Preface
Before the death of every emperor, in addition to leaving an heir to the throne, most of them have a few words of advice. Before Kangxi's death, he had explained one thing to Yongzheng, that is, he must treat the second son of the abolished prince well.
Of course, after Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he also fulfilled his promise to his father and made Honghui a prince, but after Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he came to settle accounts and imprisoned Honghui to death.
1. Favored
Honghui is Yinren's second son, although it is said to be the second son, but Yinren's eldest son died early, so that Honghui, who was originally the second son, became Yinren's eldest son.
It is worth mentioning that Honghui is the first grandson of Kangxi, or the eldest son of the crown prince Yinren, the eldest son has always been dominant in the feudal dynasty, you can imagine what kind of high hope Kangxi gives him. For this hard-won child, Kangxi and Yinren both attach great importance to it.
To what extent, Honghui grew up beside Kangxi in the Forbidden City just like Yinren back then, and it can be said that Kangxi took him by his side to teach him personally. It is worth mentioning that Honghui is diametrically opposed to his father, Honghui is both civil and military, and is humble and polite, very much like Kangxi when he was young.
Here you can refer to Zhu Yuanzhang and the crown prince Zhu Biao and the crown prince Zhu Yunwen. Kangxi was very satisfied with his grandson, and he couldn't help but think that if he passed the throne to Yinren after a hundred years, then his favorite grandson Honghui could be the next heir.
But what Kangxi never expected was that his son had a problem first, and as the prince's behavior became more and more ridiculous, Kangxi couldn't help but be disheartened, and finally when Honghui was fifteen years old, Kangxi ordered the abolition of the prince.
In fact, Kangxi's heart is also very hesitant, after all, his grandson is so good, if the crown prince is abolished, then Honghui will have no chance to take the throne in his life. Soon after, Kangxi ordered the restoration of the position of Prince Yinren, and what has to be said here is that Yinren grew up next to Kangxi after all, and the father-son friendship between the two is far greater than that of other princes.
And with his excellent grandson here, it is inevitable that Kangxi will reinstate the crown prince. The son is not angry, even if the grandson is excellent, it is impossible for him to let Yinren sit in the position of the prince for the sake of the country. When the crown prince was abolished for the second time, Honghui was already eighteen years old, and he was already an adult in the feudal dynasty.
As a result, the abolition of the crown prince Kangxi this time was particularly difficult, and in the end, through Kangxi's will, it can be seen how much he prefers his grandson. Kangxi abolished the crown prince and imprisoned him, and it stands to reason that Honghui, who is the eldest son, should be imprisoned together. But Kangxi gave him freedom.
In the last year of Kangxi's life, there were rumors in the palace that Kangxi was going to make Honghui a prince. It must be said that at this time, Kangxi still had many sons who did not have the title of prince, and there were still many shells in the palace. But Kangxi did not make Honghui a prince in the end, but handed over this task to his next heir, Yongzheng.
When Kangxi was dying, he told Yongzheng to let him take the throne and make Honghui the prince. When he was dying, he wanted to pave the way for his grandson, and it can be seen that he really loves this eldest grandson.
In his later years, Kangxi could have canonized Honghui as the prince by himself, but he didn't, but let Yongzheng canonize him, which was also a means for Kangxi to preserve the relationship between his uncle and nephew. For his father's advice, Yongzheng did it.
Although later generations always associate Yongzheng with unkindness and ruthlessness, there is still softness in his heart. He can be kind to the threatening Honghui, which is enough to see.
2. Treat each other with courtesy
What I have to say here is that in the middle of the Kangxi Dynasty, when the princes fought for the throne and thus divided the factions, Yongzheng was the prince's party, and Yongzheng has been doing things for the prince since then, of course, there will inevitably be contact with the prince's eldest son Honghui.
That is, after the crown prince was deposed, Yongzheng began to show his covetousness for the throne, and it can be said that the two had no hostility during the Kangxi Dynasty. Therefore, as long as Honghui can honestly be his own clan after Yongzheng ascends the throne, Yongzheng will not embarrass him too much.
After Yongzheng ascended the throne, Honghui was the only nephew who was canonized as a prince by Yongzheng. In the Yongzheng Dynasty, only Honghui was named the king of the county by Yongzheng. At this time, even Yongzheng's own son has not yet been named the king of the county, which is enough to see Yongzheng's favor for him. Of course, Honghui also admires Yongzheng very much.
In Honghui's recital to Yongzheng, he never called Yongzheng coldly with the word emperor, and called Yongzheng "imperial father", although the two were not father and son, but Yongzheng did treat him like his own son. Because of Yinren's relationship, in fact, there are many things that Honghui can't enjoy, but Yongzheng has set a precedent for it.
Soon after Yongzheng ascended the throne, he ordered people to build a house for Honghui, and at that time the clan relatives lived in Zhengjiazhuang, not far from the capital. When the house was built, Yongzheng hesitated, because Kangxi did not order Yinren to come out before his death, so Yongzheng ordered Honghui to take his family to live.
Probably because he felt that he did not reunite their father and son, Yongzheng gave Honghui more than 400 houses, far more than other clansmen. And Yongzheng proposed to order Honghui to enter Beijing every month to participate in the court meeting. One of Honghui's sons, Yongzheng, also specially ordered his younger brother Yuke County Wang Yunyu to raise him.
In the second year of Yongzheng, Yinren was seriously ill, and after hearing the news, Yongzheng specially ordered Honghui to serve in front of his bed to fulfill his last filial piety. After the death of the abolished prince, Yongzheng specially issued a decree to bury him according to the prince's specifications, and also posthumously sealed Yinren.
A few years later, Yongzheng decreed that Honghui should inherit the title of Prince Yinrenli, and since then Honghui has become the highest-ranking grandson of Kangxi.
3. Ill-intentioned
For his uncle, Honghui also respects him from the bottom of his heart, so during Yongzheng's reign, he has always been quiet and has never done anything that does not comply with the regulations. And Yongzheng's thunderous means, Honghui is also tangible. But all this will be different when Qianlong ascends the throne.
Yongzheng is Honghui's uncle, and he should respect him, but he and Qianlong are equals, and Qianlong was not very old when he ascended the throne, especially Qianlong was not a descendant, so Honghui inevitably had grievances in his heart.
And Qianlong, who had just ascended the throne, had an unstable foundation, and his relationship with his uncle Prince Zhuang, the auxiliary minister left by his father Yongzheng, was not very close. Soon after Qianlong ascended the throne, a series of royal clansmen headed by Prince Zhuang formed a party of their own, and they were very difficult to deal with Qianlong as emperor.
It can be said that it is difficult to find out who is right and who is wrong about the things involving the court, and Qianlong has long known about their private contact, and finally in the fourth year of Qianlong, Qianlong served these people in one pot. Qianlong was ruthless to Honghui and bluntly said that he had ill intentions.
Even if Honghui didn't admit these charges, there was no way, and in the end, he ended up with his father.
epilogue
Once a son of heaven and a courtier, the first half of Honghui's life was smooth, Kangxi protected him in the early days, and lived a stable life under the protection of Yongzheng in the later period. Yongzheng was generous to him, so he was also a clan relative in the Yongzheng Dynasty, but he had nothing to do with Qianlong. Qianlong didn't have any feelings for him, so much so that it caused the tragedy that followed.