Wei Yijie, whose courtesy name was Shisheng, his nickname was Zhen'an, and also his nickname was Kunlin. He was from Baixiang, Zhili. He was a juren in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen. He was twenty-seven years old at the time. Three years later, the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by

Wei Yijie (born on July 25, 19, 1616 - died on April 5, 1686), whose courtesy name was Shisheng, his nickname was Zhen'an, and also called Kunlin , was from Baixiang, Zhili (now Baixiang County, Hebei Province) and was from in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642) 1 Juren , at the age of 27. Three years later (1644), the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty established its tripod and moved its capital to Beijing. In the third year of Shunzhi (1646), it was the first to be selected as a Jinshi. It was selected as a Shujishi. It served as a senior officer in the engineering department, a senior officer in the official department, a senior officer in the military department, a junior officer in the Taichang Temple, a deputy chief in the left deputy chief in the left imperial envoy, a senior officer in the left imperial envoy, a senior officer in the left imperial envoy, a senior officer in the crown prince, a senior officer in the Ministry of Personnel, a senior officer in the Baohe Palace, and a senior officer in the crown prince. Posthumous title: Wenyi . Because he was only forty-eight years old when he entered the cabinet and his hair was black, he was called the Prime Minister of Aconitum. It is also known as "the ancestor of civil officials in the world and the imperial teacher of three generations". He was a capable assistant minister of Shunzhi and Kangxi . The legend of the sages of Jifu, Jifu, said that there was no name or minister in the early Qing Dynasty.

Wei Yijie was a great scholar of the generation called him a Confucian scholar. This is because he wrote a lot during his life while spreading culture: poetry, prose, discourse, history, memorials, etc. are all included. The transcendent thoughts reflected in the content are all shining with the glorious light. He studied the Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu, and his words all reflect the ways of Confucius and Mencius. He is known as a famous academic minister of the Qing Dynasty.

called him prime minister because he only spent more than ten years in the 26 years of serving in the court (at the age of 31 and 42, he served as the left censor of the Inspectorate, and was a second-ranked rank, and was awarded the title of Prince Taibao at the age of 44.) He reached the peak of the political arena. Wei was a grandson of the Inner Secretariat, that is, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and since then he entered the political core of the Qing court.

Wei Yijie was born in a family of officials. According to the Wei family genealogy, Wei Yijie's ancestors had a filial and honest person (the juren) from the Yongle year of the Ming Dynasty: Wei Jin, from this time to the Jiaqing Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, the Wei family declined. In the past three hundred years, the Wei family in Baixiang trained a total of thirteen Jinshi and eighteen Juren, and many of them were tribute students, tribute students, scholars, etc. There are more than 60 officials above the seventh rank who can be found in history. Historians say that this made certain contributions to the current dynasty and society at that time, and was a very small number of family history in North China.

There are many historical deeds about Wei Yijie, including official historical records and discussions. In recent years, many historians who study Wei Yijie have emerged, who can analyze and explain this character from different aspects and angles of Wei Yijie, and thus have derived more information for researchers to refer to. It also allows Wei Yijie's thoughts, ideas and spirit to shine, convey and carry forward.

Wei Yijie was born at least years old. Because he was influenced by his family, he has always been very diligent. In addition, his unique talent, he was very outstanding in all aspects, especially in his studies during his youth. It has created his strong sense of responsibility to care about politics, family and country, and national security and survival.

The two authors of this article, either Wei Yijie's hometown or descendants, have been studying Wei Yijie for many years and have read some books and materials about Wei Yijie. Although the number of readings is not rich and comprehensive, they also learned some of the changes in Wei Yijie's thoughts, the purpose of entering the officialdom and the behaviors caused by it before and after serving the Qing Dynasty, to express the impact of this behavior on the current society and later generations, or to briefly describe Wei Yijie's contribution to the Qing Dynasty and the entire nation in politics, culture, people's livelihood, Neo-Confucianism, military, and thought.

