Longkeduo was a relative of the Emperor and the only official who passed on Xuanye's will. He became an important figure during the transition between the Kang and Yong dynasties. His special status determined that Yinzhen had to rely on him at the beginning of his reign. For this reason, on the second day after Xuan Ye's death, Yinzhen appointed Longkeduo as the Prime Minister. And Longkodo also knew that the Emperor had already regarded him as a person of great importance. If he did his best, he might be able to get further promotion. That was why he cooperated with Yinzhen in the autumn of crisis. As the commander of the infantry, Longkeduo had 3,000 soldiers under his command and was in charge of the nine gates of the capital. He used the power in his hands to ensure the stability of the capital during the state funeral, so that anyone who was dissatisfied with the new king could not easily take action. This greatly promoted the stability of the imperial power. As a royal relative and minister, Longkeduo also assisted Yinzhen in arranging the grand funeral of Emperor Kangxi. He played an important role in the "appearance" of the new emperor at the beginning of his accession to the throne.
During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Longkeduo was not a member of the Emperor's Four Sons. After he ascended the throne, he could not see through Longke for many times. Longkeduo's actions greatly won Yinzhen's appreciation, which made Yinzhen sigh,"This person is the loyal minister of the True Sage Zu Huangkao, my meritorious minister, a good minister of the country, and the most rare minister of the current generation.”In order to keep this person, whose status and role were extremely subtle, Yinzhen continued to promote him after appointing him as the Prime Minister. Soon after Yinzhen ascended the throne, he ordered to imitate his uncle's grandfather Tong Guowei's example and called Longke Duo his uncle. Then, he ordered Long Keduo to be the Minister of Civil Affairs and inherit the title of First Duke of his father, Tong Guowei, and add the title of First Class Adaharfan. In March of the first year of Yongzheng, he was awarded the title of Grand Scholar of Baohe Hall and the title of Taibao. In the second year of Yongzheng, Longke was appointed as the minister of the Ministry of Justice and served as the president of the compilation of the Record of Shengzu and the Code of Qing Dynasty. Not long after, Longkeduo and Nian Gengyao received extraordinary gifts from Yinzhen at the same time, such as double-eyed flower feathers, four dragon patches, yellow belt, purple hand pull, etc. Just like that, Longkeduo gradually became a prominent official in the court from an ordinary infantry commander at the end of Kangxi's reign.
Later on, Longkeduo's fall from grace was closely followed by Nian Gengyao's conviction. In November of the second year of Yongzheng, Yinzhen's attitude towards Nian Gengyao changed drastically. In the first month of the second year, he ordered the dismissal of Longkeduo's infantry commander position. This was the beginning of Lonkoto's fall from grace. It had been nearly three years since he was finally punished. During this time, Yinzhen also dealt with Longkeduo like how he dealt with Nian Gengyao. He stripped him of his power bit by bit and killed him step by step..
Although Longkeduo and Nian Gengyao had similar statuses and roles, there was a huge difference between them. Nian Gengyao held military and political power, arrogant and domineering, far away in the western border, once he had a different heart, Yinzhen was difficult to control. Although Longkeduo's status was high, he was by the Emperor's side. If there was any trouble, he would be caught by Yinzhen. This forced Longkedo to hide, restrain, and be tactful. In the end, Longkeduo was convicted of 41 major crimes. It could be seen that although the crimes he committed were similar to Nian Gengyao's, such as " great disrespect,"" deception,"" lawlessness,"" greed," and so on, the contents were very different. Among Longkeduo's crimes, he couldn't find anything as lawless as Nian Gengyao. The so-called 'great disrespect' and 'deception' were merely 'copying the jade archive and keeping it at home; Emperor Shengzuren issued the imperial letter in person and left it in the wing room as a toy. He imitated Zhuge Liang and reported that the day the White Emperor City was given the order was the day of his death. Although Longkedo had his moments of arrogance, he did not kneel down to King Liqin like before. This was entirely because he was a minister of the King of Parliament. It was not arrogant or rude. As for the sixteen sins of greed, which were the heaviest of the forty-one, they only had five hundred thousand taels of silver and a thousand taels of gold. Compared to the wealth that Nian Gengyao had amassed, this was just a drop in the ocean. If Nian Gengyao's crime was a capital offense, Longkeduo's crime was obviously not a capital offense. Then, there must be a reason why Yinzhen killed Lonkeduo.
Generally speaking, if Longkeduo was a minister who helped Yinzhen plot to usurp the throne, Yinzhen punished him to silence him. According to the previous analysis, before Yinzhen came to power, although he was also involved in the struggle between the princes, it was still Xuan Ye's original intention for him to ascend the throne. Lonkoto did not participate in any conspiracy. He was just standing firmly on Yinzhen's side and using his power to ensure the transition of the imperial power. Longkeduo's conviction was entirely due to Nian Gengyao's arrogance and Yinzhen's suspicion.
