Those who are in official circles and shopping malls need to pay special attention to these four words: misfortune comes from the mouth.
The most subtle expressions are without words. If you talk without thorough investigation, it will definitely cause disaster. This is why a gentleman should be careful with his words and not speak easily.
At the beginning of the fifty-second year of Qianlong (1787), Liu Yong was reprimanded by Qianlong for leaking the fate of Ji Huang and Cao Wenqi, so that the post of bachelor that should have been awarded fell to Wang Jie superior. In December of the 51st year, Liang Guozhi, a great scholar and minister of military affairs, passed away. At that time, there were already two Manchu bachelors. As a rule, the vacancy of a great scholar should be filled by Liu Yong, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the co-organizer of the great scholar. At that time, Qianlong had a conversation with Liu Yong and said that the academician Ji Huang was old and frail. If he asked for leave to return to his hometown, he "wouldn't bear it". Liu Yong then leaked the matter to Ji Huang.
Qianlong believed that this was clear evidence that Liu Yong coveted the grant of a bachelor's degree, and it was an ugly way to seek an official position, so he reprimanded him heavily.
Qianlong said in his edict on the 18th day of the first lunar month:
“There has always been a vacancy of bachelor’s degrees, and we usually co-organized supplementary bachelor’s degrees based on qualifications. Liu Yong had a high status in Shangshu and had served as the co-organizer of the bachelor's degree for many years. He should have been awarded the title because when he was in Rehe last year and after returning to Luang, he discussed the issue of Ji Huang's departure with the Minister of Military and Aircraft. Ji Huang is already old. If he asks to retire and return to his hometown, I can't bear to disagree. Cao Wenqian has old relatives. If he asks to go home to raise relatives, I can't bear to disagree. It's just a pity that this is just a common discussion. However, I saw that Ji Huang's energy had not yet faded, and he was the most mature among the Han ministers, and he wanted to keep him as my companion. The ministers in the ministry were short of people, and Cao Wenqian was also a capable person, so I hesitated. The Minister of Military and Aircraft did not dare to reveal his thoughts in ordinary words. After a long time, Ji Huang and others did not make any request.
"Last winter, I met with Liu Yong. He discussed this in his spare time, and when Cao Wenqian summoned him the next day, he immediately made a request. I asked the Minister of Military and Aircraft, and they all said that they had not mentioned it to Ji Huang and others. The same name was said by Liu Yong in Maoqin Hall. I summoned all the ministers, and the relationship between the monarch and his ministers was like that of father and son, and since Liu Yong was the son of Liu Tongxun, it was not impossible for people who were walking in the inner court to discuss this matter with him. Liu Yong then told Ji Huang and others about the matter. He just wanted to let Ji Huang know about it and ask for retirement, so that Liu Yong could covet to be awarded the bachelor's degree. It seems that these words are careless. How can Liu Yong be given the actual teaching at this time to fulfill his selfish ambition? "Now in the book of ministers, Wang Jie also has a high salary. He has been in the inner court for many years. He is currently a bachelor and has a military aircraft department. Among the two Manchus, Wang Jie was ordered to confer a bachelor's degree. Peng Yuanrui was the one who left the post of Minister of War, and Ji Yun was the one who left the post of Minister of Rites. Affairs of the Ministry of Rites."
Ji Huang was a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and was good at river management. In the 45th year of Qianlong's reign (1780), he became a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion. Ji Huang was the same age as Qianlong. Although he was old and frail in his later years and could not manage specific affairs, Qianlong did not let him retire because "it is a great event in my life to have a companion to accompany an old minister." In the fifty-first year of Qianlong's reign (1786), Ji Huang was exhausted and asked to be relieved of his post. Qianlong refused and gave him a poem saying:
Why should I be sad for old age? I am still working hard today in ancient times;
I am still happy even though I am not tired at the end of the day, don’t you think about me and Geng?
I pity you so much once you are gone, but it is not appropriate to meet you again;
The Han family has three misfortunes. No, I can't do anything about the harmony between the monarch and his ministers.
In the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign (1790), when Ji Huang was eighty, Qianlong gave him a poem saying: "I will follow you if I can't return home, but I will still be compassionate to you." In this way, Ji Huang Huang stayed with Qianlong in the court until his death in the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong (1794).
Ji Huang was an honest official. Although he was a bachelor and his disciples also served as local officials, his family was very poor. His son-in-law once wrote a poem and lamented: "I can't keep the old house, but now I know each other." Public poverty.
However, He Shen repeatedly reported Ji Huang in front of Qianlong, so that Qianlong issued edicts to reprimand Ji Huang from time to time, and even warned Ji Huang: "The behavior of Cao Cao and Wang Mang is something that ministers should not imitate." . "This made Ji Huang fearful all day long in the court, and as an upright official, he was extremely dissatisfied with He Shen's massive corruption. Historical records indicate that Ji Huang worked in calligraphy and was quite famous at the time.
One day , He Shen met Ji Huang in the Yamen and asked him to write a couplet for the pillars of his home, and prepared rice paper for Ji Huang to write on. After Ji Huang agreed, he returned home and invited several Hanlin scholars to drink at home. . When he was drinking happily, his boy reported that Mo was ready. Ji Huang scolded the boy, saying that he had guests and couldn't do it now. Zhu Hanlin hurriedly asked what was going on, so Ji Huang asked He Shen to write a couplet. Let me tell you what happened. Everyone wanted to see Ji Huang's writing style and asked Ji Huang to write in public. But when Ji Huang was halfway through writing, the boy standing next to him spilled ink on the paper, making it dirty. Huang scolded the boy until Zhu Hanlin persuaded him again and again. The next day, Ji Huang returned the dirty rice paper to He Shen, and he had no choice but to let go of the couplet matter.
Ji Huang was undoubtedly responsible for the dirty couplet. It was done deliberately. He invited everyone to drink and let the book boy spill ink on the paper, just to make everyone testify: It's not that I don't want to write, but that I can't write. This reflects his unwillingness to cater to He Shen's valuable character. and power planning. Wu Zetian said in "Chen Gui Shen Mi": "The mouth is the pass; the tongue is the soldier. If you say something inappropriate, you will hurt yourself. "If you say something improperly, it will in turn hurt yourself. Although the words are spoken by oneself, since others have heard them, they cannot stop others from spreading them; even though the things are done in front of you, since they have been done, There is no way to prevent its influence from spreading to distant places.
Because of the leak, Liu Yong lost his bachelor's degree.
People cannot care about temporary gains and losses. This is not a big deal. The qualities that a person should have. If you are unwilling to submit to others, you must have your own opinions and have enough resilience.