Preface
Emperor Yongzheng was the fifth monarch in the history of the Qing Dynasty, and his name was Aixin Jueluo Yinzhen.
Yongzheng was an emperor known for his diligence in governing the country, saving money, fighting corruption, and implementing reforms. Although his reign was only 13 years, his reign was a period of succession of the "prosperous Kangqian era", and the role of Emperor Yongzheng was self-evident.
How diligent was Emperor Yongzheng?
He slept only four hours a day, got up early and went to bed late, personally reviewed the chapters, decided the affairs of the state, and did not indulge in pleasures like other emperors.
He also had strict requirements for his ministers, not allowing them to slack off or embezzle, and if they were discovered, they would be punished mercilessly.
With the support of Emperor Yongzheng, the Qing Dynasty carried out certain reforms in politics, economy, culture, military, and ethnicity, which brought the Qing Dynasty's national strength and prestige to a new height.
As a result, he was revered and praised as the "Model Worker Emperor" and one of the most industrious and virtuous emperors in Chinese history.
Although Emperor Yongzheng was very busy, he still found time to give birth to 10 sons.
1. Hongyi was favored by his brother Qianlong
Hongyi is the tenth son of Emperor Yongzheng and the youngest son, born on June 11, the 11th year of Yongzheng, and his name is Brother Yuanmingyuan, because he was born in Yuanmingyuan.
His biological mother was Emperor Yongzheng's side concubine Qianfei Liu, who was originally the daughter of Liu Mao, who was later elected to the palace, first as a nobleman, and then promoted to a concubine.
In "The Legend of Zhen Huan", Hongyi's biological mother was changed to Xi Guifei Niu Hulu, which was actually wrong.
The birth of Hongyi made Emperor Yongzheng very happy, because he was the only son he had in his later years. In order to show his love for Hongyi, Emperor Yongzheng personally taught him to read and write, and also prepared many toys and books for him.
The father-son time of Hongyi and Yongzheng did not last long, Yongzheng died when he was three years old, and his elder brother Hongli inherited the throne as Emperor Qianlong.
Although Emperor Qianlong and Hongyi were not compatriots of the same mother, he was very fond of this younger brother, and because of the age difference between the two, Emperor Qianlong even treated him as his own son, letting him live in the palace and live with his two sons Yonghuang and Yonglian.
Emperor Qianlong also sent the eunuch Xie Cheng to take care of Hongyi's daily life and diet, teach him etiquette and rules, and prevent him from being wronged. Not only that, Emperor Qianlong also often summoned Hongyi to inquire about his Xi, rewarded him with various rare items, and let him participate in some important activities, such as sacrifices, viewing ceremonies, and visiting gardens.
Although Qianlong treated him very fondly, Hongyi knew that his identity was special since he was a child, and he and Qianlong were first and foremost a relationship between a monarch and a minister, and then a brother, so although Qianlong favored him very much, Hongyi still did not dare to have any arrogant thoughts, and even some were a little afraid of Qianlong.
Once, Emperor Qianlong was inspecting the Old Summer Palace and saw Hongyi playing in the garden, and when he saw it, he walked over and wanted to say a few words to him.
However, Hongyi saw a man in a dragon robe walking towards him from a distance, and he was so frightened that he turned around and ran.
When Emperor Qianlong saw this, he was very angry, he was his elder brother, but Hongyi regarded him as a terrible emperor, thinking that Qianlong still yearned for the brotherhood of ordinary people in his heart.
He was a little lost and a little annoyed in his heart, but Hongyi was too young, and Qianlong couldn't blame him, so he punished the eunuchs who followed him.
Despite this, Emperor Qianlong still attached great importance to this youngest brother as always.
In terms of education, Qianlong specially invited a famous teacher to guide him. This famous teacher was the famous poet Shen Deqian at that time, he was a literary master of the Qing Dynasty, advocated style, opposed Qian Qianyi's concept of poetry, and also competed with Yuan Mei's theory of sexual spirituality.
He compiled poetry anthologies such as "The Source of Ancient Poems" and "Tang Poetry Collection", and is a representative of Qing Dynasty poetry theory. Emperor Qianlong had long admired Shen Deqian's poetry and knowledge, so he invited him to teach Hongyi.
With such a master as Hongyi's teacher, Hongyi's poetry has been greatly improved, and his poems are known as "poetry is returned to the right sound, not for the ordinary".
Hongyi is not only good at poetry, but also widely dabbles in all kinds of books, and his study has a large collection of ancient books and famous works, and his collection of books is very rich.
Emperor Qianlong was very pleased that Hongyi could have today's achievements.