1. Rich writings

Wei Yijie wrote a lot throughout his life, and his works include: "Jianjitang Collection" twenty volumes, "Kunlin Sketches" two volumes, "Kunlin Outer Collection" one volume, "Kunlin Outer Collection" one volume, "Wu Lin Collection" ten volumes, "Yu Fang Poetry Collection" seven volumes, "Yu Fang Min Collection" five volumes, "Zu Lin Three Bi" five volumes, "Wu Wenyi Gong Memorial" three volumes, "Family Agreement" one volume, "Encouraging the World forever" One volume, 58 volumes of "The Complete Meaning of the Four Books", one volume of "The Treaty of the City", one volume of "Fengxian Ban"; three volumes of "Niu Jie Suan", two volumes of "Baixiang Wei Family Record", two volumes of "Baixiang County Chronicles", ten volumes of "The Record of the Kangxi period of the Holy Learning and Knowing the General Records", two volumes of "The Record of the General Records of the Sages", two volumes of "The Record of the General Records of the Sages", two volumes of "The Record of the Insights", two volumes of "The Record of the Sages of Knowing the General Records of Things", two volumes of "The Book of the Nature", one volume of "Zhou Cheng, Zhang, Zhu Zhengmai", two volumes of "Jiyan Records", two volumes of "Xixian Records"; one hundred and nineteen memorials of "Xi Sheng Records", and seven volumes of "The Record of the Swords of the Swords". The classics he compiled, annotated, compiled and commented include: "The Complete Collection of Siku", "Annotations of the Book of Filial Piety", "Removing and Supplementing the Legend of the Great Scholars", "A Collection of Elegant Stories", "Double Consciousness Collection", "Qingmen Collection", "Annotations of Thousand Literatures", "Compilation of Encouraging Learning", "Compilation of Comprehensive Book of Changes", "On the Nine Classics", "Records of the Strong Biography of the Strong Women", "Nine Classics of Essays", "Qiongju Peach", "Family Conscious Confucian Origins", "Collection of Quotations of the Confucian Confucians of Neo-Confucians", "Records of Xue Wenqing's Readings Ushering ", "Records of the Ice Bingjian Records", "Selected Poems of Lu Fangweng", "A Collection of Ancient Poems", "Records of the Poems of Zhao Mengbai", "Collected Poems of Tang Poems", "Collection of the Collection of Primary Schools", "Compilation of the Four Books of Xingxin", "The Analects of the Analects of Confucius", etc. There are more than a thousand poems written by generations. From this we can see that Wei Yijie was an academic master, and his academic ability was a representative of that period and was a unique one. The cultural core, ideological core, moral core embodied in his works led the development of a school of thought and promoted the progress of social civilization. It was the benchmark of the school of thought that period, and was called the Baixiang Academy in history. This alone is enough to be as brilliant as stars in history.

2. Youthfulness

When Wei Yijie was eighteen years old, in the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), due to the decline of the late Ming Dynasty, the entire country was on the eve of collapse. There were constant uprisings in all directions, and bandits were waiting for an opportunity to rise. When a bandit attacked the city of Baixiang, the magistrate was cowardly and timid, and did not dare to stand firm and resist. Instead, he wanted to take advantage of the situation to abandon the city and escape. In this way, thousands of people in the city would definitely suffer. The father and son, who had been preventing, were secretly prepared to defend the city while observing the movements of the magistrate.

As expected, at the critical moment, the magistrate wanted to escape on a horse. Seeing this, Yi Jie and his son, who were struggling to defend the city, resolutely stepped forward and detained the magistrate. He immediately thought about the magistrate's behavior and said to him about the current situation: "If you escape immediately, you will definitely become the prey in the hands of the thieves. Not only will you not be able to protect yourself, but you will let the bandits take advantage of the situation and harm the people in the city. In this way, you will become a sinner for eternity." The magistrate finally gave up his idea of ​​escaping the city in the face of the justice reprimand of Yi Jie and his son.

