Emperor Kangxi, the founder of the prosperous Kangqian era, an outstanding monarch. The question of his succession to the throne has always been a historical mystery, which has led to countless debates and speculations.
Kangxi left an edict on his deathbed, designating the fourth son Yinzhen as the heir to the throne, that is, the later Yongzheng Emperor.
However, the authenticity of this edict, whether Yinzhen was the legitimate heir recognized by Kangxi, and whether he won the throne by tampering with the edict or other means have always plagued later generations and have also become the inspiration for many literary and film works.
In recent years, with the disclosure of some precious historical materials and documents, the truth of Kangxi's legacy has gradually emerged, revealing the veil of the mystery of Yongzheng's seizure of the throne.
In his 1622 edict, Nurhachi, the founder of the Later Jin Dynasty, proposed a unique plan for the succession to the throne of the Khan - "Eight Harmony Shuobel Co-governance of the State", or "Eight Kings Co-governance".
The core idea is not to appoint any specific heir, but to have eight sons or nephews, that is, Baylor, the banner lord of the Eight Banners, participate in the decision-making and management of the country, forming a political system similar to that of Western parliaments.
The main purpose of this program is to prevent the national turmoil caused by personal dictatorship, and at the same time, it can also reflect the equality and unity of the Eight Banners, and safeguard the interests and security of Houjin.
This political system is actually the embodiment of military democracy, because the Eight Banners are both military organizations and political organizations, and Baylor, the banner owner of the Eight Banners, is both a military general and a political leader, and they decide on the major affairs of Houjin through consultation and voting.
The four major Baylors held important positions in the Jurchen regime, including Daishan, Amin, Mang Gurtai, and Huang Taiji. Huang Taiji has a calm personality, is well versed in Han culture and system, and is loved by Nurhachi.
However, before his death, Nurhachi did not explicitly designate Huang Taiji as his heir, but let the four major beylers co-govern in order to maintain the stability and unity of Houjin.
Huang Taiji faced great challenges in his succession to the throne, but by weakening the power of the other three Baylors, he eventually established the Manchu regime, which marked the birth of the Qing dynasty's imperial power.
During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, he tried to change the succession system of the Khan to the system of primogeniture. He appointed the second elder brother Yinren as the crown prince, and looked forward to him going smoothly**.
However, the crown prince was carried away by power and flattery, became conceited and domineering, ignoring the interests of his brother and the country.
He secretly formed a party for personal gain, tried in vain to control the government and military power, and even tried to usurp the throne. The process is fraught with power struggles and bloodshed.
Emperor Kangxi became suspicious and wary of his actions, investigated and monitored him, and found that he had committed many crimes and conspiracies.
In the end, he was deposed as the crown prince, although the Kangxi Emperor later reinstated him, but he still did not know how to restrain, resulting in the Kangxi Emperor abolishing his crown prince for the second time, and he never had the opportunity to reinstate again.
In this process, the fourth elder brother Yinzhen and the eighth elder brother Yinzhen became the most promising candidates. However, the eighth elder brother Yinyu has a not-so-smart ally, the eldest elder brother Yinyu.
The eldest elder brother actually proposed to Emperor Kangxi to make the eighth elder brother Yinren the crown prince, and said that he could kill Yinren for his father. When Emperor Kangxi heard this proposal, he was very shocked and felt that the eldest brother was too vicious.
However, what is worse is that the eldest brother was exposed to use witchcraft to stop Yinren, which made Emperor Kangxi even more disgusted with him, and also made the eighth elder brother Yinren lose the opportunity.
For a time, the fourth elder brother Yinzhen and the fourteenth elder brother Yinzhen became the most promising successors to the throne. The edict left by Kangxi was that the fourth elder brother Yinzhen inherited the unification, which was confirmed in the official records.
The edict was read by Long Keduo and is currently stored in the First Historical Archives of China. Although official records show that Yongzheng was the heir chosen by his father, there are many speculations circulating among the people that Yongzheng usurped the throne.
A popular legend holds that the Kangxi Emperor had intended to pass the throne to his fourth son, Yunyu, who was Yongzheng's younger brother.
Yun Yu was the favored son of Emperor Kangxi, and successfully quelled the Luobzang Danjin rebellion in the Qinghai region, and established brilliant military exploits.
When Emperor Kangxi was dying, he tried to recall Yunyu, but Yongzheng's confidant Long Keduo stopped the action.
After the death of Emperor Kangxi, Yongzheng used the internal affairs and household departments under his control to tamper with the edict of Emperor Kangxi, changing the "fourteenth son" to "passing on the fourth son", that is, changing the word "ten" to the word "Yu", thus illegally ascending the throne.
Although Yun Yu had a fierce argument with Yongzheng after learning the truth, he finally had no choice but to accept the reality and retreated. This claim, while plausible, is not supported by sufficient evidence.
First of all, Emperor Kangxi's edict was written in Manchu, Chinese, and Mongolian, both of which were pinyin scripts, which were extremely difficult to tamper with.
In February, the Dynamic Incentive Plan And in the Qing Dynasty, simplified Chinese characters had not yet appeared, and people all over the country used traditional Chinese characters for writing and reading.
Whether it is the royal nobles or the common people, whether it is an official document or a private letter, everyone is accustomed to writing the word "Yu" as the word "Yu".
Secondly, Emperor Kangxi's evaluation of Yongzheng was "moody", and his evaluation of Yunyu was "true temperament", which fully shows that Emperor Kangxi did not favor the choice of the successor to the throne, but valued their talent and loyalty.
Moreover, in the later years of Emperor Kangxi, Yongzheng once had a ceremony to worship the heavens in the southern suburbs, which was undoubtedly a great trust and test for him. This fact also proves Yongzheng's legitimate succession to the throne from the side.
To sum up, Yongzheng's throne is not a usurpation, but a legitimate succession.