In ancient history, before the old emperor died, in addition to confirming the heir, he often announced the assistant chancellor. The main purpose of these auxiliary ministers was to help the new emperor, so that he could familiarize himself with government affairs as soon as possible and get on the right track as soon as possible. In the Qing Dynasty, it was not uncommon for emperors to arrange assistant ministers.
For example, Shunzhi, Kangxi, Qianlong, and Tongzhi all had the help of auxiliary ministers, but Qianlong was in a different situation than others. Let's look at the others, emperor Taiji died suddenly, he was too late to designate an heir, resulting in a war between Hauge and Dorgon.
However, neither Dorgon nor Hauge sat on the throne, and the last to succeed to the throne was the six-year-old Fu Lin. Although Emperor Taiji did not appoint an auxiliary chancellor, at that time, Shunzhi Dolgun and Zilharang were assisted, as well as a capable mother, Xiaozhuang, which gradually made him a qualified emperor.
Before Shunzhi's death, he left Kangxi with assistant ministers, the four most famous assistant ministers of the Qing Dynasty: Soni, Suksaha, Shubilong, and Aobai. Before the xianfeng emperor died, he also left the "eight ministers of Gu Ming" for Tongzhi. These emperors left behind auxiliary ministers, and their purpose was mainly derived from one.
That is, the new emperor was still too young, only six years old when Shunzhi ascended the throne, and he was not necessarily the heir of the emperor Taiji's favor, and he did not know anything at all without the assistance of Dolgun and others. Although Kangxi was taught by his grandmother Xiaozhuang from an early age, he was also very intelligent, but he was only eight years old when he ascended the throne.
The same is true of Tongzhi, who was only six years old when he ascended the throne, far from being pro-government. Moreover, before XianFeng's death, he had begun to distrust Cixi, so he appointed eight auxiliary ministers, one hoping that they would help Tongzhi and the other hoping that they would be able to balance Cixi.
It can be seen that the main reason why the Qing Emperor appointed auxiliary ministers was that the new emperor was young and incapable of pro-government. But Qianlong took the throne at the age of 25, and already had the ability to judge things, and his situation was different from that of his grandfather Shunzhi and kangxi, so why did Yongzheng still leave the four auxiliary ministers?
First, safeguard imperial power
After thirteen years of yongzheng rule, the Qing Dynasty has pushed the "Prosperous Kangqian Dynasty" to a new height, and even so, the regime is still not very stable. After Yongzheng inherited the throne, many people were not convinced, especially the henchmen of the crown prince who had participated in the conquest of the ninth son.
Even if yongzheng has been eradicated after taking the throne, all these henchmen have been eradicated, but hidden dangers will always exist. For example, Yun? And Yoon Woo, although imprisoned, there are still forces in korea that support them. At this time, Qianlong's foundation was unstable, and once they had different intentions and Qianlong had no one to help, it would be very dangerous.
Therefore, Yongzheng deliberately appointed Zhang Tingyu, Ortai, Yunlu, and Yunli as auxiliary ministers, and Zhang Tingyu and Ortai were all people that Yongzheng trusted very much, and one of them could give advice to Qianlong, and the other could help Qianlong lead the troops. As for Yun Lu and Yun Li, the two are royal relatives, which can be effectively suppressed, and there are people with different hearts in the clan.
Second, Qianlong had no experience
Qianlong was already the future successor in the hearts of the Kangxi and Yongzheng emperors, and when Qianlong was young, he was also fortunate to be personally taught by his grandfather. At the beginning of Yongzheng's reign, he secretly issued an edict and made Qianlong crown prince. Although it was a secret reserve, the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu was tacitly aware.
However, in terms of education, Yongzheng still owes his son. In the later years of Kangxi's life, Yongzheng was busy taking wives and completely neglected the education of his son. It was not until he successfully inherited the throne that he began to focus on cultivating Qianlong, but it only intensified education and did not allow him to participate too much in the affairs of the government.
Moreover, Yongzheng was different from Kangxi, he had never toured the south in his life, and Qianlong did not even have the opportunity to test the waters of the jianguo. In the later years of Yongzheng's life, he gradually let him participate in some political affairs, but they all appeared as supporting roles, mainly Zhang Tingyu and others to solve. As a result, even when Qianlong reached the age of 25, he was at a loss for political affairs. At this time, the auxiliary minister is particularly important.
Third, complete Yongzheng's last wish
Yong was a diligent emperor who devoted his life to state affairs, implementing a series of reform policies such as "spreading out the land into acres" and "returning fire to the public". It's just a pity that Zhuangzhi died before he was paid, and these policies were not yet fully mature, which made Yongzheng feel at ease. The people who knew best about these policies, besides Yongzheng, were the ministers who had witnessed with him.
After Qianlong took the throne, although he would continue to implement these policies, he did not know what kind of effect he wanted to achieve in the end, which was the most satisfactory in Yongzheng's heart. Therefore, with the auxiliary ministers, they were able to assist Qianlong in jointly implementing these policies and achieving an ideal effect, so that the Qing Dynasty could enter a more prosperous state.
Fourth, safeguard the frontier issue
During the reign of Kangxi, in order to expand the territory, he spent a lot of money, resulting in the national treasury was very tense when Yongzheng ascended the throne. Later, Yongzheng recuperated and implemented various reform policies, gradually solving the problem of the national treasury. But resting and recuperating, it is inevitable to ignore the problem of the frontier.
In Yongzheng's later years, the national treasury was already very full, but the frontier wars began to break out. He feared that his son would not deal with these frontier issues after he ascended the throne, so he had to leave some people who understood the situation to help him solve them. Zhang Tingyu, Ortai, Yunlu, and Yunli had all helped Yongzheng solve such problems, so they could help Qianlong.
These four points are the main reasons why Yongzheng left the auxiliary ministers, and the reason why he chose these four is that they are all familiar with the administrative affairs of the Yongzheng Dynasty and can directly help Qianlong; second, they all have special skills and can help Qianlong in different aspects; and third, they are all people that Yongzheng trusts extremely much.
Through Yongzheng's appointment of the assistant chancellor, it can also be seen that he did dedicate his life to the Qing Dynasty. During his thirteen reigns, he never neglected political affairs, and even when he was dying, he had to pave the way back for the Great Qing. Therefore, in the "prosperous era of Kangqian", Yongzheng occupies a large part of the credit.
(Reference"Qingsushi")