The purpose of the Qing Dynasty's ancient literary prison was to suppress the Han people's sense of national independence and resistance, establish the authority of the Qing Dynasty's rule, and strengthen the central authoritarian centralization.
Therefore, there are not a few literati in history who have lost their lives because of "writing". Obviously, he "did something unintentionally", but he was "deliberately interpreted" by people, which eventually led to a relationship with the government and government. The Qing Dynasty's "Examination Question Case of the Zha Si Ting Branch Field" has been hotly discussed by people. Then, how can a cultural person who has learned five cars and has been immersed in the government of the DPRK for many years be planted on the words?
Most people believe that there are two words in his test questions: "Wei" and "Zhi", which come from the "Book of Poetry, Shang Song, Xuan Bird" in "Bang Qi Qian Li, Wei Min Stopped." ", is the word "Yong" and "Zheng" after the first word. However, this is just speculation, he has never had this exam question, in fact, things are still bad on "people".
This matter came too suddenly, and as a result, it was very serious, the parties were slaughtered, even relatives, and even the entire Zhejiang region of the candidates were "banned".
There is also a saying, from the "Qing Barnyard Banknotes", which says: The calligraphy of Cha Siting was quite famous at that time, and ordinary people could not get it. The glass manufacturer bought his waiter, did not see that he could steal some "useless" ink treasures, and then bought them at a high price. After half a year, there was no movement, and it was not easy to wait for one day, and the waiter stole a piece of the work hidden by the owner in the roof beam, and then sold it to the merchant.
The merchant thought it was a treasure, so he offered it to the Manchus, and as a result, it led to the subsequent events. However, this claim has not been verified.
So, what purpose did the Yongzheng Emperor want to achieve by taking advantage of this incident?
Cha Siting, from the class, started from the Hanlin Academy Shu JiShi teaching and editing, to the Erpin Minister, the Cabinet Bachelor and the Left Attendant of the Ceremonial Department, and then to the Jiangxi Zheng Chief Examiner. It can be said that his accident is inseparable from the official Shangshu Longkodo and the zuo capital Yushi Caixuan.
In ancient times, all literate literati were more blind, and the same was true of Cha Siting, who would occasionally express his own views and make some comments on current politics. Later generations have made some analysis of Zha Siting's works, which can be seen that he was somewhat "dissatisfied" at that time. In "Chinese New Year's Eve Sentiments", it is said that "I can eat the Baishi family and live in the house, and I am interpreted as a golden official to be honest", which is full of irony. In the analysis of "Dai Huang Zi Shou Mou", one of the sentences, "Non-pepper room is also the inner waiter", seems to have buried the root cause of his misfortune.
It is estimated that Cha Siting is a highly learned person who likes to show off his words and comment on state affairs, and his temperament is relatively arrogant, and he has never been polite between words, and even his diary will be revealed. In fact, many things happen by accident. Shortly before the incident, the Yongzheng Emperor was engaged in a "literal prison" - the Qian Mingshi case.
Qian Mingshi had a good friendship with Nian Tangyao Township in the same year, and in the second year of Yongzheng, Nian Tangyao quelled the Qinghai rebellion, and Qian Mingshi gave eight poems to him, including sentences such as "Dividing the Shaanxi Banner Zhou Zhaobo, General Han from the Heavenly Drum Horn", "Zhong Ding Ming Leshan River Oath, Fanzang Yi Magazine Second Monument". This Yongzheng Emperor's heart was also quite deep, and the surface was lenient for the Emperor Huai's grace, and behind it was actually a holy will.
This means: This money is famous, the sin is unforgivable, let the students of the whole world know, take it as a warning. The emperor has said this, who dares not to carry it out?
Cha Siting wrote a poem, an official propositional essay, which could only be written according to what the emperor wanted to hear. However, where did he know that what he wrote, "From now on, he will return to his hometown and hide his name", but after five months, it was fulfilled on his body, and the fate was even worse. However, knowing Yongzheng's style, can't Zha Siting avoid it?
In fact, the bane has long been laid. The examination of the Cha Si Ting begins with the "examination questions". After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, people from ordinary origins wanted to enter the political arena, and scientific examination was the only channel. However, this one-wood bridge is very difficult to walk, in the Qing Dynasty, the imperial examination is even more complicated, the first show talent, this pass has three links, county test, government test and hospital test.
