In Chinese history, there are two emperors who are very similar, and they are both hard-working, conscientious and enlightened emperors at the beginning of their reigns, and they have managed the dynasty into a prosperous era.
But in his later years, he fell into a strange circle of great joy and greed for pleasure at the same time, and tossed the great country to the people's misery. These two "Wolong and Phoenix Chicks" are Emperor Li Longji of the Tang Ming Dynasty and Hongli of Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty.
Li Longji's story is familiar to many people, after all, the consequences of the Anshi Rebellion are really shocking to the world.
And Qianlong's ruined behavior is little known, and in some wild history legends, the extravagance and waste of his six trips to the south of the Yangtze River have been whitewashed to a certain extent.
In these stories, Qianlong always has a handsome and middle-aged image, while he is conducting private interviews under the banner of inspecting the people's conditions and punishing the most corrupt officials, various charms are happening, which provides a lot of material for today's film and television dramas.
There is a story recorded in the history of the wildQianlong once asked someone to tell his fortune during a private visit to WeifuUnexpectedly, after finishing the calculation, he walked 500 meters, and he was ready to kill people. What's going on here?
In various film and television works,It is already a particularly common narrative routine for the emperor to observe the people's feelings through private visits to microservicesWhether it is a romantic drama or a joke drama, they like to use it very much. And the two emperors who were most involved were Kangxi and Qianlong.
The reason why this is so is because they are indeed one of the few emperors in history who often leave Beijing to go out, but when you look closely, neither Kangxi nor Qianlong has anything to do with Weifu's private visits.
In terms of leaving Beijing to inspect and go deep into the grassroots, Kangxi's reputation is much better than Qianlong's.
However, his patrols are basically directly identified, so it is accurate to say that he is an inspector, Kangxi is the emperor who has inspected the most places in history.
Places of pleasure were indeed more common in the Qing Dynasty, and in previous dynasties, kings rarely left the palace and left Beijing.
And most civil officials think that the emperor's private visit to the micro-service will do more harm than goodNot only does it fail to understand the people's feelings, but it also harasses the people along the way, causing many problems.
Kangxi is very supportive of this point of view, and he believes that Weifu's private visit is not a royal dignityIf you want to understand the suffering of the people, you can do so by other means.
Kangxi will strictly control the number of people when he goes out on patrol and try not to harass ordinary people.
And his patrol is indeed doing serious things, for example, he will personally visit the river to understand the progress and quality of the river control project. For the peasants who depended on the sky for food, the water conservancy project of the imperial court was crucial.
Kangxi attaches great importance to this, and will repeatedly check it every time he goes on patrol. Like his grandfather, Qianlong also liked to go out of the palace to inspect very much, but his behavior was hardly related to the investigation of the people.
Because every time Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, a large number of people were dispatched, and there were even more than 10,000 people accompanying him at the largest scale.
With so many people acting together, it is natural that the local ** will know in advance, and it is difficult to learn useful information.
Such a large contingent naturally consumes a large amount of people's fat and ointment, which has a great impact on the people along the way, and seriously interferes with their normal life and work.
Therefore, Qianlong's patrol has nothing to do with understanding the people's suffering, it is all to satisfy his selfishness.
Every time he leaves Beijing for a tour, he will choose a place with beautiful scenery and rich products, mainly to meet the idea of curiosity and beauty, and his itinerary to each place is mainly to visit the mountains and rivers.
Unlike his grandfather Kangxi, Qianlong did have a time when he traveled in micro-clothes. However, his purpose is to see something new and interesting, and to do something elegant that is not suitable for a large group.
Even if you happen to encounter injustices during the trip, you just do it.
According to historical records, Qianlong in the early years was quite tolerant, after all, the emperor was rich all over the world, and he should have been broad-minded, at least he would not shout and kill the people in cloth who were not threatened.
Then why did Qianlong have a strong murderous intent towards Xiangshi after he met him in the micro-service game, and what is the secret in this?
In the records of wild history, when Qianlong once went down to the south of the Yangtze River to visit the fortunate city, he suddenly had a heart on the road, wanting to see what the folk bazaar was like.
Therefore, he quietly left the large army and only brought a small number of followers to the microserver to play.
Although I just went to an ordinary market, the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River was very different from that in the capital, which made Qianlong feel quite fresh. Not only did he enjoy shopping, but he also bought a lot of delicate knick-knacks from some vendors, ready to take them back to play.
