The Qianlong Emperor was the longest-lived emperor in medieval history, the second longest reigning emperor in history, and the emperor who actually reigned for the longest time in history. In the sixtieth year of Qianlong (1795), the 85-year-old Qianlong announced his abdication at the Qinzheng Palace and announced his long-written testament, declaring the fifteenth son of the emperor, Emperor Yan, the crown prince on the spot, and he himself decided to formally abdicate the throne the following year. Later, the following year, Qianlong kept his promise to abdicate the throne to Yuan Yan and changed the name to Yuan Jiaqing (1796), who was also the future Jiaqing Emperor.
However, according to historical records, after Qianlong announced that Jiaqing would become the heir to the imperial throne, Qianlong personally took Jiaqing to Zhuhua Mountain in Jizhou, Tianjin, regardless of his old age, and this trip qianlong took Jiaqing to worship a nine-year-old child who died prematurely, and Qianlong also asked Jiaqing, who was about to succeed to the throne, to bow down to the child's tomb on the spot. Why did Qianlong let the soon-to-be emperor of Jiaqing perform the ceremony on his knees?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > Jiaqing is not actually the most preferred successor in Qianlong's heart</h1>
The child whom Qianlong took Jiaqing to worship was actually no one else, it was Qianlong's concubine and Jiaqing's second brother Duanhui Prince Yonglian.
Yonglian was the eldest son of Qianlong and the original empress Dowager Fucha, although Qianlong had the eldest son Yong huang before, but Qianlong had a strong concept of concubine in his heart, and he preferred and liked his concubine Yonglian even more.
Yonglian was born in the eighth year of Yongzheng (1730), as Qianlong's concubine, he was loved by his father Qianlong and grandfather Yongzheng since birth, Yongzheng personally named him Yonglian, the meaning of this name is more implicit in the meaning of inheriting the ancestors, it can be said that Yonglian from birth has represented his grandfather Yongzheng recognition, to be established as the heir to the throne of the child.
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, Qianlong considered that since the Qing Dynasty's grandfather Nur Hachi went to his father Yongzheng, none of the emperors in the past had inherited the throne as a concubine, so Qianlong, who had a strong concept of concubines in his heart, decided to appoint a concubine as the crown prince from himself, so Qianlong immediately followed the method of Yongzheng's secret reserve, wrote Yonglian's name in the will, made him the heir to the throne, and sealed the will after the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque.
However, Yonglian was not blessed, and two years after being secretly installed as the heir to the throne by Qianlong, Yonglian, who was only 9 years old in the third year of Qianlong (1738), fell ill and died. YongLian was qianlong's inner favorite heir, and his sudden death made Qianlong very sad, and Qianlong resigned for five days.
After that, Qianlong ordered the people to take the secret edict of the crown prince that he had written long ago from behind the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque, and then made it public, and Qianlong announced that at the beginning of his succession, he had decided to secretly appoint Yonglian as the crown prince to inherit the throne, and now although Yonglian died prematurely, he did not become the crown prince during his lifetime, but because Qianlong had already secretly registered it, the Qianlong Ministry of Ceremonies and the Ministry of Internal Affairs buried Yonglian with the courtesy of the crown prince.
Since Yonglian was buried with the courtesy of the crown prince, it should be given the title of prince, and Qianlong posthumously honored Yonglian as Crown Prince Duanhui and announced to the world, at the same time Qianlong also ordered that the word "琏" in Yonglian's name should be avoided when writing official documents in the future. It can be said that Yonglian received all the treatment that the prince deserved after his death.
Yong Lian was born to the Empress, the concubine of Yuan, intelligent and valuable, and extraordinary. The imperial examination is named, implying the meaning of the inheritance vessel. After the fall of the Imperial Pole, he scrupulously adhered to the cheng style, personally wrote a secret will, and summoned the ministers to hide behind the Qianqing Palace's "Zhengda Guangming" list, although it was not established, he had been appointed crown prince. Now that he has passed away, all ceremonies are performed with the crown prince ceremony.
