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116-687: Construction of the Western Qing tombs was initiated by the Yongzheng Emperor who broke with tradition and refused to be buried in the Eastern Qing tombs . Some have speculated, though not proven, that as Yongzheng had illegally usurped the throne by eliminating his brothers, his motive to relocate his tomb to the Western Qing tombs was that he did not wish to be buried alongside his father the Kangxi Emperor . Later on his son,

232-458: A pin , they were considered equivalents of convenience rather than actual official ranks. Historically, Chinese noble titles were usually created with a shiyi ( 食邑 ; shíyì ; fief ) each, although the fief could be only nominal. The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty enfeoffed cadet branch princes and other nobles in different regions of China. The Qing dynasty ended this tradition; with only

348-442: A yunjiwei who received another grant of yunjiwei became a jiduwei . A first-class duke plus yunjiwei was the equivalent of 23 grants of yunjiwei . The Qing dynasty, much like previous dynasties, used an "official rank" system ( 品 ; pǐn ). This system had nine numbered ranks, each subdivided into upper and lower levels, in addition to the lowest "unranked" rank: from upper first pin ( 正一品 ), to lower ninth pin ( 從九品 ), to

464-532: A "Kangqian Period of Harmony" ( Chinese : 康乾盛世 ; cf. Pax Romana ). In response to the tragedy of the succession struggle during his father's reign, the Yongzheng Emperor created a sophisticated procedure for choosing a successor. He was known for his trust in Mandarin officials. Li Wei and Tian Wenjing governed China's southern areas with the assistance of Ortai . In the early Qing period,

580-517: A "promotion" was Kangxi's way of protecting Yinzhen, Kangxi's secret chosen heir, by distracting the public's attention away from Yinzhen. The court officials, who believed that Yinti would be chosen as the heir, would also no longer pester Kangxi about the crown prince issue. Sending Yinti away to the northwestern border was also meant to separate him from Yinsi, his newly formed ally, and potential flatterers who wanted to curry favour with Yinti. Yinti would also be unable to use his commanded troops to make

696-474: A Confucian sovereign's benevolence: He ascribed Zeng's actions to the gullibility and naïveté of a youth taken in by Lü Liuliang's abusive and overdrawn rhetoric. In addition, the emperor suggested that Lü Liuliang's original attack on the Manchus was misplaced, since they had been transformed by their long-term exposure to the civilising force of Confucianism. The Yongzheng Emperor is also known for establishing

812-685: A Manchu—Han population integration, a descendant of the imperial family of the Ming dynasty . Zhu was also paid by the Qing government to perform rituals at the Ming tombs and induct the Chinese Plain White Banner into the Eight Banners . Later in 1750, during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor's successor, the Qianlong Emperor , Zhu Ming was posthumously honoured as " Marquis of Extended Grace ". The marquis title

928-826: A capable ruler, secret reports actually protected innocent magistrates from wrong accusations, as the reports provided alternative information sources beside the official charges. During the massive population growth in the Qing dynasty and increasing demand from peasant and military populations for grain, the Yongzheng emperor launched a grain campaign in which he incentivized officials in local and provincial governments to compete in buying land meant specifically for farming. The Yongzheng emperor offered officials 5-10 year tax holidays in which they were free from paying taxes. This campaign led to more than one million new acres of farmable land. While these campaigns led to more food and land for

1044-429: A coup d'état, since Nian Gengyao , Yinzhen's close aide, controlled the food supply and the return route of Yinti's troops. Promoting Yinti was also a way for Kangxi to control Yinzhen: if Kangxi's "investment" to Yinzhen turned out to be a failure, he still had Yinti as alternative choice. With Yinti as a potential competitor, Yinzhen would not fall into self-complacency and turn against Kangxi. Yinsi's clique, clinging to

1160-838: A few exceptions, no fief was ever named. No Qing prince was enfeoffed with territory. Instead, noble titles were created without a name, or were bestowed a meihao ( 美號 ; meǐhào ; titular name). These names were usually descriptive of the peer's merit, virtue, or the circumstances leading to his ennoblement. The Dukes Yansheng kept their traditional fief in Shandong under Qing rule. Titular names were unique for imperial princes, while non-imperial peers' titular names may overlap. Following Ming dynasty tradition, single-character names were reserved for qinwang s, while junwang s used two-character names. All other peers normally had two-character names, but could receive up to four characters. Since noble titles were primarily awarded for military service,

1276-448: A forged edict if he had truly been the legal heir. Yongzheng also changed his story several times. When he punished Longkodo (who was supposed to be the only person who was informed of Kangxi's succession plan and informed Yongzheng and others about it after Kangxi's death), Yongzheng himself said that Longkodo was not present by the emperor's side on that day. According to historian Dai Yi , a report by Longkodo to Yongzheng also shows that

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1392-505: A functional court with "good government", immediately after he ascended the throne in 1723 CE, to stabilize Qing into a unified and harmonious empire. In 1733 CE, Yongzheng successfully institutionalized the Grand Council , which allows Qing to relay communication effectively and efficiently from region to region, thereby enabling the implementation of his domestic reform policy. With the establishment of his Grand Council, Yongzheng

1508-475: A larger organization by Yongzheng called Cohong in 1725. This group was responsible for policing all trade within the Canton system . Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty#Male members The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) of China developed a complicated peerage system for royal and noble ranks . In principle, titles were downgraded one grade for each generation of inheritance. Occasionally,

1624-547: A low profile during the initial stages of the succession struggle. To appoint a new heir, the Kangxi Emperor decreed that officials in his imperial court would nominate a new crown prince. The Kangxi Emperor's eighth son, Yinsi , was the candidate preferred by the majority of the court as well as many of the Kangxi Emperor's other sons. The Kangxi Emperor, however, opted not to appoint Yinsi as his heir apparent largely due to apprehension that Yinsi's political clout at court

