During the reign of Qianlong, the national strength of the Qing Dynasty was at its peak. The abundant treasury allowed Qianlong to spend huge sums of money to go out for tours many times. On the way out, Qianlong also left countless legends.
A certain time Qianlong went on a tour in a very low dress to understand the people's sentiments. When I was thirsty on the road, I bought a few melons on the side of the road and praised the melon farmers who sold melons. However, after leaving, I suddenly turned against me and ordered the killing of the melon farmers. And why is this?
Qianlong, who loves to play the exclusive Qianlong
, and many emperors who only like to live in the deep palace compound, Qianlong was an emperor who likes to have fun. During the 60th year of Emperor Qianlong's career, he went on tours 150 times, which is very rare among emperors of all dynasties.
Whether it is the vast grassland or the cold place outside the pass, Qianlong likes to go very much. If you want to say that Qianlong likes to go the most, it is the place in Jiangnan. When Qianlong was reigning, he toured Jiangnan six times, leaving behind many folk legends and romantic events, which provided a lot of material for later novelists.
Qianlong went to Jiangnan and his grandfather Kangxi . Kangxi usually went to Jiangnan to be frugal and low-key. The purpose of his tour was to understand the people's sentiment and collect information. However, Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River to travel around, enjoying the mountains and rivers, eating, drinking and having fun in the name of understanding the people's sentiments. Every time Qianlong went on a tour, he had to follow a huge team of thousands of people, and spent tens of millions of silver on the national treasury, but in order to have fun, Qianlong didn't care about it at all.
In addition to enjoying fun, Qianlong was also a very cold and autocratic emperor. During the reign of Qianlong, the peak of imperial autocracy. Qianlong personally formulated various laws and regulations to restrict the people and officials. The laws included all aspects of life, which seriously suppressed the creativity of the people and officials and laid the root of disaster for the backward trend of the Qing Dynasty in the future.
One manifestation of autocracy during the Qianlong period was " Literary Inquisition ". This period was the high incidence of literary inquisition cases. There were countless unjust cases that could be caused by far-fetchedness. Many times, Qianlong would only take human life because of a casual suspicion. The degree of suspicion and autocracy of Qianlong can be seen from a story about Qianlong's melon farmers.
The extremely knowledgeable melon farmers
Once, Qianlong went south to Jiangnan again. This time he did not just focus on having fun, but planned to examine the sufferings of the people. Qianlong dressed up as a rich man and set off with a few guards. It was midsummer at that time, and when Qianlong and his group walked to a suburb of the city under the scorching sun, they suddenly felt unbearable.
The thirsty and hot Qianlong hurriedly urged the people around him to find water to drink, but it was the outskirts of the city and could not even see a tea stall for a while. Just as the group was about to faint from the heat, Qianlong suddenly discovered an old man selling watermelons in a village ahead, so he walked forward happily and wanted to ask the melon farmers to buy some melons to eat.
Melon farmers saw Qianlong and his group dressed brightly and knew that they were rich people, so they did not dare to neglect them. They enthusiastically picked out a few large watermelons to entertain Qianlong and his group. With one knife, the juice of the watermelon burst out, and the sweet and sweet melon pulp entered the mouth. The heat disappeared in an instant. Qianlong, who had been extremely dull before, felt better when he left, and began to chat with the melon farmers without saying a word.
Qianlong was chatting with the melon farmers and asked about the living conditions of the melon farmers. The melon farmers replied: "Thank you for the blessing of the emperor today. This year, our family has achieved good harvests. A few acres of grain are enough for the whole family to eat. In addition, there are several acres of melon fields at home. After selling them, I can occasionally exchange two kilograms of wine to drink."
The melon farmers' words made Qianlong happy. After all, what an emperor happiest is to listen to the people's praise for his ability to govern the country well.As he chatted, Qianlong unconsciously talked about topics on national affairs. But what surprised Qianlong was that , the rural melon farmer, had a unique insight into national policies and the way of governing the country, and could even give Qianlong a detailed analysis. His erudition was not as good as an ordinary civilian at all.
The hermit who avoided the butcher's knife
talk with the melon farmers very much. Qianlong felt that this melon farmers were a rare talent, and it was a pity to stay in the fields to sell melons . Qianlong immediately summoned the emperor's clothes and showed his identity and said, " I didn't expect that there were such talents in the mountains and fields. It's a pity that you are a melon farmer. Why not go back to Beijing with me and become an official in the court? "
Qianlong thought that he showed his identity and the melon farmer would definitely agree to his request with gratitude. After all, there are few people in this world who can refuse the temptation of power. But at this time, the melon farmer said, "Hiang 5 hopes that the emperor will atone for his sins. The grass people are old and stupid, which is really useless."
This made Qianlong feel a little unhappy, but he did not show it directly, but paid the melon farmer and chatted with him for a few casual words before leaving. The more Qianlong thought about it on the way back, the more uncomfortable he felt. He felt that this melon farmer was just a farmer. How could he know so much about governing the country, and in the end he refused to encircle him. He was like a person without ambition. Could it be that he was a paradise?
But who can guarantee that he has never had ambitions? What if he is provoked by others that day and he is in trouble? Thinking of this, Qianlong waved his hand and summoned a guard and gave him an order to kill the melon farmer just now. Although the guard was puzzled, he didn't dare to ask too much, so he followed suit and went to find the melon farmer just now.
But it didn't take long before the guard came back, reported the news of the failed mission to him, and brought him a note. The note reads: The grass people are now dry bones in the tomb and rotten melons in the fields. They no longer have the intention to participate in the world of fame and fortune. They can only live a life of idle clouds and wild cranes. I hope the emperor will let it go.
Looking at the note, Qianlong felt a little complicated. At this time, a minister hurried out and said, " I A rural farmer in Qing has such a mind. This is a blessing for the country and a blessing for the emperor. " Qianlong laughed and said, " "Whether it is, let him go."
Conclusion
This story is widely circulated. As for its authenticity, it cannot be verified. It is very likely that later generations compiled it based on Qianlong's personality, because Qianlong, as a top autocratic emperor, has really done a lot of things to kill innocent people in history.
In the feudal era, the emperors always treat the people on earth like ants, and the whole society is extremely autocratic and cruel. This is also the reason why the cycle of reincarnation in dynasties has been repeatedly staged.
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