The Dream of the Red Chamber actually has a prototype, including the Jia family, and its prototype may be the Cao family where the author is located. The former Cao family, like the Jia family inside, is extremely rich, and the Grand View Garden also has a prototype, that is, the West Garden. This garden was specially built by Cao Xueqin's grandfather Cao Yin to welcome the Kangxi Emperor's southern tour, and it is said that four of Kangxi's six southern tours lived in the Cao family. Of course, there was a reason for this, Cao Xi and Cao Yin were both Kangxi's bodyguards. Importantly, Cao Xi's wife was still Kangxi's nanny, and the relationship between the Cao family and Kangxi was naturally close.
But one thing is more strange, Kangxi lived in the Cao family because the two sides had a good relationship, and he had dealt with the people of the Cao family since he was a child. But why did Qianlong go down to Jiangnan six times and live in a family four times? Moreover, this family also has nothing to do with Qianlong's indication, but this may involve a secret matter of the palace. The matter also has to start with the nine sons of Yongzheng before he ascended the throne, which refers to the events that happened when the nine princes of Kangxi participated in the struggle for the throne.
Simply put, the brothers turned against each other, and Kangxi's nine sons were divided into four factions, namely the Great Master Party, the Princeling Party, the Third Master Party, the Fourth Master Party, and the Eight Master Party, and in the early period, it was mainly the Princeling Party. In the later period, it gradually became a struggle between the Fourth Master Party and the Eighth Master Party, and the two sides fought to the death. And the child is also a chip to win the wife, just at the critical time, the Hongli calendar was born. Before him, Yin Chan originally had four children, but three of them had died prematurely. Only one son survived, Hiroshi, so Hiroshi was his de facto second son.
With this child, he naturally gained some of Kangxi's eccentricities, especially Hongli's special intelligence. It is said that in the sixtieth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1721), when Xuan Ye first saw hongli, hongli won his favor. He also raised him in the palace and taught him books and lessons himself, which even Yin Chan had never received. Not only that, but Hongli also followed his grandfather on a tour of Rehe, and he put his father Yin Chan in a favorable position after the struggle to seize the wife. Therefore, when Yongzheng ascended the throne, he regarded the thirteen-year-old Hongli as the crown prince in his mind.
But there has always been a theory about Hongli's birth, which is related to the fact that he lived in the Chen family four times later. Hongli's birth mother was Yongzheng's concubine Gege, and this is the controversial claim. Because on the day of Hongli's birth, a famous courtier, Chen Shiqian, also gave birth to a child in his family, and that child was a girl. However, it is said that the later Concubine Xi, hongli's mother, actually gave birth to a girl, and the one in Chen Shiqiao's family was a boy. Concubine Xi exchanged children with her, in order to make it more advantageous for Yin Chan to seize the concubine, but also for her own position to be more stable. The Chen family over there did not dare to open their mouths because of the importance of the matter, but they were wrong.
The question of who Qianlong's birth mother was was controversial since the Qing Dynasty, and the versions are mostly different, but one feature is that it is speculated that his biological parents are related to the Chen family. The Chen family here refers to the Haining Chen clan, which in the Qing Dynasty was known as the first noble family in the sea. One door and three pavilions are old, and the six five shangshu are talking about them. Chen Shiqi was a member of the Chen clan of Haining, and Chen Shiqian himself became the left deputy capital Yushi and Gongbu Shangshu as soon as he ascended the throne in Qianlong.
Jin Yong's "Book of Swords and Enmity" was written under these rumors, because it is a novel, so it is a direct affirmation that Qianlong is from the Haining Chen clan. In addition, Qianlong did live in the Chen family four times in the liuxia Jiangnan, so some people thought that he was going to see his mother or father.
In fact, not only the people, but even the academic circles also have a lot of views on Qianlong's birth mother. However, for now, the mystery of Qianlong's birth mother has not yet been revealed. Because when Qianlong went to Jiangnan, Chen Shiqian had already died, and it didn't make sense to find relatives. However, it is true that the history books are controversial and true, and it is estimated that more in-depth research will be needed. Why he frequently lived in the Chen family is also a mystery.
References: YongxianLu, Yongzheng Shilu, Draft History of the Qing Dynasty