When Kangxi was 50 years old, 25-year-old Yue Zhongqi began to debut and embarked on a journey of military career. After more than ten years, Yue Zhongqi was mainly responsible for quelling the rebellion in Tibet, Qinghai and Gansu, and successfully made Qinghai 720,000 square kilometers owned by the Qing Dynasty, and Tibet 1.23 million square kilometers was included in the territory of the Qing Dynasty. Finally, due to his outstanding military achievements, Kangxi personally awarded him the title of General Wei Fen. ?
Wait until the spring of Yongzheng three years, Nian Gengyao was sentenced to death and imprisonment for ninety-two major crimes. However, because the northwest war still needs someone to be responsible, Yongzheng first thought of Yue Zhongqi. So in July this year, Yue Zhongqi succeeded Nian Gengyao as the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and added the titles of Ministry of War Shangshu and General Fuyuan.
At this time, Yue Zhongqi was the governor and three dukes, who held the relieving power in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. His troops in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Qinghai and Gansu were all under the control of Yue Zhongqi.
At the same time, in order to deal with Junggar, the Qing dynasty transferred a large number of troops from other regions. At the time of the largest number of troops, Yue Zhongqi was able to command more than 200,000 troops, and even the foot soldiers of the Manchu Dynasty obeyed him.
It is no exaggeration to say that in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Yue Zhongqi was the only minister of Han nationality (except Han nationality) who had such power and honor. Moreover, in the middle of Qing Dynasty, only Nian Gengyao and Yue Zhongqi were awarded titles, but Nian Gengyao belonged to the standard-bearer of the Han army and Yue Zhongqi was a pure Han Chinese, so it was quite out of line to be awarded the third class. ?
You know, Zeng Guofan, who once helped the Qing court to turn the tide, only got a marquis after conquering Tianjing. Li Hongzhang, an important official in the late Qing Dynasty, was only an earl before his death. In contrast, Yue Zhongqi's honor and power have reached the peak that Han people can reach in that era. As Gan Long commented, is he Manchu? Samurai giants? .
Because of this, many Han Chinese who were dissatisfied with the rule of Manchu began to stir.
Because this is a golden opportunity for pure Han people to master this real power. What's more, Yue Zhongqi is a descendant of Yue Fei who resisted gold in those days, and the ancestors of Manchu were gold people in those days. Therefore, if Yue Zhongqi can seize this opportunity, she may be able to revive the Han country.
In addition, Yue Zhongqi's current position has reached the peak of personnel, which is easy to arouse the suspicion and suspicion of the king. For example, in the fifth year of Yongzheng, there was a scene in which a unkempt and ragged man ran barefoot in the streets of Beijing with a stone in each hand and shouted along the street. Yue Zhongqi is going to lead the soldiers in Sichuan and Shaanxi to revolt! ?
Later, after trial, although it was confirmed that the man was just a madman, Yue Zhongqi still dared not do nothing. He wrote this letter in a hurry, hoping to clarify the audio-visual and wash away the grievances. As a result, this letter was written by Zhu Pi of Yong Zhengdi. The implication is nothing more than not believing in rumors and saying a lot of comforting words.
In a sense, Yongzheng didn't really trust Yue Zhongqi, because if the two of them really knew each other, Yongzheng didn't need to give Yue Zhongqi an answer or even all kinds of appeasement. He just needs to say, "I believe you can do things" and doesn't even need much attention.
Now Yongzheng is so enraged because of such a madman. Obviously, Yongzheng's heart is not at ease enough, so he will show all kinds of goodwill and explanations to Yue Zhongqi. The purpose is to be afraid that Yue Zhongqi will make excessive behavior because of her lack of security.
In this sense, at this time, Yue Zhongqi actually has only two choices: First, to make further progress. In short, when the power of the courtiers reaches a certain level, even the king is helpless to him, and even the king will be dragged down by him. The second choice is to take a step back and broaden your horizons, take the initiative to weaken your power and leave this place where power is wrong.
Nian Gengyao, in the position of Yue Zhongqi, wanted to go further and was unwilling to take a step back, so he had to tinker around the edges and ended in tragedy. Now, it is Yue Zhongqi's turn to make a choice.
In this context, a down-and-out scholar named Ceng Jing gave Yue Zhongqi a letter from his teacher Zhang Xi. In Ceng Jing's letter, Yong Zhengdi was scolded to pieces, and Yue Zhongqi, the descendant of Yue Fei, was encouraged by Yue Fei's anti-Jin deeds, and advised him to turn his gun and point to Manchu, the descendant of Jin, to avenge Song Ming. In other words, it is to persuade Yue Zhongqi to make further progress.
However, Ceng Jing obviously overestimated Yue Zhongqi. Although Yue Zhongqi can command 200,000 troops, these troops are all imperial, not private soldiers of Yue Zhongqi, because the logistical supply and personnel arrangement of this army are decided by the imperial court, and Yue Zhongqi has no right to interfere at all. In this way, Yue Zhongqi is essentially just a senior wage earner, not a warlord caught by the financial army and personnel.
What's more, some of these troops belong to the Eight Banners Army. Although they obey Yue Zhongqi's scheduling, it is obviously impossible for them to rebel with Yue Zhongqi.
Moreover, according to Yong Zhengdi's character, there must be intelligence personnel around the main state officials. Later, it was proved that Yue Zhongqi had spies around him, because it had just happened, and Yongzheng, who was far away in Beijing, had learned the news for the first time.
Therefore, although many people want Yue Zhongqi to rebel, Yue Zhongqi simply does not have this ability. Because of this, Yue Zhongqi immediately arrested all the messengers and Ceng Jing after reading this letter, and brought them to the capital for Yongzheng to show that they had nothing to do with this matter.
Although Yong Zhengdi praised Yue Zhongqi's loyalty afterwards and still entrusted him with an important task because of military needs, Yue Zhongqi's official career began to come to an end. Because, Yue Zhongqi caught the two men, although it shows that he doesn't want to have any further development. But the problem is that Yue Zhongqi didn't make it clear in time to take a step back.
In fact, if Yue Zhongqi is rational, she should take the initiative to resign after this incident, at least to show this attitude. But Yue Zhongqi didn't do this, which obviously shows that he is still unwilling. In other words, he made the same mistake as Nian Gengyao.
Soon after, Yue Zhongqi was reprimanded by Yongzheng, then deprived of the title of the third-class duke and the prince of Taibao, and reduced to the third-class Hou, still protecting the seal of the general and asking him to return to Beijing for mercy. As a result, after Yue Zhongqi returned to Beijing, she was directly put into prison and sentenced to beheading.
But at the last minute, Yongzheng's thoughts and his contributions to Tibet and Qinghai in those years changed? Decisive? For what? Cut the prison? That is, the death penalty was changed to a suspended death sentence. In this way, Yue Zhongqi was kept in a noisy room for four years, and was not released until Qianlong succeeded to the throne and granted amnesty to the world. Later, in the thirteenth year of Qianlong, it was reopened because of Jinchuan rebellion.