The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 377: Han officials are untrustworthy
In the Forbidden City, at the Imperial Study, at the General Compilation Office of the Complete Library in the Four Treasures, Ji Yun, with his large pipe, was meticulously proofreading.

This book was proposed by Zhu Yun, the Anhui Provincial Education Commissioner, in the 1772th year of the Qianlong reign (1782). Historically, the basic catalog and first draft were completed in the 1792th year of the Qianlong reign (), and the entire work was completed in the th year of the Qianlong reign ().

How extensive is this collection? Qing history records a total of 3461 books, 79309 volumes; 6793 books, 93551 volumes; and over 3100 books, 67000 volumes, were banned. A total of 13354 books, 239860 volumes.

The so-called records are those that were approved by Emperor Qianlong and that he believed could be passed down to future generations.

The extant catalogues are those that are not wanted to be recorded in the Siku Quanshu, but if they are to be banned, the reason seems too far-fetched and untenable, so they are only archived and not recorded.

As for breaking the ban, that is easy to understand.

Among those that still exist, many have been lost in later generations due to improper storage, and even more are incomplete.

In other words, the old man Qianlong compiled the Siku Quanshu, which collected more than 13,000 books of various types.

However, only more than 3,000 kinds of books were preserved in the Siku Quanshu, and at most no more than 5,000 kinds.

This is truly horrifying. The devastation it has caused to Chinese culture is so devastating that even a science student like Mo Zibu feels his scalp tingling when he learns about it.

If you think this is the limit, you are wrong. This is just the tip of the iceberg, because when collecting various folk book collections.

Qianlong also ordered that all books in the country should be submitted for inspection, and that previous writings involving the Khitan, Jurchen, Mongolian, Liao, Jin and Yuan dynasties should be deleted and revised.

In the end, more than 3,000 banned books, totaling more than 150,000 copies, were confiscated, and a total of more than 700,000 books were burned. The number of banned books destroyed was the same as the number of books collected in the Siku Quanshu.

This bastard deleted almost everything he could find that was even slightly detrimental to the Qing Dynasty's rule.

How big an impact did it cause? The simplest analogy is that it is very likely that more than 30% of the deeds of the Ming Dynasty emperors that later generations saw were false.

Damn it, not only did Emperor Qianlong delete it, he also tampered with it, adding some specious and hard to distinguish true and false things, completely covering up the truth. This is the biggest disaster in the entire Chinese historical community, no doubt about it.

Among them, most of the works and thoughts of late Ming Dynasty thinkers, such as Zhang Huangyan, Huang Daozhou, Lu Liuliang, Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongxi, Qu Dajun, etc., were deleted or revised, and a small part was burned.

Especially for Lü Liuliang and Qu Dajun, more than 90% of their works were burned.

The Qing Dynasty even did not let Qian Qianyi go, so much so that later scholars speculated that it was doubtful whether Qian Qianyi had ever said "My scalp is itchy because the water is too cold."

This is why, even though Cai Xin had served the Qing Dynasty for decades and was considered a half-traitor in the eyes of many people, Emperor Mo was willing to let him go and give his entire family a chance to live.

The Siku Quanshu has only entered its fifth year of compilation, and only about 30% of the work has been completed. It can still be rescued, and it must be rescued.

"Sir Ji, Mr. Cai's family brought some good local wine from Zhangzhou and sent me to invite you to a gathering." Ji Yun was flipping through the vast Ming Shilu to the first few pages when he received Cai Xin's invitation.

Today, Cai Xin is the chief master of the Shangshufang, the co-organizer of the Grand Secretary, the Minister of War, and the chief academic officer of the Imperial College. He can be said to be the top among the Han officials. Ji Yun dared not refuse his invitation.

After passing through a series of palace gates, we arrived at a side hall on the eastern side of the outermost part of the Forbidden City. This place is already outside the palace wall, so it is full of people.

The only surprising thing is that these people are not eunuchs and palace maids, but a large group of scholars.

Because re-copying the Siku Quanshu was a huge project, at its peak, there were nearly 4,000 scribes alone. Although there are not as many now, there are still more than 1,400.

Cai Xin chose this place deliberately because it was crowded and noisy, and it was easy to separate the Manchus who were compiling the Siku Quanshu.

At the same time, twenty years ago, Qianlong abolished the function of the Niangan Office to monitor officials and collect intelligence, and handed these powers over to the Imperial Household Department and missionaries coming to China.

