Secret: Why did Ji Xiaolan in his later years be demoted as a "useless pedant" by Emperor Qianlong?

Introduction: In his later years, Ji Xiaolan was always a civil servant in the eyes of Emperor Qianlong, although he was famous for his high position. 1785, Yuan Wailang Haisheng beat his wife to death, and Zuodu suggestion Ji Xiaolan participated in the trial, and was dismissed as a useless pedant by Emperor Qianlong.

It is a good idea for the emperor to complete the great cause of recovering the lost land of the country and gain a good reputation from generation to generation. This sentence by Xin Qiji expresses the heroic dream of traditional China people: to help the monarch unify the whole country and leave a name for generations to come. By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the situation had changed-Emperor Qianlong wanted to unify the nation's ideology and culture, so the battle on the battlefield turned to cultural cleanup, and Ji Xiaolan shouldered the heavy responsibility of history and became the editor-in-chief of the Summary of Sikuquanshu (hereinafter referred to as Sikuquanshu). Previously, the famous scholar commented on many academic classics and famous poems, and also wrote the notes of the famous Yuewei Caotang, but these were not as good as Sikuquanshu. Sikuquanshu became the greatest glory of Ji Xiaolan's life. Behind this glory is the life track of a scholar-type official.

Recording His Adventure 1724, Ji Xiaolan was born in Cui Zhuang, Hejian xian county (now Cangxian County, Hebei Province). His birth was accompanied by various magical theories: his grandfather Ji Tianshen dreamed that a fire flashed into the building, and then Ji Xiaolan was born; It is also said that Ji Xiaolan is the reincarnation of the Fire Spirit: xian county has had the custom of expelling the Fire Spirit since the Five Dynasties, and it is said that the Fire Spirit is a woman who appears naked in the firelight. The day before Ji Xiaolan was born, the nature of local fire was discovered again. People beat the bronze ware to drive it away, and the essence of fire flashed into Kyrgyzstan. At this time, Ji Xiaolan was born, his earlobe was pierced, and his feet were white and pointed, which looked like foot binding, much like fire essence; In addition to the reincarnation of the fire spirit, there are legends of the reincarnation of the python spirit and the monkey spirit: there is a python near her home, and after Ji Xiaolan was born, the python disappeared; Ji Xiaolan likes to eat hazelnuts, chestnuts, pears and jujubes since childhood. Once he eats them, he can't finish talking and has a lively temper, and he can't sit still for a while. This collateral also linked to Ji Xiaolan's name. His name is Ji Yun, the word Xiaolan, which means daylight. In its name, it is related to monsters.

In unofficial history legend, the birth of celebrities is often accompanied by visions, but it is rare that Ji Xiaolan always performs magic tricks after birth: when he was two or three years old, several clay dolls dressed in colorful clothes and holding gold cymbals played with him and called him brother affectionately; At the age of four or five, Ji Xiaolan's eyes were like torches, and there was no obstacle to seeing in the dark. After seven or eight years old, his eyesight gradually became the same as that of ordinary people. 365-year-old, 438+0, asked for a divination before entering imperial academy, and measured an ink character: the black part is the fourth place in Dimethyl, the following four points are the common prefix, and the scholar is the auspicious prefix, which indicates that he will be Jishi Shu of imperial academy, and it did; When he was studying politics in Fujian, two people in red appeared in the treetops of Tang Bai in the examination room last night, bowed to him and gradually disappeared. These miracles are not hearsay, but what Ji Xiaolan himself said, which can be found in his reading Notes of Wei Caotang.

Not only Ji Xiaolan, according to him, some of his relatives and friends also had bizarre experiences. If we sum up all kinds of bizarre experiences of Ji Xiaolan and his family and friends in Yuewei Caotang Notes, we can probably compile an adventure of Qing people.

Short-sighted and ugly readers must be curious to know what Ji Xiaolan is like with all kinds of legendary experiences. According to the description of the Qing dynasty, he was sleepy and nearsighted, that is to say, he was not only ugly, but also nearsighted and didn't look tall. However, Ji Xiaolan is alert by nature and likes to laugh and tease people. His classmates who studied together when he was a child, and officials who lived in the same dynasty when he grew up, were all teased by him. His spoofs are often related to words, which are unexpected but reasonable.

On one occasion, young Ji Xiaolan and several children next door kicked a rattan ball, which just hit the sedan chair of the passing county magistrate. The magistrate picked up the rattan ball, and the children sent Ji Xiaolan for it. Seeing that he was outstanding, the county magistrate gave him a couplet: There are six or seven boys, and you are the only one who is treacherous. Ji Xiaolan said: It's only fair to be too defensive ... it's only fair if you give me my ball back. Otherwise, it is' greedy'. The referee sighed at his cleverness and returned the ball to him.

When he grew up, Ji Xiaolan became more sensitive to words. One summer, many fans were added to the palace. Emperor Qianlong ordered Ji Xiaolan to inscribe his favorite fan, and he chose the poem "Liangzhou Ci" written by the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Zhihuan. The original text of this poem is: The Yellow River is an isolated city, Wan Ren Mountain, far from the white clouds; Why use the elegy of willow to complain about the delay of spring, old Yumenguan, a spring breeze is not blowing! In the inscription, Ji Xiaolan inadvertently missed the words between white clouds over the Yellow River. After reading it, Emperor Qianlong threw the fan back to Ji Xiaolan unhappily, saying that he was guilty of cheating the monarch! Ji Xiaolan didn't know that he had missed a word until he saw it. He said slowly and unhurriedly: Report to your majesty, this is not a poem, but a sentence I want to recite to your majesty: The Yellow River is far away, white clouds are around, and Wan Ren Mountain is a lonely city. Why are you complaining about Johnny? Willow leaves and spring breeze never let go of Yumen Pass. After Ji Xiaolan's words, a poem "Liangzhou Ci" really changed from a poem to a ci. Emperor Qianlong laughed and praised Ji Xiaolan's cleverness.

