On the one hand, he made drastic moves and was a practical emperor who was committed to eliminating bad policies. But on the other hand, Emperor Yongzheng was also said to be a sinister and vicious villain emperor who was injustice and killed his brother and mother.

Looking at the feudal dynasty in my country, Yongzheng Emperor should be a very special emperor. On the one hand, he made drastic moves and was a practical emperor who was committed to eliminating bad policies. Based on this alone, it can be said that he is one of the few good emperors. But on the other hand, Emperor Yongzheng was also said to be a sinister and vicious villain emperor who was injustice and killed his brother and mother. Then we can’t help but ask, what kind of person did Emperor Yongzheng behave? Are all the unfavorable statements about him false or is it true?

In recent years, due to the extensive exaggeration of various film and television works, the image of Emperor Yongzheng in the minds of contemporary audiences has been greatly improved. Especially the popularity of " Yongzheng Dynasty " describes Emperor Yongzheng as a perfect emperor who is devoted to the public. The infamous brought by Emperor Yongzheng before and after him were all framed by the "reactionaries". But the author wants to say that novels cannot be viewed as history. Not only is the real Emperor Yongzheng in history not so perfect, but the so-called "infamous" are probably not as simple as groundless.

There are many "criminals" about Emperor Yongzheng, and the author cannot list them one by one. Through the following three aspects of discussion, I think it can be seen about Emperor Yongzheng's personality.

above picture_ Yunli made Emperor Yongzheng like

persecuted his brothers

"Since ancient times, the ruthless imperial family"! When the temptation of power reaches its limit, the pursuit of power will be far better than the most basic and truest human relationships. Therefore, in the imperial family, family affection often becomes a "luxury product", and tragic incidents of father, son and brother slaughtering each other are common. However, Emperor Yongzheng's method of dealing with his competitors' brothers, especially his younger brothers, is probably unprecedented in his ability to deal with his superiors and insidious methods.

In the late Kangxi period, the so-called "Nine Sons Fight for the Throne of the Throne" was extremely fierce and even fierce. Against such an extraordinary background, after Emperor Yongzheng took office, he would definitely attack and suppress those brothers who had competitive relationships and opposite sides, but Emperor Yongzheng's actions were not only puzzling, but even "amazing".

above picture_ Nine sons compete for the throne

Kangxi Emperor suddenly died (the cause of death is unknown), and Emperor Yongzheng rushed to succeed the throne with the "assistance" of "uncle" Longkodo . The new emperor placed too many state government affairs that needed urgent treatment aside and immediately began to prevent and suppress his brothers. This was an impatient level. The conventional operations of suppression and prevention are nothing more than discarding and focusing on monitoring, stifling the other party's political life, but this is not the style of Emperor Yongzheng.

The first personnel appointment after Emperor Yongzheng took office was promoted to Yunsi as the chief minister, and then he was appointed as the prince. Although Yunsi was in the position of chief minister, not only did he have the final say in anything, but no matter what he did, he was in return for the accusation and sarcasm of the emperor's brother. When Emperor Kangxi entered the Taimiao tablet, it was because the paint of the new painted pillars of the Taimiao had not dried and had a little paint smell. As a result, Yunsi and officials from all walks of life in the Taimiao for a day and night. Emperor Yongzheng wanted to use this nitpicking personality attack to completely destroy Yunsi's image as a "virtuous king" and his spiritual will that might have some intentions.

Finally, Yunsi, who was walking on thin ice, was still imprisoned by clan mansion for various serious crimes. As for dealing with Lao Jiu Yunqi, he was "exiled" to the northwest in the name of the military commander, and even secretly instructed Nian Gengyao to find an opportunity to get rid of it. Although Nian did not take action, he monitored Yunqi's evidence of online crime. Emperor Yongzheng later imprisoned Yung on charges of seemingly unfairness.

above_Aixin Jueluo Yinsi (Si is a different character; 1681-1726), that is, Yunsi

This is not the end. Yunsi and Yunsi were not only renamed with insulting nouns and expelled from the royal family, but also did not escape the tragic ending of dying in the prison.Emperor Yongzheng treated his brother, Yunzi , as an extra kindness. He imprisoned Yunzi in Emperor Kangxi's Jingling , which was considered a routine operation. However, this is likely because Emperor Yongzheng gave Yunzi a horse due to his mother's relationship, because when Emperor Yongzheng first came to power, he had an order to stop Yunzi's salary (rice) of his salary, which was a big intention to starve to death by starving brother Yunzi.

above picture_ Empress Xiaogongren

Forced to die of the biological mother

In the first year of Yongzheng, half a year after Emperor Kangxi passed away, Emperor Yongzheng's biological mother, Empress Xiaogongren, also left. The explanation given by Emperor Yongzheng was that the Empress Dowager died of depression because she missed the previous emperor too much. This reason was too high-sounding.

According to Emperor Yongzheng's self-report in " Dayi Jue Mi Lu ", he is his mother's favorite son, and Yun Zi is a stubborn and evil young man who has always been disgusted by his mother. But in fact, at the beginning of Emperor Yongzheng's throne, his mother seemed to have not given much face to her "beloved son".

