Emperor Qianlong's youngest daughter, Princess Shi, although she was loved by thousands of people, was miserable in the second half of her life, mainly because she married someone who shouldn't have been married.
On the third day of the first month of the 40th year of Qianlong, in the Yikun Palace of the Forbidden City, accompanied by a loud baby cry, a healthy little life came to this world under the hope of Emperor Qianlong, she is the youngest daughter of Emperor Qianlong, Gulun and Princess Xiao.
This year, Emperor Qianlong was already 65 years old, and in his later years, he loved his daughter, and he could be said to have spoiled this little daughter, to what extent? Before Gu Lun and Princess Xiao were born, her mother, a concubine, was promoted to a concubine because of her meritorious service in pregnancy.
After the birth of Gulun and Princess Xiao, Emperor Qianlong turned into a favorite girl, rewarding her with all kinds of rare treasures at every turn, and even Emperor Qianlong only symbolically punished the princess's mother when the princess killed the palace maid and should have been severely punished, and all this was because of the existence of Gulun and Princess Xiao.
But the ten princesses, who were so much loved, but after the death of their father Emperor Qianlong, life was not as good as day by day, so that in the future, it was basically a miserable life, even if her brother Jiaqing Emperor was powerless, and finally died sadly at the age of 49.
What was the reason why this tenth princess, who came from a prominent background and was deeply loved by Emperor Qianlong, was so miserable in the second half of her life? In fact, in the final analysis, the tragedy of the tenth princess's life was precisely because she married someone who should not have been married.
Emperor Qianlong favored the ten princesses not without reason.
According to historical records, Emperor Qianlong's youngest son, Yongxuan, was born in 1766 AD, and after this year, for a long time, no new life was born in the Forbidden City.
It was not until 1775 A.D., with the birth of Gu Lun and Princess Xiao, that the tranquility of the Forbidden City was broken.
In other words, in the past ten years, Emperor Qianlong did not give birth to a son and a half daughter, which is obviously not a happy thing for the ancient people who paid attention to having many sons and blessings.
More importantly, Emperor Qianlong has always regarded himself very highly, although he is no longer young, but psychologically, he still thinks that he is omnipotent, therefore, at the age of sixty-five, he can still give birth to a daughter, which naturally makes him extremely happy, after all, this is the most powerful evidence to prove that he is "not old".
Therefore, when Gu Lun and Princess Xiao's mother were just pregnant, Emperor Qianlong paid great attention to this little life that was about to be born, and naturally, he poured deep feelings.
It is not so much that Emperor Qianlong likes this little daughter, but that he loves Wu and Wu because he is quite satisfied with his ability.
Because of this, before and after the birth of the tenth princess, Emperor Qianlong not only paid great attention to it spiritually, but also did not hesitate materially, and the rewards were even more generous.
First in the 39th year of Qianlong, that is, the tenth princess's biological mother concubine was just pregnant, Emperor Qianlong made an exception to promote her to concubine, you know, concubine in the 36th year of Qianlong, was just a small nobleman, although later promoted to a level, became a concubine, that is also due to Emperor Qianlong's routine reward, and whether she herself pleases the emperor has nothing to do with it.
That is to say, before the concubine became pregnant, she was just one of the many ordinary concubines in the harem, and there was nothing outstanding about it, but her fate changed in the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong, a lucky visit of Emperor Qianlong.
In that year, Emperor Qianlong drove to the Rehe Palace, accompanied by his concubines, but Emperor Qianlong somehow called her to serve in bed, and this waiter actually succeeded in winning the lottery.
In the Mid-Autumn Festival in August of that year, she had been diagnosed by the imperial doctor as a happy concubine, escorted by the guards, returned to the Forbidden City, and since then, her status has skyrocketed, and when Emperor Qianlong returned from the Rehe Palace, she was promoted to concubine for the first time.
What does it mean to be a mother and a daughter? The experience of the concubine is a good interpretation of this point.