Therefore, the secret service agencies affiliated with the emperor were greatly weakened, which allowed ministers like Cai Xin to do some small things without being known by Emperor Qianlong.

Cai Xin never did this before because it was unnecessary, but now it is very necessary.

Ji Yun followed the scribe to a corner and finally met Cai Xin in a pavilion beside a small lake.

Before Ji Dayanpai had time to greet them, his heart couldn't help but skip a beat, because in addition to Cai Xin and the two officials from Zhangzhou, there was another person here, Yu Minzhong, the favorite of Emperor Qianlong.

But this favorite minister has already had the word "front" added to his title.

After the Gao Yuncong leak case broke out, all the evidence pointed to Yu Minzhong.

Being betrayed by his closest confidant made Qianlong hate Minzhong to the core. If he was not too embarrassed to let the world know that he, the emperor, was being manipulated by his closest confidant, Yu Minzhong would have died eight hundred times already.

"Xiao Lan! How many volumes of the Siku Quanshu have been banned or destroyed?" Cai Xin poured a glass of wine for Ji Yun with a smile, and handed him a plate of fruits and a plate of cakes, but asked something that made Ji Yun confused.

"To Mr. Cai, there is no specific number yet on how many volumes have been destroyed, but it is probably around two thousand volumes." Ji Dayanpai was not lying. There was indeed no specific statistics.

"As the chief editor of these banned books, do you have the manuscripts? How much can you remember?" Cai Xin asked further, and Ji Yun was even more confused.

"The one who broke the ban left almost no manuscripts, but there are some scattered transcriptions. If you give me some time, I should be able to restore half of it."

Although the Siku Quanshu has a lot of presidents, vice presidents, chief reviewers, etc., these are just figureheads to boost their reputation.

The ones who actually do the work are the three chief editors.

Among these three chief editors, Sun Shiyi was urgently sent to Beihe to fight Mo Zibu and was almost killed. He is now assisting Hailancha in Kunming.

Because Lu Xixiong violated the ban and tampered with the numbers, which did not meet Emperor Qianlong's expectations, he was severely punished and transferred to Shenyang, Fengtian. He is trying hard to meet Emperor Qianlong's requirements and make amends.

Therefore, the person currently in the capital who holds the real power of compilation is the only remaining Chief Editor, Ji Yun. Hearing Ji Yun's words, Cai Xin slowly breathed a sigh of relief. Only a little over a thousand volumes had been lost, less than ten percent, which should satisfy the person who brought the letter.

"That's great. Lord Ji, please try to restore the broken parts as much as possible. If anyone breaks the broken parts in the future, please try to keep a copy."

"Ah?" Ji Dayanpipe was stunned. He stared at Cai Xin blankly. After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "Is this the emperor's order? This wasn't the request before."

"Hmph!" Yu Minzhong could no longer hold back and snorted coldly, "Do you think that Master Cai and I are here just to tease you? We're here to save your life!"

After hearing what Yu Minzhong said, Ji Dayanpai was so frightened that his face turned pale and his lips trembled. In an instant, he immediately began to suspect that he had violated the rules again and angered the emperor, and he was about to be beheaded and exiled.

Seeing that Ji Dayanpi was about to piss himself, Cai Xin smiled and pulled him up, "Our Emperor is busy hunting in the Mulan Paddocks in the north, and he won't be able to take care of the affairs of the capital for a while.

Today, it is another Emperor who has come to you to ask for a favor."

Oh shit, this is even scarier. Ji Dayanpai's whole body went limp, his throat gurgled, and his body began to twitch like an epileptic. He looked as scary as he could be.

Cai Xin laughed. Although he was old, his hands and feet were still quite nimble. He pulled out a fruit knife and moved a few fingers. The bright knife light instantly blinded Ji Yun's eyes.

Ji Yun immediately stopped his "epileptic seizure" and looked at Cai Xin's wry smile. He knew clearly in his mind who this "Long live the other one" was. He knew who it was just by thinking about it.

"Mr. Cai, you are going to kill me! You have been receiving salary from the Qing Dynasty for decades. Why would you do this? Why would you do this?"

Cai Xin and Yu Minzhong looked at each other, and the same light appeared in their eyes. No one knew better than Qianlong's confidants what kind of person he was and whether the Qing Dynasty could be saved.

Especially Yu Minzhong, he knew very well that if the war eased a little, he would be shot eight times in the back, or suffer from all kinds of strange illnesses and die.

