On January 30, 1661, Shunzhi suddenly announced that there was no early dynasty, and exempted the kings and ministers from greeting and saluting themselves on holidays, which was a very abnormal behavior in the feudal society that paid attention to etiquette.
The next day, the Qing Shilu recorded that on this day, "there was no hesitation" and the emperor was unwell.
Despite his ill health, the emperor moved to the Mercy Temple, southwest of Xuanwu Gate, where he instructed the craftsmen to build an altar of ordination, because this was the day when Wu Liangfu left home on his behalf.
After returning from the temple, Shunzhi felt very uncomfortable.
The Qing Shi Lu records Shunzhi's death very simply. The qing dynasty has two emperors whose death records are very simple, that is, the father and son of Emperor Taiji and Fu Lin.
We found that the father and son had one thing in common, that is, after their death, the people who were directly in power did not have a good relationship with them, and after the death of Emperor Taiji, the most powerful person was Dolgun. After Shunzhi's death, who was the most powerful person? Not Kangxi, but Xiaozhuang.
Shunzhi Emperor
The Qing Shilu records: "Shang Da Wei (the emperor entered a state of death), sent the minister of the interior, Suksaha, to preach: 'Except for the ten evil capital crimes, the rest of the capital crimes and all criminals shall be released.' ’”
"Ding Wei (February 5, 1661) died at night (around 12:00 a.m.), and collapsed in the Yangxin Hall. The testament is issued in the world. ”
The record in the history books is so simple, from the time the Shunzhi Emperor felt unwell to less than five days before and after his death, the history books did not mention in the history books what kind of illness the emperor had, how he died, and whether he gave any treatment.
In the short period of five days from the infection to the death of Shunzhi, we cannot see any waves from the history books, but we can guess that the undercurrents are absolutely very unstable, because this is related to the future of the Qing Dynasty.
Although the Qing Shilu does not record the open and secret struggles in the court during this period, we can still learn the true situation of the matter from the records of the people of the time.
After The death of Concubine Dong, the Shunzhi Emperor described it as withered and heart like ashes. Although he was the most powerful person in the country, he felt that life was no longer interesting, and he wanted to escape into the empty door, and as a result, he could not even fulfill this little wish.
However, after letting Wu Liangfu become a monk, he finally felt that he had fulfilled a wish, and after returning from the Temple of Mercy, Shunzhi lay down, and Shunzhi did not die of depression, but suffered from smallpox.
Now, smallpox is very easy to treat, but at that time smallpox was an incurable disease, the mortality rate of smallpox was as high as 20 to 40 percent, if the patient did not die, there was no need to worry about smallpox in the future, but the face would leave a mark: hemp.
Tan Qian once recorded "exorcism" in the "Journey to the North":
"The Manchus do not go to the doctor, and since entering Chang'an (Beijing) more clinics, they have died, which is the dye of the Han people. Therefore, the people heard the rash and immediately expelled them from the capital for twenty miles. And outside the capital, Manchuria gives the village, and the son of man (the poor) is at ease? Doru tearfully abandons the side of the baby's road, or loves a room, can not be alone, to the point of killing her children, seeing and hearing pain. ”
This passage of Tan Qian introduced the process of exorcism at that time, and the view at that time was that manchus did not have a rash, and only began to develop a rash after entering the customs, and most of the people who had a rash died, and the Manchus thought that they were infected by the Han people.
This is probably the price of entering the customs, the cost of the Qing army entering the customs is really too small, if it were not for the uselessness of the Han people, cannibalism, and incompetence in management, China would not have a Qing Dynasty.
Chengde Mountain Resort is not only a place to escape the heat, but also a place to avoid acne, the Qing people attach great importance to avoiding acne, Kangxi was taken to Guanwai by the nanny in order to avoid acne when he was a child, but he still had a rash.
At that time, there was a literary attendant who recorded in detail the scene of Shunzhi's death, this person's name was Zhang Mingchen, and after Shunzhi's death, he personally participated in the activities of keeping the system and fulfilling loyalty for twenty-seven days.
According to Zhang Mingchen's records, on the second day of the first lunar month, Shunzhi drove to the Temple of Mercy and watched Wu Liangfu become a monk.
On the fourth day of the first year, the minister of the Ninth Qing asked Shunzhi for peace and found that Shunzhi was uncomfortable.
On the fifth day of the first month, the ministers greeted Ann again, and saw that the door gods and couplets on the various doors of the palace had all been removed.
On the seventh day of the first month, the prisoners in the prison were released, and the originally overcrowded cell was suddenly empty.
Later, the people also came to the holy will, forbidden to fry beans, prohibit burning lamps, prohibit splashing water (folk customs to avoid pox), everyone knows that the original emperor is sick because of acne.
On the eighth day of the first year, after the officials of the various gates had finished washing, they had put on their imperial clothes and were ready to go to work, when suddenly an official letter came saying that except for the middle hall and the ceremonial department, other officials could go home.
When the officials of the Central Hall and the Ceremonial Department entered the palace, they had to take off their tops, and Zhang Mingchen was horrified at that time, he knew that according to the custom, the emperor must have died.
