As mentioned in the previous article, on November 13, the 61st year of Kangxi's reign, Xuanye passed away in Changchun Garden on the outskirts of Beijing, and the fourth son of the emperor, Yinzhen, inherited the throne. After twenty or thirty years of fighting in the late Kangxi Dynasty, Yinzhen knew that imperial power was not easy to come by. Now, there are two big problems before him: 1. How to defend his throne and strengthen the centralization of monarchy. 2. How to continue the great cause founded by our father and consolidate this already complex multi-ethnic country.
He said, "Government is based on winning people and not winning them. Even if the law is well-intentioned, it only looks good and sounds good, and it will not help the people." He carefully selected Zhang Tingyu as his main assistant to assist him in planning the military affairs. Regarding Zhang Tingyu, we will talk about it separately later.
Among Kangxi's thirty-five princes, apart from those who died young, the young and the incompetent, they can be roughly divided into three factions: the first row is the second emperor's son Yinfeng and his supporters the third emperor's son Yinzhi; the second row is The eighth son of the emperor, Yinzhen, and his supporters were the eldest son of the emperor, Yinzhen, the ninth son of the emperor, Yinzhen, the tenth son of the emperor, and the fourteenth son of the emperor, Yinzhen; the third row was the fourth son of the emperor, Yinzhen (Emperor Yongzheng) himself, and his supporters, the thirteenth son of the emperor. Yinxiang and Yinli, the seventeenth son of the emperor.
Among these three factions, the eighth son of the emperor, Yinshu, was of course the most powerful. However, after Yongzheng came to the throne, he did not take action immediately, but dealt with it in a gentle manner. First, Yongzheng named Yinzhu one of the ministers of "Prime Minister Affairs", and soon he named him "Prince Lian" and asked him to also serve as the Minister of "Lifanyuan". This was Yongzheng's extremely clever move.
There was also a "great general" who was supporting troops outside, his fourteenth brother Yinqi. Yongzheng ordered him to return to Beijing for the funeral. As a result, after Yinzhen came back, Yongzheng asked him to stay in Jingling (Kangxi's mausoleum) in Zunhua to wait for the big sacrifice. Later, he made Yinzhen the county king and restricted him to live in Malanyu next to Jingling. This was a disguised form of detention. Yinqi.
As for Yinzhen, another sponsor of Yinzhen's ninth son, he was sent to Xining by Yongzheng. Does this seem to mean that he was asked to take over the military power left by Yinzhen? Yongzheng didn't give him any name at all, but it was more like "exiling the army".
Yin'e, the tenth son of the emperor, was the commander-in-chief of the Manchu, Mongolian and Han armies of the Zhenghuang Banner designated by Kangxi. Yongzheng came up with an idea and asked him to escort the shrine (kan) of Jebtsundamba I to Khalkha. On the way, Yongzheng asked him to live temporarily in Zhangjiakou. As a result, in the second year of Yongzheng's reign, he was charged with "extending his life privately" and was escorted back to Beijing and imprisoned (he was not released until Qianlong).
As for the emperor's eldest son, Yinti, he was imprisoned as early as the 47th year of Kangxi. Now Yongzheng has ordered that he continue to be imprisoned and will not be released.
In this way, although Yinsu had the highest status in the court, he was still a mere commander.
As for Yinreng's faction, the ministers had long been attacked and were not in the court. Yinreng himself had long been banned by Kangxi. Among his supporters was the third son of the emperor, Yinzhi, who was also sent by Yongzheng to Zunhua to "protect Jingling." "Yes.
Under such thunderous methods, Yongzheng's world can be said to be a little more peaceful, but he felt that it was still not enough and needed further treatment.
In July of the third year of Yongzheng's reign, the ninth son of the emperor Yin Tang was arrested in Xining on the charge that someone in Shaanxi called him "Nine Princes" behind his back. In April of the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign, he was renamed "Seshei" (dog) by Yongzheng on the charge of: He used passwords to communicate with others and was escorted back to Beijing when he died suddenly.
In the first month of the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign, Yinsu himself was "removed from the clan". In February, he was removed from the royal title and renamed "Aqina" (pig). He was imprisoned in the clan's mansion and died in prison in September.
