In November of the 61st year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty, the then 69-year-old Kangxi Emperor died in Changchun Garden, and endured for more than ten years in the "Nine Sons and Concubines", always showing the image of "the first idle man in the world", the fourth son of the emperor, Yin Chan, "internally powerful by Longkeduo, externally by Nian Tangyao", successfully took over the Kangxi Imperial Power, ascended the throne as emperor, and was for the Yongzheng Emperor.
Even though the official documents of the Qing Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty clearly record the succession process of the Yongzheng Emperor, the "Mystery of the Great Righteousness" written by the Yongzheng Emperor himself also has a clear description of "the situation of the day, the brothers of the Yuanzhi and the servants of the palace and the servants of the inner court, the large and small ministers who walked in the inner court, all known and seen". However, the rumors that the Yongzheng Emperor "succeeded to the throne illegally" and even "usurped power by his father" have not stopped since he took the throne.
And the makers of this negative rumor, the "Eight Masters Party" power group headed by the Emperor's eighth son, Yin Yu, will naturally become a thorn in the eyes and a thorn in the flesh of the Yongzheng Emperor. Coupled with the many crimes committed by Emperor Yin yu and others since Yongzheng ascended the throne, "wantonly acting recklessly with a poisonous and forbearing heart, disrupting state affairs, and reversing the discipline program", the Yongzheng Emperor began to liquidate the "Eight Masters Party" power group.
Unexpected order of liquidation
What everyone did not expect was that after first relieving the armed threat of the fourteenth son of the Emperor Yin Yu, the Yongzheng Emperor first punished not the political leader of the "Eight Masters Party", the "sinister and devious, but actually the culprit"; nor the Emperor Jiuzi YinYu, who was most hated by the Yongzheng Emperor, who was "cunning and treacherous, and equal to Yin Yu"; but the stupid son of the Emperor Yin, who was confused, absurd, and even had no political wisdom.
According to the Records of the Qing Dynasty, The Seventh Chronicle of the Seven Kings and the Sixth Kings, the tenth son of the Emperor, Yin'ao, first faced the Yongzheng Holy Will and "did not obey the disease"; then wrote such disrespectful words as "Yongzheng Xinjun", and was severely punished by the Yongzheng Emperor for "seizing the knighthood and arresting the beijing master and detaining him".
But the first to be punished, the tenth son of the emperor, Yin Ou, although he was imprisoned for more than ten years, did not end up in the sad end of being imprisoned for several months like the eighth son of the emperor and the ninth son of the emperor, Yin Yu, or "died in a prison due to vomiting disease" or "died in a secret place with a abdominal disease". That is to say, the cold-blooded Yongzheng Emperor actually spared this former tough political enemy and the threat of imperial power today.
The Emperor's tenth son, Yin's immeasurable strong background
Among the 35 princes bred by the Kangxi Emperor in his lifetime, the deposed prince Yin Rong was born from the Kangxi Emperor's original concubine, Empress Xiaochengren, and the identity of the concubine was indescribable, and naturally no one could match it; but as far as the actual foreign background was concerned, even if Soetu did not die, even if the Hesheli family was still beautiful, it might not be able to withstand the strong background of the emperor's tenth son, Yin Ru.
How powerful is the power behind the Emperor's tenth son, Yin'er? Let's list his family members at a glance:
Birth mother: Concubine Wen of the Wen Dynasty, the de facto head of the Kangxi harem after the death of Empress Xiaoyiren;
Aunt: The second empress of the Kangxi Emperor, Empress Xiaozhaoren of the Niuhulu clan;
Grandfather: One of the "Four Ministers" of the Early Kangxi Dynasty, Shu Bilong, an official to the Taishi, was given the title of First Class Duke.
Uncle: Se Liang, father-in-law of Prince Desai of Hui;
Third uncle: Faka, brother-in-law of Empress Xiaochengren;
Fourth uncle: Yan Zhu, brother-in-law of Empress Xiaoyiren;
Fifth uncle: Fu Bao, viceroy of Liangjiang and son-in-law of the first Manchu emperor of the Qing Dynasty;
Sixth uncle: Yin De, the three banners of Manchuria, Mongolia and Han, and the chancellor of the Yongzheng Dynasty;
Seventh Uncle: Aling'a, the Kangxi Emperor's most favored little cousin and brother-in-law, "all military aircraft played in line with the heart, and for a time the minister had no right hand." When he fell ill, the Kangxi Emperor sent doctors and medicines and even personally divination to measure his illness; his illness became serious, and even sent Princess Gulun to "make rice and give it". Officials to the leading guards of the Interior Minister, the Minister of Parliament, the Li Fan Yuan Shangshu, the Prime Minister's Firearms Battalion, the power of the opposition, for a time there is no difference.
That is to say, the "iron-blooded family" with the greatest momentum in the Kangxi Dynasty, the Niuhulu family, brought the background of the most powerful foreign relatives of the Emperor's tenth son, Yin Ru. Even this iron-blooded family, which had intricate relations with the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the royal family, even the Yongzheng Emperor had to be jealous.
