Yongzheng Emperor
The Yongzheng Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, personal name Yinzhen, was the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper.
The fourth son of the Kangxi Emperor, Yongzheng ascended the throne following prolonged disputes over succession. A hard-working ruler, he aimed to create a more effective government, cracked down on corruption and reformed the personnel and financial administration. His reign also saw the formation of the Grand Council, an institution that had a major impact on the future of the dynasty. Militarily, Yongzheng continued his father's efforts to consolidate Qing's position in Outer Mongolia and Tibet through force.
The Yongzheng Emperor died in 1735 at the age of 56 and was succeeded by his fourth son, who assumed the throne as the Qianlong Emperor. Although his reign was much shorter than that of both his father and his son, the Yongzheng era achieved important reforms, but also considered by many to be authoritarian, with some describing him as a benevolent despot while others note that autocratic policies went too far.
Birth and early life
Yinzhen was the eleventh recorded son of the Kangxi Emperor, and the fourth prince to survive into adulthood. His mother, historically known as Empress Xiaogongren, was originally a court attendant from the Manchu Uya clan. Around the time when Yinzhen was born, his mother was of low status and did not have the right to raise her own children. For most of his childhood, Yinzhen was raised by Noble Consort Tong, the daughter of Tong Guowei, the Kangxi Emperor's maternal uncle and an eminent official in the early part of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. She died when Yinzhen was just 9 years old. After she gave birth to more children, Yinzhen's mother was promoted to a pin and then to a fei, and became known as defei or "Virtuous Consort". The Kangxi Emperor did not raise his children only inside the palace. He also exposed his sons to the outside world and gave them a rigorous education. Yinzhen accompanied his father on several inspection trips around the Beijing area, as well as one further south. He became the honorary leader of the Plain Red Banner during the Battle of Jao Modo between the Qing Empire and the Mongol Dzungar Khanate led by Galdan Khan. Yinzhen was made a beile in 1689 along with several brothers and promoted to junwang in 1698.In 1709, the Kangxi Emperor stripped his second son Yinreng of his position as crown prince. Yinreng had been the crown prince for his whole life; his removal left the position of heir open to competition among the Emperor's remaining sons. In the same year, the Kangxi Emperor promoted Yinzhen from junwang to qinwang under the title "Prince Yong of the First Rank". Yinzhen maintained a low profile during the initial stages of the succession struggle. To appoint a new heir, the Kangxi Emperor decreed that officials in his imperial court would nominate a new crown prince. The Kangxi Emperor's eighth son, Yinsi, was the candidate preferred by the majority of the court as well as many of the Kangxi Emperor's other sons. The Kangxi Emperor, however, opted not to appoint Yinsi as his heir apparent largely due to apprehension that Yinsi's political clout at court was beginning to overshadow his own. Thereafter, Yinzhen sensed that his father was in favour of re-instating Yinreng as heir apparent, thus he supported Yinreng and earned the trust of his father.
Yongzheng's quote
Yinzhen had the highest honor to orchestrate the imperial ceremonies and rituals during the reign of the Kangxi emperor, which illustrated that Yinzhen was well acquainted with the Confucianism traditions and customs. In the imperial court, Yinzhen was also deeply immersed in the state's affairs and heavily engaged in the political debates where he acquired diplomatic skills. As the Yongzheng Emperor of Qing China, Yinzhen was indubitably a very diplomatically inclined ruler who created an institution of a "moral government" based on the Confucian principles. Yinzhen sought four distinctive qualities: loyalty—忠, fairness—公, sincerity—誠, and capability—能, from his subjects in order to run an effective court and to achieve stability. Li Wei was a recruit among the Qing officials to possess the desired virtues, and was regarded highly by Yongzheng.A notable quote from Yinzhen captured during his reign as the Yongzheng Emperor in the 1720s expresses his imperial will:
小事小料理，不可因小而忽之，大事大振作，不可因難處而隱諱。朕意若果能如此實心奉行，以忠正一一字感化，不數年，賊亦人也。見文武大臣實心忠勇為國，屬員清正愛民，營伍整齊，士卒曉勇，而百姓不懷如是德，不畏如是威，仍去成群為匪者，朕想必無此理也。If it is a trivial matter, do not just simply neglect the issue because it seems insignificant. If it is a complex matter, do not just simply conceal away the issue because it could become a challenge. To have good governance and dissuade seditionists, is all in the ruler's wish. If civilians see a judicious court that is loyal and wholeheartedly for the country, and see that the court embraces its people; and civilians feel the virtue in their court marshalls, then the people would not perceive the court as a threat. Thus, there would be no reason to have seditionaries.