Pass the Xiucai exam, in order to participate in the formal exam, the first level is the township exam, the exam time will generally be set in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, so there is an "autumn test" saying. The location is the capital and the provincial cities, and the passing is to lift people, and you can conduct the meeting test and the temple test. Imagine how fierce the competition for this expedition is, because there is no age limit, and young and old can participate.
As for the examination questions, it is the "independent proposition" of the main examination, but it cannot be played at will, and the source must be the sentence of the Four Books and Five Classics.
Before the incident, in the first year of Yongzheng, Cha Siting was recommended by Long Keduo, conferred the title of Cabinet Scholar, and was also recommended by Cai Jue, and also held the title of Attendant of the Ceremonial Department. After that, I did several times as an examiner, the Shanxi Township Examination, he was the main examiner, and came up with three questions, namely "Mo Self-Knowledge Of Not Suffering from People", "Pleasant people", and "Children listen to Zheng", which were decent, and no one found anything wrong.
Three years later, Zha Siting was again appointed as the chief examiner of the Jiangxi Township Examination.
What he did not expect was that this time it was actually the "terminator" of his life. As usual, he also drew up several questions, the first of which came from the Analects: "Gentlemen do not raise people by words, and do not use people to waste words." The other three questions are from the sentences of Mencius, the I Ching and the Book of Poetry, and everything is in accordance with the rules and there is nothing wrong with it.
In the whole process of the township examination, the inspection of each link was very strict, and there were no "forks" in the examination, and everything ended smoothly as usual. However, these seemed to be a little dawn before the darkness, and the Yongzheng Emperor spoke: "I have received a letter of denunciation." Therefore, he began to thoroughly investigate the court.
Behind the seemingly sudden, in fact, is the result of a long-simmering.
Yongzheng's approach is to "confuse" the three examination questions.
Yongzheng made a big fuss about this "zheng" word, and the question from the I Ching was "正", while the question from the Book of Poetry had "stop". Therefore, the emperor did not like it very much: "The examination question is preceded by 'positive', followed by 'stop', and the word 'positive' has the image of a stop." According to this theory, this exam question is a big taboo.
Therefore, the Yongzheng Emperor naturally began to investigate thoroughly, as long as it was a text, whether it was a test question or his diary, as long as it was "not inferior", it had to be listed one by one. This investigation actually found a lot, and Yongzheng was furious and dared to slander the government behind his back. The crime of "great rebellion and curse of resentment" was implemented, and even if Cha Si Ting died of illness in prison, he was still "killed and revealed".
In the end, Cha Siting ended up with a miserable end, as for the family property, all confiscated, and his son was unlucky, all arrested and killed. Although Cha Si Ting's brothers and nephews were released from the light hair, they were also exiled for three thousand miles, and only Zha Shenxing's father and son were acquitted and released. The rest of the clan were either exiled or sold to others as slaves.
This case began with the examination questions, so the folk have the saying of "maintenance" and "stop", he wrote a "record of maintenance", and everyone inevitably related the two.
If you only look at the case itself, it seems that Zha Siting is a bit unlucky, but in connection with the situation at that time, it can be seen that this matter is not so simple. A grand member of the imperial court was dealt with in this way, and the real reason behind this was probably only known to the Yongzheng Emperor himself.
Many seemingly simple things have different endings behind them.
From the beginning of Yongzheng's succession to the throne, a series of plots began. Starting with Nian Qianyao, borrowing Cai Jun,taking the Wang Jingqi case as an opportunity, in the end, Nian Qianyao was removed, and then, the muzzle of the gun was aimed at Cai Jun. Long Keduo and Cai Jue were the recommenders of the Zha Si Ting, and according to the emperor's nature, they were a gang, so they had to be uprooted to avoid future troubles.
In addition, Yongzheng will also pay close attention to this courtier, as long as there is a wind and grass, Yongzheng will take measures immediately. So, if Cha Si Ting can usually restrain a little, can he avoid this disaster? This is not necessarily the case, and anyone who is included in the emperor's blacklist will one day become the meat on his board.
Not long after this case, Roncodo was convicted of secretly hiding the jade, imprisoned forever, and died the following year.
As the saying goes, a companion is like a companion tiger, and there is a disaster of killing at any time. The literati of that era, their fate, was decided by the emperor. And the emperor is often moody, even if he is talented, as long as the imperial court is turbulent, maybe he will become the next "victim", which is also a tragedy of the times.
Therefore, being careful in words and deeds is the life-saving stone of that era.
Resources:
[Records of Emperor Shizong of the Qing Dynasty, Qing Barnyard Banknotes, Hanyu Da Dictionary]