In 1785 (the fiftieth year of Qianlong), the Qianlong Emperor came across an old sonata that was written 47 years ago and written by Zhang Tingyu, a ming courtier. After Qianlong finished reading the recital, he couldn't help but nod his head and sighed, "Zhang Tingyu really has foresight!" Then, Qianlong ordered people to erect a stele in Guozijian and engrave "Ting Yu has this insight, but he has not seen it" at the end of the inscription, in order to warn himself.
Zhang Tingyu was one of the most famous Han courtiers of the Qing Dynasty, he served as a courtier in the Qianlong Dynasty for 20 years, served as a scholar of the Bohol Temple, a military minister, and was the first Hanchen in the early years of Qianlong. Zhang Tingyu made great contributions to the three emperors of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong.
However, after Qianlong gained a firm foothold, he repeatedly suppressed Zhang Tingyu, and Zhang Tingyu almost died late before his death. Unexpectedly, 30 years after Zhang Tingyu's death, Qianlong read an old recital and praised Zhang Tingyu.
Zhang Tingyu (張廷玉), courtesy name Hengchen, was from the Tongcheng Zhang clan, a prominent family in Anhui, and his father was a university scholar Zhang Ying. Zhang Tingyu entered the Imperial Examination in the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi, and four years later entered the South Study, becoming a close courtier of Kangxi. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, because of Zhang Tingyu's outstanding talent, Zhang Tingyu's father Zhang Ying was Yongzheng's teacher, so he promoted Zhang Tingyu to walk in the South Study, and also served as the crown prince Taibao and Hubu Shangshu. In the early years of Yongzheng, the use of troops in the northwest and the Yongzheng reform, Zhang Tingyu was directly involved and played a very key role.
In the seventh year of Yongzheng, Yongzheng established the Military Aircraft Department, and Zhang Tingyu, Yin Xiang and Jiang Tingxi were the first batch of military ministers. Zhang Tingyu is diligent and earnest, and has a high position of authority and is not arrogant. Yongzheng had a high opinion of Zhang Tingyu, and before Yongzheng died, he left a will:
The amount of jade in the court was pure and complete, and he served sincerely, and ordered him to enjoy the Taimiao Temple every day.
Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, although there were famous Han courtiers such as Fan Wencheng, Chen Tingjing, and Li Guangdi, none of them deserved to enjoy the Taimiao Temple, and Yongzheng let Zhang Tingyu enjoy the Taimiao Temple, which was extremely rare. At the same time, it can also be seen that Yongzheng's extreme recognition of Zhang Tingyu.
The fact that Yongzheng weighs Zhang Tingyu does not mean that Qianlong is also heavy. After Yongzheng's death, Zhang Tingyu and Ortai continued to assist Qianlong, and when Qianlong first ascended the throne, he needed to rely on the experience of Zhang and E. A few years later, Qianlong saw that the political situation was stable, and began to clean up the "Zhang Dang" and "E Dang", and trained military ministers such as Ne Qin and Fu Heng. Ten years after Qianlong, Ortai died of illness, and it was reasonable to say that Zhang Tingyu should be at the top of the cabinet, but Qianlong let the young Ne relatives live before Zhang Tingyu, and it was obvious that he was suppressing Zhang Tingyu.
Zhang Tingyu could also feel Qianlong's estrangement from him, and in the thirteenth year of Qianlong, the 76-year-old Zhang Tingyu applied for Zhishi. Qianlong was not allowed to do so, on the grounds that:
Qing received great favors from the two dynasties and was ordered by the emperor to enjoy the Taimiao Temple in the future. Is there any reason to return from the Ancestors to the field and end up old?
Qianlong means that you, an old courtier of the two dynasties, who were promised by the former emperor to enjoy the Taimiao Temple, can tell the old man to return to his hometown, and he must bow down to the imperial court.
