Don’t go to the extreme when doing things, don’t use force to the limit, let go when you are on the edge, and stop when enough is enough to ensure safety. This is how you do things, and it's the same as being a human being. Knowing what to do, knowing where to stop, and knowing what to do are the best ways to live in life. "Cai Gen Tan" says: "When the singing and singing are in full swing, I will walk away from my clothes, and the admirer will leave the cliff; when I am already disabled, I will still walk endlessly at night, laughing at the vulgar people sinking into the sea of ??misery." It means that singing and dancing entertainment. When the interest was strong, he brushed off his clothes and left without any hesitation. I really envy these open-minded people who can face the cliff and let go; in the dead of night, there are still people running around and busy, these ordinary people It's ridiculous to struggle in this sea of ??misery.

Nian Gengyao was a member of the Xianghuang Banner of the Han Army. He was a Jinshi and was quite talented as a general. He had been in charge of the northwest military affairs for many years, and his military exploits and power were growing day by day.

In the last years of Kangxi, because the prince was deposed, the princes saw the opportunity and stepped up their fight for the throne. Naturally, Yinzhen (ie Yongzheng) would not miss this opportunity. He knew very well that in addition to winning his father's trust with his shrewd and pragmatic ability, he also had to rally party members and win over important ministers with military power in the DPRK, so he tried his best to win over Nian Gengyao and Longkodo. At that time, Longkodo was in charge of more than 20,000 officers and soldiers of the Fifth Battalion of the Eight Banners Infantry. He was in charge of the nine gates of the capital and could control the entire situation in the capital. The area under Nian Gengyao's jurisdiction was where Yinzhen's troops were stationed, and he was in a favorable position to contain and monitor Yinzhen. Xi'an was also the choke point for transportation between the northwest front and the interior. It could be said to be a strategic location in the country, so later historians also It is believed that: "The establishment of Emperor Shizong was aided internally by Longkodo and externally by Nian Gengyao."

At the beginning of Yongzheng's accession to the throne, Nian Gengyao and Longkodo became the core figures of the new regime. With increasing favor, Yongzheng assigned the northwest military affairs "to Nian Gengyao for handling".

In October of the first year of Yongzheng's reign, a riot broke out in Danzeng, Erutluobuzang, Qinghai. Emperor Yongzheng appointed Nian Gengyao as the general of Fuyuan. Nian Gengyao also lived up to the divine grace and led his troops to Xining to conquer, successfully pacified it, and shocked the southwest. Emperor Yongzheng appointed Nian Gengyao as a first-class Duke.

Yongzheng not only promoted Nian Gengyao to a higher rank and bestowed power on him, he also cared about his family and tried to win over him. He even regarded Nian Gengyao as a "benefactor". Not only did he reward him, but he also asked "I "The descendants of all generations and all the subjects of the world" should be "full of gratitude to Nian Gengyao. If you have a slight betrayal, you are not my descendants, and if you have a slightly different intention, you are not a subject of my court."

He also kept saying to Nian Gengyao: "There have always been cases where monarchs and ministers have met each other and had personal interests in each other, but they have never been as close as the two of us! In short, the two of us will set an example for monarchs and ministers to be confidants through the ages, making future generations in the world admire and salivate. "That's it." It's rare for such sweet words to come from the mouth of an emperor.

Nian Gengyao fell into Yongzheng's sweet talk and naively thought that the emperor really wanted to be his confidant. With Emperor Yongzheng as his backing, Nian Gengyao became arrogant and arrogant. Nian Gengyao returned to Beijing in triumph, with great military power and domineering air. Yongzheng personally went to the outskirts to greet him, and hundreds of officials fell to the ground to pay homage. However, Nian Gengyao was unmoved and walked alongside Yongzheng. At this time, Yongzheng was very unhappy. How could he tolerate his ministers being so disrespectful and disgusting?

In April of the third year of Yongzheng's reign, the emperor only used the scrawled handwriting and inverted idioms in Nian Gengyao's memorial table, and issued an edict to remove him from the post of general and replace him with the Hangzhou general to relieve him of military power. Seeing that Nian Gengyao had fallen out of favor, the ministers went to court one after another to report and expose Nian Gengyao's various illegal crimes. At this time, Yongzheng also heard that when Nian Gengyao was in the northwest, he had interacted with Yin Diao and others, and there were rumors that he conspired to abolish Li Li. Yongzheng, who was jealous by nature, decided to kill Nian Gengyao.

Finally, the ministers of state affairs and others listed dozens of crimes against Nian Gengyao and planned to sentence him to death, and his family members sat together. Yongzheng ordered Gengyao to commit suicide because of his achievements in pacifying Qinghai. His father escaped death because of his old age, his son was killed when he was rich, and the rest of the men over 15 years old were sent to the smog-free areas of Guangxi and Yunnan to serve as soldiers. All members of the clan were dismissed from their posts, and some who were close to the descendants of the Nian family were also charged with treason.

It is not difficult to see from this case that the tragedy of Nian Gengyao is that he does not understand the dangers of having great achievements and destabilizing the master. He does not understand that the most important thing for a minister is to know how to protect himself wisely. When you are in officialdom, you must first protect yourself. Being wise and protecting yourself is not cowardice, but wisdom.