Emperor Daoguang had more than 20 concubines, who gave birth to ten princesses and nine princes. Among them, the eldest son Yiwei died in the eleventh year of Daoguang (1831), and he was 20 years old. At the age of three, his son Yi Gang and his third son Yi Ji also died prematurely. The fourth son Yi Zhasheng died two months after the death of his eldest son Yi Wei in the eleventh year of Daoguang. Huang's fifth son adopted him in the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang (1846). The third son of Jiaqing, Mian Kai, succeeded him to the throne of the county. The sixth son of the emperor, Yi Xin, was one of the princes who was quite favored by Daoguang. In his later years, Daoguang successively had the seventh son, eighth son and ninth son of the emperor, but they were all young. ignorance.
Emperor Daoguang established his heir late. After Daoguang ascended the throne, he did not immediately start secretly establishing his heir according to the practice of the Qing Dynasty. Why he did not make his eldest son Yiwei his heir is still a mystery that no one can explain. It is a mystery that Daoguang only thought of establishing a heir in his later years. Judging from Daoguang's extremely cautious character when establishing a heir, it can be inferred that he hoped to have more selection opportunities when deciding his successor, because after Yiwei, his second son , the three sons are young, and the only heir that can be chosen is Yiwei. It is meaningless whether to establish a heir apparent.
Eleven years after Daoguang, with the death of Yiwei and the birth of several young princes, Daoguang faced the problem of establishing a heirloom that should have been solved long ago. Among the sons, Emperor Daoguang valued the fourth son and the sixth son the most. Yiyue was born in the twelfth year of Daoguang (1832), his mother was Daoguang's concubine Borjigit. When Yixin was six years old, Emperor Daoguang specially equipped him with a teacher for formal education. He was smart and eager to learn, and gradually became more educated in culture. Among the princes, Yixin has the closest relationship with the fourth prince Yiza. They are only one year apart. They study in the same study room and receive martial arts education together. They have a close brotherly relationship. deep.
Yizha entered school at the age of six. The teacher Daoguang chose for him was Du Shoutian, who was known for his loyalty and integrity. Du Shoutian had very strict requirements for Yiza's study and taught him day and night for more than ten years. Zha developed a virtuous and upright character.
In the 20th year of Daoguang's reign (1840), Yiza's mother, Niu Hulu, died of illness. Yiza, who was only 10 years old, was raised by Yixin's mother, Borjigit, and the two brothers lived together every day. Living together, the two are eager to learn and study. They can recite a subset of classics and history, and they can also imitate their predecessors in writing a few ancient poems. They practice martial arts together every day. Yi Xin also created twenty-eight styles of marksmanship under the guidance of martial arts masters. Daoguang was extremely pleased to see this and gave him the spear "Dihua Xieli" and the sword "Bao'e Xuanwei". At the same time, he also gave him one of his own white rainbow swords as a gift. In the late Daoguang period, when considering establishing a prince, his sunshine always turned to Yi Zha and Yi Xin, but he hesitated because in terms of material and strategy, Yi Xin was superior to Yi Zha, and in terms of character, Yi Zha was Daoguang had good conduct and was the eldest son. Daoguang was in a dilemma and hesitant to decide.
So, why did Daoguang later decide to pass the throne to Yizha?
While Emperor Daoguang was thinking about it, two small things happened. The different performances of the two princes made Daoguang The emperor finally made his decision. One thing was recorded in the "Biography of Du Shoutian" in the "Manuscript of Qing History". Emperors of the Qing Dynasty hunted in Nanyuan every year, and Daoguang was no exception.
One day in Daoguang’s later years, Nanyuan School Hunting was held again. Daoguang took the princes to Nanyuan to ride horses and gallop. The princes could also take this opportunity to perform well in front of their father and show off their talents. With strong martial arts skills, Yi Xin has been good at swords, guns and archery since childhood. Today, in order to show his expertise in front of his father, he used all his strength to fight bravely, and the arrows were all missed. After the school hunting was over, the princes showed their skills in front of Emperor Daoguang. However, Yizha replied calmly: Father, now is the spring when all things wake up. Birds and beasts begin to reproduce and breed. I cannot bear to harm these creatures and violate the laws of growth of all things.
Yizha's words made Daoguang very happy, and he couldn't help but admire: These are really the words that an emperor should say. Yiza's benevolent, righteous and moral remarks are closer to Daoguang's traditions and standards, which made Daoguang the emperor. The balance obviously tilted towards Yizha.
There is another theory, which is roughly the same as the above incident. It also talks about how Daoguang differentiated between Yizha and Yixin. Qing people's notes said that Yizha The teacher was Du Shoutian, and Yi Xin's teacher was Zhuo Bingtian. When Daoguang fell ill in his later years, one day he wanted to summon the two princes to decide who to pass the throne to through a final inspection. The two princes also knew that the throne was at the last moment, so Ask Ji Yu how to behave in front of his father.