Under normal circumstances, if your beloved son becomes the emperor and becomes the empress dowager, he will definitely be happy in his heart and will actively cooperate to complete various ceremonies without embarrassing his son. However, the empress dowager was very negative about the various promotion ceremonies arranged by the emperor's son, and deliberately resisted it on the grounds that the Emperor Daxing had just left. She herself did not move from the Yonghe Palace where the empress dowager lived from the beginning to the end, and moved into the Cining Palace where the empress dowager should live. Isn’t this just silent resistance?

above picture_Aisin Gioro Yinzhen , the 14th son of Emperor Kangxi, the saint of Qing Dynasty (also known as: Yunzhen, Yinzhen )

As the biological mother, why did the Empress Dowager treat Emperor Yongzheng like this? There are two main reasons:

. Treating your younger brother is too cruel

. Emperor Yongzheng's throne may have been incorrect, and the empress dowager regrets Yun Zi.

Emperor Yongzheng's treatment of Yun Zi and Yun Zi pre-suppressed him in a pre-substantiated manner, which made it difficult for the Empress Dowager to accept. The Empress Dowager was Yun's biological mother. Ethically, the old mother felt sorry for her old (young) son. In fact, the throne might have belonged to Yun's. Although Yun's biological mother was not the Empress Dowager's biological mother, she was raised by the Empress Dowager since childhood. Therefore, neither ethical nor factually, the Empress Dowager could accept Emperor Yongzheng's treatment of his younger brother.

However, Emperor Yongzheng would not give up because of this, especially when Emperor Yongzheng wanted to kill Yun Zi in different ways, the Empress Dowager could only force him to save the lives of his son and his family. Therefore, the rumors about the Queen Mother's death hitting the pillar are probably not entirely fabricated.

above_ "The Book of the Great Awakening" is a compilation of Qing historical documents compiled by Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty

Incorrect rank

Regarding whether Emperor Yongzheng usurped the throne, this should be one of the biggest unsolved cases in Chinese history. There is no conclusion yet, but this does not mean that we cannot understand some clues from other information.

is also based on the self-report of Emperor Yongzheng in "The Book of Dayi Juemi". Emperor Kangxi appointed himself as his successor eight hours before his death, and announced it in front of the seven princes including Lao Ba and Lao Jiu and Longkodo. During this period, Emperor Yongzheng also visited his father many times and even performed filial piety in front of the sickbed. However, Emperor Kangxi and his brothers, even Longkodo kept it secret. He only learned about the inheritance of Dabao after Emperor Kangxi's death.

I have to say that this self-report is simply full of loopholes. How could Emperor Kangxi tell others about the national affairs such as designated heirs of the throne? If it is possible, how could Emperor Kangxi tell others about the news without hiding the designated heirs? Moreover, after his favorite heir has been in front of him many times, why don’t he announce the world in public and not make it clear after he dies? Obviously unreasonable.

Later, even Emperor Qianlong thought that his father's lie was too unreliable, and admitted that only Longkodo was the only one who declared the inheritance of the throne.

above picture_ Tongjia Longkodo (?-1728)

It is also a suspense point regarding whether Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne had the will of Emperor Kangxi. Indeed, three days after Emperor Kangxi's death, Emperor Yongzheng finally took out his father's "noble edict". There are two main doubts about this "noble decree":

. Why was it announced to the public three days later, rather than at the time of the reign of the Great Emperor?

. Why does the will only have Qing (Manchu) texts but not Chinese texts?

The time is not time-consuming, obviously there is time to fake it, which is contrary to the provisions that important documents of the Qing Dynasty must be written in Manchu and Han, which makes people even more doubt whether it is too late to rush to make the system because the time is too tight? In short, this so-called "noble decree" is too credible.

above picture_ Yongzheng's calligraphy

Another suspense point is his strong slander of Yun Zi. According to Emperor Yongzheng, Yun Zi was a slutty and ignorant slutty young man who said he had no contribution to the northwest, and his father was very dissatisfied with him.

Just imagine, in the critical situation where the Qing dynasty might have lost half of its territory, how could Emperor Kangxi send a foolish son to represent himself in his war? And I stayed there for four or five years. During this period, Yun Zi and Emperor Kangxi exchanged letters and discussed work many times, and even Yun Zi returned to Beijing to report his duties to his father. If Emperor Kangxi is not satisfied with Yun Zi, why not replace it in time? If Emperor Kangxi was so stupid, he would be called a wise monarch, and the Qing Dynasty would probably have been destroyed.

above picture_ Emperor Kangxi

History is written by the winner. Our existing documents may never reveal the secrets behind Emperor Yongzheng and prove whether the various infamous behind him are true, but one thing is certain, that is, Emperor Yongzheng is definitely one of the few emperors in history who have achieved success, and is also a treacherous, suspicious and vicious shrewd emperor.

Author: Wang Jinbai Correct/Editor: Lilith

Reference materials:

[1]《Thirteenth Year of Yongzheng》Lin Qian CITIC Publishing House

[2]《Qing Dynasty Records》》》《Yongxian Records》》》》《The Records of the Qing Dynasty》》

Text written by the team of the History University Hall, the picture is from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author