The Qing Dynasty is the closest feudal dynasty to us, so relatively speaking, a lot of people know the most about the Qing Dynasty. During the reign of the Kangxi Dynasty, there was the famous "Nine Sons and Concubines" incident, and the reason for the incident was that the Crown Prince was arrogant and arbitrary, and the party was abolished for personal gain. The nine most powerful princes of Qianlong participated in the dispute of "crown prince". As a result, the final winner was the fourth brother Yongzheng, who had no background, that is, Qianlong's father.
Many people say that Yongzheng's victory is not unrelated to Qianlong, and once Kangxi was invited to yongzheng mansion to play. When the two talked about the rise, Yongzheng mentioned his two sons. Kangxi was very busy all day, and some of his grandchildren were actually too big to see each other. This time there was rare time, and Kangxi was naturally very happy to meet his grandson.
I didn't expect that the Fourth Brother Hongli was very much liked by Kangxi, and even received personal counseling from the palace, and also sent someone to check Qianlong's birthday eight characters, which was very much like an emperor. In order to pass on his throne to Hongli in the future, Kangxi then passed the throne to Hongli's father Yongzheng.
Although it is said that after Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, in order to avoid the recurrence of the incident of "nine sons and concubines", he adopted the strategy of "secretly establishing a reserve". However, after he succeeded to the throne, it was almost certain that it would be passed on to Hong, that is, the Qianlong Emperor, but after Qianlong succeeded to the throne, the question of the heir became confusing.
Because Qianlong himself is very smart, many of his sons are also excellent. For example, a prince that everyone is more familiar with, the fifth brother Yongqi. Not only has the ability to "never forget", but also proficient in riding and shooting, can be described as both literary and martial arts, Qianlong even publicly said many times that he wanted to pass the throne to Yongqi, but the day did not leave the year, Yongqi died of illness at a young age.
In addition to Yongqi, there were also two sons of Qianlong and Empress Fucha, the second son of the emperor, Yonglian, who was secretly appointed as crown prince after Qianlong had just succeeded to the throne. Although it was a secret Li Chu, Qianlong praised Yong Lian many times: "The concubine of Yuan, smart and valuable, and the instrument is extraordinary", he almost did not directly say the idea of Li Chu.
However, Yonglian died at the age of 9, until the eleventh year of Qianlong (1746 AD), after he and Empress Fucha's second son Yong chun were born, Qianlong again designated Yong Chun as his successor. Unfortunately, Yong Chun only lived to be two years old, even more unfortunate than his brother Yong Lian.
After the death of these three princes, Qianlong did not mention the matter of "Li Chu" for a long time, and Qianlong was a very long-lived emperor, the emperor who actually held power in the Qing Dynasty for the longest time, reaching 63 years. Even many of Qianlong's sons did not live qianlong.
By the end of Qianlong's life, the list of heirs in front of him was running out. In addition to the Eight Brothers Yongxuan, the Eleventh Brother Yongxuan, the Fifteenth Brother Yongxuan and the youngest Yongxuan, the other 13 princes have all died. The eldest Brother Yongxuan is already 50 years old, and the old eleven Yongxuan is also 44 years old, and he is mean and not an emperor.
The remaining fifteen Brother Yongyan and the youngest Yongxuan are the last candidates for Qianlong, and the two are also compatriots of the same mother, so they can't abandon the big and use the small, right? In the end, Qianlong chose Yongyan as his heir, the Jiaqing Emperor. His father and emperor survived the death of more than 10 excellent brothers, and finally let the talented Yong Yanbai pick up a throne.