Why did Nian Gengyao fall out of favor and be killed?

Nian Gengyao's fall from grace and subsequent rectification were triggered by his second visit to Beijing in October of the second year of Yongzheng (1724). On the way to Beijing, he asked Commander-in-Chief Fan Shijie and Zhili Governor Li to kneel down to see him off. When I arrived in Beijing, I was greeted by officials below princes in the suburbs. Nian Gengyao passed by safely on horseback without looking. The princes dismounted to meet him, and he just nodded. What's more, in front of Yongzheng, the attitude is very arrogant. "No one is polite." Yongzheng was awarded military service shortly after he entered Beijing in 1920. It is widely rumored that Beijing has accepted Nian Gengyao's request. It is also said that A Ling (a member of the Huangbazi Ginza Group) and others have also listened to the words of Nian. These words greatly hurt Yongzheng's self-esteem. After Nian Gengyao returned to his hometown, he received a letter from Yongzheng, in which there was a passage about the hero's honor: "mortal ministers are easy to achieve, but difficult to achieve;" It is easy to succeed, but it is difficult to keep working; It is easy to keep one's job, but it is difficult to achieve it in the end. ..... If you rely on your strengths, you will turn your back on your kindness and become an enemy. This has always been the case. " In this song "Zhu Yu", Yongzheng changed the tone of praise in the past and warned Nian to be cautious and self-sustaining. Since then, Nian Gengyao's situation has plummeted. The reasons for Nian Gengyao's fall from grace and conviction can be summarized as follows: 1. Making a fool of yourself. Nian Gengyao's arrogance is getting worse and worse. He was arrogant and majestic in official contacts: he presented objects to subordinate officials, "making the North kowtow and thank you"; The official documents sent to governors and generals are parallel official documents, but they are called "orders" and treat the same officials as subordinates; Even Fu Bao, the king of Zasak County, Mongolia, would bow down when he saw him. The imperial guards sent by the imperial court should have been given preferential treatment, but they were locked up as slaves around 2000 to "lead the way back and forth with whips and throw stirrups." According to the system of the Qing Dynasty, when the imperial edict reached the place, the local officials should receive the imperial edict, kneel down and knock on the gift, and beg for holy peace. But the imperial edict of Yongzheng went to Xining twice, but Nian Gengyao "didn't understand the imperial edict". What's more, he once presented Yongzheng with the engraved "Liu Memorial" at his own expense. Yongzheng intends to write his own preface, but he hasn't written it yet. Nian Gengyao drafted an article by himself, asking for Yong Zhengdi's consent. In front of Yongzheng, Nian Gengyao also lost his temper and said, "There is no formal ceremony." Yongzheng is very unhappy. Second, form parties for personal gain. At that time, when selecting civil and military officials, priority was given to officials and soldiers recommended by Nian Gengyao, the so-called "annual election". He also rejected dissidents and appointed private individuals to form a clique headed by him, with officials from Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan as the backbone, including officials from other regions. Tang Shi in Jixian County, written in the novel Legend of Heroes of Children, refers to Nian Gengyao, saying that he is a general of seven provinces. "He has hundreds of soldiers and thousands of troops. He is like a cloud and his counselors are like rain." These are artistic exaggerations, which are quite different from the actual situation, but they also show that Nian Gengyao has great influence. Seeing Nian Gengyao's momentum rising and his power expanding, many people who hung out in officialdom rushed to the door. And Nian Gengyao is also a person who pays attention to cultivating folk forces. Whenever there is a profitable job, he must put his personal cronies. "Dissidents are screened out, and those who are eager to go are recommended to quit." For example, he impeached the governor of Zhili, saying that he was a "poor boy" and "had never been a governor" and recommended his personal Li. Zhao Zhiyuan lost his official position, so he turned to Nian Gengyao and gave him jewelry worth 202,000 yuan. Nian Gengyao took advantage of the opportunity of entering Beijing in the second year of Yongzheng to bring Zhao to Beijing, "pleading to introduce Si Geng" to ensure its availability. General Nian Gengyao was given a blue-and-white calligraphy jar by Ge Daqing, the provincial judge of Jiangsu Province, who was demoted by the Senate in 2000. Then Nian Gengyao promised to "take care of" him in the future. In addition, Nian Gengyao also took the opportunity of joining the army to make his unmarried domestic slaves, Sang Dingcheng and Wei Zhiyao, become the official positions of Zhili Taoist priest and acting lieutenant respectively. Third, greedy for money. Nian Gengyao took bribes and embezzled money and grain, amounting to millions of