In Kangxi's later years, due to the abolition of the crown prince Yinren, the "nine sons seized the heir" incident broke out, among them, the princes led by the fourth son of the emperor Yinzhen and the eighth son of the emperor Yinzhen launched a fierce political struggle around the succession to the throne.
In the end, Yinzhen, the fourth son of the emperor, won and succeeded to the throne as Emperor Yongzheng.
At the beginning of Yongzheng's accession to the throne, Yinyu, the fourteenth son of the emperor, who was once one of the important members of the "Eight Masters Party", not only did not overthrow Yongzheng with elite soldiers and strong generals, but obediently returned to the capital, and finally ended up being imprisoned by Yongzheng.
You know, Yinyu was a general of Fuyuan at that time, and the army under his command was also strong, why didn't he take this opportunity to overthrow Yongzheng? In fact, Yinyu wanted to do this, but he was stuck in the neck at that time, and he was really powerless.
Yinyu and Yongzheng are the brothers of the same mother, but the relationship between the two is really not very good.
In the seventeenth year of Kangxi (1678 AD), Emperor Kangxi's concubine Wu Yashi gave birth to the fourth son of the emperor Yinzhen (that is, Yongzheng), but because the harem in the early Qing Dynasty did not allow the biological mother to raise her son, Yinzhen was sent to Tong Jia's to raise after she was born.
After another ten years, that is, the twenty-seventh year of Kangxi, the Wuya clan produced a prince again, and this prince was Yinyu.
After Yinyu was born, Wu Ya's status in the harem has improved a lot, and the system of the harem has also changed, so Yinyu's childhood grew up with his biological mother.
At this time, Yinzhen still lived with Tong Jia's family until he became an adult.
In other words, Yongzheng and Yinyu didn't have much affection when they were young, after all, they were rarely together, and when they grew up, they lived separately, and they didn't have the opportunity to establish a relationship.
It is precisely because of this that during the period of "Nine Sons Seize the Inheritance", the two brothers, who were originally brothers, belonged to different camps.
Needless to say, Yongzheng is the leader of the "Four Masters Party", and Yinyu invested in the side of the eighth son of the emperor Yinyu and became an important member of the "Eight Masters Party".
As for why he chose the old eight Yinyu, there are not many records in the historical materials, only mentioning that Yinyu was very respectful of the talented and humble old eight when he was a child, and the relationship between the two has been maintained very well.
So, how good is his relationship with the eighth child? According to reports, Yinyu was almost slaughtered by Emperor Kangxi in order to help the eighth child.
In the forty-seventh year of Kangxi, the crown prince Yinren was abolished by Emperor Kangxi, and the eldest son of the emperor Yinren took this opportunity to move, but was severely reprimanded by Emperor Kangxi.
After Kangxi learned about this incident, he was extremely angry, and in front of all the princes, he reprimanded the eighth son of the emperor for being treacherous and ambitious, and ordered Yinxi to be locked in prison.
At the critical moment, the old fourteenth Yinyu stepped forward and said to Kangxi on the spot, "Eighth elder brother has no such heart, and the ministers are willing to protect it!"
Himself, Kangxi was in a rage at that time, and the old fourteen made such a fuss, which made Kangxi lose his mind angrily, and slashed at the old fourteen with a knife, fortunately, it was the fifth son of the emperor Yinqi who was holding Kangxi's leg at that time, and the other princes pleaded together, Kangxi temporarily eliminated his anger.
"The sword worn by the upper place wants to punish Yinyu, the fifth son of the emperor Yinqi kneels and persuades, the princes kowtow and plead, the anger is slightly relieved, and the princes are ordered to give Yinyu to the --- "Qing History Manuscript"
And in the end, the old fourteen suffered twenty boards, so that it was difficult to walk for several days, but it was precisely because of this incident that Emperor Kangxi thought that the old fourteen was a person who was affectionate and righteous to his brothers, and at the same time, he was quite recognized for his straightforward and consistent quality.
Including the fact that Lao Fourteen was able to serve as the general of Fuyuan and lead the troops to quell the rebellion in the northwest, it was all related to the impact of this incident.
In short, after this incident, until Kangxi's death, the degree of favor of the old fourteen among many princes can be said to be among the top few, and even after he led his troops to the northwest, Emperor Kangxi not only often rewarded him, but also took his sons with him to raise them personally.
And the highlight of Lao Fourteen's life was his years in the Northwest.
In the fifty-seventh year of Kangxi, the leader of the Dzungar Department led the army to invade Tibet, and after the military information reached the capital, after the careful consideration of the Kangxi Emperor, it was finally decided to appoint the fourteenth son of the emperor Yinyu as the general of Fuyuan, and the general king.
At that time, Emperor Kangxi could be said to have high hopes for the old fourteenth, and also had many preferential treatments, such as in the specifications of the expedition ceremony, the Kangxi Emperor allowed the old fourteenth to use the specifications of the Son of Heaven to go on the expedition.
Not only that, at the departure ceremony, Emperor Kangxi himself was present, and at the same time asked the princes, Baylor, Beizi and ministers above the second rank in Beijing to participate, which is enough to show the importance that Kangxi attached to the old fourteenth at that time.
