Liu Yong: The Hunchback Top Scholar

[Historical · Biography · Court · Comedy]

Liu Yong (1719–1804), courtesy name Chongru, pen name Shian, was a native of Zhucheng, Shandong, and the son of Grand Academician Liu Tongxun. He passed the provincial examinations in the sixteenth year of Qianlong’s reign and was later appointed as a compilation editor at the Hanlin Academy. He rose to the position of Grand Secretary of the Hall of Cultivating Virtue and was additionally conferred the title of Imperial Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. Liu Yong’s life was full of hardships, and he also had a disability, but he was an upright official, a clever strategist, and a humorous man, as well as a poet and calligrapher. This book uses Liu Yong as its main thread, while also involving many historical figures such as Qianlong, Heshen, and Jiaqing. Using time as the main line and Liu Yong’s struggles against Heshen, teasing Qianlong, and helping common people obtain justice and resolve cases as the supporting thread, the story interweaves in rich detail to present readers with a brand-new Liu Luoguo. Incidents such as the theft of the Yongle Encyclopedia, competing for a marriage with Qianlong, court and minister teasing a foreign beauty, and pacifying the White Lotus Sect are all little-known plots. With his laughter and scolding as his ultimate weapon, and while bearing great ambitions, he is known as the White-faced Bao Gong of the Great Qing.