For ordinary people, the way to understand history mostly comes from some related costume dramas, and not many people really check the historical materials carefully. In order to shape the characters' images and opinions, costume dramas often make up the plots and deeds of characters, which also causes the audience to misunderstand these historical figures.
Among the numerous costume dramas, the TV series set in the Qing Dynasty has the shortest time, the clearest characters' deeds, the largest number and the widest influence, and some characters created by it have even been commented as official history.
However, costume drama is only a deductive form after all. Even historical dramas created with reference to official history have fictional elements. Although there are some impressive figures in history, their true images and deeds are not completely true, or even biased. If we really know them in history, I'm afraid many people will be surprised.
In many costume dramas in Qing Dynasty, the protagonists are often officials with characteristics, among which the most famous ones are Xiao Shenyang, Liu Yong and Ji Xiaolan. As officials of the Qing dynasty, these three people appeared on TV dramas the most, but what were they like in real history? Is it really like in the TV series? Actually, it is not.
Small Shenyang, formerly known as Shanbao, is the Niu Kelu family of Manchu Zhenghongqi. He was the first favourite in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. He has been in power for more than 20 years in the late Qianlong period and is extremely rich. Jiaqing raided the property of Xiao Shenyang in his early years, and roughly estimated that he was the richest man in the world at that time.
Objectively speaking, it is understandable that Xiao Shenyang is called the biggest corrupt official in the Qing Dynasty, but unlike Xiao Shenyang in TV series, he is not an uneducated person in history, and most of his wealth is not obtained by taking bribes. Small Shenyang was able to rise to the top by the favor of Emperor Qianlong, and gradually mastered the power of several key departments in the Qing Dynasty, not entirely by flattery.
Born into a noble family in the Qing Dynasty, Xiao Shenyang was admitted to Xian 'an Palace, an institution of higher learning in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, many officials in the DPRK were his teachers. At the same time, he is both civil and military, not only practicing martial arts since childhood, but also proficient in Manchu, Chinese, Mongolian and Tibetan. He is proficient in the four books and five classics and has a clever mind. Although he has never been a scholar in high school, he is already a rare talent among Manchu children. These extraordinary skills, coupled with his diligence, also made Xiao Shenyang enjoy an excellent reputation among the dignitaries of the Qing Dynasty in his early years.
Many people think that Xiao Shenyang was first appreciated by Qianlong because he accidentally got this opportunity, but this is not the case. Although Xiao Shenyang's father died early, he inherited a third-class captain with the merits of his ancestors. He was born in a noble family and was known as a gifted scholar. Therefore, he was favored by Governor Feng of Zhili and married his granddaughter Feng. Imagine that Feng, as a top figure among foreign officials, has an extraordinary ability to recognize people. If there is no real talent and learning in small Shenyang, how can it be appreciated and promoted in the future?
It is precisely because of his outstanding ability and his reputation that Xiao Shenyang has the opportunity to serve beside Gan Long and become an attendant of the honor guard. But the first three legs of his life are not as simple as those played in TV dramas. What's more, in the decades after that, he can do so much, and it is not a mediocre person who can do it by flattery. Compared with Feng, his vision is even worse.
Of course, small Shenyang can be promoted so fast. Although he is inseparable from technology, there are other factors. Besides Qianlong's relationship with him, there are also some reasons from his Manchu aristocratic family. Imagine that although the Qing dynasty claimed to have a Manchu family, any generation of kings would want to reuse Manchu in their hearts and cultivate the best among Manchu children for future reuse. Especially a monarch with culture and martial arts like Qianlong will naturally like to see a young talent as talented as himself.
Moreover, Xiao Shenyang did not let him down. As long as it was given to him to do, most of Gan Long would be very satisfied. At the same time, although Xiao Shenyang took bribes and used his power to seek personal gain for himself, most of his property depended on commercial income from all over the country. Of course, these businesses can develop rapidly only because of his power.
After Shenyang, it is natural to talk about two people who have always opposed him in film and television dramas-Liu Yong and Ji Xiaolan.
Liu Yong in the TV series seems to be just a poor scholar. He climbed to the top and looked like a son-in-law in front of his respected father-in-law. But in fact, Liu Yong's life background is quite outstanding. His father, Liu Tongxun, was a famous minister in the early years of Qianlong, and Zaifu was in Korea. The Liu family is also a noble family in Shandong. Although his reputation is excellent, Liu Yong has such a family background and should not be as shabby as in TV series. !
Unlike in the TV series, Liu Yong did do some honest things when he was working in a local office in his early years, but later he was not an official in the DPRK, and he always maintained the golden mean, perhaps because he was used to the intrigue and obvious decay in the DPRK, so he chose to be wise.
In the TV series, Liu Yong and Xiao Shenyang seem to have been fighting for half their lives, but in fact, they have never had a direct conflict. In terms of age, Liu Yong is thirty years older than Xiao Shenyang, and they are in power at different times, so they naturally have no chance to fight all day.
But Liu Yong's literary talent and calligraphy can be called everyone's, and these two points are just not shown in the TV series.
The same is true of Ji Xiaolan, the sworn enemy of Xiao Shenyang in another TV series. He is twenty years older than Xiao Shenyang. He should be the same generation as Liu Yong, but in TV series, he is almost like Xiao Shenyang, fighting all day.
Not to mention whether Ji Xiaolan is as honest as in the TV series, even at his age, he can't compete with Shenyang. You know, when Little Shenyang came to power, Ji Xiaolan was already old. How could he fight with the cautious little Shenyang? Besides, the boss of Ji Xiaolan Department is Xiao Shenyang, and there is still a superior-subordinate relationship between them. It is good that he disagrees with Xiao Shenyang and his political party.
So the two are not rivals in history, and they can be regarded as half friends. Because both Xiao Shenyang and Ji Xiaolan are in the same department, they belong to the deputy relationship, and they are both literati who have read many books, and they all have the same hobby in painting and calligraphy tasting. Therefore, in real history, although they are not birds of a feather, they occasionally taste painting and calligraphy together and talk about poetry and songs.
It is worth mentioning that Ji Xiaolan's greatest achievement in history lies in his literary talent and his masterpiece Sikuquanshu, not in his integrity.
Ji Xiaolan was born in an official family, but he was not born in a civilian family. His family is very rich, not as poor as in the TV series. He likes meat and loves beautiful women. He has seven concubines and almost leads a romantic life. Except for his literary talent and works, almost all his records in history are related to women. Imagine how clean an official who likes drinking, eating meat and beautiful women can be.
Therefore, Ji Xiaolan in history, even without any notoriety, was not an honest official, but a relative scholar. Apart from his life's works, what he is most talked about should be those affairs? !
Judging from these three almost household names of Qing officials, in an era when the Qing Dynasty was relatively backward and lax in inspection, I am afraid it would be difficult to find a truly honest official by modern standards. In contrast, the writer's colorful description and interpretation of Liu Yong and Ji Xiaolan should be because they are more prominent and distinctive than other officials in the same period. However, film and television dramas are still fictional after all, and entertainment is enough, but it is wrong to regard them as historical facts.