Speaking of Kangxi, we all know that he was one of the most outstanding emperors of the Qing Dynasty. During his sixty-year reign, he fought with many ministers for power.
In the eighth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, the 15-year-old Kangxi Emperor Zhi captured the powerful minister Aobai and cleared the obstacles to pro-government. After that, Kangxi, who had already taken sole power, still could not escape the power struggle, and took turns to compete with the threatening courtiers.
Pro-government council, support foreign relatives
After eliminating the forces led by Ao Bai, Kangxi officially began to pro-government. In order to quickly grasp the political trends of the dynasty, Kangxi chose two foreign relatives, SuoEtu and Nalan Mingzhu.
Soetu's father, Soni, was a minister of honor alongside Ao Bai and the other four, and was considered a member of the board of directors left by Shunzhi to Kangxi. Sony died of a serious illness shortly after Kangxi succeeded to the throne, while Soetu was given the opportunity to be reused for supporting Kangxi in purging Aobai.
In addition, Suo'etu's niece was elected to the harem, became the first empress of Kangxi, and gave birth to a crown prince. With his status as a foreign relative, Soetu soon won the trust of Kangxi.
Similarly, Naran Mingzhu's family is also from the Manchurian nobility, and Huang Taiji's birth mother is from the Naran family. In Mingzhu's generation, Mingzhu married the daughter of the Prince of Ying, Azig, and was considered Kangxi's cousin according to generations. Because of this level of kinship and Mingzhu's skillful ability to do things, it was soon reused by Kangxi.
Manchu rulers fell one after another
With the support and reuse of Kangxi, the power of Soetu and Mingzhu rapidly expanded, and a situation of corruption, party alliances, and mutual struggles appeared. There are even songs circulating: "Heaven wants to be peaceful, kill Lao Suo (Suo Ertu); Heaven wants to be safe, kill Lao Ming (Pearl)".
At first, Kangxi chose to tolerate this situation and appointed them to complete the great cause of pacifying San Francisco and recovering Taiwan. After the world was at peace, Kangxi could no longer tolerate their party rivalry. Kangxi, who was well versed in power, first attacked Suo'etu, who had a military background.
In the eighteenth year of Kangxi, Zuo Du Yushi Wei Xiangshu impeached Suo Ertu in the name of the earthquake, and Kangxi first made the illusion of continuing to reuse Suo Ertu, not only ignoring the impeachment, but also asking Suo Ertu to "handle state affairs" three months later.
Therefore, the triumphant Suo Ertu did not expect that this was Kangxi's strategy to capture the old man. The consequence of Soeto's seizure of power was that he was jealous and attacked by many ministers, including Mingzhu, and under the attack of The Sky, Kangxi finally intervened and removed Soetu from all important positions.
Mingzhu did not take long after the fall of Soetu, and was soon seized by Kangxi due to corruption and smuggling, and lost his right to continue to hold power.
Han Chen took the lead and fought again
After the fall of the Manchu ministers led by Soetu and Mingzhu, the Han ministers who relied on their bachelor status began to emerge and engaged in a new round of party struggle.
Xu Qianxue, who was attached to the Pearl in his early years, began to organize his henchmen against the Pearl after entering the Southern Study And becoming a close confidant of Kangxi. At the same time, Gao Shiqi, who had been wandering the streets selling calligraphy and paintings and was favored by Suo Etu, also went to the road of confronting the deceased after being appreciated by Kangxi and becoming a scholar of the Hanlin Academy.
Xu Qianxue and Gao Shiqi joined forces to help Kangxi eliminate the Manchu vassals for the sake of profit, but after the "success of the revolution", they went to the old road of party struggle. The equilibrium of "Xu Jian'an (Xu Qianxue's character) is full of Han, and Gao Shuren (Gao Shiqi's character) breathes wind and thunder" is soon broken, and Kangxi once again shows his power and magic methods.
Leverage the force to eliminate hidden dangers
In the twenty-eighth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Zuo Du Yushi Guoxuan impeached Gao Shiqi and his henchmen for the four major crimes of "adultery in appearance, and it is difficult to know the bamboo" and "the nature of the jackal, the heart of the snake and the scorpion, and the form of the ghost". Kangxi knew that this was the Xu Qian school's act of cracking down on dissidents, but he adopted an attitude of approval, and eventually removed Gao Shiqi from his post and allowed him to return home for the elderly.
Just when Xu Qianxue thought that he was done, the chancellor Xu Sanli wrote another letter to impeach Xu Qianxue, accusing him of accepting bribes and listing eight pieces of evidence of Xu Qianxue's crimes. Seeing that the evidence of the crime was conclusive, Kangxi had no choice but to "enforce the law impartially" and dismiss Xu Qianxue from office.
With the successive dismissals of Gao Shiqi and Xu Qianxue, the officials who were attached to them also changed their court or were dismissed. Kangxi once again eliminated the two major partisan forces, eliminated hidden dangers in the political arena, and maintained his imperial position.
brief summary
During Kangxi's sixty-year reign, he skillfully eliminated party strife on several occasions and ensured his absolute dominance. Perhaps it was the juvenile pro-government that had to use violent means to eliminate the sequelae left by Aobai, kangxi in the future struggle for power.
Although he still ruthlessly defended his own interests, he did not give a dead hand to the ministers who were vying for power and profit, and still retained a little dignity.
Kangxi's criteria for purging ministers had nothing to do with the Manchu question, but only for those ministers who threatened the core of power. In all the political struggles, Kangxi has been able to win a complete victory, and it has to be shown that Kangxi is indeed the emperor with the highest "power and magic".
Reference: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty
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