Yinqi was demoted to "Beizi" in March of the third year of Yongzheng, and was imprisoned in Shouhuang Palace in May of the fourth year of Yongzheng (he was released only when he learned about Qianlong).
Yinzhi was imprisoned in Jingling in May of the eighth year of Yongzheng's reign, and died in prison in the fifth month of the tenth year of Yongzheng's reign.
Before the death of Emperor Kangxi, the eighth prince Yinsu received help from the great scholar Mingzhu and Mingzhu's son Kuexu. However, Mingzhu died in the forty-seventh year of Kangxi and Kuexu died in the fifty-sixth year of Kangxi. The deaths of these two people are not unrelated to Yinhu's failure.
Yongzheng came to the throne and hated Kuexu so much that even when Kuexu was already dead, he fought against ghosts and pursued Kuexu's official title. He also ordered an inscription to be erected in front of Kuixu's grave: "Unfaithful, unfilial, insidious, soft and sycophantic Kuixu" "The tomb of Aling'a, another member of the Yinhu party, and like Kuixu, the inscription reads "The tomb of Aling'a, who is not a subordinate but a violent, greedy and mediocre person." Aling'a's son was also forcibly imprisoned in Aling'a's cemetery by Yongzheng and killed two years later.
Yongzheng's mother was a concubine named "De Fei", from the Wuya family, Manchu. Yongzheng had been doing things steadily before, but Kangxi did not favor Yongzheng in terms of external performance. Instead, he seemed to regard Yinqi as a candidate for training and promoted him to "Fuyuan General", hoping to make some achievements in Qinghai and Tibet and gain prestige.
This really aroused Yongzheng's hatred. Yinzhen had always been cowardly and had no ambition. He would only recommend the eighth son of the emperor, Yinzhen. If he knew that he wanted to support Yinzhen, who had the same mother as him, maybe his end would not be so miserable ( This is not nonsense by the author based on historical what-ifs. The case of Yinxiang, the thirteenth emperor’s son, is right there.)
There was a twelfth son of the emperor, Yin Chen, who did not participate in the fight for the throne. He did not offend Yongzheng. However, because Kangxi reused him, he was put in charge of the Manchu, Han and Mongolian armies of the Zhengbai Banner, and he was also appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Manchuria Xianghuang Banner. Yongzheng Extremely worried, after taking the throne, he was first granted the title of Prince of the County, then demoted to Beizi, and then to Duke of Zhenguo. Later, Yinzhen was also smart and gained Yongzheng's trust in all aspects. In the eighth year of Yongzheng's reign, he was named the county king.
What I just said was all about attacking dissidents. Now let’s talk about the power Yongzheng relied on when he came to the throne.
Among the princes, the power that Yongzheng relied on was the thirteenth son of the emperor Yinxiang and the seventeenth son of the emperor Yinli. Among the ministers and civil servants, Nai Longkodo, and the general Nian Gengyao.
Yinxiang was named "Prince Yi" by him, and as one of the ministers responsible for the Prime Minister's Affairs, he was ranked with Ma Qi, the great scholar, Longkoduo, the official minister, and Yinsu, the eighth son of the emperor. Yinxiang really dedicated himself to Yongzheng and died of illness. He was busy until May of the eighth year of Yongzheng, when he died of illness. Yongzheng gave him the word "virtuous" and a plaque with the words "loyal, respectful, honest, diligent, prudent and honest".
Yinli was named the "King of Guojun" and served successively as the "Minister of Management" of the Lifan Yuan and the Minister of Management of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households (positioned above the two Shangshu). He was also asked to tour the southwestern provinces. He served as a garrison soldier (Manchu) and a green camp soldier (Han), and was in charge of the affairs of the southwestern Miao territory in the central government. He was named "Prince of Fruit" in the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign, and died in February of the third year of Qianlong's reign.
The fate of Longkoduo and Nian Gengyao was far worse than that of Yinxiang and Yinli.
Longkodo was the younger brother of Empress Xiao Yiren and could be described as a perfect "uncle". Yongzheng was also very close to him and called him "uncle". When Kangxi died, he was beside his bed and read out his edict in public. Without him, Yongzheng's accession to the throne might not have been so easy.
