Aixinjueluo Hongli (1711-179 AD), his posthumous title is Emperor Chun, and his temple name is "Gaozong". Throughout his life, he always admired elegance, was good at riding and shooting, and his writings were spread all over the country. There were too many magical stories in his life. Because of the reign name "Qianlong", he is known as "Emperor Qianlong" in history.
When I first read history when I was a child, I always felt that Emperor Qianlong was the happiest emperor in Chinese history. Sometimes I even thought that this sentence would be true if the word "emperor" was replaced by "人".
First of all, he came to work at the right age to inherit the throne. He was 25 years old, in his prime, neither too old nor too young. Like his grandfather Kangxi who succeeded to the throne at the age of 8, not only was he unable to take power at the beginning, but his entire childhood was bound by the red tape of being an emperor.
Looking at his father, Yongzheng, who succeeded to the throne in his forties, he was in the midst of a mid-life crisis and would not be happy for many more years.
It can be said that Qianlong's throne was basically achieved without any effort. He did not experience the bloody storm of "nine kings seizing the legitimate sons" like his father. After succeeding to the throne, he and his brothers also lived happily. Qianlong had a His IQ was no less than that of his younger brother, but his younger brother was not interested in power at all. He liked to hide in his home all day long to attend funerals and eat sacrifices. Qianlong always regarded this strange brother as his treasure. In his later years, he also described the brotherhood of these decades as "Family happiness is nothing more than this."
In addition, the most enviable thing about Qianlong is probably his unparalleled health. He is the longest-lived emperor in Chinese history, living for 88 years. Looking at the world, he is second only to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II (91 years old).
It is said that at midnight on August 13, the 50th year of Kangxi, Niu Hulu, the concubine of Prince Yong Yongzhi, gave birth to a boy. Yinzhen also had three sons before, but the first two sons died short-lived, and only the eight-year-old third son Hongli survived. Niu Hulu was the daughter of Lingzhu, a fourth-grade official. Her father was not a prominent official, but he was of authentic Manchu descent. Hongli was the Qianlong Emperor who later ruled for sixty years in Chinese history.
However, regarding Qianlong's life experience, in the late Qing Dynasty, there were still some strange theories circulating in the society, believing that he was the child of the Han people. Of course, the most widely circulated theory is that Qianlong is the son of the Chen family in Haining, Zhejiang. There are a lot of public opinions from the bureaucrats and gentry to women and children.
There are also records in some historical books, such as "Secret History of the Qing Dynasty", "Summary of the History of the Qing Dynasty", and "Grand View of Unofficial History of the Qing Dynasty". It is said that as early as when Emperor Yongzheng was the prince, he had an affair with the Chen family of Haining The relationship is close, and the two families have always been in contact with each other.
The Chen family was a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River in the late Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, many people served as high-ranking officials in the court, such as Chen Shen, Chen Shiguan, Chen Yuanlong and other fathers, sons, uncles and nephews, all of whom were highly respected officials. Deeply used by the imperial court. During this year, both families gave birth to a child, and the year, month, day and time were very similar.
Yongzheng was very happy after hearing this and asked the Chen family to take the child to have a look. It was not until a long time later that the child was sent back. At this time, the Chen family discovered that the child was no longer their own, but had changed from a boy to a girl. The Chen family was shocked, but they did not dare to say anything and could only pretend that nothing happened. After Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he immediately promoted several members of the Chen family to prominent official positions.
Qianlong was an emperor who liked to run around. According to some statistics, during his 60 years in office, he made more than 150 tours, both near and far. Among them, the most famous one is his six trips to Jiangnan.
When it comes to Qianlong's visit to the south of the Yangtze River, there are two completely opposite opinions. Some people say that he just wants to have fun and have fun; others say that he actually has complex and profound political motives. Is it a combination of kindness and power to the Jiangnan scholars? Is he patrolling the river? Or do you want to know how local officials govern the people?
Six trips to the south of the Yangtze River were the most eye-catching and talked-about topic in Emperor Qianlong's various tours in his life. It was also something that he was most pleased with at the beginning and deeply regretted afterwards. Qianlong's southern tour began in 1751 and ended in 1784, which lasted for thirty-three years. The first four of them brought the empress dowager, empress, and many concubines, and mobilized troops and mobilized a large number of people. They were accompanied by princes, ministers, and officials waiting to guard Zhangjing, amounting to 2,500 people. There are more than a hundred people, and there are more than a thousand ships in the cruising fleet, linked end to end, with flags flying. Before each southern tour, there was a detailed and thorough plan. Officials were dispatched to survey the roads along the way, build bridges and roads, and repair palaces.
