There was a war in the north, a flood in the south, and no one was available. Zhang Tingyu: There are people on death row.
Faced with a serious threat to the Qing Dynasty from the Dzungar army, Yongzheng Ye decided to personally go out to pacify. However, the road to the battle was bumpy, and a lot of financial and manpower support was required in the later stage.
What is even more worrying is that the torrential rain and floods in the south have been raging for several days, and the victims are miserable, hungry and helpless.
Yongzheng is facing a dilemma and sighs that no one is available. At this critical moment, Zhang Tingyu bravely admonished him: "There may be one person available on death row." ”
Who is this person? Why did he go in and out of death row three times? Why did Yongzheng choose him to solve this difficulty? The Qing Dynasty implemented the imperial examination system, and the selection was very important. Whether Han or Manchu, men hope to win glory for their families through high school champions.
Acton was born in a prominent family of Eight Banners, but Yongzheng believes that the Eight Banners are the foundation of the country. Therefore, with his background and diligence, Acton studied hard since he was a child, and finally passed the Jinshi examination in the 48th year of Kangxi.
Acton, a Manchu son, was not content with the ostentation of force, although he was born into a people on horseback. On the contrary, he insisted that literature was inferior to martial arts, and made up his mind to study and study.
Although there are not many Manchu people who are willing to study like him, he still persevered and finally passed the Jinshi examination and achieved a breakthrough in life. Acton's status as a jinshi made him prominent in the Qing court and became the favor of the Kangxi Emperor, and he was appointed as a scholar.
He handled the affairs of the Ministry of Rites with great ability, whether it was the imperial examination or the canonization ceremony of the king on the Korean mission, he was meticulous and never made a mistake. However, Acton's outstanding performance also made him the object of envy of everyone, and his promotion so quickly naturally caused dissatisfaction and attacks from others.
Despite the glory in front of the emperor, the accumulated mistakes will sooner or later be discovered, which will lead to an irreparable situation. Fortunately, in the past few years, he has diligently made many practical contributions to the Kangxi Emperor, not only winning the appreciation of the Kangxi Emperor, but also the favor of the Yongzheng Emperor.
After Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, Acton followed the old system and continued to serve as his "Master of the Hanlin Academy", and then as the "Guozi Priest Wine", becoming the head of the highest university in the country.
It can be said that he has reached the peak of literary creation! In the fourth year of Yongzheng, Yongzheng took a fancy to his talent of both civil and military, and made him the governor of Guangzhou and the general of Guangzhou, which marked his shift from civilian to military.
In this transformation, people saw his true talent and learning, and he was in the limelight for a while, and it can be said that he was the most powerful person in the Qing Dynasty except for the emperor.
He is known as an all-round talent who "manages the army on horse" and "manages the people on horseback", and is well-known throughout the country. When Yongzheng sent him to the Liangguang region, although there was no war, it was more important for him to manage civil affairs.
Yang Wenqian, the governor of Guangdong, proposed to Yongzheng to change the earthen embankment along the Jiangxi River to a stone embankment, but the project cost hundreds of thousands of taels. Acton opposed the use of "donations" (selling officials) to raise funds, and he suggested that the levees be repaired every November according to the size of the land.
After this suggestion was adopted by Yongzheng, the embankment was repaired and there were no floods in the following year. As a result, he shined in front of Yongzheng and obtained the position of governor of Guangdong.
However, immediately after he took office, he reported to his superiors that Guangdong *** had offended many people. After the order was issued for his transfer to the governor of Guangxi, Guangdong ** played one after another, accusing him of changing the robbery case in Xinhui County into a theft case during his tenure in Guangdong, enriching his own pockets, and also using the extra tax money from the Guangdong Customs to secretly cross Chen Cang to ask his family to ask for "money" from the rice ship from Siam to Guangzhou.
He used to be the top boss of Guangzhou, but because he was too honest and honest, he was accused of being a "suspect". However, when Emperor Yongzheng saw this, he immediately ordered Actun to be arrested and imprisoned.
Emperor Yongzheng hated the corrupt official style, and Guangdong ** detained him with the hat of foreign personnel's money, which is related to national affairs, so it is natural to put him, a person on the cusp, in prison.
Acton's ability to survive in the end is also a reflection of his own strength. Although there are not a few people who have been imprisoned by Yongzheng for ** crimes, only he can continue to be an official, but also because of his excellent ability.
After Actun was imprisoned, no one cared about it, while the Dzungar tribes in the northern and southern Xinjiang regions continued to provoke, and the Qing Dynasty was disgraced, and Yongzheng felt pressure and was ready to go to war at any time.
So, naturally, no one cares about the future of Acton, which was once revered.
In the seventh year of Yongzheng, Emperor Yongzheng appointed Yue Zhongqi as the general of Ningyuan, and led 160,000 soldiers and horses to conduct a three-way battle against the Dzungar Department. However, the Dzungar Ministry found the right time and successfully annihilated the vanguard of the Qing army.
Because the follow-up grain and grass could not keep up, the Qing army could only choose to retreat, which made Emperor Yongzheng's recovery plan fail. Yue Zhongqi fell out of favor as a result, was imprisoned, and was replaced by someone else to lead the northern military camp.
Yue Zhongqi's suppression caused the morale of the Qing soldiers to plummet, while the soldiers of the Dzungar Department became more and more courageous, and the situation became more and more dangerous. To make matters worse, the situation was made even worse by the fact that the Qing Dynasty was employing people at a time when the south was suffering from floods and the Grand Canal was severely blocked.
In this case, Yue Zhongqi was allowed to be released from prison to control the water.
