In the eleventh year of Shunzhi (1654), Xu was recommended for the senior high school entrance examination in rural areas. In the 16th year of Shunzhi (1659), he won the first place in junior and senior high schools in the imperial examination. At that time, he was only 2 1 year-old, and the emperor shunzhi Fu Lin summoned Xu Wenyuan at Ganqingmen to comfort him. I said to sourdrang dowager happily because the Queen Mother was happy: I won a good champion in Daqing this year. Xu Ciguan's belt and python's clothing were ordered to be edited by the Hanlin Academy.
During his tenure in imperial academy, he was summoned by the emperor shunzhi many times. Once he went to Xiyuan from the emperor shunzhi, and the emperor shunzhi specially put him on the imperial horse. He made a special note of the Golden Gate waiter who airlifted Memma. Only by relying on Huang Wu's poems can we remember it. One day, Xu followed the emperor shunzhi to visit the abbot of Bajiao Garden, a Buddhist monk, and asked the abbot for Buddhist scriptures. Afterwards, Xu did not thank the abbot. The emperor shunzhi didn't give him any trouble. He just said, This man has great opinions. I personally chose him as the top scholar.
The daily affairs of the Hanlin Academy are very brief, so I can learn knowledge in my spare time. He not only delved into poetry, but also tried to get familiar with history, get to the bottom of it and summarize the historical experience for reference. Since the early Qing Dynasty, the phenomenon of arrears of money and grain in Jiangnan area has been very serious. In the early years of Kangxi, the emperor instructed the local governor to investigate according to the judge. Zhu Guozhi, the governor of Jiangning, made a careful investigation and got a figure: Suzhou (now Suzhou, Jiangsu), Songjiang (now Songjiang, Shanghai), Changzhou (now Changzhou, Jiangsu) and Zhenjiang (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). The number of civil and military officials and gentry who have not paid off their money is 1356544. Xu is among them. According to the usual practice, Xu should be punished, demoted and transferred to the First Committee. Xu used this as an excuse to ask for leave to go home and explain the whole story. After four years, things were finally clarified and Xu Cai was reinstated. In the eighth year of Kangxi (1669), Xu served as the examiner in Shaanxi after having obtained the provincial examination. When he presided over the Shaanxi provincial examination, he paid attention to selecting talents. Most of the students admitted are intellectuals from the lower classes of the landlord class or poor people, and they are very influential in Shaanxi. Some people in Shaanxi even say that the reason why scholars can be diligent and eager to learn is that Xu presided over the provincial examination this time. Later, he was transferred to the secretariat as an assistant.
In the ninth year of Kangxi, Xu was promoted to imperial academy to offer a drink offering and served as a banquet officer. He felt deeply that the school had been abandoned, and he resolutely assumed the responsibility of being a teacher. He believes that the rise and fall of talents since ancient times depends on the rise and fall of schools. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, imperial academy's children have been carefully selected and trained, so talented people come forth in large numbers. Since the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the Qing Dynasty has been pursuing the policy of respecting literature and Taoism. But there is only one way to pay tribute to imperial academy every year except the official film. Few students are recommended to be sent to prison by the government and state schools, and most of them are decadent, so it is difficult to become useful. He demanded that according to the old practice of Shunzhi for eight or eleven years, all provinces should recommend a group of top students in two or three years or five years to send young people with excellent academic performance to imperial academy. It is also required that according to the method of Shunzhi, a certain number of students should be selected from the vice list after the township entrance examination in each province and sent to commercial schools. In this way, the world's talented bachelors gather in Imperial College, which is of great benefit to cultivating practical talents. His suggestion was adopted and promulgated. Regarding the donation, Xu said that it was because the salaries needed to quell the San Francisco rebellion (Wu Sangui, son of Shang Kexi, Shang Zhixin, Geng) were numerous and urgent, and the court had to take expedient measures. After he demanded the recovery of Yunnan, he immediately ordered to stop donating money. He pointed out that donation caused four major drawbacks; (1) nothing is more important than the quality of the government to train scholars and educate talents, but donations have caused mediocrity and disorder of officials; (2) Examinations sponsored by the government are the right way to enter imperial academy. To be admitted to imperial academy at the end of the study period, you must take three courses and spend nine years. Donations will not be counted as years, and they will be tested at the same time. This has formed a strict and harsh attitude towards the bachelors who rely on the right path, while giving priority to donating taxis. In this way, it is inevitable that the poor will attack the hardships and the rich will attack the arrogance. (3) The concept of quality and the way of taking the exam have been confused, there is no precedent to get rid of incompetent poor students, the exam is difficult, and the trend of bachelor is becoming increasingly weak; (four) over the years, the assessment officers of the official department have been appointed, and there are not less than thousands of people who need to be assisted by the state and county. There are many disadvantages in the way of taking the exam, and the day of filling vacancies and setting posts is far away. But once appointed, he will put on official clothes, take a sedan chair by car, and show off the village like an adjutant grandfather. This chaotic system of selecting officials is really worrying. Finally, the emperor ordered the official department to discuss and finally decided to stop donating outside the river.
