Emperor Qianlong, also known as Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, had a surname of Aixinjueluo and a given name of Hongli. Even as a child, he was already deeply loved by his grandfather, Emperor Kangxi, and his father, Emperor Yongzheng. At the age of 25, he inherited the throne and became the sixth emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the fourth emperor after entering the customs. He has reigned for 60 years, and after abdicating, he actually held the supreme power for more than three years. It can be said that he is one of the longest-reigning emperors in the history of our country, second only to his grandfather Emperor Kangxi. In 1799 AD, he passed away in his sleep at the age of 89, making him the longest-lived emperor in the history of our country. He took in thirty or forty women and gave birth to 17 sons.
Of these 17 sons, some lived a long life, some died young, some were smart, and some were mediocre. The 15th son Yongyan was born when Emperor Qianlong was 50 years old, which was regarded as a son of old age. As for his qualifications, although they are not bad, they are not outstanding among many princes. In history, Yongyan did not impress people deeply before he ascended the throne. His main characteristics were: calm personality, decent behavior, diligent and studious. However, with relatively mediocre qualifications, he was secretly appointed crown prince by Emperor Qianlong before he was 15 years old. Before the age of 30, he had been named Prince Heshuojia. At the age of 36, he became the Emperor of Jiaqing. Why?
Let’s talk about Qianlong’s women and sons. Qianlong had thirty or forty women, not counting the palace maids, and he had 17 sons. But the woman he loves most in his life is still Empress Xiaoxian and Chun Fucha, and his favorite sons are the children this woman gave birth to. The Fucha family was of noble birth and belonged to the Manchurian Yellow Banner. My grandfather Mi Sihan was the Minister of Household Affairs during the Kangxi period and was highly regarded by the emperor. His father, Li Rongbao, once served as the general manager of Chahar. Uncles Ma Qi and Ma Wu were important ministers during the Kangxi and Yongzheng years. She was dignified, quiet, and well-educated. When she was 16 years old, she was selected by Emperor Yongzheng and became the direct descendant of Prince Hongli.
She has good looks, good temperament, culture, a thrifty personality, and does not like luxury, so she is deeply loved by the prince Hongli. After Hongli became Emperor Qianlong, although he was more romantic, his relationship with the Fucha family was still relatively deep. The two gave birth to four sons, among whom the eldest son, Qianlong's second son Yonglian, was Qianlong's favorite son. Not long after he ascended the throne, Emperor Qianlong secretly appointed his second son Yonglian as the crown prince. But unfortunately, the child died of illness before he was 10 years old. The grief-stricken Fucha family almost cried her eyes out. However, with the comfort of Emperor Qianlong, the woman quickly regained her vitality and vitality.
In 1746, the Fucha family, who was less than 35 years old, finally gave birth to Yong Cong, the seventh son of the emperor. Emperor Qianlong was extremely happy about this. How he hoped that this child could grow up soon, become his successor, and sail the giant ship of the Qing Empire to deeper seas. Unfortunately, the child soon became ill and died. The death of two sons in succession was an extremely painful blow to the Fucha family. She became increasingly haggard and died of illness on a cruise ship in Shandong before the age of 40. At that time, she was accompanying her husband on a tour in Shandong. After her death, Emperor Qianlong and the Empress Dowager were extremely sad. They held a grand funeral for her and buried her in Yuling.
Emperor Qianlong has always missed his deceased wife very much. When he was in his 80s, he wrote this poem: The auspicious land is approaching, and the pine trees are planted in the clouds. Huan recalled in late spring, forty-eight years. As for the Fucha family's younger brother Fu Heng and nephew Fu Kang'an, they were all favored by Emperor Qianlong, and the power and reputation of the Fucha family reached its peak. On the one hand, this is because the Fucha family is indeed talented, and on the other hand, it is also because Emperor Qianlong loves his family. However, it is said that the Fucha family began to decline during the Jiaqing period, but it was still relatively prosperous. Later, the surnames were changed to Fu, Fu, and Fu. Among the Manchus today, they are the most popular surnames after Guan.
However, after the two legitimate sons died in infancy, the eldest son Yonghuang was finally lucky enough to enter the sight of Emperor Qianlong. His mother is from the Zhenghuang Banner of Manchuria, but her family background is much worse than that of the Fucha clan. Therefore, she could only become a concubine of the prince Hongli, not even a concubine. However, she gave birth to her first son, the eldest son Yonghuang, to the prince Hongli. But unfortunately, this woman died of illness before Hongli ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, so she did not enjoy any blessings at all. His mother died early and his mother's family had little influence, so Yonghuang never received much attention from Emperor Qianlong.
He has always been relatively depressed and cannot get the attention of his father at all.
At the funeral of Empress Fucha, Yonghuang greeted the funeral as the eldest brother. Because he didn't act sentimental enough, he aroused the dissatisfaction of the emperor. At only 20 years old, he actually lost the qualification to be a reserve bank. From the perspective of Emperor Qianlong, the woman I love most is dead, and she is your aunt, why are you so calm? Are you beasts? You didn't even cry when your aunt died? The third son of the emperor, Yongzhang, was only in his early 10s. For the same reason, the angry Emperor Qianlong disqualified him from being crown prince. These two unlucky princes have been depressed because of this. One died at the age of 22, and the other died at the age of 25.