When Hongyi was 18 years old, Qianlong felt that he could gradually enter the political arena, so he served as a scholar of Wuyingdian University, managing cultural institutions such as the royal library, museums, and art academies.
In addition, Qianlong also put him in charge of the Eight Banners Guard Barracks of the Old Summer Palace to protect the safety of the royal gardens.
Two years later, Qianlong put him in charge of the construction office, which was an institution in charge of imperial construction projects, including palaces, mausoleums, temples, and water conservancy. It can be said that judging from Qianlong's gradual delegation of power to Hongyi, he trusted him very much.
After the death of Hongyi's adoptive father, Prince Guo Yunli, Qianlong let him inherit the title of Prince Guo.
Second, pampered and arrogant
Hongyi inherited the title of Prince Guo and possessed great power and wealth. However, I don't know if it's pampered and arrogant, Hongyi has more bad habits.
He became greedy, uninhibited, and ruthless. He was extremely extravagant and extravagant in his daily life, but he was very stingy with his family and servants, and did not provide them with adequate food and clothing.
His treasury was full of gold, silver and jewelry, but he was not satisfied, and continued to collect money from the people and officials, even at the expense of other people's land and property.
In order to mine coal, he forcibly expropriated the fields of many farmers, causing them to live in hardship. His actions gradually angered Emperor Qianlong, and he became dissatisfied with him.
Qianlong's dissatisfaction with Hongyi erupted in 1763.
At that time, the case of Gao Heng, the Lianghuai Salt Administration, selling ginseng for profit on behalf of the princes and ministers of Jingshi was exposed, and Qianlong was furious.
According to Gao Heng, in order to repay his debts, Hongyi used his palace guards to bring Jiang Qiyi, a merchant who owed money, to his close confidant Gao Heng, and forced him to sell high-priced ginseng at a low price to earn the difference.
Such behavior seriously damaged the dignity and prestige of the imperial family, and also violated the taboo of Emperor Qianlong. When Emperor Qianlong learned of this, he was very angry and decided to investigate Hongyi's other crimes in depth.
It turned out that Hongyi had also sent Guan cha to various places to buy all kinds of precious items, such as python robes, court clothes, embroidery, antiques, favorites, etc., but he only paid a small amount of money, or simply did not pay, and forcibly took them.
He also wanted to meddle in the government and manipulate personnel, and once privately instructed the Minister of Military Aircraft Aligon to recommend his subordinates as important officials of the court, but fortunately Aligon did not agree, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
Qianlong was cold to Hongyi and decided to liquidate Hongyi.
Once, Hongyi and Hongyang went to greet the Queen Mother together, but after kowtowing, Hongyi knelt down next to the Queen Mother's seat. Everyone present didn't dare to say anything when they saw it, only Hongyi was the only one who didn't seem to have happened.
Because the seat next to the Empress Dowager was Qianlong's position, Qianlong came to the Empress Dowager's palace and happened to see this scene, he was very angry, and reprimanded his two younger brothers on the spot: he demoted Hongyu from the county king to Baylor, removed him from all positions, and also punished Hongday, who was traveling with him, for three years.
3. Die of melancholy
Hongyi couldn't bear such a blow, and was disheartened, closed the door, getting thinner and thinner, and finally contracted a serious illness. His condition was getting worse and his life was dying.
When Emperor Qianlong learned about it, he was still worried about this younger brother and decided to visit him in person. When he came to Hongyi's residence, he saw him thin and weak, lying on the bed, with a haggard face and dull eyes, and his heart ached.
When Hongyu saw Qianlong, he was terrified, and quickly got up from the bed, knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Emperor Qianlong, apologized with tears, said that he deserved to die for his crimes, and begged Emperor Qianlong for forgiveness.
Emperor Qianlong looked at Hongyi's appearance, remembering that they had grown up together since childhood, and they were like brothers, so he couldn't help but burst into tears, sobbing and said: I originally wanted to teach you a lesson and let you correct your mistakes, but I didn't expect you to become so ill because of this.
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to pull up Hongyi, comforted him and said, I will restore your title, you just need to recuperate, and when you are well, we will go back to the palace together.
After Emperor Qianlong finished speaking, he ordered the title of Hongyi's county king to be restored, and also sent him imperial doctors and medicines, hoping that he would recover. However, Hongyi's illness was incurable, and he was grateful to Emperor Qianlong for his forgiveness, but he also knew that his days were numbered, and he could only wait for death to come on the sickbed.
That day, Qianlong was halfway through his southern tour, when the news of Hongyi's death suddenly came, and Qianlong was full of regret in his heart, but it was useless to regret it.
When Hongyi died on the eighth day of the third month of the 30th year of Qianlong (1765), he was only 33 years old, and the Qianlong Emperor gave him the nickname Prince Gong.