Xu worked in imperial academy for four years. During his tenure, various rules and regulations were carefully observed and implemented, and the style of study was corrected. He also worked with other scholars to educate the inspectors' students. Xu is elegant and knowledgeable. His explanation was fluent and clear, and his voice was loud, which all the students admired. After Emperor Kangxi left imperial academy, he once said to his ministers: It may be a toast, but the rules and regulations are serious. Manchu children will be reprimanded or even whipped if they don't study hard. Up to now, Guo-zi-jian diploma is still afraid of him, and such people will be rare in the future. In May of the 13th year of Kangxi (1674), Xu was promoted to bachelor of cabinet and assistant minister of rites, and rebuilt the records of Emperor Taizong. In April of the following year, he was appointed as a bachelor of imperial academy and assistant minister of does, and served as an official of Japanese residence. He gave lectures in Hongde Hall every day and was praised by Emperor Kangxi. When Xiong Cilv was an official, he didn't talk about Yao and Shun or Confucian classics at the banquet. He respected Confucius, Mencius and Zhu Cheng, and regarded them as the principles of thought and behavior. At this time, Emperor Kangxi was 22 years old, and the Confucian thoughts spoken by officials could no longer meet his requirements. He wanted to know the lessons of the success or failure of the dynasty, and he told them. The purpose of my tireless study is nothing more than to understand justice and help the country. I hope to practice the truth I have learned; Just talking about righteousness is not what I pursue. One day, Emperor Kangxi said to Xu, "The four books have been explained repeatedly, and they are already familiar with the meaning of the text. Every time I read Zi Tong Zhi Jian, I recorded the gains and losses of the previous generation in detail, and there are many seeds for governing the country and reassuring the people. It should be explained by four books. So Xu selected those examples about the monarch's character and the way to govern the country and the people from the Mirror Flower Garden, and asked the Hanlin Academy to write a speech separately. He personally reviewed it and read it to Emperor Kangxi in sequence. Emperor Kangxi, who was clever and eager to learn, was not satisfied, so he stipulated that after the lecture, he should explain and learn from each other. Xu is very happy about this. In his lectures, he used the comments of the former Confucian scholars, combined with his own views, and exerted his reasoning ability, so as to highlight the key points, make clear views and demonstrate with practical problems. After the speech and reading at this year's banquet, Xu presented the lecture notes to Emperor Kangxi, hoping that the emperor would often browse and learn more about them. Emperor Kangxi was very satisfied with the Tong Jian taught by Xu and others, and praised them for their meticulous composition. It is of great help to his study and handling government affairs. In order to show his respect for teachers and attach importance to education, Xu and other lecturers were specially asked not to salute after the lecture.
In the winter of the fifteenth year of Kangxi, Xu's mother died and went home to mourn. In the eighteenth year of Kangxi, a history museum was established. In February, before Xu's funeral was over, Emperor Kangxi appointed him as the chief inspector of Ming history. After he took office, he asked to buy folk suicide notes and recommended them to be compiled by Li Qing, Huang Zongxi, Cao Rong, Wang Maolin and Wan Yan, but the official department refused to approve them. Finally, Emperor Kangxi approved his proposal by imperial decree, but Li Qing, Huang Zongxi and Cao Rong were too old to participate in editing.
In the 19th year of Kangxi, Xu was promoted to the left capital of Duchayuan and was also an official at the banquet. On the day of his appointment, he went to Ganqingmen to thank him. Emperor Kangxi issued a decree to reward his previous explanation and gave him three handwriting, one of which was about flying kites and jumping fish. Xu, who works in the central government office, dares to speak out when things happen and never flatters. On one occasion, the DPRK held a meeting of nine ministers to recommend candidates for Jiangxi provincial judges. Zhang Zhongju of Xingquan Road was recommended, and the Yi people of Yushitang strongly advocated that Zhang Zhongju had no achievements in Fujian. When Jiuqing wanted to impeach Tang Yi, Li and Li Zongkong, the assistant adviser of the imperial history, refused to sign the book, so they wrote a letter together to impeach Tang Yi. After deliberation by the official department, Li and Li Zongkong were demoted by five levels, while Tang Yi was dismissed. Emperor Kangxi thought that the punishment for them was too heavy. Xu said that it was a legitimate discussion in the imperial court to recommend candidates by deputies to the Ninth National People's Congress. Everyone has their own opinions, so how can they be afraid of differences? Punish them like this because they disagree. If the elected people are not talents, who dares to refute and correct them? Moreover, in principle, those who can become reserve officials through the imperial examination must all be listed when the list is published. When discussing the recommendation of officials, they should be allowed to put forward opposing opinions to the elected ones. If one or two powerful rapists arbitrarily attack people who disagree, everyone can only agree. In this case, the consequences are unimaginable. Kangxi thought it was reasonable and should be exempted from punishment. Xu also said: anyone who is exempted from punishment is a guilty person, but the emperor's grace forgave him. In the Tang Dynasty, Yi and others were innocent people. It would be much more considerate if the imperial edict only said that they should not be punished. Kangxi agreed to his suggestion.
