Qianlong, Ji Xiaolan , Heshen . There are so many stories about these three people that the TV series " Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth Ji Xiaolan " has been filmed four times before it can barely tell the story of the three people. Of course, the story between them is nothing more than the battle between Ji Xiaolan and Heshen, and everyone wants to suppress each other.
In fact, Ji Xiaolan in history is not only two years older than Heshen, but also is a very good friend of Heshen, and sometimes flatters Heshen. Therefore, Ji Xiaolan is not as selfless and wise as in film and television dramas. On the contrary, although Heshen had a bad reputation in history, he was not only good at being a human being, but also his talent was not inferior to Ji Xiaolan.
Those who are familiar with the history of the Qing Dynasty should know that Heshen is a well-known and memorable person. He is not only proficient in the four languages of Manchu, Han, Mongolian and Tibetan, but also has high attainments in calligraphy, poetry and painting. It was only because his childhood experience was too miserable that he formed the later corruption.
Today I will talk about a story recorded in the unofficial history of the Qing Dynasty. If you savor it carefully after reading this story, Heshen is actually very talented.
Time came to the 45th year of Qianlong's reign. This year, Qianlong made his fifth southern tour, and Heshen was just promoted to the imperial court. However, Qianlong did not have a good time this southern tour, because not long after Qianlong encountered a major case of embezzlement of the Yunnan-Guizhou Governor Li Shiyao . After investigation, Li Shiyao colluded with officials from all over the country to be corrupt and indulge in private affairs. Qianlong was furious and directly ordered people to take him to the capital to await trial.
After the southern tour, Qianlong summoned the ministers to discuss the handling methods.
The reason why Qianlong was so cautious was because Li Shiyao was the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and one of the nine officials of the Qing Dynasty. If this matter is not handled well, it will inevitably lead to disaster. In the end, the ministers unanimously agreed that the sentence should be executed.
However, Qianlong had the intention to spare Li Shiyao, so he later changed it to and kill the prison guard . It was precisely because of Qianlong's decision that Li Shiyao later went to Taiwan and was listed as the "Twenty Meanorical Officials of the Ziguang Pavilion to Pair Taiwan". Of course this is a later story.
Although this matter was solved, Qianlong felt very uncomfortable. He believed that Li Shiyao, whom he promoted, did not do his best for him, and even dug up his corner. In addition, officials in Yunnan and Guizhou were also in a slew together to deceive him.
Once people have something in their hearts, they always want to vent their feelings. Just in front of them are close ministers Heshen and Ji Xiaolan. So Qianlong used this topic to write a couplet in the first couplet: "A rat is old, no big or small," to vent his emotions.
Let’s look at the content in this first couplet echoes the front and back. The last word is connected to the first word, which happens to be the two words mouse.
Ji Xiaolan was 56 years old at this time, and her thinking and ability were not as good as before. After listening to the couplets produced by Qianlong, the speech scattered for a moment did not meet. Heshen, who was standing aside, had just turned 30 years old and was promoted to former minister the year before. At this time, Heshen was a big celebrity in front of Qianlong.
As we all know, Qianlong was a monarch who attached great importance to the talents of his subordinates. If Heshen did not have outstanding literary talent, he would never have achieved such a thing by just flattering.
So Heshen immediately thought of the second couplet and blurted out: "The magpie has black and white to report good news."
The second couplet Heshen gave is a classic, and the word "magpies" is connected in the front and back, but the content tells the unspoken rules in the officialdom, and also praises the prosperous era of Qianlong.
As we all know, the feathers on magpies are in black and white. When put in couplets, "black and white" refers to corrupt officials and honest officials in the officialdom. But whether it is a corrupt official or a clean official, what he tells the emperor is always good news.
However, corrupt officials are all lies, with the purpose of cheating the emperor's mistakes, so they will only say it nicely. What Qingliu officials said are the truth, because they are dedicated to the people, and after careful governance, peace will naturally occur, and then there will be only happiness.
has been happening since ancient times, so the emperor does not have to be angry, just hold on to it and punish it severely.
In addition, the ancients believed that magpies would report good news, which is a kind of spiritual bird: "The spiritual power can report good news, so it is called joy." So Heshen compared the Qing Dynasty to a magpies. But even a spirit bird like magpies has some black feathers on its body, which is not pure. So the emperor does not have to be angry about the few corrupt officials. After all, the Qing Dynasty was at this time, and the people were well-off and had enough food and clothing. This was a happy event.
After hearing this, Qianlong laughed and praised Heshen for his good correspondence in the second couplet.
Although Heshen's second couplet is good, then again, the first couplet produced by Qianlong has a very distinct purpose, which is to use rats to describe a corrupt person such as Li Shiyao, saying that they ate and drank blood like rats. If this case is nothing happened, they will be the king in front of others all day long and continue to be masters like nothing is wrong.
In fact, whether it is Ji Xiaolan or Heshen, they all understand what Qianlong means. The second couplet of this couplet is difficult to say, and you cannot say good things or bad things. Therefore, Heshen was unique and used magpies as a guide so that the emperor would not have to worry too much.
If Qianlong came out casually in his mouth, there are actually many ways to match this second couplet. For example: "The elephant has fat but thin, but it is big", "The turtle has male and female surname is Wu", etc. However, these lower couplets cannot achieve the effect of the situation, while Heshen's lower couplet can solve the doubts of Qianlong, and at the same time, he also flattered Qianlong, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
I have to say that Heshen is very talented, but it’s a pity that he used the wrong place. Otherwise, with his talent, he should have achieved better results and would not have left his reputation as a Qianqiu.
Reference materials: "Draft History of Qing Dynasty", "Folk Stories"
