China's ancient rules are strict, and the heir to the throne is also a special candidate, generally the eldest son, if there is no accident, this is almost fixed. When you see the palace drama, it is not difficult to find that the emperor has two ways of announcing his successor: one is to accept the order before death; the other is to put the name behind the plaque of the Yangxin Hall, and then gather the courtiers and princes to take out the announcement in public after the emperor dies.
In terms of ancient rebellion, it is a very risky and rewarding thing, if it is successful, you can be a marquis and a general, the leader can also be an emperor, and if you fail, people will fall to the ground, and they will also implicate their families. The toiling masses could not survive for various reasons, and rebellion could be the way out. But the prince who enjoys the glory and wealth and is already a prince of the crown prince, rebellion is a very unwise thing to do. First, the success rate of rebellion is very small, and the cost of failure is very large, which may land on the ground. Second, success is also fraught with risks, which will make the prince bear the charge of killing his father and seizing power, lose the people's hearts, and all localities will take the opportunity to oppose him. If this is the case, why did so many princes choose rebellion in ancient times? Wouldn't it be nice to wait
Of course, having said that, but sometimes there is really no hurry, the ancient people generally married early, the child was born early, may be the difference in age is only a teenager, the old emperor died early, if it is late, I am afraid that the prince is also a lifetime, may not be able to survive his father. For example, Kangxi Qianlong died at the age of 80, and qianlong was fortunate to be the emperor, otherwise Jiaqing would have been able to wait. Qin Yiren's father had been the prince for half a lifetime, and although he had survived his father, he died within a few days of ascending the throne, so it can be seen that some princes may really not be in a hurry.
Of course, the prince is the prince after all, and surviving the father is a small matter, but it is easy to be deposed. According to the inheritance system of the eldest son that continued during the Western Zhou Dynasty, the emperor's eldest son would generally be the crown prince. But this is not absolute and is subject to change at any time. Because the crown prince's throne is the same as the imperial throne, the temptation is too great, and the emperor mostly has a very large number of sons. The status of the prince is often closely related to his mother, there are also emperors who look at the prince unfavorably and want to change other sons, if the prince is caught with small braids, then it may be deposed by the old emperor and replaced by other sons. Therefore, in order to ensure that he is not deposed and defend the throne that he has already acquired, the prince will choose to rebel against this path.
And the probability of the prince being assassinated is also very large, the ancient imperial throne for people's temptation is unparalleled, naturally some people want the prince to die, waiting for the throne for too long, it may be more variable. For example, Yang Guang killed his father and brother, and eventually became emperor, and Yang Yong, the prince, was useless.
There is also the crown prince of the country, in order to ensure that he can rule the country smoothly after he takes the throne. When the prince was young, he had to study, and when he was older, he had to "intern" and participate in the political experience of the dynasty. Therefore, the crown prince was actually a minister before he ascended the throne, and although his status was noble, he would still attract many political enemies in the court due to political disagreements and conflicts of interest. For example, Chu Ying, the crown prince of the founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty Nurhaci, threatened to execute them after he ascended the throne because of his deep contradictions with several founding ministers and brothers, and they united to rectify them, and as a result, they were not only deposed as princes, but also executed by orders of their own biological fathers.