Aixin Jueluo Yinxiang, the thirteenth son of Emperor Kangxi, is the favorite and trusted younger brother of Emperor Yongzheng. Emperor Yongzheng attached great importance to him and entrusted him with important tasks. However, according to Qing historical materials such as "Qing Shizong Records", "Internal Affairs Office Files", and "Eight Banners Tongzhi", when he was dying, he faced the direction of the palace and swallowed soil to thank Yongzheng for his great kindness.
This move was regarded by the Qing Dynasty folk in later generations as an allusion to "King Yi swallowing land". So, why did Yinxiang, who is highly respected, loved and trusted, take such an exaggerated way to express his loyalty to Yongzheng when he was dying?
All this has to be traced back to his early experience and Yongzheng's love for him.
In the Kangxi era, Yinxiang experienced his father's love and estrangement, and this transformation of ice and fire tempered his tenacity. Yinxiang was born to Kangxi's concubine Concubine Min, and her mother, Concubine Min, was born in a yellow flag coating.
At first, Zhang Jiashi was only a palace maid, and because of her beautiful appearance and good conduct, she was recommended to Kangxi by Kangxi's third empress, Empress Xiaoyiren. Therefore, Zhang Jiashi became Kangxi's concubine and gave birth to three children, including Yinxiang.
Judging from Zhang Jia's ability to give birth to a child for Kangxi, she must be deeply loved by Kangxi. However, when Kangxi canonized the harem concubines, he paid more attention to the qualifications and family background of the concubines.
Therefore, although Zhang Jia's family was deeply favored by Kangxi, due to his humble background and shallow qualifications, he never won the name and was just a concubine. Until the thirty-eighth year of Kangxi (1699), when Yinxiang was thirteen years old, Zhang Jia died.
Out of deep affection for Zhang Jia's family and Yinxiang's mother and son, Kangxi posthumously named Zhang Jia's concubine Min. Yinxiang lost his mother since he was a child, and the low status of his biological mother's family made him know to study hard since he was a child, and he was very smart, so he won Kangxi's love at an early age.
Yinxiang has shown extraordinary wisdom and diligence since he was a child, and he is a talented man with both civil and military skills. According to the record of "Qing Shengzu Record", once Kangxi took Yinxiang to Rehe to hunt, and a tiger appeared on the way, Yinxiang responded calmly, ordered the guards to protect Kangxi, and he was holding a sharp blade and successfully killed the tiger, which was highly appreciated by Kangxi.
In addition to the Manchu riding and archery bravery, Yinxiang also has the elegant style of the Han people. His poetry and calligraphy are very profound. Once, Kangxi asked Yinxiang and Yongzheng to show their calligraphy talents in front of the ministers, and Yinxiang's calligraphy skills were unanimously appreciated by the courtiers at that time.
Although there is an element of sycophancy, Kangxi let his two sons show calligraphy in front of the courtiers, which is enough to prove his confidence in the calligraphy attainments of his two sons, and also shows that Yinxiang has outstanding talents in literature and calligraphy.
Therefore, Yinxiang's civil and military skills won Kangxi's love. From the thirty-seventh year of Kangxi (1698) when Yinxiang accompanied Kangxi when he was 12 years old to go out on patrol until the forty-seventh year of Kangxi (1708) when he abolished the prince, Kangxi must bring Yinxiang every time he goes out for ten years.
This fully shows how much he was loved by Kangxi when Yinxiang was a teenager.
Yinxiang could have obtained the title of Viscount Bei in the forty-eighth year of Kangxi (1709), but he was implicated in the abolition of the prince incident and lost Kangxi's love. Although there is no detailed record of how Yinxiang participated in it in the existing historical materials, according to the "Outline of the Emperor's General Chronicles", he was imprisoned with Yinhe and Yinren.
Although Yinxiang was released earlier than Yinren, he lost his father's love and gradually faded out**.
Yinxiang, a character who once made a name for himself on **, suffered from crane knee disease at the age of twenty-four or five. It was a disease similar to modern bone tuberculosis, which caused him to lose Kangxi's affection, and his health became increasingly serious.
In Kangxi's later years, he basically faded out of **, focusing on closed-door reading and seeking medical advice. Despite this, Yinxiang and Yongzheng's brotherly relationship is very close, because they have learned and grown up together since childhood.
On the contrary, although the relationship between Yinxiang and Yinzheng is intimate, their relationship is not as close as that between Yinxiang and Yongzheng. This also reflects their respective personality traits: Yinxiang has a resolute and forbearant personality, while Yinyu and Yinyu are different in some ways.
Although Kangxi's dislike for Yinxiang is already deep, he is still a loving father. After learning that Yinxiang was ill, he sent the imperial doctor to see him. In the process of seeing a doctor, Yinxiang has always been tenacious, and did not take this opportunity to appear weak, but surprised the imperial doctor through his tenacity.
This shows Yinxiang's charisma and firm character. Overall, Yinxiang is a resolute and forbearant person, he never gives up easily in the face of difficulties and challenges, and always maintains a positive attitude.
Despite his declining health and political status, his tenacity and perseverance made a lasting impression on people's hearts.
Yinxiang during the Kangxi period was favored, but his fall from grace and illness made him fade out**. However, his tenacious character allowed him to keep a low profile in Kangxi's later years. This experience laid the foundation for his deep affection during the Yongzheng period.
After experiencing the ups and downs, he has a deeper understanding of the brutality of power struggles. During the Yongzheng period, he kept a low profile and showed his talents in a high-profile manner, so he was deeply loved by Yongzheng.
Therefore, his ingenuity during the Kangxi period contrasted sharply with the low-key behavior of the Yongzheng period.
Yongzheng's love for Yinxiang is incomprehensible, but their relationship has always maintained the etiquette of a monarch and a minister. After Kangxi's death, he unexpectedly left Yongzheng to succeed him, which was an unacceptable fact for the princes, nobles and courtiers at the time, especially the opposition led by Lao Bayinxi.
In this lonely moment, Yongzheng began to look for someone who could help him, and his closest brother Yinxiang naturally became his first choice. After succeeding to the throne, Yongzheng immediately canonized Yinxiang, who had not been knighted before, as Prince Yi, and concurrently served as the Minister of Prime Minister's Affairs.
He handed over four important powers, including finance, government affairs, the Praetorian Guard, and personnel appointments and dismissals, to Yinxiang. There are four ministers of prime minister's affairs, in addition to Yinxiang, including Yinxi, who was named Prince Lian and minister of prime minister's affairs by Yongzheng, Ma Qi, a university scholar, and Long Keduo, the governor of Jiumen.
Ma Qi and Long Keduo were the ministers entrusted by Emperor Kangxi before his death, and they carried out Emperor Kangxi's edict to the letter and elected Yongzheng to succeed him, so they played a pivotal role in Yongzheng's ascension to the throne.
In order to appease people's hearts, Yongzheng promoted Yinxi, who had outstanding talents and won the hearts of the people. However, Yongzheng's real intention is to use Yinxiang to balance Yinxi. Among the four royal ministers, Yinxiang had the most power, but Yinxiang was only in charge of the Imperial Court and the Ministry of Industry, in fact, he was only in charge of foreign affairs and engineering construction affairs.
Therefore, it can be said that Yinxiang was actually promoted by Yongzheng, but his power was suppressed. It is precisely because of Yinxiang's help that Yongzheng was able to successfully cut off Yinxi and his henchmen, and his contribution can be described as the greatest.
Yinxiang's contribution to Yongzheng's political achievements in the early and middle periods is indelible, and his existence makes Yongzheng a complex existence. Yongzheng's trust, love and respect for Yinxiang allowed him to stand out in the battle for the throne.
Although it is recorded in history that Yongzheng was cruel to his brothers, he gave Yinxiang endless love. His younger brothers, such as Yinzhi, Yinzhi, Yinyu, Yinqi, and Yinyu, were all imprisoned or exiled, and even stripped of their clan and changed their names.
However, for Yinxiang, Yongzheng is extremely trusting and respectful, and gives him high honors. This was extremely rare in ancient royalty, as the heir to the throne was often seen as a potential threat.
However, Yongzheng dared to give Yinxiang such great power. Their relationship was one of sincerity and loyalty, coupled with their similar personalities, which enabled them to politically reform the problems left over from Kangxi's later years and promote the implementation of the Yongzheng New Deal.
Yinxiang and Yongzheng have a deep brotherhood, and their personalities and styles are extremely similar. Yinxiang was an extremely pragmatic politician, although he was both civil and military, his poetry and calligraphy were profound, but he never focused on these, but spent all his time dealing with government affairs.
Although he respected religious people, he did not believe in any religion and only believed in himself. He devoted all his energy to doing practical things, and even before he died, he was still thinking about the safety of the North Canal embankment and the people.
Therefore, although he had a high talent in literature, his calligraphy or poetic works were rarely seen in later generations. If it weren't for the poetry correspondence with Yongzheng, his works might have been buried.
In short, Yinxiang is a very pragmatic politician.
With his pragmatic style, Yinxiang has won the love and trust of Yongzheng, and has become a good story of brotherly governance. After experiencing the ups and downs of the Kangxi period, Yinxiang knows how to maintain forbearance and humility in **, and knows the fragility of the brotherhood of the imperial family and the truth that there is no family affection in front of the imperial power.
Therefore, even when Yongzheng's love and trust in him deepened, Yinxiang always remained sober, always maintained the relationship between the monarch and the minister, and always remained humble and respectful. Due to the lack of knighthood during the Kangxi period, coupled with the loss of Kangxi's love, Yinxiang was not financially prosperous after the division of the government.
