In Kangxi's later years, in order to compete for the throne, he launched a fierce infighting between the princes, known as the "Nine Sons Seize the Throne". After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he worked hard to make the country prosperous, and before his death, he accumulated enough family business for Qianlong, so that there was the so-called prosperous era of Kang Yongqian.
However, since Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty emperors have been inferior from generation to generation, and the West is carrying out a vigorous industrial revolution, while China is strictly closed off from the country. Investigate the root of this is Yongzheng, among the many princes of Kangxi, there is a man who is both civil and military, proficient in Western studies, can lead troops to fight, has outstanding ability, can be called hexagon, but unfortunately he was not selected by Kangxi as the heir. So much so that many Qing historians sighed: "If he inherited the throne of Kangxi, the Qing Dynasty would not have closed off the country, but actively caused Western technology, then the Qing Dynasty is likely to become a superpower, and there will be no so-called Eight-Nation Alliance, let alone a hundred years of national shame." ”
Who is this regrettable prince? What exactly is he capable of? If he succeeds to the throne, will he really be able to reverse the fortunes of the Qing Dynasty? Pampered
In the twenty-fifth year of Kangxi, in 1686 AD, Kangxi's 13th son, Yinxiang was born, and he was the thirteenth elder brother who appeared many times in Qing court dramas, Aixin Jueluo Yinxiang. Yinxiang has been favored by Kangxi since he was a child, mainly because Yinxiang was born at a good time, Kangxi was 34 years old this year, in the prime of life, in recent years, Kangxi has achieved achievements that several emperors in the early Qing Dynasty did not get. After pacifying the three times, eliminating the Zheng regime, recovering Taiwan, and unifying the whole country, the Qing Dynasty achieved complete unification. In this year, the Qing army defeated Tsarist Russia again in Yaksa, northeast.
Such an achievement naturally made Kangxi very proud, and Yinxiang was born at this point in time, perhaps it was destined. Since he was a child, Yinxiang has been very smart and sensible, and he stands out among the elder brothers, and at the age of 12, he followed Kangxi to Shengjing to pay homage to the tomb, this kind of treatment is not something that any elder brother has. Yinxiang can be loved by Kangxi, not because of his mother, his mother's ancestor was only born as a slave with a yellow flag, the family is very ordinary, and he gave birth to a son and two daughters for Kangxi, and he was only a concubine, and he was posthumously named a concubine until after his death, and the imperial concubine was posthumously awarded during the Yongzheng period. Therefore, Yinxiang is favored by himself.
Kangxi Yongzheng likes Western learning, knows Western algorithms, there are many Western missionaries in the court, Yongzheng is a Western cosplay lover, understands Western learning, and knows Western mathematical algorithms, which is a plus in these two dynasties. Yinxiang's Western algorithm is Yinzhen, that is, Yongzheng himself taught, and the relationship between the two can be described as intimate, of course, because the prince is in power, there is no conflict of interest between the two.
Yinxiang is talented, Western algorithms soon far surpass the princes, in addition, he is also proficient in riding and archery, can write poetry, calligraphy, cultural literacy is very high, can be called both civil and military, the most important thing is that he is capable, can do big things for the emperor to share worries, and is also good at dealing with interpersonal relationships, whether it is the Manchu and Han ministers and the guards and servants around him all say that he is good. is both virtuous and capable, this is the overall evaluation of the courtiers of the government and the opposition to the thirteenth elder brother Yinxiang. Even Kangxi commented: Brother Zhu is smart, and Yinxiang is the first to be recommended. When Kangxi encounters a Western calculation that he can't figure out, he will invite Yinxiang to discuss it together, which makes Brother Zhu very jealous. To what extent does Kangxi love Yinxiang? Since the age of 12, Kangxi will definitely take Yinxiang with him when he goes on patrol. Including Xia Jiangnan, even when Kangxi received envoys from the West, Yinxiang was allowed to be present, and the intelligent Yinxiang could speak Latin, and his love for Western studies was the first among all the princes.
The throne is missing
Although Kangxi loves Yinxiang very much, it is not worth anything in front of family affection and the inheritance of the Qing Dynasty, not to mention that for the royal family, family affection has always been a luxury. Among the princes of Kangxi, in addition to the crown prince Yinren, Yinzhen, Yinzhen and Yinxiang are the most favored, the eldest son of the emperor Yinzhen is older, mostly for Kangxi to share worries, many times to counsel military affairs, with the army to go on the expedition, and Yinzhen and Yinxiang are pure love.
When Yinxiang was 13 years old, his biological mother died of illness, and Kangxi ordered Yongzheng's biological mother to raise him, which is why Yinzhen and Yinxiang have the best relationship, even more than the brothers of a sibling. In 1708, the crown prince Yinren was deposed, in order not to cause turmoil in the court and prevent the princes from coveting the position of the prince, Kangxi put Yinzhen, Yinzhen, and Yinxiang into the three circles. Because according to general logic, if the crown prince is deposed, the emperor will definitely make his favorite child the crown prince. But Kangxi is not an ordinary emperor after all, and the stability of the country and the court is more important than anything. A few months later, Yinren reinstated the crown prince, and the three princes who had been encircled were released.
But the matter of Yinren also made Kangxi no longer trust the prince so much, so close, in order to prevent the prince from forming a party for personal gain, Kangxi began to implement the follow-up system among the princes, that is, every prince has a chance, and it is no longer the exclusive treatment of certain princes. But Yinxiang is still more frequent, but Kangxi's favor for him has decreased a lot.
During Yinren's second time as the crown prince, in order to consolidate his position, he did a lot of radical things, which angered Kangxi again. In 1712, it was deposed again, after which Kangxi no longer established the crown prince, and Kangxi's cruel nine sons in his later years began.
After the death of Yongzheng, Qianlong was left with tens of millions of taels of silver, which made Qianlong dare to lose his family and dare to corrupt the country, and the afterglow of the empire also fell in the martial arts of Xia Jiangnan and the old man, as for the emperor after Qianlong, it was not as good as the generation. In the 20th year of Daoguang, in 1840, Britain launched the Opium War and opened the door of China with ships and cannons, opening a century of national humiliation in modern China.
Therefore, future generations of historians will regret that if Yinxiang had ascended the throne and flourished Western learning, perhaps the Qing Dynasty would not have embarked on the old road of closing the country to the outside world, and would not have been beaten by the West, and there would have been no Opium War, the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, and the subsequent hundred years of national humiliation, which superpower the Qing Dynasty would still be.