After the death of Emperor Kangxi on December 20, 1722, his fourth son, Prince Ung, fourth prince Yin Chan, succeeded to the throne. He became the 5th emperor in the history of the Qing dynasty. Ung Chinh is famous in history as a diligent, thrifty emperor who has fierce anti-corruption policies.
Unlike Khang Hi, right from the moment he ascended the throne, Ung Politburo for the country with an “iron fist”, established the military base, an important agency with great influence on the country’s affairs of the court. to consolidate power. Those who were selected to this agency were known as the Imperial Guard and were highly trusted by the emperor.
Yongzheng is a famous emperor in the history of the Qing Dynasty.
Under Yongzheng’s reign, the Qing Dynasty continued its prosperity from the Kangxi era and extended it to the Qianlong emperor. Therefore, it can be said that without Yongzheng, there would be no so-called prosperous Khang Can, the peak development period of the Qing dynasty.
It is clear that Ung Chinh is a talented and diligent emperor in history, but there is one thing he does that is controversial. It was Ung Chinh who directly executed a trusted friend who had served Khang Hi for 60 years on the very night of this emperor’s death.
What happened?
Why did Emperor Yongzheng do this?
The person Ung Chinh decided to execute was the eunuch Trieu Xuong. This eunuch has been with Kangxi since childhood and has served the famous emperor for 60 years. On the night of Emperor Kangxi’s death, this eunuch lost his life.
Zhao Chang and emperor Kangxi grew up together from a young age, experienced many ups and downs, and kept many secrets. During his lifetime, Zhao Chang was smart and intelligent, very understanding and loyal to Emperor Kangxi. After Emperor Kangxi assumed ultimate power, Zhao Chang was also highly respected and became a powerful eunuch in the court.
Zhao Chang was appointed as the General Manager of the Home Affairs Office, the agency in charge of the entire life of the emperor and the imperial family. This is enough to show that Emperor Kangxi attaches great importance to and trusts Zhaochang.
“The Nine Deaths won the finish” is the event that caused Khang Hi’s headache for a long time.
In the last years of his life, Emperor Kangxi had to witness with his own eyes his princes vying for the throne. History called “Nine death to win the target”. This is the event that the 9 princes of Khang Hi emerged to fight for the inheritance.
Because he was always by Khang Hi’s side, of course, the eunuch Trieu Xuong also knew many secrets in the process of the famous emperor choosing an heir. The battle to find the heir ended with the victory belonging to the four princes of Dan Chan. He was chosen as his successor and became emperor.
So, what caused Ung Chinh to execute Zhao Chang on the night of Emperor Kangxi’s death?
After giving Zhao Chang his death, the Yongzheng emperor announced the eunuch’s felony crimes. First, Zhao Xuong took advantage of his position to do wrong things to benefit his loved ones. Second, Zhao Chang took bribes and took 5,000 taels of tax silver from the treasury. This is a great unforgivable sin.
However, the above felonies seem to be only “cover up” for Ung Chinh’s purpose of executing Zhaochang. In fact, this emperor just received the right to inherit the throne hastily executed Zhao Chang for the following 3 reasons.
The reason Ung Chinh decided to execute Khang Hi’s trusted friend
The eunuch Trieu Xuong is a close confidant who has been with Emperor Khang Hi for 60 years.
First, Zhao Chang probably knew about Kangxi’s will because he was always nearby when the emperor was dying. Kangxi was a talented emperor who ruled the Qing Dynasty for 61 years. During the reign of the country, this emperor repeatedly established and removed the crown prince. This noble position, which was vacant for a long time, also partly caused the situation of cliques and factions, eventually causing the tragedy of “The Nine Deaths won the destination”.
The rivalry for the throne lasted until the death of Emperor Kangxi. When he learned that he was seriously ill, Emperor Kangxi quickly made a will to choose an heir. Many court officials supported Dan Trinh, the 14th prince, a son loved by Khang Hi.
However, in the end, the heir to the throne was the fourth prince Yin Chan, emperor Ung Chinh. This result surprised many people. Therefore, Yongzheng’s death to Zhao Chang was also a way to quickly quell the rumors surrounding his succession.
Emperor Yongzheng executed Zhao Chang on the night of Emperor Kangxi’s death.
Second, Ung Chinh gave Trieu Xuong death to avoid revealing the inside of the royal family, to avoid making people laugh. Although Kangxi was the emperor who brought prosperity to the Qing Dynasty, it was also difficult to avoid shortcomings.
On the other hand, Trieu Xuong has been a eunuch who has been next to Khang Hi for 60 years, so of course he knows everything in the palace. In order to prevent the secrets of the first emperor and the scandals in the royal family from being revealed, making everyone laugh, the Yongzheng emperor had no choice but to kill Zhaochang.
Executing Zhaochang was also a way to help Yongzheng stabilize the government and deter those who were not tamed.
Third, “killing cockroaches” (or killing chickens to scare monkeys). This is the master plan of Emperor Ung Chinh. In fact, although Ung Chinh was announced as the heir to the throne after the death of Emperor Kangxi, it was still not recognized by the court officials. Because most of the mandarins at that time thought that the emperor should let the ten princes inherit.
Therefore, in order to consolidate power and deter mandarins, Emperor Ung Chinh used tough measures. The execution of Zhao Chang and the announcement of felonies to deter courtiers at that time was considered an important “psychological tactic” of this emperor. It was important to remove those who stood in the way, while at the same time deterring those who had not yet tamed the new emperor.
This is also a testament to the talent and deep thinking of the Yongzheng emperor.
Source: Sohu, Baidu