Wei Yijie and his son led the city to defend the city and resisted bravely, and finally blocked the bandits outside the city, and the bandits were defeated. The Baixiang County was protected and thousands of people were saved. Through this incident, it can be seen that Wei Yijie, who was only eighteen years old, was able to judge the situation in the face of major events. He was wise and courageous, and had the feelings of worrying about the country and the people, and he loved his hometown. In short, the interests of the people are above everything else.

When Wei Yijie was twenty-five years old (1640), in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, North China encountered a severe drought that happened once in a decade. The merchants had no harvest at that time, and hungry people fled to other places and hungry people everywhere. Wei Yijie saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart. He hated that he was powerless, unable to protect the people and change the people's life. For this reason, he was determined to make a difference and influence the people's lives with his own abilities in the future. He also writes poems to set his ambitions and carves them on the walls, reminding himself to have the ambition to save the world as soon as possible and play his role. The original text of the chronological biography: "This year, the drought was severe, people were fed by each other, and the public wrote poems and had the ambition to save the world as soon as possible."

When Wei Yijie was twenty-eight years old (1643), the 16th year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty was in danger. With the intention of saving the late Ming Dynasty, Wei Yijie rushed to Beijing and offered suggestions to the powerful ministers at that time. The original text of the chronological biography "1. The troops recruited are not available, and it is advisable to clean up the garrison and select generals to train soldiers; 2. The people are in great difficulty and there is a risk of disintegration in all directions. It is advisable to sacrifice to win over the people's hearts, so that they can be saved." The minister praised the saying (original text) "The king is talented, but although his strategy is good, he is afraid that the time cannot be used, so it is better to hide the tools and wait for the time." This shows the eagerness of this aspiring and passionate young man to save the country on the verge of collapse, and shows his eagerness and lofty ambition to save the country and the people. These Wei Yijie were fully demonstrated in his teenage years. No comparison among peers.

3. The confusion of serving the Qing Dynasty

0. Wei Yijie, who was baptized by science at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, was psychologically difficult to accept the Qing court that rode a horse to win the world. As a knowledgeable scholar, he had a strong resistance to the Qing court at that time.

In the first year of Shunzhi when Wei Yijie was twenty-nine years old (1644), the Ming Dynasty caused internal and external troubles caused by years of corruption, which caused the people to live in fear and hunger, and finally collapsed. May The Qing Dynasty set up the tripod, and the Qing Dynasty issued an edict: urging former Ming juren to go to Beijing to select scholars, and Wei Yijie was included. At that time, Wei Yijie was in a very conflicted mood: he missed the just-dead Ming Dynasty, and at the same time he hated his corruption. He watched his passing away, but he was powerless; on the one hand, the birth of a new dynasty of fait accompli, but what made him confused was that this was a dynasty established by a foreign race. Wei Yijie's thoughts have reached a crossroads, following the old order, old ideas, and old traditions? If you say no, go far away from the mountains and fields, don’t ask about the world? Or should we face reality, and enter the new dynasty with our own ideals and ambitions? Show your abilities? In the future, use your own abilities to influence the political situation? Change society? Let the people all over the world live a good life? At this time, Wei Yijie was in a very complicated mood and could not be sure of what to do. The official documents urged to choose were tightly under the urge, and the thoughtful Wei Yijie had to go to Beijing to "take the test" with a conflicted mood. However, before the exam, he first submitted a memorial to the Minister of Rites who was invigilating the exam, meaning that he could take and 2 once to test his academic status. Because he was not in good health in recent days, he would not serve the court even if he chose it. He would go to the new exam after he was in good health in the future. The author believes that Wei Yijie's real intention of this move is: to observe the actions of the Qing court at a close distance, inquire about the news about the Qing court, to observe whether this new dynasty is in line with the people's wishes, whether it can establish a foothold here, and whether it is suitable for him. Unexpectedly, the Ministry of Rites actually agreed to Yijie's request. Bi Yijie observed in the capital for several days, then left the capital and returned to his hometown to continue his studies.

