Tian Wenjing was one of the three "model governors" during the Yongzheng period. Tian Wenjing, who was well-known for his iron fist, was also the most admired and trusted minister of the world. In the ten years of Yongzheng, after Tian Wenjing retired and died of illness, Emperor Yongzheng commended his merits and buried Tian Wenjing near the Qing Tai Tomb built in the eighth year of Yongzheng. After Yongzheng died, he was also buried in Tai Tomb.
Tian Wenjing stills
From this, it can be seen that Emperor Yongzheng and his model governor are deeply attached to each other. However, it was such a famous official of the Qing Dynasty who had outstanding talents and was well appreciated by Emperor Yongzheng. Qianlong even ordered that his tomb be flattened. This method of Qianlong is really hard to understand. What kind of feasts did he and Tian Wenjing have, and he even flattened his tomb after the first emperor and veteran came to the land for peace? Although there are many Qing dynasty film and television dramas related to Emperor Yongzheng. In the middle, Tian Wenjing appeared as an upright and honest official, but later generations had mixed opinions on this model governor during the Yongzheng period. Even Qianlong had negative comments on him.
Yongzheng emperor
affirmed and praised Tian Wenjing is mainly the Emperor Yongzheng, and the Emperor Yongzheng has adopted a comprehensive affirmative attitude towards his courtier. Tian Wenjing was an veteran of Kangxi, but at the time of Kangxi's death, the 61-year-old Tian Wenjing was just a prefecture and magistrate. He was not a confidant of Kangxi at all. It is hard to say whether the Emperor Kangxi knew that he had such an official under his command. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, Tian Wenjing, who has worked at the grassroots level for decades, accumulated a lot of grassroots administrative work experience, and was quickly appreciated by Yongzheng. Because he revealed that the governor of Shanxi did not report the secret disaster, he was quickly promoted by Yongzheng. As the chief ambassador of Shanxi.
Tian Wenjing portrait
This opportunity for promotion has completely changed Tian Wenjing’s official career. In just ten years, Tian Wenjing has risen from the top, from Henan's chief envoy to Henan's governor, from the Zhenglan flag to the yellow flag, and then after his death. To bury Tai Ling, the Xianliang Temple in Henan Province, and set up a special shrine for worship. Compared with the years of being an official in the previous decades, Tian Wenjing's life has undergone an earth-shaking change.
Yongzheng also admired Tian Wenjing very much. He once wrote such a compliment: "Since Jian was appointed as the governor, the treasury has not lost money, the storage is sufficient, the staff is safe, punishes greed and violence, and does not avoid resentment..." Since the Yongzheng emperor has already concluded the official’s achievements, why are there people who say that Tian Wenjing’s political achievements are negative and derogatory?
Tian Wenjing stills
Tian Wenjing is indeed an upright official, but his upright official is among ordinary people. In his eyes, some are too "strict." Even Qianlong had commented on Tian Wenjing in this way. Since he was governor and governor of Henan, he “researched harshly and sternly... the people of Yu were severely trapped.” It was precisely because of the words of Emperor Qianlong that Tian Wenjing He was more portrayed as a "cool official" rather than an upright official, and later generations also criticized him more. However, even though Emperor Qianlong did not recognize Tian Wenjing's abilities like Emperor Yongzheng, he did not dislike it to the point of pushing Ping Tian Wenjing's tomb.
Tian Wenjing's tomb was razed to the ground by the order of Qianlong, it was a misunderstanding. It turned out that when Qianlong went to Tailing to pay homage to Yongzheng, a tomb invaded the royal imperial road. The minister of the mausoleum did not report to Qianlong who the tomb was. He only asked Qianlong if he wanted to eradicate it. Qianlong agreed without thinking. At the suggestion of the minister of the mausoleum, the tomb that was razed to the ground happened to be Tian Wenjing's tomb, which made future generations mistakenly believe that Qianlong ordered the flattening of Tian Wenjing's tomb.
