In the eleven years since he ascended the throne, among the close relatives and ministers above the imperial court, you have not been separated for a day. You and you are righteous and loyal, and you are close friends. Now that there are more than a month apart, I can't help but miss it every time. - The Yongzheng Emperor
In the eleventh year of Yongzheng, Zhang Tingyu, who was then the "Inspector of the Bohol Temple University, the Household Department" and the "Foreman Officiate Military Aircraft Minister", returned to his hometown. On the occasion of his departure, the Yongzheng Emperor personally gave Ruyi, which means "everything is as expected", and presented 2 copies of the "Integration of Ancient and Modern Books" (only 64 copies were printed at that time). Then, the Yongzheng Emperor personally gave Zhang Tingyu's order to the provinces along the way back to his hometown - "send troops to escort and greet each other with culture and martial arts".
Only a month after Zhang Tingyu returned to his hometown, the Yongzheng Emperor could not hold back his thoughts, and wrote down the above emotional words with a pen and sent them to Zhang Tingyu.
It is often said that Li Wei, Tian Wenjing, and Ortai were the most sacred and favored, and were called the "three favorite ministers of the Yongzheng Emperor"; in fact, Zhang Tingyu, who was evaluated by the Yongzheng Emperor as the "First Minister of Xuanli", entrusted by Yongzheng with the "heavy responsibility of taking care of his life" on his deathbed, and even explicitly granted the privilege of "enjoying the Taimiao Temple", was the real Yongzheng Emperor's first favorite.
However, like Li Wei, Tian Wenjing, and Ertai, Zhang Tingyu, who entered the Qianlong Dynasty, was quickly suppressed by the Qianlong Emperor. From the reprimand of the order, to the dismissal of the knighthood, and even the deprivation of the Yongzheng Emperor's right to "enjoy the Taimiao Temple", Zhang Tingyu, a "social hero" who was deeply trusted and relied upon by the Yongzheng Emperor, was stripped clean by the Qianlong Emperor in just over a year.
Twenty years after Qianlong, the 84-year-old Zhang Tingyu died of illness in his hometown in Anhui, and the Qianlong Emperor ordered that "still obey the emperor's will and make him worthy of the Taimiao Temple", which finally did not let Zhang Tingyu completely fall into a late life.
However, despite this, just as the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" commented on Zhang Tingyu, "In the final Qing Dynasty, the Han ministers deserved to enjoy the Taimiao Temple, and only Tingyu was alone", Zhang Tingyu's transcendent status in the history of the Qing Dynasty was still unsurpassed.
Then, what happened to such a generation of famous ministers who had experienced the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong?
Zhang Tingyu had four sons in his lifetime, namely the eldest son Zhang Ruohuan, the second son Zhang Ruoyi, the third son Zhang Ruocheng and the fourth son Zhang Ruohuan.
In the eighth year of Yongzheng, the 27-year-old Zhang Ruohuan successfully passed the "temple examination" and was given the title of "Jinshi Origin", according to the custom, Zhang Ruohuan should be awarded the "Hanlin Yuan Shu Jishi", starting from a virtual official. At this time, Zhang Tingyu had already been appointed to the rank of "First Assistant of the Cabinet" and "Minister of military aircraft for the foreman", and was the first confidant of the Yongzheng Emperor, and due to Zhang Tingyu's influence, the Yongzheng Emperor granted Zhang Ruoshu the title of "Chief of the Military Department".
"Chief of the Military Department", the rank is zhengliupin, and the administrative level is equivalent to the deputy department level. Note that according to the Qing Dynasty's imperial examination system, even the "Yuanyuan and The First" could only be "compiled by the Hanlin Academy" from Liupin, which shows the Yongzheng Emperor's kindness to Zhang Ruohuan.
Subsequently, Zhang Ruohuan successively served as "Yuanwailang" (deputy director), "Yushi" (supervisory commissioner), "Punishment Department Waiter" (Vice Minister of Justice and Vice Minister of Public Security), and finally to "Du cha yuan zuo du yushi".
Zuo Du Yushi, the rank of the character from a pin, the administrative level is reduced to the zhengguo level, basically equivalent to the current secretary of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission.
In the eleventh year of Yongzheng, the Yongzheng Emperor found a "quite popular style of the ancient chancellor" in many "palace examination" examination papers, and prepared to hand-pick it as the "third place in the first rank", that is, "Tanhua". When I opened the seal, I saw that it was Zhang Ruoyi, the second son of Zhang Tingyu, a scholar of the dynasty.