1740-873: A lower title. Whether imperial or not, the inheritance or bestowal was never automatic, and had to be approved by the Emperor, the Ministry of Personnel , or the Imperial Clan Court . Imperial princes, upon reaching adulthood at the age of 20, had to pass tests in horse-riding, archery and the Manchu language before they were eligible for titles. Imperial princesses, other than the Emperor's daughters, were usually granted titles upon marriage, regardless of age. Princesses' titles were also usually fixed after they were granted, and were not affected by changes in their fathers' nobility ranks. Yunjiwei ("sub-commander of

1856-581: A mad man. Dai Yi, Meng Shen, Wang Zhonghan, Lin Qian and Yang Zhen are the notable historians who maintain that the fourteenth prince Yinzheng (later renamed Yunti) was Kangxi's intended heir. They point out that the conflict against the Zhungar was of such an existential importance to the Qing dynasty (which threatened to rip half of their territories apart together with the Mongol-Manchu alliance) that it

1972-590: A monthly basis, known as month selection. This random appointment procedure stemmed from the late Ming dynasty. Sun Piyang, a minister of the Board of Personnel during the Wanli emperor's reign of Ming, was said to have invented the method of drawing lots with the intention of introducing fairness into personnel selection when the Ming court was mired in faction politics. It was apparent that this rule-based appointment procedure

2088-474: A more effective government, cracked down on corruption and reformed the personnel and financial administration. His reign also saw the formation of the Grand Council , an institution that had a major impact on the future of the dynasty. Militarily, Yongzheng continued his father's efforts to consolidate Qing's position in Outer Mongolia and Tibet through force. The Yongzheng Emperor died in 1735 at

2204-409: A peer could be granted the privilege of shixi wangti ( 世襲罔替 ; shìxí wǎngtì ; "perpetual heritability"), which allowed the title to be passed down without downgrading. Throughout the Qing dynasty, there were 12 imperial princely families that had this privilege. They were known as the " iron-cap princes ". The noble titles were inherited through a system of loose primogeniture : The eldest son from

2320-599: A prince, ex. Wang Yuying , Yongxuan 's servant was promoted to secondary consort. Remaining spouses could be promoted to higher positions in special circumstances, ex. lady Wanyan , Yongcheng 's unranked spouse was given a title of secondary consort. If imperial prince ascended the throne, his primary consort was named as empress, secondary consorts were named as noble consorts, consorts or concubines and mistresses were granted titles from first class female attendant to concubine or consort and given honorific names. Princess consorts held titles according to their husbands. If

2436-410: A result, Yinzhen's succession faced fierce opposition from former contenders such as Yinti, Yinzhi and Yinsi. Purging the dissidents and solidifying his own position occupied much of Yinzhen's initial reign as emperor. Researchers at Academia Sinica have disproved the theory, as official Qing documents, when mentioning sons of the Emperor, always list the son's title, as well as the son's rank amongst

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2552-463: A specialized internal espionage bureau. The secret informants also had no privileges beside the secret reports and the reports had no legal authority, which prevented authority abuse from informants like the Ming internal espionage agents. Also, to avoid false accusation and incorrect reports from informants, Yongzheng collected information from various sources, and the accused person also had a chance to defend their actions and prove their innocence. Under

2668-453: A strict autocratic-style rule during his reign. He detested corruption, and punished officials severely when they were found guilty of an offense. In 1729, he issued an edict prohibiting the smoking of madak , a blend of tobacco and opium. The Yongzheng Emperor's reign saw the Qing dynasty further establish itself as a powerful empire in Asia. He was instrumental in extending what became known as

2784-461: A traditional trick in Chinese politics. The popular history writer Yi Zongtian think that there were signs that showed Yinzhen as Kangxi's secret choice. First, according to Yongzheng's edicts and official historical account, Kangxi mentioned that Yinzhen alone was raised by Kangxi and how he expressed filial piety to Kangxi. In another occasion though, Yongzheng said that he was not a prince who

2900-415: Is all in the ruler's wish. If civilians see a judicious court that is loyal and wholeheartedly for the country, and see that the court embraces its people; and civilians feel the virtue in their court marshalls, then the people would not perceive the court as a threat. Thus, there would be no reason to have seditionaries. In short, after several years of political chaos, Yongzheng earnestly strived to restore

3016-434: Is hard to imagine Kangxi would have sent anyone but his most trusted son to deal with the crisis. Due to this, the "Fuyuan General-in-chief" position (which was already bestowed on Kangxi on his trusted generals several times before and carried with it exceptional powers) was raised to an unprecedented level of power and prestige unseen since the beginning of the dynasty. The deposed crown prince, Yinreng, and Yinzhen fought for

3132-520: Is still preserved by Museum of the Institute of History & Philology, Academia Sinica There are debates about the authenticity of extant copies of the Manchu version, but not only the part that mentions the heir's name is destroyed, the important sentence that praises Yinzhen's virtues also does not appear at all. There is a widely circulated legend, persisting even to the present day, that Yinzhen

3248-760: The Beijing area, as well as one further south. He became the honorary leader of the Plain Red Banner during the Battle of Jao Modo between the Qing Empire and the Mongol Dzungar Khanate led by Galdan Khan . Yinzhen was made a beile in 1689 along with several brothers and promoted to junwang (second-rank prince) in 1698. In 1709, the Kangxi Emperor stripped his second son Yinreng of his position as crown prince. Yinreng had been

3364-708: The Civil Service Examinations based on ethnicity and locality. The Yongzheng emperor, in an attempt to allow as many people to take the Civil Service Examination as possible, set up special exams for people in rural China. These special exams were called Miao exams and were located in Yunnan . In the 1730s, landholding shed people such as the Hakka were still not allowed to take the exams, Yongzheng made it legal for these people to take