After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he canonized Yinxiang as Prince Yi and rewarded him with 230,000 taels**. However, Yinxiang resolutely refused, and finally Yongzheng insisted on rewarding, and both sides took a step back, and Yinxiang accepted the reward of 130,000 taels.
Then, Yongzheng ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to pay for Prince Yi's Mansion for six years, which was a rare event in the history of the Qing Dynasty.
But Yinxiang resolutely refused to accept it, and in the end, Yongzheng couldn't resist him, so he had to give up.
Yongzheng's favor for Yinxiang is not only reflected in the material, he also allowed Yinxiang to increase the prince's guard and honor guard, which is second only to the regent Dorgon.
However, despite Yongzheng's continuous sealing, Yinxiang always insisted on resigning, until he couldn't refuse, so he reluctantly accepted it. What's more, after Yinxiang accepted the reward, most of it was donated for the war in the northwest.
He even paid out of his own pocket to develop iron cannons, which made a great contribution to the equipment upgrading of the Qing army. It can be seen that Yinxiang not only got Yongzheng's favor, but also showed his loyalty and responsibility.
Yinxiang has always maintained humility and courtesy in front of Yongzheng, and resolutely shirked the reward, which shows that he has seen through the essence of glory and wealth, and knows how to control and know how to advance and retreat.
His behavior also won the love of Yongzheng, and the brotherly relationship between the two was extremely rare in feudal history. Yinxiang ate soil when he was dying, which is a portrayal of his humility and courtesy throughout his life, and it is also his deep understanding of the lack of family affection under the imperial power.
When building the mausoleum, Yinxiang went to find a blessed land for ten thousand years according to the suggestion of the Ministry of Industry, and this sense of responsibility and humble attitude was also highly praised by Yongzheng. Therefore, people in the world often use "Tang Tang deep love" to describe the brotherhood between them.
Yinxiang found a piece of blessed land for Yongzheng in Yongning Mountain, Yi County, Hebei Province, and he let Yongzheng personally witness the good feng shui of this land, and finally got Yongzheng's approval.
Yongzheng was very satisfied with this blessed land, so he decided to use this place as his mausoleum. Yinxiang is the key person who found this blessed land, so Yongzheng wants to reward him.
Yongzheng proposed that Yinxiang be buried with him in Yongning Mountain after his death, so that the two brothers could become neighbors after their deaths. However, Yinxiang was frightened by this, he felt that his virtue was shallow and he did not dare to be buried with the noble emperor.
So, he expressed his wish to Yongzheng, proposing that he found a more suitable cemetery in Yunxi Shuiyu, Laishui County, about sixty miles away from Yongning Mountain, hoping to be buried there after death.
Although Yongzheng hoped to be neighbors with his younger brother, he respected Yinxiang's decision and temporarily gave up the idea of rewarding him.
Yinxiang's condition became increasingly serious, and he was worried that he would not be able to be buried with his brother Yongzheng after his death, and would be buried near the emperor's tomb. He repeatedly wrote to beg Yongzheng to give him Yunxi Shuiyu in Laishui County as a cemetery, and stressed that he could not be buried near the emperor's tomb.
Yongzheng finally approved his request and gave him Yunxi Shuiyu as a cemetery. Yinxiang was very happy when he learned about it, and he immediately sent someone to the cemetery to take a handful of loess and eat it.
He said: "If you say so, your sons will be at peace and your children will be blessed." This event came to be known as "King Yi swallowing earth". He eats soil because he thinks this cemetery is a blessed land from Yongzheng, and he expresses his gratitude to Yongzheng in this way.
Emperor Yongzheng's own brother Yinxiang died at the age of 44, and this news made Yongzheng very sad. In order to express his sorrow for him, Emperor Yongzheng resigned for three days, and at the same time gave Yinxiang's descendants the hereditary title of Prince Yi, making Yinxiang the ninth iron hat king of the Qing Dynasty.
Yinxiang's original name was Yinxiang, but after Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, in order to avoid avoiding his name, the brothers collectively changed their names to Yunzi. However, Yongzheng allowed Yinxiang not to shy away from his name and let him be buried under his real name, which is unique in the history of the Qing Dynasty.
Yinxiang's humility and respect are an important reason why he was able to gain Yongzheng's trust. He knew that although there was a deep brotherhood between them, it was insignificant compared to imperial power.
Instead of being arrogant because of his position, Yinxiang approached the imperial power with humility and respect. His approach has been recognized and appreciated by Yongzheng. However, some people are not as wise as Yinxiang.
For example, Long Keduo and Nian Qianyao, under the praise of Yongzheng, began to be proud of their achievements, and regarded themselves as Yongzheng's "uncle" and "benefactor". However, Yongzheng's attitude towards them is very resolute, and once they start to be arrogant, he will not hesitate to clean them up.