I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 157 Qianlong, born to be the emperor!

Yinzhen is 48 years old this year and has been on the throne for three years, but in the 45 years before he ascended the throne, it can be said that every step he took was on thin ice.

At first, he was attached to the crown prince Yinreng, but after the crown prince fell, he stopped attaching himself to anyone and worked diligently. Because he knew that his Khan Ama was reluctant to part with his deposed second brother, he would plead for mercy every time the crown prince got into trouble, at least he didn't dare to add insult to injury, for he was afraid that the brothers would quarrel and be disliked by his father.

He admitted that if he had not lived into his forties in such an environment, if he had not worked diligently, gone to the grassroots, and traveled all over the country in the previous decades, he would never have been so decisive after ascending the throne.

As an emperor, it is good to have such experience and training.

But as a father, Yinzhen did not want to become like his Khan father.

His good father, the Emperor Kangxi, openly wanted to become a model monarch and minister with the crown prince, where the father was loving and the son was filial and would be remembered forever. He spoke of his love and respect, and hoped that he and the crown prince could be like Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao. But in fact, he was equally irritable, harsh, suspicious and wary of all his sons. Whenever his sons did the slightest thing wrong, they could not sleep at night, for fear that they would end up in the same situation as the eldest, second, eighth and thirteenth sons.

Is it a good thing to be a father to this extent?

But if I don’t let my son practice…

Thinking of this, Yinzhen couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

He looked at the young man on the podium who seemed to be well-versed in history and could evaluate all emperors, and asked anxiously:
"I don't want my children to repeat the same mistakes, so I changed the rules and did not appoint a crown prince. Instead, I hid the secret decree of succession behind a plaque of uprightness and brightness when I ascended the throne. Only when I die will they know who I chose."

"It's just...it's just that sir, I want to ask one thing."

Song Shen had roughly guessed what he wanted to ask, so he just nodded:
"You mean to ask whether the heir you chose turned out to be a good emperor?"

This was the first time Yinzhen showed obvious emotions to others after entering the tutoring class.

He seemed a little hesitant and worried, but finally nodded, indicating that Song Shen guessed right.

Song Shen did not answer his question immediately, but turned to look at the other emperors present.

"Everyone, what do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of this method of secretly appointing a crown prince?"

“This one should be of some inspiration to you.”

When Yinzhen asked this question, he had actually explained clearly how to implement the secret succession. Most of the emperors in the class were not stupid. Combined with the question asked by Zhu Di, they could fully understand this move.

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng was the first to frown and raised his hand and said:
"I have objections."

"I have not appointed a crown prince either. Historically, until I passed away on the road, Fusu was still only the eldest son of my Great Qin, not the crown prince. But in fact, all officials and knowledgeable people know that Fusu just disagrees with my political views. Besides, he is the best and most suitable successor among all my sons. As long as he does not do anything treasonous, I will definitely pass the throne to him."

"How is this different from a secret succession?"

"Didn't Hu Hai show up in the end?"

Li Shimin also did not quite agree with this so-called secret method of appointing a crown prince.

He touched his short beard and sneered:

"Yes, if my eldest brother had not been appointed as the crown prince, it would not have been the Xuanwu Gate Incident, but we two brothers would have directly gathered our troops and started a war."

"The Xuanwu Gate Incident was successful, in addition to the fact that I had military power and counselors, the most important reason was actually because he was the crown prince."

"Since he is the crown prince, he is naturally superior to me. Why did the Xuanwu Gate Incident happen? Wasn't it because I knew that he wanted to take action against me, deprive me of my military power, seize my power as the King of Qin, and perhaps even kill me?"

"If he wasn't the crown prince, why would I be afraid of him? Why would he stir up the Xuanwu Gate incident that would definitely discredit himself? If he were to fight a battle head-on, would he really be able to win?"

"Think about it carefully. How many people died at Xuanwu Gate? If a war breaks out, how many more people will die?"

The Zhu family members looked at each other's expressions, especially Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and Zhu Di, they could see each other's thoughts.

After a slight pause, Zhu Yuanzhang stood up.

He shook his head at Li Shimin and Ying Zheng and said:
"Times have changed. The situation in the Ming Dynasty will be different from yours."

"Li Er, you had military power when you were a prince; when you passed away, Fusu was in the army, and General Meng was by his side. If he really wanted to take action, wouldn't General Meng support him?"

"But both of your situations are very special."

"Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor since the beginning of the world. He swept across the six kingdoms and unified the world. Regardless of whether your son had the courage to rebel against Hu Hai, I think the biggest reason he didn't dare to do it was because he was deceived. You are an emperor who has the final say. Li Si and Zhao Gao used your name to order Fusu to commit suicide. If he did it, in his eyes, he would be rebelling against you as the emperor."

"Tell me honestly, which of your sons dared to rebel against you? Hu Hai was instigated by Li Si and Zhao Gao. Moreover, you were already dead when he usurped the throne. Why don't you try while you're still alive?"

Ying Zheng touched his nose.

It seems so.

The strange thing is that the person in history died at such an unfortunate time, dying on the way to a tour. If he had died in the Xianyang Palace, it would have been impossible for Zhao Gao to forge an imperial edict to usurp the throne for Hu Hai.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Li Shimin again:

"And you, Li Er, the situation in your Tang Dynasty back then was similar to the situation when our fourth brother led the Jingnan Campaign."

"It was always the two sons who conquered the country. The eldest son took charge of the rear, while the second son led the charge to conquer the country. But why didn't our fourth son have such a thing happen? Because the fourth son also went to the battlefield to fight personally. He was a better fighter than his son, and he also had the military power in his hands. His son could not rebel against him, and his eldest son was more capable than the second son."

"You are different. Your father is not as good at fighting as you, and Li Jiancheng is not as powerful as you. The most important thing is that you have military power. Half of the Tang Dynasty was conquered by you personally. Your father did not personally lead the charge into battle. You are strong in military affairs, and Li Yuan is strong in tactics. You can't beat him if you play well, but he can't stop you from overturning the table."

"If Li Yuan is more ruthless and powerful, and takes away your military power and even does not give you the palace soldiers, what can you do?"

"Of course, we know that he can't take your power. Your prestige and power were all won by you on the battlefield. From the military to the people, you are recognized more than him. But we are just giving an example, because you are the most special prince and emperor. No emperor in the future will be more legendary than you."

"We are talking about normal situations now. What are the founding monarchs and future emperors thinking about? If that happens, the useless son who can't even keep the crown prince's position will die. Other sons without military power can take his position. If he doesn't die, he will bring disaster to the world if he turns over!"

Speaking of which...

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but glance at Zhu Qizhen.

If Zhu Zhanji had not hastily appointed Zhu Qizhen as the crown prince after he was born, but had waited a little longer and chosen the smarter Zhu Qiyu...

If Zhu Qiyu had been more ruthless, he would have killed this idiot after taking the throne...

Even if he himself would not live long, at least he could leave a Yu Qian for his successor.

No emperor likes powerful ministers who can make things happen at will, but if the emperor is originally incompetent, with a minister watching over him, the country will still be his, and there will be no rebellion and chaos. Fortunately, Zhu Qizhen died young and was given the short-lived temple name Yingzong. If he had lived longer, the Ming Dynasty would have been destroyed before it had lasted more than 200 years!

Everyone followed Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze and instantly understood why he had such a feeling. At this time, Yinzhen, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

He whispered:

"When I first established the secret succession method, I knew in my heart that this method could only calm things like the nine sons fighting for the throne, and would allow me to avoid seeing my sons killing each other while I was in power. If I had a few more capable children, like my eight brothers, each of whom has become successful, then the internal strife would have started immediately after the old emperor died."

"But I have no other choice..."

"Sir, I just want to know, is the child I have chosen a good emperor? Is he a wise and benevolent ruler... or a tyrant and a foolish ruler?"

Song Shen sighed.

Emperor Yongzheng's background and experiences made him an extremely hypocritical and heartless old villain, but at least he still looked like a human being and had some human touch.

But his son...

"The person you chose first was Aixinjueluo Hongli, right?"

Song Shen first confirmed it.

Seeing Yinzhen nodded affirmatively, Song Shen's expression was indescribable:

"Yes, if we use the emperor's standards, he is not only a good emperor, but can even be said to be the top feudal monarch in China. Some people think that he is the standard emperor template in our country's history."

"No one can use words like violent, benevolent, wise, stupid or any other words to describe him. He is a monarch, the purest monarch."

"He is more like a 'king' than you, or even your father, Emperor Kangxi."

"Do you... understand what I mean?"

Everyone shook their heads in unison.

A group of emperors, including Yinzhen, widened their eyes and stared at Song Shen, waiting for him to continue.