3480-409: The Kangxi Emperor , and his achievements may not have been as glorious as his successor, the Qianlong Emperor ; however, the Yongzheng era did serve as a remediation to the people, and resentments began to gradually decrease. Hence the Yongzheng era was a peaceful and prosperous reign of Qing China. In 1712, the Kangxi Emperor deposed Yinreng again, and chose not to designate an heir apparent for

3596-586: The Qianlong Emperor , decided that he should be buried in the Eastern Qing tombs and dictated that thereafter burials should alternate between the eastern and western sites, although this was not followed consistently. The first tomb, the Tailing, was completed in 1737, two years after the end of the Yongzheng reign. The last imperial interment was in 1913, when the Guangxu Emperor was entombed in

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3712-498: The 17th-century scholar Lü Liuliang . Zeng had been so affected by what he read that he attempted to incite the governor-general of Shaanxi-Sichuan, Yue Zhongqi (a descendant of anti-Jurchen General Yue Fei ), to rebel against the Qing government. Yue Zhongqi promptly turned him in, and in 1730 news of the case reached the Yongzheng Emperor. Highly concerned with the implications of the case, the emperor had Zeng Jing brought to Beijing for trial. The emperor's verdict seemed to demonstrate

3828-681: The Chongling ( 崇陵 ). Chongling was looted by grave robbers in 1938, and its burial chamber is now open to the public. The four tombs in Western Qing Tombs are: The Xuantong Emperor , is buried in a commercial cemetery behind the Guangxu Emperor's tomb. While not officially part of the Western Qing Tombs, including Puyi would bring the number of emperors at the Western Tombs to five, the same number as those buried at

3944-500: The Confucian principles. Yinzhen sought four distinctive qualities: loyalty— 忠 , fairness— 公 , sincerity— 誠 , and capability— 能 , from his subjects in order to run an effective court and to achieve stability. Li Wei ( 李衛  : February 2, 1687 – December 3, 1738) was a recruit among the Qing officials to possess the desired virtues, and was regarded highly by Yongzheng. A notable quote from Yinzhen captured during his reign as

4060-518: The Eastern Tombs. Yongzheng Emperor The Yongzheng Emperor (13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing , personal name Yinzhen , was the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty , and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper . The fourth son of the Kangxi Emperor , Yongzheng ascended the throne following prolonged disputes over succession. A hard-working ruler, he aimed to create

4176-518: The Fund's money also received other kinds of allowances, and officers on business trips were also provide an allowance to cover their essential expenses, which had to be reported to the government. The "transparency nurturing" allowances beside removing the corruption incentive, also helped to publicized the magistrate's incomes, enabled the state to monitor, evaluate and detect any potential signs of corruption. Furthermore, all kinds of gifts and "ritual fees"

4292-481: The Ministry of Revenue to fabricate financial reports. To prevent the magistrates from fabricating the corruption cases as merely "deificit spending", Yongzheng demanded that the case of deficit spending must be investigated first, and punishment, sanction and compensation should be performed first in the case of deficit spending. Equivocation between deficit spending and corruption was strictly prohibited. To prevent

4408-664: The Veneration of Ancestor ceremony at the time Kangxi was dying, and even eighth prince Yinsi (who had had many clashes with Kangxi) made the lists of candidates. The onky one among adult princes who was put aside was Yinxiang, Yongzheng's important ally. Lin Qian also suspects that Yongzheng organizing the Sacrifice of Heaven of the sixty first year was an event invented later to justify Prin Yong's strange behaviours at that time, since no other records mention it other than Shilu , which

4524-407: The Yongzheng Emperor held Yinsi under close watch and kept him busy with affairs of state, reducing the chance of him conducting behind-the-scenes political maneuvers. Yinsi's allies received notably different treatment. Yintang was sent to Qinghai under the pretext of military service, but in reality was watched over by the Yongzheng Emperor's trusted protégé, Nian Gengyao . Yin'e, the tenth prince,

4640-444: The Yongzheng Emperor in the 1720s expresses his imperial will: 小事小料理,不可因小而忽之·,大事大振作,不可因難處而隱諱。朕意若果能如此實心奉行,以忠正一一字感化,不數年,賊亦人也。見文武大臣實心忠勇為國,屬員清正愛民,營伍整齊,士卒曉勇,而百姓不懷如是德,不畏如是威,仍去成群為匪者,朕想必無此理也。 If it is a trivial matter, do not just simply neglect the issue because it seems insignificant. If it is a complex matter, do not just simply conceal away the issue because it could become a challenge. To have good governance and dissuade seditionists,

4756-418: The Yongzheng Emperor's reign began. The Yongzheng Emperor continued to perceive Yinsi and his party, consisting of the princes Yintang , Yin'e , Yinti , and their associates, as his greatest political challenge in the early years of his reign. To diffuse their political clout, the Yongzheng Emperor undertook a 'divide and conquer' strategy. Immediately after ascending the throne, the emperor bestowed on Yinsi

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4872-520: The Yongzheng Emperor. Nonetheless, the increasingly sharp conflict between her two surviving sons caused their mother great sorrow. She died less than six months after the Kangxi Emperor. By forcibly dispatching Yinsi's party to separate locations geographically, the Yongzheng Emperor made it extremely inconvenient for his rivals to link up and conspire against him. While some of Yinsi's subordinates were appointed to high office, others were demoted or banished, making it difficult for Yinsi's party to maintain

4988-403: The age of 56 and was succeeded by his fourth son, who assumed the throne as the Qianlong Emperor . Although his reign was much shorter than that of both his father and his son, the Yongzheng era was a period of peace and prosperity. Yinzhen was the eleventh recorded son of the Kangxi Emperor, and the fourth prince to survive into adulthood. His mother, historically known as Empress Xiaogongren ,