As the Prime Minister, Lonkedo had to meet the Emperor almost every day when Yinzhen ascended the throne. Yinzhen himself was wise and sensitive. The secret methods and cavalry he set up were everywhere. It was impossible for the emperor to hide the every move of the ministers in the capital from the eyes and ears of the emperor. If Longkeduo had any disloyalty, he would have been in Yinzhen's control long ago, and there was no need to delay it for three years. After a fundamental change in Yinzhen's attitude towards Nian Gengyao, he immediately removed Longkeduo's military power, but at that time, he did not find any abnormal signs of Longkeduo. The original intention of Yinzhen's action was to shift his distrust of Nian Gengyao to Longkeduo. From Yinzhen's self-condemnation on the issue of Nian and Long in May of the third year of Yongzheng, it can be seen that he had always regarded Nian and Long as his heart and entrusted them with important tasks. According to Yinzhen's guess, Nian Gengyao could rely on the power given by the emperor to do whatever he wanted, and Longkeduo could not guarantee that he would abide by the law. The precedent of Nian Gengyao and Yinzhen's suspicion made Longkeduo inevitably unlucky.
At the beginning of the third year of Yongzheng, when Yinzhen began to reduce Longkeduo's power, he did not intend to kill Longkeduo. Later, as the situation developed, he made this decision. In July of that year, when the Ministry of Civil Affairs was ordered by the emperor to discuss the reports of local officials against Nian Gengyao, Longkeduo actually suggested that Nian Gengyao should continue to retain his title as a third-class duke. He was so brazenly sheltering Nian Gengyao that he was impeached by the Imperial Censorate, and Yinzhen ordered him to be stripped of his Taibao title. In the first month of the fourth year of Yongzheng, Long Keduo was impeached by the Ministry of Justice for extorting money from Kuixu and Antu's families. He was also removed from his position as Minister of Civil Affairs and sent to Xinjiang and Heilong to participate in the border negotiations with Cewang Arabtan and Russia as a test. In September of that year, a rape case that shook the whole country occurred in Jiangxi. The cabinet grand secretary was ordered to be the chief examiner of the Jiangxi provincial examination. In the examination papers, there were questions such as "Zhengda and the feelings of heaven and earth can be seen" and "Hundred families are full, women and children are peaceful", which was consistent with Wang Jingqi's rape that happened the year before. Wang Jingqi once suggested that in the year titles of the past dynasties, the word "Zheng" had the image of "stopping", such as Zhenglong, Zhengda, Zhizheng, Zhengde, Zhengtong, etc.(all were the year titles of failure or subjugation), so it was thought to be an allusion to Yongzheng, and Wang was sentenced to death. This time, Zha Siting's test questions had the words "correct" and "stop". Yinzhen nervously linked Zha Siting to Wang Jingqi, thinking that Zha Siting was following in Wang's footsteps and "mocking current affairs", so he ordered Zha Siting to be executed. Zha Siting's exam questions had nothing to do with Longkeduo. At that time, one of them was in Jiangnan, and the other was in Northern Frontier. However, Zha Siting was only able to become an official because of Long Keduo's recommendation. Yinzhen believed that Zha Tingsu had colluded with Longkeduo, which deepened his suspicion of Longkeduo. In the spring of the following year, Loncodo added another crime. The Imperial Clan Court reported that Abulan, a member of the Imperial Clan, had handed the jade archive to Longkeduo for safekeeping. Abulan had once carved a stone to praise Yunji and had long been regarded as a dissident by Yinzhen. At this moment, Longke Duo was colluding with Yunzhi's trusted aides to hide the jade archive. He must have ulterior motives. Therefore, before the border negotiations ended, Yinzhen ordered Longkeduo to be transferred back and removed his hereditary title of First Duke.
Yinzhen believed that Longkeduo had been in contact with the party of Yunchi, Aling 'a and Kuixu, in the year of Kangxi. At this time, he hid the jade certificate and reported to Zha Siting, the rebellious disciple. Obviously, he had a rebellious heart. The initial doubts and these facts prompted Yinzhen to make the final decision to deal with Lonkodo. In October of the fifth year of Yongzheng, he instructed the princes and ministers to impeach Longke for committing 41 major crimes." He should be executed immediately, his wife and children should be put into the Xinzheku, and his property should be put into the official." Perhaps he was worried that the fishing boat would accuse him of being ruthless, so Yinzhen added,"The 41 felonies committed by Longkedo cannot be punished. However, on the day of the emperor's death, I summoned my brothers and Longke to see him, and issued an edict to him face to face, handing over the throne to me. Among the ministers, only Long Ke was appointed. Now because of the crime to kill, although in accordance with the law is appropriate, but my heart can not bear. Longke had the heart to betray the emperor's examination and my high kindness, and did not act recklessly. I had mistrusted him at the beginning, and I had not strictly enforced the ban on him. Now I am the only one who has taken the blame.”In the end, Yinzhen ordered that Longkeduo be exempted from punishment and that a prison be built near Changchun Garden, where Longkeduo would be imprisoned for life. After Longkeduo was imprisoned, he died very quickly, just like Yunchen and Yunchen who were imprisoned a year ago. Yinzhen's "great cause" of eliminating dissidents in the court came to an end. However, if the above analysis of Longkeduo's situation was true, this was an unjust imprisonment caused by Yinzhen's suspicious mind.
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