Among Kangxi's many sons, there are not a few outstanding people, in addition to the well-known fourth elder brother Yinzhen and the Yongzheng Emperor who later ascended the throne, as well as the fourteenth elder brother who is both civil and military, there is also a person who can be called a great talent, if Kangxi passed the throne to him, his achievements will definitely surpass Yongzheng, he is Yinxiang.
Yinxiang, born in early October of the lunar calendar in 1696, has been deeply favored by Kangxi since he was a child. invited the best teachers to teach him and personally taught him to read Confucian classics, which shows the importance that the emperor attached to him.
At the age of 12, he accompanied his father to pay homage to the ancestors of Manchuria, which was an incomparably glorious event that proved his status. When he was 17 years old, his father took him on a tour of the south, and on the way he wrote couplets with brilliant writing and exquisite calligraphy, which attracted the praise of the ministers.
During the autumn hunt, he showed superb riding and archery skills in front of the civil and military officials, which aroused the applause of the audience. Kangxi was very happy when he saw this scene, and immediately gave a large number of jewels as a reward.
This move caused the ministers to talk a lot, and privately speculated whether Kangxi would pass on the crown prince to Yinxiang and make him the future master of the Qing Dynasty.
Yinxiang has the qualities of being an emperor, which is reflected in his rationality, clerical ability, overall vision and curiosity. In 1708, the crown prince was deposed, and Yinxiang sheltered him in private, which made him dissatisfied and confined by Kangxi.
Although Kangxi forgave him later, he no longer trusted and favored him, but guarded him everywhere, which made him physically and mentally exhausted and seriously ill. Although his condition has improved after recuperation, every time in the bitter cold season of spring and autumn, the old disease will **.
In the prosperous era of Kangqian, Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, and urgently needed important ministers to assist in national affairs, Yinxiang lived up to high expectations, devoted himself to governing the country, turned the tide, and quelled major crises such as the rebellion in the northwest, the flooding of the Yellow River, and the locust plague in South China, so that Yongzheng could concentrate on fighting corruption.
He actively assisted Yongzheng in the investigation, starting from the household and the officials, picketing more than 100 people, clearing the officialdom and cleaning up the unhealthy trend. However, the overwork made Yinxiang weak, coughing, and vomiting blood frequently.
Yongzheng immediately dispatched the Imperial Doctor**, but the effect was not good. He was deeply worried that Yinxiang would die in office, so he ordered him to go home to recuperate and temporarily suspend his post.
Yinxiang is a person who does not want to be idle, he will enter the palace every ten days to chat with Yongzheng for a while. Although Yongzheng advised him to rest and recuperate every time, he insisted on his own opinion, and would go back and forth between the palace and the Forbidden City regardless of wind or rain.
The following year, his condition suddenly worsened, even to the point where he could not speak. After Yongzheng learned the news, he immediately asked the Tai Hospital to jointly "consult" and tried every means to save him.
However, unfortunately, even if the imperial physicians exhausted all their knowledge and skills, they could not pull him back from the line of life and death. At the beginning of the fifth lunar month, he died at home at the age of 44.
When Yongzheng heard the bad news, he couldn't help but shed tears. He personally organized a funeral for Yinxiang, dressed in plain clothes to worship him, and ordered the whole country to mourn for three days, during which no one was allowed to organize large-scale activities, otherwise he would be severely punished.
Surprisingly, Yongzheng's third son was directly removed from the title by Yongzheng because he was a little late for Yinxiang's funeral and was placed under house arrest.
Yinxiang's life can be described as magnificent, he was once expected to win the throne, but because of a trivial incident attracted his father's suspicion, his status has plummeted and he has been neglected.
However, after Yongzheng ascended the throne, he was able to make a comeback and become the right-hand man of the new emperor, laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of the Yongzheng court. If Yinxiang ascended the throne, the Qing Dynasty might be more prosperous, maybe it would not be closed off from the country, but directly open to the outside world, keeping up with the trend of the times, and the Qing Dynasty at that time would definitely not be bullied by the great powers, and the humiliating history such as the invasion of the British and French coalitions and the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance would not have happened.