The marriage of the empress dowager, the shunzhi monk, and the Yongzheng concubine (巧儲) are known as the three major doubtful cases of the early Qing Dynasty, which have long been circulated in China's folk. After the Xinhai Revolution, it gradually became the research topic of Qing historians. In recent years, with the marriage of the empress dowager, especially the emergence of literary and artistic works with the theme of Yongzheng Seizing the Reserve, these legends have aroused people's interest.
What are the three major doubts? Is there really such a thing in history?
In November of the fifth year of Shunzhi (1648), the emperor's uncle regent Dorgon, who held the military and political power of the Qing Dynasty and was plotting for the throne, proclaimed himself the regent of the emperor's father, and openly exercised the authority of the emperor in preparation for the seizure of the throne. At that time, some literati in the Jiangnan region with a strong anti-Qing consciousness, out of the purpose of slandering the supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty, claimed that The Shunzhi Emperor's biological mother, Empress Xiaozhuang, had married Dolgun, so the latter changed his name to Emperor Father. The idea of the empress dowager marrying thus arose, spread from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to various places, and was constantly added new content, such as saying that Dolgun was in power and trying to claim the title of emperor, while Empress Xiaozhuang and The Shunzhi Emperor were orphans and widows, and they were weak, in order to keep the throne of the Shunzhi Emperor, Empress Xiaozhuang was forced to follow the old customs of the Manchus before entering the customs, and marry her uncle Dolgun and so on.
Empress Xiaozhuang
In fact, Empress Xiaozhuang, in the protracted struggle to support her young son Fu Lin as emperor, and later to protect the emperor and compete with Dorgon, who coveted the throne, was not only strategic, but also always had the strong support of the two most powerful yellow banner ministers in the Eight Banners of Manchuria; the two Manchurian noble elders, Daishan the Prince of Li and Zilharang the Prince of Zheng, also sided with the mother and son. Although Dorgon was highly powerful, the Actual Eight Banners and the strength he possessed were not enough to compete with Xiaozhuang's mother and son. Therefore, although he was impatient and impatient, he never dared to take action and replaced the Shunzhi Emperor. Since Empress Xiaozhuang was not at a disadvantage in the contest with Dorgon, there was no need to marry as a means to keep the Shunzhi Emperor's throne.
Regarding the issue of the empress dowager's marriage, the Qing historians have not yet reached a consensus, and the crux of the matter lies in how to understand Dorgon's self-proclaimed imperial father, which needs to be continued to be studied.
Compared with the other two doubtful cases, the matter of Shunzhi's renunciation should be said to have already been revealed.
The Shunzhi Emperor Fu Lin was the first monarch after the Qing Dynasty entered the Customs, and after Dorgon's death, he personally managed the government at the age of 13. The young Tianzi was a man of supreme love, and he was dissatisfied with the Mongol concubine chosen by Empress Xiaozhuang to maintain the Alliance of Manchu and Mongolian nobles, and made his son his successor. The Shunzhi Emperor was enthusiastic about Han culture and attached great importance to the Manchu and Han landlord class alliances, but at the same time he neglected Manchu cultural customs and could not unite the Manchu and Mongolian nobles. Empress Xiaozhuang and the two Yellow Banner ministers were worried about this, believing that this would damage the rule of the Qing Dynasty.
Shunzhi Emperor
As the contradictions between the two sides became increasingly acute, the Shunzhi Emperor indulged more in his love affair with Concubine Dong and gradually became a good Buddha in order to seek spiritual liberation.
At the beginning of the fifteenth year of Shunzhi (1658), the son of Concubine Dong E died of illness; in August of the seventeenth year, Dong Eshi also died. Suffering two heavy blows in a row, coupled with political differences with his mother, the Shunzhi Emperor was so discouraged that he had the idea of becoming a monk, and once prepared to shave his hair and become a monk. On the seventh day of the first lunar month in the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (161), the inexplicable Fu died of acne rash at the age of 23.
After the death of Concubine Dong, the Shunzhi Emperor ordered the monks of Mount Wutai to establish a dojo and mourn the death of the Buddha, and he himself wanted to drive Wutai for this purpose, but due to the sudden outbreak of acne, he could not make the trip. In the early Qing Dynasty, the famous poet Wu Meicai wrote "Qingliangshan Praise Buddha Poem", that is, chanting this matter. Later generations associated the above relevant facts with individual verses in the poem, and it was noted that the Shunzhi Emperor did not die of acne rashes, but went to Mount Wutai to cut his hair and become a monk. They also testified that Empress Xiaozhuang and the Kangxi Emperor had both visited Wutai, saying that it was to visit relatives, and so on.
In the early 1930s, mr. Meng Sen, a Qing historian, published an article entitled "Examination of the Truth of ancestral monks" based on a large number of historical facts, and made a detailed and convincing analysis of this legend, so that the problem could be clarified. As for Empress Xiaozhuang and the Kangxi Emperor going to Mount Wutai, it was because Xiaozhuang firmly believed in Lamaism, and worshipping Wutai was her long-cherished wish for many years. The Kangxi Emperor had a deep affection for his grandmother, and in addition to accompanying her to Mount Wutai, he went there several times to show that he did not forget his grandmother's last wishes and had the political intention of uniting the Mongol nobility.
Among the three major suspected cases, the most widely spread, and even those who are known to all ages and children are the Yongzheng case, what is the actual situation?
Yongzheng Emperor
In the early years of the Kangxi Emperor Xuan Ye, he made his concubine Yin Rong the crown prince, but because of Yin Rong's misconduct, he tried to seize the throne, and after two abolitions, he was finally placed under lifelong house arrest. Under the void of the throne, the princes launched a hidden and fierce competition, which not only affected the stability of the dynastic politics, but also the Kangxi Emperor was physically and mentally exhausted and painful.
After conscientiously summing up the painful lessons of Jianchu, the Kangxi Emperor drew up a secret plan for jianchu, secretly appointing the fourteenth son of the emperor, Yun Yu, as his successor; in order to test and temper him, he was appointed as the general of Fuyuan to expel the Dzungar army that had invaded Tibet. Yun Yu successfully completed the task of expelling the Dzungars and was sent to western Gansu to preside over the military affairs of the thorough settlement of the Dzungar issue. Yun Yu's meritorious deeds and his prestige in the court had greatly surpassed that of other princes, and the secret plan to build a reserve was proceeding smoothly.
However, man has bad luck. On November 13, 1722, the sixty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Xuan Ye died suddenly due to a cold that caused heart (brain) vascular disease. Because he was carrying out a secret plan to build a reserve, he never publicly declared Yun Yu as the heir to the imperial throne, and the secret edict storage place passed on to Yun Yu was unknown, so that long Keduo, the infantry commander who was in charge of the guards of the Beijing Division at that time, took the opportunity to falsely pass on the holy will and support the fourth son of the emperor, Yin Chan, to inherit the throne by force, that is, the Yongzheng Emperor.
There are many doubts about Yongzheng's succession to the throne, which has always aroused people's speculation. After he succeeded to the throne, he destroyed all the key materials, thus creating difficulties for future generations to study this public case.
However, it is believed that with the discovery of some new indirect materials and the further analysis of existing materials, people's understanding of the problem of Yongzheng's seizure of storage will eventually gradually approach historical truth.