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"The most ruthless imperial family" , whenever the imperial power changes, there have been cases of father and son tragic deaths between each other.
Qin Ershi kill fusu , sei Yangdi kills father and brother, Tang Taizong change of Xuanwu Gate all confirm this.
When the Qing Dynasty was , this situation became more and more serious. In the later years of Kangxi , the famous "Nine Sons Fight for the Throne" incident occurred.
As the saying goes, "One emperor and one minister" , after Emperor Kangxi's death, Yinzhen In order to consolidate his existing power, he began to kill people regardless of the discussions between the court and the country, and killed some of the old ministers of Emperor Kangxi.
Among them is Zhao Chang, the confidant eunuch who served Emperor Kangxi for 60 years.
Zhao Chang was already seventy or eighty years old at this time. Why did Yinzhen kill this old eunuch who was over 60 despite the disputes between the government and the country?
Does Zhao Chang know any ulterior motives? Today we will talk about the unknown stories that happened between the alternation of the two dynasties of Kangxi Yongzheng .
Yongzheng killed Emperor Kangxi's confidant eunuch
The eunuch Zhao Chang was a eunuch who served Emperor Kangxi since he was a child. According to historical records, Zhao Chang began to follow Emperor Kangxi as early as when Emperor Kangxi was a child, and accompanied Emperor Kangxi for more than 60 years and was deeply trusted by Emperor Kangxi.
Friends familiar with history know that Emperor Kangxi ascended the throne at a young age. Because his father Emperor Shunzhi and his mother Empress Xiaokangzhang died young, Emperor Kangxi became an orphan since childhood, and his grandmother Empress Xiaozhuang became his only relative whom he could rely on.
In the early years of the Kangxi Dynasty, powerful ministers such as Aobai , Sony and other controlled the government. If it weren't for the grandmother Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang fully supported Emperor Kangxi, Emperor Kangxi would have been in danger.
In order to better cultivate Emperor Kangxi, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang arranged for her confidant to be with Emperor Kangxi when Emperor Kangxi was very young to prevent accidents. At this time, Zhao Chang became Emperor Kangxi's personal eunuch.
Zhao Chang and Emperor Kangxi were only similar in age. They were smart and witty, and were good at observing words and expressions. Not long after, they became the closest eunuch to Emperor Kangxi.
Zhao Chang is good at observing words and expressions, but it is not just a saying. Once Emperor Kangxi met with an envoy from a European country. In order to show his respect for Emperor Kangxi, the envoy presented an musket to Emperor Kangxi.
Emperor Kangxi liked it very much, but the surface of this gun was not decorated, which obviously did not conform to Emperor Kangxi's noble status.
Later, Emperor Kangxi often played with this gun and often sighed at it. Zhao Chang saw all this.
In order to make Emperor Kangxi happy, Zhao Chang specially found skilled craftsmen from all over the country and remade a gun based on this gun. The gun was inlaid with various precious and dazzling gems and jade, which made people look extremely rich and noble.
Then Zhao Chang presented the gun to Emperor Kangxi. After Emperor Kangxi met, Long Yan was very happy and very happy, and praised Zhao Chang for his ability to do things.
From this incident, Zhao Chang truly became a celebrity around Emperor Kangxi. From then on, Emperor Kangxi and Zhao Chang were both monarchs and ministers and friends, and had a very good relationship.
As Emperor Kangxi began to slowly eliminate powerful ministers and regain power, he gradually settled down in the court. Zhao Chang also became an unknown personal eunuch, transforming himself into a chief eunuch who specializes in reading the imperial eunuch.
When Kangxi was middle-aged, Zhao Chang directly served as the head of the Interior Office, and it can be said that he was less than one person and more than ten thousand people.
At that time, the head of the Interior Department's Office was a poor man because Zhao Chang decided to purchase materials inside and outside the palace.
It is precisely because this is a fat man that Zhao Chang not only made countless money in just a few years, but also bought many beautiful houses inside and outside Beijing City , and even started a business privately without telling the truth about Emperor Kangxi.
Although Emperor Kangxi later found out, Zhao Chang was his close confidant after all, and Emperor Kangxi didn't care much, so he turned a blind eye and went there.
Although Zhao Chang embezzled a lot of money in the years he served Emperor Kangxi, as the chief eunuch in the palace, Zhao Chang had no other usurpation except corruption, let alone any serious acts of rebellion.