Local civil and military officials from places thirty miles away where the tour was passing had to come to see him in court uniforms, and all the meals were extravagant and extravagant. Emperor Qianlong spent a lot of energy organizing such a southern tour. What is the purpose?
Some people think that the purpose of six trips to the south of the Yangtze River is to "envy the south of the Yangtze River and travel southward." Qianlong was a peaceful king who was accustomed to arrogance and luxury. At that time, cities such as Jiangning, Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Hangzhou were quite prosperous, and their economies were also very developed. The scenery in the south of the Yangtze River was unparalleled in the world, and it was so beautiful.
Emperor Qianlong used leisure and elegance to "view the beauty of the mountains and rivers and the richness of the people." From the route taken by Emperor Qianlong during his six southern tours, we can find that he always went south along the canal, passing through Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, and finally arrived in Hangzhou, and then turned back and detoured to Jiangning. His favorite places were often Jiangnan The richest place is full of outstanding people. If he was on a southern tour for national affairs, he would not take the empress dowager, empress, etc. to the south of the Yangtze River with him.
After the fourth southern tour, he told the ministers in the southeastern region that Our Lady was already very old, and it would take thousands of miles to travel to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and accommodation was also very troublesome. "Gu Yang Ye", the southern tour was a time of nursing for the Empress Dowager, which also shows that one of the purposes of Emperor Qianlong's tour was to appreciate the scenery!
There is also a saying that Qianlong went to Jiangnan to find out his life experience. Most people believe that the purpose of Qianlong's southern tour was not single. In addition to sightseeing, his six visits to Jiangnan included In addition to scenic spots, it also focuses on social, political, economic and other national events. Specifically, it focuses on stabilizing society, winning over officials and gentry, and maintaining public support.
During his tour to the south, he cut off tens of millions of taels of money and grain owed by landowners in Jiangsu, Anhui and other provinces. He also cared about culture and education, selected talents, awarded official positions, and specially ordered more prefectures and counties in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. The admission quota for literary students in the school-year examination is generally favored by current and retired officials from various places.
In order to stabilize society and win over Han scholars and businessmen, he also visited officials to manage public sentiment, punished corrupt officials, built seawalls, provided relief to victims, organized the military, etc. The most important thing Qianlong did when he went to Jiangnan was to inspect the Yellow River. On the one hand, the Yellow River has been the main source of floods in the past dynasties. On the other hand, since the Yellow River took over the Huaihe River in the Song Dynasty, whether the Yellow River can ensure its safety determines whether the water transportation of the Grand Canal can be smooth and whether the south-to-north grain transportation activities can proceed smoothly.
So when Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River, the most important thing was to inspect the river works and conduct frequent supervision of the river management work. Another important thing was to inspect the water transportation situation to ensure the safety of grain transportation from the south to the north.
These measures have played a role in promoting cultural undertakings in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The fourth was that the Qing troops entered the customs and carried out too many killings and looting in the south of the Yangtze River. The "Ten Days in Jiading" and the "Three Massacres in Yangzhou" had a very bad impact. Kangxi, Qianlong, etc. all regarded winning the hearts of the local people as an important matter. Measures such as rebuilding the Shi Kefa Temple. Generally speaking, Qianlong's six tours to the south of the Yangtze River made more mistakes than merits. "After six southern tours, he dreamed of traveling in his youth" is a poem written by Qianlong during his sixth southern tour. Even in his dreams, he was recalling the scene when he went to Jiangnan, full of infinite nostalgia.
Judging from the main activities of Qianlong's southern tour, its positive social significance is still very great. However, the six southern tours cost more than 20 million taels. The amount of time spent, the amount of manpower and material resources used have set new historical records, and this has inevitably given rise to political corruption. Qianlong himself also believed that the southern tour had its drawbacks, "But the six southern tours wasted people and money, and was of no use, but harmful. In the future, the emperor will tour the south, and if you don't stop it, there will be nothing to do against me." Historical Records: Digging into historical stories in depth , folk unofficial history, miscellaneous talks about ancient history, describing the ancient ways and the present.