Emperor Qianlong: the beginning of his glory

Chapter 79 Emperor Qianlong scattered "rule grass" Gao Dayong skillfully presented "yellow rice meal" (1)
Sun Jiagan, Shi Yizhi and E Shan were all deep-minded people, and the three of them respectfully received the holy banquet in the Xipei Hall without saying a word.The eunuchs were very attentive, and when they heard a cough, they would serve a bowl and hand a towel;They were also deeply disturbed by this. They drank three cups together to celebrate the holy birthday, took a few mouthfuls of their favorite dishes, and then exited the West Side Hall.Shi Yizhi and E Shan still bowed three times to the main hall in the courtyard, and then withdrew.Sun Jiagan followed Gao Dayong back to the East Nuan Pavilion in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

"Have you used the banquet yet?" Qianlong held a memorial with Zhu Zhu written on it with one hand, and pointed to the wooden pole beside him with the other, without raising his head, he said, "Mr. Xi is free, sit over there. There are some Tibetans in Dajinchuan." The people are restless. This is Zhang Guangsi's book. Zhang Guangsi has been bored for a while, and now I need to comfort you—I will talk to you after the approval." Sun Jiagan had to sit down with a slanted body.Sun Jiagan has been here countless times, and he always speaks out of politeness and kowtows to say goodbye when things are done.At this time, there is nothing to examine carefully, looking west from the East Nuan Pavilion, the bright yellow and heavy curtains cover the scattered Western bookshelves, and the black and blue square bricks on the floor are shining.To the north of Xinuang Pavilion, there seems to be a corridor and aisle, and there are palace maids standing in front of many doors.Occasionally, deacons and court ladies come and go, all wearing flat soft shoes, and their steps are light.The Xumi seat in the main hall was empty, and there were eight eunuchs standing beside it, all of them holding whisks in their hands and not looking sideways.Beside the partition screen of the Nuan Pavilion, five personal servants including Gao Dayong, Bu Ren, and Bu Yi stood bowed.Seeing this kind of grandeur, Sun Jiagan only felt that the so-called jade hall and golden horse haunted by scholars in ten years of poverty, and the eight living houses were all turned into dung. When I was busy looking at it, I saw that Qianlong had finished writing the imperial approval.

Gao Dayong had been watching for a long time, and when he saw Qianlong co-writing, he hurriedly stepped forward to apologize and said with a smile: "These things are handled by the slave, master, you rest." Qianlong said: "The memorial documents on this case are usually sorted out by myself. You tidy up according to the order, and if you don't follow the order, you can't move a piece of paper." He looked at Sun Jiagan with a smile on his face: "From the Han and Tang Dynasties to the Ming Dynasty, how many foolish emperors have suffered from these lowly eunuchs The holy ancestor was born with virtue, and the eunuchs dare not be a little presumptuous; the emperor Shizong is strict, and the villains dare not violate it; I am the master of the business, if I don’t guard against it, I will ask them to coax it away sooner or later. Therefore There must be rules, and eunuchs who talk about politics and those who interfere in politics will not be pardoned! The memorials I have read, no matter whether they are important or not, whoever dares to read or pass them on privately will not be pardoned—Gao Dayong, listen up! "

"Yes yes yes!" Gao Dayong hurriedly said, "Eunuchs including me are scumbags! Turning around, the slaves will pass on the master's will to the whole palace."

Qianlong gathered up the fifty yarrow roots and held them in his hands, and said to Gao Dayong: "You come with me." Then he tricked himself off the kang and walked towards the main hall, Sun Jiagan didn't know what the emperor was going to do.Qianlong had already walked to the partition screen of Xinuang Pavilion, and threw fifty yarrow sticks on the ground as soon as he let go.He pointed to the grass sticks scattered on the ground and said: "This place needs to be cleaned every day, but after cleaning, the straw sticks must be arranged as it is now. The system I established is called 'rule grass'. One day in the Qing Dynasty Here, this grass has been like this for thousands of years!" After finishing speaking, he ignored Gao Dayong who was stunned there, turned around and took a sip of milk, and said to Sun Jiagan, "How should I deal with it?"