According to Zhang Mingchen's description, he was very shocked and sad at that time, the emperor was only twenty-four years old, and he died suddenly, which was too sad.
At that time, the city gates were all closed, the soldiers were under martial law on the castle towers, the streets were lonely, there were no pedestrians, and the atmosphere was very dark. When it was time for the second drum, the edict was announced, and at that time, the wind was miserable, the black clouds were bleak, and the atmosphere was very depressing.
According to the Biography of John Tang, Shunzhi clashed with Xiaozhuang and the Minister of Culture and Military Affairs over the issue of heirs:
A successor to the throne had not yet been enthroned, and the empress dowager urged the emperor to do this. The emperor thought of a brother, but the opinion of the empress dowager and the princes was that they were willing to choose a successor from the emperor.
The emperor asked John Tang for his opinion, and John Tang was completely on the side of the empress dowager, believing that a prince chosen by the empress dowager was the most suitable successor.
In this way, the emperor was finally persuaded by John Tang to give up an older prince and appoint a prince who was not yet seven years old as the heir to the throne.
Empress Xiaozhuang
We all know that this successor is Kangxi, and Kangxi was able to succeed not because of any other considerations, but because he suffered from smallpox.
From these records, we can probably understand that after learning that he had smallpox, the Shunzhi Emperor urgently summoned the princes and ministers to the palace to discuss the issue of heirs.
On the issue of heirs, Shunzhi insisted on choosing one of his cousins. This is very puzzling, he let his four sons not stand, why should he choose a cousin?
Some speculated that he was venting his dissatisfaction with the empress dowager. Secondly, in terms of the selection of regents, Shunzhi changed the old system of the ancestors and refused to choose from among the kings of the royal family, which was undoubtedly a rebellion against the dictatorship of Dorgon in that year.
After Xiaozhuang learned of Shunzhi's intentions, he asked Su Ma Lama to invite Tang Ruowang to the Cining Palace, and although Shunzhi had plunged into Buddhism all these years, he had always had great respect for Tang Ruowang, and they maintained a sincere friendship between them.
Hyojo believed that John Tang would be able to accomplish this task satisfactorily, and when Shunzhi saw John Tang, he sat down on the imperial bed and asked him what he thought of his heir.
John Tang was a very blunt man, and he made it clear that he did not approve of the founding cousins, because doing so not only violated the ancestral system, but also easily caused disputes, which was not good for the Qing Dynasty and the country.
Shunzhi was silent, and only after a long time did he ask, "The four princes are very young, who do you say you should choose?" ”
John Tang repeated what he had said to Xiaozhuang: "Growing up and being young is not the key, the most important thing is to choose a prince who has already had a pox." ”
Shunzhi had four sons at that time, the eldest was Fuquan, who was eight years old; followed by Xuan Ye, who was seven years old; Chang Ning, who was born of the Chen clan, was only three years old; and Long Xi, who was born of the Niu clan, was even younger, only two years old.
Empress Xiaozhuang and the young Kangxi
People with a slightly normal mind will lock their targets on Fuquan and Xuanye, of whom Xuanye has acne, while Fuquan has not.
To tell the truth, Shunzhi's fatherly love for these four princes was pitiful, and when Tang Ruowang mentioned Fuquan and Xuanye, it was estimated that Shunzhi would have to search his mind for what they looked like.
Whoever inherits the throne doesn't matter to Shunzhi.
On the evening of the sixth day of the first year, Shunzhi felt that his illness was getting worse, and urgently summoned Wang Xi, a close minister, into the palace and asked him to draft a will.
It was the cold winter night, the palace was gusting with wind, several eunuchs were carrying palace lamps, flashing in the dark night, Wang Xi followed behind, feeling as if he could hear the cries of ghosts.
After entering the Yangxin Hall, Wang Xi knelt down and prayed, and Shunzhi qiang said with a strong spirit: "I have acne, I am afraid that the time will not be long, you quickly listen to my words and write down the contents of the edict." ”
At this moment, people with iron hearts cannot help but be moved, and Wang Xi is no exception. However, he was still thinking about another layer of things in his heart, if the content of the emperor's edict contradicted the empress's ideas, what should he do?
As the emperor spoke, Wang Xi remembered it, but in his heart he thought about how to transfer the contents of the emperor's edict to the empress dowager in the future, and after Wang Xi withdrew, he revised the edict three times in the study of The Qingmen.
The next day, when the edict was presented to the emperor, Shunzhi was changing clothes, and he was very tired at the time, and did not say that he wanted to read the edict, but only asked Wang Xi to hand the edict to Ma Leji. Ma Leji was a Manchurian Zhenghuangqi man, and his Han cultural skills were even more powerful than many Han scholars at that time.
That night, the Shunzhi Emperor died in the Yangxin Hall.
The Shunzhi Emperor died
Shunzhi's early death was regrettable, and a literary scholar named Wu Weiye wrote a long poem suggesting that the emperor was not dead, but had gone out of the family.
Later, Jin Yong adopted this statement in the Deer Ding Ji.