- "Qianlong Decree"
Although Yonglian died at the age of nine, Qianlong attached great importance to Yonglian's title as prince and funeral matters, and the governor of Jinzhou, Shanlian, because the word "琏" in his name avoided Yonglian's name, so Shanlian was renamed Shanlian by Qianlong, which shows qianlong's importance to yonglian's title. Qianlong also attached great importance to Yonglian's funeral, and sent a number of important ministers from the Ministry of Works to choose a cemetery for Yonglian, and finally Qianlong personally selected Zhuhua Mountain, which is connected to the Qinling Mountains in Tianjin jizhou and Zunhua in Hebei, as Yonglian's cemetery.
At that time, there were still some peasants living near Zhuhua Mountain, and in order to let his son Yonglian be buried in this piece of auspicious land, Qianlong ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to double the compensation for the relocation costs of the peasants near Zhuhua Mountain, and according to the records of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in order to remove the peasants near Zhuhua Mountain, the Internal Affairs Office spent a total of 3056 taels as the relocation fee for the peasants in the selected cemetery.
In the end, Yonglian's cemetery was circled as a forbidden area for the cemetery in Zhuhua Mountain, and 168,235 silver and 378,299 gold leaves were spent on yonglian to build the mausoleum, not including countless high-quality building materials provided by the Ministry of Works.
Therefore, Yonglian's mausoleum is also the most luxurious and highest specification of the Qing Dynasty, and it is also the only tomb of the crown prince. In fact, Qianlong obviously exceeded the specifications of Yonglian's tomb regulations, and later he also exceeded the regulations for Yonglian.
After Yonglian was buried, every year during the Qingming, Zhongyuan, Winter Solstice, and Twilight Seasons, Qianlong sent the princes and nobles to Zhuhua Mountain to pay tribute to Yonglian, and in the first few years after Yonglian's death, Qianlong sent his fifth brother and Prince Hongzhi to ZhuhuaShan to pay tribute to Yonglian, knowing that Hongzhi was Yonglian's uncle in terms of generational status, not to mention that Yonglian was not the crown prince before he died, even if he was the identity of the crown prince before he died, according to the normal memorial ceremony, he would not let his uncle Hongzhi personally go to the memorial. It is reasonable for the imperial court's important courtiers or non-direct royal relatives to pay tribute, and there is a reason for uncles to worship their nephews.
According to this kind of sacrifice treatment after Yonglian's death, which is the treatment of the crown prince, this is completely the treatment that the emperor can enjoy after his death, so Qianlong has overstepped the ceremony of sacrifice after Yonglian's death.
From these, it can also be shown that Yonglian is Qianlong's most beloved heir, but also Qianlong's most beloved son, Yonglian's premature death can be said to be Qianlong's lifelong pain, so he hopes that Jiaqing who inherited his throne and Jiaqing's descendants will always respect Yonglian.
Qianlong took Jiaqing to worship Yonglian, but also wanted to tell him that Yonglian was the most desirable heir in his mind, and Jiaqing's throne should be regarded as Yonglian's "concession". Therefore, the history books record that when Qianlong took Jiaqing to pay tribute to Yonglian, he once said, "Crown Prince Duanhui first stood secretly." It already has a name, not because of a brother worshiping a brother."
After Qianlong said these words, he asked Jiaqing to perform the ceremony of kneeling to Yonglian's mausoleum, and then the Qianlong Order Ceremony Department recorded this moment and recorded it in the Qing Dynasty ceremonial ceremony.
Yonglian died at the age of nine, naturally did not have children, and after his death, he was posthumously honored as the crown prince, with the title of crown prince, so Qianlong was afraid that giving Yonglian a step-heir would cause a dispute over the throne, so Qianlong did not give Yonglian a step-heir.
And Qianlong was worried that after his death, the descendants of the Jiaqing lineage would forget Yonglian and the incense of Yonglian's tomb would also be cut off, so Qianlong would order him to bow down to Yonglian after declaring Jiaqing the heir to the throne, he hoped that Jiaqing and his descendants would remember that the crown prince of Jiaqing was derived from Yonglian, so that Jiaqing and his descendants could honor Yonglian.
