Chapter 42 The relationship is very close Bi Yuan

In the officialdom at that time, everyone wanted to cling to Heshen in order to increase his official status.Among them, Bi Yuan was the most successful and proud of the people who depended on the literati's background to rely on Heshen's official career, and even promoted him to be a big official in Xinjiang. Bi Yuan (1730︱1797), courtesy name Heng and nickname Qiufan, was born in Lingyan Mountain, Jiangsu Zhenyang (Taicang).In the eighteenth year of Qianlong's reign (1753), he was awarded the cabinet secretary by Juren, and served as the military aircraft office Zhangjing.In the thirty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign (1770), he won the number one scholar in the cabinet. He was a calendar official, Taoist, political envoy, and governor of Shaanxi. He participated in suppressing the Jinchuan rebellion. Illustrated Records of Scenic Spots in Guanzhong is also included in Siku Quanshu.Because of his participation in the suppression of the Hui uprising in Gansu, he moved to the governor of Henan Province and presided over the management of the Yellow River and Huaihe River.In the fifty-third year of Qianlong (1788), he was promoted to governor of Huguang.Later, because of his participation in the suppression of the Miao people's uprising and the Bailian Sect uprising, he was awarded the title of second-class captain of light vehicles, and died of illness in the army.He is the author of "Lingyan Mountain Humanities Collection" and other handed down.

Bi Yuan was a famous scholar at that time. He was proficient in epigraphy and collation. His works on epigraphy included "Guanzhong Jinshi Ji" and "Zhongzhou Jinshi Ji"; After the new verification", "Xia Xiaozheng Kao Zhu" and so on.The writing of these works is of course dependent on the help of a group of talented staff under the sect, such as Zhang Xuecheng, Sun Xingyan, Hong Liangji and others. When Bi Yuan was working in the Military Aircraft Department, he and his colleagues Zhu Chongguang, Tong Fengsan and others were all candidates.In order to have a better future, all three of them took part in the rite examination in the twenty-fifth year of Qianlong (1760).After the exam, they returned to the Military Aircraft Office to handle official duties as usual.

The night before the test results were released, it was Zhu Chongguang's turn to be on the night shift, but Zhu Chongguang was eager to inquire about the results of the exam, so he said unceremoniously to Bi Yuan: "I need you to do the night shift today."Bi Yuan was puzzled, so he asked: Why?Zhu Zhongguang raised his voice and said: The problem is obvious. To be the number one scholar in calligraphy, you must pass the test.My calligraphy is better than yours. If the rankings are released tomorrow in high school, and there is still hope of winning the imperial examination, you have to prepare early.Your calligraphy is at the middle or lower level. Even if you are on the list tomorrow, do you still want to win the top three?Although Bi Yuan really wanted to take the opportunity to inquire about the news, he felt that Zhu Zhongguang's analysis was reasonable, so he agreed to his request.When he was on duty in the evening, he received a memorial from Huang Tinggui, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu Province, about farming in Xinjiang. Bi Yuan sat idle, so he read the memorial several times with great interest, and he knew the content by heart.

On the second day, the list will be published, and Bi Yuan, Zhu Chongguang, and Tong Feng are all among the tributes.A few days later, they went to the palace examination together.At that time, Xinjiang was initially decided, and Emperor Qianlong was going to set up farming there, so he personally came up with policy issues related to Xinjiang farming.In this regard, ordinary scholars can't figure it out for a long time, but Bi Yuan answered very smoothly because of his confidence, and his writing was very detailed and decent, which was well received by the examiners; ranked fourth. When Emperor Qianlong read the top ten tribute papers, he found that the top three papers were not very satisfactory. When he read the paper of the fourth Bi Yuan, he felt quite appetizing and praised him, so he changed it to the first one. Zhu Chongguang, a native of Yuyao, Zhejiang, who is quite good at calligraphy, came in second.People say that Bi Yuanzhong's champion is a blessing for his loyalty.