After Wu Weiye's death, people asked people to write on his grave: The Tomb of the Poet Wu Meicun. This great poet is considered to be deeply impressed by Bai Juyi's legacy, and is a master of narrative poetry of a generation.
He once wrote a poem called "Qingliangshan Praise of the Buddha", which is a long narrative poem, indeed very long, longer than the "Long Hate Song", and the poet likes to say something with puns and a string.
Among them, there is such a verse "Poor thousand-mile grass, withered without color", everyone believes that this is about the death of Dong Efei, and Dong Zi is a thousand-mile grass when taken apart.
The poem "Looking South at the Cangye Tomb, Covering Your Face and Adding Sorrow" is about the early death of the fourth son of the emperor born to Fu Lin and Concubine Dong.
As for "Fang Xing did not move, the sky fell on the white jade coffin." It is as if to say that Shunzhi is not dead; "Taste Mu Tianzi, six flying miles" - at that time, people thought that this was obviously saying that Shunzhi had become a monk in the "Western Heavens".
Because Wu Meicun had been an official in the Qing Dynasty, he was relatively close to the emperor, and he was also a well-informed person, so many people believed what he said, Shunzhi did not die, but became a monk.
Some people also asserted according to Shunzhi's last will and testament that Shunzhi was not dead, but became a monk, and it is difficult for people to imagine how a person who is dying can think so methodically and in such a calm tone, from major state affairs to personal affairs.
Shunzhi's edict of sin was more like that it had been drafted for a long time before his death, not like a sudden whim when he was dying, and Wang Xi made three revisions after recording the edict, which was also very unusual.
For someone as special as Wang Xi, there must have been a lot of people surrounding him at that time and asking, "What did the emperor say to you before he died?" Let's hear it. ”
In his lifetime, Wang Xi did not tell anyone else about the emperor's conversation with himself, not even his descendants and disciples.
The tighter you cover it, the more suspicious others become. Maybe it's true that nothing happens, but if you cover it up, it's inevitable that people will be reminded of the idiom "there is no silver here for three hundred and two.".
After Kangxi became emperor, he went up Mount Wutai several times on the orders of the emperor's grandmother Xiaozhuang, which is Qingliang Mountain. This inevitably makes troubled people wonder whether Shunzhi did not die, but became a monk in Mount Wutai.
If Shunzhi was not a monk at Mount Wutai, why did Kangxi go to Mount Wutai several times?
It is enough to visit the mountains and rivers and see the Buddhist architecture once, not to mention that there are so many temples in the world, why do you like Wutai Mountain?
The Kangxi Emperor
Doubt to doubt, imagination to imagination, these things can not be the evidence that Shunzhi is not dead. Because there are too many parties recalling the scene before Shunzhi's death, we don't need other people's records as evidence, let's still use Lao Tang's words!
John Tang recorded Shunzhi's death:
Like all Manchurians, Shunzhi had a great fear of pox, because it was almost always fatal in adults. In the palace, there is another temple altar for serving the pox goddess. Perhaps it was because of his fear of this disease that he was really infected with this disease. Three days after his illness, he died at night between February 5 and 6, 1661, before he was twenty-three years old. ”
Tang Ruowang's Chinese can't compare with Wu Meicun, we don't mind this, he said that Shunzhi should not lie when he dies. As for the text saying that Shunzhi is under twenty-three years old, that is a difference in the way of calculation, and we have included the time that Shunzhi spent in his mother's belly.
Before shunzhi died, he left a copy of the edict of sin, which was full of curses on himself, and the tone was very similar to that of filial piety, so many people suspected that the edict was "revised."
In total, the edict lists fourteen counts of himself. In the back of the edict, Shunzhi named Xuan Ye to succeed to the throne, and ordered Soni, Sak Saha, Shu Bilong, and Ao Bai to be auxiliary ministers.
The edict has obviously been revised, and Shunzhi has achieved great success in reusing Han Chen, and obviously will not blame himself for this. For Concubine Dong, she didn't even want Jiangshan, and she wouldn't blame herself for saying that the funeral was too grand.
Shunzhi's will makes people look a little strange, and if the country encounters natural and man-made disasters in the past dynasties, when the situation is chaotic, the emperor will issue his own edict.
Doing so is not only to confess your mistakes and repent of your sins to the heavens and pray for blessings, but also to express to the people of Li Min that the emperor has confessed his mistakes, and you should also be considerate and considerate of him! But someone like Shunzhi who sins against himself has never been, this is not a sin against himself, this is completely self-abuse.
No matter what good or bad things they have done, they are all said to be bad things, and the words that scold themselves are written nakedly into the edict. We know that Shunzhi was a person with a strong personality, and after becoming emperor, he did a lot of good things.
The reason why he was able to achieve so much was because he reused the Han people, and now he says that he reused the Han people wrongly, is this not absurd?
Sin yourself
Well, finally we can evaluate Shunzhi's life, we don't have to say how good he was, nor how pathetic he was.
We need only remember that in the pursuit of freedom, people pay a price and are very unlikable.
Individuality is the first to be eliminated in history – this may be the lesson that Shunzhi taught us. In terms of individual liberation, Shunzhi is an example of failure.
—End—
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