Everyone knows that before Jiaqing came to the throne, Emperor Qianlong established Emperor Jiaqing as the emperor through secret health preservation methods. But it has also gone through many twists and turns.
Because Emperor Qianlong originally appointed the six-year-old second prince Yonglian as the crown prince and was born to Queen Xiaoxian, but he died at the age of nine. Later, Yong Cong, the seventh son born to Queen Xiaoxian, died of acne. "There was no one in the previous dynasty who could inherit the great power through the direct descendants of the Yuan Dynasty. I wanted to do something that my ancestors had not done before, and invited the ancestors to receive blessings that they could not get. This is my fault!" Emperor Qianlong's life was seventeen A son. By the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong (AD 1773), he had seven sons except those who died in infancy. Among them, the twelve sons, Yongji, were born to the deposed queen Ulanaradi and could not inherit. The fourth son Yongcheng and the sixth son Yongrong have been adopted and cannot be established. There were only four sons around at that time. The eighth son, Yongxuan, had a foot disease, was disabled, and was a drunkard. The eleventh son, Yongxing, is a genius in calligraphy, but too literary. The seventeenth son Yonglin is only eight years old. Therefore, we can only establish fifteen sons forever. When establishing Jiaqing as the crown prince, Emperor Qianlong once said that if Jiaqing does not enjoy the blessings, he will be punished immediately so that he can be re-established.
It can be seen that Emperor Jiaqing was actually not favored by Qianlong. If Qianlong had not found another suitable prince, Jiaqing would not have been able to take the position of emperor anyway. Moreover, Qianlong was still there when Jiaqing succeeded to the throne. Qianlong only gave the throne to Jiaqing in order not to exceed the reign record of his grandfather Kangxi.
Before Qianlong enthroned the Zen throne, he clearly announced that he would only hand over daily tasks such as receptions, meetings, sacrifices, etiquette, etc. to the emperor, but he still made his own decisions on military and state affairs before hiring people and government affairs. After abdicating the throne, when receiving envoys from North Korea, he clearly declared to all countries: "Although I have returned to power, I will still handle the big things." Although Qianlong had ceded the throne, he still held power. The so-called first year of Jiaqing was nothing more than Qianlong's. Just sixty-one years.
But Emperor Jiaqing did not dare to show his dissatisfaction at all. He could only hold it in his heart and try his best to please his father. For example, in February of the second year of Jiaqing, Jiaqing's wife and queen died of illness. Emperor Jiaqing was very sad, but he knew the emperor's psychology very well. After taking the throne, he made a decision alone for the first time: he ordered the Ministry of Rites to handle the queen's funeral in the simplest and fastest way. Although it was a great mourning, the emperor only stayed away from court for five days and stayed in plain clothes for seven days. The emperor also specially ordered the ministers, "because I serve the Supreme Emperor day and night, and try to create an auspicious atmosphere in everything". Ministers who come to see the Supreme Emperor are not allowed to wear mourning clothes, as long as they wear ordinary plain clothes. During the seven days of national mourning, Emperor Jiaqing never walked all the way to Qianqing Palace to prevent the bad luck of the funeral from being brought to places where the Emperor passed by on a daily basis. Wear mourning clothes when going out to attend events, and immediately change into regular clothes as soon as you return to the palace.
As soon as Qianlong died, Jiaqing let go. He had been suppressed for so long and dealt with Heshen first. Moreover, it was the day after Qianlong's death, which shows that Emperor Jiaqing had been depressed for a long time. Among them, Heshen also secretly gave Jiaqing a jade Ruyi to congratulate him on becoming emperor. This also became a crime against Heshen. The overthrow of Heshen meant that Jiaqing finally had real power. Therefore, Jiaqing was very repressed during Qianlong's lifetime and dared not speak out when he was angry. When Qianlong died, he was finally released. From this we can see how patient and scheming Emperor Jiaqing was.