Therefore, according to the custom of the Qing Dynasty, the servants and eunuchs of the late emperor could stay in the palace and continue to serve the new emperor as long as they did not make any major mistakes. If they were unwilling to do so, the court could even pay a pension to retire and return home.
But after Emperor Kangxi's death, Zhao Chang was killed overnight by Emperor Yongzheng's ! What mistake did Zhao Chang make when he arrives? What could Emperor Yongzheng not tolerate him for a day?
The death of the eunuch Zhao Chang
The death of Zhao Chang is recorded in many unofficial histories, the most detailed of which is the biography written by the Italian missionary in China and the court painter Ma Guoxian of the Qing Dynasty.
According to Ma Guoxian's "Memoirs in China", the story of Zhao Chang's death is recorded in detail.
The book records that on the evening of the 13th day of the lunar calendar in the 61st year of the Kangxi reign (1722 AD), Ma Guoxian was sitting in a garden in the palace with another missionary Angola.
Suddenly, a riot sound came from the palace, and then a harsh cry for help came, and the sound became louder and louder, gradually turning into a scream.
Ma Guoxian and Angola were frightened and hurriedly left the garden.
Then the next day, Ma Guoxian heard the news of Emperor Kangxi's death. Not only that, Ma Guoxian also heard that Emperor Kangxi's personal eunuch Zhao Chang was killed by Yinzhen, and his family property was confiscated and his family members were all slaves.
On the same day, the first day after Yinzhen ascended the throne, after Yinzhen became Emperor Yongzheng, he issued an imperial edict and told the world: "The eunuch Zhao Chang has repeatedly committed serious crimes, and his crimes are unforgivable. He has been killed according to the law!"
Immediately afterwards, Emperor Yongzheng began to announce many crimes of the eunuch Zhao Chang, the biggest of which is the following three.
first, Zhao Chang attempted to seize power and interfere in politics, and illegally monitored Yinzhen
After the incident of "Nine Sons Fighting for the Throne", Yinzhen fought a bloody path from many sons of Emperor Kangxi and successfully inherited the throne. However, the emperor who had just succeeded to the throne was sensitive, so he seriously suspected that Zhao Chang, the personal eunuch of the late emperor, was here to monitor him.
So who instructed Zhao Chang? Of course, Yinzhen would not say that it was instructed by Emperor Kangxi, so it is obvious that Zhao Chang was instructed by other princes of Emperor Kangxi.
Therefore, in Yinzhen's view, Zhao Chang was a person from the "hostile" camp and was in charge of the imperial court for many years and was deeply rooted. If he was not eliminated as soon as possible, he would be a big problem.
Moreover, Yinzhen can be said to be a vengeful person. In ancient times, being surveilled was an unreliable shame. Killing Zhao Chang can be said to be partly because Yinzhen avenged his personal revenge and killed Zhao Chang to vent his hatred.
In addition to these, Yinzhen also had the idea of "killing a chicken to warn the monkey" to kill Zhao Chang, believing that since Zhao Chang was the other princes, although these princes failed, the princes' subordinate ministers were still there.
Yinzhen could not kill all these people, so he could only kill Zhao Chang first, warning these other princes to not act rashly.
Another important thing is that Zhao Chang served Emperor Kangxi for more than 60 years and must have known many secrets and scandals of his Aisin Jueluo family. These things must not be rumored. Killing Zhao Chang also means killing people to silence them.
Second, Zhao Chang mostly made friends with royal relatives and ministers in the court, and had evil intentions
In all dynasties, the emperor's personal eunuchs made private friends with princes and ministers in the court, which were all serious crimes, and once it was found out, it was basically a dead end.
Because in the eyes of rulers of various dynasties, the emperor's personal eunuchs made private friends with royal relatives and ministers was a manifestation of the country's beginning to decline, such as The eunuch of the Qin Dynasty Zhao Gao , the ten eunuchs of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, The eunuch of the Ming Dynasty Wei Zhongxian , etc.
The decline of these dynasties was due to eunuchs, so in the Qing Dynasty, the Qing rulers were very taboo about this.
And Zhao Chang was very "unfortunate" to bump into this: Emperor Kangxi's eldest son Yinreng was appointed as the crown prince by Emperor Kangxi twice, and was the main competitor in Yinzhen's "Nine Sons Fight for the Throne" incident.
, and Zhao Chang was so happy that he would get close to Yinreng during this period. Zhao Chang even gave Yinreng a tribute to the small southern country of tribute to the fire sickle and musket.
You should know that the tributes paid to the emperor must be given to the emperor first. Zhao Chang actually gave them to Yinreng first, which was a bold and arrogant task.
