49 Facts About Yongzheng Emperor

The Yongzheng Emperor, known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, born Aisin-Gioro Yinzhen, was the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper.

The Yongzheng Emperor cracked down on corruption and reformed the personnel and financial administration.

Yongzheng Emperor's reign saw the formation of the Grand Council, an institution which had an enormous impact on the future of the Qing dynasty.

Yongzheng Emperor died when Yinzhen was just 9 years old.

The Kangxi Yongzheng Emperor did not raise his children only inside the palace.

Yongzheng Emperor exposed his sons to the outside world and gave them a rigorous education.

Yongzheng Emperor 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.

In 1709, the Kangxi Yongzheng Emperor stripped his second son Yinreng of his position as crown prince.

The Kangxi Yongzheng Emperor opted not to appoint Yinsi as his heir apparent largely due to apprehension that Yinsi's political clout at court was beginning to overshadow that of himself.

In short, after several years of political chaos, Yongzheng Emperor earnestly strived to restore a functional court with "good government", immediately after he ascended the throne in 1723 CE, to stabilize Qing into a unified and harmonious empire.

One of the several tax reform policies Yongzheng Emperor introduced was to shift the head taxation to the property taxation on landowners, which greatly reduced the tax burden on civilians.

Additionally, Yongzheng Emperor 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.

Hence the Yongzheng Emperor era was a peaceful and prosperous reign of Qing China.

In 1712, the Kangxi Yongzheng Emperor deposed Yinreng again, and chose not to designate an heir apparent for the remaining years of his reign.

Yongzheng Emperor was awarded an apparently grandiose title of "Fuyuan General-in-chief Prince" and his departure ceremony was solemnly held.

Immediately after succeeding to the throne, the Yongzheng Emperor chose his new governing council.

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.

Yintang was sent to Qinghai under the pretext of military service, but in reality was watched over by the Yongzheng Emperor's trusted protege, Nian Gengyao.

The 14th prince, Yinti, born to the same mother as the Yongzheng Emperor, was recalled to Beijing from his military post.

Yongzheng Emperor died less than six months after the Kangxi Emperor.

The Yongzheng Emperor publicly reprimanded Yinsi in 1724 for mishandling an assignment, eventually removing him from office and then sending him into house arrest.

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.

Yongzheng Emperor fell into disgrace in 1728 and died while under house arrest.

The Yongzheng Emperor is known for establishing a strict autocratic-style rule during his reign.

Yongzheng Emperor detested corruption, and punished officials severely when they were found guilty of an offense.

The Yongzheng Emperor's reign saw the Qing dynasty further establish itself as a powerful empire in Asia.

Yongzheng Emperor was known for his trust in Mandarin officials.

For example, Li Wei had a very rude personality, but he was brave and clever, Yongzheng Emperor assigned him tasks related to law enforcement, criminal punishment and rebel liquidation.

Therefore, immediately after his enthronement, Yongzheng Emperor began the crackdown against corruption and financial issues.

Yongzheng Emperor created an independent Inquisition Association to examine all the spending and revenue documents to prevent local officers from bribing the Ministry of Revenue to fabricate financial reports.

Beside harsh punishment, Yongzheng Emperor improved the state officer's income to remove their incentive for corruption.

Yongzheng Emperor 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.

Also, to avoid false accusation and incorrect reports from informants, Yongzheng Emperor collected information from various sources, and the accused person had a chance to defend their actions and prove their innocence.

The Yongzheng emperor sought to remedy this by mandating that orphanages be built in every county.

The Kangxi Yongzheng 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.

The Yongzheng emperor removed these privileged tax brackets as he saw the local gentry as competition to the throne.

The Kangxi emperor had banned foreign missions, and Yongzheng took this one step further by removing all foreign priests from China.

Chinese merchant houses belonging to Canton station were grouped together under a larger organization by Yongzheng Emperor called Cohong in 1725.

Yongzheng Emperor attempted to ban all bribing to avoid these fees and officially mandated meltage fees as a source of local income.

The Yongzheng Emperor was firmly against Christian converts among the Manchus.

Yongzheng Emperor warned them that the Manchus must follow only the Manchu way of worshipping Heaven since different peoples worshipped Heaven differently.

In 1724, the Yongzheng Emperor issued a decree proscribing Catholicism.

The Yongzheng Emperor appointed the Manchu official Ortai who violently abolished hereditary ethnic minority states such as those belonging to ethnic minority Miao people across southwest China in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi.

The Yongzheng Emperor ruled the Qing Empire for 13 years before dying suddenly in 1735 at the age of 56.

Yongzheng Emperor devised a system for his successors to choose their heirs in secret.

Yongzheng Emperor wrote his chosen successor's name on two scrolls, placed one scroll in a sealed box and had the box stored behind the stele in the Qianqing Palace.

Yongzheng Emperor kept the other copy with him or hid it.

The Yongzheng Emperor was interred in the Western Qing tombs 120 kilometres southwest of Beijing, in the Tai mausoleum complex.

The Qianlong Yongzheng Emperor rehabilitated many figures who had been purged during his father's reign, including restoring honours to many of his uncles who were formerly his father's rivals in the succession struggle.