In addition to the timing of the birth of the tenth princess made Emperor Qianlong happy, so he liked her, when the tenth princess was young, one of her performances also won the heart of Emperor Qianlong.
According to historical records, the ten princesses are very similar to their father Emperor Qianlong in appearance, as a father, after seeing a small "replica" that is very similar to himself in this world, I am afraid that they will involuntarily feel pity, and the same is true for Emperor Qianlong.
In addition, the tenth princess is active by nature and has a resolute personality, just like what we now call a "tomboy", at the same time, she likes to ride and shoot since she was a child, practiced kung fu, and often followed Emperor Qianlong to patrol and hunt, such a lively little daughter, how can Emperor Qianlong not love?
In addition, it is recorded in the historical materials that the ten princesses like to wear men's clothes, and there is a portrait of a woman in military uniform in the Forbidden City, and the woman on the portrait is wearing a military uniform, heroic and cool, according to expert identification, it is very likely to be the portrait of the ten princesses when they were young.
"Similar to oneself", "lively personality", riding and archery kung fu are better than brothers, no wonder Emperor Qianlong once sighed, saying that if it weren't for the tenth princess being a daughter, the throne would definitely be passed to her in the future.
"You are the prince, and I must respond to your prince. "--- Emperor Qianlong
Since it is impossible to pass on the throne, then it can be loved vigorously, before the tenth princess is married, it can be said that in the Forbidden City, it is necessary to have wind and rain.
Needless to say, all kinds of rich rewards, even her biological mother, Concubine Xuan, was saved by her own daughter.
After the birth of the tenth princess, Emperor Qianlong clearly expressed his love for his youngest daughter, and even took care of Concubine Qian, but Concubine Qianlong was a person who didn't know the depths, relying on her daughter to be favored, and actually did something that made Emperor Qianlong angry.
Once, the palace maid who served her accidentally made a mistake, and the concubine scolded her, but because she didn't know the severity of her attack, she beat the palace maid to death.
If this matter is placed in other dynasties, it may not be anything, but in the Qing Dynasty, it was a big basket, because most of the palace maids in the Qing Dynasty were selected from the Eight Banners, which means that these palace maids are not from ordinary ordinary people's families.
In other words, every palace maid belongs to the family of the Eight Banners, and it is even possible that they come from the families of those who have worked hard and made great achievements.
Like Concubine Xuan herself, she was just a palace maid when she first entered the palace, and then she was promoted because she was lucky, and those palace maids who served her were not inferior to her in terms of their background when they entered the palace.
What's worse is that she was also born as a palace maid, but now that she flies on the branch, she dares to kill another palace maid alive, which is the main reason why she provokes public anger.
After Emperor Qianlong knew about this matter, he was furious, originally according to his temper and related systems, Concubine Xuan would be severely punished, and even the family behind her would suffer a great disaster because of this matter.
But in the end, Emperor Qianlong just demoted Concubine to Concubine and hastily ended the matter.
Emperor Qianlong considered that if he severely punished the concubine and her family, it would inevitably affect the future of the tenth princess in the future, so he symbolically punished the concubine.
And, not long after, the downgraded concubine was promoted back again because of her daughter.
According to the Qing system, the convicted concubines are not qualified to continue to raise children, and must hand over their children to other concubines to raise on their behalf.
But at that time, the tenth princess was still young, and it was the age of dependence on her mother, and the sudden separation must have been crying and fussing, and she didn't eat or sleep, so after a few days, Emperor Qianlong couldn't bear to let her baby girl suffer, so he had to order to send the tenth princess to her mother.
But Emperor Qianlong always wants to visit his daughter, once he does, it will inevitably meet with the convicted concubine, back and forth, and the concubine also actively admits her mistakes, Qianlong looked at his daughter's face, and promoted her rank back.
Not only did Emperor Qianlong like the ten princesses, but the other concubines in the harem also regarded this innocent and lovely little girl as their own, Concubine Rong and Zhuo's had no children under their knees, so they regarded the ten princesses as their daughters, and when she died of illness, most of the relics they treasured were left to the ten princesses, which shows how the ten princesses are liked, and when she talks about marriage, almost all the people in the Forbidden City are dispatched.
