The ancient and heavy palace door slowly opened, and a eunuch holding The Kangxi edict walked quickly to the princes who had come to "ask questions", and the ministers on the side picked up the holy will and read it with great vigor:
"The fourth son of the Emperor, Yin Chan, who is deeply humbled, will surely inherit the unification." It is said that the fourth son of the Emperor, Yin Chan, is admired! ”
The words were loud and clear, which instantly triggered various conflicts between the princes, which led to the classic scene of the climax of the "Yongzheng Dynasty".
However, although Yin Chan in the Yongzheng Dynasty successfully ascended to the throne, the doubts against him were far from settling. Some say that he changed his will and usurped the throne, while others say that he tried to seize power by force, and the rumors of disturbance came together to form an ultimate question:
Yongzheng won the nine sons of the concubine, what is the reason?
01 Curve scramble
Although in the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty", Yongzheng, who has his own protagonist aura, seems to win very easily, but in real history, Before Yongzheng ascended the throne, he did not do things for Kangxi.
In the sixty years of Kangxi, the princes fought for the throne, and Yongzheng ran to Shengjing to sacrifice the ancestral tomb on behalf of Kangxi. After returning to the capital, Yongzheng once again posed as not interested in the storage position, calling himself "the first idle person in the world", while trying to do more errands to share Kangxi's worries.
After returning to the capital, Yongzheng first undertook the work of reviewing the gongshi to try the scroll, and then went to the southern suburbs to worship the heavens on behalf of his father, and also took the time to draw Tibet on the map, which suddenly made Kangxi feel that the fourth son of the emperor was different from other sons.
Not only that, Yongzheng also behaved very satisfactorily to Kangxi when dealing with his brother who was in distress. For example, after the crown prince YunRong was deposed, Kangxi ordered Yongzheng to guard with the eldest brother, and instructed them: "Shuo does not want to see Yunrong again, nor does he want to hear any news from him, and if he has anything to say to you, you do not have to agree."
Who expected that Kangxi's voice had just fallen, and Yun Rong found Yongzheng and said bitterly, "I have all confessed what Emperor Ama scolded me." Only the sin of rebellion, I am really wronged, and I hope to play the father and emperor for me."
Since Kangxi had a word in the first place, the eldest brother in charge of the guard refused Yun Rong's request without even thinking about it. At this time, Yongzheng suddenly said: "This matter is of great importance, or we should tell Emperor Ama."
The eldest brother listened and was very hesitant, and he asked Yongzheng, "If the father and emperor are angry, what should he do?" ”
Yongzheng said: "You can rest assured, if there is any fault, I will bear it alone."
After saying this, Yongzheng told Kangxi what YunRong had said, and after Kangxi listened, he was silent for a long time, and then ordered someone to remove the shackles around Yunrong's neck.
When the news came out, the government and the public praised Yongzheng, and even Yongzheng's rival Emperor Jiuzi Yunyu sincerely praised Yongzheng's move as "very rare".
Relying on such "brotherhood and brotherhood" and strong ability to do things, Yongzheng was able to be particularly valued by Kangxi. According to the Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty and the Register of Living in the Kangxi Dynasty, in the sacrifice activities that Kangxi attached the most importance to, Yongzheng surpassed the brothers with twenty-two records, and became a well-deserved candidate for the crown prince.
However, Yongzheng was able to gain Kangxi's favor, in addition to his own strength, but also in his excellent strategic line. From the beginning of the decision to take the concubine, Yongzheng set himself the position of executive deputy emperor, Kangxi became a colleague in his eyes, and the brothers became competitors and subordinates in his eyes, so Yongzheng could desperately run errands for Kangxi, and he could also calmly speak for the prince, and truly pay attention to opponents tactically and despise strategically.
02 Warlord Route
On the other hand, Yongzheng's rival Prince Yunrong and the Eight Brothers were in the same party, and from the beginning they set themselves in the position of powerful ministers. In this way, Kangxi naturally became an opponent, and the two sides were naturally full of contradictions.