In short, after several years of political chaos, Yongzheng earnestly strived to restore a functional court with "good government", immediately after he ascended the throne in 1723 CE, to stabilize Qing into a unified and harmonious empire. In 1733 CE, Yongzheng successfully institutionalized the Grand Council, which allows Qing to relay communication effectively and efficiently from region to region, thereby enabling the implementation of his domestic reform policy.
With the establishment of his Grand Council, Yongzheng was not only able to discourage corruption, but he was in a position to launch several domestic reforms beneficial to the empire and its people. Canals and irrigation systems were reconstructed to support agriculture and maintain farmlands. During famines, he provided relief to the affected regions by distributing resources. In reparation to the people, who were the backbone of the country, he issued an imperial decree to emancipate slaves under his reign. One of the several tax reform policies Yongzheng introduced was to shift the head taxation to the property taxation on landowners, which greatly reduced the tax burden on civilians. Additionally, Yongzheng was indeed in full support with the construction of orphanages to shelter orphans, in building elementary schools to educate children, and poorhouses to house paupers. Perhaps the Yongzheng era may have been overshadowed by his predecessor's accomplishments, the Kangxi Emperor, and his achievements may not have been as glorious as his successor, the Qianlong Emperor; however, the Yongzheng era did serve as a remediation to the people, and resentments began to gradually decrease. Hence the Yongzheng era was a peaceful and prosperous reign of Qing China.Struggle for the crown prince's position
Kangxi's choices of the crown princes
In 1712, the Kangxi Emperor deposed Yinreng again, and chose not to designate an heir apparent for the remaining years of his reign. This resulted in competition among his sons for the position of crown prince. Those considered 'frontrunners' were Yinzhi, Yinsi, and Yinti . Of these, Yinsi received the most support from the Mandarins, but not from his father. Yinzhen had supported Yinreng as heir, and did not build a large political base for himself until the final years of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Unlike Yinsi's high-profile cultivation of a partisan base of support, Yinzhen did so largely away from the limelight. When the Kangxi Emperor died in December 1722, the field of contenders shrank to three princes after Yinsi pledged his support to the 14th prince, Yinzheng.
At the time of the Kangxi Emperor's death, Yinzheng, who held the appointment of Border-Pacification General-in-Chief, was leading a military campaign in northwestern China. He was also awarded an apparently grandiose title of "Fuyuan General-in-chief Prince" and his departure ceremony was solemnly held. Some other princes, such as Yinsi and his clique, interpreted that Yinzheng might be chosen as heir and, therefore, pledged their support to Yinzheng and encouraged him to make military achievements to prove his "worthiness".
However, Yi Zhongtian argued that such a "promotion" was Kangxi's way of protecting Yinzhen, Kangxi's secret chosen heir, by distracting the public's attention away from Yinzhen. The court officials, who believed that Yinzheng would be chosen as the heir, would also no longer pester Kangxi about the crown prince issue. Sending Yinzheng away to the northwestern border was also meant to separate him from Yinsi, his newly formed ally, and potential flatterers who wanted to curry favour with Yinzheng. Yinzheng would also be unable to use his commanded troops to make a coup d'état, since Nian Gengyao, Yinzhen's close aide, controlled the food supply and the return route of Yinzheng's troops. Promoting Yinzheng was also a way for Kangxi to control Yinzhen: if Kangxi's "investment" in Yinzhen turned out to be a failure, he still had Yinzheng as alternative choice. With Yinzheng as a potential competitor, Yinzhen would not fall into self-complacency and turn against Kangxi. Yinsi's clique, clinging to the hope of Yinzheng's future prospect, would also not do anything reckless. As a result, Yinzheng's "General-in-chief Prince" title appeared grandiose, but was actually hollow and dubious; it was neither "general" nor "prince" and could be interpreted in various ways, which could be used in favour of either Yinzheng or Yinzhen should the situation arise. Such dubious words with multiple interpretations was a traditional trick in Chinese politics.
The popular history writer Yi Zongtian thinks that there were signs that showed Yinzhen as Kangxi's secret choice. First, according to Yongzheng's edicts and official historical account, Kangxi mentioned that Yinzhen alone was raised by Kangxi and how he expressed filial piety to Kangxi. In another occasion though, Yongzheng said that he was not a prince who was raised in the palace. Professor Lin Qian on the other hand notes that the fourteenth prince was the only son Kangxi always kept with him, until his death, despite the fact he already married and had a princely mansion outside.
