Revealing the secret of Ji Xiaolan in history

When it comes to Ji Xiaolan, everyone is familiar with it. The Zhang Guoli version of Ji Xiaolan in the TV series "Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth Ji Xiaolan" left a deep impression on us: suave, funny, humorous, witty, brave, and often Fight against corrupt officials in front of Emperor Qianlong. Notes from Qing Dynasty people of the same era as Ji Xiaolan or slightly later tell us that Ji Xiaolan in history was even more handsome and handsome than Zhang Guoli's version of Ji Xiaolan. So, what is Ji Xiaolan’s true image? What is the relationship between Ji Xiaolan and Emperor Qianlong? It may surprise people to say it: Emperor Qianlong doesn’t like Ji Xiaolan very much!

Han ministers who can please Emperor Qianlong There are two categories: one is handsome, well-groomed, and knowledgeable, such as Wang Jie and Dong Gao; the second category is those who have been senior officials of the Qing Dynasty for generations, such as Liu Yong. Although he does not look very good and has a bit of a hunchback, But he met the second condition! Unfortunately, Ji Xiaolan did not meet the requirements of Emperor Qianlong at all: he was neither handsome nor well-groomed, and his family did not belong to the family that had been officials for generations.

Someone asked: No, isn’t Ji Xiaolan a very handsome person? What, is there a problem? There are indeed some problems.

There have always been two different opinions about what Ji Xiaolan looks like in history: one theory is that Ji Xiaolan is suave, talented, and humorous; the second theory is that Ji Xiaolan is ugly, Myopia, stuttering... which statement is closer to the historical truth?

The typical historical data that can prove that Ji Xiaolan was suave, talented, and humorous is a man named Jiang Fan in the Qing Dynasty. Author of the book "The Inheritance of Sinological Teachers in the Kingdom of China". The sixth volume of "Guochao Sinology Master Cheng Ji" records that Ji Yun was frank and had a funny nature... Suddenly, when he heard his words, they were almost humorous. After thinking about it, he was a famous quote. In addition, we also found a poem written by Hong Liangji. Hong Liangji also praised Ji Xiaolan in his "Twelve Poems of Continued Huai Ren" by Shangshu Yun.

These two paragraphs of research are in line with the principle of first-hand materials and independent evidence. At this point, can we say that Ji Xiaolan is really suave, talented, and humorous?

Wait, have you noticed? Jiang Fan and Hong Liangji have two characteristics in common: first, they are twenty or thirty years younger than Ji Xiaolan; second, they often When they came into contact with Ji Xiaolan, they were all Ji Xiaolan's subordinates at the time. Therefore, let's analyze it carefully and see if there is still this possibility: they lied while respecting Ji Xiaolan very much, or they flattered Ji Xiaolan. For historians, it is a taboo for celebrities.

I wonder if you have noticed that the materials written by these two people only mentioned that Ji Xiaolan was suave and humorous, but did not mention Ji Xiaolan’s talent!

According to other historical records According to textual research by textual experts, the real Ji Xiaolan has three major flaws:

First, Ji Xiaolan is ugly. According to research by Mr. Deng Zhicheng, an expert on Qing history, Ji Xiaolan was ugly. The so-called ugly means ugly appearance. Some people in unofficial history said that Ji Xiaolan was a fat black man.

Second, Ji Xiaolan is short-sighted. This starts with the case of Hai Sheng beating his wife Wu Yashi to death recorded in "Donghua Xulu". In the fiftieth year of Qianlong's reign (1785), Haisheng, the in-law of Agui, a scholar, beat his wife Wu Yashi to death and falsely claimed that Wu Yashi had hanged herself. Emperor Qianlong sent Ji Xiaolan, the imperial censor of Zuodu, to conduct a reexamination, which proved that he had indeed hanged himself. Wu Yashi's younger brother Guining refused to accept it and appealed. Later, Emperor Qianlong sent Agui and Hehui to investigate with police from the Ministry of Punishment. They found that there were no signs of hanging on the body. As a result, Agui was fined for five years and dismissed from his post. As for Ji Xiaolan, Emperor Qianlong said that Ji Yun was a useless and rotten scholar, so he was not enough to give a specific number. Kuang Yi was not familiar with the criminal incident and was short-sighted. He failed to read it in detail during the inspection. Strict discussion has actually justified it. Here Emperor Qianlong said that Ji Xiaolan was short-sighted, and short-sightedness is what we call myopia today.

This material comes from the emperor's imperial edict, so it can be judged to be true and trustworthy!