As early as when the tenth princess was seven years old, Emperor Qianlong chose a good husband with good conduct for her.
This husband is Feng Shen Yinde, the eldest son of the court member and Shen, the name Feng Shen Yinde, it is said that Qianlong gave it personally, and Qianlong saw that He Shen's eldest son looked dignified, so he liked it very much, and gave the name Feng Shen Yinde.
When the tenth princess was six or seven years old, Emperor Qianlong officially gave marriage, designated Fengshen Yinde, who was the same age as the princess, as the forehead, and in the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong (AD 1789), that is, when the tenth princess was fifteen years old, he ordered her to marry Fengshen Yinde in that year.
Since the youngest daughter who is the most beloved is married, the pomp is naturally how luxurious and luxurious it is, and Emperor Qianlong has made a lot of money for the marriage of the tenth princess.
First of all, he named the tenth princess as Gulun and Xiao Princess, you must know that according to the system of the Qing Dynasty, only the daughter born by the queen can be named Gulun princess, and the daughters of other concubines can be named Princess Heshuo at most, but due to Qianlong's preference, the tenth princess was also exceptionally promoted.
Including her husband-in-law Fengshen Yinde, who was also stained with the light of the tenth princess, was given the title of Gulun forehead.
In addition, on the occasion of the marriage of the tenth princess, Qianlong also prepared a rich dowry for her, according to the records kept by the first historical archives of China, the number of dowries of the ten princesses is so large that the grade is unprecedented.
Among them, there are nearly 1,000 pearls of various sizes, more than 100 rubies and sapphires, as for other kinds of gold and silver jewelry, hairpin head flowers, it is countless, according to rough estimates, only the dowry of the ten princesses was worth more than one million taels of silver at that time.
And Qianlong's other daughter, Princess Hejia, when she got married, her dowry was only one-tenth of that of the ten princesses.
On the day of the wedding of the tenth princess, Emperor Qianlong waved his hand and gave 300,000 yuan of silver, and when the ten princesses left the cabinet, the ministers of the court and the central government all went to salute, and even the old minister A Gui, who was already over the age of old at that time, also had to give a big salute.
Everything shows how important the position of the ten princesses in the heart of the Qianlong Emperor is, from her childhood to her marriage, the Qianlong Emperor can be said to have poured different feelings into her other princesses, and, in order to ensure the happiness of the ten princesses for the rest of her life, the Qianlong Emperor personally selected her husband Feng Shen Yinde, and so on, as a father, Qianlong's deep love for his daughter.
But the tragedy of the tenth princess's life also began after she married Fengshen Yinde.
From a certain point of view, the reason why Qianlong wanted to marry his favorite ten princesses to Heshen's son has the element of political marriage, in order to win over the ministers of the court and the central government to achieve the purpose of using it for his own use.
Since it is a political marriage, it will inevitably be affected by the political environment, although the tenth princess and Fengshen Yinde are husband and wife after marriage, and respect each other as guests, but no matter what, they can't escape the fate of being affected by politics in the end.
According to historical records, before the tenth princess married into the He family, her father-in-law and Shen were only a former minister and the commander of Manchuria with the blue flag, and in June of the same year after the tenth princess married, he was awarded the minister of the white flag by the Qianlong Emperor, and at the same time, the compilation of the "Four Libraries Quanshu" was also handed over to him.
It can be seen that the tenth princess married into the He family, which played a very positive role in Heshen's career, and Emperor Qianlong took into account the need to reuse Heshen, so he would marry him.
It was also from that time on, He Shen's official position was constantly promoted on the original basis, like a rocket, and by the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong, he was not only the Minister of Military Aircraft, but also the head of the Hanlin Academy and the teaching system.
Among them, one of the jobs of the head of the Hanlin Academy was to record the living notes, and the teaching system of the Qianlong period, the Shujishi, supervised the Tai Hospital and the Imperial Pharmacy.
