Emperor Qianlong was the longest-lived emperor in Chinese history because he lived so long that many of his concubines died before him. After his death, after his son Emperor Jiaqing ascended the throne, he placed some of Emperor Qianlong's favorite concubines in the side courtyard of the harem to provide living guarantees, but basically ignored them, while the other concubines directly ignored them and left them to fend for themselves in the deep palace.
The first state in Chinese history was the Xia Dynasty, which went through 14 dynasties from the establishment of the Xia Dynasty to the end of feudal rule at the end of the Qing Dynasty. The first three of these dynasties belonged to slave societies. Then from the beginning of the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty, China entered a feudal society, to be precise, the early Qing Dynasty, and from the Warring States period, China entered a feudal society.
However, whether it is a slave society or a feudal society, China has always followed the emperor system in terms of political power, and the emperor is the person with the highest political and military power in a country, and is the person with the most precious status. At that time, the national hierarchy was strictly implemented in accordance with the Three Principles and Five Constants, and there was no such thing as equality for all.
To a certain extent, the imperial power represents the way of heaven, and the ordinary people must accept the constraints of the imperial power, there is a saying in ancient China that the emperor's order cannot be violated, which also shows the supremacy of the emperor's power from the side. There were 14 dynasties in Chinese history, and each dynasty had multiple emperors. The change of imperial power between these emperors formed the magnificent history of the continent.
The change of power is usually hereditary, that is, in a family, the grandfather passes from son to son, and son to grandson. Of course, there will be some other situations, such as in some periods when the society is too turbulent, and the people at the bottom rebel and seize power in this way, such as explaining Taizu.
However, in most cases, the hereditary system was adopted, which made it very different from emperor to emperor. Some emperors worked hard to govern the country in an orderly manner, but some emperors were just greedy for pleasure and asked for immortals. The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty was an emperor with great talent. Emperor Qianlong was familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics since he was a child, and he had a deep study of traditional Chinese culture, especially Confucianism.
He was named the crown prince himself when he was 12 years old, and when he was 24 years old, Emperor Yongzheng died and was succeeded by Emperor Qianlong. During the period when he first ascended the throne, the Qianlong Emperor took a number of measures that were very beneficial to the stability of the country. In dealing with the common people, he exempted some of the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and adopted the concept of benevolent government in Confucianism to reduce the pressure on the people's lives.
To the royal family, he released a group of ministers who had been imprisoned by Emperor Yongzheng as political enemies, and gave appropriate appeasement. In the imperial court, he does not blindly appoint only his own direct cronies, as long as he is capable, talented and ambitious, even if he is inconsistent with his political views, he will be given a certain official position. So. Relations between the various parties in the imperial court also eased.
On the border issue, he insisted on using force to quell the rebellion, so that during his reign, China's borders were very stable and no one dared to invade. In addition, he also tried to abolish some of the bad habits left over from the previous dynasty, such as his father's obsession with the alchemy of health preservation during his reign, and gradually exiled some monks from the palace after his accession to the throne.
In general, Qianlong carried out a series of small reforms in various aspects in the early days of his reign, and implemented a series of laws and measures, which made the development of the Qing Dynasty enter a small peak during the Qianlong period. However, it is a pity that the Qianlong Emperor began to repeat his father's mistakes in his later years, building a large number of civil engineering projects, and the royal family life was very luxurious, which led to a resurgence of corruption.
And when Qianlong reached old age, he began to distinguish between right and wrong, and began to listen to and believe the slander of some traitorous ministers. Due to the extravagance of the royal family, they had to collect money from the common people and collect taxes, which made the common people return to miserable living conditions.
So in Qianlong's later years, he had to raise troops to suppress some civil riots. Emperor Qianlong is the longest-lived emperor in history, because he has been in power for too long, so when he was 85 years old, he took the initiative to pass the throne to his son Emperor Jiaqing, and in the next few years as the emperor to control the government.
Because Emperor Qianlong lived too long, even several of his sons died before him. But I have to say that Emperor Qianlong governed the country very well in the early stage of his succession, but he did not expect that as people became faint as they entered the elderly, the entire national fortunes of the Qing Dynasty took a sharp turn for the worse. However, it is undeniable that Emperor Qianlong himself was a man of great talent and strategy.
When Emperor Jiaqing first ascended the throne, the entire Qing Dynasty was in turmoil. In the imperial court, corruption was prevalent, and there were often peasant uprisings and riots among the people, and the emperor himself was in charge of the government. When Emperor Qianlong originally chose his heir, the first choice was not actually Emperor Jiaqing.
Emperor Qianlong's favorite heir was either as majestic as himself, or he was generous and kind to the people. However, due to the death of his intended heirs, he supported Emperor Jiaqing to ascend the throne. In the fourth year of Emperor Jiaqing's reign, Emperor Qianlong died, and Emperor Jiaqing began to grasp the power of the Qing Dynasty.
Since then, he has also carried out a series of reforms. For example, he killed some local corrupt officials and tried to suppress civil uprisings. But on the one hand, these ills have existed for a long time and have become stubborn diseases that are difficult to eradicate, and on the other hand, Emperor Jiaqing has not shown the determination to break the wrist of a strong man, so whether it is a civil uprising or corruption, it has not been rectified, but has become more serious.
As the most powerful person in the country, the emperor usually has many concubines to serve, so after the death of each emperor, what to do with those concubines left behind becomes a problem. After the death of Emperor Qianlong, more than a dozen concubines were still alive, not including Emperor Jiaqing's biological mother.
Some concubines who were once favored by Emperor Qianlong were placed in other courtyards of the harem by Emperor Jiaqing, and they would also be guaranteed in life, but they basically ignored them. And those concubines who are not very favored may die quietly in the deep palace compound, and no one cares.
Through some film and television works, we can understand that in the imperial palace, with the imperial power as the center, there will be many cruel political changes. Ancient China has always been a patriarchal society, with men vying for power in previous dynasties.
And women also need to use all means to survive in the harem. And these women in the harem were completely dependent on the emperor. The emperor is on the throne, and if they are favored, they can be treated well. And as long as the emperor dies, they will be ignored in the harem and die slowly.