Starting from a county magistrate in a poor place, he was promoted step by step to a government official that the emperor relied on. Yu Chenglong's legendary story depends not on his birth and adventures, but on his harsh honesty and self-discipline, which made him stand out in the Qing Dynasty where corruption was prevalent.
Yu Chenglong (1617-1684) was born in Yongning prefecture (now fangshan county, Shanxi) in Qing dynasty.
Yu Chenglong's starting point as an official is quite low. In the 12th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1639), after having obtained the provincial examination, he joined Taiyuan, the provincial capital, and the result was unknown, so he barely got an assistant champion (meaning that he failed in the exam, but his grades were acceptable, and the selected students could be sent to imperial academy to study). In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the situation was turbulent. Yu Chenglong studied in seclusion in ankokuji outside Yongning for six years, and then went to Lisan College in Taiyuan for four years. He is very ambitious. He once wrote a poem "cockscomb flower" to borrow things: "graceful and graceful platform is bare, the wind and frost are not cold." To know Asahi and sing Asahi, Fusang admired Lan Hai 'an. "
Yu Chenglong learned a lot by studying hard, but unfortunately the level of stereotyped writing didn't improve much. During this period, the Ming Dynasty perished and the Qing army entered the customs. In the second year of Shunzhi (1645), Regent Dourgen of Qing Dynasty approved the imperial examination. However, I participated in several imperial examinations during the period, but I didn't get the first place in the exam, so the highest education was fixed in the vice list.
In the 18th year of Shunzhi (166 1), 45-year-old Yu Chenglong went to Beijing to participate in the official election. According to the practice at that time, the official in charge of the official department labeled the relevant positions and sealed them, so that candidates could be randomly selected. The quality of a position depends entirely on luck. The location of Yu Chenglong's painting is the county magistrate, but the location is Luocheng, Guangxi. This can only be said to be a sign, because Luocheng County was just incorporated into the territory of the Qing Dynasty more than a year ago. During this period, the court sent two county magistrates, one was killed and the other abandoned his official and fled.
When the family heard the news that Yu Chenglong was elected as an official, they were both happy and sad. Happily, the master has finally made a seven-product purlin. Sadly, Wan Li is far away, and it may never come back. Yongning is six or seven thousand miles away from Luocheng, and the travel expenses are not enough, so we have to pawn some land and hire five servants to make the travel expenses.
Walking to Jishan County in the south of Shaanxi Province, Yu Chenglong visited his good friend Wu Youqi. Wu Youqi sighed and said, "It is not easy for Guangxi to be an official. You should think twice! " Yu Chenglong replied: "Although my generation has no academic status, how can it be the first in all subjects in ancient times?" My trip will never be based on food and clothing, and I will never swear by the word' conscience'. "It means that although we didn't get into the Jinshi, we got a noble birth, but in ancient times, Gao, Wei Xiao, Ji and Qi were all scholars. My official career is by no means for the food, clothing and wealth of my family. I swear I won't understand the word "justice and conscience".
Words are very heroic, but when Yu Chenglong arrived in Luocheng, he was blindsided. Looking at Luocheng county from afar, "poor yellow hair, straight to the city gate." There are nine vacant rooms in ten rooms in the city, only six families are left, and 10 has more than one hut, which is deserted and dilapidated. The county government is a thatched three-room building with no gate, which is as simple as a farmhouse. Yu Chenglong couldn't help feeling, "alas! Here and there! Hu Weiwei's here! Regret is common! "