Emperor Shunzhi died young, and the flower of life withered at the age of 24. However, he did not anticipate the impermanence of life during his lifetime, because he was young and his children were still young.
Although Emperor Kangxi owned the world, his life was fair and impartial, and he would not be favored because of his status, and no one could escape the transience and impermanence of life.
The moment he closed his eyes, Emperor Shunzhi knew that his limit was approaching. For the sake of the future of the country, he must identify a suitable heir before his death. John Tang's suggestion eventually prompted Shunzhi to choose his third son, Xuan Ye, who was only eight years old at the time.
People can't help but ask, why is Shunzhi so sure that Xuan Ye will be an excellent emperor? After all, not many people foresee the future. However, Xuan Ye actually has an advantage over his two elder brothers.
He had smallpox, but luckily, he survived and developed antibodies in his body. Smallpox was a fatal disease for the Qing court at that time, and Xuan Ye was naturally no longer afraid of it because of his antibodies.
For their royal family, this is a good sign. Therefore, after the death of Shunzhi, Xuan Ye became the new emperor of the Qing Dynasty with the era name "Kangxi". In fact, Kangxi was indeed an outstanding emperor, reigning for 61 years, making him the longest-reigning emperor in Chinese history.
In these 61 years, he completed many major events that will go down in history, such as the pacification of the three feudatories, the recovery of Taiwan, the three personal conquests of Galdan, the expulsion of Tsarist Russia, and so on.
Emperor Kangxi's life was full of ambition, especially in the feat of recovering Taiwan, which showed his determination and courage. Taiwan is China's treasure island, and we absolutely cannot tolerate foreign aggressors occupying it.
Kangxi not only had a clear judgment on major national matters, but also had a spirit of self-reflection in personal matters, which made him an outstanding Ming monarch in Chinese history.
He once lost to a guard in a game of chess, but he left behind a classic quote that is thought-provoking. Kangxi was well aware of the bad habits of the royal nobility, and he believed that horseback archery was the pride of the Manchus, but the nobles indulged in pleasure and ignored the fine traditions of their ancestors.
In order to promote the culture of mounted archery, Kangxi will hold large-scale hunting activities every year. In the thirty-seventh year of Kangxi, he led the royal children to the Saibei Mulan hunting ground, showing his heroic side, and his heroic performance made this hunt full of joy of success.
In his leisure time, the Kangxi Emperor often rested in the pavilion. He especially likes to play chess, so the ** people in the hunting ground prepare the chessboard early and put it in the pavilion.
When Emperor Kangxi saw the chessboard, he immediately became excited, and he ordered his courtiers to accompany him to play a few games of chess to make him happy. In order to make the emperor happy, these courtiers tried their best to pretend to lose decently.
But Emperor Kangxi didn't find this enjoyable, and he told them not to hide their strength, because if anyone could win him, they would get a bounty of one hundred taels. This is Emperor Kangxi's respect and reward for those who are skilled in chess, and it also reflects his love and dedication to playing chess.
When everyone looked at each other, a guard named Renfu stepped forward and decided to play against Kangxi. After some inquiry, Kangxi learned that Renfu loved to play chess since he was a child and his chess skills were exquisite, and he couldn't help but be happy.
So he immediately asked Renfu to sit down and a duel began. As soon as he entered the chessboard, Renfu showed a fierce offensive, and Kangxi could only defend passively. The person who knows chess next to him can see at a glance that Kangxi is already at a disadvantage in this game.
However, Kangxi did not admit defeat easily, he was still resisting stubbornly, trying to find out Renfu's flaws. It's just that Renfu's chess skills are too high, and Kangxi can't find them for a while.
The core idea of the new copy: a guard named Renfu bravely stood up to play against Kangxi when the ministers did not dare to resist. On the chessboard, Renfu showed his fierce offensive, and Kangxi could only defend passively.
Despite being at a disadvantage, Kangxi still did not give up, and he was still trying to find a flaw in Renfu. However, Renfu's superb chess skills made it impossible for Kangxi to find his weaknesses for a while.
At the critical moment when Kangxi was about to admit defeat, in order to save the emperor's face, the personal eunuch temporarily fabricated a news about the infestation of tigers in the mountains and forests, claiming that everyone could not fight and that Kangxi needed to hunt him personally.
As soon as he heard that there were tigers, Kangxi immediately regained his fighting spirit and explained to Renfu that he would deal with this crisis first, and then compete with him after the deal was completed. However, Kangxi did not find any tigers after going up the mountain, and it turned out that this news was fabricated by the eunuch and did not exist at all.
Kangxi returned to the palace disappointed, leaving his agreement with Renfu behind. Ten days later, Kangxi became interested in playing chess again, and when he thought of Renfu, he hurriedly ordered someone to recall him.
However, instead of waiting for Renfu, he got the news that Renfu died violently in the wilderness. Kangxi was shocked by this and did not understand why Renfu had suffered such a catastrophe, so he immediately led his men and horses back to the hunting ground to investigate in person.
After arriving at the hunting ground, Kangxi saw a scene that moved him very much. Although Renfu has died violently, he still sticks to the game that he must lose.
After many inquiries, Kangxi finally learned the reason for Renfu's violent death. It turned out that after Kangxi went to hunt the tiger, Renfu received an order to take care of the chessboard, so he stayed where he was, not daring to leave half a step.
Emperor Kangxi was negligent and forgot to lose the game of chess that he and Renfu played that day. After that, he didn't think about Renfu for ten days in a row. Unable to leave, Renfu stayed around the chessboard for ten days without eating or drinking, and finally starved to death by the chessboard.
At that time, there were not no other people in the hunting ground, but they all followed the eunuch's instructions and did not give Renfu food or drink. They believed that if the emperor lost the game in front of the guards, the world would laugh at him.
As a result, it is a pity that the forgotten Renfu died violently in the wilderness, and instead of waiting for the reward he deserved, he died.
After Kangxi knew what happened, he felt deeply guilty in his heart, and he said slowly: "If you don't keep your word, how can you be called a king?" The guilt-ridden Qianlong ordered Renfu to be properly buried and gave his family a rich reward, and the matter came to an end.
And the eight-character guilty words left by Qianlong have become classic sayings that have been passed down through the ages. Whether it is an emperor or an ordinary person, they should adhere to the word "faith", which is the basic code of conduct for the foundation of life and the world.
To this day, these eight words still apply to everyone. If a person loses his integrity, what awaits him will be the spurning of society.