From the 51st year of Kangxi to the 61st year of his death, Xuan Ye was troubled by the issue of the crown prince. As for how to choose the heir and which prince to choose, he was always thinking about it, but he often overthrew his own ideas. It was only a year before his death that he finally decided on his successor.
In the fifty-second year of Kangxi, Xuan Ye refuted Zhao Shenqiao's request to establish a crown prince in his memorial. He summarized the experience and lessons of establishing a crown prince in advance in history and his own early years, and proposed the principle of no longer establishing a crown prince in advance in the future. Song Renzong did not establish a prince for 30 years. Emperor Taizu did not appoint a crown prince in advance, and Emperor Taizong did not appoint a crown prince in advance. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, the prince was young and wanted to protect himself from trouble. If the prince was old, the small people around him formed cliques for personal gain, and few of them could protect themselves from trouble. Now the princes 'knowledge and knowledge are not inferior to others, but they are all grown up and have been enfeoffed. There is no one among their subordinates who does not protect their master. Even if they are established, can they guarantee that there will be no trouble in the future?……Ordinary people can still be educated when they are young, but when they grow up, once they are tempted by the cliques, they will do their own things and can no longer be restrained. The crown prince is happy and cannot be easily determined. At this time, although the principle of not appointing a crown prince was proposed, there was no specific method. In November of the fifty-sixth year of Kangxi, Xuan Ye suddenly summoned his ministers and announced an imperial edict of more than two thousand words. The center was to summarize his achievements in his life and his plans to pass on the throne. At that time, the empress dowager was critically ill. Xuan Ye might have been reminded of the scene. Considering that he was over 60 years old and had not made clear the arrangements for his funeral once he died suddenly, he announced his will in advance. When talking about the establishment of the crown prince, he said: Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty passed on his will to Empress Lu, and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty set the crown prince as Zhangsun Wuji. Every time I read this, I am deeply ashamed. Some villains, hoping that in a moment of panic, can abolish or establish their own power, push and support a person in the hope of future happiness, I still have a breath, how can I tolerate such people?…Now my neighbor has petitioned for the establishment of a crown prince, which is to worry that I will have a sudden change. Life and death are common sense, I do not avoid, only the world's power, should be unified. For ten years, I have written down all the things I have done and all the thoughts I have, but I have not yet finished them. How can I forget the great event of establishing the crown prince? In this will, Kangxi talked about the past and the present, fully expressing his concern about the various unexpected events that would happen when the Crown Prince was not in place. At the same time, he also expressed his determination not to allow the princes and ministers to form cliques for the throne. The struggle for the throne was the most difficult problem Xuan Ye faced in his later years. He had fought with the princes for more than ten years. The princes resisted his orders, but he could not be strict or lenient to the sons. It was really difficult. An all-powerful and wise monarch had been repeatedly defeated by his sons. This could not help but make him worry about unexpected changes in the future. He had repeatedly made a serious estimate of the future situation, saying that the various philosophers would force me to abdicate and place me in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. He had expressed several times that if nothing happened, I would be satisfied. In order to achieve peace, he had to ensure that his power would not be disturbed by any prince or minister, and that it would be safely handed over to his successor. Not choosing a crown prince was the safest way to transition power in this situation. After that, although Zhu Tianbao and Wang Wei had petitioned for the crown prince, and Xuan Ye had ordered the Ministry of Rites to consult the Crown Prince's etiquette, he had never wavered in his principle of not choosing the crown prince in advance. After the principles were established, Xuan Ye spent the last ten years of his life choosing his successor.
After Xuan Ye deposed the crown prince, he once said to the ministers, After ten thousand years, I will certainly choose a strong and reliable person to be the master of the country with you, so that you will be wholeheartedly convinced and not implicate your ministers. This person should naturally be Xuan Ye's chosen successor. However, there was no other written record of who this person was except for the emperor's fourth son, Yin Zhen, in the edict announced after Xuan Ye's death. This could only be analyzed and speculated from Xuan Ye's attitude towards the philosophers in the ten years before his death.
