According to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, "The Holy Patriarch was still lenient, and Sejong followed him with strictness. Commentators are better than Han Zhiwen and Jing. The friendship of the one-hole is doubtful.
The Yongzheng Emperor Ai Xinjueluo Yinchen was the fourth son of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the third ruler of the Qing Dynasty after entering the Customs.
Yongzheng reigned for a total of thirteen years, and he made a series of reforms to the Qing court and the bureaucracy. It was he who reformed and rectified the accumulated shortcomings of Kangxi in his later years, thus sweeping away the decadence and clarifying the Qing Dynasty's bureaucracy, stabilizing its rule, replenishing the national treasury, and reducing the people's burden.
Therefore, he is also a rare good emperor in China.
However, on the night of the Kangxi Emperor's death, why did Yongzheng immediately execute his henchmen who had served Kangxi for 60 years?
Kangxi died of illness, and Yongzheng took out the holy will to announce his succession
In the "Miscellaneous Records of the Xiaoting Pavilion", Zhao Tang commented on the Kangxi Emperor in this way: Emperor Ren was pure in talent, good in the face of trouble, and every time he was lenient, he did not do anything.
As Kangxi grew older, the ministers of the court also secretly observed the situation, and gradually formed a faction headed by the four brothers, and a faction led by the eight brothers.
For the crown prince's struggle for the throne, it has always been impossible to avoid, but Kangxi never imagined that there would be a scene of nine sons seizing the concubine in the end.
In fact, what Kangxi liked more in his heart was the fourteenth brother who was the half-brother of the fourth brother, this fourteen brother was young but brave and good at war, he had made many military achievements in the northwest, and more importantly, he was kind and generous.
However, when Kangxi died of illness, the fourteenth brother was far away in the northwest to fight, and it was too late to rush back, so after his death, the fourth brother took the holy will and informed everyone that he was the next heir.
At that time, there were many disobedient people, and at that time, when they were planning a rebellion, they found that the power of the four brothers had spread throughout the imperial court, and they were not given any room for resistance at all, so there was the Yongzheng Emperor.
Yongzheng succeeded to the throne and executed Kangxi's henchmen, and who exactly became a mystery
Some people say that just a few days after Yongzheng ascended the throne, he listed several crimes and directly executed his confidant who had followed Kangxi for sixty years, saying that it was because this confidant knew too many things, and only by killing this person could he never have any troubles.
However, in fact, there were no confidants who had followed Kangxi for sixty years.
So, who could this so-called confidant, who had followed Kangxi for sixty years? There are three possible candidates.
Liang Jiugong
In the middle of the Kangxi Dynasty, Liang Jiugong began to receive the weight of the Kangxi Emperor, stood out among the eunuchs, and repeatedly accompanied the Kangxi Emperor on his southern tour.
Moreover, Liang Jiugong often served as a medium of communication between the ministers and the emperor, which shows how much He was valued by Kangxi. In addition, Liang Jiugong was also good at making exquisite gourds, which was also a thing that was very pleasing to the Kangxi Emperor.
However, Liang Jiugong was later detained for befriending other eunuchs. After his detention, he was critically ill, but the Kangxi Emperor still sent people to rescue him.
According to historical records, he died in February of the first year of Yongzheng and hanged himself on Jingshan Mountain, but Liang Jiugong had already fallen out of favor while Kangxi was alive, and Liang Jiugong was not present at the time of Kangxi's death.
Therefore, from all aspects, Yongzheng had no reason to kill Liang Jiugong.
Wei Zhu
Wei Zhu lived from the middle of the Kangxi Dynasty to the middle of the Qianlong Dynasty, and his records are after the 545th year of the Kangxi Dynasty.
At this time, Wei Zhu served as the chief eunuch, and Wei Zhu was unrestrained because of the emperor's trust and holding important positions in the palace. The Yongzheng Emperor did not like this, so he found an excuse to attack him.
After that, Wei Zhu was sent to the Jingling Tomb of the Kangxi Emperor and placed under his supervision. Importantly, Wei Zhu served as an errand boy at the Shouhuang Palace and the Shou'an Palace, and was alive in the twenty-sixth year of Qianlong.
Therefore, the theory that he was executed by Yongzheng did not work.
In addition to these two people, there is one person who is the most suitable.
Zhao Chang
The Kangxi Emperor's confidant eunuch Zhao Chang, who was three years younger than the Kangxi Emperor, stayed with the Kangxi Emperor for many years, and he accompanied the Kangxi Emperor from an early age.
And Yongzheng sentenced Zhao Chang to death on the sixth day of the first lunar month of the first year of Yongzheng!
There are three main reasons for Yongzheng's enumeration of convictions:
First, he used his position to install eyeliner, among which there were many of his relatives.
Second, it was privately made a fire scythe for Hirohito, the son of Yun Rong, who had deposed the crown prince.
Third, he owed five thousand taels of silver to the Inner Treasury.
These crimes are said to be a bit far-fetched, and on the sixth day of the Chinese New Year, Zhao Chang was executed, which is indeed a bit strange.
Therefore, people speculated that Yongzheng felt that Zhao Chang knew his secret.
Because Zhao Chang was a confidant of the Kangxi Emperor during his lifetime, he had been very loyal to Kangxi for decades, so Kangxi was likely to tell him any news.
Some people also believe that it is because Yongzheng's road to succession is not very honorable, and he is afraid that the inside story will be known, so he will execute Zhao Chang, who may know.
brief summary
At present, for the three people, which of the three Kangxi henchmen was executed by Yongzheng, the most convincing is Zhao Chang, but now that many years have passed, this puzzle has never had an exact answer, and it is difficult to find the truth in the future.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Miscellaneous Records of Xiaoting