5104-524: The cloud cavalry") was originally a military rank created in the Sui dynasty , but it was later turned into a military honour in the Tang dynasty as part of the xun guan ( 勳官 ; xūn guān ) system. The Qing dynasty abolished the separate military honour system and merged it into the nobility rank system, using yunjiwei as the lowest grantable rank of nobility, and the basic unit of rank progression. For example,

5220-525: The commander of the northwestern expeditionary force. Yinti, who expected to be placed on the throne himself, was reluctant to recognise the Yongzheng Emperor's succession as legitimate. Yinti was accused of violating imperial decorum at the funeral proceedings of the late emperor, and placed under house arrest by the Yongzheng Emperor at the imperial tombs in western Beijing . Historians believe that their mother, Empress Dowager Renshou , favoured Yinti partly because she raised him herself, while she did not raise

5336-442: The county education commissioner for counseling. This led to corruption among officials who were no longer bound by law. In an attempt to stop this the Yongzheng emperor made it illegal to offer privileges to officials going through the legal system. This did not last long as the Qianlong Emperor reinstated legal privileges for officials that had passed the Civil Service Examination shortly after becoming emperor after Yongzheng. In

5452-502: The crown prince for his whole life; his removal left the position of heir open to competition among the Emperor's remaining sons (the Kangxi Emperor had 24 sons who reached adulthood). In the same year, the Kangxi Emperor promoted Yinzhen from junwang to qinwang (first-rank prince) under the title " Prince Yong of the First Rank " ( 和硕雍亲王 ; 和碩雍親王 ; Héshuò Yōng Qīnwáng ; Manchu : hošoi hūwaliyasun cin wang ). Yinzhen maintained

5568-418: The deposed Yinreng in the future, which was proven to be relatively correct. As a result, Kangxi not only didn't expose Yinzhen, but also became the accomplice with Yinzhen's act. Although Kangxi's meticulous plan enabled Yinzhen later to be crowned as emperor, it also created many disputes about Yinzhen's succession as there was no direct, intuitive way to prove Yinzhen's legitimacy. Kangxi's choice as Yinzhen

5684-544: The emperor could be posthumously honoured as empress, ex. Lady Niohuru, primary consort of Minning, Prince Zhi of the First Rank was honoured as Empress Xiaomucheng , Lady Sakda, primary consort of Yizhu was honoured as Empress Xiaodexian . The same rule was for primary consort of the imperial prince who died before the marriage, e.g. Lady Nara, primary consort of Yongkui, Prince Li of the First Rank. Palace maids from prince's residence could be promoted in case of princess consort's death or in case when they had children with

5800-440: The emperor's own counter-measures against the magistrates. To counter the local magistrated well-built networks, Yongzheng organized a group of inspectors consisted of independent Imperial Commissioners and "clean" local chiefs, assisted with a group of regional officer-to-be. When a regional magistrate was found guilty, he would be replaced by a corresponding member amongst the inspector group who had no connection of interest with

5916-488: The emperor's sons and the son's name. In this case, the will mentions "Prince Yong, Emperor's Fourth Son, Yinzhen" ( Chinese : 雍親王皇四子胤禛 ), as well as Kangxi Emperor's high regards for Yinzhen, and his belief that Yinzhen can succeed on the throne. The problem with the will, or at least the Chinese version, as currently preserved, is that it was not Kangxi's creation. It was drafted three days after Kangxi's death by Longkodo under Yongzheng's instruction. Yongzheng's order

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6032-459: The emperor, even if the suggestions were accurate and reasonable, would be heavily criticized by Yongzheng and the magistrate could be punished severely. That was the reason behind Yongzheng's apparently "erratic" and "unpredictable" behaviors in punishing and rewarding his subordinates. Emperor Kangxi's long reign left lasting achievements, but also many flaws and maladies, including budget deficit, inadequate tax revenues, and huge debts. Corruption

6148-467: The emperor. The magistrate's works, reports, criticisms, suggestion, even flattery and blandishment, should be performed with sincere devotion to and sympathy with the emperor's interests and stance. Suggestion and criticism with adequate "sincerity", even if they were flawed and incorrect, was usually praised by Yongzheng. On the other hand, suggestions which were considered to only serve the magistrate's selfish interests and fame, or to only curry favour from

6264-445: The exams in an attempt to dispel anger at being excluded from the exams. A growing number of orphaned children or poor families came with the massive Qing population growth. The Yongzheng emperor sought to remedy this by mandating that orphanages (also called poor houses) be built in every county. These were funded not by local, provincial or high level government but privately funded and maintained. These orphanages existed less to help

6380-519: The final years of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Unlike Yinsi's high-profile cultivation of a partisan base of support, Yinzhen did so largely away from the limelight. When the Kangxi Emperor died in December 1722, the field of contenders shrank to three princes after Yinsi pledged his support to the 14th prince, Yinti. At the time of the Kangxi Emperor's death, Yinti, who held the appointment of Border-Pacification General-in-Chief ( Chinese : 撫遠大將軍 ),

6496-407: The given tasks as a subordinate of the Emperor. Compared to other siblings (Yinzhi, Yinsi, Yinti, Yinreng), Yinzhen had no clear advantage. Unlike Yinsi, Yinzhen had neither a close association nor a good relationship with the majority of court officers and magistrates, he was also shunned due to his cold appearance and the legalist-style harsh treatment for any kinds of moral sin and legal violation of

6612-461: The governability of each jurisdiction was decomposed into four elements, or four "characters": Chong, Fan, Pi, and Nan. "Chong" (thoroughfare) referred to places at busy highways and was designed to capture the characteristics of commercial potential or military significance. “Fan” (troublesome) stood for places with a great deal of onerous official business. “Pi” (wearisome) indicated areas having difficulty collecting taxes. “Nan” (difficult) referred to

