The twelve emperors of the Qing Dynasty, if you carefully observe the political ability of each generation of emperors, will find that there is a unified feature, that is, the emperors of the early Qing Dynasty are almost full of courage and do not lack courage, but the later generation is not as good as the previous generation. During the reigns of Emperor Taiji, Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty was still relatively prosperous and the emperor's ability to rule was relatively strong. Later, almost every generation from Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi became weaker. No wonder the national strength of Qing society was declining.
Despite the arrogant, segregation and blockade policies implemented by Qianlong in his later years, the state's strength gradually declined, but it was not obvious at the time. It was not until the Jiaqing period that the turning point in the national strength of the Qing Dynasty became more obvious.
Although Qianlong had seventeen sons, almost half of them died before Qianlong. At one point, Qianlong wanted his third son to become crown prince. The first was Yong Lian, who was the second son, and qianlong quietly established him as crown prince not long after he sat on the throne. Crown Prince Yonglian was also fateful, and he died when he was eight years old. Later, he had a son, the seventh brother, Yong Chun, but Yong Chun also died at the age of two. Later, Qianlong's expectations fell on his fifth son, Yongqi, but Yongqi also died at the age of twenty-five.
Later, it was the 15th eldest brother Yongyan, and the fifteenth brother was born in the 25th year of Qianlong. His biological mother was a concubine we knew. From the age of six, he learned from the Bingbu Shilang Fengkuan and the Gongbu Shilang Xie Yong in the modern style of poetry. When he was seven years old, he went to the Panshan Xingdian Hall to pay high tribute to Empress Xiaoshun Xianxiao. At that time, he was deeply loved by the Qianlong Emperor.
Fifteen brothers also have a very good academic performance, in the process of growing up, especially like to read history and popular books, according to the history books, reached the level of "three thousand years up and down, the cure is clear".
Without many choices, the Fifteenth Brother was almost the best choice Qianlong could make. Qianlong also consciously trained him to be a prince and always brought him to his side for training. In the 54th year of Qianlong, the fifteenth brother Yongyan was appointed the Prince of Shuojia. In September of the 60th year of Qianlong, he was officially proclaimed crown prince. By this time, he was already a thirty-five-year-old middle-aged man.
In the beginning, Kangxi established the crown prince very early and took him to teach. Initially, the crown prince was also safe, but because Kangxi had lived too long, he lived until middle age, and he was still a man. The prince involuntarily became ill-intentioned. As a result, he was abolished twice, eventually losing his position as prince. There is no doubt that Yongyan is smarter. Qianlong had a long life span, and Yongyan waited for many years. However, during the Qianlong period, he always settled down with peace of mind and accepted Qianlong's dedication. As a result, his position has been relatively stable.
Even later, Qianlong decided that his rule would not surpass that of his grandfather Kangxi, and he abdicated the throne and let Yongren take the throne as emperor, that is, the Jiaqing Emperor, and became the emperor himself. But in reality, the real power of the country was still in the hands of Qianlong, and Jiaqing was just a pseudo-emperor. But Jiaqing was always peaceful, so the father and son were always happy and harmonious, and did not degenerate like the original Kangxi and the abandoned prince.
Four years after Jiaqing, Qianlong died, and Jiaqing finally stood out, grasped real power, and became a powerful emperor. The first thing he did was to fire Washun's house and take washhun into custody and jail. The property looted from the Hezhen family even exceeded the total income of the Qing government in the fifteen years.
After Jiaqing came to power, he also thought about governing the country well. Strictly deal with the Remnant Party of Hezhen and Purging Hezhen. He demanded to be outspoken, open and honest, eliminate demons, strengthen righteousness, and praise the officials who were verbally convicted during the Qianlong Restoration. Local officials are required to report truthfully to the people and avoid bullying, whitewashing and laziness.
But in the end, Jiaqing's courage and ability were not enough, coupled with the limited internal political rectification, which failed to fundamentally reverse the political decline of the Qing Dynasty. As a result, state power continues to decline in an irreversible trend. At the end of the Jiaqing era, the problem of corruption was not only unresolved, but also became more serious.
During his reign, this was the period of the rise of the world's industrial revolution and the period when the Qing Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. Internal and external troubles, the White Lotus Uprising broke out in China, and the crisis of Qing dynasty rule surfaced. Faced with this challenge of the new era, Jiaqing's foresight failed to make him fully aware of the changes of the times. During the Qianlong period, he continued to implement policies of closing the country, concentrating agriculture, and suppressing commerce, which led to the trend of the Qing Dynasty lagging behind the world.
During Jiaqing's reign, although he did his best to govern the country, due to his own limitations and the general trend of the times, this did not improve the decline of national strength, and the Qing Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline.