Nian Qianyao was a general of Fuyuan and the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, holding military and political power in Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan and other places. That is to say, basically the entire northwestern part of the west was under his command. Moreover, Shaanxi and Sichuan are also the hometowns of fish and rice, and the production is very rich. There are guns, there are cannons, there is food, there are people. If Nian Qianyao wants to rebel, it can be said that his chances of success are very high.
(2008 Image)
Ancient emperors did not dare to easily deal with the generals at the border passes, for fear that they would easily rebel with heavy troops. During the Five Dynasties period, as long as the king was dissatisfied with the border generals and wanted to move the towns to them (moving the towns was to change the generals from one military town to another), then the princes would surely raise their armies and rebel.
Even if the king did not suspect the border generals, the frontier could rebel. For example, An Lushan, Tang Xuanzong loved him so much, he also rebelled. Moreover, The An Lushan rebellion was also successful, and soon Chang'an and Luoyang were captured. Why did An Lushan succeed? It was because at that time, he was the emissary of the Three Towns Festival, and he controlled a lot of military power.
Even in the Qing Dynasty, if the border generals controlled a lot of military power, rebellion was easy. For example, Wu Sangui. Because Wu Sangui controlled the southwestern part, Wu Sangui easily raised troops. Although Wu Sangui finally failed, it was because he died earlier. If Wu Sangui lived longer, he would not necessarily fail.
When Kangxi was dealing with Aobai, because Aobai controlled the military and political power of the imperial court, Kangxi used wrestling to deal with the overthrow of Aobai, which shows how careful Kangxi was.
Then, since Nian Qianyao controlled a large area such as Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu, and had a heavy army, why was Yongzheng able to take him down easily? Wasn't he afraid of Nian Tangyao's rebellion?
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Combined with the analysis of historical data, I think that the reason why Yongzheng was able to easily win the Nian TangYao was mainly due to the following reasons.
First, Yongzheng made Nian Qianyao unexpected.
It is estimated that Nian Qianyao did not think that Yongzheng was going to kill him. Why? Because Nian Qianyao helped a lot in the process of Yongzheng ascending the throne. And Yongzheng is a person with rich feelings and clear love and hatred. He will do his best to fight against his brothers who have fought with him. But those who helped him seize the throne, he gave great favors. For example, Yongzheng vigorously attacked Yin Yu and Yin Yu, but for Yin Xiang, Long Keduo, and Nian Qianyao, who helped him, Yong Zheng not only loved them very much, but also tried to reward them.
It is precisely because Yongzheng constantly rewards Nian Qianyao that Nian Qianyao believes that Yongzheng is very kind to him. Although Yongzheng also pointed out the mistakes of Nian Tangyao many times at that time, Nian Qianyao did not think at all that Yongzheng was actually preparing to start, preparing to kill him.
Second, Yongzheng made Nian Qianyao resentful.
Why is it said that Yongzheng can't make Nian Qianyao complain?
Because those mistakes of Nian Qianyao were not directly pointed out by Yongzheng, but the result of the impeachment of the ministers.
Of course, the reason why the ministers were like this was first of all because Yongzheng expressed his dissatisfaction with Nian Qianyao and gave the ministers a signal. But it is precisely because it is to give the ministers a signal that the ministers will be confident and bold in impeaching Nian Tangyao.
Because it was the ministers who impeached, in this way, Nian Qianyao had a feeling that it was because those ministers were jealous of him, jealous that he had gained yongzheng's great favor, and their hearts were dissatisfied, so they would do so. With the close relationship between him and Yongzheng, although Yongzheng criticized him, he would definitely believe him again in the end.
(Portrait of Wu Sangui)
Third, Yongzheng made Nian Qianyao unable to guess.
Although Yongzheng criticized Nian Qianyao, he did not demote him to a position, but instead promoted him and made him a general of Hangzhou. In the Qing Dynasty, the general of Hangzhou was an important position, even more important than the frontier general OfFuyuan.
In Nian Qianyao's view, Yongzheng did this to protect him and let him temporarily avoid the limelight, so as not to be impeached by other jealous people.
So he went to Hangzhou with confidence and boldness. But unexpectedly, after he went to Hangzhou, Yongzheng began to clean him up, arrest him, and escort him to Beijing. He was then collected in many of his charges and sentenced him to death.
From the above analysis, in fact, we can see that the most important reason why Yongzheng was able to easily overthrow Nian Qianyao was that Nian Qianyao did not think of rebelling at all. Therefore, the problems he was thinking about were not to use the sword to mobilize the army. If Nian Qianyao thought of rebelling, like Wu Sangui and An Lushan. Then, when he was the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, he had already raised the banner of rebellion.
If that's the case, Yongzheng may encounter great trouble no matter how skilled he is.
(Reference: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty)