Chapter 222 Live Broadcast from the Sky 2
Emperor Yongzheng, Aisin-Gioro Yinzhen, was the emperor of the last dynasty in our history, the Qing Dynasty, whose reign was the shortest but whose achievements were the greatest. It can be said that the Qing imperial family has been able to survive to this day. Although it is now a nominal dynasty, it is thanks to the achievements of Emperor Yongzheng that it has been able to continue.
This isn't something I made up; official documents say it all: "Respectfully inheriting the achievements of Emperor Shizong, blessing future generations." Even without looking at the documents, the reign title of our "daddy's boy," Emperor Chengtai, is quite clear. Chengtai, Chengtai, inheriting a peaceful and prosperous era, so Emperor Chengtai dedicated his life to maintaining the empire left by his father.
Therefore, although Emperor Chengtai also had the merit of expanding the territory, he is generally regarded by later generations as a ruler who maintained the status quo. Although the area of the territory he maintained was slightly larger, most of the territory of the two or three Qing dynasties was conquered during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng...
"!"How many?
People from all over time couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Two or three times the size of the Qing Dynasty? Although we don't know how big the Qing Dynasty was, it was the last dynasty that could be maintained to this day, so it must have been quite large. With such a vast area, why was Yongzheng called Emperor Shizong? Shouldn't he be called Emperor Wu?"
In the various timelines of the Qing Dynasty, whether it was Emperor Shunzhi standing with Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang or Emperor Kangxi and his entourage at the gate of the Qianqing Palace, they were all extremely surprised.
First, I was delighted to hear that the Qing imperial family had been passed down to later generations. Then I heard about Emperor Yongzheng's achievements in "expanding the territory".
The key question is, who is Emperor Yongzheng? He is Aisin Gioro Yinzhen, as specifically mentioned in the imperial edict, a guy with only a weak constitution. Did he ultimately conquer the world by force? Could it be that some kind of precious treasure later improved his physical condition?
When he received questioning looks from others, Yinzhen blushed. So what if he had four and a half strength? Why couldn't he expand the territory?
Before Kangxi could speak, Tianmu suddenly mentioned him again.
Alright, let's begin. When discussing the Yongzheng Emperor, we can't avoid mentioning his son, the Chengtai Emperor, in his later years, and we absolutely cannot avoid mentioning his father, the Kangxi Emperor, in his early years.
Emperor Kangxi, Aisin-Gioro Xuanye, was the third son of Emperor Shunzhi, Fulin. He ascended the throne at the age of 8 and assumed personal rule at 14. He quelled the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories and recovered Taiwan, laying the foundation for the Qing Dynasty's prosperity.
Hearing the praise from the heavens, Kangxi smiled gently, and the ministers below offered their congratulations one after another, creating an extremely pleasant atmosphere.
In Shunzhi's timeline, Fulin held the three-year-old Xuan Ye in his arms, looked at him carefully, and felt both relief and disappointment. Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, standing nearby, also looked rather unwell.
After all, under what circumstances would an emperor need to ascend the throne at the age of eight? Naturally, it would be if the previous emperor had died young. So, does that mean Fulin only had five years left to live?
"Summon the imperial physician!"
Chaos reigned in the palace, while the curtain of darkness continued to fall.
Emperor Kangxi was not only politically astute, but also exceptionally skilled at educating his sons. Each of his sons was outstanding, including Prince Zhi, Prince Li, and Prince Lian, all of whom could have been emperors in other dynasties. However, they encountered the even more capable Emperor Yongzheng.
With a single sentence, he praised Kangxi and all the princes, which naturally pleased everyone. Kangxi nodded repeatedly, saying, "Not bad, not bad, I am so good at teaching my sons."
While the other princes were happy, they couldn't help but look at Yinzhen, scrutinizing him, wondering what made him superior to them.
Emperor Yongzheng was born in the seventeenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. He was adopted by Empress Xiaoyi, then Consort Tongjia. Yes, adopted. Although official records list Consort Tongjia as Yongzheng's birth mother, historical records clearly indicate that his actual birth mother was Consort Uya.
It can only be said that Emperor Yongzheng was a very magnanimous and open-minded emperor. Later studies unanimously agree that Emperor Yongzheng's short life was partly due to the influence of Empress Wuya, and Emperor Kangxi even changed his imperial genealogy in his thirty-ninth year because of this. But Yongzheng made no attempt to conceal it...
At this moment, there was a deathly silence in front of the Qianqing Palace. After all, this year marks the fortieth anniversary. None of what was said on the sky had ever happened.
"This... could there be other Qing dynasties?"
Yinzhi was filled with doubt and uncertainty, while Crown Prince Yinreng seemed to be deep in thought: "Is this what Tianmu mentioned before, a parallel universe, the same people, but different development paths?"
Kangxi nodded, showing more composure than others, befitting an emperor: "Just watch. We are all part of the Qing Dynasty, and there are things we can learn from each other. Study hard."
"Yes." Everyone bowed in greeting, but Yinzhen felt quite disappointed.
When talking about Emperor Yongzheng, we cannot avoid the 39th year of Kangxi's reign. Many important events happened in that year, so we will start our story from the 39th year.
That year, Emperor Chengtai Honghui was still pregnant with Empress Xiaojing, then a secondary consort of the Ulanara clan, Yixiu. Yes, it was also from the Yongzheng Emperor onwards that women began to have clear names in historical records, instead of being referred to as "whose wife" or "clan name," which we will discuss later.
Returning to the major events that occurred in the thirty-ninth year, we must first discuss Yixiu's identity.
Consort Yixiu was the illegitimate daughter of Ulanara Feiyanggu, the Grand Minister of the Interior at the time. Ulanara was related to the Uya clan, the family of Consort De, the birth mother of Emperor Yongzheng. The timing of this connection was also quite clever, as it happened shortly after Consort Tongjia was made Empress and passed away.
Before this, Fei Yanggu's primary consort, a member of the imperial clan named Gioro, was closer to Consort Tongjia. Historical records show that Gioro often brought her daughter to the palace to pay respects to Consort Tongjia.
Historical records are not detailed, but you can ponder them carefully.
According to later scholars, a prevailing view is that after losing Empress Xiaoyi as his adoptive mother, the young Yongzheng Emperor was relatively low-key and not favored, and was seen as having little investment value by outsiders. Therefore, even if they wanted to win him over, Ulanara only sent a concubine's daughter, who was then betrothed to him as a secondary consort by Consort De, Uya clan.
However, the relationship between Yongzheng and his secondary consort Yixiu was still quite good. Otherwise, their eldest son Honghui wouldn't have been born in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, and the only thing that drew criticism from outsiders was the elevation of the secondary consort to the primary consort. Of course, this was later explained after Empress Xiaojing's letters were made public; it could only be said that Lady Uya was unethical.
But we've digressed again. We'll discuss the contents of Empress Xiaojing's letter later. Let's return to the thirty-ninth year.
In the thirty-ninth year, Yongzheng began to distinguish himself in the court. There were rumors that Emperor Kangxi was preparing to bestow upon him the title of Prince of the Second Rank. Once Yongzheng was granted the title of Prince, his rank among the princes would be second only to the First Prince and the Crown Prince, and his future would be bright.
Therefore, both Empress Ulanara and Consort De, of the Uya clan, could no longer remain silent. Empress Ulanara, acting on her own experience, felt that a concubine's daughter could not win over Emperor Yongzheng, so she wanted to elevate their legitimate daughter to the throne. Consort De, according to later analysis, actually disliked her eldest son's involvement in Empress Ulanara's schemes. Her true intention was to better control Emperor Yongzheng while simultaneously tarnishing his reputation.
Why do I say that? Because the legitimate daughter they promoted, Ulanara Rouze, was already engaged at the time. I don't know where they got their confidence from, thinking they could bewitch Yongzheng and stage a "king taking his subject's wife"...
In the inner palace, the concubines, also seated together watching the celestial spectacle, couldn't help but cast their gazes towards Consort De, whose face was grim. Even though they knew this wasn't happening in their own time, it was common knowledge that she favored her younger son and disliked her elder son.
She had a premonition that when the sky curtain ended this time, she wouldn't get anything good out of it.
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