Just when Qianlong was satisfied and ready to go homeIn the corner of the bazaar, he saw a lot of people queuing up in front of a nondescript hexagram stall.
It was a hot and dry day, but these people lined up quietly, looking very sincere.
This couldn't help but arouse Qianlong's curiosity, he walked up to take a look, and found that a Taoist priest with a fairy wind and a good appearance was telling people hexagrams, and the expressions of the diviners were very satisfied.
Such a spectacle was so strange that Qianlong was reluctant to leave, and he also wanted to go up and calculate it.
In order to avoid exposing his whereabouts, Qianlong did not do anything special, he chose to line up honestly. After waiting for a long time, the people in front left one after another.
When it was Qianlong's turn, the whole person was already a little impatientI thought that I must try the quality of this Taoist priest.
The radiant Qianlong sat in front of the hexagram stall with a confident smile on his face, and he calmly opened his mouth and asked the Taoist priest to calculate his origin.
Who knew that Shi's eyes lit up after seeing Qianlong, and then he showed a look as if he was in another world.
After a few seconds, he said calmly"A drink and a peck are all fixed numbers, ups and downs, all in the hexagram. ”
Qianlong didn't care at first, he only thought that the other party was deliberately creating an atmosphere, trying to give people a feeling of uncertainty.
But after he really started telling hexagrams, Qianlong gradually became nervous.
Because he found that the answer given by this Taoist priest was very accurate, although his identity was not accurately stated, but his life experience and past merits were clearly explained and the score was not bad.
Qianlong, who has been an emperor for many years, has long been able to be happy and angry, but this time he almost broke the work, he felt that he might really meet a strange person.
After confirming that the other party has real skills,Qianlong asked a question he was most concerned about: How much life do he have left?
No one can transcend birth, old age, sickness and death, and a power-loving and enjoyable king like Qianlong attaches great importance to this.
However, this question was obviously expected by the Taoist priest, and he quickly started a hexagram to divinate Qianlong.
After a while, the hexagram came out, and after pondering for a while, the Taoist priest whispered to Qianlong: "Originally, your lifespan could reach eighty-six, but if you give way at that time, you can live for another three years." ”When he had finished speaking, he kept silent and said no more.
Although he can't learn more, Qianlong is already very satisfied with the results of this divination, and 89 years old is extremely rare in ancient times.
So he laughed and got up to leave, and ordered his followers to pay a rich bounty to the fortune teller.
But Qianlong's good mood didn't last long, and after he got up and walked 500 meters, he seemed to think of something, his smile gradually disappeared, and his face became gloomy.
He hesitated for a few seconds, then summoned the guards and asked them to immediately go and kill the Taoist priest who had just told the fortune.
After giving the order, the guards quickly began to act, but Qianlong was very worried in his heart, and always felt that things would not go so smoothly. Sure enough, the guards soon returned, and they did not complete the assigned task.
Although these people rushed back as soon as they received the order,But the old Taoist priest has disappearedAll that remains is a mediocre letter on the hexagram stall.
In fact, it is normal for Qianlong to be murderous, and the inheritance of the throne in ancient times is often accompanied by bloody storms.
If the old Taoist priest reveals today's events, it is likely to be used by someone with a heartSet off a court battle.
For Qianlong, the easiest and best way is to kill people and eliminate his mouth, and if he gets rid of the old Taoist, he naturally doesn't have to worry about the news leaking. It's just that I didn't expect the old Taoist priest to calculate everything a long time ago, knowing that Qianlong was going to be a killer, so he immediately ran away after calculating the hexagram.
Qianlong understood that once such a strange person disappeared, it was almost impossible to find it. Therefore, he didn't blame the guards, but just took the old Taoist priest's letter and prepared it carefully.
Who knew that there was only one sentence written in the letter"I only counted my fortune seriously for the emperor. ”
Although it was only a few words, Qianlong couldn't calm down for a long time after reading it, and he always felt a sense of déjà vu. Sitting in the carriage of Huiluan, he finally remembered that he had seen it in **.
In fact, when he was young, Kangxi once asked someone to tell Qianlong's fortune, and the blind Luo who was divining at that time and today's old Taoist priest should be the same person.
In his later years, Kangxi trusted the metaphysics of divinationWhen you encounter something hesitant, you will find someone to calculate it.
And Luo Blind was a very important scholar at that time, and it was said that he was very capable in the way of divination.
In Kangxi's later years, it was the time when the nine sons took the heir, and after the prince disappointed him, the wise emperor also fell into a tangle, not knowing which prince to choose.