Xuan Ye had thirty-five sons in his life. In addition to those who died in the sky, there were twenty-four people who were called princes. The first time was in the thirty-seventh year of Kangxi, when the eldest son of the emperor, Yunzhi, was granted the title of Prince of Duoluozhi, the third son of the emperor, Yunzhi, was granted the title of Prince of Duoluocheng, and the fourth son of the emperor, Yinzhen, the fifth son of the emperor, Yunqi, the seventh son of the emperor, Yunyou, and the eighth son of the emperor, Yunzhi, were all granted the title of Duoluobei. The second time was in the 48th year of Kangxi. The third son of the emperor, Yunzhi, was promoted to Prince Cheng. The fourth son of the emperor, Yinzhen, and the fifth son of the emperor, Yunqi, were promoted to Prince Yong and Prince Heng by Baylor. The seventh son of the emperor, Yunyou, was promoted to Prince Chun. The eighth son of the emperor, Yunzhi, only retained the original title of Baylor because of the broken relationship with Xuanye. This time, the new ones were the ninth son of the emperor, Yunzhi, the tenth son of the emperor, Yunzhi, the twelfth son of the emperor, and the fourteenth son of the emperor, Yunzhi. Among these four people, other than Yun Yuwo who was granted the title of Dun Prince, the others were all granted the title of Gushan Bei Zi.：
In the fifty-first year of Kangxi, Emperor Yunreng was deposed again. The eldest son, Emperor Yunyi, and the second son, Emperor Yunreng, were deeply hated by Xuan Ye, and there was no possibility of them making a comeback. Emperor eight son Yun Wei and Xuan Ye also cut off the relationship between father and son; The ninth son of the emperor, Yun, was hated by Xuan Ye because he followed Yun.(This was because Yun was granted the title of Bei Zi, and Yun Yuwo, who was ranked behind him, was granted the title of Prince.) For some reason, the thirteenth son of the Emperor, Yunxiang, was also hated by Xuan Ye. Even Yunzhi, who was two years younger than him, was given the title of Bei Zi, but he had never been given the title of nobility. The sons of the Emperor and below were young and did not have a noble title. They were not within Xuan Ye's consideration. In this way, he focused his attention on choosing his successor, the third son of the emperor, Yunzhi, the fourth son of the emperor, Yinzhen, the fifth son of the emperor, Yunqi, the seventh son of the emperor, Yunyou, the tenth son of the emperor, Yunwo, the twelfth son of the emperor, and the fourteenth son of the emperor. The fifth son of the emperor, Yunqi, and the seventh son of the emperor, Yunyou, were ordered to lead the main yellow flag camp and the inlaid yellow flag camp respectively when they attacked Galdan in the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi. However, after the fifty-first year of Kangxi, other than accompanying the emperor in Rehe and the capital, he had almost never been appointed to take on any important matters. The tenth son of the Emperor, Yun Yuwo, and the twelfth son of the Emperor, Yun Yu, were in a slightly better situation. In the 57th year of Kangxi, I was ordered to handle the affairs of the three flags of Zhenghuang Banner, Manmeng and Han. During the funeral of Empress Dowager Xiaohui in the fifty-sixth year of Kangxi, Yun was appointed to act as the chief of the Internal Affairs Department. The next year, he handled the affairs of the three flags. In the sixty year of Kangxi, he was sent to Shengjing with the four sons of the emperor to worship the three mausoleums. However, in general, Xuanye's trust and attention to them were far less than Yunzhi, Yinzhen, and Yunzhi. It could be said that in his later years, Kangxi cultivated, identified, and selected his successor from these three people.
The third son of the emperor, Yunzhi, was very favored by Xuanye. In the twenty-ninth year of Kangxi, when Xuan Ye personally went to Galdan, Yunzhi was only thirteen years old. He was ordered to go to the palace with Crown Prince Yunreng to pay his respects. In the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi, he was ordered to lead the yellow flag camp and went to Galdan with Xuan Ye again. Yunzhi was better than other princes in astronomy and mathematics. Xuanye also gave him some jobs that other princes could not do. For example, in the forty-second year of Kangxi's western tour of Qin and Jin Dynasties, Yunzhi was specially ordered to survey the Sanmenxia pillar of the Yellow River. In the fifty-second year of Kangxi, Yunzhi was ordered to lead He Guozong, a lucky man, to compile books on astronomy, Lulu and arithmetic. After the book was completed, it was praised by Xuan Ye. Yunzhi was favored by Xuan Ye, and it was also shown when he first deposed the Crown Prince Yunreng. Xuan Ye knew that he had always been close to Yunreng, but he did not punish him and instead exonerated him. Although Yunzhi and Yunreng were close, they did not encourage them to do evil, so they were not punished. So that Yunzhi avoided the fate of the eldest son Yunzhi.