6728-437: The guilty magistrates from further exploiting the people to compensate for their deficit spending, Yongzheng immediately dismissed the magistrate before compensation began. Dismissed magistrates no longer had authority over the people and had no choice but to use their own properties to compensate. As the punished magistrate might use other connections as an alternative for their lost authority, paying compensation on behalf of them

6844-490: The highest positions in the land. The nature of his succession remained a subject of controversy and overshadowed the Yongzheng Emperor's reign. As many of his surviving brothers did not see his succession as legitimate, the Yongzheng Emperor became increasingly paranoid that they would plot to overthrow him. The earlier players in the battle for succession, Yinzhi , the eldest, and Yinreng, the former crown prince, continued to live under house arrest. Yinreng died two years after

6960-401: The hope of Yinti's future prospect, would also not do anything reckless. As a result, Yinti's "General-in-chief Prince" title appeared grandiose, but was actually hollow and dubious; it was neither "general" nor "prince" and could be interpreted in various ways, which could be used in favour of either Yinti or Yinzhen should the situation arise. Such dubious words with multiple interpretations was

7076-516: The important positions and in turn promoted local governance. Yi Zhongtian commented that Yongzheng had a very flexible and pragmatic tastes of talent enrollment, based on the advice of Ortai : " Amongst affairs, there are both essential and trivial, easy and challenging. Amongst people, there are both soft and hard, long and short. " The emperor, therefore, did not use dogmatic and abstract criteria of "talents" and "morality", instead he acknowledged that every person has both strengths and defects and

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7192-518: The local chiefs, the emperor did not think about their usefulness in the current campaign alone, as he told the prince that their dedication to the person of the prince "will be of use later", and that their service would be more valuable to that of the Han. Yinzhen's tactics during the struggle for crown prince's position were to do practically nothing and to stay out of the limelight. Instead, he focused on filial piety towards Kangxi and dutifully performed

7308-418: The local clique and therefore would naturally do his best to continue the purge. Furthermore, local people were forbidden to lend money to their magistrates, preventing them from temporarily transferring the borrowed money to the local treasure to mask the deficits. Yongzheng also created an independent Inquisition Association to examine all the spending and revenue documents to prevent local officers from bribing

7424-987: The local gentry as competition to the throne. Just like the legal privileges that passing the Civil Service Examination offered, soon after the end of the Yongzheng emperor's reign, the Qianlong Emperor quickly reinstated the privileged tax brackets. Growing distrust of Jesuit missionaries by the Kangxi emperor and later by Yongzheng in the early 1720s led to prohibition and action against the Christian presence in China. The Kangxi emperor had banned foreign missions (outside of Beijing and Guangzhou), and Yongzheng took this one step further by removing all foreign priests from China. All Christian churches were shut down and repurposed as local public offices. Chinese merchant houses belonging to Canton station were grouped together under

7540-429: The local population out of poverty and more to model how wealthy officials should act towards the impoverished populations. The Kangxi Emperor mandated that scholars that had passed the Civil Service Examination at any level were able to bypass punishments from the legal system depending on which level of the exams they had passed. Instead of legal repercussions for crimes, criminal officials were instead recommended to

7656-528: The magistrates. Acknowledging that fact, Yinzhen intentionally showed no ambition to be the heir in order to not attract any unnecessary attention and animosity; he watched as other contenders fought each other to the death, a policy more beneficial for him. Yinzhen even pleaded many times for Kangxi's mercy and pardon for other princes, including the deposed Yinreng, which gained him the praise and favour from Kangxi. As an experienced player in politics, Kangxi himself knew that Yinzhen's humbleness and filial piety

7772-461: The majority of middle-to-low government posts were subject to a mechanical appointment procedure managed by the Board of Personnel, which was a lottery rule. More specifically, candidates would first be classified into three categories, namely degree holders, office purchasers, and officials waiting for promotion, based on their sources of candidature. These candidates or so-called offices-in-waiting were then assigned to different posts by drawing lots on

7888-423: The mid-1720s Qing empire, complex levels of tax hierarchies put in place by the Kangxi emperor existed to separate the population into different tax brackets. Households with government officials were in privileged tax brackets that brought with it tax exemptions for not only the immediate family in the household but also for extended family members. The Yongzheng emperor removed these privileged tax brackets as he saw

8004-460: The nickname "Emperor of confiscation". Beside harsh punishment, Yongzheng also improved the state officer's income to remove their incentive for corruption. He created a "Fund for transparency nurturing" from government additional revenues, which was now regulated and controlled by the central government, to provide copious allowance for state magistrate, enabling their daily expenses to be covered without accepting bribes. Magistrates not eligible for

8120-460: The peer's first wife was usually the heir apparent, but inheritance by a younger son, a son of a concubine, or brother of the peer was not uncommon. According to their birth (by the chief consort, secondary consort or concubines) and their father's rank, non-heir sons of imperial princes were also entitled to petition for a lower title than the one they would have received had they been the heir. Non-heir sons of other peers were also occasionally granted

8236-701: The phrase to "pass the throne on to the Fourth Prince" Chinese : 傳位于四皇子 ). Another version states the character " 十 " was changed to " 第 " ( dì ), which means "sequence number" (四 = four, 第四 = the fourth / number four), thus changing the phrase to "transfer the throne to the Fourth Prince" ( Chinese : 傳位第四皇子 ). After ascending the throne in December 1722, Yinzhen adopted the era name "Yongzheng" ( Chinese : 雍正 lit. "Harmonious Justice") in 1723 from his peerage title "yong" ( Chinese : 雍 lit. "harmonious") and "zheng" ( Chinese : 正 lit. "just, correct, upright"). It has been suggested that

8352-425: The places with crime-prone subjects and recurring violent engagement. Moreover, posts of jurisdictions containing all four elements would be ranked as very important positions and posts of places with three elements would be rated as important posts, whereas posts of places having less than two elements would be tagged as middle-level positions (two elements) or easy posts (one-zero element) respectively. In this way,

