In the fourth year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, the case of Hongliangji occurred, which shocked the government and the people.
Hong Liangji, whose ancestral home is She County, Anhui Province, was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. He lost his father since childhood, and his family was poor and fond of studying. He was very talented when he was a teenager and was appreciated by Yuan Mei . However, Hong Liangji failed the exam many times. Until the 55th year of Qianlong's reign, Hong Liangji ranked second in the first place in high school, was appointed as editor of the Hanlin Academy, and was appointed as editor of the National History Museum. He was 44 years old at the time.
Hong Liangji is proficient in historical, geography, harmony, exegesis, good at writing poetry and parallel prose, and is also good at traveling around the country and rivers. His footprints are spread throughout Wu, Yue, Qian, Qin, Jin, Qi and Henan. He has a heroic personality and is as jealous as a revenge. As early as when Qianlong became the Supreme Emperor, he bluntly criticized the current ills and his words were fierce, which gave the new emperor Jiaqing a headache. However, the power was still in the hands of Qianlong at that time, and Jiaqing had to leave it alone.
In the fourth year of Jiaqing, after Qianlong's death, the days when Jiaqing truly ruled began.
Jiaqing had long discovered that the corruption in the officialdom in the late Qianlong period became more and more intense. Officials protected each other and made false accounts, causing the treasury silver to flow into their private pockets. Jiaqing killed He and replaced 6 of the 11 governors across the country. However, after the climax of anti-corruption, various places still bought and sold officials and received gifts. Several models of integrity established by Jiaqing have also fallen into the quagmire of corruption.
So, Jiaqing decided to open up the road of speech. All subjects can make suggestions. After Hong Liangji learned about it, he wrote thousands of words in one breath, accusing the Qing officials of being either "ambiguous", "speculative", or "settled and peaceful", and the root of the emperor was Jiaqing, and criticized the emperor for going to court late and resigning to court to play with actors.
Hong copied three copies for safety reasons and asked three important officials to pass them to the emperor. After reading Jiaqing, he was furious. Hong Liangji actually denounced nine out of the Qing officials as corrupt officials, pointing his finger at him, so he issued an order to arrest Hong Liangji in the Heavenly Prison.
The Ministry of Justice tried Hong Liangji and was sentenced to death. Fortunately, Jiaqing sent an eunuch to send an eunuch in time: "Punishment should not be imposed on scholars." The Ministry of Justice still killed Hong for the crime of slander. Jiaqing hesitated again and again about this. He advocated opening up the road of communication. He was afraid that Hong Liangji would really kill him. How would the people in the world discuss it? So Hong Liangji was sent to Yili to serve as an army.
Ili General happened to enter Beijing, so he flattered and said: I am willing to create an accident and kill Hong Liangji. Jiaqing was furious and copied his words to the whole country, which made the general embarrassed and quickly sent someone to protect Hong Liangji.
After Hong Liangji was exiled, the number of people who wrote to him was sharply reduced, and corruption became more and more severe. It was a severe drought, and the sun was scorching like fire in the north. Officials at all levels were asking for rain, but it had not fallen; the nobles of the princes and grandchildren asked for rain, but it had not fallen; Jiaqing personally offered the altar to pray for rain to the sky, but God still did not give him face. Jiaqing was forced to pardon the criminals, but the rain still did not fall; there was also a porridge stall to save the victims, but the rain still did not fall.
In the fifth year of Jiaqing, Jiaqing decided to pardon Hong Liangji: According to the "Records of Emperor Renzong of the Qing Dynasty", Jiaqing personally wrote: Hong "There is no violation of the sentence, and he still has the sincerity of loving the king" and "it is enough to enrich my heart." According to " Draft of Qing History ", "The edict rained when it came down", Jiaqing put down his pen, and a flash of lightning broke through the sky, and heavy rain poured down.
pardoned Hong Liangji, General Yili wanted to bring a car to deliver Hong, but Hong politely refused. He traveled all over Yili, Hami and Urumqi, wrote two works, "Ili Diary" and "Tianshan Keda", and returned to his original hometown.
Hong Liangji stayed in his door and studied his knowledge carefully. He wrote "Gengshengzhai Poetry Collection" and "Beijiang Poetry Talk", so he became a famous Confucian scholar and writer in Qing history.
■Mishu
selected from "China Newspaper Clips"