In the end, Qianlong did not waste his painstaking efforts, after Qianlong's death, Jiaqing really respected Yonglian, and had visited Zhu Huashan many times to pay tribute to Yonglian, and Jiaqing also instructed his heir Daoguang to take care of The Tomb of Prince Duanhui in his last will and testament, and after Daoguang succeeded to the throne, he also personally went to Zhuhua Mountain three times to pay tribute to his uncle Yonglian, so Qianlong's painstaking efforts were not in vain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="29" > Qianlong takes Jiaqing to pay tribute to Yonglian Has another deep meaning</h1>
In fact, Qianlong's early abdication is a rather tangled and contradictory matter, since ancient times, the people who have taken the initiative to abdicate as emperor are people like King Wuling of Zhao, Li Yuan of Tang Gaozu, and Li Longji of Tang Xuanzong; after King Wuling of Zhao abdicated the throne, he was starved to death, and li Yuan and Li Longji were forced to abdicate the throne in the face of major changes in the country, and the life after giving up the throne was not good, and they were quite snubbed by their sons.
Therefore, Qianlong was also worried that after he took the initiative to abdicate the throne, he would be snubbed by Jiaqing, and his life in his later years was not very good, but when Qianlong was young, he once said to the outside world that his future reign would never exceed his grandfather Kangxi, after all, Qianlong was 25 years old when he succeeded to the throne, to know that Kangxi reigned for 61 years, Qianlong did not expect that he would live more than 85 years old when he said this, so when Qianlong really came at the age of 85, he really struggled with whether to keep his promise and abdicate, or continue to be emperor.
In the end, Qianlong came up with a way to give way to not giving way to power, and Qianlong decided to be nominally the Emperor after abdicating, so after Qianlong abdicated, major matters such as approval, military operations, and appointment and dismissal of personnel needed to be decided by Qianlong, which meant that the actual military and political power was still firmly in his hands.
After succeeding to the throne, Jiaqing was only responsible for presiding over the celebrations and attending some ceremonial events, just like the modern Japanese emperor, like a mascot.
After Qianlong abdicated the throne, he was still called "Yuan", and the will he promulgated was also called "Edict"; when the ministers wrote the book, when they encountered the three words of the Emperor Taishang, they had to raise three squares like the emperor, while the emperor who had already succeeded to the throne only needed to lift two boxes; Qianlong's birthday was called Wanwanshou Day, Jiaqing's birthday was called Wanshou Day, and Qianlong's birthday should still become a national holiday like the emperor, and the whole people should take a holiday, so that it means that the Qing Dynasty has one more holiday after Qianlong abdicated. Jiaqing's birthday should be rested, and the birthday of Emperor Qianlong of Taishang should also rest; the most proof that Qianlong did not want to abdicate was that after Jiaqing succeeded to the throne, the era names outside the Forbidden City were used in Jiaqing, but the Qianlong year number was still used in the Forbidden City.
Moreover, Qianlong still refused to move out of the Emperor's Residence Yangxin Hall after his abdication, originally the Emperor's Residence of the Qing Dynasty was in the Qianqing Palace, where the two generations of emperors of Shunzhi and Kangxi father and son lived here, and after Yongzheng, the Emperor's Residence was changed to the Yangxin Hall, after which the Yangxin Hall became the residence of the emperors of the Qing Dynasty.
After Qianlong abdicated, he resolutely refused to move away because he had not been accustomed to living elsewhere for more than 60 years, so Jiaqing, as emperor, could only live in the Yuqing Palace.
Qianlong not only refused to move away from the Yangxin Hall, but before the Zen throne ceremony, he hesitated not to hand over the jade seal representing the imperial power, so that the Yangxin Hall of the Emperor's Bedchamber palace would not let Jiaqing live, and the jade seal would not be handed over to Jiaqing, so what would Jiaqing do to succeed to the throne.
