Qianlong had a younger brother named Hongzhi who liked to give himself a funeral. Lying in the middle, the people in the house gave him a memorial and mourning, and the good ones who cried were awarded prizes, and he ate tributes while watching, so as to have fun. Hiroshi seems absurd, but he doesn't do that at first.
As early as the eleventh year of Yongzheng, Hongzhi was given the title of Prince of He. In February of the thirteenth year of Yongzheng, Yongzheng set up a miaojiang affairs office, allowing Hongli to jointly handle Miaojiang affairs with Hongzhi and Ortai, which shows that Yongzheng still attaches great importance to Hongzhi.
Unexpectedly, in the early morning of August 23, Yongzheng Emperor died suddenly. After Yongzheng's death, Hongli took the throne, that is, the Qianlong Emperor. Qianlong was also very fond of Hongzhi, and as soon as he ascended the throne, he ordered Hongzhi to manage the affairs of the Internal Affairs Office and the Imperial Library.
Qianlong was an emperor who was well versed in the art of emperorship, and for a total of sixty years before and after his reign, imperial power was always firmly in his hands, which was very rare. Even the Kangxi Emperor was once vacated by Ao Bai and other auxiliary ministers, and at the beginning of the Yongzheng Emperor's ascension to the throne, he was even more squeezed by the Eight Ye Party and almost overturned.
The reason why the Qianlong Emperor was able to always grasp the imperial power and not be overtaken by the ministers was related to his control skills, which was very similar to the balance of power played by Xiaozhuang in the beginning.
After the Qianlong Emperor ascended the throne, in order to show his favor for Hongzhi, he gave his father's old residence and belongings to Hongzhi the Prince of Yong. Hongzhi was once deeply favored by Yongzheng, and after Qianlong ascended the throne, he was still favored, and people tended to be pampered and proud, and Hongzhi was no exception.
Therefore, Hongzhi took advantage of Qianlong's favor and became arrogant and arrogant. Once, Hirohito had a dispute with the Military Minister Ne Qin over a trivial matter. Unexpectedly, Hongzhi actually made a big fight above the court and beat up Ne Qin in front of Manchu Wenwu.
His grandfather was One of the four auxiliary ministers of the early years of the Kangxi Dynasty, his father Yin De was the Minister of the Imperial Guard, and his aunt was Empress Xiaozhaoren of the Kangxi Emperor. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he also entrusted Ne Qin with heavy responsibilities, and at the end of Yongzheng, he also ordered Ne Qin to enter the military plane.
Not only that, Ne Qin also undertook gu orders at the same time as Ortai and Zhang Tingyu, and was a minister who assisted the new emperor Qianlong, so as soon as Qianlong ascended the throne, in order to win over Ne Qin, he ordered him to assist in the affairs of the prime minister and was promoted to the title of first-class duke. In the second year of Qianlong, he also ordered Ne to be appointed as the Shangshu of the Bingbu, and later changed to the Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials. In the early years of Qianlong, Ne Qin was appointed as the chief military minister as a scholar of the Bohol Temple, and was also in charge of the official and the second department of the household, and was a big figure who was in power and opposition.
The reason why Qianlong repeatedly promoted Ne Qin and reused Ne Qin was also his little nine-nine. Because the assistant ministers at that time, Ortai and Zhang Tingyu, were old ministers of the Kangxi and Yongzheng dynasties, with high positions of power and great influence in the dynasty, Qianlong supported and promoted NeQin in order not to be overthrown, and used Neqin to suppress and restrain the old ministers of the Yongzheng Dynasty, and to balance power, so as to stabilize the imperial power.
However, as neqin's power grew, Qianlong also had concerns about neqin, fearing that neqin would become the second worshipper and threaten the imperial power, after all, power was too tempting.
Therefore, Qianlong needed another force to restrain Ne Qin, and at this time Hongzhi was just a suitable candidate. Although Hongzhi was Qianlong's younger brother, he was also a few months younger than Qianlong, so when Yongzheng was in power, he was very spoiled by Hongzhi, and second, he often let Hongzhi handle affairs, and he was very trusting of him.
After Qianlong ascended the throne, he was also very fond of this younger brother, and he also appreciated the mansion and was promoted to an official. Because of the doting of the Yongzheng Emperor and the preferential treatment of the Qianlong Emperor, Hongzhi was more comfortable than other princes, and he was also the richest, most luxurious, and most powerful of the princes.
The reason why Qianlong was so fond of this younger brother, in addition to brotherly love, was that he wanted to use Hongzhi's hand to suppress Neqin; just like using Neqin to suppress Old Ministers such as Ortai and Zhang Tingyu. The Qianlong Emperor played the balance of rights, and the game was really pure fire.
Therefore, when Hongzhi was beating his relatives in the court, the ministers found that the Qianlong Emperor sitting on the throne was very calm, he witnessed the whole thing, but did not say a word, Qianlong neither blamed Hongzhi, nor did he make a sound to stop them from fighting. When the Wenwu officials saw the situation, they naturally understood in their hearts that this was the emperor's favoritism toward Hongzhi and deliberately suppressing Ne Qin, and no one dared to provoke Hongzhi again.
After this incident, Hongzhi found that no one dared to provoke him, and he beat up the powerful courtiers in the court, and his brother did not blame him, so he became more arrogant and lived a more luxurious life. Later, when doing things, he did not pay attention to the Qianlong Emperor and did not pay attention to proportions.
Once, Qianlong and Hongzhi went together to ask the empress dowager for peace, and Hongzhi pounced and took the lead in kneeling down for the empress. When Qianlong saw that the place where Hongzhi was kneeling was exactly where he had knelt before, he was furious about it.
Another time, Qianlong and Hongzhi were proctoring the Eight Banners disciples at the Zhengda Guangming Hall of the Qianqing Palace, and when it was time for dinner, Hongzhi asked Qianlong to go to dinner first and leave himself to proctor the examination. Hongzhi was originally well-intentioned, afraid that his brother would be hungry, but the Qianlong Emperor never left. Hongzhi was in a hurry and blurted out: "Doesn't the emperor believe in his brother, worried that I will privately accept money from the disciples and help them cheat?" ”
After Qianlong listened, his eyes narrowed, and he neither walked nor spoke. At the end of the examination, Hongzhi realized that he had offended and desecrated the emperor, and the problem was serious, so he rushed into the palace to ask Qianlong for his guilt, and Qianlong said: "During the examination, if I speak, you will have your head on the ground." ”
Later, because of his failure to preside over the Battle of Jinchuan, Ne Qin was listed by Qianlong as a scapegoat for the defeat of the war and was given to commit suicide. Hongzhi suddenly understood that he was only a pawn of Qianlong, and if he did not know how to retire and save himself, he was afraid that he would also fall into a tragic situation.
Since then, Hongzhi has become crazy, does not show his sharp edge, does not show his face, does not have anything to do for himself, and engages in "living sacrifices", he has personally directed the funeral for himself, he sat in the middle of the courtyard, let the people in the house cry and sacrifice, while he ate tributes on the side, while laughing and watching the liveliness, even around his bed, there were burial utensils and funeral goods. Outsiders think that Hongzhi is crazy, but in fact, this is his wisdom and foolishness, the wisdom of Mingzhe to protect himself, and to accompany the king to survive.