The emperor's fourth son, Yinzhen, was gradually valued by Xuanye. The young Yinzhen was not particularly favored by Xuan Ye. The activities that Xuan Ye ordered him to participate in were usually with Yunzhi or other princes. For example, in the thirty-second year of Kangxi's reign, he went to the Temple of Confucius with Yunzhi. In the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi's reign, he went to the expedition against Galdan with Yunzhi, Yunqi, Yunyou, etc. In the thirty-seventh year of Kangxi's reign, when the princes were conferred titles, Yinzhen was conferred the same title as Yunqi, Yunyou, and Yunshi. However, Yunzhi, who was only one year older than him, was conferred the title of Prince. Yinzhen was appreciated by Xuanye when the Crown Prince was deposed in the early 47th year of Kangxi. As mentioned earlier, the problem of Xuan Ye being the crown prince at that time was getting more and more depressed, causing his mind to be exhausted and his appearance to be haggard. It was difficult to recover, and everyone just used ordinary empty words and empty words. There was no other good method. Only Baylor Yunzhi and Yinzhen came to me and said: The emperor's father's holy face is so clear, do not let doctors examine, give medicine, but reluctantly delay, what can all countries rely on? It was because of Yunzhi and Yinzhen's strong persuasion that Xuanye began to take medicine, which improved his condition. Although he thought Yinzhen was a little unstable, he still praised him for acting like this and was a great man.
In the fifty-first year of Kangxi's reign, Emperor Xuan Ye gradually valued Yinzhen and appointed him several important missions. For example, in the fifty-second year of Kangxi, he was ordered to investigate the rough and old sacrificial vessels of Shuhui Taifei. In the fifty-seventh year of Kangxi's reign, when Empress Dowager Xiaohui was buried, he was ordered to read out the funeral oration. In the 60th year of Kangxi's reign, he was ordered to lead the 12th son of the emperor, Yun, and others to Shengjing to sacrifice the three mausoleums. However, there were still many times when he was ordered to handle government affairs with the third son of the emperor, Yunzhi, to maintain a balance between Yunzhi and Yinzhen. For example, in the fifty-fourth year of Kangxi, Xuan Ye summoned Yunzhi and Yinzhen alone to discuss with them the issue of sending troops to attack Arabtan's invasion of Tibet. In the 60th year of Kangxi, he ordered them to review the court examination papers with Grand Secretary Wang Hongxu and the others. The best evidence that Xuan Ye maintained a balance between Yunzhi and Yinzhen was that from the fifty-first year of Kangxi to the sixty-first year, he took turns to feast in their gardens every year. After Xuan Ye was middle-aged, he had given his gardens near Changchun Garden and Rehe Summer Resort in the west of Beijing to his favorite prince. It is clearly seen in the text that the emperor's fourth son, Yin Zhen, was rewarded by his father and received the Yuanmingyuan near Changchun Garden and the Lion Garden near the Summer Resort. The three sons of the emperor, Yunzhi, also had gardens in the northwest suburbs of the capital and Rehe, but they did not explicitly say that they were given by Xuan Ye. However, under the circumstances at that time, without Xuanye's reward or promise, Yunzhi would not have rashly built a garden near the Imperial Garden.
In his later years, Xuan Ye's trust and importance to the fourteenth son of the emperor, Yun, was concentrated in his decision to appoint Yun Tuohe as the Fuyuan General, and to grant him the yellow flag and lead 300,000 troops to attack Arabtan. After Yinzhen ascended the throne, he said that Xuanye's decision was intended to isolate Yunfu from Yunfu and weaken the power of the Eight Sons of the Emperor in case of accidents. This view was, of course, Yinzhen's way of consolidating his position. In fact, with Xuan Ye's authority at that time, if he wanted to guard against Yunzhi and his gang, he could have imprisoned them with any excuse. There was no need to play such a diversion. It should be said that Xuan Ye had given Yunchen military power because he had taken specific measures to cultivate and observe Yunchen in order to choose his successor.
In the end, Xuan Ye chose Yinzhen as the heir among Yunzhi, Yinzhen and Yunshi. His attitude gradually became clear after the winter of the 60th year of Kangxi. He first ruled out the possibility of choosing Yunta as the heir. In October of the 60th year of Kangxi, Yun was summoned back to Beijing to report on his work. His henchmen thought that this was a precursor to Xuanye announcing Yunfu as the crown prince, and they had been in a mess in the capital, such as the mention of Yunfu repairing his garden and so on. However, after Yunzhi arrived in the capital, Xuan Ye did not give any hints, so Yunzhi's henchmen were greatly depressed. Yun Tang complained to Qin Daoran, Imperial Father clearly didn't want the 14th brother to succeed. He was afraid that after he succeeded, it would be difficult to settle him down. Yunfu found nothing in the capital and was ordered to return to the army in April of the sixty-first year of Kangxi. Xuan Ye was old and frail. He did not avoid death, and had repeatedly told his ministers that death was inevitable in life. The cycle of heaven and earth was like day and night. He was very clear about the possibility of him leaving the human world at any time. He said that he had been sick recently, absent-minded, and physically weak…Since he was absent-minded, his heart had lost its comfort, his eyes could not distinguish between far and near, his ears could not distinguish between right and wrong, and he had little food and many things to do. How could he survive for a long time? Under such circumstances, if he wanted to establish Yunshi, it was impossible for him to leave the capital without any signs. It was obvious that Xuan Ye did not intend to establish Yunshi, so half a year later, he ordered him to leave the capital for Xining.