8468-513: The population to use for farming, it also led to officials lying about the amount of farmable land they were contributing in order to win the tax holidays. These tax holidays also pushed the burden of paying taxes elsewhere. Ethnicity in Qing China could vary depending on where one was from even locally in China . This ethnic separation along with the booming population led to reduced access to

8584-436: The position too, but failed to get it. Lin Qian writes that there are many signs that show Yongzheng did alter records to make the title "General-in-chief Prince" less impressive, and that the fourteenth prince's rank was actually Prince ( wang ). Kangxi even made the apparently longterm investment by sending several young members of the imperial family to the fourteenth prince so he could raise them as his apprentices. This intent

8700-440: The post designation (Chong, Fan, Pi, and Nan) was linked to the importance rating system hand in hand. The appointment power then was allocated based on the importance rating system; posts marked as very important and important were subject to the discretionary appointment by the emperor or provincial leaders, whereas other less important posts still were assigned by drawing lots. As a result, the high-quality officials were matched to

8816-475: The prince Yunli (who was cited by Yongzheng as one of the witnesses in his later version of the events; this prince did not participate in the fight for the throne but later became Yongzheng's ally during the latter's reign) was not present – when he was rushing to Kangxi's resident after being informed of his father's death, the prince met Longkodo who told him about Yongzheng's ascension and became so horrified that he returned to his house immediately, looking like

8932-433: The prince was demoted, princess consort could be treated appropriately. After the demotion of prince, princess consort returned her regalias to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If the prince was born in a non-iron cap cadet line, his future title depended on the position of his consort. Nevertheless, they addressed themselves as "qie". On the other hand, princess consort was mainly addressed as "fujin" or "furen" according to

9048-750: The prince. The supervisor of princely manor held lower 4 rank in 9-pin system. The four ranks above were granted solely to direct male-line descendants of the Emperor. These titles below were granted to cadet lines of the imperial clan. The above six ranks are titles that enjoy the "Eight Privileges". The titles below do not enjoy the "Eight Privileges" and have no imperial duties. All of the above titles are chaopin ( 超品 ; chāopǐn ), outranking official ranks. The ranks below are ranked first to fourth pin respectively. The first three jiangjun ranks are each further subdivided into four classes: first class plus yunjiwei , first class , second class , and third class . Regardless of title and rank, an imperial prince

9164-537: The princess remained his primary spouse – even after her death. However, if an efu remarried or promoted a consort to be his primary spouse, he lost all rights obtained from his marriage to the princess. The following titles were granted to consorts of imperial princes: If the princess consort divorced a prince or died, the second princess consort held the title of "step consort" (继福晋, pinyin: jì fújìn). Divorced princess consorts were stripped of their privileges and returned to their maiden manors. Dead primary consorts of

9280-491: The rank of beizi and direct imperial clansmen. The "Eight Privileges" entitled the prince to participate in state councils and share the spoils of war. However, the prince was also bound to reside in the capital and render service to the imperial court. In 1816, the princes were forbidden from reporting matters via eunuchs. Thus, most of the princes employed officials as managers of domestic affairs. The range of tasks of those officials included conveyance of memorials on behalf of

9396-474: The remaining years of his reign. This resulted in competition among his sons for the position of crown prince. Those considered 'frontrunners' were Yinzhi , Yinsi , and Yinti (the third, eighth and 14th princes, respectively). Of these, Yinsi received the most support from the Mandarins , but not from his father. Yinzhen had supported Yinreng as heir, and did not build a large political base for himself until

9512-582: The ritual ceremonies for the royal family's ancestors in Three Great Mausoleums in Shenyang . Shortly after that, Yinzhen was also tasked to organize the Sacrifice to the Heaven (南郊禮), the most sacred ceremony in Confucian tradition, on the day of winter solstice . Others note that the third prince Yinzhi also had presided over these ceremonies before, the fifth prince Yinqi was presiding over

9628-476: The same set of partisan interests. The Yongzheng Emperor publicly reprimanded Yinsi in 1724 for mishandling an assignment, eventually removing him from office and then sending him into house arrest. Yinsi was forced to rename himself "Acina", a derogatory slur in the Manchu language. The emperor also confiscated the assets of Yintang and Yin'e. In 1725, the Yongzheng Emperor bestowed a hereditary marquis title on Zhu Ming in line with his father Kang Xi emperor wish of

9744-439: The second character of his era name was an attempt to cover up his illegal claim to the throne by calling himself "justified". Immediately after succeeding to the throne, the Yongzheng Emperor chose his new governing council. It consisted of the eighth prince Yinsi , 13th prince Yinxiang , Zhang Tingyu , Ma Qi, and Longkodo . Yinsi was given the title "Prince Lian" while Yinxiang was given the title "Prince Yi", and these two held

9860-481: The several tax reform policies Yongzheng introduced was to shift the head taxation to the property taxation on landowners, which greatly reduced the tax burden on civilians. Additionally, Yongzheng was indeed in full support with the construction of orphanages to shelter orphans, in building elementary schools to educate children, and poorhouses to house paupers. Perhaps the Yongzheng era (雍正: r. 1723–1735 CE) may have been overshadowed by his predecessor's accomplishments,

9976-462: The sons of the second and the fourteenth princes. Official court records state that on 20 December 1722 the ailing Kangxi Emperor called seven of his sons and the general commandant of the Beijing gendarmerie , Longkodo , to his bedside. Longkodo read the will and declared that Yinzhen would be the Kangxi Emperor's successor. Some evidence has suggested that Yinzhen contacted Longkodo months before

10092-413: The tasks given to him should be tailored to suit his specific traits. For example, Li Wei had a very rude personality, but he was brave and clever, Yongzheng assigned him tasks related to law enforcement, criminal punishment and rebel liquidation. Zhu Shih, a scholar with upright and good personality, was appointed as teacher for the future Qianlong Emperor . Tian Wenjing had many personality defects and

