Emperor Qianlong: the beginning of his glory

Chapter 13 Yang Taibao was ordered to be the lord of the East Palace, Fu Liuye, a celebrity of the Fengya Society (1)
It was late March when Yang Mingshi arrived in Beijing.As soon as he entered Fangshan County, he refused to take an eight-person sedan chair, and only asked the post station to prepare a bamboo-silk sedan chair for four people, three walking mules, one for carrying luggage, and two for Feng'er and Xiaoluzi to ride. .After a day of leisurely walking, I stayed at Luheyi the next night and rested randomly for the night.On the second day, the rooster crowed twice and rushed into the inner city, and handed out a sign at Xihuamen to see you.Not long after, Gao Wuyong trotted out all the way, panting, "Which one is Yang Mingshi? The emperor calls in!"

When Yang Ming came to the courtyard of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he saw Emperor Qianlong waiting for him at the gate of the hall.Yang Mingshi trembled all over, walked forward a few steps and knelt three times and kowtowed nine times:
"Chen——Yang Mingshi respectfully kowtows to the emperor Jin'an, long live the emperor, long live the emperor!"

Seeing him salute, Qianlong walked down the steps slowly, took Yang's name with his own hands, and said, "It's been a hard journey. But your complexion is good. Why do you see the dark circles around your eyes, and you haven't slept well?" Then he entered the hall and ordered: "Here Yang Mingshi serves tea, please sit down!" Yang Mingshi sat down with his body tilted, and said: "The body of a dog and a horse is so cherished by the Holy Majesty! The closer I get to the capital these days, the more insomnia I have. The shadow of the late emperor is always there. The vision flickered... The late emperor was not sixty years old, so he left too early after all. You made me feel uneasy, the late emperor still had regrets for me until his death..." As he spoke, his voice became hoarse and choked.Qianlong was quite sentimental in his heart, and said: "The Zi Palace of the late emperor is in the Lama Temple, and I will give you an order to pay homage to the spirit tomorrow. If you have any grievances, you can mourn before the spirit."

"Thunder, rain, and dew are all the grace of the emperor. How dare I feel wronged and resentful?" Yang Mingshi said with a trembling voice, "I just lamented my fate and couldn't confess to the former emperor." Qianlong couldn't help feeling sad when he saw his grief, and said after a long time: "It's impossible. In fact, the late emperor didn't believe what Zhu Gang and Huang Bing said. Several times, he put down his pen as soon as he got your name. He wandered around the room and murmured: 'How could this person This kind of thing? Look again, wait a little longer...'" Before he finished speaking, Yang Mingshi couldn't hold back anymore, covered his face and wept, tears poured out from between his fingers, just because he couldn't be rude before him, couldn't He let out his voice, but his whole body twitched... After a long while, he wiped away his tears and said: "I have lost my dignity... In fact, the late emperor has said this, and I am very content..." Tears welled up again, and he wiped it away again.

Qianlong calmed down when he waited for Yang Ming, and said: "I know your character and knowledge very well. I don't think that the late emperor did something wrong. It was just like that at that time. Some cruel officials below misunderstood the late emperor's intentions and blindly judged the late emperor's intentions. That's why I issued an imperial edict 'Government is lenient'. I think you must have read it." "The minister has already read it in Kunming." Yang Mingshi regained his calm and said, "The newspaper said that Sun Jiagan Sun Guoxi and Sun Guoxi were all released, and the emperor’s holy mirror illuminated them, and he handled them extremely well! As far as the minister himself is concerned, he has reflected a lot these days. For example, the first emperor’s implementation of sharing the land into the mu, the government and the gentry paying the grain together, and checking the deficit are all effective. The ministers are ignorant, and they have always been biased against the decree that the scholars and the people pay grain together, thinking that the late emperor despised the scholars. This is a crime. The late emperor’s punishment is not too much." Qianlong listened with a smile, and said: "It seems that Yang Songgong is still serious about the 'Yang Lianyin' Prejudice?"

