This book is Mr. Shi Jingqian's doctoral dissertation, which presents a corner of the social and political form of the Kangxi Dynasty through the study of the Cao Yin family, and also allows readers to better understand the background of the writing of the Dream of the Red Chamber.
The Cao Yin family was wrapped in the white flag, which was captured by the Han slaves in the early wars of the Qing Dynasty, and later incorporated into the Eight Banners of the Han Army and became the "Flag People", and the two yellow flags and the Zhengbai Banner became the emperor's direct flag after the Shunzhi era, so the Cao Yin family also became the emperor's personal slaves. The wrapped family will select adult women to enter the palace to become palace women, before the age of 25, if they become concubines, they can marry in the palace, and adult men are selected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to serve in the clan room, of which the best can become royal guards and have the opportunity to accompany the emperor. Cao Yin's great-grandfather was the first generation of captured coats, by the time of Cao Yin's grandfather Cao Zhenyan, the family began to rise, served as prefect, salt transport history and other positions, Cao Yin's father Cao Xi took office in Jiangning weaving in 1663, opening the Cao family's long-term monopoly on this position, Cao Yin's mother Sun Shi was the nanny of the young Kangxi, and by virtue of his parents' special relationship with Kangxi, Cao Yin established a certain connection with the Kangxi Emperor.
In his youth, cao Yin, like other baoyi, served in the ministry of internal affairs, participated in the maintenance of the emperor's travel honors, and later became a royal bodyguard, a shrouded collar, and a prudential priest, and had the opportunity to have direct contact with the Kangxi Emperor. Cao Yin's dual Manchu-Han identity enabled him to receive both Manchu and Han education, both valuing Confucian cultural education and mastering riding archery. Coupled with the family wealth accumulated over two generations, Cao Yin was able to rise to the upper class and established a wide range of interpersonal relationships with his communication skills, including Naran Zhide and many high-level literati, including several leaders and famous literati in the early Qing Dynasty.
Cao Yin's father, Cao Xi, served as a weaver in Jiangning for 21 years and died in office. After Cao Xi's death, Cao Yin organized literati to write a commemorative collection of calligraphy and paintings for his father, and in the Confucian society where filial piety came first, Cao Yin's move was both elegant and won himself the reputation of filial piety, further improving his social status. In 1690, Cao Yin was stationed in Suzhou Weaving, and three years later, he officially succeeded his father as Jiangning Weaving.
Jiangning Weaving's nominal main job was to be responsible for the production of royally used fabrics, and in fact had more missions. The political ecology of the early Qing Dynasty was still tense, the emperor did not dare to appoint Han People as local governors, and the Manchus were afraid of provoking local rebellion, so they appointed a large number of Han military banners as local governors. Cao Yin, as a royal coat, had both Manchu and Han ethnic characteristics and became the preferred group of foreign officials. Jiangning Weaving was not involved in local government affairs, but as a direct resident of the emperor stationed in the richest Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, it actually shouldered the important responsibility of supervising the bureaucracy and social ecology of the region. Kangxi creatively established a system of secret folding, in which correspondence between Cao Yin and Kangxi was kept absolutely confidential, without entrusting anyone to ghostwrite it, and with Cao Yin's cronies and domestic servants as the messengers of letters. Cao Yin's report on Kangxi covered a wide range of topics, including the dynamics of officials, fluctuations in commodity prices, the trend of public opinion, and even various rumors. In addition to supplying fabrics to the emperor, Cao Yin was also responsible for purchasing various rare goods for the imperial family, such as Western goods and silk bamboo used to make musical instruments.
However, the accounting of Jiangning Weaving is very chaotic, and the royal family is not responsible for giving Jiangning Weaving a fixed appropriation, but allocates it from local taxes, such as donations from local governments, canal toll taxes, and at the same time, profits are also obtained from some commercial channels, such as copper and other precious metals, and even profits through usury. Out of trust, the Kangxi Emperor even directly handed over the position of Inspector of The Two Huai Salt Imperial History, which was a huge risk of corruption, to Weaver. Because this position involves major interests, it usually changes every year and is rarely repeated, and Cao Yin and his brother-in-law Li Xu (also a white flag wrapper and a long-term Suzhou weaver) have rotated this position for more than ten years and gained huge benefits. Cao Yin and Li Xu could thus directly embezzle the salt tax as weaving expenses, and the surplus became personal property.
Cao Yin was deeply trusted by the Kangxi Emperor during his term as a weaver in Jiangning, and became Kangxi's most trusted slave in the Jiangnan region, kangxi made six southern tours and lived in Cao Yin's mansion four times, which shows the closeness of his relationship. The Kangxi Emperor was also often concerned about Cao Yin's personal health and family situation, and repeatedly paid attention to Cao Yin when he was seriously ill and critically ill, and gave medicines, and even personally indicated the dosage of the drugs. This was inseparable from Cao Yin's personal management ability and ability to read the emperor's mind. By the time his next generation, when his personal abilities clearly did not meet the expectations of the Kangxi Emperor, his family immediately went into decline.
Cao Yin served as a Weaver in Jiangning for 20 years, and died in Jiangning Weaving like his father. In order to show preferential treatment for Cao Yin, the Kangxi Emperor immediately appointed Cao Yin's son Cao Yin to hold this position. However, Cao Yin died in office after only 3 years as a weaver in Jiangning, at this time Cao Yin had no adult male heir, and the Kangxi Emperor ordered Cao Yin's brother Cao Fu to become Cao Yin's heir and take over the position of Jiangning Weaving. However, Cao Fu's personal ability was far from Cao Yin's, and he gradually lost Kangxi's trust, and after Yongzheng ascended the throne, he was convicted of the large number of deficits he caused and went to his post to raid his home.
The rise and fall of the Cao Yin family is a microcosm of the early Qing Dynasty. When the regime was unstable, the imperial family relied on the Manchu identity of the coat to provide it with sources, while not provoking the Han resistance, creating a flourishing coat family, with the control of important tax sources, these coated families accumulated huge assets, the wealth of the general bureaucratic family is difficult to match. After the regime was secured, high-ranking officials, including important supervisory positions, were able to transition to the Manchu nobility, and the historical mission of the cloaked class came to an end and went into decline. With only the emperor's order, even the most huge family property will disappear in an instant.
It is speculated that Cao Xueqin is the son of Cao Yin's son Cao Yin, through the understanding of the Cao Yin family, we can also better appreciate the huge gap between Cao Xueqin after the decline of the family, and the various things described in the Dream of the Red Chamber should be a sample of the most prosperous family in the Qing Dynasty, which has important historical value.