Therefore, he decided to find another way and let Luo Blind calculate the life of the emperor and grandson to see which one was more emperor-like.
Who knew that there was nothing surprising about the lives of the first few emperors and grandsons, and it wasn't until the eight characters of Hongli's birthday that Luo Blind fell into hesitation and couldn't give the result for a long time.
Kangxi saw Luo's hesitation and asked him to speak bluntly about the mystery. The latter thought about it, and finally said calmly:"Your Majesty, these eight words are not ordinary, there is a great difference between men and women. ”
Under Kangxi's questioning, Luo Blind revealed the heavenly opportunity: "If it is a woman, this life is not good, and she will become a prostitute; But if it is a man, this is the ultimate life, if you are born in the royal family, you should have the dignity of the ninety-five and the appearance of the emperor. ”Before the fortune telling, Kangxi liked his grandson Hongli very much, and after listening to Luo Blind's explanation, he unconsciously had a bias in his heart, and he loved Hongli more and more.
After realizing that this Taoist priest was the former blind man, Qianlong finally let go of his murderous intentions.
On the one hand, it is because he has really helped himself, even if it is just the explanation of the hexagrams, it has indeed provided a lot of help; On the other hand, there have been no relevant rumors among the people in recent yearsIt shows that Luo Blind has a very tight mouth, so don't worry about him being bad.
In the end, this divination became a small episode of Qianlong's southern tour.
Although Qianlong has never seen this Taoist priest since then, as the so-called "geese have left a voice, people have left a name", his interpretation of the hexagram has been haunting Qianlong's heart.
After returning to Beijing, Qianlong would consider whether to make a concession every once in a while.
In the first month of 1796, the 86-year-old Qianlong sat on the Jinluan Palace, and the familiar ministers of the Manchu Dynasty greeted him respectfully, as if it was another ordinary day of court visits.
But Qianlong himself knew that the situation was about to be "turned upside down", because he was about to announce an important decision.
After calmly dealing with the affairs of the early dynasty,Qianlong suddenly announced that he was going to abdicate, which made the ministers in an uproar, they didn't know what was happening, so they could only kneel on the ground and ask Qianlong to take back his fate.
Faced with this situation, Qianlong chose to move with emotion and reason, he said that he had been the emperor for 60 years, only one year less than the holy grandfather Kangxi.
In order not to exceed the grandfather of the wise and martial arts, he decided to give his son the throne in advance and be a carefree emperor.
Subsequently, Qianlong announced the new emperor in front of hundreds of officials, and he was the fifteenth son of the emperor, Yongyan, who later became Emperor Jiaqing.
In order to show that he was sincere and wanted to abdicate, Qianlong also held a huge ceremony to return to the government, announcing to the whole world that he had become the emperor.
Although I don't know if Qianlong really wanted to not exceed his grandfather, or because of the hexagram of the Taoist priest, he did choose to retreat bravely.
However, at this moment, Qianlong only abdicated in name, and the military and political power was actually still firmly in his hands.
This is actually normal, he is Jiaqing's father, and if the latter really wrestles power from him, it is obviously against filial piety.
Moreover, the important ministers in the court were all personally promoted by Qianlong, so they were naturally more loyal to the emperor, and they would report to him on major and minor matters.
Such days went on for three yearsIn the first month of 1799, Emperor Qianlong died in the Yangxin Palace at the age of eighty-nine. Jiaqing, who has been the "virtual emperor" for 36 months, finally grasped the real power and became the real son of heaven.
As a result, it also brings this saga to a successful conclusion.
The story of Qianlong's fortune-telling only exists in wild history and folklore, and its authenticity is now unproven.
However, the character of Qianlong shown in the story is in line with real history, and his final timely retreat is indeed commendable.
In the evaluation of later generations,Qianlong was a very polarized emperorAfter all, he created the pinnacle of the prosperous Kangqian era, conquered the large and small Jinchuan militarily, and also quelled the Dzungar rebellion.
And there are many people who dislike Qianlong, thinking that he is overjoyed and extravagant, which led to the corruption of officials and continuous uprisings in the later period. And Qianlong's insistence on implementing the policy of closing the country to the outside world is the root cause of the turmoil in modern China.
Perhaps many people still complain a little bit about this Taoist priest, why do they want to give Qianlong some guidance and let him 'transcend the mortal' as soon as possible, which may be a good thing for the court and the people.