Because this review is so fucking outrageous!

After listening to the policies implemented by Yongzheng, even if they only heard about the policy of equalizing the land tax, all the emperors and generals understood why Song Shen had such a high opinion of Yongzheng.

He deserves it. He is indeed a ruthless man, a dictatorial emperor, and he also seriously cares about the people.

But it is outrageous that the Qing Dynasty had such a ruthless person as Yongzheng. Why did two such ruthless people appear in succession? ! !

Song Shen was helpless:
"I've already finished my evaluation. What else do you want from me? Didn't you say at the beginning that we would discuss the papers after we finished talking about the policies during the Yongzheng period? Why are you moving on to his son now?"

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, who had been very quiet today, could no longer bear it and finally raised his hand and stood up.

He shouted to Song Shen:
"Sir, you have already whetted our appetites here, why do you have to make us feel itchy?"

"Since you think so highly of that person, why not tell us more about him and what he did? If there is anything good in your words, the students can refer to it and revise their answers!"

Zhu Di had an even more violent temper. If his father hadn't been suppressing him all the time, he would have stood up and spoken long ago.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes signaled that he didn't need to endure it any longer. Zhu Di immediately stood up and bowed to Song Shen:
"Yes, sir, I agree with you!"

"If the secret method of appointing a crown prince can really screen out such a powerful emperor, all the answers I gave on the paper regarding the prince will be invalidated. I will write a new one and give it to you."

"Please say a few more words sir!"

Even though the other emperors didn't say much, there was pleading in their eyes when they looked at Song Shen.

After all, their family really has a throne to inherit...

If there is a better way than appointing a crown prince, appointing the eldest son as the heir, or the Xuanwu Gate succession method, to find a more capable heir, who wouldn't want their kingdom to last for thousands of years?

Even though everyone now knows that the rise and fall of dynasties is a natural law that no one can escape, the longer the dynasty, the better, and no one will complain about a long country's life.

Song Shen was speechless.

These weirdos are really good at finding trouble for themselves!
He sighed deeply and long, and said:

"Aisin-Gioro Hongli, the fourth son of Yongzheng, took the reign title Qianlong after ascending the throne."

"But I have to tell you first, he was born to be an emperor. Even if Yongzheng could give birth to nine awesome sons like Kangxi, as long as Qianlong was included in the mix, the final winner would definitely be him. So this actually has nothing to do with the secret succession. It just happened that Yongzheng had few children, so he chose him."

"Moreover, my personal inclination may be biased, because I think the emperor is still a human being. As a human being, he will make mistakes, have shortcomings and limitations, which is normal. For example, after the death of Qin Shihuang, Hu Hai usurped the throne and the second emperor of Qin died. For example, Li Shimin succeeded to the throne at Xuanwu Gate and obtained the throne illegitimately. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang's feudal system was messed up by later generations due to various accidents..."

"Actually, a lot of the blame cannot be put on you guys, but you all have your own personal feelings. You are the emperor, you are also a father, a husband, and a son. This is the person I'm talking about."

"But Qianlong is different. I can clearly say that I don't like him, not because he is incompetent, but because he is simply not a human being."

"Pay attention, I said 'not like a human being', not calling him an inhuman. The inhuman one is Li Longji."

"Yongzheng's experiences made him ruthless. He was not hypocritical. He was ruthless to others and even more ruthless to himself."

"Qian Xiaosi has never experienced any turmoil in the fight for the throne, but after ascending the throne, he is far more shrewd and capable than his father, and far more vicious and mean than his father."

"No one can hold him morally hostage because he has no morals."

"He was born to be an emperor. He is a natural born dictator."

"If I must say...haha, he also looks like one of the people here."

Song Shen glanced at Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che:
"Student Liu Che, you still have some humanity. He is a man who has been drained of all emotions and has lived his whole life for power. He has never compromised and has never issued a Luntai self-criticism edict. He is the Qing Dynasty version of you."

"He is the standard answer for an emperor, a benchmark. Those who are better than him, such as the Qin Shi Huang, Han Wudi, Tang Zong and Ming Zu, are all worthy of being engraved on the historical monuments. It is unimaginable that a paper can be written better than the standard answer. Those who are not as good as him are just mediocre, not outstanding."

"It was also him who squeezed out the last potential of the Qing Dynasty. What he could do, his descendants would find it difficult to even master."

"Have I made myself clear enough?"

(End of this chapter)