, he let Zhang Tingyu stay in the affairs of the premier of the capital. Zhang Tingyu, as a Han courtier, could be used so heavily by Qianlong, and it could not be said that Qianlong did not give him preferential treatment.
However, Qianlong's attitude towards Zhang Tingyu was different from Yongzheng's after all. In Yongzheng's eyes, Zhang Tingyu was a confidant, but in Qianlong's view, Zhang Tingyu was the leader of a power group. Although Zhang Tingyu did not form a party for personal gain, he went through the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties, and as the head of the Han Dynasty, there were naturally countless people behind him.
Moreover, Zhang Tingyu also displeased the emperor because he repeatedly advised Qianlong. Yongzheng was a diligent and frugal monarch, and Zhang Tingyu, whom he trusted, was naturally such a person, and as a minister of his life, he saw that the Qianlong Emperor liked to play in the mountains and rivers, and naturally was regularly persuaded. Qianlong wanted to change the old system, but he was also obstructed by Zhang Tingyu.
For example, in the third year of Qianlong (1738), the Qianlong Emperor held up the ancient ceremony of "three old and five more", and Zhang Tingyu immediately stood up against it, believing that the ancient ceremony was not feasible. The Qianlong Emperor was very unhappy and no longer let Zhang Tingyu premier the country affairs. In October of the eighth year of Qianlong (1743), when the imperial official Shangxiang requested reform of the law of taking the imperial examination, Zhang Tingyu once again took the lead in opposing it, advocating following the old practice.
Zhang Tingyu's opposition was not all wrong, but he repeatedly stood up against the Qianlong Emperor, making Qianlong very embarrassed. In particular, Zhang Tingyu's personality was excited in his later years, and he stated the pros and cons in front of Qianlong at every turn, and his words were fierce, which made Qianlong more and more displeased with him, which also laid the groundwork for Zhang Tingyu's desolate evening scene.
When Zhang Tingyu was old, he asked Qianlong to return to his hometown, and before leaving, he met with the Qianlong Emperor and mentioned the Yongzheng promise to enjoy the Taimiao Temple, and asked the Qianlong Emperor to give a certificate. The Qianlong Emperor was greatly displeased, but he still drew up a hand edict to comfort Zhang Tingyu. The next day, Zhang Tingyu let his son enter the palace to thank him, which made Qianlong very unhappy, and asked the military minister to give a message to Zhang Tingyu. However, the will had not yet been issued, and Zhang Tingyu met with Emperor Xie En early the next morning. Qianlong believed that the military chancellor had leaked secrets to Zhang Tingyu, and in anger stripped Zhang Tingyu of his official title and deposed him from the honor of enjoying the taimiao temple.
Zhang Tingyu sat in the palace and asked to return to his hometown again in the fifteenth year of Qianlong (1750). Because the emperor's eldest son had just died, Qianlong was in a state of grief in his heart, so he was very disgusted and disgusted with Zhang Tingyu, and listed the names of the courtiers who deserved to enjoy the Taimiao Temple one by one, and asked him if he had the face to enjoy the Taimiao Temple. Zhang Tingyu was ashamed and embarrassed, and returned home depressed and died. However, after his death, Qianlong still obeyed Yongzheng's will and let Zhang Tingyu enjoy the Taimiao Temple. If Zhang Tingyu knew about it, he was afraid that he would regret that he had forced Qianlong to ask him.
Resources:
Draft History of the Qing Dynasty
"Man Huai Yuan Wen Cun"