Second, according to Yi, at Kangxi's 60th regnal year memorial event, Yinzhen was given the task of holding the ritual ceremonies for the royal family's ancestors in Three Great Mausoleums in Shenyang. Shortly after that, Yinzhen was also tasked to organize the Sacrifice to the Heaven, the most sacred ceremony in Confucian tradition, on the day of winter solstice. Others note that the third prince Yinzhi also had presided over these ceremonies before, the fifth prince Yinqi was presiding over the Veneration of Ancestor ceremony at the time Kangxi was dying, and even eighth prince Yinsi made the lists of candidates. The only one among adult princes who was put aside was Yinxiang, Yongzheng's important ally. Lin Qian also suspects that Yongzheng organizing the Sacrifice of Heaven of the sixty first year was an event invented later to justify Prince Yong's strange behaviours at that time, since no other records mention it other than Shilu, which was written under the supervision of Yongzheng and Zhang Tingyu. Moreover, according to Lin Qian, when the fourteen prince prepared for his expedition, Kangxi himself perform the Veneration of the Flags, which also belonged to the highest ceremonies of the dynasty.
Yi also says that Kangxi highly favoured Yinzhen's son Hongli and that might also contribute to Kangxi's support for Yinzhen as his heir, similar to how the Yongle Emperor chose his heir due to his favour to the crown prince's son. Historian Yang Zhen though notes that Kangxi was kind to his grandchildren in general but especially to the sons of the second and the fourteenth princes.
Official court records state that on 20 December 1722 the ailing Kangxi Emperor called seven of his sons and the general commandant of the Beijing gendarmerie, Longkodo, to his bedside. Longkodo read the will and declared that Yinzhen would be the Kangxi Emperor's successor. Some evidence has suggested that Yinzhen contacted Longkodo months before the will was read in preparation for his succession through military means, although in their official capacities frequent encounters were expected.
Historian Qin Hui writes that it is largely recognized that Yongzheng forged the succession edicts together with Nian Gengyao. Qin Hui criticizes Feng Erkang, who also recognizes the forgery, for failing to explain why Yongzheng would have needed a forged edict if he had truly been the legal heir. Yongzheng also changed his story several times. When he punished Longkodo, Yongzheng himself said that Longkodo was not present by the emperor's side on that day. According to historian Dai Yi, a report by Longkodo to Yongzheng also shows that the prince Yunli was not present – when he was rushing to Kangxi's resident after being informed of his father's death, the prince met Longkodo who told him about Yongzheng's ascension and became so horrified that he returned to his house immediately, looking like a mad man.
Dai Yi, Meng Shen, Wang Zhonghan, Lin Qian and Yang Zhen are the notable historians who maintain that the fourteenth prince Yinzheng was Kangxi's intended heir. They point out that the conflict against the Zhungar was of such an existential importance to the Qing dynasty that it is hard to imagine Kangxi would have sent anyone but his most trusted son to deal with the crisis. Due to this, the "Fuyuan General-in-chief" position was raised to an unprecedented level of power and prestige unseen since the beginning of the dynasty. The deposed crown prince, Yinreng, and Yinzhen fought for the position too, but failed to get it. Lin Qian writes that there are many signs that show Yongzheng did alter records to make the title "General-in-chief Prince" less impressive, and that the fourteenth prince's rank was actually Prince. Kangxi even made the apparently longterm investment by sending several young members of the imperial family to the fourteenth prince so he could raise them as his apprentices. This intent was shown, when the fourteenth prince requested them to be sent back to the capital, Kangxi refused and told him that they needed to be trained. Lin Qian notes that with sixteen people holding titles ranging from beizi to wang and other important officials sent to follow the fourteenth prince, Kangxi had already organized a mini imperial court for him. When he returned to the capital on the sixtieth year of his father's rule, he was welcomed with unprecedent ceremonies. His third and fourth brothers were ordered to lead the court officials to welcome him at the gate of the city. Abulan, a member of the imperial clan and a high official, knelt before him – an act that later earned him a rebuke from Yongzheng but was never criticized by Kangxi, who later sent a poem to Yinzheng to congratulate him on the occasion. Even from the capital, the prince continued to command the Tibet theater.
Yang Zhen opines that when Kangxi encouraged his son to engage with the local chiefs, the emperor did not think about their usefulness in the current campaign alone, as he told the prince that their dedication to the person of the prince "will be of use later", and that their service would be more valuable to that of the Han. In another occasion, he taught the prince how to win the heart of generals and soldiers, while carefully instructing him that he should not disclose that this idea came from the emperor, but acted like it was his own. Bai Xinliang notes that most of the letters and documents exchanged between Kangxi and the fourteenth prince had been either destroyed or altered by Yongzheng and his officials. The documents of the last year of Kangxi in particular were almost completely lost, while the remaining pieces exist because Yongzheng committed some mistakes out of inexperience in his early reign.