The Yongzheng Dynasty took the forty-sixth year of Kangxi as the starting point, this year the Yellow River was severe, which also led to the Qing court falling into a dilemma, but when Kangxi was anxious and anxious, the crown prince Yinrong still went his own way and hooked up with the empress dowager Zheng Chunhua.
"The Five Classics of Hongshiki, there is no light civil difficulty." Table zheng wanbang, cautious body cultivation siyong. ”
This is the couplet next to the Zhengda Guangming Plaque, and it is also what Kangxi pondered and reflected on at this time, that is, the "Five Classics of Hongshiki" that is, to preach the ritual law of the saints, to make the fatherly righteousness, motherly kindness, brotherhood, brotherhood, brotherhood, and filial piety; "no light civil difficulties", that is, the people's livelihood is not trivial, and the throne needs to be encouraged; "the table of the right nations" needs to be set an example for people to lead the benchmark; and the "prudent body cultivation and thinking forever" should pay attention to self-cultivation and be cautious in words and deeds. It can be said that this couplet is exactly the inner portrayal of Kangxi at this moment, that is, an internal requirement for the virtuous prince, and also as a criterion for examining the crown prince, and the Yongzheng Dynasty is also moving in this direction.
In the later period of Kangxi, the nine sons of the nine sons were fiercely captured, and at this moment, Kangxi's anxiety and the performance of the prince can be described as a sharp contrast, which is why the old Kangxi has been entangled in this matter for a long time.
There were natural reasons for the two dismissals of the crown prince, and all aspects of the crown prince of the Qing court were contrary to the standard of "no light civil hardships", and when the Yellow River flooded and became a disaster and was in a hurry to catch fire, the prince Yinrong still sought pleasure and extended his hand to the harem of his father Kangxi, which can be imagined what the consequences will be.
When the prince was planted, naturally the Eighth Master faction was happy and happy, and even showed a posture of schadenfreude, but on the one hand, the attitude of just treating Prince Yinrong as a political enemy was not pleasing to Kangxi, and the role of single-mindedly overthrowing the "brothers" was criticized by Kangxi; on the other hand, the Eighth Master faction still did not learn a lesson in the yellow river matter, and still made a big fuss about it, and the prince also lacked the concept of the people's suffering, which can be said to be embarrassing and heavy.
Under the accumulation of disaster relief in various places, what the Eight Brothers Yin Yu thought of was not to control the yellow river water shortage as soon as possible and save the local people, but to persuade Kangxi not to worry about it, although the child could understand the father's persuasion even if he flattered him, but behind this was the fact that the Eight Brothers Yin Yu used the treasury silver to envelop hundreds of officials. It is no wonder that the group of officials initially sided with the old Eight, but this kind of behavior was too shameless and selfish, and it is no wonder that Kangxi later said that "his heart is reprehensible.".
To say who the winner of the Nine Sons is, even if you have not seen the Yongzheng Dynasty, with the "foreknowledge" ability of future generations, you can also know that the fourth brother is the appearance of Yongzheng after that. In the disposal of the Yellow River water shortage, Yongzheng behaved differently from several other brothers, from the beginning of thinking to action to the example, all of which impressed old Kangxi, of course, hindsight is what we are good at, the nine sons of the concubine are not as simple as we think we already know the result, and we are killed by our brothers if we are not careful.
After seeing the corresponding folds, the four brothers rushed to the household department for the first time to check the treasury and grain storage, which was the performance of doing practical things, on the other hand, it also showed concern for the flood of the Yellow River, which coincided with Kangxi's anxiety about the people's suffering. To say that attitude determines everything may still be a bit absolute, but the real strength of the four brothers is not compared to the "patting the head" of the prince Yinrong and the eighth brother Yinchen. The four brothers worked back and forth this time, that is, they showed their ability to handle government affairs, and they also showed the importance they attached to the urgent affairs of the moment, which is a plus in this regard.
In fact, the fourth brother, the later Yongzheng, was indeed not a showman, which can be seen from the administrative work of the next thirteen years, which was a well-known workaholic in the Qing court. In the case of Jiangnan fundraising for disaster relief, all the brothers gathered in the Prince's Mansion, but there were very few examples, after all, this was not to win people's hearts and minds, but on the contrary, it was an errand that would offend local officials, and naturally these shrewd brothers were reluctant to go. However, the fourth brother said that "personal honor and humiliation are not spared", and he showed special protagonist care, excellent and excellent. From this point of view, the concerns of the four brothers are in line with the hopes of the old Kangxi, and they have offended the gentry of Jiangnan, and even exonerated the brothers, but they have really done practical work. In essence, the essence of the Nine Sons was to win the hearts of Kangxi, and although the support of other aspects could not be said to be dispensable, it could not play a practical role.
Returning to the couplet next to the Zhengda Guangming Plaque, what Yongzheng did was fully in line with old Kangxi's hopes for this, which was both Kangxi's cultivation of the self and the standard setting for his successor, that is, the benchmark for Yongzheng's subsequent actions. In fact, the reason why the implementation of the New Deal in the later Yongzheng period caused a fierce discussion on the restoration of the Eight Kings' deliberations was not only instigated by the Eight Masters' faction, but also because Yongzheng "returned" to the people some of the interests of the Hundred Officials. Of course, Yongzheng also has a suspicious and harsh image, such as the case of Lu Liuliang. But in general, Yongzheng is definitely quite good among the lords of the Qing court, especially in the aspect of "putting the people first".