The Qing Dynasty granary Jiangnan was seriously flooded, threatening the country's security. Yongzheng is desperate to find a capable minister who is proficient in water conservancy, but no one dares to take on the burden of water control. At the critical moment, Zhang Tingyu, a university scholar, recommended Actun, who was on death row, to Yongzheng.
Acton's expertise and experience have provided strong support for solving the flood problem in northern Jiangsu.
Yongzheng got to know Acton because of the repair of the Xijiang Dam, and understood that only Actun could solve the floods in the south. So, he let Acton out and made a promise that he would pardon his capital sin if Acton could solve the flood.
Acton understands that this is his last chance, and if he succeeds, he will save his life, and if he fails, he will be buried with all the soldiers on the battlefield. He immediately rushed to northern Jiangsu, and his first stop was Huai'an, where the blockage was most severe.
Instead of rushing to the task, he carefully surveyed the nearby terrain and then proposed to the emperor to dig a branch river near Qingjiangpu as an auxiliary road.
Acton found that if ships could enter the Huai River from Huai'an through the newly built tributaries instead of using the original main road, the problem of grain transfer would be solved.
This solution was not only fast and inexpensive, but it was the ideal solution at the time. After Acton presented this plan to the imperial court, he immediately received the emperor's approval to prepare the relevant matters as soon as possible.
This outstanding performance made Yongzheng decide to forgive his sins and make him no longer a prisoner. However, with no open positions for the time being, Acton will need to be tested to see if he can sit on the cold bench.
Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared.
Acton returned from controlling the waters, but he changed from his original favorite to a cold idler. In the court, the emperor has to deal with far more troubles than just water control, as well as distant wars.
The Junggar Department is not peaceful, and Yongzheng cannot be idle for a day. After several years of conflict, the Qing army was defeated one after another, and it seemed that peace talks were the only way out. Acton saw this "opportunity" and decided to take the initiative and give himself a chance to return to the emperor and do his best.
Acton took the initiative to ask Ying to settle the war in the form of peace talks, and Yongzheng only put forward two demands: each of them should withdraw their troops and recuperate.
In August 1734, with Yongzheng's two demands, Actun left the Forbidden City and went to the cold frontier of Dzungaria. After a four-month trek, Actun arrived at Ili, the headquarters of Dzungaria, in Layue.
Immediately after arriving in Ili, Actun entered into peace talks with the head of the Dzungar tribe, Galdan. The Dzungar Ministry had long been tired of endless wars, and seeing that Acton had come for peace talks, he immediately expressed his willingness to negotiate peace, but there were conditions.
After understanding the other party's intentions, Acton adopted a conservative policy and waited for the Dzungar Ministry to show its cards. As a result, the peace talks went smoothly and soon reached a mutually satisfactory result.
The Qing Dynasty ceased war with the Dzungar Ministry, exempting many people from military service and reducing the burden on the imperial court.
In February 1935, Acton successfully completed the task of peace talks with Dzungaria and returned to the imperial court. Emperor Yongzheng personally received him and praised him.
Relations between the Qing dynasty and Dzungaria were eased by the peace talks, but Acton's political career did not change for the better. After Emperor Yongzheng solved the Dzungar problem, his physical condition deteriorated sharply and he died soon after.
After Emperor Qianlong ascended the throne, all tribes fell into tension and unease, fearing that Qianlong's statecraft was very different from that of Emperor Yongzheng. And the most nervous is undoubtedly the Dzungar Ministry, which has just negotiated peace with the Qing Dynasty.
Qianlong showed extraordinary foresight, he saw through the calculations of the tribes, and as soon as he ascended the throne, he appointed Actun to send another envoy to Dzungaria. This move had two purposes, one was to clearly show Dzungaria his determination to negotiate peace, and the other was to warn the surrounding tribes that war was not included in his philosophy of governance.
The Dzungar Ministry understood Qianlong's intentions and treated Actun's envoy again with the greatest sincerity. In a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, the two sides resolved the border issues left over from the last mission and reached a formal agreement.
Actun's two missions were of great success, and with his strength, he became the "ambassador of peace" on the frontier, successfully ending the half-century-long war between Dzungaria and the Qing Dynasty.
Acton dutifully fulfilled the first task assigned by Qianlong, and returned to the court with honor, becoming the secretary of the Criminal Department, responsible for all the affairs of the Criminal Department. However, in the course of his business, he was once again imprisoned for a "typo".
In the 13th year of Qianlong (1748 AD), Qianlong gave Acton, a big celebrity around him, the title of "co-organizer of the university", and allowed him to enter the cabinet to assist in handling affairs.
While this is a coveted position for many, Acton doesn't care, and it turns out to be irreparable mistakes.
When Qianlong looked at the text of Empress Xiaoxian, which was played in the Hanlin Academy, he discovered a mistake in Acton: he wrote "Empress Xiaoxian" as "Empress Dowager". Qianlong was greatly dissatisfied with this and immediately summoned Acton.
However, Acton did not wait for the decree according to the rules after submitting the book, which undoubtedly made Qianlong even more angry. As a result, Acton was put in a cell because of this mistake.
Luckily, Acton was a man of real talent, and with his status, other ministers interceded on his behalf. In the end, Qianlong pardoned him and only let him serve as the squire of the Ministry of Works.
It was only a few months later that he regained his original position. While Acton has had a lot of setbacks on his way up the ranks, he has managed to escape from the rut every time, proving his talent and strength.
However, his three prison sentences also remind us that we must be cautious in our work, not overly reckless, and maintain good relationships with those around us in order to achieve long-term success.