But as time goes by, he saw that the rules and propositions imposed by the Qing court were consistent with his expectations. At this time, he realized that this might be the will of heaven and the survival of the fittest, and it was the inevitable result of historical development. No one can change it. The Qing court ruled the world was a foregone conclusion. He has been determined to make a difference since childhood. He has been born with a strong sense of responsibility and ambition, and his years of academic cultivation have created his ideals and beliefs to govern the country and pacify the world. So he judged the situation and stood aside and continued to secretly observe the Qing court's every move, especially his actions in governing the country.

During this period (Wei Yijie was 30 years old, in the second year of Shunzhi, 1645), Wei Yijie took advantage of his brother-in-law's father, Gao Zhuhe from Ningjin County, to serve as an inspector in Jiangnan to invite Yijie to travel to Jiangnan. This invitation was consistent with Yijie's intention. He had already had new thoughts on the current situation before going north to the capital. Now he took advantage of this great opportunity to go south to understand the people's sentiments and opinions in the southern area, understand what the people there want and what the social unrest, so as to set goals and directions for his ideals, accumulate some positive capital and experience in governing the country, and then visit the magnificent mountains of the motherland. Why not do it in one go? After firming his mind, Wei Yijie resolutely embarked on the itinerary with his relatives.

He first went east to Linqing and went to Shandong, and then went south to Jining , went from Shandong to Jiangsu to Xuzhou , Suqian , Huai'an , Yangzhou and then entered Fengyang, Chuzhou , and Zhou in Anhui, and then entered Hubei and Henan. He embraced the mountains, rivers, cultures, local chronicles, ancient sites, customs and figures, and wrote "Travels of the South" while walking, and returned to his hometown in winter. Along the way, Wei Yijie saw the simple folk customs of the people in all over the world living in the magnificent mountains and rivers of the motherland, also saw the social reality of the people in all over the country being bullied by warlords, the people's yearning for a better life, and the social order that urgently needs to be rectified after the chaos, and learned about the people's expectations and expectations.

So far, after three years of review and observation, it was actually the most complex and intense years of his ideological struggle: in the past three years, he saw the social reality of the country after being destroyed by war, frequent famines, bandits fighting and people living in poverty. We are clearly aware that at this time, the country needs the most correct policies and measures to annex and calm warlords, resume production, and calm people's hearts. However, Manchus won the world by riding and shooting, and did not understand the Confucianism and Taoism, but only barbarism, power, and oppression. All this prompted Wei Yijie to change his original thoughts - if he wants to save the people from the fire and water, he must first have the ability to play a leading role at the critical moment, and use the power to check and balance those in power to change the actual situation, so that the country can be stable for a long time and the people can be happy and healthy. The people's better life has always lingered in Wei Yijie's heart. If you want to do this, you must enter the officialdom and enter the court with decision-making power, and perhaps you can realize your own ideas. Is it Shiqing? Or be a wild man wandering in the forest? Wei Yijie is confident about where to go.

With the desire to join the government and the people, Wei Yijie resolutely entered the Beijing imperial examination in the third year of Shunzhi (1646) and successfully passed the Jinshi exam. He entered the court and became a member of the Qing court. The first step in the life trajectory designed for yourself and achieve the goals and goals.

4. When I first entered the officialdom, I asked to abolish the "Fugitive Law"

In March of the third year of Shunzhi (1646), Wei Yi intervened in the court as a Shuji scholar. In response to the bureaucratic atmosphere in the court at that time, Wei Yijie did not forget his first vow to set an iron rule for himself: not to form cliques or engage in personal gain, and to serve the court with all his heart. Reject those who intend to form alliances outside the door. Such behavior also moved the Qing court. Wei Yijie was appreciated by the court with his unique talent. In order to show his friendship and importance to this new Han scholar, the Qing court gave him more than ten famous paintings of the palace in the name of Emperor Shunzhi, including the handwriting of Song Huizong "Eagle Pass Jiu Si Zhu" and other rare works. Wei Yijie was so respected by the Qing court, but he did not enjoy it and forgot his first oath, and always reminded himself why he came?

