Nian Xinyao, a well-known military strategist of the Qing Dynasty, went through the Kangxi and Yongzheng dynasties. He was Yongzheng's brother-in-law, who supported Yongzheng to ascend the throne in the nine sons, calmed the Qinghai Rebellion, and everything went smoothly in the first half of his life, and he was also favored by Yongzheng, and the two were "like glue" and had a very good relationship.
However, Nian Xinyao gradually became proud of his achievements, had a domineering attitude, acted extravagantly, and also had differences with Yongzheng in his administrative philosophy, and had a style of not taking Yongzheng seriously.
This made the sensitive Yongzheng jealous, and finally decreed that he commit suicide at the age of 47.
So did Yongzheng look at the former feelings to treat Nian Xianyao's wife and children, and what was their fate?
Like a tiger with wings - Nian Xianyao's marriage
Nian Xinyao was a second-generation official, and his father was the governor of Huguang. Nian Xinyao embarked on the path of honor since he was a child, successfully passed the Jin Shi examination, and was later appointed by Kangxi as a Shuji Shi and entered the Hanlin Academy, when he was only 22 years old.
The young and promising Nian Xinyao was valued by the then heavy minister Nalan Mingzhu, who introduced him to two wives and brought him rich political resources.
The first wife, Nalan Shi, is the second daughter of the famous lyricist Nalan Zhide, and is also a cultural person of poetry and book heirlooms. Although Nian Xinyao became famous as a great general, he was actually born as a scholar and was a talent with both civility and martial arts, and the two got along well, but unfortunately the Nalan clan was as weak as his father and died within a few years.
In order to maintain the relationship between in-laws, Nalan Mingzhu introduced him to his second wife, Jue Luo, who is also a lady.
Nian Xinyao was born in the Han nationality and was not proficient in Manchu, and in order to ensure the "top secret" nature of the monarch's secret fold, Jue Luo often helped Nian Xinyao write and translate Manchu, which even Yongzheng knew, and was Nian Xinyao's virtuous helper.
Through these two marriages, Nian Xinyao integrated into the in-law family of Nalan Mingzhu and gained rich connections.
Nalan Mingzhu himself was born into an aristocracy, and many of his sons and daughters and grandchildren married to important princes of the Qing Dynasty, and maintained in-law relations with most royal families.
Nian Xinyao formed an in-law relationship with the Nalan family, and stepped into the circle of wealth and power.
Nian Xinyao himself had good conditions, coupled with the political resources brought to him by marriage, he rose all the way and was promoted to the governor of Sichuan, and he was only 30 years old when he became a fengjiang official.
Two years later, Kangxi married Nian Xinyao's sister to Yongzheng, who was still the fourth prince at the time, and from then on, Xinyao and Yongzheng had a friendship with his uncle.
Death in the Boom - The Fall of the Highlight Moment
The "high sweetness" period of Nian Xinyao and Yongzheng began when Nian Xinyao assisted Yongzheng to ascend the throne.
It is said that at that time, Nian Xinyao was outside to contain the 14th son of Kangxi, Yinhe, to ensure his smooth accession to the throne, and after that, Yongzheng constantly delegated power to Nian Xinyao and let him lead troops to quell the border rebellion, placing high hopes on him.
Nian Xinyao's victory in the Qinghai War made Yongzheng overjoyed, and even called him a "benefactor", calling the two as examples of ancient monarchs.
However, in just over a year, Nian Xinyao was reduced from a high-profile minister to a prisoner of ranks, and was convicted of 92 crimes, the main of which were great disrespect, great disobedience, and embezzlement.
The trigger for Nian Xinyao's investigation and imprisonment may be that his behavior is too domineering and arrogant, but in essence, there is also the discipline problem of greed and lawlessness.
Under the feudal system, the monarch had a clear distinction between father and son, a strong sense of class, and the authority of the emperor could not be violated. Nian Xinyao was also born as a scholar and was educated in etiquette, and he behaved like this, but he still did not respect Yongzheng at all.
