"Dream of Red Mansions" is a great treasure of mainland classical literature, and its author depicts the fate of many female figures by describing the prosperity and decline of Jiafu, which is very emotional, and still attracts many "red scholars" to study and discuss.
Although the novel was written by Cao Xueqin, in fact, the prosperity and decline of Jiafu was experienced by himself, so many "red scholars" will sigh: "Dream of Red Mansions" is simply Cao Lao's "autobiography"!
His family, the Cao family, was deeply favored by the emperor in the Kangxi Dynasty, but in the Yongzheng Dynasty, they ended up stealing the family, how did the Cao family offend Yongzheng?
Kangxi's preference
The Cao family was originally Han Chinese, and their ancestors were generals in the late Ming Dynasty, but with the successive victories of Nurhachi's army, the Cao family surrendered and became prisoners.
He successively became a slave on the Huang Taiji and Dolgon Mansions, and his identity also changed from the Han to the white flag.
Later, Emperor Shunzhi commanded the white chess, and the Cao family became a slave in the palace and began to serve the royal family.
Cao Xi's wife Sun was fortunate to be selected by Emperor Shunzhi as Kangxi's nurse at that time, and Kangxi, who lacked parental affection since childhood, naturally had deep feelings for this nurse who took care of herself.
After Kangxi ascended the throne, his nurse's husband Cao Xi naturally got his reuse and appointed him to weave for Jiangning.
Although this official position is not of high grade, it has great power, full of importance, and a lot of oil and water. Not to mention Cao Xi's son Cao Yin, he grew up with Emperor Kangxi, and the friendship between the two goes without saying.
Therefore, after Cao Xi's death, Kangxi ordered Cao Yin to take over his father's position, succeed Jiangning Weaving, and promoted him to the minister of Sanpin. In order to elevate the status of the Cao family, Kangxi also sent Cao Yin
The daughter was pointed out to the Manchurian nobles as a princess.
Later, Kangxi's four southern tours were all taken over by the Cao family, and in order to take over, the Cao family was extremely luxurious, spent a lot of money, and owed a lot of money to the treasury. For this reason, many people impeached Cao Yin, but Kangxi knew where the money went, so he helped Cao Yin cover up the past.
Especially when Cao Yin was sick at that time, Kangxi directly told him that it was more important to recuperate, which shows that Kangxi favored him.
Just after doing Jiangning weaving, Cao Yin borrowed money from Kangxi to do business, Kangxi approved it without saying a word, even if Cao Yin lost all the money later, he didn't blame him, and helped him erase the money.
is so pampered, the Cao family can be described as the first person. After Cao Yin's death, Kangxi directly asked his son Cao Hao to succeed him, but Cao Hao died within two years, which made Kangxi extremely sad.
In order to allow Cao Yin to have an heir, Kangxi passed his younger brother's son Cao Fu to Cao Yin's name. Cao Yin was full of praise for his nephew before, and Kangxi was also very satisfied with his article, so Cao Fu continued to serve as the Jiangning Weaving Bureau.
However, Cao Fu is really not a business material, although Cao Yin and Cao Hao are not very proficient in this area, but they have to repay the sum of money owed to the treasury at the beginning, of course, after Kangxi's "release of water".
However, soon after Cao Fu took office, he owed a lot of money to the state treasury, and the Cao family had already begun to decline.
Yongzheng's liquidation
After Kangxi died and Yongzheng ascended the throne, the Cao family fell into an embarrassing situation, and was finally confiscated by Yongzheng and completely decayed. The reasons for this are multiple and complex.
First of all, it is related to the seizure of succession, during the Kangxi period, the Cao family was favored, and naturally supported Emperor Kangxi wholeheartedly, and under his instructions, he walked closer to the crown prince Yinren. However, seeing that the crown prince was deposed, the Cao family naturally wanted to find another backer besides Kangxi.
At that time, the court and China were basically divided into two factions, those who supported the fourth and the eighth, in comparison, the eight had more supporters, and it seemed that they had a better chance of winning, so the Cao family also began to get close to the eight princes and provide them with money to help.
This naturally aroused Yongzheng's dissatisfaction, and at this time he regarded the Cao family as a thorn in his side. Later, Yongzheng won the throne, and Yongzheng's side began to liquidate Lao Ba's henchmen, and the Cao family was completely panicked.
Sure enough, soon it was their turn, Yongzheng found out that the Cao family owed a large amount of money to the treasury, so he decided to raid the house, fortunately, the old thirteen interceded for him, and then thought of Kangxi, Yongzheng gave the Cao family a three-year period.
In addition, Yongzheng can't get used to another point of the Cao family, that is, it is too extravagant. Although they were received by the first emperor Kangxi during his southern tour, and spent a lot of money for this, Yongzheng felt that the Cao family must have embezzled a lot.
After Yongzheng ascended the throne, in order to fill the treasury and practice frugality, the people below naturally followed his requirements. But the Cao family was as extravagant as ever, and it hit Yongzheng's muzzle directly.
Not only that, but the Cao family is also very bold, perhaps Kangxi gave them "courage" to dare to harass the post station and ask for bribes. You must know that the post station is extremely important, and it is an important node for the imperial court to obtain information.
The Cao family's behavior was obviously a contempt for the law, so Yongzheng ordered Cao Fu to be arrested after receiving the participation.
This is not the end, Yongzheng gave the Cao family a three-year period, but he didn't expect the Cao family to see that they couldn't pay the arrears, so they quietly transferred the property in the house, thinking of leaving a way back for themselves. But how could these little actions of theirs be hidden from Yongzheng's eyes.
After learning of his behavior, Yongzheng ordered his thirteenth brother to copy the Cao family without saying a word, and since then, the Cao family, which was once prominent in the Kangxi Dynasty, has completely declined.
And Yongzheng also found out at this time that the Cao family didn't have much property at all, which was far less than what they owed to the treasury.
At this time, the Cao family is an empty shell, which shows the Cao family's inaction over the years.
Emperor Kangxi gave them such good resources, and the Cao family didn't know how to serve the court well, so they only cared about greedy pleasure, and in the end they could only end up in decline.
Fortunately, Yongzheng looked at Kangxi's face and left the ancestral house of the capital to the Cao family, but there were so many debts that the descendants of the Cao family could only live in disgrace, Cao Xueqin was one of them, and "Dream of Red Mansions" was created in such a background.
Looking at the changes in the Cao family, from a slave to a favored minister to a raided house, this experience can be described as ups and downs. The prosperity of the Cao family is based on Kangxi's favor, and this prosperity is like a castle in the air, which is unrealistic.
If the descendants of the Cao family can seize this opportunity and improve themselves, then the prosperity of the Cao family can continue to be maintained.
But the Cao family didn't realize the essence, but just tried to maintain the favor of Emperor Kangxi, did not want to forge ahead, and immersed in glory and wealth and could not get out.
When faced with the doer Emperor Yongzheng, they became the moths of the country and must be eliminated quickly. Therefore, the Cao family's experience is caused by themselves, just like Jia Baoyu in "Dream of Red Mansions", who does not work the imperial examination, but only immerses himself in the warm fragrant nephrite.
With such descendants, the glory of Jiafu will inevitably not be sustainable. Presumably, Cao Xueqin also saw through the truth of her own decay, so she created the famous book "Dream of Red Mansions".
Source: China National Knowledge Network "From the Family History and Family Affairs to See the Sudden Changes in Cao Xueqin's Family" Fan Bin