10208-473: The time was volatile, and a strong general was needed in the area. After several military conquests, however, Nian's stature and power grew. Some said he began seeing himself as equal to the emperor. Seeing Nian as no longer within his control, the Yongzheng Emperor issued an imperial edict demoting Nian to the position of a general of the Hangzhou Command. As Nian continued to remain unrepentant, he

10324-528: The title "Prince Lian", nominally of the highest noble rank. Yinsi was also then appointed as the Minister of the Lifan Yuan (Feudatory Affairs Office) and the top-ranking member of the imperial council assisting the Yongzheng Emperor; some historians believe his position at the time was essentially that of a " Chancellor or Prime Minister". By ostensibly elevating Yinsi to a more prominent political role,

10440-426: The title of her husband. All princess consorts regardless of rank were listed in imperial genealogy (Jade Tables). Princess consorts could wear chaofu befitting imperial consorts on solemn ceremonies, but were prohibited from wearing yellow-grounded robes. The crown of princess consort had peacocks instead of phoenixes and no tiers on the finial. Princess consort wore jifu with roundels of dragons matching patterns on

10556-581: The titular names predominantly described martial virtues, e.g., zhongyong gong ( 忠勇公 ; zhōngyǒng gōng ; "loyal and brave duke"). However, a particularly common titular name was cheng'en gong ( 承恩公 ; chéng'ēn gōng ; "duke who receives grace"), which was frequently granted to the Empress's family members. At the top of the imperial hierarchy, the highest six ranks enjoyed the "Eight Privileges" ( 八分 ; bafen ; jakūn ubu ). These privileges were: Peacock feathers, however, were prohibited for princes above

10672-430: The unranked ( 未入流 ), for a total of 19 ranks. All government personnel, from the highest chancellors to the lowest clerk, held an official rank ex officio , which determined their salary, uniform, privileges and order of precedence. This pin system existed in parallel to the noble ranks detailed in this article. Many higher noble titles ranked above this system ( 超品 ; chāopǐn ). And while some titles corresponded to

10788-448: The will was read in preparation for his succession through military means, although in their official capacities frequent encounters were expected. Historian Qin Hui writes that it is largely recognized that Yongzheng forged the succession edicts together with Nian Gengyao. Qin Hui criticizes Feng Erkang, who also recognizes the forgery, for failing to explain why Yongzheng would have needed

10904-469: Was "emperor's charioteer". It was usually granted to the spouse of a princess above the rank of zongnü . The efu s were separated into seven ranks corresponding to the rank of the princesses the efu married. Efu s who married gulun gongzhu s and heshuo gongzhu s held ranks equivalent to the beizi s and dukes respectively. The remaining efu s had equivalent official rank from the first to fifth pin . An efu retained his title and privileges as long as

11020-467: Was a shock to many other princes (even Yinzhen also pretended to be shocked). Kangxi also did not make any mention about his choice for the crown prince position, his will was only known via the deceased emperor's testament provided by Longkodo , and there was no decisive evidence proved that the testament was not fabricated. For the contemporary public, there was also no evidence to directly infer, or to explain why, Kangxi thought of Yinzhen as his choice. As

11136-787: Was addressed as " A-ge " ( ᠠᡤᡝ ; age ; 阿哥 ; À-gē ), which means "lord" or "commander" in Manchu. of the First Rank the Second Rank the Third Rank the Fourth Rank Rank's Consort Second Rank's Consort Rank's Consort The following titles were granted to female members of the imperial clan: Comparison of titles for imperial princesses Rank Second Rank Third Rank Fourth Rank Shizi First Rank Zhangzi Second Rank Third Rank Efu ( ᡝᡶᡠ 额驸 ; 額駙 ; éfù ), also known Fuma ( 驸马 ; 駙馬 ; fùmǎ ), translated as "Prince Consort". Its original meaning

11252-502: Was also strictly prohibited. The properties of their families and relatives were also confisticated for the compensation payment if necessary. In the cases of magistrates committing suicide to avoid punishment, Yongzheng demanded that their family and descendants should shoulder the punishment and compensation for the deceased magistrate. The emperor himself admitted that he wanted to see the guilty magistrate's descendants " live in poverty and misery. " Yongzheng's drastic punishment earned him

11368-456: Was beginning to overshadow that of himself. Thereafter, Yinzhen sensed that his father was in favour of re-instating Yinreng as heir apparent, thus he supported Yinreng and earned the trust of his father. Yinzhen ( 胤禛 : 13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735) had the highest honor to orchestrate the imperial ceremonies and rituals during the reign of the Kangxi emperor , which illustrated that Yinzhen

11484-631: Was conducive to curtailing patronage-network building and rent-seeking, although at the cost of flexibility. Considering the limitation of monthly selection, the Yongzheng Emperor, inspired by a memorial of Jin Hong, the provincial administrative commissioner of Guangxi province, decided to launch a structural reform to the appointment system in 1731. In the new appointment system, local jurisdictions first were classified into two groups according to governance difficulties. More specifically, to prioritize local jurisdictions and allocate appointment power accordingly,

11600-531: Was crowned emperor after he modified Kangxi Emperor's final will that detailed who will succeed him. There are two versions of the legend, both of which involves the Chinese character " 十 " ( pinyin : shí ; lit. 'ten'), and by extension, Yunti, Prince Xun . One version involves changing the " 十 " in the phrase "transfer the throne to the Fourteenth Prince" ( Chinese : 傳位十四皇子 ) to " 于 " ( pinyin : yú ), which changed

11716-531: Was eventually given an ultimatum and forced to commit suicide by consuming poison in 1726. Longkodo was the commander of the militias stationed at the capital at the time of the Yongzheng Emperor's succession. He fell into disgrace in 1728 and died while under house arrest. After taking the throne, the Yongzheng Emperor suppressed writings he deemed unfavorable to his court, particularly those with an anti-Manchu bias. Foremost among these were those of Zeng Jing, an unsuccessful degree candidate heavily influenced by

