The Reign of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty
6 min readThe Yongzheng （see Figure 17）Emperor was born Yinzhen ，on December 13th，1678 and died on October 8th，1735.He was the fourth emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty from 1722 to 1735AD.
He was a tough and hard-working ruler bent on effective government at minimum expense.Like his father，the Kangxi Emperor，Yongzheng used military force to preserve the dynasty’s position.His reign was despotic，efficient，and vigorous，albeit much shorter than the famous reigns of both his father-the Kangxi Emperor and his son-the Qianlong Emperor.
Yongzheng was the fourth son of Kangxi to survive into adulthood，and the eldest son by Empress Xiaogong，a lady of the Wuya clan.She was originally a concubine of Kangxi.He was made a Beile ，meaning“lord”in 1698 and then successively raised to the position of third-class prince in 1689.
In 1704，the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers saw an unprecedented rush of flooding.The economy and livelihood of people around these areas were severely harmed.Yongzheng was sent out as a envoy of the Emperor with the 13th Imperial Prince Yinxiang to deal with relief efforts in southern China.These efforts ensured that funds were distributed properly and people would not starve.He was given the peerage title of a first-class Prince，the Prince Yong in 1709.
When he ascended the throne in 1722，the new emperor faced many challenges to his rule，namely his brothers who were unhappy that he should get the throne instead of them.Much of his early reign was spent defeating these opponents through shrewd political maneuverings，in order to consolidate his power.
Yongzheng was a very hardworking emperor.He made many contributions during his short reign，namely，the establishment of a defense war ministry and the determination of a border with Russia.He also thought of a way to choose the successor to the throne secretly；this would prevent any power struggles such as those which had plagued him.
The economy grew greatly during the reign of Yongzheng.Kangxi’s rule was consolidated and the empire became stronger and wealthier than before.
Yongzheng died at the age of 57，having ruled China for 13 years.It was said that he was found slumped over his desk，a pen still in his hand，literally dead of overwork.
In 1712 the Kangxi Emperor removed his second son，Yinren ，as successor to the throne and did not designate another one.This led to division in Court，which was split among supporters of the 3rd，4th，8th and 14th ImperialPrinces，respectively.By the time of the old Emperor’s death in December 1722，the field of contenders had been reduced down to three Princes.
At the time of the Kangxi Emperor’s death，Yinti ，as Border Pacification General-in-chief ，was away on the warfront in the northwest.The official record states that on December 20th，Kangxi called to his bedside seven of his sons and the General Commandant of the Beijing Gendarmerie and declared that Yinzhen should succeed him on the imperial throne.An abrupt decision was made.
According to folklore，Yinzhen forged his father’s will and took power in a coup at the capital.A story tells that he strangled his dying father and changed a single character in the royal will.As a result，the successor-14 th Prince became the 4 th Prince.He happened to be the fourth one.Whilst this folk-lore had been widely circulated，there was little evidence to support the view，especially the story of amending of the royal will.Interesting as it is，educated Chinese can easily prove itsshame.In the first place，the Chinese characters were written in old forms at that time，but the”change”was made on the basisof simplified characters which were adopted much later.Secondly，the Manchurian would have used the Manchurian language or，at least，bilingual to write their wills，so the numerals could not have been changed that way.Last but not least，why the old emperor didn’t write the name of his successor but wrote an ordinal numeral in stead.Nowadays，people began to criticize the cook-up story as utter nonsense.It is naive and impossible.
Nevertheless，the story spread widely and it is accepted by many people.It suggests a fact that if the decision is made by a single person，a small trick can change the fate of the country when people didn’t know what democracy was，let alone as General Election.A sheet of paper decides the successor of the dictator，which happened time and again in Chinese history.
An Iron Hand and a Bloody Purge
As the first official act as Emperor，Yinzhen released his long-time ally，Yinxiang，from prison.An able military leader，Yinxiang assembled a group of special task Beijing soldiers to seize immediate control of the Forbidden City and surrounding areas.
In December 1722，after succeeding to the throne，Yinzhen took the era name of Yongzheng ，from hispeerage title Yong，meaning”harmonious”；and Zheng，a term for“Just”or”Correct”，i.e.，the era of Harmonious Justice.Immediately after succeeding the throne，in January 1723，Yongzheng chose his new governing council，puting all his supporters into important positions.
To strengthen his power，within a few years of ascending the throne he had several of his brothers arrested and charged.
They either languished and died in prison or were expelled from the imperial clan.Ruthless measures were taken to wipe out the opponents.Many innocent people were killed. Yongzheng，from then on，was regarded as a despot for his cruelty.
After he became Emperor，Yongzheng censored the record of his accession and also suppressed other writings he deemed inimical to his regime，particularly those with an antiManchu bias.He tried，persecuted and executed many important officials and intellectuals who opposed him.So he was hated by many people and left a notorious reputation in history.
People made a lot of stories about the”Bad Emperor”，someone like”Bad King John”in the English history.
A Controversial Figure in History
But later historians made careful research and found out his merits and achievements.
Firstly，he is known for establishing strict autocratic rule in the time period.He disliked corruption and punished officials severely when they were found guilty of the offence.
During his reign，the Manchu Empire became a great power and a peaceful country，and he further strengthened the Kangqian（Kangxi and Qianlong）Period of Harmony ，working as a bridge between the two-his father and son.He created a sophisticated procedure for selecting successor in response to his father’s tragedy.
Secondly，Yongzheng was known for his trust in Mandarin Chinese officials.He used a lot of Chinese officials in his court and in important positions through out the empire.
Finally，he was also known for removing the power of the princes over the other five banners and uniting the eight banners under a central authority-himself，through the“Act of the Union of the Eight Princes” .
Legends hold that he was actually assassinated by Lv Siniang ，daughter of Li Liuliang whose entire family was believed to have been executed for literacy crimes against the Manchu Regime.A little girl narrowly escaped the disaster.She was the single daughter（or granddaughter in other stories）of Lv Liuliang.When she grew up，she learnt the marshal art in the mountains from a great master and became a woman knight-errant by name of“the Thir-teenth Sister” ，among her sworn brothers and sisters.Through endless obstacles she sneaked into the Imperial Palace and killed Yongzheng and took away his head.So when the emperor was encoffined they put a fake head made of gold.
More realistically，he might have died due to an overdose of medication he was consuming at the time for his ardent be-lief that it would prolong his life.To prevent the succession crises faced by himself thirteen years ago，he ordered his third son to commit suicide.He was succeeded by his son，Hongli.
He was interred in the Western Qing Tombs ，120 kilometers/75 miles southwest of Beijing，in the Tailing mausoleum complex.Since it is not opened we have no way see his head.
