1722, Emperor Kangxi died of illness in Changchun Garden in the northern suburbs at the age of 69. In the same year, the 44-year-old Si Age Yinzhen won the battle of the Nine Sons to win the legitimate sons, and inherited the throne according to Kangxi's imperial edict. The following year, he changed his reign name to Yongzheng, thus officially starting his ruling career.
The battle for the throne among the nine sons became the most fierce battle for the throne in the history of the Qing Dynasty. Until Emperor Yongzheng the succession struggle could not completely disappear. So, how did Emperor Yongzheng deal with the other princes who participated in the battle for the throne among the nine sons? What will be their fate?
The so-called " dragon gave birth to nine sons , all different". Emperor Kangxi had a total of 55 children, including 35 sons and 20 daughters. Among them, 9 outstanding princes participated in the fight for the heir.
These nine princes are divided into five factions, namely the eldest brother Yinti faction, which advocates the establishment of a chief, headed by Yinreng, who advocates the establishment of The direct princelings, the Third Prince Party who "played soy sauce" in this fight; the Fourth Prince faction, which is dominated by Yinzhen and Yinxiang is supplemented; and the Eighth Prince Yinsu, who is known for his talents, plus the Ninth Prince, , Tenth Prince and Fourteenth Prince who support him.
Among the five camps in this battle, the eldest brother Yinti was the first to be eliminated.
As the eldest son of Kangxi, Yinti was smart and capable, and was originally highly valued by him. He sent troops with Kangxi twice to conquer the Erut Mongolian Galdan. Unfortunately, his desire for power was too blatant.
In 1708, Yinti and other princes followed Kangxi to the outside of the fortress for a siege. During this process, due to the intensification of conflicts between the prince Yinti and Emperor Kangxi, Kangxi had the intention of deposing the prince, but he had not yet made a decision. But Yinti thought that his opportunity had come, and actively sought the position of prince, and suggested that Yinti be killed, which disgusted Kangxi.
In November of the same year, his third elder brother Yinzhi reported him for cursing the prince. Emperor Kangxi ordered Yinzhi to be imprisoned, completely losing his chance of succeeding to the throne. After that, he was imprisoned for 26 years until his death.
The second elder brother Yinfeng (ie the prince), because Emperor Kangxi had a close relationship with his queen mother Hershey , Hershey died in childbirth when giving birth to him. After Emperor Kangxi held a grand funeral for the queen, he took Yinreng by his side to raise him personally. When he was less than one year old, he was named the crown prince. For this son, Emperor Kangxi could be said to have devoted all his emotions.
And Yinreng also experienced two deposes and two establishments. He was deposed for the first time in the forty-seventh year of Kangxi (1708). During this inspection outside the Great Wall, Emperor Kangxi received reports from other princes. He was dissatisfied with the prince's various atrocities and believed that he had no idea of loyalty to his father, so he deposed him in a fit of anger.
However, in the next year, the conflicts between Kangxi and the eldest elder brother and eighth elder brother intensified. In order to ease the situation, the imprisoned Yinreng was released and re-established as the prince.
But Yinreng was not restless after the restoration, but accelerated the plan to force Kangxi to abdicate. This made Emperor Kangxi extremely angry and deposed him. After that, he never thought about restoring the crown prince. And Yinreng also lost the opportunity to compete for the heir apparent, and finally died of illness in the Xian'an Palace of the Forbidden City in the second year of Yongzheng's reign (1724) at the age of 51.
The third elder brother Yinzhi is one of the princes who has a better ending. He was less involved in the incident of seizing the legitimate son and thus saved his life. However, he had a good relationship with the deposed prince Yinreng. After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he was dissatisfied, so he was assigned to Zunhua 's Malanyu was guarding the mausoleum of Kangxi. As a result, while he was guarding the mausoleum, the thirteenth elder brother Yinxiang passed away. Yongzheng and Yinxiang Xiang had always had a good relationship with Xiang. When he heard that Yinzhi lacked mourning for Yinxiang's death, he was furious and deprived him of his title and imprisoned him in Yong'an Pavilion in Jingshan until his death.
The eighth prince Yinzhu has been well-versed in the world since he was a child, and he is easy-going and easy-going. He is known as a "virtuous man". He also has the most party members and supporters in the court. Even the other princes Yinzhen, Yinzhen, Yinqi are all on the side of the eighth prince.
However, because he was too virtuous, he was jealous of Emperor Kangxi, and the relationship between father and son gradually became discordant. The incident that really made him miss the throne was the " Eagle Killing Incident" in the fifty-third year of Kangxi's reign (1714). This incident also made Kangxi think that Yinhu had cursed him, and he completely hated his son.
However, even so, Yinzhen did not give up the fight for the throne. He turned to support his own party's fourteenth prince, Yinzhen. However, as we all know, Yinzhen did not ascend the throne, but his "dead rival" Yinzhen inherited the throne.
The most unfortunate days in Yinzhen's life also started from the moment when Yinzhen inherited the throne. He and Yinzhen were given the names "Aqina" and "Seth Hei" by Yongzheng. In addition, the three of them were accused of dozens of crimes.
In the fourth year of Yongzheng (1726), both the eighth elder brother Yinsu and the ninth elder brother Yinzhen died in prison in this year. The fourteenth elder brother Yinzhen was imprisoned in the Shouhuang Palace in Jingshan until Emperor Qianlong succeeded to the throne and regained his freedom.
The tenth elder brother Yinzhen, as a member of the eighth elder brother's party, was not much better. After Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he was imprisoned and dismissed like other brothers, and was imprisoned for thirteen years. He was not released until Qianlong succeeded to the throne.
Finally, there is the thirteenth elder brother Yinxiang. As the fourth elder brother, he was deeply trusted after he succeeded to the throne. Yongzheng handed over many important affairs to this younger brother. He was also named the iron hat king , and he was entitled to enjoy the imperial temple . It can be said that after Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, Yinxiang received the greatest honor and power among all the princes who participated in the contest between the nine sons, second only to Yinzhen himself. This was also the benefit of his initial selection.