And Kangxi's attention caused a direct consequence, at that time, there were rumors inside and outside the capital that Emperor Kangxi intended to pass on the throne to the old fourteenth, but this statement also laid a great hidden danger for the bleak ending of the old fourteenth
Whether Kangxi has ever thought about passing the throne to the old fourteenth, let's not talk about it for the time being, just talk about the period when he was the general king, it was really majestic.
According to historical records, after arriving in Tibet with his troops, Lao 14 quickly showed his excellent military qualities.
At that time, Lao 14 needed to be responsible for a lot of work, including military decision-making and command, army scheduling, adjusting internal and external contradictions, and encircling the Dalai Lama.
In other words, Lao Fourteen, the general king, is a comprehensive management position, and he has to manage everything and grasp everything.
Although the affairs were complicated, it didn't take long for the old fourteen to take care of all this in an orderly manner after arriving, and not only that, but after the affairs of the army were properly handled, the old fourteen quickly sent troops to quell the rebellion launched by Tsewang Alabutan.
From the 57th year of Kangxi to the victory at the end of the 58th year of Kangxi, it took only a little more than a year for the 14th to put down the rebellion in Tibet.
After the rebellion was quelled, the old fourteenth did not return to Beijing, but stayed on the front line, the reason for this is that the Tibetan area was not very stable at that time, and the treacherous Alabutan would carry out small troop invasions from time to time, and secondly, the old fourteenth did perform very well, and Emperor Kangxi would not be able to find a replacement for him for a while.
Therefore, from the fifty-eighth year of Kangxi to the death of Emperor Kangxi, Lao Fourteen spent most of his time on the front line, but it was precisely because he had been staying on the northwest front that he lost the opportunity when Emperor Kangxi died.
In the sixty-first year of Kangxi, Emperor Kangxi died of illness in Changchun Garden, and after his death, the fourth son of the emperor Yinzhen was edicted by Kangxi, that is, the emperor was located in the Taihe Palace, and changed to Yongzheng.
Regarding how Yongzheng ascended to the throne, there have been different theories, among which the most widely circulated theory is that Kangxi intended to pass on the throne to the old fourteenth at that time, but Yinzhen made a move on the edict and changed a word, which only then ascended the throne.
However, the authenticity of this statement has yet to be verified, after all, the edict is Manchu, Mongolian, and Chinese, and it should not be easy to realize if you want to change it without revealing traces.
But in any case, it can be seen from this rumor that the old fourteen is indeed the most promising person to inherit the throne.
In fact, it is true, judging from Kangxi's performance towards the old fourteen in his later years, the old fourteen at that time was indeed quite favored, so it is possible that Kangxi really thought about handing over the throne to him.
However, the final winner was the fourth Yinzhen, and after he succeeded to the throne, he began to attack the old fourteen who had heavy troops.
According to historical records, on the second day of Emperor Kangxi's death, Yongzheng arranged for Zhenguo Gong Yanxin to be the general of Fuyuan and go to the northwest to replace the old fourteenth.
The significance of this move is very obvious, that is, Yongzheng was worried that Lao Fourteen would pose a threat to him, and after Yanxin arrived in the northwest, he reported the whereabouts of Lao Fourteen and his family to Yongzheng anytime and anywhere.
Yongzheng, who got the accurate whereabouts of the old fourteen, sent someone to stop him on the way back to Beijing for the funeral, and checked and searched all the items carried by him and his family.
The reason why Yongzheng did this, there is a theory that among the items carried by the old fourteenth, there may be evidence such as the letters that Kangxi intended to pass on to him, and Yongzheng was worried that once these letters came to the capital, they would have an impact on the stability of his throne, so he would stop the old fourteen in advance, and search and destroy them.
Yongzheng's move made the old fourteen, who was already in a bad relationship with him, even more estranged from him, and after the old fourteen finally arrived in the capital, in front of the coffin of Emperor Kangxi, he could no longer control it and made a big fuss in the mourning hall.
This plot is also reflected in the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty", the old fourteen refused to kneel after seeing Yongzheng, but in the TV series, Yongzheng used the strategy of establishing his biological mother Wu Yashi as the queen mother, forcing the old fourteen to kneel, thus acquiescing to his position as emperor.
In the historical materials, it was the old eighteen who made the old fourteen kneel.
At that time, after the old fourteenth rushed to the mourning hall, he saw that Yongzheng really refused to kneel and worship, and a guard named Laxi came to pull the old fourteen, and was scolded by the old fourteen, and asked Yongzheng to punish Laxi for the crime of "committing the following crimes".
Before Yongzheng could express his position, Lao Bayinyu saw that the situation was wrong, so he stood up and said to Lao Fourteen, "You should kneel."
As a result, the old fourteenth was very obedient and knelt down and bowed to Yongzheng, and the historical materials described him as "kneeling silently" at that time, and it was precisely because of this incident that Yongzheng added another one more to the old fourteenth accusation.
