In 1722 AD, Kangxi Long Yu, who had been emperor for 61 years, passed away. His successor in managing the Qing Dynasty was the fourth son of the emperor Yinzhen , known in history as Emperor Yongzheng.
There have always been different opinions about Emperor Yongzheng. The most common one is that he changed his father's edict. Originally Kangxi wrote "passed to the fourteenth prince ", but Yongzheng found a way to change it to " passed to the fourth prince ".
This kind of rumor is widely circulated, but relevant experts have stood up and said that the legend is not credible because there are too many loopholes in this statement:
First, the Qing court's imperial edict should be in both Manchu and Chinese characters. , you can change it from Chinese characters, can you change and Manchu ? Later, with the imperial edict found in the Qing palace, it seems to prove what experts said;
Secondly, in addition to the imperial edict, there were experts at the time who said , even if all are in Chinese, this expression is impossible, because when the Qing court refers to the title of the prince, it is always "emperor's son".
So if the throne is really passed on to the fourteenth son, then the edict should say " The throne is passed to the fourteenth son of the emperor" . If you change it, it will be changed to "The throne is passed to the fourteenth son." Obviously, adding a word and changing the wording is not valid. .
So based on the edict alone, can we determine that Yongzheng is the successor of Kangxi?
The answer is actually no. Because as we say, history is written by the victors. When Yongzheng showed the edict to others, he actually had the absolute right to speak. Otherwise, with just one edict, he would only be able to make money.
If he had had the absolute right to speak back then, then it would not have mattered what was originally written in the edict. There was no encryption such as blockchain at that time. What kind of edict he wanted people to write would naturally be No matter what kind of edict an outsider sees, it is not impossible for him to turn a deer into a horse.
However, some people have taken this into consideration. They are worried that after Yongzheng succeeds to the throne, he will drastically modify historical records like Li Shimin , so they look for circumstantial evidence from other places. They found such a record in a Korean historical document " The Record of the Ri Dynasty ".
After leaving the Qing court, the North Korean envoy recorded such an incident in his records, to the effect that when Kangxi was dying, he gave Yinzhen the rosary he was wearing and told him that this rosary It was passed on to me by my father ( Shunzhi ), and I will pass it on to you today.
If this record is true, then it should be relatively clear that Yinzhen called Yongzheng. Therefore, for a period of time, this foreign record was also an important basis for Yinzhen's succession.
But is this record true?
It's hard to say, because this matter involves a major matter, and Kangxi should have no reason to do it in front of outsiders. Therefore, the North Korean envoys should only hearsay, so the source of this information is very doubtful.
In addition, if this evidence is true, then Yongzheng himself does not need to hide it. He will definitely publicize it widely and record it in history books. However, such an important thing in the official history of Qing Dynasty , there is no record at all.
Judging from the direct textual information alone, it seems that there is still some room for imagination as to whether Yinzhen succeeded to the throne legally. So, did Yinzhen succeed to the throne legally?
Before Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, several of Kangxi's princes were interested in the throne. There was even a saying that " the nine sons seized the throne". However, if you read the history carefully, you will find that at that time, those who "really had the strength to seize the throne", In fact, there were only five people.
They are the original crown prince Yinfeng , the eldest son of the emperor Yinti , the fourth son of the emperor Yinzhen, the eighth son of the emperor Yinhu and the fourteenth son of the emperor Yinti.
Prince Yinfeng is a son is more valuable than his mother. Kangxi made him the crown prince out of consideration for his mother who died young. But Kangxi himself was a "tiger father ", and Yinreng was just a " dog son ". Therefore, the older Yinreng grew up, the less favored he was by Kangxi.
As a result, the less favored by Kangxi, the more Yinreng messed around, and as a result, he was destroyed in two ways. In fact, when he was deposed for the first time, he had already lost the hope of seizing the throne.
Although Yinti is the eldest son of the emperor, he is not a direct descendant but a concubine. Therefore, from a legal point of view, there is basically no possibility for him to be the heir. The reason why he can join the " nine sons seize the direct descendants " is that on the one hand He enjoyed doing it himself. On the other hand, he was distantly related to Mingzhu, an important minister of the Kangxi Dynasty.
But one look at the timeline shows that Mingzhu should have nothing to do with his tossing, because Mingzhu had already passed away before he started tossing about it, and Yinti was just entertaining himself, and Kangxi never considered it at all This eldest son with evil intentions.
The Eighth Prince Yinhu seems to be quite powerful in some literary and artistic works. Many ministers in the Manchu Dynasty seem to be very supportive of this "Eight Wise King".
However, according to historical records, as early as 1708 AD (the forty-seventh year of Kangxi), when Prince Yinfeng was deposed for the first time, someone proposed to change the establishment of Yinhu, but Kangxi sternly rejected it and severely criticized it. As soon as this comment came out, Yinhu's thoughts about " and treacherous nature " were basically completely cut off.
So after being slapped in the face this time, Yinhu immediately gave up on seizing the legitimate son himself and instead supported the fourteenth son of the emperor Yinqi .
Because Yinzhen was " extremely intelligent, talented and virtuous", Kangxi admired him very much and once asked him to go to the northwest as if he were the emperor's own expedition.
Judging from Kangxi's arrangements at the time, it is indeed possible for Yinqi to become Kangxi's heir, but judging from the subsequent details, it is a bit different. Because if Kangxi wanted him to "gild ", he shouldn't let Yinqi stay outside all year round in his old age, but should let him come back as soon as he was gilded.
If Kangxi really wanted the junior Yinqi to gain experience, then Yinqi's failure to resolve the battle for several years might have proved his own lack of ability.
If Kangxi felt good about his body at that time and did not care about temporary gains and losses, but just wanted to cultivate Yinqi well, then Kangxi's death may have been a problem.
If Yinqi is not Kangxi's last choice, then does Yongzheng have the ability to compare with other brothers?
According to historical records, after Yongzheng became emperor, he once said something like this, to the effect that my father is very good, and I am not as good as him in almost every aspect, but I also have my own pride.
I have been a prince for more than 40 years. I have not always stayed in the palace, but often traveled around. I have a deep understanding of grassroots work , and I have been helping my father with government affairs all year round. My The experience and knowledge are worth mentioning. It can even be said that in terms of understanding of the grassroots level, I am far better than my father who started working in the palace at the age of 8.
In addition, it can be seen from Yongzheng's resume that Yongzheng is indeed not an idle playboy. He really has rich work experience.
Therefore, if Kangxi died normally, then the throne of Yongzheng is likely to be legal. However, if there are problems with Kangxi's death, then the person Kangxi loved at the time might really be Yongzheng's biological brother.