In Yinzhen's opinion, Zhao Chang's willingness to make friends with Yinreng was simply not taking himself seriously. If he kept letting go, maybe Zhao Chang would really collude with other princes to rebel from inside and outside, and the situation would be difficult to deal with at that time.
Therefore, Yinzhen decided to take action first and kill Zhao Chang.
3, Zhao Chang has been corruption to the extreme, and it is not possible to eliminate it. As mentioned in the previous article, Zhao Chang relied on his personal eunuch to Emperor Kangxi, and made countless money during his tenure as the head of the Office of the Interior Affairs Office. Not only did he use this money to do business illegally, he even started selling official positions and titles.
But it is precisely because Zhao Chang was the personal eunuch of Emperor Kangxi that Emperor Kangxi did not blame Zhao Chang much, which further encouraged Zhao Chang's arrogance.
Finally, according to historical records, Zhao Chang embezzled and misappropriated more than 50 million taels of silver in the late Kangxi period, which almost shook the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. How could this not make Yinzhen hate it?
It was precisely because the eunuchs around the emperor took the lead in corruption that large-scale corruption incidents began to occur in the late Kangxi Dynasty, which made Yinzhen, who already hated corruption, deeply hated it.
Results After Yinzhen ascended the throne and became Emperor Yongzheng, he carried out very severe rectification of the corruption in the court.
Not only that, after Yinzhen ascended the throne, he immediately promulgated the "corrupt officials' compensation system" .
means that the corrupt officials who are investigated must not only hand over the money they embezzled in full, but also compensate the same amount of money to the court as compensation. If the compensation is not enough, the property of the corrupt officials must be checked until it is replenished.
If the family is still not enough after the family is copied, the corrupt officials' tribe members will be deposed as servants to compensate for their money.
Later, Yinzhen felt that he would give up on corrupt officials lightly, so he wrote the law to deal with corrupt officials into the " Qing Dynasty Laws ": "Anyone who embezzled 1,000 taels or more will be executed, and there is no right to immunity!"
Such punishment is extremely serious, and one thousand taels will be sentenced to death . Not to mention that in the Qing Dynasty, it was very rare even in all dynasties in China.
The evidence of Zhao Chang's crimes is all obvious. According to conspiracy theories that have been widely circulated in recent years, Zhao Chang's real cause of death is deeper, and it can even be said to be a fear of Yinzhen, which has become the reason why Zhao Chang had to die.
The "real" reason why Zhao Chang had to die
Since ancient times, the alternation of dynasties has been full of conspiracies, and Yinzhen was no exception to becoming Emperor Yongzheng. The "Nine Sons Fight for the Throne" incident can well illustrate this point.
In the "Nine Sons Fighting for the Throne" incident, Yinzhen was not a popular candidate for the throne in the early stage.
Emperor Kangxi had a total of 24 sons, and there were nine sons participating in the battle for the throne. The most promising one was mentioned in the previous article, Yinreng, the eldest son of Emperor Kangxi.
Yinreng was originally loved by Emperor Kangxi and was once made the crown prince. However, due to his personal reasons, Yinreng repeatedly disappointed his emperor, Amma, and was completely abolished from his status as a crown prince in 1708 AD.
With Yinreng's deposed, the other eight princes, including Yinzhen, coveted the position of the heir to the throne, and they all began bloody open and secret struggles regardless of their brotherhood.
After a cruel struggle, the other princes were defeated one after another and withdrew from the struggle. In the end, the two princes were the most likely to inherit the throne: the fourth prince Yinzhen and the fourteenth prince Yinzhi .
So the conspiracy theory about Zhao Chang began: before Emperor Kangxi died, he issued an edict saying that "the 14th prince passed on the throne."
However, the personal eunuch Zhao Chang was very good at observing words and expressions. He believed that the fourth prince Yinzhen had the greatest chance of victory, so he met with Yinzhen privately. The two jointly changed the will of Emperor Kangxi to "passing on the fourth prince."
Later, after Emperor Kangxi passed away, Yinzhen was afraid that the matter would be exposed, so he killed Zhao Chang overnight.
This conspiracy theory seems to be reasonable and well-founded, but in fact it is full of loopholes.
First of all, the first loophole is the word "Yu". You should know that the word "Yu" is today's simplified character . The Qing Dynasty's "Yu" written in "Yu". Even if the will really exist, how did Zhao Chang fill in the simplified character "Yu"?