At that time, the San Francisco Rebellion was about to be pacified, and hundreds of thousands of rebels in Wu Sangui surrendered one after another. How to deal with them is very important. Xu said that people who were forced to join the rebellion should be especially lenient and allowed to repent and turn over a new leaf. But if they stay in Yunnan, it will not be a long-term solution. The cost of moving to other places is high; If you change generals, it will lead to mutual suspicion among soldiers, which will eventually leave hidden dangers; It should be treated differently because it is difficult to manage. Those who can be retained should be employed as green camp and the Eight Banners, and the rest should be demoted to civilians and placed in production by all parties. This will not only reduce their expenses, but also gradually enrich their military supplies. In particular, Geng, Shang Zhixin, the old staff and the old group should be dissolved, and they should never be allowed to use the name of the Francisco flag. During the San Francisco Uprising, Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, Guizhou and other provinces were seriously affected. Insurgents widely levied tariffs and trade taxes in these provinces, aggravated salt taxes, occupied a lot of land, and did evil. Now, San Francisco has been destroyed one after another, but it was a long time ago that they seized the interests of the people and destroyed the national government. Now, the imperial army is like thunder, and the people there are eager to rescue them from the quagmire as soon as possible. We should first issue an edict ordering generals, governors and governors to immediately abolish all previous tyranny from the day they enter the thief's territory. Emperor Kangxi appreciated these suggestions and ordered discussion and implementation.
After the San Francisco Rebellion was pacified, some ministers praised Emperor Kangxi and demanded to be crowned Mount Tai. However, Xu has a separate objection. He believes that the urgent task of the country is not to engage in those ceremonial activities, but to strengthen discipline, rectify the name, respect and discuss clearly, and be honest. Take this opportunity to clearly inform the officials, big and small, to dispel doubts and make great achievements in the future. Get rid of inherited habits. Don't be complacent, try to make progress. After the composition was written, colleagues felt that his words were too straightforward and advised him not to type. However, Xu insisted on his own opinion and resolutely went to war. Emperor Kangxi praised Xu's suggestion and thought it was very reasonable. So the ceremony of Dengfeng Mount Tai was dispensed with. In the early Qing Dynasty, he was ordered to check the hidden land occupied by large households many times to enrich the tax revenue of the state treasury. Rule: Anyone who finds someone hiding in the ground will be expelled from the army or imprisoned. In order to promote the title, state and county officials fabricated facts and concealed them, so as to take the blame for their contributions and salaries. This phenomenon is constantly appearing, which is very harmful. Khaw boon wan learned through investigation that Wang Mingxin and Cao Daming were forced to betray their children in Puxian County, Xizhou (now Shaanxi Province), but Jia Songping of Kang Sheng sold himself to Pingyang Military Camp, and the couple went to serve and pay taxes together. Therefore, Xu strongly stated the disadvantages of the court's order to investigate the case of concealed occupation of cultivated land. He said: some land is originally ownerless, and people don't deliberately hide it. Local officials lied that the deceiver was hiding, and wrongly relied on punishing people to solve the problem. In fact, they forcibly apportion the ownerless land to others, and then use it to search for money and blackmail. This practice has been used for many years. The people were so miserable that many people fled with their families. This nominally increases the country's grain output, but in fact it is a waste of grain output; In name, it is to eliminate the disadvantages, but in fact this is the root of the disadvantages. The governors cheated first, and then covered up what they did. Xu strongly demanded rectification: anyone who made false reports in the past should conduct self-examination, voluntarily confess and report to each other, and those who have been concealing the truth will be given heavier punishment. Xu served as the deputy capital of Zuo for three years and devoted himself to restoring and rectifying the bureaucracy.
He gets along well with officials at the same level, but he dares to argue according to reason and has no scruples when encountering problems. When it comes to the internal affairs of the Eight Banners, most people shrink back and dare not say it, but Xu dares to speak and stick to his own opinions. Yao Qisheng, the governor of Fujian Province, was impeached one after another. He was jealous of his work and happy that he was competent. Gao Guoxiang, vice governor of Zhejiang, abused the people with soldiers, while Huai and Huai patrolled the salt empire to shield corrupt officials for personal gain. General Mahada pointed out that there are many people who fled anonymously among the people, asking for their own arrest and not handing them over to the local government. Xu thinks this is not the case. He said: the distinction between civil and military, the distinction between civilians, has always been like this. In the name of arresting fugitives, tossing and turning will definitely disturb the people. The minister of Manchu advocated that the general should be ordered to negotiate with the governor. Xu believes that this is still the general's administration and should be mainly handled by the governor in conjunction with the general. The two sides argued endlessly. Finally, Emperor Kangxi listened to Xu's proposition. In February of the 23rd year of Kangxi, Emperor Kangxi ordered him to be in charge of the history museum and be responsible for supervising the Ming history. At that time, the history museum had been established for five years, but the book was not finished. At this time, because he didn't participate in politics, he concentrated on studying history. He took biographical manuscripts written by people in the Bureau of History, researched historical facts, consulted various theories and edited them by himself, taking the year as the longitude and the month as the latitude. If you have a problem, write to someone who is familiar with the allusions of the previous dynasty, ask for advice modestly, discuss it carefully, and often discuss it late into the night.