In the fifth year of Shunzhi (1648), according to the social situation at that time, under the initiative of Wei Yijie, many places in China received relief from the court, but the capital area did not receive benefits. According to this, Wei Yijie said: "The land of Yan and Zhao was Guanzhong of the Han Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Guangwu of Emperor Guangwu. At the beginning of the foundation laying of the Qing Dynasty, the people of Yan and Zhao took the lead in relying on the court. Now the world has begun to settle, many places have received favors from the court - tax exemption, and the people of Yan and Zhao failed to receive such grace. The court should give the people of Yan and Zhao the corresponding mercy, and should send effective officials to be responsible for this matter." Emperor Shunzhi read this and felt that this was a fact. According to Wei Yijie's intention, the people of Yan and Zhao were able to provide pensions and exemption of taxes, thereby reducing the burden on the people of this area.

From spring to summer in the eleventh year of Shunzhi, the entire North China region was rainy and rainy until floods, and the people were displaced and left their hometowns. Seeing this, Wei Yijie hurriedly submitted a memorial to the emperor based on his feelings, and spoke earnestly, asking for disaster relief. Emperor Shunzhi read this and empathized with it. He immediately ordered the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 240,000 taels of silver, instructing relevant ministers to provide relief to the disaster and plant the victims who were wandering in a foreign land to ensure food and clothing. In this way, Wei Yijie proposed that this specific disaster relief work was successfully completed, saving hundreds of thousands of people.This is not counting. While urging the emperor to provide relief, Wei Yijie ordered his family in Baixiang County to set up mats and pots at important street intersections inside and outside the county town to set up a porridge field for hungry people to eat. Therefore, thousands of people were rescued. After this incident, the people in North China have a reputation for Wei Yijie.

Since crossing the Great Wall, facing the wealthy North China Plain in the pass, the Qing nobles ran wildly on the North China Plain, tied their horses with white gray and pink bags to run around the circle at will. They could run as far as they could. They could stop when the horses were tired of running. The big circle of dozens of miles that the horses ran was their territory. The farmers who lost their land in the circle became slaves, or fled in famine. However, the Qing court also formulated the "Fugitive Law" that did not allow deserted people to flee, and the general public was in great pain. Wei Yijie saw it and was anxious. In order to save the general public, he quickly wrote a memorial to the Qing court, "The Memorial on the Death and Injury of the Refugees", and wrote a memorial to the court on the causes and consequences of the law of fleeing, pointing out that the cause of refugees was to enclose land, and the consequence of refugees fleeing was national turmoil, which would cause the nation to be separated from the nation, the people and the government, and the country would be broken. In this memorial, Wei Yijie also attached a poem to pity the people: A hungry husband talks about a hungry woman, I will bury the dragon. I am holding my young man in my arms, and I am beggars' food and walking in a winding manner. The hungry woman was even more speechless and went to the vortex to fly. A hungry man threw himself into his young age and gave his life to his moth. At that time, the world was dark and the miserable color was rugged. The hungry people are standing in the shore, and they cry and fall in the air. Sadly, the people today are worse than riding a crane. This is a tragic scene that is so heartbreaking. What is gratifying is that the wise young emperor Shunzhi empathized with him after seeing this, and immediately ordered the closure of land, and allocated funds and silver from the treasury, and sent relevant ministers to help the current deserted people. At the same time, the "Fugitive Law" was also lenient, and since then most deserted people have been able to save their lives. The deserted people who knew Neiyu had a reputation for Wei Yijie. Wei's move also took great risks at the time because it touched the vested interests. In the environment at that time, other court officials did not dare to do this, but Wei Yijie did it. This was exactly the difference between Wei Yijie and others in the court at that time.

