Author: Jin Manlou
There were no corrupt officials in the Yongzheng Dynasty, and during this period, there were many famous courtiers, such as Sun Jiagan, who was known as the "first famous minister in Shanxi".
Sun Jiagan entered the kangxi dynasty and has always had a straight personality. When he was serving as a state sub-supervisor, he was once dismissed from all official positions because of his stubborn temper, and he was demoted to the end.
Originally, at that time, according to the requirements of the imperial court, Sun Jiagan recommended song ho, Fang Congren and six other teachers to know the county.
After Yong Zheng read it, he said, "I heard that Fang Congren is a person of bad character, so you should take this list back and examine it again." ”
After sun jiagan listened, he blurted out without consideration: "These six people, I have worked with for many years, know very well, do not need to investigate again." ”
Leng Buding listened to this, and Yongzheng was very unhappy and said, "You are so confident? So do you dare to vouch for it? ”
Sun Jiagan came up with a temper and said, "The subject is willing to protect!" ”
Yongzheng was furious, dropped his imperial pen and said, "Well, you write the warrant!" ”
Sun Jiagan picked up his pen to write, and a university scholar next to him scolded:
"Sun Jiagan! The emperor's pen you dare to move?! ”
Only then did the latter wake up and quickly hold up his pen and kowtow to plead guilty.
Yongzheng was still angry, and the Ministry of Life and Punishment took Sun Jiagan to prison for punishment. Later, the Punishment Department reported it as "a crime of great disrespect and proposed to be beheaded.".
At this time, Yongzheng's anger had subsided, and he said, "Sun Jiagan is too stubborn about this person." But this man did not love money, so he let him work in the treasury! ”
Afterwards, Yongzheng found an excuse for this matter, to the effect that:
Sun Jiagan was still only a Hanlin Academy reviewer in the first year, and I saw that he was still a simple person, so he was repeatedly promoted, and within a few years, the official was the waiter.
It is expected that it is paranoid and self-serving, and the chen song is broad and trivial, and cannot be implemented. I have repeatedly admonished him, hoping to broaden his knowledge, but in recent days, he has simply remained silent, and nothing has been done.
He was now serving as a prisoner of the state, but he took care of his personal feelings and recommended his brother Sun Yanggan to be used as a supervisor, so that he behaved obediently, so that the scholars would not be convinced, so that his reputation was greatly damaged.
This time, Sun Jiagan did not show the truth, but said that Song Hao's class of six people were all available.
When I inquired in detail, I also said that Fang Congren was useless, arbitrary and repeated, and manifestly deceitful, and should be punished more severely, thinking that people were deceitful and vain and those who were benevolent were admonished!
After Sun Jiagan was released from prison, he went to the Hubu Silver Treasury to serve without returning home.
Soon, there were rumors that Sun Jiagan deliberately "shrunk without profit" when cashiering, in order to buy people's hearts and earn fame.
When Prince Yunli of Guo, who was in charge of the power of the household department, heard about it, he felt that there was some truth in this matter, and it did not look like it was fabricated out of thin air.
In his opinion, Sun Jiagan was born in a scientific class, and had also served as a minister of the DPRK and the Central Government, and now he was demoted to the silver treasury to atone for his sins, and he must certainly look down on or disdain trivial matters such as accounting and accounting, and all kinds of mistakes were inevitable.
In order to make this clear, Prince Guo then made a surprise inspection of the silver treasury.
However, when he came to the warehouse, he saw that Sun Jiagan was mixed with the servants such as the officials, and it was also a bookkeeper, a porter, tirelessly working hard, and without a shelf.
Moreover, Sun Jiagan also personally held the scale, and the silver he received and called were concentrated in one place, and when Prince Guo ordered someone to repeat and review it, there was no mistake in it.
Prince Guo was amazed by this, and then he sang Yongzheng, saying that after Sun Jiagan was deposed, instead of having any resentment, he was really doing things, which was really commendable.
After Yongzheng listened, he relieved Sun Jiagan of his silver treasury service and reappointed him as the yanzheng of Hedong.
Soon, Yongzheng died, Qianlong succeeded to the throne, and Sun Jiagan was recalled to the capital and served as the right attendant of the official department, and soon after he was awarded the title of Left Capital Imperial History of the Duchayuan.
Subsequently, Sun Jiagan rose all the way to the rank of official and shangshu of the second department of work and punishment, and co-founded a university scholar.
Although the officials did a great job, Sun Jiagan never gave orders, always went out on foot, and did not drive horses; but whenever someone came to visit, whether rich or poor, rich or poor, they were treated with courtesy.
During the Chinese New Year, relatives and friends gather together, and each meal does not exceed five dishes. It means:
"Shanxi's original folk customs were simple, but now they are becoming more and more extravagant, which is the bad habit brought about by the families of officials and eunuchs. Therefore, officials should set an example by example and advocate simplicity. ”
It is said that when Sun Jiagan told the old man to return to his hometown, he packed the five thousand and a half bricks discarded and unused when he repaired Shunyi City into dozens of boxes, and set out on the road in a mighty way.
Within a few days of leaving, someone secretly told Qianlong that Sun Jiagan's good name in life was actually nothing more than pseudo-Taoism. You see, the gold and silver treasures that have been collected over the years are packed in dozens of boxes!
After Qianlong heard this, he immediately sent someone to stop Sun Jiagan for inspection, and it turned out that it was all a pile of rotten bricks.
In this regard, Sun Jiagan explained that before repairing Shunyi City at his own expense, serving as atonement for his sins, it was a pity that half a brick could not be used and discarded, so he had to put it away and transport it back to Shanxi to repair the cave;
Moreover, I have not saved much furniture for decades as an official, and I have nothing but a thousand taels of silver given by the emperor, but I am afraid of jokes, so I bought dozens of boxes and talked about grandeur.
After Qianlong heard this, he was greatly ashamed, so he ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to exchange five thousand and a half bricks for five thousand taels of silver to help him retire.
A predecessor once commented: "Jia Gan was initially a direct subject, and then he went out and entered the picture, and his work was outstanding, and his scholarly articles were also high." ”
Throughout his life, Sun Jiagan wrote a lot of works, such as "Records of Recent Thoughts", "Nanhua Tong", "Spring and Autumn Righteousness", etc., but unfortunately, he was dissatisfied with his own views and destroyed many more.
To sum up, although Sun Jiagan may not be the first person to be a "famous minister in Shanxi" of the Qing Dynasty, he was a famous Qing official and good official in Shanxi during the Qing Dynasty like Yu Chenlong, and he is still admired by people, but there is no doubt.
For the sake of the official, what does the husband want? (Excerpt from Jin Manlou: The Official's Handbook: Yongzheng and His Ministers, Shanxi People's Publishing House, May 2015.) ）