In people's impressions, Yongzheng is a cold-faced iron-faced emperor, known for being mean and unkind, in fact, this seemingly ruthless emperor also has his warm side, for example, Yongzheng is very good to YinXiang, the Prince of Yi. Of course, Yongzheng is also very good to the women of the harem, and it is rare to see Yongzheng concubines being demoted in the historical data, and today the author wants to talk about a woman that Yongzheng cares about the most: The Dunsu Emperor Concubine.
In the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty", the Dunsu Emperor's noble concubine Nian Shi was once Yongzheng's domestic slave, in fact, the Birth of the Dunsu Emperor's noble concubine was far less simple than people imagined. Emperor Dunsu's concubine Nian Zhonglong was a famous official eunuch family of the Ming Dynasty, who served as the commander of Zhengsanpin in Jinzhou, Liaodong Province, and during the Battle of Songjin, Emperor Dunsu's grandfather Nian Zhonglong was captured and incorporated into the Han army and became a slave of the Manchus. After the Qing army entered the customs, the Nian clan moved to the Beijing Division.
Although Nian Zhonglong was a slave of the Lower Five Banners, he had the opportunity to participate in the imperial examination, so Nian Zhonglong passed the jinshi examination in the twelfth year of Shunzhi, so that the Nian clan got rid of slavery and changed to the Han army with a white flag. Later, Emperor Dunsu's father, Emperor Nianling, was even more an official in Huguang and became a member of the imperial court.
In the forty-eighth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, The fourth son of Kangxi, Yin Chan, was given the title of Prince of Yong, and the White Banner of the Han Army, where Nian was located, happened to be assigned to Yin Chan's subordinates, and as a result, nian became a subordinate of the Yong Dynasty.
Around fifty years after Kangxi, the 13-year-old Princess Dunsu was favored by Kangxi, and Kangxi immediately pointed it out to the emperor's fourth son, Yin Chan, as a side Fujin. According to some sources, this marriage was most likely given by Yin Chan to his father Kangxi himself, why? Because in this year, a young talent who was less than thirty years old was appreciated by Kangxi and promoted to the governor of Sichuan, and he was the second brother of Emperor Dunsu's concubine Nian Qianyao, who was later known as the Fuyuan General of Zhenxi.
In the fifty-fourth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, The Noble Concubine of The Dunsu Emperor gave birth for the first time, and from then until the first year of Yongzheng, she gave birth to a total of four children. As you can see, the birth of The Noble Concubines of the Dunsu Emperor is concentrated in the last years of the Kangxi Dynasty to the early years of the Yongzheng Dynasty, although there is a favored side of the Yongzheng Emperor's concubines, but the more important thing may be out of the envelopment of the Nian Tangyao.
After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, Emperor Dunsu's concubine was crowned a noble concubine in the first canonization, second only to Empress Xiaojingxian of the Middle Palace, becoming the first noble concubine in the history of the Qing Dynasty to have Han ancestry (imperial concubine), while the side Fujin Li clan, which was of the same rank as her during the Qiandi period, only gave the title of Concubine Qi. Moreover, Yongzheng also allowed Emperor Dunsu's concubines to enjoy the treatment of princesses and princesses ordering their wives to pay homage to them, and later Qianlong aided this example, so that Emperor Huixian's concubines also enjoyed this treatment.
Although the princess of The Dunsu Emperor at that time had unlimited scenery, her body was always weak, and she could be called the court version of Lin Daiyu. Moreover, since Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, his elder brother Nian Qianyao relied on military merit and flew high, which undoubtedly increased the psychological pressure of Emperor Dunsu's noble concubines.
In November of the third year of Yongzheng, just as Yongzheng had just finished paying homage to his father at Jingling, the Dunsu Emperor, who had just been enthroned as an imperial concubine for only eight days, died of illness in the Yuanmingyuan. The death order of Emperor Dunsu's concubines hit Yongzheng very hard, and he who had always been diligent did not go to the court for five days, in addition, Yongzheng also let seven princes of the near branch wear filial piety for the noble concubines of the Dunsu Emperor, and even ordered the princes of the near branches such as Prince Cheng and Prince Lian to worship the noble concubines of the Dunsu Emperor in the cold winter, and prince Yin Zhi of Cheng was reprimanded by Yongzheng for "prevarication".
Moreover, the title of The Noble Concubine of The Dunsu Emperor is also very special, how to say it? It is not something that ordinary people can use, the word "Dun" is found in the historical data only used by the two emperors of the Ming Dynasty (Ming Shenzong and Ming Xizong), and the Dunsu Emperor Guifei was the only concubine of the Qing Dynasty to use this word, which shows that in Yongzheng's heart, the Dunsu Emperor Guifei is definitely a special existence.
What is even more unexpected is that Yongzheng did not anger the Nian family because of Nian Tangyao's crime, and still decided to bury The Noble Concubine of Emperor Dunsu in the Tailing Underground Palace, and the Noble Concubine of the Dunsu Emperor finally got her wish and was buried in the Tailing Underground Palace, becoming the only concubine to be buried with Yongzheng.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Shizong of the Qing Dynasty, Four Genealogies of the Qing Imperial Family