11832-399: Was heavily criticized by contemporaries, but was favoured by Yongzheng due to his hard-work, devotion and loyalty. Chang Sanle, Wuqiao district chief, had upright and transparent moral conduct, but lacked fervor in work, hence he was re-assigned to an educational post and removed from administrative work. However, the most critical criterion for the government magistrate was "sincerity" towards

11948-412: Was just 9 years old. After she gave birth to more children, Yinzhen's mother was promoted to a pin and then to a fei , and became known as defei or "Virtuous Consort". The Kangxi Emperor did not raise his children only inside the palace. He also exposed his sons (including Yinzhen) to the outside world and gave them a rigorous education. Yinzhen accompanied his father on several inspection trips around

12064-458: Was leading a military campaign in northwestern China . He was also awarded an apparently grandiose title of "Fuyuan General-in-chief Prince" (撫遠大将軍王) and his departure ceremony was solemnly held. Some other princes, such as Yinsi and his clique, interpreted that Yinti might be chosen as heir and, therefore, pledged their support to Yinti and encouraged him to make military achievements to prove his "worthiness". However, Yi Zhongtian argued that such

12180-469: Was not only able to discourage corruption, but he was in a position to launch several domestic reforms beneficial to the empire and its people. Canals and irrigation systems were reconstructed to support agriculture and maintain farmlands. During famines, he provided relief to the affected regions by distributing resources. In reparation to the people, who were the backbone of the country, he issued an imperial decree to emancipate slaves under his reign. One of

12296-440: Was not really sincere and more of a cover to protect himself, nonetheless Kangxi still made lavish praise to Yinzhen and enjoyed the apparently good relationship with his son. In the situation when his offspring openly trampled on family relationships, Yinzhen's "false" filial piety and kindness was already a haven for Kangxi. Kangxi also hoped that Yinzhen, despite being pretentious, might not actually mistreat his deceased father and

12412-524: Was now strictly prohibited. To effectively grasp the situation of his subordinates, Yongzheng utilized the "secret report" system which originated from the Shunzhi Era , which also suited his own tastes of having personal connection separately with each subordinate. The emperor recruited secret informants from the trusted subordinates who had the privilege to privately report to the Emperor whatever they felt suspicious. The components of secret informants

12528-473: Was originally a court attendant from the Manchu Uya clan. Around the time when Yinzhen was born, his mother was of low status and did not have the right to raise her own children. For most of his childhood, Yinzhen was raised by Noble Consort Tong , the daughter of Tong Guowei, the Kangxi Emperor's maternal uncle and an eminent official in the early part of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. She died when Yinzhen

12644-530: Was passed on to Zhu's descendants for 12 generations until the end of the Qing dynasty in the early 20th century. Nian Gengyao was a supporter of the Yongzheng Emperor long before the latter ascended the throne. In 1722, when he was recalling his brother Yinti from the northwest border in Xinjiang , the Yongzheng Emperor appointed Nian as the commander of the Qing army in Xinjiang. The situation in Xinjiang at

12760-443: Was quite varied, including even some low-ranked officers, and was widely distributed all over the empire. To encourage the sincerity and eagerness of informants, their identity and reports' content was kept strictly confidential; even informants did not know each other, and the procedures and writing style requirements were greatly simplified. Such "secret reporters" enabled the emperor to maintain an extensive information network without

12876-418: Was raised in the palace. Professor Lin Qian on the other hand notes that the fourteenth prince was the only son Kangxi always kept with him, until his death, despite the fact he already married (the fourteenth prince's wife lived inside his father's palace too) and had a princely mansion outside. Second, according to Yi, at Kangxi's 60th regnal year (1721) memorial event, Yinzhen was given the task of holding

12992-469: Was shown, when the fourteenth prince requested them to be sent back to the capital, Kangxi refused and told him that they needed to be trained (obviously to serve the fourteenth later). Yin Qian notes that with sixteen people holding titles ranging from beizi to wang and other important officials sent to follow the fourteenth prince, Kangxi had already organized a mini imperial court for him. Yang Zhen opines that when Kangxi encouraged his son to engage with

13108-485: Was told to leave the capital to send off a departing Mongol prince, but since he refused to complete this trip as the emperor commanded, the Yongzheng Emperor stripped him of all his titles in May 1724 and sent him north to Shunyi to languish in solitude. The 14th prince, Yinti, born to the same mother as the Yongzheng Emperor, was recalled to Beijing from his military post. The emperor selected Nian Gengyao to replace Yinti as

13224-476: Was well acquainted with the Confucianism traditions and customs. In the imperial court, Yinzhen was also deeply immersed in the state's affairs and heavily engaged in the political debates where he acquired diplomatic skills. As the Yongzheng Emperor ( 雍正 : r. 1723–1735 CE) of Qing China, Yinzhen was indubitably a very diplomatically inclined ruler who created an institution of a "moral government" based on

13340-480: Was widespread, and magistrates and aristocrats frequently borrowed money from the national treasure without any sign of returning the money. Therefore, immediately after his enthronement, Yongzheng began a crackdown against corruption and financial issues. Utilizing his experience during the time as a prince, the emperor used an unconventional approach: first he anticipated the counter-measures that corrupt magistrates might employ to evade state punishment, and then devised

13456-430: Was written under the supervision of Yongzheng and Zhang Tingyu . Yi also says that Kangxi highly favoured Yinzhen's son Hongli (future Qianlong Emperor ) and that might also contribute to Kangxi's support for Yinzhen as his heir, similar to how Yongle Emperor chose his heir due to his favour to the crown prince's son. Historian Yang Zhen though notes that Kangxi was kind to his grandchildren in general but especially to

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