However, after Zhang Tingyu learned of this news, instead of being happy, he immediately rushed to the palace and pleaded with the Yongzheng Emperor to change Zhang Ruoyi's examination ranking from "the third place in the first division" to "the first place in the second class". Unable to resist Zhang Tingyu's insistence, the Yongzheng Emperor had to set Zhang Ruoyi's examination ranking as "the first place in the second class".
Although Zhang Ruoyi's rank was deliberately lowered, the Yongzheng Emperor still directly awarded him the "Hanlin Academy Editing" that could only be awarded by "Bangyan" and "Tanhua", with seven grades of merit and administrative level of the right department.
According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", Zhang Ruoyi was eventually promoted to the rank of "Libu Shangshu" in the Qianlong Dynasty, and his rank was Congyi Pin (從一品), which was basically equivalent to that of a vice premier who was also the minister of education, and his administrative rank was reduced to the level of Zhengguo.
In the ten years of Qianlong, Ertai, who had been secretly competing with Zhang Tingyu, died of illness, and although Ne Qin quickly replaced Ortai's position, Zhang Tingyu, who was more prestigious, more qualified, and more powerful, was undoubtedly the real "leader of the imperial court".
In the same year, Zhang Ruocheng, the third son of Zhang Tingyu, participated in the "Palace Examination" that year and successfully obtained the "Jinshi Origin". Subsequently, Zhang Ruocheng followed the regular promotion process of "Jinshi", successively served as "Shu Jishi" and "Editor", and soon entered the "South Study" and became a member of the secretarial class of the Qianlong Emperor.
In history, Zhang Ruocheng was "full of poetry and books, calligraphy and painting were all workers", and as soon as he entered the army, he was regarded by the Qianlong Emperor as a reserve cadre for key training. In the eleventh year of Qianlong, Zhang Ruocheng's second brother Zhang Ruoyi was infected with wind and cold and died young, which made Zhang Ruocheng suffer a lot, and since then he has been fascinated by calligraphy and painting, and it is difficult to mention his interest in career promotion.
Zhang Ruocheng finally served as a "cabinet bachelor" and received the title of "ceremonial attendant", and his rank was Zheng Erpin (正二品), which was basically equivalent to a vice minister who also served as a state councilor, and his administrative level was at the vice state level.
Unlike his three older brothers, Zhang Ruocheng did not follow the traditional way of the Zhang family, "KeJia", but spent money to buy an official position of "chief of the Punishment Department". However, Zhang Ruozhuo's career was quite rich, and he almost successively served as a rank official at all levels of the Qing Dynasty.
According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", we can roughly summarize Zhang Ruowei's previous official positions:
Yu Jingzhong was promoted to "Langzhong of the Punishment Department" (正五品, equivalent to the director of the department, the rank of the main hall was reduced); then he was sent to Yunnan and served as the "prefect" (from sipin, equivalent to the mayor, the level of the main hall); and then, he was promoted to "Sichuan Jianchang Dao" (正四品, equivalent to the full-time secretary of the prefectural party committee, the level of the main hall was added).
Because of his outstanding performance in the "Daoist" office, Zhang Ruowei was again transferred to the imperial court, successively serving as "Shaoqing of the Taibu Temple" (正四品, the second in command of the institution in charge of the carriages and horses of the palace), "Tongzheng Envoy" (正三品, equivalent to the director of the Office of Letters and Petitions, deputy ministerial level), "Cabinet Bachelor" (congerer erpin, equivalent to state councilor, main ministerial level), "Gongbu Shilang" (正二品, equivalent to the deputy minister who is also a state councilor, vice minister).
In the fifth year of Jiaqing, Zhang Ruohuan ushered in the peak of his career, serving as the "Bingbu Shangshu", and his rank was promoted to congyipin, which was basically equivalent to the vice premier who concurrently served as the minister of national defense, and the administrative level was reduced to the level of Zhengguo.
Developed in the Kangxi Dynasty, rose in the Yongzheng Dynasty, fell in the Qianlong Dynasty, Zhang Tingyu, who floated and sank for half a century, although he eventually fell late, but in the end continued the glory of the Tongcheng Zhang family's "family top wear, full of doors Zhu Zi". As the only Han courtier in the Qing Dynasty who was worthy of the Temple, Zhang Tingyu brought the family to the peak; after Zhang Tingyu, although no one could reach such a height, his tutoring and family style were undoubtedly successful.
Under Zhang Ying, the three brothers of Zhang Tingyu were all awarded the honorary title of "Jinshi"; under Zhang Tingyu, the four brothers of Zhang Ruoyi had three more "Jinshi". Such educational achievements are indeed worthy of admiration and learning from future generations.
References: "Qing History Manuscripts, Liechuan Seventy-Five", "Qing Shilu Gaozong Shilu", "Tongcheng Who's Who"