"Your Majesty," Sun Jiagan leaned forward and said, "I would like to see you today, and I am not here to defend that fake memorial. But please be strict with the imperial confinement and stay away from the inner prison. This is the first thing I will report. Your Majesty has already done this, and my minister's suggestion is beyond the sanctity of the holy plan. I really admire you!" Qianlong pointed to the divination ceremony, ordered Sun Jiagan to be given tea, and said, "It seems that you have more to say than this one. " "Yes," Sun Jiagan said solemnly, "What I want to say is the emperor's heart!"

Qianlong's smile froze on his face, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. He slowly put the tits on the table, and said in a leisurely manner, "I would like to hear more about it!"

"The emperor's benevolent government, everyone in the world, regardless of the old man Huang Tong, knows that this superior minister has nothing to say," Sun Jiagan looked at Qianlong quietly.Only at this moment, did Qianlong see the iron bones of this old courtier who confronted Chen directly.He changed his appearance, and listened intently to Sun Jiagan, "The emperor's heart is benevolent, filial, respectful, forgiving and fine, and he was originally impeccable. But ordering chaos is like yin and yang. Yin and yang are born in the cathode, and yin begins in the anode. Things should be at their peak." At that time, there must be disasters and chaos lurking, its mechanism is hidden in the subtlest, people can't realize it, and when it manifests, it is already accumulated and cannot be returned, don't you think?"

Qianlong was originally afraid that this ruthless veteran would expose his faults in person and tell about Tang'er and other things.Hearing what he said, he was immediately taken aback, leaned over and said, "Xi Gong, go ahead and speak boldly!"

"I don't want to talk about facts. That would only blind my eyes and not see Mount Tai." Sun Jiagan was encouraged, his face flushed, and he said eloquently, "The Lord has a high prestige and has received the hearts of the world. I want to remind your majesty to practice one cons.

"The ears are used to what they hear, and they like to flatter and hate to be straight. When the lord speaks a word, he is full of praise, and when he makes an order, the whole world praises it. The subjects are indeed from the heart, but your ears are filled with these all day long. One gets used to hearing the words of praise. As long as it is not praise, it will be regarded as disobedience, and if it is regarded as dull, it will be regarded as stupid. After so long, if the praise is inappropriate, it will be considered disrespectful.

"The eyes are used to what they see, and they like softness and hate rigidity. Lord, you kneel and kowtow every day, flattering and smiling. Since you ascended to the throne, you have been cautious and rarely made mistakes. The smarter you are, the more you feel Stupid, the more capable you are, the more you will admire you, which is a good thing. But after a long time, as long as you don't flatter you, you will feel offended.

"Everything in the world, if you see it too much, you will think it is not surprising, and if you do it too much, you will feel it is commonplace. Ask others, but you can't hear your own shortcomings; reflect on yourself, and you can't find faults. What you have to do is confident. That's right; when you issue an order, you are confident that it will pass without delay. After a long time, if you get used to what you do, you will like it and hate to disobey it."

Qianlong breathed a sigh of relief, obviously, he didn't expect that Sun Jiagan didn't talk about the things in the fake memorial in a matter-of-fact manner, and he didn't seem to be eager to find out who made the fake memorial.This kind of remonstrance does not hurt self-esteem, but also hits the nail on the head.Qianlong couldn't help thinking to himself: "As worthy of a famous minister, he laid out the steps step by step. It seems plain, but it is actually aggressive." Thinking, he said with a smile: "I didn't see the three things you said to the late emperor back then, so you were so calm? What does this mean? 'Three practices', what about 'one disadvantage'? I'm all ears."

"Don't dare." Sun Jiagan said with a serious face, "Back then, when he remonstrated with the late emperor, he pointed out that government affairs were improper, and he risked his life to speak up. Naturally, he was talking about it. The Lord has not made any major political mistakes now, and the ministers are only concerned about gaining a chance. It’s nothing more than a problem. It’s natural to talk about it—with these ‘three habits’, there will naturally be a disadvantage. I like the villain and hate the gentleman. The minister saw with his own eyes that the emperor abandoned the internal servants and intervened in politics. Every system is the way of a sage and a benevolent monarch. At first, I thought these words were redundant, but the minister is old, the emperor is in his prime, and has a bright future. If you don’t say these things in your heart, it means that you are not sincere. The principle is that you are close to a gentleman and far away from a villain. The emperor also understands. Which emperor does not think that he is using a gentleman, but a villain?"