Nian Xinyao's life was smooth, he did not encounter major setbacks, Yongzheng gave him a lot of preferences in the early stage, and he was related to many imperial relatives, and the self-confidence and pride and strong in-law background cultivated by smooth sailing made him really think that he was special, and his style of acting did not converge, making him lose the most basic judgment of political red lines.
Iron-blooded tenderness - Yongzheng disposed of Nian Xianyao's wife and children
"The birds are exhausted, and the good bow is hidden." The rabbit dies, the lackey cooks. "When ancient emperors ascended the throne in political battles, most of them developed an iron-fisted and ruthless style, and most of them were full of slaughter.
Nian Xinyao's attitude is arrogant and insolent, and his achievements are high, and according to common sense, it is also the end of the slaughter of the whole clan, but the disposal result of Nian Xianyao's close relatives is considered to be the better among the felons of the past.
When Nian Xinyao died, his wife was Jue Luo, a royal prince, and Yong was the same clan relative, and Yongzheng ordered her to return to her mother's house: "Nian Xinyao's wife, the daughter of the clan family, is sent back to her mother's house." As a royal clan relative, she should not be too sad for the rest of her life.
Nian Xinyao had 11 sons, 3 of whom were adults at the time of his death, the rest were infants, and of all the sons, Yongzheng ordered only his second son to be executed, and the rest were largely unimplicated.
Nian Xinyao's second son was called Nian Fu, an official to the secretary of the Dali Temple, in charge of rehabilitating wrongful imprisonment, and his personality and behavior were similar to his father's, and it was precisely because of this similarity that he was executed by Yongzheng: "But Nian Fu acts with a heart, and is the same kind as Nian Xinyao, and he is immediately beheaded." ”
Except for Nian Fu and Zhulian, the rest of the sons who had reached the age of 15 were sent to Yunnan, Guangxi, to Shubian, but a year later, the Yongzheng Emperor decreed that all of Nian Xinyao's sons be pardoned and placed under the discipline of his grandfather Nian Xinyao (Nian Xianyao's father).
In addition, Nian Xinyao also has a daughter who is more affected.
The history books do not leave her name, only saying that she had originally been married to the son of Kong Yuqi, the Duke of Yansheng in Shandong, but was dismissed from marriage because her father was convicted, her reputation was no longer there, and the bride price was not returned, and she suffered a miserable life without the protection of her family.
In ancient times, most daughters relied on their husbands' fathers, and although Yongzheng did not dispose of her, her father's conviction and her husband's withdrawal from marriage were the ultimate blows in the feudal era, so the history books also recorded separately to express sympathy and regret.
brief summary
Yongzheng's treatment of Nian Xianyao's wife and children can be said to have a kindness rarely seen in emperors, and there may be three reasons for this.
First, considering the merits that Nian Xinyao once made, and these people were not a threat to Yongzheng's regime. Compared with these people, the subordinates that Nian Xinyao had promoted did not have such "leniency" and were basically executed. Being in the court, not threatening the regime is an important criterion.
Second, Yongzheng is a person who is willing to listen to opinions and can reflect in time. At that time, the famous minister Zhu Shi gave an advice, saying that Nian Xinyao's father was old and retired for many years, and he repeatedly exhorted Nian Xinyao in letters to be diligent in state affairs, and he had nothing to do with Nian Xinyao's actions, and Yongzheng adopted the opinion.
Yongzheng later also reflected on the relationship, saying that "too much favor is too much, and there is so much that it will be done." This also shows that Yongzheng can find reasons from himself, and is a person with empathy and benevolence.
The third is that Yongzheng remembered his relationship with Nian Concubine (Nian Xinyao's sister), although Nian Xinyao had died before his death, but thinking of the feelings that he had known each other since the prince, he still did not kill his family.