That is to say, Emperor Qianlong's private life and the nobles in the palace taking medicine and seeing a doctor are all part of Heshen's work, which is no longer determined by the size of the supplies, it can only be said that Emperor Qianlong trusts Heshen.
But at the same time of fully trusting He Shen, it also created an excellent opportunity for him to pervert the law and fill his own pockets, and because He Shen was the head of the Hanlin Academy, he was able to intervene and control the imperial examination at that time.
As for the corruption of her father-in-law and Shen, the tenth princess is not unaware, she not only knows, but also reminded them from the side.
According to the "Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records" written by Nurhachi's seventh grandson and a famous literary historian during the Qianlong period, Aixin Jueluo Zhaoqi, the tenth princess reminded her husband Feng Shen Yinde many times, asking him to advise her father and Shen to be restrained, otherwise the whole family will be involved in the crimes committed by He Shen sooner or later.
The princess tasted Feng Shen Yin De and said: "You Weng loves the emperor's father's virtue, and there is no report, but when you see the sun, I will worry about you." He is afraid that his wealth will not be guaranteed, and I will be burdened by you. --- "Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records"
It's a pity, I don't know if He Shen didn't listen or Feng Shen Yinde didn't take it seriously, and in the end, with the death of Emperor Qianlong, He Shen's good days came to an end.
In the first month of the fourth year of Jiaqing (A.D. 1799), Qianlong Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, who had been the emperor for a total of 64 years and four months, died, and Qianlong just died, Emperor Jiaqing, who had long seen that Shen was not pleasing to the eye, immediately issued an order to discuss the crime with Shen, during which a total of more than 800 million taels of silver were copied, which was equivalent to the financial revenue of the Qing government for more than ten years.
Later, after the agreement of the ministers of the court, it was recommended that He Shen Lingchi, and Feng Shen Yinde was also arrested in prison to await trial, and at this critical juncture, the tenth princess rushed to the palace crying for her husband, kowtowed to her brother Emperor Jiaqing, and begged him to let her father and husband live.
In the end, Emperor Jiaqing, for his sister's sake, exempted He Shen Lingchi from execution, but asked him to commit suicide at home, as for Fengshen Yinde, he survived because of the intercession of the tenth princess.
The fall of He Shen means that the scenery that belongs to him and the He family has become a thing of the past, but it also means that the miserable days belonging to the tenth princess are coming, and the source of her misery is more because of her husband Feng Shen Yinde.
After He Shen was given death, Emperor Jiaqing treated his brother-in-law Feng Shen Yinde quite well, and let him continue to enjoy the title of earl, but He Shen's previous huge and luxurious mansion was divided into two by Emperor Jiaqing, Feng Shen Yinde and the ten princesses could only live in the second half, but they must be grounded and must not go out at will.
Later, because He Shen was dead, someone had to take care of the funeral, and under the repeated pleas of the ten princesses, Emperor Jiaqing agreed to temporarily lift the ban on Fengshen Yinde, and ordered him to "temporarily go out of the city and take care of the funeral", and because He Shen was guilty, therefore, the funeral was simple and could only be hastily buried.
At this time, Fengshen Yinde, on the surface, enjoyed the treatment of an earl, but in fact, all his titles and official positions have been removed together, leaving only one forehead title, which is undoubtedly more uncomfortable than killing him for Fengshen Yinde, who once had a bright future.
Even in the seventh year of Jiaqing (1802 AD), Emperor Jiaqing Kaien named him a minister of scattered ranks, but it was only a fictitious position, with no grade at all, and this fictitious position was also obtained because Emperor Jiaqing pitied his sister.
From incomparably respected to having nothing, the experience of ups and downs made Feng Shen Yinde gradually change his temperament, he used to respect the ten princesses like guests, but now he doesn't care so much, and because the young son born to him and the tenth princess died, the ten princesses were no longer able to give birth, which caused the relationship between the two to become worse than before.
