The Jiaqing Emperor has a lot of controversy in later generations, some people believe that the Qing Dynasty began in the Jiaqing period, it gradually went into decline, and said that Qianlong's choice of Jiaqing to take the throne was the most wrong choice in his life. In fact, there are two problems here, one is that the decline of the Qing Dynasty cannot be completely blamed on Jiaqing, and the other is that Jiaqing was chosen to take the throne, and Qianlong also had to suffer.
Qianlong, a long-lived old man
The Qianlong Emperor lived to the age of 89 and was one of the emperors with a long lifespan in history. According to the age of the ancient people, Jiaqing is considered to be the son of Qianlong, so when Qianlong was old and weak, Jiaqing was in his prime. However, by the time Qianlong became crown prince, Jiaqing was already 35 years old.
(Qianlong stills)
The pain of losing a son
Many people say that Jiaqing was only made crown prince at the age of 35, and waited until Qianlong abdicated at the age of 36, which is a very bitter prince, but in my opinion, Jiaqing is the prince with the best life, why do you say so?
In fact, when Qianlong was young, he already had many satisfactory heirs, and Jiaqing had not yet been born at that time.
Qianlong and Empress Fucha had a deep affection, and when Empress Fucha gave birth to her first concubine, Qianlong had already secretly established a crown prince and made the second prince Yonglian crown prince. Yonglian was "intelligent and valuable, and his spirit was extraordinary", which was mentioned in Qianlong's edict, when Qianlong was only 26 years old. Unfortunately, Yonglian died of illness at the age of 9, which made Qianlong deeply sad.
(Yonglian stills)
Later, Empress Fucha was pregnant with the seventh son of the emperor, and Qianlong named him Yong chun, which means to make him a reserve. Qianlong was very fond of Yong Chun, and at that time Qianlong was presiding over the sacrifice activities and should be moved to the Yuanmingyuan according to the rules, but Qianlong canceled this plan, on the grounds that the empress was about to be in the basin and it was not suitable for boats and cars to work, so the activities were canceled.
When Yong Chun was not yet born, Qianlong was already so attached so much importance to it, let alone after he was born.
After Yong Chun was born, Qianlong did not hide his preference for him, not only carefully planning for his future, but also writing poems for him many times. Unfortunately, Yong Chun was also blessed, and died of pox when he was less than two years old, and then Empress Fucha was overly sad and died not long after, and Qianlong suffered a double blow of losing his son and wife.
Later, Jiaqing was finally born, but unfortunately, at this time Qianlong had a new candidate, that is, the fifth brother Yongqi. Qianlong devoted himself to cultivating Yongqi, the five brothers Wentao Wuluo, xuefu wuche, is the most suitable candidate for the crown prince, but unfortunately, the heavens did not go according to people's wishes, Yongqi also died of illness at the age of 25, which made Qianlong completely lose the heart of Li Chu.
(Stills of Empress Fucha Holding Yongchun)
Lucky son Jiaqing
In Qianlong's later years, he knew that he could no longer escape the problem of Li Chu. At this time, Qianlong had already died many sons, only 6 people were still alive, two of whom had been passed on to his brothers, and the remaining 4 people were all of mediocre qualifications, and Qianlong had to choose a relatively good Jiaqing.
That's why Jiaqing took the throne at the age of 36, he was not destined to suffer, but the luckiest.
First of all, he was born relatively late, which was a big advantage for him, after many brothers were killed by his father, he was still thriving, as long as he was healthy, Qianlong could not survive him. Secondly, those princes who were valued by Qianlong all died early because of their bad lives, which made Jiaqing pick up a bargain. Finally, it was Qianlong's greed for power in his later years that gave Jiaqing time to wait slowly, thus enriching himself.
(Jiaqing stills)
At the beginning of the article I mentioned two issues. The decline of the First Qing Dynasty cannot be blamed entirely on Jiaqing, because Qianlong coveted enjoyment in his later years, the Qing Dynasty was already in decline, but there was still Hezhen to give him economic support. Jiaqing had taken over a mess, he himself had mediocre qualifications, and he could let him clean up the mess.
The second is that Jiaqing is on the throne, and Qianlong has no choice but to suffer, that is, because he is too high-lived, among the surviving princes, only Jiaqing is relatively better. Therefore, Jiaqing is not Qianlong's best son, but he must be the luckiest son.
(References "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", "Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty")