Yongzheng had ten sons in total, six of them died young. One was deprived of his clan status due to "indulgence and irreverence" (the third son, Hongshi), one was adopted by Prince Guo Yunli (the sixth son, Hongzhan), and the remaining two The two are Hongli (Emperor Qianlong) and Hongzhou.
Qianlong ranked fourth and was born to Concubine Xi Niu Hulu, and Prince He (Hongzhou) ranked fifth and was born to Concubine Yu Geng. Yongzheng's main palace, Uranala, had no children.
Hongli can be said to be one of the most blessed figures in Chinese history, and as an emperor, he can be removed as one of them. He was born as the favorite grandson of his grandfather (Kangxi), and was also loved by his father (Yongzheng). He could be said to be carefree throughout his life. He has been the emperor for a full sixty years and a few months in his life (and later a few more years because of the addiction of the Supreme Emperor), and he can also be regarded as the Taiping Emperor.
Hongli was a good man and loved great achievements. Whenever he had the opportunity, he would definitely fight. Fortunately, eighty-nine times out of ten he would either win or earn some face. Later, he even called himself the "perfect old man".
Compared with Yongzheng, Qianlong was really lucky. Looking back at the beginning of Yongzheng's accession to the throne, there were many brothers with ferocious faces, but Qianlong only needed to give his dandy brother Hongzhou glory and wealth (this was simply a blessing for an emperor) a breeze).
In the fiftieth year of Kangxi's reign, Hongli was born in the "Ruyi Room" in the East Academy of Prince Yong's Mansion in Beijing, and his childhood name was "Yuan Shou". It is said that when Kangxi first saw his grandson Hongli in Prince Yong's palace, he fell in love with him so much that he raised him in the palace and taught calligraphy classes himself, which meant he was a "good grandson".
In the sixty-first year of Kangxi's reign, Kangxi died and Emperor Yongzheng ascended the throne. When he came to the throne, he already regarded Hongli, who was only thirteen years old, as the crown prince in his mind.
In the first year of Yongzheng's reign, perhaps because of the bloody turmoil when he ascended the throne, Yongzheng wrote a secret edict in person, naming Hongli as his successor, and hid it in a box behind the "Upright and Bright" plaque in the Qianqing Palace.
Since you are the prince, you must strengthen education. Otherwise, wouldn't such a huge empire be entrusted to you and not a human being? Therefore, in addition to the original teacher Fu Min, Zhu Shi, Xu Yuanmeng, Zhang Tingyu and other famous civil servants were also selected to tutor Hongli in learning cultural knowledge and Confucian classics, and he also had Yunlu, Yunxi and others in the clan teach him firearms. Use bow and horse riding to shoot.
In the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign, Hongli married the Fucha family, the daughter of Li Rongbao, the manager of Fuchaer, a famous Manchu family. It was also in this year that Yongzheng's third son Hongshi was expelled from his clan due to his indulgence and imprudence. Hongli's powerful Competitors then cease to exist.
In the eighth year of Yongzheng's reign, Hongli's legitimate son was born. Yongzheng personally named him "Yonglian", which somewhat meant that he would inherit the throne. In order to further cultivate Hongli's political ability, in the eleventh year of Yongzheng's reign, Hongli was granted the title "Prince Heshuobao" and allowed him to participate in handling important political and military affairs such as quelling the Junggar rebellion and the Miao uprising in Guizhou.
Hongli received comprehensive and strict education and training during the Yongzheng period, and his performance was outstanding, winning Yongzheng's trust. From then on, Hongli was often ordered to offer sacrifices to mausoleums, to Confucius, to the Holy Emperor Guan, to the Ancestral Temple, to the land, to Tai Sui, to the Grand Shrine and to Ji, etc.
On August 23, the thirteenth year of Yongzheng's reign, Emperor Yongzheng passed away, and his chamberlain issued an edict announcing Hongli's succession. This was already self-evident in the minds of all ministers. After Hongli came to the throne, he announced the policy of "combining leniency with severity". In the early years of Qianlong, the shortcomings of the previous two dynasties (Kangxi and Yongzheng), especially the Yongzheng dynasty, were corrected.
In order to adjust the serious imbalance of relations within the royal family and win people's hearts, Qianlong first released Yongzheng's fourteenth brother Yunqi and others who had been imprisoned for a long time from prison and restored their titles. In the second year of Qianlong's reign, Yue Zhongqi and Fu Erdan, who had been sentenced to death for delaying fighter planes during the Yongzheng period, were released and given the title of Duke Yunzhen, allowing the bachelor Ortai to still handle military aircraft affairs.
As for the rest, we’ll talk about it later~