Third, stuttering. Ji Xiaolan actually stuttered, which was not mentioned in various biographies. Only his good friend Zhu Zhu, who had known him for decades and was once the master of Emperor Jiaqing, wrote frankly about this matter twice in his "Sequel to Zhizuzhai Poems". One of the poems recorded here is as follows: Zongbo Hejianxiu, who stuttered and was good at writing books. Immersed in "Siku", there are more than ten thousand volumes of "Summary". Up and down for hundreds of generations, the vast wealth weighs the baht... Eat meat but not millet, the pure and turbid are in the same bowl. Those who are not true Buddhas will not be saved, but they will hesitate based on your will.

Therefore, should we believe Mr. Deng Zhicheng’s judgment that Ji Xiaolan has the three major shortcomings of being ugly, short-sighted, and stuttering?

But wait, this view cannot be completely established. !

Because, according to the rules, the selection of officials in feudal society has four criteria: body, speech, writing, and judgment.

Among these four standards, body is the first and words are the second. Since Ji Xiaolan can be selected and appointed as an official, he must be qualified in the four aspects of body, speech, writing and judgment. It must have passed the assessment of physical appearance and speaking ability. In other words, Ji Xiaolan's appearance may have some flaws, but at least it's not so ugly that it can't be seen.

So, what should Ji Xiaolan’s appearance look like? In my opinion, Ji Xiaolan’s appearance and personal daily life have the following characteristics:

First, Ji Xiaolan’s appearance Generally speaking, compared with He, Wang Jie, Dong Gao, Fu Chang'an and others, he is not very handsome. Among the ministers around Emperor Qianlong, he should be considered relatively unattractive. If we realize that there are many handsome men around Emperor Qianlong, it is not difficult to understand why people say Ji Xiaolan is ugly.

Second, Ji Xiaolan does have some stuttering problems, but it is not serious. Otherwise, Liu Tongxun, as the examiner, would not dare to admit Ji Xiaolan.

Thirdly, Ji Xiaolan's myopia should be true. This is related to his not paying attention to his posture when reading and his lack of physical exercise. However, at that time, for a learned person like Ji Xiaolan, being short-sighted was not a big flaw!

He was not very handsome, had some short-sightedness, and had a stutter. Can such a person be liked by Emperor Qianlong, who always likes to have handsome and unrestrained men around him?

Ji Xiaolan's inconspicuous flaws were artificially magnified in the eyes of Emperor Qianlong. Emperor Qianlong was used to seeing beautiful people, and now in his eyes, Ji Xiaolan was simply too ugly! He would not like such a person. Unless he must use this person, it's better not to be around me!

Because his appearance did not meet the requirements of Emperor Qianlong, he was not reused, which caused Ji Xiaolan to be a bit extreme, mean, and sarcastic in his dealings with others. More than humorous, he will often find ways and take advantage of every opportunity to be sarcastic and satirical to others to vent his depression and dissatisfaction! In vernacular, Ji Xiaolan has a somewhat bad mouth and often curses without using curse words.

The Qing Dynasty scholar Niu Yingzhi's book "Yuchangxiaoyilu" records that Wenda Gongyun was fond of humor, and many court officials were insulted; the Qing Dynasty scholar Qian Yong's book "Luyuan Conghua" It is said in the book that the Prime Minister of Xian County is good and humorous, and everyone knows it. The insults and jokes here are not to praise Ji Xiaolan's eloquence. Ji Xiaolan is good at playing pairs. There are often some sarcastic remarks about his colleagues in his pairs. For example, Qian Yong recorded the following incident in "Lv Yuan Cong Hua":

Once, there was a fire at the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry in Beijing, and Qianlong ordered Chief Sikong Jin Jian to summon migrant workers to rebuild. An official in the court was bored, so he wrote a couplet based on this incident: There was a fire in the Ministry of Water, and Jin Sikong started a lot of construction. Since this sentence contains the five elements of water, fire, metal, earth, and wood, no one could match the second couplet for a long time. At that time, there was a burly-looking Zhongshu Ke in the court who always showed off that he was a native of the South and the Prime Minister of the North. He also loved the couple, but he thought about it, but he could never come up with the second couplet. So he asked Ji Xiaolan for help and asked Ji Xiaolan to help him think about it. Ji Xiaolan smiled and said: It's not difficult to answer this sentence, but I'm just afraid that it will be harmful to my husband if I say it.

Zhongshuke said eagerly: Ah, it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s right! Ji Xiaolan then said to him: People from the south are from the north, what is Zhongshuke! Ji Xiaolan used the five directions of south, north, middle, east and west. , which is very suitable when compared with the five elements of water, fire, metal, earth, and wood, but when put together, it becomes a curse word.

Another example is a joke we all know: one day when the court was over, a eunuch wanted to hear Ji Xiaolan tell a joke. Ji Xiaolan pretended to be thoughtful for a long time and said: Once upon a time, there was an eunuch... half-said. I won’t say any more sentences. The eunuch waited for a long time and then asked: How about the bottom? Ji Xiaolan replied: There is nothing down there. Anyone who hears it will be stunned.