Zhuo Bingtian told Yue Yixin: If my father asks you something, you will tell him everything he knows. Zhuo Bingtian’s intention of saying this is actually very obvious, because Yiyue people Very smart, quick to respond, and rich in knowledge, he can completely overwhelm Yi Zha with his talents.
After Du Shoutian analyzed the actual situation of the two princes, he believed that the fourth prince should use his strengths and avoid weaknesses, and use his own strengths to make Daoguang favor him. He said to Yi Zha: If your father asks about the country, In political affairs, your knowledge and wisdom in this area are far from being comparable to that of the emperor's six sons. There is only one way to win, and that is when your father talks about his old age and illness, and that he may not be able to become emperor soon, you can do nothing. Needless to say, just keep kneeling down and crying to show your sincerity of admiration for your father.
When Daoguang summoned him, Yiza did as the teacher said. Daoguang was very happy because he thought Yiza was too benevolent and filial, so he decided to pass the throne to Yiza.
The above two statements may be fictitious. For example, according to the "Manuscript of Qing History", Zhuo Bingtian did not actually have Ren Yixin's teacher, and the content and plot of the story are also different, but the principles explained are the same. , that is, under the banner of benevolence, filial piety and virtuousness, the fourth son of the emperor Yi Zha defeated the sixth son of the emperor Yi Yue who was intelligent but eager to express himself in many competitions, and was finally established as the crown prince.
However, there is another theory that Daoguang initially appointed Yixin as the crown prince, but later changed it. "Qingbai Leichao" said: When Daoguang was tired of political affairs in his later years, he thought of establishing a crown prince. He saw that among the princes, Prince Gong Yixin was the most favored by the Queen, so he planned to make him his heir. He wrote Yixin's name in advance and placed it behind the large and bright plaque in the Qianqing Palace. There was an eunuch secretly watching Daoguang's writing. Seeing that the last stroke was particularly long, he suspected that the name written by Daoguang was Yixin. The eunuch told everyone about it, and the news that Daoguang appointed Yixin as his heir spread. After hearing this, Daoguang was very excited. Annoyed, he took off the iron box again and changed Yizha's name.
According to this theory, Yizha got the throne completely by accident. Emperor Daoguang originally intended to choose Yixin, but because the incident was leaked, he changed his name to Yizha. The truth of this matter is not found in other history books. Records, it is difficult to verify today, but it should be true that Yi Xin is favored and has the hope of succeeding as king. The two people have the same chance of being crowned.
On June 16, the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang's reign (1846), Emperor Daoguang secretly established the crown prince. Emperor Daoguang used a red pen to write Manchu and Chinese characters on a 9.5 cm to 1.6 cm square folded paper. The text was combined with "Yixin, the fourth son of the emperor, was established as the crown prince", and his colleague also wrote in Chinese characters "Yizha, the sixth son of the emperor, was named prince". After writing, Daoguang wrapped it in two layers of slightly darker yellow paper. On the back of the yellow paper, the words "June 16th, the 26th year of Daoguang" were written in red pen, with his own signature. On the back of the outer layer of yellow paper, the Manchu word "Wannian" was written in red pen, and Daoguang signed it again. Put your name on it.
After this important matter was completed, Emperor Daoguang wrote two more copies of his will, explaining what he had to do after his death. Emperor Daoguang's imperial letter and the posthumous order were sealed in two boxes and stored in two boxes. The storage box is also called the Wan box.
The buckles on three sides of the Wan box are fully affixed and sealed. The seals at both ends are signed by Emperor Daoguang. The front seal also has Emperor Daoguang’s autograph and handwriting "The Beginning of Autumn in the 26th Year of Daoguang". The two boxes containing Emperor Daoguang's posthumous letter and edict are still preserved today. They are the only physical objects found in China that can give a glimpse of the Qing Dynasty's secret throne system. Emperors after Daoguang have There is no secret reserve, so its value is very important.
On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month of the 30th year of Daoguang (1850), Emperor Daoguang was about to finish his life. He summoned ministers Zaiyuan, Ruihua, Seng Gelinqin and others in the Old Summer Palace to ask him to take charge of internal affairs. Minister Wen Qing and others opened the small box in front of all the ministers and announced the imperial letter and testament. At the same time, they also announced a copy of Emperor Daoguang's personal edict, which was written in Shende Hall of Yuanmingyuan when Emperor Daoguang was seriously ill. , the content of which is: "The fourth son of the emperor Yi Zha has been established as the crown prince. How can your king and ministers wait for my words? They support and assist me with one heart. They always put the national economy and people's livelihood first and have no regard for anything else." In this way, from a legal point of view, Daoguang The emperor raised Yizha to the throne, and no one could and should have any objections.
After the death of Emperor Daoguang, Yizha ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, changing the first year to Xianfeng.