Qianlong looked at Sun Jiagan in a daze, and sighed: "Why not? I am most afraid of misusing a villain and wronging a gentleman. But it is too difficult to distinguish a villain from a gentleman."

"The emperor's heart is connected to heaven, which is the blessing of the country." Sun Jiagan said unhurriedly, "'Virtue' is unique to gentlemen; 'talent' is shared by gentlemen and villains; and the talents of villains are often better than gentlemen. Language Playing right, the gentleman is straightforward and the villain is flattering, which corresponds to the "ear habit"; running around, the gentleman is clumsy and the villain is clever, which is also in line with the "eye study"; Ashamed of making meritorious deeds; villains are skillful at pandering and working hard, which is similar to "heart learning". As time goes on, black and white can change color, and things can change positions. Therefore, "University" says that "seeing the virtuous and It is really not easy! From this point of view, the chance of ordering chaos depends on the advancement and retreat of gentlemen and villains; advance and retreat are in the hands of the owner. The owner does not expect People respect, but self-respect, when there is no fault, guard against self-righteousness, and keep this self-respect without daring to be self-righteous at all times, how can the rule of the king not be prosperous?"

While listening, Qianlong paced back and forth underground.To be honest, Sun Jiagan's words didn't quite match his state of mind today, they were obviously a little vague.But compared to the details of accusing himself in the fake memorial, some of them are indeed not based on rumors.What exactly is this Sun Jiagan referring to?Thinking about it, Qianlong asked, "The reason you said is very clear. The way of a university is to be close to the people and to stop at the ultimate good. I am very careful. My thoughts may be trivial, but now I feel that there are villains. Look at the ministers, it's hard to tell!" Then he told Sun Jiagan all the weird things that happened recently, as well as what was said in Zhang Tingyu's residence. "There are so many clues, I find it difficult to start. Xi Gong, what do you think?"

"If you have clues, investigate clearly; if you don't have clues, observe secretly." Sun Jiagan said, "For example, those who falsely used my name to slander the Holy Majesty; Shanxi Zhang Guangsi's meddling in the military almost led to the defeat of the entire army; we must be investigated. If not investigated, this There will be more and more things like this. The emperor might as well take another look at things like the Eight Kings' discussion of politics. Do you really want to restore the ancestral system, or do you have other plans? There is no gap that a gentleman and a villain cannot jump. Some people have good foundations. But if you have a bad habit, you are a villain. Some people are good at first, but later they become villains. There are also - of course, very few - such as Guo Xiu, a famous official in the former court, who was a corrupt official at first, but later turned into a gentleman There is no definite rule for this. So I said, where is the way to rule chaos? It is in the heart of the emperor! You set your mind upright, and this is a firm one. It is natural to advance to the gentleman and retreat to the villain. Deliberately pursue the gentleman , looking for a villain is actually the worst way."

Qianlong blushed, thinking of Tang'er: It is true that her husband is doing meritorious service outside, and he is behind... Thinking about it, he couldn't help sighing, but changed the subject and asked, "Are you a Jinshi in 52 years of Kangxi?"

"Yes."

"57 years old this year?"

Sun Jiagan glanced at Qianlong. I don't know why he suddenly asked these things, and he quickly leaned over and replied: "The servants have fifty and eight horse teeth."

"You are talking about old age." Qianlong smiled, "Except for Yin Jishan, you are still young as a senior official at your level. What is the condition of the illness in the previous period? Why are there rumors that even your wife said that you are What about those who became ill due to depression?" Sun Jiagan said with a smile: "I'm not young anymore. In recent years, my stomach has been bad and I don't want to eat. My wife figured it out by herself, there are too many rumors outside, the minister is depressed, and it is true that he is depressed. I am here to see the master today, and I also want to ask Enzhun to go back to my hometown to recuperate. I really can’t stand it anymore." Qianlong laughed He asked: "Really not because of those rumors? Are you not worried about slander at all?"

(End of this chapter)