A story of Xu Shilin, the teacher of the Qianlong Emperor, and The Southern Plateau of the Afternoon Dynasty

Xu Shilin (1684~ 1741) was a native of Xujia Village in Wenden, Shandong, and a qing dynasty inspector of Jiangsu. Born in a humble background, upright in nature, diligent in government and loving the people, he was praised by the Qianlong Emperor as a model of "loyalty and filial piety".

Legend has it that he was Qianlong's teacher. Regarding Xu Shilin, there is a famous folk legend: Xu Shilin was originally a teacher to the prince in Beijing, and he disciplined the prince very severely. The prince will be beaten if he behaves disrespectfully, or is naughty and mischievous. Later, he was sent outside as an official. The old emperor died, and one of the students he taught became emperors, the Qianlong Emperor. When Qianlong became emperor, he probably wanted to surprise his teacher, so he engaged in a prank and deliberately sent Qin Cha to find his teacher Xu Shilin, pretending to be very fierce, and ordering him to quickly enter the capital. Xu Shilin was very frightened, thinking that he was too harsh on the students and the students wanted to take revenge on themselves, so they did not dare to see the emperor and committed suicide by swallowing gold. Qianlong regretted it very much when he found out. This story is widely spread in the folk, but looking at the relevant information, I feel very vain. According to reports, in the first year of Qianlong, Xu Shilin was promoted to a political envoy in Henan. Five years of autumn rise to Jiangsu Inspectorate. He fell ill in April of the sixth year, and the resignation to the mother's illness was not allowed. June's illness was very beneficial, and then it was allowed. On September 16, he left for home and died of illness in Huai'an at the age of 57. The Qianlong Emperor said: "Shilin is well-educated, loyal and filial, far away from his mother and old, not raised by his wife and children, bowing down to exhaustion, and thus causing depression." Hear the sound of the group, and rush back to the inside, in order to serve the mother. On the verge of death, without a word or a private opinion, he exhorted him to take the heart of sorrow and danger as a solution for long-term peace and long-term governance. Such a good minister, whom Fang Zi relied on, is now overflowing with death, and he who is truly sad and unable to help himself is also!" Xu Shilin died in the sixth year of Qianlong, which shows that folklore is purely false.

Xu Shilin's swallowing of gold is a legend, but Xu Shilin has a very deep relationship with Noon Tainan, which is indeed a real thing. According to legend, Xu Shilin's family was very poor when he was a child, and one year he went to Dengzhou Capital to take the exam, passing through Wutai Village in Chujia Town, staying overnight in an inn, and happened to be ill for many days. After recovering from illness, the coils had long been exhausted, and he could not repay the debt, so he had to help the shopkeeper push the mill. Yang Yuan, who happened to be in the southern part of Taitai, passed by here, and after seeing it, he asked for the reason, so he paid him back. At that time, the examination period was early, and Yang Yuan saw that he was poor, so he took him home and paid for his studies. Three years later, Xu Shilin took the exam again and became famous in one fell swoop. Later, he successively served as a political envoy in Henan, an inspector in Jiangsu, and taught the Qianlong Emperor in imperial studies. After Xu Shilin developed, he did not forget his old grace and repeatedly sent people to invite Yang Yuan to his post, but Yang Yuanjian could not resign, and all the gifts were returned. Xu Shilin had no choice but to give him a plaque of "En Tong Yi Me", the upper paragraph was titled "Tong Weng Yang Old Master Waiter", and the next paragraph was titled his own official title and name. The plaque was delivered, and Yang Yuan insisted on not accepting it. Later, Xu Shilin removed the official title of the next paragraph and changed it to "Houxue Xu Shilin's worship question", and Yang Yuan accepted it.

Author: Yang Mingzheng