Therefore, Qianlong's behavior made the courtiers very dissatisfied before the Zen ceremony, Qianlong did not want to hand over the jade seal before the Zen ceremony began, if the Zen ceremony really began, Jiaqing would be completely embarrassed without the jade seal, so the university scholar Liu Yong and the Rebbe Shangshu Ji Xiaolan came out to advise Qianlong, Ji Xiaolan quoted the scriptures to give Qianlong reasoning, Liu Yong was arguing on the basis of reason, suggesting that Qianlong choose between the Yangxin Hall and the Yuxi, either move away from the Yangxin Hall, or give the jade seal to Jiaqing, if Qianlong wants to have both, if Qianlong wants to have both. Then terminate the Zen throne ceremony, do not have to give way, and let Jiaqing apprentice as the crown prince.
In the end, under the persuasion of Liu Yong and Ji Xiaolan, Qianlong was also a good-looking person, and if he terminated the Zen ceremony, he would not have lost face, so Qianlong finally handed over the jade seal to Jiaqing.
However, Qianlong still had a very good time, although he eventually handed over the jade seal to Jiaqing, but then he announced to the public that he used the "Treasure of the Taishang Emperor" seal, and also stipulated that the approval of the folding could only take effect if the Emperor Taishang And the Emperor's Jade Seal were signed at the same time.
On the nineteenth day of the first month of the first year of Jiaqing (1796), Qianlong also received the Korean envoys as the Emperor Taishang, and Qianlong said to the Korean envoys at the banquet: "Although the government of the Emperor is returned to the emperor, the important affairs of the military state must be approved by the Emperor." ”
From Qianlong's stipulation that both the Emperor's Treasure Seal and the Emperor's Jade Seal must be signed at the same time to take effect at the same time, and then to his words to the Korean envoys, it can be seen that Qianlong did not want to really abdicate, his abdication was actually giving way to the throne, Jiaqing was only the nominal emperor after succeeding to the throne, and the real state decision-maker was still Qianlong.
Therefore, after Qianlong abdicated, what he did after he first announced that he would give way to Jiaqing and take Jiaqing to worship Yonglian, the prince of Duanhui, he could understand that in addition to Qianlong's sincere love for Yonglian, another meaning was that he wanted to test his own words at that time and was not good for Jiaqing.
If Jiaqing had some objections or dissatisfaction with the worship of Yonglian, I am afraid that Qianlong would be able to replace him immediately, knowing that even in Qianlong's later years, most of his sons did not live him, but Qianlong also had the eleventh son of the emperor, Yong yao, who could be elected as the heir in addition to Jiaqing. Yong Yao was good at literature, worked in calligraphy and painting, and had certain talents, Qianlong used to love him and Jiaqing very much, and before Qianlong announced the candidate for the crown prince, the courtiers also speculated that the position of crown prince must be born among Yong Yao and Jiaqing. If it were not for Yong Yao's partiality to weak literature and not good at riding and shooting, the literati's sour and rotten atmosphere was relatively strong, otherwise Qianlong might really choose Yong Yao.
Therefore, Qianlong asked Jiaqing to bow down to Yonglian as a crown prince, which was also the final test for him, and Qianlong also wanted Jiaqing to understand another layer of deep meaning: Although I have abdicated, you still have to listen to me, and the power of the state still has to be in my hands.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="51" > written at the end</h1>
Therefore, after Qianlong announced the abdication of Jiaqing, he took Jiaqing to worship Duanhui Prince Yonglian, and also asked Jiaqing to give Yonglian a great salute to the monarch, in addition to the preference for Yonglian in his heart, another layer of deep meaning was to give Jiaqing a knock on the throne, he wanted to let Jiaqing understand that Jiaqing was not his most preferred heir, and he could replace Jiaqing at any time to establish Yongyao, so even if he abdicated the state affairs, he had to decide for himself.
It can be said that the situation in the early days of Jiaqing's succession was very embarrassing, except for the change in identity and name, all the other powers were similar to those of his time as a prince, and he seemed to have only become a mascot emperor responsible for participating in the sacrifice.
However, think about jiaqing succession is always better than Yonglian succession, if Yonglian did not die prematurely, qianlong died when he was a 70-year-old man, 89-year-old Qianlong died to pass the throne to 70-year-old Yonglian, which may accelerate the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
Text/Kojima Zhifeng
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