5. Reorganization of the dynasty

In the face of the new national system, the Qing court still used the ruling policy outside the pass, and implemented this set in the Central Plains, seriously hindering the recovery and development of the social economy. When faced with discipline and laws, Wei Yijie still needs to be clarified. Etiquette, music, politics and punishment are actually missing reality. Under his initiative, the Qing court quickly revised a series of rules and regulations from Wei Yijie's mouth, so that officials and civilians can follow the law of their actions. For example: The young Emperor Shunzhi should not delay government affairs like those lazy emperors in the previous Ming Dynasty. They should formulate corresponding rules and regulations to restrain themselves and court officials, so that court affairs can have rules to follow. At the same time, he encouraged the young emperor to go to court to govern the government. In ancient times, there were dynasties of 369, dynasties of morning and evening, internal and external. In response to the situation at that time, he believed that these young Shunzhi might not be able to do it, so he put forward the idea of ​​meeting the ministers five dynasties every month so that the emperor would be interested in asking the ministers for political affairs. As soon as the ministers responded, meeting the ministers on the fifth day became a custom made since the Qing Dynasty.

Furthermore, as early as the fifth year of Shunzhi, he advised the young emperor Shunzhi: it was young and it was a good time to study, so you must not waste your time and delay your study. The Qing court once again adopted Wei's suggestion and regularly asked the ministers of the Master of Education to teach Confucianism and the way of governing the country to be practical and practical for the young Emperor Shunzhi, which opened the emperor's mind and improved the emperor's governance skills. Wei Yijie is also among the lecturers. As a result, the "Talents Day Lecture" specially taught for the emperor gradually formed a system.

When the Qing Dynasty society gradually returned to normal, Wei Yijie saw that the atmosphere of officials and social atmosphere in the court was very arrogant and impetuous, with strong clinging and lacking in people's hearts. In response to this, Wei Ren submitted a memorial to the court: the people are forbidden to compete with each other, and the officials are prohibited from enjoying luxury cars and horses, and the court has formulated corresponding laws and regulations based on this, which is a great fright.

or above are only individual examples of Wei Yijie establishing a ritual and system in view of the actual situation of the Qing court at that time. There are countless examples of the rituals proposed by him and even affecting the entire Qing Dynasty.

Wei Yijie is the court and the people. In that special environment, he is very happy for his ideals and beliefs. His extraordinary abilities were finally appreciated by the young Emperor Shunzhi. Since the Wei Dynasty entered the dynasty, Shunzhi summoned Wei Yijie alone many times and asked him about his advice on academic, officialdom, military, culture, economy, and people's livelihood. Wei Yijie taught him everything.

Wei's outstanding performance touched the young emperor again and again. In October of the 12th year of Shunzhi (November 1655), Wei was promoted to the Left Censor of the Censorate of the Censorate. At the age of 44 (1659 of Shunzhi), he issued another edict to Wei Yijie as the first rank of Prince Taibao. Therefore, he was granted the title of his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father, as well as his great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and his wife were all first-class wives. This is what is known as the "Four Generations General Constitution" in history. Therefore, the court also built the "Four Generations General Constitution House" for the Wei family in Baixiang County according to the etiquette system and rebuilt his family cemetery and family temple. This all demonstrates Wei Yijie's important influence in the dynasty. His influence comes from his achievements in the dynasty, and it is also the affirmation and trust of his political achievements and personality of the dynasty. However, Wei did not disappoint the expectations of the court and the people for themselves. He regarded the halo as the driving force for his struggle and worked hard to plan for the people of the world and the current dynasty.

Wei Yijie took only more than ten years to reach the core of the political throne, and was not blinded by glory, but had a stronger sense of responsibility. During this period, he often had a conversation with Emperor Shunzhi, or went out to hunt and inspect with the emperor, and took advantage of this great opportunity to convey correct ideas to the young emperor, and guide the young emperor to provide good strategies and issue good policies. For example: When he was hunting in Nanyuan, a suburb of Beijing, Emperor Shunzhi asked Wei what the civilian harvest was. Wei Ze replied in a pity with the people: "The people are in poverty, and the harvest in the good times is only for official taxes." After hearing this, Emperor Shunzhi once again felt pity for the people, so he issued an order to reduce taxes, which made the people benefit. (To be continued)

(Originally submitted as the "Academic Seminar on the 400th Anniversary of Wei Yijie's Birth" and has been modified.)