On February 25, 1850, the 69-year-old Daoguang Emperor passed the last day of his life, and the Forbidden City mourned, and at this time, with the new emperor ascending the throne, the Qing Dynasty gradually entered the old age. Six hours before that, the Daoguang Emperor announced his heir, the fourth prince Yixuan. The Daoguang Emperor may never have imagined that his act of establishing a reserve would affect the qi number of the Great Qing Dynasty, and even affect the historical trend of the whole China and even the world.
After the Opium War, Daoguang began to consider the matter of establishing reserves. It was only in this matter that the Daoguang Emperor was in a very difficult situation, and he had considered it for many years. He knew that the Qing Dynasty was not the primogeniture inheritance system, according to the tradition of the Qing Dynasty, all princes had the possibility of inheriting the throne, and after a hundred years, who should inherit the unification?
The Daoguang Emperor had nine sons, but the selectivity was not high. When the Daoguang Emperor began to choose an heir, the eldest son, second son, and third son had already passed away, and only the fourth son, YiXuan, and the sixth son, Yixuan, had the ability to inherit the throne.
Is it the fourth prince or the sixth prince?
When Guangxu began to consider the major matter of Li Chu, he had been hesitating and struggling. The mother of the fourth prince Yixuan was the Daoguang Emperor Quan Guifei, and although yixuan's mother was not as good as Quan Guifei, she had actually held the power of the harem after the death of Quan Guifei, and the four princes and the sixth prince were simply flesh on the backs of their hands.
The fourth prince, Yixuan, is gentle and honest, and is slightly hesitant in doing things, but the advantage is that he has a benevolent heart and is tolerant and kind to people. Although he did not have the courage of the sixth prince, he was still capable of being a defender of the city. Yi Xun is completely different, he is extremely talented, Wenzhi martial arts are very good, and he likes to express himself very much, sharp and exposed, belonging to the inner quality and external performance of the child with full scores.
Because of this, Daoguang had been entangled for several years. Until one day in the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang, the dust finally settled.
According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", "Twenty-six years, with the Li Chu Family Law, the title of the book was hidden. Finally, in the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang, Daoguang put the edict with the heir written on it into a wooden box and put it away for later use.
So what did he write in this holy decree?
Before his death, the Daoguang Emperor issued two edicts. One made the fourth son of the emperor crown prince, and the other made the sixth prince YiXun the prince.
The "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" records: "At noon, there is no hesitation. Ding Wei, the disease is gradually gradual. Emperor Zhaozong's imperial chancellor Zaiyuan, Duanhua, and Senggelinqin, the military ministers Mu Zhang'a, Sai Shang'a, He Rulin, Chen Fu'en, and Ji Zhichang, and the minister in charge of internal affairs, Wen Qinggong, declared that the imperial secretary 'the fourth son of the emperor was made crown prince'. On that day, shang collapsed at the Old Summer Palace Shende Hall. Zhu Zhi 'crowned the sixth son of the emperor Yi as a prince'".
It is said that the emperor left a lot of edicts to establish a crown prince, and the prince was generally the brother of the new emperor after he ascended the throne. However, before his death, the Daoguang Emperor issued two edicts in succession, which not only determined the heir to the imperial throne, but also crowned the six princes. This was also rare before, and it was enough to show Daoguang's favor for the sixth prince.
However, in the end, this holy decree still showed that in Daoguang's heart, the fourth prince Yixuan was more suitable to be an emperor. There are many legends about YiXuan in history, and there is a passage that is widely circulated. Saying that it was a time when Daoguang took the princes to hunt, the sixth prince Yixun thought that this was an opportunity to show his fists, so he was very active, pulling the bow and shooting, hunting the most animals, and he was also proud, thinking that the Daoguang Emperor would definitely praise himself. However, Yi Xuan did not shoot any arrows, and Daoguang felt strange, so he asked him why he did not go hunting. Yi Xi said, "Spring is the season when all things breed, and I really can't bear to hurt the lives of any animal." After Daoguang listened, he praised the fourth prince, thinking that he must be a "benevolent prince", and secretly determined that the lord of the Eastern Palace was none other than YiXuan.
There is also a story that wants to express much the same content.
It is said that in daoguang's later years, he hesitated between the fourth prince and the sixth prince, so he called the two of them to the hospital bed to test their ability to govern the country. Daoguang asked them, "If the Father Emperor dies, how will you govern the world?" As soon as Yi Xuan heard this question, he began to gush endlessly, and put forward many suggestions for the Daoguang Emperor, saying many ways to govern the country, and was very able to show his own level of governance.
However, when Yi Xuan heard Daoguang say that he was going to die, he directly cried bitterly and could not cry. Yi Xi told Dao Guang that as soon as he heard his father say that he was going to die, he was very sad and did not have the heart to think of any governing strategy. When Dao Guang heard this, he was very touched, and he silently selected the prince.
In fact, these two stories are nothing more than saying that Yi Xi has benevolence and virtue, and Gu Nian Cangsheng must be a good emperor. But when you think about it carefully, you will expose YiXuan's shortcomings. If you do not hunt and do not take prey, you will not have enough force; if you talk about governing the country, you will not have the talent to govern the country. Compared with YiXuan, it is really too far away!
And history also confirms that the four princes selected by the Daoguang Emperor coveted women after ascending the throne, were incompetent in governing the country, constantly lost territory, lost power and humiliated the country... If the Daoguang Emperor had chosen to be the Sixth Prince, could history have been rewritten?