Bi Yuan (1730～1797) was an official and scholar in the Qing Dynasty. The courtesy name is Jiheng and the nickname is Qiufan. Because he learned from Shen Deqian in Lingyan Mountain, he named himself Lingyanshanren. A native of Zhenyang (now Taicang, Jiangsu Province). In the 25th year of Qianlong's reign (1760), he became a Jinshi, ranked first in the Imperial Examination, passed the Zhuangyuan Examination, and was awarded the title of Editor of the Hanlin Academy. Bi Yuan was a foreigner from Zhenyang, Jiangnan. His courtesy name was Ji Heng and his nickname was Qiu Fan. He lost his father when he was young and was educated by his mother. Bi Yuan's mother, Zhang Zao, was no ordinary person. She was a famous female poet in the "Xiling Poetry Society" beside the Xiling Bridge in Hangzhou during the Shunzhi and Kangxi years of the Qing Dynasty.
This happened during the Qing Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. Bi Yuan is a child of a single-parent family. His father died very early and he lives with his mother. His mother is a learned and talented woman. Bi Yuan has been influenced by it since he was a child. He was familiar with classics at the age of 6 and became proficient in speaking at the age of 10. When he grew up, his mother sent him to study with a famous teacher and warned him, "You can't live up to what you have learned." After that, Bi Yuan passed the provincial examination and entered the military aircraft department. The Military Aircraft Department is a place that helps the emperor deal with urgent memorial matters. Bi Yuan is a clerk there. For a broader future, he and two other colleagues, Zhu Chongguang and Tong Fengsan, participated in the examination.
Bi Yuan was raised by his mother. When Bi Yuan grew up, he took part in the imperial examination and won the imperial examination. When Bi Yuan participated in the imperial examination, although his writings were not as good as others in terms of calligraphy, Bi Yuan's insights were very unique, so he was praised by the court officials, and Qianlong selected him as the number one scholar. The relationship between Bi Yuan and He Shen should be mentioned in Bi Yuan's introduction. Heshen was Qianlong's favorite and was very popular with Qianlong. He was a high-ranking official. At that time, many courtiers flattered Heshen. Bi Yuan was not refined, he also flattered He Shen.
After the exam, the three returned to the military aircraft. Zhu Chongguang was on night shift that day, so Bi Yuan packed his things and was getting ready to get off work. Unexpectedly, Zhu Chongguang stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, you are on duty today." "Why?" Zhu Chongguang said, "The last level of the palace examination is It’s not just knowledge, it’s also calligraphy. Your calligraphy is so bad, even if you pass the examination, you won’t get the top prize, so we have to go back to review, so you can help us on duty here.” The imperial examinations of the Qing Dynasty paid great attention to calligraphy. Bi Yuan agreed after thinking about his poor handwriting and having no chance of winning the top prize. Just at this time, a governor sent a memorial about "Xinjiang Farming".
Bi Yuan was idle and studied it carefully for a long time. ’ The results of the general examination came out the next day. Bi Yuan and his two colleagues passed and could participate in the palace examination a few days later. On this day, the three of them dressed up and entered the Jinluan Hall. Emperor Qianlong asked a question, "About the plan for farming in Xinjiang." Many students didn't know what it was, but Bi Yuan had a very thorough understanding of Xinjiang issues because he had read the memorials carefully, and he wrote in a thoughtful and orderly manner. Because his calligraphy was so poor, although he answered the questions very well, the examiner initially gave him only a fourth place. The final ranking was determined by Emperor Qianlong.
After he became a high-ranking official, he was quite busy. One of his concubines flirted with the guest all day long, and after going back and forth, the two fell in love. The two of them were afraid that the matter would be exposed, so they ran away on a windy and dark night. After Bi Yuan learned about it, he called one of his men and gave him a knife: "Go, catch up with them two and kill them, how dare you cuckold me." Bi Yuan's wife heard about it and hurriedly Running over, she said to Bi Yuan: "You must not do this. Things have already happened, why do you want to stop them again?" Bi Yuan is a smart person, and upon hearing this, it is true. He asked someone to take some silver and give it to his men: "Go after them. When you see them, tell them, if you want to get a beautiful woman, just tell them directly. Why are you running away with others? I know this today, I don't Blame him. I was afraid that they would not have enough money to escape, so I gave them money so that they could do it themselves. Maybe they would meet again later."
The disciple happened to become an official. At this time, Bi Yuan was dismissed from office and fined and confiscated his property for breaking the law. It happened that this retainer and a minister went to raid Bi Yuan's home. When the two were counting their money, a businessman came over and said: "The jade in Bi Yuan's living room was borrowed from their family. Bi Yuan borrowed it to have a look, and now he wants to take it back.
"In fact, this jade originally belonged to Bi Yuan's family, and the IOU was also temporarily fabricated. The retainer just wanted to repay Bi Yuan's favor and deliberately asked the merchant to come forward to take the jade and come to collect the debt. After the house was ransacked, the retainer quietly returned the jade and 10,000 taels of silver to the Bi family. . The Bi Yuan family has some money to continue living.