Chapter 77 control education and exams

Heshen's tentacles are so wide that he even controls the state's education and examination power.He successively served as a teacher, a lecturer of Jingyan, and a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.He took advantage of this convenience to control the selection power of some officials. In the 60th year of Qianlong (1795), Dou Guangnai, the censor of Zuodu, served as the chief examiner.When the list was released, it was discovered that the first and second place were actually brothers Wang Yifu and Wang Yilian, Juren from Zhejiang.As for Dou Guangnai, who had served as a student in Zhejiang for many years, He Shen thought that he must have favored his students and tampered with the exams, otherwise it would have been such a coincidence.So he begged Emperor Qianlong to send Ji Xiaolan to take the re-examination with him, and took the opportunity to set up a big prison to pour out his sins. On the day of the re-examination, the guards went around to inspect it. Participate in the imperial examination.Later, among the ten palace examination papers that the emperor read, Wang Yilian still ranked first!

Qianlong felt very strange, even He Shen and the ministers looked at each other in blank dismay, so he said in a memorial: All the ministers who reviewed the papers this time were impartial and serious, and there was no selfish disadvantage. If there is any inappropriateness, why not change it?Emperor Qianlong said: "If this is the case, then the brothers of the other will be named jointly, or it may happen by chance, and there will be no fate between the top and bottom of the division; it is beyond human's will, why should it be easy to set!"And if it is dismantled and sealed and then easily placed, it will be unfair.This could be considered a coincidence, so the case was finalized, and Dou Guangnai and others were spared the bad luck of being dismissed or handed over to the Ministry of Criminal Justice.

Since Heshen often presides over the general and palace examinations, he already knows Qianlong's habit of setting questions well, and he can often make a good guess.So he often bets on the questions, and often hits the mark with one bet.Therefore, He Shen often told the students who paid for the questions that he won, so many people passed the exam. On November 21st, the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong (1791), Emperor Qianlong ordered the "Thirteen Classics" compiled by Jiang Heng, a Confucian scholar from the south of the Yangtze River, to be inscribed in Taixue. Jie was the president, Dong Gao, Liu Yong, Jin Jian, and Peng Yuanrui were the vice presidents, and Jin Shisong, Shen Chu, Ruan Yuan, Hu Tuli, and Na Yancheng accompanied him in the review.Emperor Qianlong stated in his edict:

Since the Han, Tang and Song Dynasties, there have been inscriptions that are not scriptures, so the examination of the scriptures of the sages and sages, so that the words can be unified, benefiting the art forest, showing the glory, and it is very grand.But over the years, many steles have been incomplete, and some stones have been handed down from time to time. For example, it was published during the Kaicheng Shaoxing period, and it is still stored by scholars in Xi'an, Hangzhou and other prefectures, and none of them are complete.In my dynasty, Wenzhi Guangchang, respect Confucianism and Taoism.I have been in the imperial court for more than 50 years, and I have worked tirelessly to collect ancient records. I once specially ordered the department to create Piyong Yiguang culture and education, and rearrange the stone drum texts. I live in Zhenmin.However, although the Thirteen Classics are published in the Hall of Martial Arts, they have not been reprinted. Because of Jiang Heng's handwriting of the Thirteen Classics, he ordered the inner court Hanlin to review the mistakes and falsehoods in detail. The version, listed in Taixue, is used forever.

This stone inscription triggered an interesting story.At that time, Heshen and Peng Yuanrui were mainly in charge of this matter. Peng Yuanrui was affirmed by Emperor Qianlong for his merits and contributions, and was rewarded with satin and ink, while Heshen, who was also in charge, did not do any specific work. Didn't get any rewards, since He Shen was favored, where has he been so useless?He attacked Peng Yuanrui's "Summary of the Textual Research of the Emperor Qianlong's Dingshi Jing" on the grounds that he was not the son of heaven and did not take the text examination, and asked people to make a "Summary of the Textual Examination". Qianlong did not agree with this.He Shen still couldn't swallow this breath, so he sent someone to dig up all the ancient characters changed by Peng Yuanrui.Yao Yuanzhi of the Qing Dynasty recorded this in Volume 4 of "Miscellaneous Notes on the Bamboo Leaf Pavilion":

The one hundred and ninety monuments of the Taixue Stone Classics were written by Jiang Heng, a humble old man in the south of the Yangtze River. The stone was built in the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong.First, in the fifty-sixth year, Gaomiao wanted to learn the stone scriptures in Taixue, and at the beginning he ordered Peng Wenle Rui to be the school master, and Jin Sikong Jian to be the teacher.In the fifty-ninth year (should be the fifty-sixth year), Gaomiao opened a summer resort, and Wenqin did not follow the retinue. He was ordered to bring pens and inkstones to the Qianqing Palace every morning to search all the abandoned Song Dynasty books in the school, and Jin Sikong prepared food.Because Wenle was able to observe the rare book in the world, and to study its similarities and differences, he wrote a book called "Summary of Textual Research on Emperor Qianlong's Dingshi Jing".All Jiang's books that are not in line with the ancients must be corrected.After the stele was completed, Wen Qinzuo said: "The stone scriptures will be taught to all generations, and only the minister and the Jin Jian will be ranked second. The minister has not learned it, and the gold is also a Korean. I am afraid that it is not enough to win the trust."Yinjia sent Hexiang Guoshen and Wang Wenduanjie as the president, Dong Wengong, Liu Wenqingyong, Jin Sikong, and Peng Wenqin as the deputy, and Jin Sikong Shisong, Shen Sinongchu, Ruan Zhijunyuan, Hu Dazai Tuli, and Na Dazai Yancheng accompanied the editorial review At that time, Duwen was frequently invited to the palace title, and ordered to imitate the examples of "Five Classics" and "Nine Classics", and each scripture will be followed by "Abstracts of Kaowen".He Xiangguo was jealous, and he slandered the "Summary" for being bad, and said that if he was not the emperor, he would not test the text, and it was a felony to discuss the text.Gaomiao (temple name of Emperor Qianlong) said: Peng Yuanrui added the "Qianlong Yuding Stone Classic" to it, so why is it a private book?If the reconciliation fails, people will make "Kaowen Abstracts and Juzheng", which is divided into three categories: exegesis, radicals, and harmonic sounds, thinking that they can make progress by doing it themselves.Most of Wen Zi's "Summary" does not conform to the original version and is not convenient for scholars. Please prohibit it from being destroyed, and order Peng Mou not to keep it privately.Gao Miao sighed and said: "It's okay to leave it as a point of litigation for future generations."The thing is to sleep.He Naimi ordered people to dig out the inscriptions on the stele from the ancients overnight, and Wen Qin's "Summary of Textual Research" was not published.In the eighth year of Jiaqing, Wen Qinzuo asked for a detailed inspection, and Renzong ordered Dong Wengong, Ji Wenda, Zhu Wenzheng, Dai Wenduan, and Zai Nazuka to check it, but only slightly repaired the sloppy and missing paintings on the stele.Ruan Zhijun's visit to Zhejiang Province also began with the "Summary of Textual Research" published by Xu Jinshi, a member of the family, in Shaojing.The summary is a collection of good people of Song Dynasty.In the second year of Jiaqing, the Qianqing Palace was destroyed by fire, and the Song and Song manuscripts were all ashes. Now we borrow the book to preserve the general idea. Don't you believe it?

It can be seen from this that He Shen firmly controlled the power of education and examinations at that time, how domineering and arbitrarily he had reached!