What is even more fatal is that the setting of the power ministers makes it impossible for the prince and the Eight Brothers to correctly handle the relationship with the ministers of the DPRK. For example, in the forty-fourth year of Kangxi, when the crown prince accompanied Kangxi on his southern tour, he desperately blackmailed officials from all over the country. Chen Pengnian, the prefect of Jiangning, was only because the clothes and food offered to the prince were disliked by the prince for not enough noodles, which led to the disaster of killing, fortunately, Chen Pengnian was very popular, and many local officials jointly interceded for him, so that Yun Rong could take back his life.
Coincidentally, the Mongol prince entered Kangxi's famous horse, and Yun Rong also sent someone to snatch it halfway, so that Kangxi could not help but scold after hearing about it: Yun Rong was simply a loser when he did this.
Kangxi's roar, mixed with the resentment of the hundred officials of the DPRK, spread all over the world, instantly making the protagonist of the incident, Yun Rong, the biggest loser. Yun Rong may not understand that although extortion has made him temporarily rich, it has aroused kangxi's disgust, not to mention that if he succeeds to the throne in the future, the wealth of the whole world is his, and such a rush to make money in advance is neither needed nor necessary, it is completely a mistake in strategic positioning.
The only difference between Yun Rong's rulers and their views on making money by threatening people is that Yun Qi, the only difference between him and Yun Rong, is to use coercion to make money by the way, while Yun Qi has taken the route of subjugating people with virtue.
All this fell in kangxi's eyes, that is, the fourteenth son of the emperor of the Yunqi party, Yun Yu, was a corporal in the court and actively contacted various literati. Cheng Wance, a disciple of the university scholar Li Guangdi, once came to visit Yun Yu, and as a result, Yun Yu, who was in a dignified position, not only had no shelf, but also respectfully invited Cheng Wan Ce to take a seat one by one.
The power of the literati in the field of public opinion was infinite, and Yun Yu soon became famous under the praise of the literati, so that even Dai Duo, who was far away in Fujian, heard the beautiful talk of the "Fourteenth Master's False Sage Corporal".
As a henchman, Yun Yu is still like this, and the protagonist Yun Qi is even more so, so that the Manchu Dynasty Wen Wu always respectfully calls "Eight Sages King" when he sees Yun Qi.
Unfortunately, the Eight Masters' strategy of power touched the sensitive nerves of the ultimate referee, Kangxi. Kangxi couldn't help but wonder what the Eight Brothers were doing to befriend courtiers everywhere, and whether they would launch a coup d'état to seize power.
Once this thought arose, Kangxi could no longer control his dislike for Brother Baba. It happened that one day in November of the fifty-third year of Kangxi, Yunqi was momentarily negligent and forgot to go to Kangxi to ask for peace, and Kangxi, who had long been suspicious, immediately became furious and announced that he and Yunqi were "absolutely endowed with the grace of father and son".
Having said that, Kangxi occasionally felt a hint of affection for Yun Qi. For example, in the fifty-fifth year of Kangxi, Yunqi suffered from typhoid fever, and when Kangxi heard about it, he couldn't help but send someone to say to Yunqi: "I heard that you have a bad appetite recently, but do you have anything you want to eat?" I use everything here, but I'm afraid that it won't fit in with your sick body, so I don't dare to let people send it."
Who knew that a sentence of "don't dare" immediately made Yun Qi frightened. The panicked Yun Qi dragged the sick body to his knees outside the palace gate and begged Kangxi to take these two words back, so angry that Kangxi scolded Yun Qi for suspecting him, and the only family affection between father and son disappeared in the mutual suspicion between the two.
All kinds of discord and contradictions finally made Kangxi choose Yongzheng who took the route of "doing practical things" when choosing an heir. In fact, the prince and the eight brothers had also read poetry and books, and their ability to govern the country was not as good as Yongzheng, but it was a pity that they did not find the correct strategic positioning, and eventually ended up losing everything.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, Feng Erkang, The Dispute over the Throne of the Kangxi Dynasty and the Victory of Yongzheng
Author: Our special guest author Zhu Yingyuejiang