Then, Xuan Ye chose Yin Zhen as his successor. In the spring of the 60th year of Kangxi, Xuanye entrusted both Yunzhi and Yinzhen with missions at the same time. It was impossible to see who he favored. However, this year's winter solstice sacrifice to heaven, he appointed Yin Zhen to sacrifice alone. The Winter Solstice Sacrifice to Heaven at the Round Mound was an important ceremonial event of the Qing Dynasty. Xuan Ye had always attached great importance to it. From the throne to the fifty-sixth year of Kangxi, all sacrifices to heaven were personally performed. In the fifty-sixth year of Kangxi, Taichang Temple proposed to ask ministers to sacrifice on behalf of Xuanye on the grounds of his high age. At that time, Xuan Ye's health and energy were indeed not good. After thinking about it again and again, he agreed to this request. Therefore, in the fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh years of Kangxi, the sacrifice was made by the internal minister, Duke Marsai. In the winter of the fifty-eighth year of Kangxi, his health had improved slightly. During the winter solstice, he went to the Temple of Heaven again, but this time he brought Yunzhi and ordered him to bow to heaven on his behalf. In the fifty-ninth year of Kangxi, it was replaced by Marsai. On the winter solstice of the 60th year of Kangxi, this important task was handed over to Yinzhen. In the sixty-first year of Kangxi, Xuanye continued to order Yinzhen to undertake some missions alone. For example, in June and November, he ordered him to lead the ministers to investigate the granaries of Tongzhou and the capital. During the winter solstice, he continued to appoint Yinzhen to sacrifice to Huanqiu. These government affairs that Xuanye handed over to Yinzhen would never be randomly assigned. Early in the spring of that year, the Grand Scholars had submitted a list of names to Xuan Ye, including the names of the princes and ministers who had been conferred. They asked Xuan Ye to read it for future appointment. At that time, Xuan Ye had circled the third, fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth sons of the royal family. If he did not have a certain intention, he could appoint any one of the eight people to sacrifice to heaven on his behalf. He would not appoint Yinzhen twice after he was seriously ill. It should be said that this was not accidental, but could be seen as an important sign that Xuanye wanted to make Yinzhen his successor. Yinzhen's previous filial piety, prudence, and not forming cliques also met the conditions for Xuanye to choose an heir.
If this was not enough to prove that Yinzhen was the heir chosen by Xuanye, then the extraordinary love that Xuanye showed to Yinzhen's fourth son Hongli in the 61st year of Kangxi was an important evidence that he chose Yinzhen as his heir. In the spring of the sixty-first year of Kangxi, Xuanye went to Yuanmingyuan for a banquet at Yinzhen's invitation. He met Yinzhen's twelve-year-old son, Hongli, at the opening of the moon. Hongli was talented and intelligent, and his good looks immediately won Xuan Ye's favor. He immediately ordered Hongli to be raised in the palace and personally taught him to read poetry and books. In the autumn of the sixty-first year of Kangxi, Xuanye specially ordered Hongli to follow him and gave him the side hall of his residence in the summer resort, Wanhe Pine Wind, so that Hongli could live on his knees every day. Usually into the banquet or review memorials, must Hongli service beside; When hunting, he consciously let the early Hongli siege get the name of catching bears. When they went to the Lion Garden of Rehe Yinzhen for a banquet, Hongli's mother knelt down. Xuan Ye even called her a blessed person, further hinting that Yinzhen was his chosen heir. Therefore, when Hongli later talked about his accession to the throne, he said, The reason why ancient emperors were afraid to accept the trust was not more than their ancestors, or even their ancestors. If they gave it to them, it would be the place where the emperor's ancestors entrusted the trust. Hongli was the rightful emperor, so there was no need for him to make a big fuss about his ascension. His analysis based on his own experience was basically credible, even if it was self-boasting.
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