And then, the years of suffering of the old fourteen came, and Yongzheng became more and more harsh on his younger brother.
First in the first year of Yongzheng, the old fourteen was placed near the Jingling where Kangxi was buried, Ming was guarding the mausoleum, but in fact it was confined, after that, Yongzheng had crowned him as the king of the county, but did not give any title and silver, to the fourth year of Yongzheng, Yongzheng removed the title of the old fourteenth Beizi, and escorted it back to Beijing, imprisoned in the palace of Jingshan Shouhuang.
Here, the old fourteenth spent a total of about ten years, until Yongzheng died and Qianlong ascended the throne, and was released.
It can be seen from this that after the old fourteenth returned to the capital, the situation was still relatively miserable, so back to the question itself, why did he not choose to return to the capital to mourn after learning the news of Kangxi's death, but simply led hundreds of thousands of troops in the northwest and directly raised troops to overthrow Yongzheng?
Actually, it's not that Lao Fourteen doesn't dare, but he can't.
This can't, it's not that Lao Fourteen doesn't have this ability, on the contrary, he has the basic conditions for raising troops, but due to the limitations of some factors, he can only think about it.
The first factor is his position in the barracks.
It is true that Lao Fourteen served as the general king, and his prestige in the military camp was very high and good, but there was a key problem, that is, the soldiers under his command belonged to the Qing Dynasty, not to his Lao Fourteen.
Not only the soldiers, but also those officers, these officers took the court's money and ate the court's rewards, why would they listen to the old fourteen's roar and follow him to rebel regardless of it?
Moreover, when Emperor Kangxi was alive, he experienced many battles such as the Ping San Domain, the collection of Taiwan, and the personal conquest of Galdan, etc., he had a personal understanding of the importance of military power, so he spent his whole life trying to find ways to collect military power under the imperial power, rather than allowing military power to be controlled by someone.
In this case, if the old fourteen wants to rebel, it is undoubtedly an egg to hit the stone, at least in the early Qing Dynasty, any general who led troops outside the country was unlikely to be able to fight for the imperial power.
Assuming that Lao Fourteen is determined to rebel, those generals and leading officials will not be the first to agree, and this will also give Yongzheng a good excuse, he will rebel with Lao Fourteen's intentions and directly deal with him, instead of trying to imprison him again.
The second factor is that the problem of grain and grass cannot be solved.
According to historical records, during the period when Lao 14 served as the general of Fuyuan, it was Nian Qianyao who supplied grain and grass in logistics, and who was Nian Qianyao? He was Yongzheng's number one horse.
Therefore, if the old fourteenth rebels, Yongzheng will have a will, ordering Nian Qianyao to stop the supply of grain and grass to the old fourteen, and at that time, the army will not eat, drink, and starve for a few days, let alone rebel, and he will mutiniate first.
If Lao Fourteen was not stationed in the northwest at that time, but in the Central Plains or a certain area in the south of the Yangtze River, or even Shudi, there would still be a slight possibility of success, after all, in these areas, there are tens of thousands of loyal subordinates in hand, and they can hold out for a period of time by looting grain and grass.
Moreover, the old fourteen himself also has a certain ability to lead troops, if the grain and grass do not restrict him, although it may be difficult to replace Yongzheng, but at least it can give Yongzheng a headache.
But it's a pity that the old fourteen are in the northwest, and the army is also in the northwest, if you want to rebel, the first thing to solve is the problem of grain and grass, and if this problem is not solved, then the rebellion is undoubtedly a fool's dream.
Even if Lao Fourteen relied on deception and coercion to let some people rebel with him, the result was very likely to be tied into zongzi by the mutinous soldiers and sent to Yongzheng.
The third factor is the reason for rebellion
There is a way to be famous, if the old fourteen wants to rebel, then what reason should he use?
With him being the heir to the throne, is it a well-known fact that the fourth child tampered with the edict? This is obviously unreasonable, and Yongzheng's accession to the throne was the edict of Kangxi, which is a fact that everyone knows.
Even if there is a secret behind the edict, those soldiers don't know it, they don't think about it, and they can't think about it.
Then use the Qingjun side and follow the example of Zhu Di back then? This is even worse.
Zhu Di's Qingjun side has special environmental restrictions, at that time Zhu Yuanzhang had been dead for several years, and Zhu Yunwen was in a hurry to cut the domain, which caused Zhu Di to face the problem of life and death, so Zhu Di had to raise troops.
But Rao is like this, Zhu Di also put a lot of effort into the reason for raising troops, and finally found a reason for "Qingjun's side".
You must know that the premise of the Qing monarch's side is that "there are ministers in the court," and Zhu Di also started to act under the banner of "punishing Qi Huang (Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng) and Qing Jun's side."
But as far as the Qing Dynasty at that time is concerned, there are no ministers in the court, and the old fourteen does not dare to press this name on a minister casually, if he does this, he will become the target of public criticism before he starts to make trouble.
At that time, the saliva of the ministers alone will be able to drown the old fourteen, and all this is exactly what Yongzheng wants to see the most, and he is worried that there is no reason to clean up the old fourteen.