"Don't dare to say prejudice." Yang Mingshi leaned forward and replied, "Returning the fire money to the public and distributing it to officials to support honest money really blocks the way for officials to blatantly embezzle taxes. But there are also three disadvantages, please pay attention to the emperor."

"Well?"

Yang Mingshi looked up at Qianlong, and said: "Since the money spent is returned to the public, the officials have nothing to gain, and there is no point in expropriating fire waste, which offends people, and thus breeds the desire to slack off in official duties."

"Ah."

"Officials have clean and corrupt officials, and those who are lacking are rich and poor," Yang Mingshi said again. , the suffering is hidden. After taking the money to support the honesty, these corrupt officials may not be greedy."

"Ah."

"What's more worrying is that each province owns the fire consumption silver. Who among the officials is willing to save money for the court? The organization must be re-established, and there will be too many people - anyway, it will be extracted from the fire consumption silver. Now a vassal office in Jiangnan Province has to feed Three or four hundred scribes, masters, purchasers... There are more and more names. The government affairs are becoming more and more complicated. This is the reason. Your Majesty, how many civil servants in the vassal government offices of the Kangxi Dynasty have more than 100 people? If we go on, the court will not benefit much, but the common people will have more officials who are not officials!"

Qianlong listened carefully and nodded from time to time, but he didn't pay much attention to these opinions.When he called Yang Mingshi to Beijing, he didn't want him to handle government affairs, he wanted to choose a teacher for his sons, character and knowledge were the most important things, and political opinions came second.He pondered and said: "Your statement has merits, you can write it down, and I will order you to go to the study for a meeting. But if there is a benefit, there will be a disadvantage. Don't be paranoid, thinking that there is no need to make a profit when there is a disadvantage. Balance If you do well, you are called 'capable'. Hmm... Although you are the minister of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College to offer sacrifices to wine, you don't actually need to be on official business. Right now, you are going to open Enke, and you will preside over the Shuntian Mansion Tribute Examination, so that I can select some real talents for me Practical. After Enke's mission, he went to Yuqing Palace to give lectures. I want to choose an auspicious day to ask my brothers to pay homage to teachers." Just as he was talking, Gao Wuyong came in and said: "Sun Jiagan, Sun Guoxi, and Wang Shijun handed over the sign. Yesterday the emperor ordered , See you whenever you arrive, the servant has already led them outside the Chuihua Gate."

"I'm resigning." Yang Mingshi stood up and gave a bow, and said, "Since I'm a poor student, I'll go to the Ministry of Rites tomorrow." Qianlong also stood up and said, "Don't worry about it. Naturally, there is a purpose. Well, there is one more thing, Sun Jiagan will be appointed as the vice-capital censor and deputy governor of Zhili. Zouzhen knows." Yang Mingshi agreed, and then asked: "Is Li Wei going to be vacant?" Qianlong turned to look at Yang Mingshi, and said, "Although Li Wei doesn't study, he is very smart by nature. He is good at fighting robbers. Li Wei is not Greedy ink. You are a gentleman with sincerity, a great Confucianist of Confucianism, don't worry about the past anymore. Besides, Li Wei is sick, and seeing it getting worse day by day, I ordered him to be named Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and I will do some miscellaneous errands... " Qianlong walked and talked, and when he sent Yang Ming to the eaves outside the hall, he said: "Call Sun Jiagan and Sun Guoxi to come in."

Yang Mingshi walked south along Yongxiang, just after he left Tianjie Street outside Qianqingmen, he saw Zhang Tingyu escorting an official out from the upper study room, but upon closer inspection he recognized him as the current Manchu servant of the Ministry of War and commander of the infantry.Yang Mingshi was Zhang Tingyu's disciple, he hurriedly stopped, and said with a long bow, "Teacher is well!"

"It's famous time!" Zhang Tingyu smiled and said, "Have you met the master? Well, I'm going to enter the Qing Palace to be the teacher of the king! Come, let me introduce you, this is—" Before he finished speaking, Seeing that both of them were smiling, he asked, "Do you know each other?"