In my opinion, Ji Xiaolan's extreme and mean attitude in dealing with others was also one of the reasons why Emperor Qianlong disliked him.

Most successful people who are not handsome in appearance are a little self-admired. The reason is that these people are not easy to attract the attention of others. If they do not encourage themselves from time to time, it will be difficult to achieve success. Ji Xiaolan is a bit self-admiring. One of her manifestations is to show off herself, and the other is to look down on others and act extreme and mean in dealing with others.

One time when Ji Xiaolan entered the South Study Room, an old eunuch who had heard of Ji Xiaolan for a long time came to see him. He saw Ji Xiaolan wearing a leather robe and holding a folding fan according to the custom of literati at that time. The old eunuch asked a question: Little Hanlin, wearing winter clothes and holding a summer fan. Have you ever read the Spring and Autumn Period? This couplet cleverly combines the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and it also contains a hint of ridicule of Ji Xiaolan's dress, which is very difficult to answer. . Unexpectedly, Ji Xiaolan responded easily: The old manager was born in the south and came to the north. Is that thing still there? This matter was quickly spread as a joke. Here Ji Xiaolan openly makes fun of the eunuch's physical defects, which is a bit unkind.

Another one is about when Ji Xiaolan was the minister of the Ministry of Rites, one day the minister and the censor came to visit together. A few people were chatting, and suddenly a dog ran outside. This dog also had a name, Si'er. Seeing this dog, Shangshu suddenly had a plan in mind, and wanted to make fun of Ji Xiaolan, so he said: Hey, do you think that is a wolf or a dog (the minister is a dog)? Ji Xiaolan knew that Shangshu was teasing him, so he said calmly: There are two ways to tell if it's a dog or a wolf. One is to look at its tail. The one with a drooping tail is a wolf, and the one with an upright tail is a dog (Shang Shu is a dog).

The censor on the side laughed and said: Haha, I thought it was a wolf or a dog. It turns out that the vertical line is a dog, haha, haha.

Ji Xiaolan continued calmly: Another way to tell is to see what it eats. Wolves will not eat anything other than meat, while dogs will eat meat when they encounter it, and eat feces when they encounter feces (the censor eats feces).

Even the censor was silent now.

Those involved who were ridiculed by Ji Xiaolan must be dissatisfied with Ji Xiaolan in their hearts. Once they have the opportunity, they will stumble in front of the emperor and speak ill of Ji Xiaolan. Over time, the emperor would naturally not have a good impression of Ji Xiaolan and would unconsciously alienate him.

Some people may be curious: Will there be peace among the many people who were annoyed by Ji Xiaolan? In the thirty-third year of Qianlong (1768), when Ji Xiaolan offended the ministers and was sent to Xinjiang by Emperor Qianlong, He is only eighteen years old and has not yet become an official. He has not yet joined the work force. He was born in the fifteenth year of Qianlong's reign (1750), twenty-six years younger than Ji Xiaolan7. Ji Xiaolan was only four years old when he was admitted to Jinshi in the 19th year of Qianlong's reign (1754). At that time, there would be no conflict between the two.

Ji Xiaolan has been very smart since she was a child and is known as a child prodigy. Ji Xiaolan's grandfather, Ji Runsheng, was a minor official in the Qing Dynasty, reaching the rank of Jiangsu Division Chief of the Ministry of Justice; his father, Ji Rongshu, was a civil servant in the 52nd year of Kangxi (1713), but he did not become a big official. He once served as the prefect of Yao'an, Yunnan. In addition, he was also a literary scholar. A celebrity who has written some books. It can be seen from this that Ji Xiaolan's family does not have any special background, and he is considered to be from a humble background among the officials who share the same throne with him. To a certain extent, it can also be said that Ji Xiaolan is a child from an ordinary family. However, Ji Xiaolan grew up in such a family and received some literary influence, and showed his talent when he was young.

There are many folk stories about Ji Xiaolan’s talent as a boy. It is said that Ji Xiaolan was playing ball with his companions on the street one day, when the prefect of Hejian passed by, and the ball was mistakenly thrown into the prefect's official sedan. The other children had already fled in all directions, but Ji Xiaolan actually stepped forward to stop the sedan from roping the ball. Seeing how naive he was, the prefect said: I have a couplet. If you can match up, I will return the ball to you. Otherwise, the ball will belong to me. Ji Xiaolan agreed. The prefect wrote a couplet: There are six or seven boys, but you are the only one who is cunning. Ji Xiaolan replied without hesitation: The prefect has two thousand stones, Du Gong... Ji Xiaolan swallowed the last word and hesitated to say it. The prefect asked: Why didn't you say the last word? Ji Xiaolan replied: If the prefect returns the ball to me, you are honest; if you don't return the ball, you are greedy. The prefect couldn't help laughing when he heard this, and naturally returned the ball to Ji Xiaolan.