But even so, the tenth princess still has a deep love for her husband, because she can no longer have children, in line with the purpose of continuing the incense for the family, the tenth princess took the initiative to propose to Fengshen Yinde to let him marry a few more concubines, so that Fengshen Yinde can have a descendant.
But I never thought that the original kind move made Fengshen Yinde sink since then, and almost lost his life.
At the beginning, Fengshen Yinde thought that the tenth princess was testing him, so he firmly rejected the proposal to take a concubine, but the tenth princess kept mentioning it, so that Fengshen Yinde understood that this was a concession made by the princess, so he began to let loose the wreckage, indulged in wine, and lingered among several concubines all day long.
After a long time, the tenth princess didn't say anything, but some people with a heart would talk about it.
In the eighth year of Jiaqing (1803 AD), a chief official named Kuifu in the Ten Princesses' Mansion found Wen Bu, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and said that he wanted to accuse Feng Shen Yinde, and the specific crime was "conspiracy to commit misdeeds, and wanted to harm the princess, and took the concubine to the cemetery to give birth to a daughter in the national uniform." "。
When the Minister of the Interior heard this, he immediately reported it to Emperor Jiaqing, and when Emperor Jiaqing heard that Fengshen Yinde dared to murder the tenth princess, he was furious and personally tried Fengshen Yinde.
However, after the trial, it was found that the so-called "conspiracy to commit misdeeds" and "wanting to kill the princess" were completely false, that is, they were false accusations, but the last one, taking the concubine to the cemetery to have sex with her, and giving birth in the national uniform was indeed true.
You must know that Emperor Qianlong had just died at that time, and according to the Qing system, during the mourning period, all "keepers" were not allowed to put up lanterns, nor could they marry, let alone have children in the same room, and Fengshen Yinde, as Qianlong's son-in-law, actually had a child with a concubine during the mourning period of his father-in-law, and Emperor Jiaqing was simply sorry for Qianlong if he did not punish him.
At this point, Fengshen Yinde was once again disgusted by Emperor Jiaqing, and his treatment was reduced again and again, even if the tenth princess was thinking about the love of husband and wife, and found her brother to intercede, but it was to no avail.
And Emperor Jiaqing, out of disgust, also wanted Fengshen Yinde to leave his sight, and in the eleventh year of Jiaqing, he ordered Fengshen Yinde to go to Uriya Sutai, thousands of miles away, to take up a post, and this move was almost no different from exile.
It didn't take long for Fengshen Yinde to be seriously ill and dying in Uriya Sutai, and later the tenth princess interceded, and Emperor Jiaqing allowed him to come back to recuperate, but Fengshen Yinde, who was already terminally ill, died of illness only three months after returning to Beijing.
When Feng Shen Yinde died, he was only thirty-six years old, and as mentioned above, the tenth princess was the same age as him, but because the rules of the Qing Dynasty were not as good as those of other dynasties, the princess could not remarry after being widowed, so the ten princesses could only spend it in the cold rain of the lonely lamp from then on.
Even if Jiaqing pitied her sister and often rewarded her materially, what could she do? Her husband died, her son died, and a lonely woman wanted more gold, silver, and jewelry.
And this kind of lonely life, the tenth princess passed thirteen years, until her nephew Daoguang ascended the throne three years later, the tenth princess was finally crushed by the miserable life, could not afford to fall ill, and soon died suddenly.
Maybe for the tenth princess, the moment she closes her eyes, it can be regarded as a real relief.
After the death of the tenth princess, Emperor Daoguang was very sympathetic to the experience of his aunt's life, so he attached great importance to the funeral, not only was it very grand, but also Emperor Daoguang personally went to pay tribute.
All in all, the tenth princess is a tragic figure, she was from a prominent background, she was deeply loved by the Qianlong Emperor when she was a child, and it can be said that she was loved by thousands of people, but because she married Fengshen Yinde, her marriage was forced to be related to politics, and the death of Emperor Qianlong and the fall of Heshen were also the beginning of the tragic fate of the ten princesses.