According to the Records of Yongzheng Dynasty, Yongzheng died in August of the 13th year of Yongzheng (1735). A few days before Yongzheng's death, he was still working as usual, which shows that his health is not bad. It was not until the evening of August 22nd that Yongzheng suddenly became seriously ill that he hastily announced the succession of Li Hong, the fourth son of the emperor. The next day, Yongzheng died in Yuanmingyuan at the age of 58. So how did Yongzheng die? With the discovery of the archives of the Qing Dynasty, more and more people believe that Yongzheng was poisoned by taking Dan medicine. So, let's see. Can Taoist alchemy furnace reveal the mystery of Yongzheng's sudden death? In the era of autocratic imperial power, many emperors were obsessed with the elixir and dreamed of immortality. From Qin Shihuang sent people to the sea several times to ask for medicine, to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered Fang Shili and Luan Da to refine "immortal medicine"; From Cao Caoguang's recruiting alchemists to practice "the method of mending the sky" to the death of Emperor Ai Jin's "bait longevity medicine"; From Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty appointed Taoist Pan Dan "He Xiandan" to "A Generation of Xianwang" Emperor Taizong, taking the fairy medicine of Tianzhu alchemist "Sudden illness is incurable"; From the news that Taoist Su was summoned to ask about the "secret of health preservation", Emperor Taichang of the Ming Dynasty was killed for eating "red pills" ... How many autocratic emperors were possessed by Taoist alchemy, and Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty was the last emperor obsessed with Dan medicine in the history of China. Yongzheng likes alchemy for a long time. As early as when he was a prince, he became interested in Dan medicine. He once wrote a poem: "sand is used as medicine, and pine and cypress go around the cloud altar." The furnace contains yin and yang fire, both inside and outside. " This poem contains lead sand, medicine, fire and smoke, which is a vivid picture of an alchemist. It can be seen that Yongzheng's interest in alchemy has a long history. After boarding Dabao, Yongzheng praised Zhang Boduan, the founder of Nanzong Sect at that time, named him "the real person of Zen Immortal Ziyang in Tong Yuan" and ordered him to "invent the essence of that time". From the 4th year of Yongzheng (1726), Yongzheng often gave his own refined Dan medicine called "Ji Ji Dan" to some minions such as E Ertai and Tian Wenjing. In the spring of the eighth year of Yongzheng (1730), Yongzheng was seriously ill. In order to cure the disease, he ordered hundreds of officials at home and abroad to visit famous doctors and magicians on a large scale. To this end, he issued an imperial edict with the same words written by him to a large number of government officials, such as Tian Wenjing, Li Jue and E Ertai: "You can pay attention to visiting those good doctors in internal surgery, or Taoist priests, or Confucian laymen who preach and teach. If I have the opportunity to visit, I will make a detour to enlighten you and let you enjoy it from all directions. I can't help it. While I give you a generous gift to settle in your home, I listen that it is useful to send it to Beijing with preferential treatment. I tried my best to ask for it for me. Don't worry in advance, so recommend it to non-people. I don't blame it. I have my own way to try. If you have heard of mainlanders, you can quickly secretly type your name and origin, and I will call the governor to visit. It can't be regarded as a literary career. You can pay attention to asking questions, visiting extensively and expressing your thoughts. Be careful! " The core of this secret message is to let these government officials actively look for Taoist magicians who can "repair their lives." Since Yongzheng attached so much importance to it, he repeatedly said to his officials that "it cannot be regarded as literate". How dare a courtier ignore it? Therefore, local officials launched a nationwide "big search" campaign. Soon, the governor of Sichuan, Xian De, reported that there was a local man named Gong Lun, who was 86 years old and had a son with his little wife. Yongzheng was overjoyed and immediately ordered Xiande to send him to Beijing. However, at this moment, Gong suddenly ascended to heaven. In this regard, Yongzheng was very sorry, but he still refused to give up. He ordered Xiande to visit secretly to see if the son of the palace had got any "secret biography". As a result, his sons all said, "I have never received my father's secret biography." Perhaps, Gong Lun's descendants are smarter and think this matter is of great importance. If something happens, a person's life will be in jeopardy, so it's better to be cautious. No, Jia Shifang, a Taoist priest from Henan, was summoned to the palace and died soon. How did Jia Shifang enter the palace? He was recommended by Li Wei, the "toast" in front of Yongzheng and the governor of Zhejiang. This Jia Shifang was originally a Taoist in Beijing Baiyun Temple. Later, he traveled to Henan and became famous far and wide. He was called "Jia Shenxian". In the eighth year of Yongzheng (1730), he went to Beijing in July and began to treat the emperor, which was quite effective. Therefore, Yongzheng was very happy and specially praised Li Wei: "My bow is safe because of the strength of Jia Jinshi (that is, Jia Shifang) recommended by your Qing." As a result, Jia Shifang rose from a "wild Taoist priest" to a "stranger" favored by Yongzheng, and his worth suddenly rose by a hundredfold. However, "company is like a tiger"! Less than two months later, Yongzheng suddenly turned his face, and even Jia Shifang, the "royal Taoist", was thrown into prison. There are always different opinions about the reasons for Jia Shifang's conviction. Later, in the archives of the Qing Dynasty, an imperial edict revised by Yongzheng himself was discovered, which revealed the mystery. It turned out that this Taoist Jia was ambitious. He gradually controlled the emperor's health by means of "massage" and "secret spells", which made Yongzheng comfortable and uncomfortable. You are the son of heaven, how can Yongzheng be at the mercy of others? Therefore, Yongzheng immediately ordered Jia Daoshi to be beheaded on charges of using "witchcraft" in front of the emperor. After the incident, Yongzheng, though beheading Jia Daochang, tried his best to excuse Li Jue, saying that he didn't know all the ins and outs of Jia when he recommended him, but only reported what he saw and heard, which was nothing wrong, which gave the officials who were going to recommend the Taoist priest a "reassurance". After Jia Shifang's death, Yongzheng did not lose confidence in Taoist priests. According to the records of the Qing Palace, in the palace, besides the Qin 'an Hall, which specializes in Taoist activities, Yongzheng also asked the Taoist priests to place Taoist memorial tablets in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and Gan Qing Palace, and set up a bucket altar in their bedroom, namely hall of mental cultivation, and ask the gods to bless him forever. In addition, Yongzheng also built several houses in the imperial garden, specially for Taoist Lou Jinyuan and others to live in, so as to ask them to pray and practice at any time. This is really the "first time". In the ninth year of Yongzheng (173 1), on the 27th day of the first month, Yongzheng wrote a letter to Wang Hai, the general manager of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: "Look at the Qianqiu Pavilion in the back garden. If it's not suitable for the bucket altar, it's better to use the square pavilion in the back building to stand the bucket altar ... There is an open space in the east of Yuting, and measure its terrain. Add a few smaller rooms for the judges. " All these materials prove that Yongzheng not only visited Taoist warlocks on a large scale throughout the country, but also made close friends with Taoist priests in the palace. Although these Taoist priests come from different backgrounds, they all belong to "people who practice health", and their purpose is to cultivate "elixir of life" for Yongzheng and make themselves "immortal". Now we can draw a general conclusion: Yongzheng died of Dan medicine poisoning. So as soon as his son Qianlong ascended the throne, he ordered Taoist Zhang Taixu and others to be driven out of the Forbidden City and warned them not to talk nonsense after leaving the palace!