yuan. In the early years of Yongzheng, it was an important reform measure to rectify bureaucracy and punish corruption and perverting the law. At this juncture, Yongzheng will not let go easily. Yongzheng punished Nian Gengyao step by step. The first step was before and after Nian Gengyao left Beijing in November of the second year of Yongzheng. At this time, Yongzheng had made a decision to attack Nian Gengyao. The Zhu Yu that Nian Gengyao received after he left Beijing was a hint to him. The second step is to say hello to relevant officials. One is Yongzheng's cronies, asking them to draw a clear line with Nian Gengyao and expose the misdeeds of Nian in order to save themselves; Second, people Nian Gengyao doesn't like, let them know that the emperor wants to punish Nian Gengyao and make them stand firm; Third, people with ordinary relations with Nian Gengyao should be vigilant, alienate and get rid of Nian Gengyao, and don't stand on the wrong side. This is for Nian Gengyao's public treatment. The third step is to point the finger directly at Nian Gengyao and pull him out of Xi 'an's lair. In the first month of the third year of Yongzheng (1725), Yongzheng's dissatisfaction with Nian Gengyao began to become public. In 2000, Shaanxi Governor Hu Jiheng was ordered to participate in the performance of Jin Nanying in Shaanxi Post Road. Yongzheng said that this was the practice of appointing private individuals and disorderly forming cronies in 2000, and it was not allowed to play. Nian Gengyao once participated in the killing of Jiang Xingren, the governor of Sichuan who threatened the magistrate, and Cai was dismissed from office. After the trial, he was given a suspended sentence. Nian Gengyao's private Wang Jinghao was appointed Governor of Sichuan. By this time, Yongzheng had made up his mind to attack Nian Gengyao. After Cai Wei was escorted back to Beijing, Yongzheng did not agree to imprison him with the punishments, but specially summoned him. Cai Wei stated that he was framed for his struggle with Nian Gengyao when he was in office, and also played various situations of "greed and violence" in Nian Gengyao. Yongzheng then issued an imperial edict, which read: "Nian Gengyao plays Cai Wei. If he is brought to justice, people will think that I listened to Nian Gengyao before killing him. In this way, Nian Gengyao holds the handle of the court. " Therefore, Yongzheng not only failed to convict Cai Wei, but promoted him to Zuodu suggestion and became an effective tool to deal with Nian Gengyao. In March of the third year of Yongzheng (1725), the so-called "auspicious sign" of "the sun, the moon and the five-star pearl" appeared, and the ministers congratulated them one after another. Nian Gengyao also congratulated Yongzheng on his hard work day and night. However, the handwriting in the table was scrawled, and for an instant, I mistakenly wrote "morning and evening" as "evening morning". Yongzheng seized on this and said that Nian Gengyao was not a careless person. This time, he deliberately ignored the words "admonition in the morning and evening" in my ear. And think that this is his "self-reliance, showing disrespect", so his meritorious military service in Qinghai "is also between my permission and disapproval." Then Yongzheng replaced officials in Sichuan and Shaanxi. First of all, Nian Gengyao's confidant Hu Jiheng was removed from his post, and Tanner, the agent of Sichuan magistrate, was transferred back to Beijing, so that he could not have an accident during his term of office. In April, Nian Gengyao was dismissed from the post of Governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and was ordered to hand over the seal of General Fuyuan and transfer to General Hangzhou. The last step is to order Nian Gengyao to commit suicide. After Nian Gengyao was transferred, officials at home and abroad knew more about the situation and exposed his crimes. In the name of treating courtiers condescendingly, Yongzheng deprived Nian Gengyao of his official position, and in September of that year, he ordered Nian Gengyao to be arrested and sent to Beijing for joint trial. 1February, the court minister presented the trial results to Yongzheng, listed 92 major crimes for Nian Gengyao, and requested the establishment of standardized punishment. The charges are as follows: 5 crimes of disobedience, 9 crimes of bullying, 16 crimes of trespassing, 13 crimes of arrogance, 6 crimes of monopoly, 6 crimes of avoiding engraving, 4 crimes of maltreatment, 18 crimes of greed and 15 crimes of erosion. Yongzheng said that more than 30 of these 92 paragraphs are to be executed and beheaded, but considering Nian Gengyao's achievements and fame, the reputation of "General Nian" is well known throughout the country. If he is punished, I'm afraid the people all over the world will not accept it. He will inevitably bear the notoriety of being ruthless and killing heroes, so he expressed pity and gave him a jail. All the officials in Nian Gengyao's fathers and brothers were dismissed, and the first-in-law descendants sent troops into exile, and their property was copied into the officials. The all-powerful young general was finally discredited.