Zhang Tingyu had no choice but to remain in the capital. The next year, Zhang Tingyu revived the old matter and applied for retirement on the grounds that he was ill. Although Qianlong was not happy, he still promised Zhang Tingyu and allowed him to return to his hometown. Unexpectedly, Zhang Tingyu was old and dazed and said a wrong word. Draft History of the Qing Dynasty:
Meng Shizong's will was worthy of the Taimiao Temple... I am afraid that I will not get a more honorable ceremony after my death. No crown prostrations, begging for a word as a coupon.
Zhang Tingyu's meaning is: The former emperor (Yongzheng) once promised me to enjoy the Taimiao Temple, I have returned to my hometown like this, I don't know if this word counts, I hope the emperor (Qianlong) will give me a promise.
Zhang Tingyu cherished his reputation and hoped that he could enjoy the Taimiao Temple, but questioning Qianlong like this really made Qianlong feel very unhappy.
The next day, Zhang Tingyu sent his son to the palace to thank him, and Qianlong took advantage of the situation to get angry, saying that Zhang Tingyu was arrogant and arrogant, and even did not come to Xie En personally and cut off Zhang Tingyu's title. The following year, Zhang Tingyu returned to his hometown, and was convicted of the crime for the reason of his relative Zhu Xiao, and Zhang Tingyu was confiscated all the imperial gifts. Twenty years after Qianlong, Zhang Tingyu died depressed. Fortunately, Qianlong fulfilled his promise for Yongzheng and gave Zhang Tingyu the treatment of a taimiao temple.
Zhang Tingyu fell out of favor in his later years, on the one hand, Qianlong wanted to suppress the old ministers and cultivate new forces; on the other hand, Zhang Tingyu was old and dim-witted, and indeed did some things that made Qianlong very unhappy. Therefore, until Zhang Tingyu's death, Qianlong still did not treat Zhang Tingyu very well. However, in the fifty years of Qianlong, Qianlong suddenly recognized Zhang Tingyu because of an old book. The "Qing History Manuscript Zhang Tingyu Biography" records:
Fifty years later, when he saw Tingyu again, he said the same as above, and ordered the stele to follow, and inscribed it afterwards, saying, "Tingyu has this insight, but he has not seen it... In the final Qing Dynasty, the Han chancellor was worthy of the Taimiao Temple, but Tingyu was alone.
It turned out that as early as the third year of Qianlong, Qianlong had planned to emulate the ancient "three old and five more" rituals. The so-called "three elders and five more" refers to the fact that the imperial court selects foreign ministers with high moral standing and honor to be raised in the palace with high standards, showing the filial piety of the emperor. At that time, Zhang Tingyu wrote a recital refuting Qianlong's point of view, believing that this was just an ancient ritual circulating in ancient times, and no one was eligible to enjoy this treatment, so it was not recommended to be implemented. It was just that Qianlong did not see this recital at that time.
Decades later, Qianlong suddenly understood and wrote a "Three Old Five More Sayings", which also refuted the absurdity of this ancient ritual, and also erected a stone stele for his own statement in the Guozijian. However, in the fifty years of Qianlong, Qianlong stumbled upon Zhang Tingyu's previous folds, and on the folds, Zhang Tingyu's views were not only highly consistent with Qianlong, but also decades earlier than Qianlong.
Qianlong couldn't help but feel admiration, praising Zhang Tingyu for "having this insight, but not seeing it." Not only that, Qianlong also engraved this passage of his own evaluation of Zhang Tingyu on the stone stele of the Guozijian to warn himself: As an emperor, do not think that you are very clever, and some old ministers are more intelligent than themselves.
Some people were worried that Qianlong would remove Zhang Tingyu's name from the Taimiao Temple, but Qianlong did not do so in the end, because he still admired Zhang Tingyu's talent and foresight in his heart. In the Qing Dynasty, Han Chen was worthy of the Taimiao Temple, and only Zhang Hengchen was alone.