"In the fourth year of Yongzheng, the ninth elder brother Yunyu was escorted back from the Qinghai penal colony, and after being tortured in Baoding Prison, he died of diarrhea."

"A month later, after being tortured in the prison, the eighth elder brother Yinxi vomited and died."

"Yongzheng's infamy for plotting his father, usurping the throne, forcing his mother, and slaughtering his brother comes from this."

"The infamy is much more than these four, but the main thing is these four."

"How many of these four infamys are fabricators? How much was created out of nothing, imposed on him by political enemies or resentful people? ”

"Infamy has become inevitable, and it is not what all political enemies do, and it is difficult for a gentleman to do it even more for himself."

"Although the fourth elder brother's dream of the emperor has come true, what he wants is not only this position, but also wants to do something after he becomes the emperor."

Yongzheng ascended the throne in the 61st year of Kangxi, and on the 29th of the same month, he proposed in an edict to scholars, six scholars, and squires: "There are those who should be reformed in political affairs and can benefit the national economy and people's livelihood. ”

In October of the second year of Yongzheng, the Manchu and Han ministers of civil and military affairs were summoned in the Qianqing Palace: "Wang'er and other auxiliary ministers are the kings of Yao Shun." ”

In fact, after the dream of Emperor Yinzhen of the fourth elder brother came true, there was a strong "Holy Lord Complex" that fluctuated in Yongzheng's heart. ”

"According to Yongzheng's IQ and courage, he could have been like Li Shimin, although he could not be supported by the majority, he could still do a great cause."

But after the fourth elder brother ascended to the throne, his "Holy Lord Complex" gradually faded westward, and finally devoted his energy to alchemy. ”

"It's ironic and ridiculous, and it's an emperor who is mediocre for the rest of his life because of immortality."

"Yongzheng also has merits, otherwise he can't be called a generation of Mingjun."

"When Emperor Yongzheng was still the prince, he was inspected by Emperor Kangxi, and in the process of checking the household, he deeply realized the weakness of the treasury and the darkness of the government, so the first major thing he did after he ascended the throne was to rectify the rule of officials."

"He set up an investigation team to handle the affairs of Prime Minister Yinxiang with Prince Yi, and the imperial uncle Long Keduo, the university scholar Bai Huang, and the scholar Zhu Shi jointly handled the household deficit, which not only filled the treasury, but also greatly cracked down on corrupt officials and corrupt officials."

The Tusi system originated in the Tang Dynasty, which governed the local government with the method of "governing the local people with local officials", which alleviated the contradiction between the central and local governments to a certain extent and consolidated the rule of the central government. ”

"But with the growth of time, the power of the local Tusi has become greater and greater, and it has become the local Tusi Emperor, and it is urgent to reform the Tusi system."

"Emperor Yongzheng adopted the system of liuguan instead of the local official system, and officials were no longer selected from local clans, but were directly appointed by the central government, which not only reduced the oppression of local clans on the people in minority areas, but also was of great significance for consolidating national rule and realizing great unification."

"Emperor Yongzheng has also adapted to many policies, but there are good and bad."

"Just like the Literary Prison, the Literary Prison began in the Shunzhi period as a cultural movement that arose to maintain the political rule of the Manchu Dynasty."

During the Yongzheng period, the literary prison was not only not abolished, but became more and more serious, and there were countless major and wrongful cases caused by the literary prison, among which the more famous ones are: Nian Qianyao case, Lu Liuliang case, "Qingfeng illliteracy case", "Weimin stopped case" and so on. ”

"The sheer number of people implicated in the literary prison and the severity of the criminal law have made intellectuals cautious, forming a dull atmosphere in which they close their eyes and dare not look at reality, and they do not dare to talk about politics."

"Emperor Yongzheng is also a person who can shirk it."

engaged in "changing the land and returning to the stream", but the fault was put on Ortai. ”

He engaged in the examination of the government and extorted the restrictions to collect debts, but as a result, he still had to delay the restrictions again and again, and he engaged in the "use of troops in the west", which consumed more than 50 million taels of silver, but in the end he failed. ”

Later, he made a book of "The Mystery of the Great Righteousness", which was known to everyone as an official, a scholar, and even a wild woman in a poor rural village, but it backfired.

He originally thought that as long as he was diligent and worked hard for a few years, he would be able to become the "King of Yao Shun". Unexpectedly, "it is difficult to be a king, and it is especially difficult for me". ”

"In his later years, he was also the one who admitted his mistakes."

In the seventh year of Yongzheng, he finally had to publicly declare to the world: "I dare not compare myself (to myself) with the ancient sage monarch and queen." ”

This public confession in the seventh year of Yongzheng is really a summary of the failure of the ambition of "Wang'er and other auxiliary servants to be the king of Yao Shun" in the second year of Yongzheng, and it is really his expression from success and pride to disappointment and loss. ”

"It seems that it is difficult for an emperor to be clear all the time."

"In the early stage of Yongzheng, he was a little proud of boarding the dragon chair at the beginning, but he turned into a loss year after year."

"After the political opponents were swept away, he suffered from insomnia, and he worked so hard and diligent in the first eight years, but he never got sick."

"In the eighth year of Yongzheng, Yongzheng fell seriously ill and almost died."

"Actually, after Emperor Yongzheng's dream came true, he also made some achievements."

"He has high expectations for his politics, but most of the officials in the court are not on his side, and most of them are still trying to support and sympathize with the eighth elder brother."

"In Yongzheng's eyes, not many people are looking forward to him."

"As a result, he who is bent on ambition is gradually declining and fading."

"Later, due to a serious illness, he almost died, and he became obsessed with alchemy, which made his heart unspeakably lost, and it has really pushed it to an unprecedented new peak."

"Of course, there must be a little bit of a fear of death."

Since the eighth year of Yongzheng, he has become obsessed with alchemy, marking his transformation from full ambition and eagerness to try, to sighing "difficult for the king", and then to publicly declaring that "I dare not compare myself (myself) with the ancient sage Jun Zhehou", from complacent to disappointed, which is regrettable. ”

"Emperor Yongzheng reigned for only thirteen years, but he promulgated many political measures, although these policies are good and bad, but we can not cover up their mistakes because of their merits, nor can they cover up their merits because of their mistakes."

"No one is perfect, we have to look at every event with a dialectical eye, they are more noble than us and are human beings, not gods, we must look at them well, so that we can draw the most correct conclusions."

"But I'm going to talk about one of the biggest mistakes!"

"From the beginning to the end, the problem of the Qing Dynasty is inseparable from one issue - closing the country to the outside world."

"In fact, during the Yongzheng period, this matter has not been completely retreated, but there are certain restrictions."

"The world in the Yongzheng period was in a period of rapid development, during which the process of modernization was carried out one after another around the world, and the economy, culture and politics developed rapidly."

"But at this time, Emperor Yongzheng ordered the implementation of the maritime ban policy out of political security considerations, and strictly restricted foreign trade and foreign exchanges."

(End of chapter)