Ji Xiaolan is also a real person, easily happy and irritable, likes hearsay, tells his bizarre experiences everywhere, and even takes off his shoes and socks to curious people many times, showing off his pointed feet like foot-binding. His daily life is also different from ordinary people: he does not eat rice and flour, and his diet is mainly meat, with a meal of two or three pounds; Although I like meat, I never eat ducks. I always feel that duck meat has a fishy smell and is difficult to swallow. If I eat it carelessly, I will vomit immediately. People who are good at smoking use a big hookah, called a cauldron.

Ji Xiaolan is really an interesting person, and anecdotes about him have been widely circulated since the Qianlong period. People appreciate and love his wit, embellish it in circulation, and even make it out of nothing, attaching irrelevant things such as incompatibility with peace to him. In fact, Ji Xiaolan has never mocked peace in history. Instead, he strongly discouraged his friend Cao Xibao from impeaching peace. The reason why Ji Xiaolan is portrayed as an ideal figure who is not afraid of authority in film and television dramas only reflects people's imagination of his humor, integrity, wit and talent.

As a legend, Ji Xiaolan's humor and wit masked his true nature; As an official, his success in official career masked his frustration and sadness.

Ji Xiaolan, like others, entered his official career through scientific research. Compared with Pu Songling who tried many times, Ji Xiaolan was much luckier: 17 years old, took part in the boy test and became a scholar; At the age of 24, he took the provincial exam and ranked first; 3 1 year-old, high school scholar, fourth in the imperial court examination. Jishi Shu, a scholar, was elected as an academician of the Imperial Academy and began his long courtier career.

One of Ji Xiaolan's main tasks during his stay in imperial academy was to accompany his entourage and write lyrics. Emperor Qianlong was also a poet. He wrote many poems, so Ji Xiaolan wrote many hymns and choruses. This kind of poetry is usually stable, mainly eulogizing. Now it seems meaningless, but it was unusual in Ji Xiaolan at that time. They won the favor of Emperor Qianlong for Ji Xiaolan and were rewarded by Tianyu. The appreciation of Emperor Qianlong had a decisive influence on Ji Xiaolan's life.

From 1756 to 1768, Ji Xiaolan had a smooth and peaceful time. Because of the appreciation of Emperor Qianlong, he was promoted step by step: from 65438 to 0763, he was appointed as an official in Fujian to study politics and was promoted to be a scholar; 1768, according to the routine, he should have gone out to work and prepared to go to the magistrate of Buduyun Prefecture in Guizhou. However, because of his great knowledge, Emperor Qianlong thought that being a local official could not give full play to his strengths, and made it special to add four titles, which were reserved for Zuo Chunfang's son and promoted to a bachelor's degree in imperial academy. This exceptional promotion was very glorious in the society at that time. However, in Ji Xiaolan's prosperous and ambitious year, his life took a dramatic turn, and he was found guilty and dismissed. He used to be a courtier in Korea, but now he is a prisoner and sent to Urumqi.

The case of Lu Jianzeng led to a major turning point in Ji Xiaolan's life. 1768, the newly appointed salt administration of Lianghuai, You Bashi, failed to ask for bribes from salt merchants. On the throne, he exposed his predecessor, General Assistant of Salt Administration, saying that he embezzled and misappropriated public funds during his tenure, which caused the emperor Qianlong to be angry and ordered a thorough investigation. Lu Jianzeng, the history of salt transportation in the two Huai Dynasties, was also arrested and imprisoned because of corruption in previous salt administrations. Emperor Qianlong ordered that it be sealed up immediately, leaving him nowhere to hide. However, when Lu's house was searched, it was found that there was nothing of value in his house. Emperor Qianlong was very angry and thought that someone had tipped him off and asked Lujia to transfer his property. It was later found out that the informant was Ji Xiaolan.

What is the relationship between Ji Xiaolan and Lu Jianzeng? Ji Xiaolan has three sons and three daughters. The eldest daughter married Juren Lu, whose grandfather was Lu Jianzeng. At that time, Ji Xiaolan had been promoted to a bachelor's degree as a waiter, and he could go in and out of the court. After hearing a little wind, he told his son-in-law that the court was investigating the salt affairs of Huaihe River. Lu met Wang Chang, a close doctor. Wang Chang told him that the long-term abuse of salt was exposed, so he quickly sent a letter home. The result is naturally tragic. Ji Xiaolan and Wang Chang were convicted of leaking secrets, and the principal offender Lu Jianzeng died in prison.

An experience that can't be found in history books, but the folk version is vivid and interesting: worried about the accident of in-laws, they sealed the salt and tea with blank envelopes and ordered people to deliver them to Lujia overnight. Lu Jian was puzzled at first, tried again and again, and realized the mystery: the salt case was investigated (sealed up), so he immediately transferred the assets. Ji Xiaolan's wonderful answer to Emperor Qianlong's interrogation was also circulated among the people: the emperor enforced the law strictly, in line with the Grand Duke of Heaven; The ambiguity with the minister is still a bad habit of interpersonal relationship. Emperor Qianlong laughed at this.

Although this joke is wonderful, Ji Xiaolan's life has really changed greatly. He was banished to Urumqi for about two and a half years. Because of his outstanding literary talent, he mainly works as a copywriter in the garrison, and his actions are relatively free. On the contrary, because of the customs of the western regions, we have broadened our horizons and increased our knowledge.

1770, when Ji Xiaolan was 47 years old, he returned to Beijing in June of the following year and rejoined the Hanlin.