At that time, Longkodo was the Minister of the Lifan Yuan and the commander of the infantry, with military power in his hands. Yongzheng named him the "Minister of Prime Minister Affairs" and transferred him to the Ministry of Civil Affairs as the Minister, inheriting his "first-class title" from Tong Guowei. title.
In the third year of Yongzheng's reign, he was suddenly dismissed from the post of infantry commander.
Nian Gengyao was a member of the Xianghuang Banner of the Han Army. He was born in a major. He was a Jinshi in the 39th year of Kangxi and a "reformed scholar" (Hanlin). He became a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy, an examiner of the rural examinations in Sichuan and Guangdong, and a cabinet bachelor. In the 48th year of Kangxi He was the governor of Sichuan in the 1960s. In the 59th year of Kangxi's reign, he was awarded the title of "General Pingxi" and commanded Yue Zhongqi and others to invade Tibet and defeated the Tibetan officer Ce Ling Dun Dobu of Cewang Alabutan. The next year, Kangxi promoted him to "concurrently in charge of Sichuan and Shaanxi Governor".
After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he asked Nian Gengyao to "manage the general's printing affairs" and left it to his successor Yanxin to take office. In the first year of Yongzheng's reign, he was appointed "General Fuyuan".
At this time, the Mongolian leader in Qinghai was Luobuzangdanjin. After he rebelled, Nian Gengyao commanded Yue Zhongqi to attack him. In March of the second year of Yongzheng's reign, Luobuzangdanjin was defeated and Qinghai was cleared. all.
In October, he returned to Beijing to accept Yongzheng's reward. Yongzheng rewarded him with two eyes of flower feathers, four dragons to make up for his clothes, a yellow belt, a purple bridle (pei), and gold coins.
Whether Nian Gengyao was arrogant or domineering, or Yongzheng needed to strengthen centralization of power, in February of the third year of Yongzheng's reign, he rewritten "morning work and evening vigilance" into "morning work and evening vigilance" in his memorial, which made Yongzheng furious. In April, Yongzheng dismissed him from the post of general and transferred him to general of Hangzhou. In October, he was arrested, sent to Beijing and sentenced to death.
Nian Gengyao's sister became Yongzheng's concubine in the palace and was known as the "Dunsu Emperor's Noble Concubine" after her death. Nian Gengyao relied on his military exploits and his contribution to helping Yongzheng ascend the throne, while relying on his sister to support him in the palace. His sister died about a month before his death.
At that time, the people, especially the literati, were extremely dissatisfied with Yongzheng's policies, probably because they harmed their vested interests. It was at this time that several "literary inquisitions" occurred, including the Lu Liuliang case and the Zeng Jing case.
What made Yongzheng, the ruler of the Manchu minority who settled in the Central Plains, even more troublesome was the "Hua-Yi Debate". This topic had existed since the Spring and Autumn Period, and it was picked up and continued to be used by literati at this time to attack the Qing Dynasty. legitimacy of rule.
Regarding this issue, Yongzheng invented a theocratic theory, saying that the emperor was appointed by God, and God only asked whether the person had "virtue" and whether he was qualified to be an emperor, not where the person was born. "Shun was a native of the Eastern Barbarians, and King Wen was a native of the Western Barbarians. How could they have harmed their saintly virtues?" "Since our dynasty has upheld the destiny of Heaven and is the master of the people both at home and abroad, how can anyone who has been cared for, sued, loved, and educated be able to be a Chinese barbarian?" Special treatment?"
As for the Qing army's entry into the Pass, Yongzheng felt that Dorgon's words could be used directly, saying that the Qing Dynasty won the world at the hands of Li Zicheng, rather than at the hands of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty "since Jiajing (Shizong), the monarchs and ministers When morality was lost, thieves appeared from all directions, and the territory had no peace. At that time, it could be said that the land was blocked. Since the establishment of the Ding Dynasty, the poor bandits have been eliminated, cultural relics have become more and more prosperous, and the old people have never seen a war in their lives...can it still be called dim?" " The one in my dynasty was created in China, and it is so great!"