Bi Yuan has an elegant and easy-going temperament, thirsty for talents, and there are often famous people around him.Huang Jingren, a famous poet at that time, lived in poverty because he did not want to be an official and was not good at managing money. One day, Bi Yuan read his poem that his house was in the westerly wind, and his clothes were not cut in cold September, and immediately sent someone to send fifty taels of silver.After Huang Jingren died of illness, Bi Yuan contributed money to support his mother, and also compiled and published his poetry collection for him.Wang Zhong, a famous literati whose ancestral home is in Shexian County, had never met Bi Yuan. Once he went to Bi Yuan's yamen, handed the guard a small note, and said he was staying in a certain inn, then turned around and left.The guard presented the note to Bi Yuan, only to see that it said: There is a reason why there is Wang Zhong in the world, and there is no reason why Mr. Wang doesn't know;After reading it, Bi Yuan laughed loudly, and immediately sent someone to send five hundred taels of silver.

When Bi Yuan was the governor of Shaanxi, he passed by a monastery once, and the old monk came out to entertain him warmly, and the conversation was very speculative. Bi Yuan suddenly asked jokingly: How many Amitabha Buddhas are there in a "Lotus Sutra"?The old monk responded calmly: I am an old monk from a ruined temple, and I am very ashamed to have blunt roots.My lord is a Wenqu star in the sky, extraordinary, I don't know how many subtitles there are in a "Four Books"?Bi Yuan couldn't help being taken aback, admiring the old monk's quick thinking and elegant conversation, so he donated money to buy more land for the temple, and also renovated the temple.

Bi Yuan served as governor of Henan, governor of Huguang and other senior officials throughout his life, but he had no outstanding political achievements. "Drafts of Qing History" commented: Yuan started with literature, loved talents as corporals, and cultivated careers. However, he was not good at running the army, and he was easily deceived by subordinate officials, so his fame did not end.A very important reason why he is quite smooth in the officialdom is that he has a relatively close relationship with He Shen.When He Shen entered the Military Aircraft Department, Bi Yuanchu was a local official in Gansu.The two probably met when Heshen went to Gansu to suppress the Hui uprising in the forty-sixth year of Qianlong (1780), and Bi Yuan was appreciated by Heshen.Back then, the Gansu fraudulent relief case had a great impact and dealt with a large number of officials, but Bi Yuan, the governor of Gansu, was unscathed. It was only because the censor Qian Feng pursued him closely that he was finally demoted to stay in office by a third rank. Soon the official was reinstated.It can be seen that the friendship between Bi Yuan and He Shen is extraordinary.

As for the relationship between Bi Yuan and Heshen, there were some disputes at that time, which made the relationship between them more complicated and confusing.Qian Yong's "Lu Yuan Cong Hua" records: When Bi Yuan was the governor of the two lakes, it was Heshen's 40th birthday, so he held a grand birthday celebration.At that time, officials both inside and outside the imperial court sent gifts of coins and silk to congratulate him. Only Bi Yuan wrote ten poems alone, and personally selected some of the best ones from his collection of calligraphy, painting, copper and porcelain as gifts to Heshen.Qian Yong also advised him at that time, saying: The general will include this poem in "Bingshanlu"?Bi Yuan was silent for a long time, and suddenly realized that he would no longer make friends with He Shen.Based on this, later generations said that Bi Yuan had never made friends with He Shen, and even described his subsequent house raids as being burdened by He Shen. In fact, this was not the case in history. Chen Kangqi specifically came out to refute the rumors and said: Bi Yuan’s government loves the ancients and pities talents, Everyone admires him, and his friendship and embarrassment, deterred by power, and his failure to be muddy, are also known to all.This is in line with historical facts.

In the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), after He Shen fell from power, Bi Yuan was held accountable for negligence and delay in the early days of the banditry and misuse of military supplies, and his home was ransacked and he was dismissed from office.Emperor Jiaqing even said: If Bi Yuan is still there, I will definitely decapitate him!It seems that Bi Yuan really annoyed Jiaqing.In fact, it was the friendship between Bi Yuan and He Shen that caused Jiaqing to hate Wu and Wu.