E Shan is a very stable person. Changhu has a half-foot-long beard on his face. His dignified features look well-proportioned. There seems to be a smile on the corner of his mouth from time to time. Hearing Zhang Tingyu's question, he nodded and said, "We met 15 years ago. Zhang Xiang is so proud! At that time, I was still working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Later, I went to the Ministry of Officials to examine meritorious service, and Mingshi served as the governor of Guizhou. It was my suggestion!" Yang Mingshi stood aside with a smile and said nothing: In fact, in the first year of Yongzheng, he It was E Shan who was the deputy chief examiner and the chief examiner of the Shuntian Mansion Tribute Examination.Not only Zhang Tingyu's cousin Zhang Tinglu was cut in half, the case involved a lot, even Qianlong's brother Hongshi was involved in the party struggle because of this, and was ordered to die by Yongzheng.All the grievances and grievances in the past have something to do with Zhang Tingyu.E Shan is not stupid, so he naturally avoided this matter.He said: "Zhongtang has nothing else to do, so I will leave."

"According to what I said just now." Zhang Tingyu urged again: "Although Li Wei follows the errands, the infantry commanding the yamen should not take it lightly. There is a leak in the top, and no one can afford it." E Shan said: "The humble official knows, You must be very attentive." After saying that, he no longer greeted Yang Mingshi, and nodded with a smile.Then Zhang Tingyu turned his face and smiled and said to Yang Mingshi: "Talk in the room." The two of them followed into the military aircraft department.

There are only three rooms in the Military Aircraft Department, which is located on the west side of the south entrance of Yongxiang. During the Xi Dynasty, it was the place where the guards rested; when Yongzheng used troops in the western borders, and the military side was like snow, the Military Aircraft Department was built here to deal with military affairs. .The Minister of Military Aircraft is concurrently served by the original Minister of Walking in the Study Room.The emperor often summoned people in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, which was closer and more convenient than the study room, so the minister of the study room who was also the minister of military affairs also handled government affairs here.Over time, the military plane department here gradually became the core of the machine hub, and the upper study room was useless.Yang Mingshi came in with Zhang Tingyu, and saw a large kang on the east side, with large cabinets inlaid with copper leaves all around the basement, on the table on the kang, and piled high on the top of the cabinet were all papers, each marked with yellow labels, one by one. The house is full of ink fragrance when entering the door, without any luxury, only the golden chime clock near the door is the only precious utensil.

"The prime minister is nothing more than that, isn't it?" Zhang Tingyu seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion!While inviting Yang Mingshi to sit down, he said, "It's been almost 46 years since I entered the study in the 30th year of Kangxi." Yang Mingshi leaned back on the chair and said, "The teacher is loyal to the king and cautious in everything. The glory is from the beginning to the end!" Zhang Tingyu sighed: "The whole beginning is fairly pertinent, and the whole end has to be looked back. I have lived in three dynasties, and I have seen a generation of powers such as Mingzhu, Suo'etu, and Gao Shiqi. I used to say, 'I saw him building a tall building, seeing him singing and dancing, seeing his building collapse'. Now that I am famous, I blame Heng Duo, the meritorious deeds have been accomplished, and the evening is getting worse. I really want to retreat bravely!"

Yang Mingshi stared at Zhang Tingyu intently, he didn't understand a bit, so he specially called him in, just to say these words?After thinking about it, he said: "Since the teacher has considered it, it doesn't matter much."

"I didn't ask you to come here to explain these truths." Zhang Tingyu muttered with his beard in a very earnest tone. "The high officials have been in office for too long, and some of them are hard to get rid of. The Zhang family has more than 70 officials in the dynasty. They range from the first and second ranks to the eighth and ninth ranks. With so many people, it is inevitable that good and bad will be mixed. If something happens to you, it can easily be brought to me——I mean, about Ting Lu’s matter, not only do I not hold any grudges, but I’m also grateful to you—”

"Middle Hall—"

(End of this chapter)