The eldest son and the third son of the emperor both died when they were less than 30 years old. The second son of the emperor, the eldest son, died of illness when he was less than 10 years old. Let’s talk about the fourth son of the emperor, Yongxuan, the fourth elder brother. Yongxun's mother was Jin Jia, and she was born as a servant. However, she was deeply favored by Emperor Qianlong and gave birth to four princes. After her death, she was posthumously named Imperial Concubine Shujia. However, Emperor Qianlong didn't seem to like the fourth child very much, and adopted him to his uncle, Prince Lu Yinshen, and became the prince's grandson. He may have been devastated by this, and died before he was 40 years old. As for Yong Rong, the sixth son of the emperor, he was also unlucky. He was adopted to a county prince and died before he was 50 years old.
The seventh son of the emperor, Yong Cong, the legitimate son, died young. The eighth prince, Yongxuan, lived a long life and lived to be nearly 90 years old. However, this man was frivolous, disabled, and not popular, so he never came into the sight of Emperor Qianlong. The tenth son of the emperor also died young, so among the first ten sons of Qianlong, only the fifth son of the emperor, Yongqi, still had a chance to become the future emperor. Yongqi was a talented man and a filial son. He was named Prince Rong when he was only 24 years old. One day, the palace suddenly caught fire. He desperately carried his father on his back to escape the fire, which moved the emperor to a complete mess. However, he died of bone tuberculosis at the age of 25 because it could not be cured.
In addition to missing Empress Fucha and his two legitimate sons, Emperor Qianlong also particularly missed his fifth son Yongqi. In his later years, when he received foreign envoys, he also mentioned that he was planning to make Yongqi, the fifth son of the emperor, the crown prince. After introducing the first ten princes, it’s time to introduce the remaining princes, namely: the eleventh son Yongxuan, the twelfth son Yongzhuang, the thirteenth son Zaoyao, the fourteenth son Zaoyao, the fifteenth son Yongyan, the sixteenth son Zaoyao, Seventeenth son Yonglin. The editor focuses on introducing the four princes, namely Yongxuan, Yongcun, Yongyan, and Yonglin. In fact, to put it bluntly, those who are qualified to compete for the throne are the eleventh son Yongxuan and the fifteenth son Yongyan.
The editor compiled the information of these seventeen princes: Yonghuang, the eldest son of the emperor, was considered disrespectful at the funeral of Empress Fucha and was deprived of the title of heir apparent. He died at the age of 22. Yonglian, the second son of the emperor, was the eldest son and died of illness before he was 10 years old. The third son of the emperor, Yongzhang, had the same experience and reasons as his eldest brother, and died before he was 30 years old. The fourth son of the emperor Yongxuan was adopted to someone else, the fifth son of the emperor Yongqi died of illness at the age of 25, and the sixth son of the emperor Yongrong was adopted to someone else. The seventh son of the emperor, Yong Cong, died young, and the eighth son of the emperor, Yong Xuan, was disabled, not popular, and behaved frivolously, so he was not qualified to be a heir apparent. The ninth son of the emperor died in infancy, the tenth son of the emperor died in infancy, the thirteenth son, the fourteenth son, and the sixteenth son all died in infancy.
There are still eleven, twelve, and seventeenth princes left. These three princes can compete with the fifteenth prince Yongyan for the throne. Among them, the twelfth prince Yongcan is worth mentioning. His mother was Huifanala, a native of Zhenghuang Banner in Manchuria, and the second empress of Emperor Qianlong. However, this child was very unlucky. Before he was 15 years old, his mother fell out of favor and died. He was also affected to some extent and died before the age of 25. As for the seventeenth son Yonglin, he is the youngest son of Emperor Qianlong. He is considered the most incompetent prince. He does not do his job properly and wanders around. Therefore, he is not liked by his father and is not qualified to be a heir apparent. However, he may be just trying to protect himself.
The eleventh son Yongxuan is also the son of Jin Jia. He was a famous calligrapher in the Qing Dynasty. His calligraphy and painting accomplishments were ranked among the "Four Qianlong Calligraphers" along with Weng Fanggang, Liu Yong and Tiebao. This man is thoughtful and talented, and can be regarded as a strong competitor of Yongyan, the fifteenth son. Emperor Qianlong admired his talent very much, but not his personality. It is said that he confiscated all the dowry from his wife, and she was forced to wear coarse clothes and linen every day and eat simple meals. What is even more exaggerated is that it is said that when his beloved horse died, he cried and ordered the whole family to eat horse meat. He took the lead in eating horse meat and was not allowed to cook other meals.
Is this person really stingy, or is he just a drama queen?
Emperor Qianlong repeatedly scolded his restless son, but Yongxuan did not repent and continued to defy the odds. Because of this, he lost the qualification to be a reserve. In this way, the fifteenth elder brother Yongyan, his elder brother and younger brothers: the one who died young, the one who was crippled, the one who died of illness at a young age, the two brothers were adopted to other clan members, the one who kept himself safe wisely... Except for the eleventh elder brother Yongxuan who is still a little bit of a threat, the others no longer pose any threat to him. At this time, after long-term thinking, Emperor Qianlong finally decided to pass the throne to a calm and peaceful person, leaving it to a monarch in his eyes.
In 1795, the fifteenth elder brother Yongyan was finally officially established as the crown prince. The next year, he ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, respecting Emperor Qianlong as the Supreme Emperor. But Emperor Qianlong always held the highest power before his death. In 1799, the Supreme Emperor passed away, and the 39-year-old Yongyan, the Jiaqing Emperor, finally took charge. Although he has great ambitions, his abilities are limited. Therefore, he has not achieved great achievements in his 25 years in office. The Qing Empire was weakening day by day, and he was helpless about it. After all, Emperor Qianlong left him such a mess. As for his disabled starling, he lived to be nearly 90 years old, and the stingy eleventh brother lived to be in his early 70s, both of which outlived him.