In the sixty year of Qianlong (1795), Yongyan was officially declared as the crown prince. On the first day of the first month of the second year, Qianlong Zen was located in Yongyan, the latter being the "Jiaqing Emperor" in the history of the Qing Dynasty.
Historically, China has always pursued the “eldest son and inheritance system”, but after the Qing army entered the Pass, this policy has not been implemented. Whoever passes the throne to the emperor depends mainly on the emperor’s own consideration. For example, Kangxi was the third son of the emperor, and Yongzheng He is the fourth son of the emperor, Qianlong is the fourth son of the emperor. Therefore, Emperor Qianlong had a total of 17 princes. Yong Yan was only ranked 15th. The chance of getting the throne was too low. Moreover, Yong Yan was not a person with outstanding ability. Why did Qianlong pass the throne to Yong Yan? In fact, there are mistakes and fate.
After Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he learned the lesson of the Emperor Kangxi’s reign of Jiulong, so he adopted a method of "secret establishment of the reserve", which was to write two copies of the selected Prince's edict, one copy Hidden behind the plaque of "Faithfulness and Brightness" in the Palace of the Qing Dynasty, there is a copy in his own collection to tell the courtiers that the prince has established the country. Before Yongzheng's death, the minister took down the secret decree of the Qianqing Palace and contrasted it with the secret decree collected by him. Only after the two coincided, did the emperor's fourth son Hongli succeed.
After Emperor Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he also adopted the method of establishing the reserve of Yongzheng. As for who Qianlong made the crown prince, apart from the disclosure of Qianlong himself, the officials could only rely on guessing, even the selected person did not know. . According to Qianlong's own disclosure, as early as 1750, Qianlong had established the second prince Yonglian and the seventh prince Yong Cong as princes.
In 1736, Yonglian, who was only 7 years old, was secretly established as the crown prince by Qianlong. The reason why Yonglian was established as the crown prince was not only because the name of Yonglian was bestowed by Emperor Yongzheng, which implied the meaning of inheritance, but also because the four emperors were all concubines after the entry of the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong decided to change this situation. The protagonist inherits the throne, So soon after he became the throne, Yonglian was appointed as the crown prince. But the days do not holiday, and two years later, Yonglian died of illness at the age of nine.
In 1746, the seventh son of Qianlong (the second son) Yong Cong was born. His biological mother was the pure empress of Xiaoxian, Fu Cha. In about 1748, Qianlong was going to make him the crown prince, but Yong Cong was in this year. In January, he had smallpox because of acne, and he was only two years old.
Before Yong Cong, Qianlong wanted to pass on his son, so the eldest son Yonghuang, the third son Yongzhang, the fourth son Yongxuan, the fifth son Yongqi, and the sixth son Yong The four of them have never had a chance.
We all know that Qianlong was 36 years old in 1746, and there was only one queen, and he may not be able to give birth to a son. Therefore, if there is no emperor's son, then he may not compromise in the end and can only be passed on to his concubine. However, due to various factors, the above four completely bid farewell to the fight for the throne.
In 1748, Qianlong’s original empress died. At the ceremony, the eldest son Yonghuang and the third son Yongzhang did not understand etiquette. The two were reprimanded by Emperor Qianlong, even implying that they were disqualified from standing as reserve.
And the fourth son of the emperor Yongxue, and the sixth son of the emperor Yongrong successively passed to the side branch as heirs, and did not have the right to inherit. In 1759, the 17-year-old emperor Yong Rong, the twenty-first uncle of Qianlong, and Wang Yunxi of Shenjing County, was ordered to adopt Baylor; in 1763, the 25-year-old emperor Yong Xuan adopted the prince after he was adopted to Prince Lu. Lu Junwang.
In 1746, Qianlong's seventh son (second son) was born after Yongcong and in 1766, Qianlong had ten more sons, five of whom were born to the queen, namely The twelfth son of the emperor, the thirteenth son, the fourteenth son, the fifteenth son Yongyan, the sixteenth son, and the seventeenth son Yonglin , among which three sons of the emperor thirteenth son, the emperor fourteenth son, and the emperor sixteenth son died early. This made Qianlong overjoyed, and he could finally pass on the throne, but perhaps it was the shadow of the early death of the prince after the former reserve. This time Qianlong did not immediately establish the reserve, but waited until 1773.
In 1773, when Qianlong re-established his reserve, there were five options, namely Yongxuan, the eighth son, Yongzheng, the twelfth son, Yongyan, the fifteenth son, and Yonglin, the seventeenth son. (Ninth son, 10th son, 13th son, 14th son, 16th son early death)
1, the twelfth son of the emperor Yonggang has the highest status and was born to the second empress of Emperor Qianlong Nala, whenHe was fifteen years old, but in 1765, Qianlong had a sharp conflict with the Queen Nala, the birth mother of Yong Zong. The reason is still a mystery. In the second year, Queen Nala passed away. This incident heralded that the twelfth emperor Yong Zong had been out. In fact, even if there was no such incident, Qianlong would not pass on the position of Yongyang, because Yongyang died in 1776.
2, the emperor Yongxuan has a frivolous behavior and poor popularity. Qianlong once publicly reprimanded him. Therefore, in Qianlong's mind, Yongxuan was embarrassed by the great responsibility. The so-called "drinking wine, having foot disease, and unpopular", "sexuality" Be surly and lose your favor repeatedly."
3, the emperor's eleventh son Yong Xuan is better. He is especially good at calligraphy. He likes to imitate Han Confucian scholars, but Qianlong is very disgusted by his refusal to ride and imitate Han Confucian scholars. Ti, is the most benevolent and filial" but "soft and unbroken."
4, the emperor's seventeenth son Yonglin and Jiaqing Emperor are the same mother brothers, the eighth sons, but there is nothing special about him, plus the youngest age, only 8 years old in 1773, compared with the same mother brother Yongyan, He can only be a spare tire.
Compared with other princes, Yong Yan is not only the six sons of the princes, but also the reputation of Asano is better, even by people guessing.
People’s comment: “Study with a bow, just to have the precepts, long in the ban, and a lot of reputation”, “Diligent in studies, but where people are expected”, “He is heavy, he is wise, and the emperor loves it. "The government and the people want to see", "the emperor is open-minded, looks great, the emperor treats himself like himself, loves him most, and the Chinese and foreign subordinates want Yan." He believes that the fifteenth son of the emperor Yongyan's prestige, popularity, ability, etc. are all worthy of great responsibility. Prince.
As expected, Emperor Qianlong finally solved the mystery in 1795. On October 15th of this year, Qianlong gathered the princes, grandchildren and officials, and opened the secret decree for 22 years. On that day, the emperor’s fifteen sons were formally enshrined. Yong Yan was the crown prince and announced the Zen position of the first month of the second year.
The author believes that Yongyan's ability to stand out is not how outstanding his ability is. In addition to his protagonist status and the "death" of the emperor's brothers, there is another important reason that Qianlong lived too long, 1773 Only 7 princes were still alive in 1795. In 1795, only 4 princes were still alive. The years of rushing to the sand have greatly reduced Yongyan’s competitors.
Reference: "Drafts of Qing History"