He guessed correctly. In history, Yu Minzhong was forced by Emperor Qianlong to commit suicide by drinking poison, so he didn't have so many concerns.

"See for yourself, you'll know if it saves your life or not."

Ji Yun glanced at the letter in fear, and beads of sweat fell down. In the letter, Mo Zibu affectionately called him Mr. Ji, and called on him to retain more "witnesses" for Chinese culture, claiming that as long as he tried his best, he would surely be promoted to a high position and have good fortune for his descendants in the future.

"If you refuse to obey, then I can tell you that this Emperor Guangzhong is not made of clay. Dozens of people with yellow and red belts have died at his hands. He is also proficient in lingchi (death by slicing) and dismemberment by five horses.

You are just a small Han official, so it will be even easier for the Xing Tang soldiers to kill you."

"Your subordinate, your subordinate!" Ji Dayanpai was thinking quickly when he suddenly heard a huge explosion in the distance outside. Then even the scribe near the palace wall began to run around in panic.

"Don't be afraid. It's just that the deputy director of the Imperial Observatory, the foreign monk Suo Dechao, was killed in the explosion." Cai Xin said lightly.

Ji Dayanpai was not very courageous to begin with, and he finally burst into tears. He looked at Yu Minzhong and Cai Xin and asked in disbelief:

"Why has it come to this? Why has it come to this? You two are both pillars of the imperial court. The Qing Empire only suffered a defeat at Beihe, yet it still controls the entire empire. Has it really come to this?"

Ji Yun really didn't understand. Cai Xin and Yu Minzhong were not ordinary people. The Qing Dynasty lost a battle, but the situation had reached the point where even these bigwigs had to look for a way out?
Yu Minzhong nodded slowly. If it was just Emperor Qianlong who wanted to force him to death, he might not have reacted so strongly. But seeing that the Qing Dynasty was about to sink and his family was all in Jiangnan, he had to make a choice.

"You are just a scholar, how can you understand the affairs of state? This Beihe defeat cannot be explained by a crushing defeat. This is clearly the Battle of Sarhu, or even the Battle of Songshan, or even the Battle of Feishui.

The Eight Banners' elite soldiers suffered over ten thousand casualties, and the battle was as fierce as the Battle of Tongbo."

"What's more serious is that although Galdan Tseren won the Battle of Hotongpo, the Zunghars still couldn't command the Mongols south of the desert, let alone the Han people in the Central Plains.

Therefore, the late emperor could afford to lose. Even if he lost three or five times, he could still compete with the Junggar tribe.

But this time, Mo Zibu is a descendant of a loyal Ming official, with the vast Nanyang region as his base, and he's highly regarded by the Han people. If he wins, at least the entire South will be shaken." Pan Youwei, the son of General Merchant Pan Qi and the Cabinet Secretary, continued.

“Let Master Ji go down and think about it. Whether to inform on others or to think about it for the sake of future generations is up to you.

I have no intention of living any longer, but if you tell the truth, your whole family will be cut into pieces in the future."

After seeing Ji Dayanpi go down in great fear, Pan Youwei and the minor official from Zhangzhou said together, "Mr. Cai, please come with us."

Cai Xin shook his head. "I can't leave. If I leave, the emperor in the north will go crazy. Then no one can leave. Besides..."

Cai Xin suddenly gnashed his teeth and said, "Ever since I was forced to bear the infamy of not saving my fellow villagers who were killed by the red-haired devils, there is no place for me among us Fujian and Guangdong people.

Nephew Pan, you are young and promising. You will surely become a key official in the new dynasty. I will be counting on you to take care of my descendants."

Yu Minzhong was extremely unwilling, but he could only turn around and look at Pan Youwei, "I never thought that I, Yu Minzhong, who has served the court my entire life, could not even protect my own life.

I have read Mo Guangzhong's two great works and pointed out any omissions and mistakes. I have also written down some suggestions on how to subdue the gentry in Jiangnan. My dear nephew, please take them with you to the south."

Yu Minzhong's face was pale. He really didn't want to die, but there was nothing he could do. It seemed that Qianlong really wanted to kill him.

Pan Youwei nodded along with the Zhangzhou official. They needed to get to Tianjin immediately. Then someone would pick them up and take a ship south.

But they were able to run away because they were just small fry, but bigwigs like Cai Xin and Yu Minzhong couldn't.

And what Cai Xin said was right, there was no place for them in the Xin Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)