The Yongzheng Emperor's positive considerations when liquidating political opponents
The support of the Eight Banners and the support of the royal family had a decisive influence on the consolidation of the imperial power of the Qing Dynasty. With the gradual development of centralized power, although this influence gradually weakened, it was still a factor that the Yongzheng Emperor had to worry about in the process of consolidating his imperial power. That is to say, while the Yongzheng Emperor liquidated the emperor's tenth son, Yin Ru, he must also consider the feelings of the powerful Niu Hulu family.
It was precisely because of this level of concern that the Yongzheng Emperor only imprisoned the emperor's tenth son, Yin Ru, without torturing him and secretly poisoning him.
In addition to his jealousy of his strong background, there were two other reasons why the Yongzheng Emperor took the initiative to forgive the emperor's tenth son, Yin'er:
1. In the "Mystery of the Great Righteousness", the Yongzheng Emperor has a very clear explanation of the crimes of Yin Yu, Yin Yu, Yin Ru, and Yin Yu:
The sinister and cunning of Achena is the culprit, and the cunning and treacherousness of Seth Black are equal. Yun Ru was crazy and confused, and Yun Yu was despicable and filthy, and they were all engulfed by it, so they were glued and did not understand, so they befriended bandits and demagoguered people's hearts.
The Yongzheng Emperor himself wrote the "Mystery of the Great Righteousness"
That is to say, the Yongzheng Emperor believed that the emperor's tenth son, Yin'e, was only seduced and seduced by Yin Yu and Yin Yu, and only then did he have the performance of "crazy and confused". Coupled with the performance of the Emperor's tenth son, Yin Ru, the Yongzheng Emperor did not even want to identify him as an "accessory", but was just a fool who echoed and had no opinion.
In the view of the Yongzheng Emperor, such a prince who had no political wisdom and only knew how to enjoy pleasures was not even qualified to become his political enemy if he did not have a noble birth and a strong background. In this way, the Yongzheng Emperor naturally would not kill him.
2. The power of the "Eight Masters Party" is not easy to shake the Yongzheng Emperor, who has ascended the throne in the first place and has an unstable foothold, in order to temporarily paralyze the vigilance of the Emperor's eighth son Yin Yu and others, and win sufficient time for himself to liquidate, the Yongzheng Emperor has made a series of rational arrangements.
First of all, he promoted the political leader of the "Eight Masters Party", Emperor Eight Sons Yin Yu, to the Title of Prince of Lian and appointed him as the "Prince of Prime Minister's Affairs", supervising the Ministry of Works and leading the Shangshu of the Imperial Household. Stabilizing people's hearts and minds, paralyzing political enemies, and creating an ideal environment for themselves to grasp the power of the dprk. He then relieved the fourteenth son of the Emperor, Yin Yu, of the right to lead troops in the northwest, cutting off the possibility of an armed coup d'état of the "Eight Ye Party"; then, the Yongzheng Emperor sent the ninth son of the Emperor Yin Yu to Xining to gradually disperse and weaken the power of the "Eight Ye Party".
However, after such an arrangement, Yin Yu, Yin Yu, and others still held a grudge against the loss of the throne, always clinging to the negative idea that "the opportunity has been lost, and there is no regret", and slandered the Yongzheng Imperial Power in every way, even disrupted state affairs, and reversed the discipline program. Seeing this, the Yongzheng Emperor also changed the liquidation process, using a move to "kill chickens to show the monkeys", once again temporarily stabilizing the "Eight Masters Party".
Yin Er, the tenth son of the Emperor who was ordered by the Yongzheng Emperor to "cut the knighthood and imprison him in the capital division", was this carefully selected "chicken". But this "chicken" cannot really be killed, but can only be punished symbolically, otherwise it will arouse the vigilance of the Emperor's eighth son, Yin Yu and others, and even directly unite to launch a coup. Therefore, there was the luck that the tenth son of the emperor, Yin Ou, was only cut and imprisoned and not poisoned.
Stills of the Yongzheng Emperor
postscript
As the Yongzheng Emperor said in the "Mystery of the Great Righteousness", "After he ascended the throne, because he missed the brotherhood of his compatriots, he really could not bear to be tortured in his heart", if it were not for the eighth son of the emperor, Yin Yu, and others who slandered the Yongzheng Emperor's power, repeatedly restricted the Yongzheng New Deal, and even tried to usurp the rebellious government and endanger the state society, the Yongzheng Emperor would probably not have killed them.
It is true that "ruthlessness is the most imperial family", but if there is no threat of imperial power, who wants to fall into the name of "killing brothers and killing brothers and mutilating brothers and sisters"? Although the tenth son of the Emperor, Yin Ru, was a political enemy and definitely had the strength to threaten the imperial power, he was only a clumsy disciple with no political wisdom, just a younger brother who was seduced into doing something wrong. Perhaps, this is the real reason why the Yongzheng Emperor was able to spare Yin Ru.
References: "Qing History Manuscripts, Liechuan VII, Kings VI", "Qing Shilu Sejong Shilu", "Great Righteousness Mystery"