The second is the issue of the edict itself. Emperor Kangxi was a manchu 3. The Qing Dynasty emperor first issued a mandarin will, and Emperor Kangxi was no exception.
The real The Kangxi imperial edict has three copies, Manchu , one copy of Mongolian and one copy of Chinese. Even if Zhao Chang has the ability to change the Chinese edict, how did he change the Manchu and Mongolian edicts?
Therefore, Yinzhen killed Zhao Chang for the sake of his will.
The person who proposed the conspiracy theory was not giving up. A second reason soon appeared: because Emperor Kangxi was poisoned by Yinzhen, and Zhao Chang was also involved. Afterwards, Yinzhen also killed Zhao Chang immediately after Emperor Kangxi died in order to kill people. The statement
is obviously even more outrageous. You should know that no matter what dynasties and dynasties, the emperor's diet is a very important matter.
Before the emperor's food is delivered to the emperor, it must be checked many times to see if anyone has poisoned it. Even the food sent by the emperor's princes and concubines is no exception.
Therefore, we can conclude that Yinzhen killed Zhao Chang for the purpose of conspiracy and then killing people to silence him. This is obviously a basisless nonsense.
In fact, these conspiracy theories are not only popular now, but also at that time. This is mainly related to the character of Emperor Yongzheng Yinzhen.
Yinzhen was the fourth prince of Emperor Kangxi, but Yinzhen's biological mother was humble and was raised by her adoptive mother since she was a child. Yinzhen's other brothers also had no brotherhood towards Yinzhen at all, so suppressing it everywhere was common.
In this kind of environment of relying on others, Yinzhen developed two extreme personalities: he was filial to his elders on the surface, treated his brothers with friendship, and worked diligently.
But deep down, I felt a deep grudge against those who treat me badly, which also led to Yinzhen being too jealous and mean and cruel.
It is precisely because of these "bad problems" deep in Yinzhen's heart that conspiracy theorists used these conspiracies to attack Yinzhen, saying that he was a dark and very vicious person. The killing of Zhao Chang and some other old ministers of the previous dynasty was evidence.
In fact, this is not the case. On the contrary, Emperor Yongzheng Yinzhen was a genuine "wise ruler". He cannot be said to be the best emperor, but it can be said that Yinzhen was the most "hardworking" emperor in Chinese history.
Yinzhen ascended the throne at the age of 45 and died at the age of 58. In these short 13 years, he has reviewed more than 40,000 memorials, and the number of words he wrote back to criticize memorials was close to 50 million words!
On average, nearly 9,000 words are required to be reprinted every day! This also made Yinzhen the emperor who read the most memorials in Chinese history, no doubt about it!
Not only that, Yinzhen wrote more than 2,000 words of his experience and thoughts on governing the country almost every day during these 13 years. He hoped that the ministers would make suggestions and opinions. It can be seen how much Yinzhen hoped that his country would prosper!
In addition to reviewing memorials, Yinzhen's greatest workload was to approve various documents submitted by the six ministries.
According to historical records, during the 13 years of Yinzhen's reign, he approved a total of up to 210,000 documents in six documents, and on average, more than 40 documents were approved every day!
And Yinzhen didn't just look at these documents, but wanted to approve his opinions and attitudes on the documents and finally stamp his own seal.
According to statistics, in these 40 documents every day, the average number of words in each document Yinzhen’s reply exceeds 2,000 words! What a huge workload!
These alone cannot show Yinzhen's greatness. Unlike his father, Emperor Kangxi and his son, Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Yongzheng, Yinzhen was almost not a woman. It is recorded that Emperor Yongzheng had only more than twenty concubines.
is really much less than his father and son. Moreover, most of these twenty concubines were given to Yinzhen in order to please Yinzhen, and Yinzhen had to bite the bullet and accept it in order not to refute the ministers' "face"!
The 13 years of Yinzhen's reign were the most important 13 years of the Qing Dynasty's " Kangqian Prosperity ". It was precisely because of Yinzhen's diligent attitude that it played a role in connecting the past and the future in the Kangqian Prosperity, which made the Qing Dynasty become prosperous and strong during this period.
conclusion
In fact, Zhao Chang's death was mainly because of the crime he committed himself. Yinzhen hated Zhao Chang deeply when Emperor Kangxi was reigned.
Just based on Zhao Chang's many crimes explained above, how could Yinzhen not kill Zhao Chang when he succeeded to the throne? The conspiracy theory mentioned later said that Yinzhen killed Zhao Chang for the sake of conspiracy is simply nonsense!
