Kangxi died, Yongzheng killed his father's henchmen, why panic
Among the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi and Qianlong were the most widely known, and they often appeared in literary and film and television works. And Emperor Yinzhen, who is among them, although his reputation is not as big as theirs, he is also widely known because of the promotion of TV series such as "Yongzheng Dynasty", "The Legend of Zhen Huan", and "Step by Step".
Yongzheng's folk image and historical image are very different, and the reasons are varied, but no matter which image, his mean and cold character is recognized.
According to the memoirs of the Italian missionary Ma Guoxian, he heard cries, cries for help, and screams on the night of the Kangxi Emperor's death, and discovered that Zhao Chang, the great eunuch next to the old emperor, was missing.
This may serve as a strong evidence of Yongzheng's character.
Ma Guoxian recalled and gathered information, and concluded that the cries of that night were made by everyone when the old emperor died, and the cries for help and screams came from the great eunuch Zhao Chang. Soon after the death of the old emperor, Zhao Chang was executed by the newly enthroned emperor.
Ma Guoxian did not explain the reason for Zhao Chang's killing, and the civil and military officials and palace maids did not disclose any information. Later, Emperor Yongzheng made public Zhao Chang's crimes: colluding with the abolished prince Yinzhuo, monitoring his words and deeds, and there was serious corruption.
No matter which one it is, he will not execute a eunuch in the palace when Emperor Kangxi has not yet rested. In particular, Zhao Chang was not an ordinary eunuch.
Zhao Chang was Kangxi's young boy, in the early days of Kangxi's reign, he was a eunuch, to the middle of the reign, his status continued to rise, and finally became the head of the internal affairs office, and even promoted to the head of the internal government, won the trust of Emperor Kangxi.
Zhao Chang accompanied the Kangxi Emperor for about sixty years and experienced most of the political events of the mid-to-late Kangxi Dynasty. He can be said to be Kangxi's most trusted close person. Zhao Chang may know more secrets than Kangxi.
Therefore, it is reasonable to guess that Zhao Chang's death was because he knew too many secrets.
In the last twenty years of his life, Emperor Kangxi witnessed the fierceness of the struggle for the succession and the throne of the nine kings. The past 20 years have included almost all the typical routines of the seizure of the crown in history.
Among Kangxi's princes, Yinzhen ranked fourth and was known as the fourth elder brother. Although he does not have the eldest brother's elder, the second elder brother's relatives, the third elder brother's talent, and the eighth elder brother's reputation, he also does not have it.
Ten, ten. The strength of the third and fourteenth elder brothers, but he was able to stand out and become the emperor.
This is not accidental, because Yinzhen does have outstanding abilities, and he was named Prince Yong as early as a young man, which was very rare in the Qing Dynasty. It can be seen that Yinzhen's ascendancy does not depend on favor, but on his own strength and talent.
Yinzhen is praised for his excellent governance skills, but his ruthless personality also makes him easy to offend when dealing with difficult matters. Under the cultivation of Emperor Kangxi, Yinzhen was regarded as a future ruler.
However, the vicissitudes of fate put him facing a serious challenge from the Six Kings to seize the throne. In this struggle for the throne, Yinzhen has become a strong contender by virtue of its longest chronological advantage.
However, the eighth, ninth, tenth, and fourteenth elder brothers formed an alliance to compete for the crown, and the fourteenth elder brother was even more suspicious and tried to replace the eighth elder brother.
The thirteenth elder brother was Yinzhen's right-hand man, but he was unfortunately implicated in the second abolition of the prince incident and was placed under house arrest for a long time. Since then, Yinzhen has dealt with various challenges alone, and it was not until the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother grew up that it was slightly relieved.
In the last eight years of Kangxi's reign, Yinzhen gradually emerged. According to historical records, Yinzhen has the courage to face difficulties and is not afraid of cumbersomeness. When the other elder brothers are noticeable, he does a behind-the-scenes job in obscurity.
Over time, although there was no great achievement, it entered Kangxi's field of vision. However, what history does not record is that Yinzhen is not a person who only works hard. In order to finally ascend to the throne, he must have also done a lot of secret work.
Among them, is it related to Zhao Chang?
After Yinzhen transformed into Yongzheng, should Zhao Chang, who has mastered these secrets, end his life? Judging from the emperor's scheming and Yongzheng's character, this seems to be an inevitable choice.
Yongzheng did kill some people after succeeding to the throne, but through the analysis of the slain, we can find an interesting phenomenon. Most of the people killed by Yongzheng were corrupt, fraudulent and deceitful at all levels, and these two crimes were the most hated by Yongzheng.
Emperor Yongzheng advocates truth and fairness, he opposes deception and contempt, and he attaches more importance to the attitude of admitting mistakes rather than the degree of mistakes. He insists on honesty and hopes that the country and the people can prosper, so he will not be soft on any ** behavior.
Once these two red lines are crossed, the consequences will be unimaginable. However, for political opponents, although they may have challenged his position, as long as they do not touch these two red lines, Yongzheng usually leaves them a way out.
While they may be humiliated and imprisoned, it is rare for them to be beheaded.
So, you see, in Yongzheng's decision to kill, he has a scale in his heart about who should be killed and who should not be killed. Although the eighth elder brother once posed a threat to his throne, in the end, Yongzheng chose to imprison him; For Nuomin, who deceived the world and stole his name, he wanted to cut him in half regardless of the emperor's face.
Back in Zhao Chang, his fate tells us that he belongs to the person who must be killed in the eyes of Yongzheng. Whether it is due to corruption or deception, the sin of the person who must be killed cannot be ignored.
From the perspective of time, corruption is only a superficial phenomenon, and keeping secrets is Yongzheng's real intention.
Throughout the ages, every king has not killed at will during his reign. Although in the long course of history, there were always some mediocre monarchs, but under the rule of Emperor Yongzheng, this phenomenon did not exist.
As a wise man, every murder he makes has a clear purpose. For the victim, Zhao Chang, he was only a victim of political struggle. Although he was a confidant of Emperor Kangxi for many years, at critical moments, he had to sacrifice for the good of the country.