In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (1661), the Shunzhi Emperor died of smallpox at the age of 24.
Before his death, the Shunzhi Emperor designated the emperor's third son Xuan Ye as his successor, which was the later Kangxi Emperor, and arranged for Soni, Suksaha, Shu Bilong, and Ao Bai to be auxiliary ministers to fully assist the young Kangxi Emperor.
The Shunzhi Emperor gave birth to a total of eight princes in his lifetime, of which the emperor's eldest son Niu Niu and the fourth son of the emperor, Prince Rong, born to Concubine Dong' concubine, died prematurely before he was born less than one year old, so when Shunzhi died and Kangxi ascended the throne, there were six princes of the Shunzhi Emperor, namely: the second son of the emperor Fuquan; the third son of the emperor, the kangxi emperor Xuanye; the fifth son of the emperor, Changning; the sixth son of the emperor, Qishou; the seventh son of the emperor, Longxi; and the eighth son of the emperor, Yonggan.
From the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (1661) to the eighth year of Kangxi (1669), this period is called the "Four Ministers Auxiliary Administration Period" and later the "Aobai Dictatorship Period", at this time, although the Kangxi Emperor was a son of heaven, but the actual power was in the hands of the powerful minister Aobai, during which the whole country and the internal and external affairs of the palace were assisted by Aobai and others, and the Kangxi Emperor did not have actual power. It was not until the eighth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1669) that the Kangxi Emperor zhi captured Aobai and took power into his own hands.
During these eight years, Kangxi lost two of his brothers, namely:
The sixth son of the Shunzhi Emperor, Qishou, died young at the fourth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, at the age of 7;
The shunzhi emperor's eighth son, Yonggan, died at the age of six with Kangxi at the age of 8.
At this time, in addition to the Kangxi Emperor, the surviving Shunzhi Emperor's crown prince also gave birth to only three people: the emperor's second son Fuquan, the emperor's fifth son ChangNing, and the emperor's seventh son, Longxi.
The Kangxi Emperor can describe these brothers of his own as "brotherly love and harmony between kings and subjects".
First, let's talk about the youngest of them, the seventh son of the Shunzhi Emperor, Longxi.
In the thirteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1674), Longxi, who was only 15 years old, was crowned as a pure prince by the Kangxi Emperor, and was later distributed to zuoling. During Longxi's serious illness, the Kangxi Emperor personally visited and arranged for the imperial doctor to diagnose and treat him, but Longxi's destiny was not false, and he died at the age of 20 in the eighteenth year of Kangxi (1669), and the Kangxi Emperor was very sad, and deliberately quit the dynasty for three days to show his condolences, and arranged for his son Fuerhulun to inherit his title.
The other two Shunzhi princes, Fuquan and Changning, were not only brothers whom Kangxi trusted very much, but also ministers and generals whom Kangxi relied heavily.
After Kangxi ascended the throne, in the first month of the sixth year of Kangxi (1667), Fuquan was made the Prince of Yu, ordered to participate in the deliberations, and in Pingsan Domain, the two conquests of Dzungar made meritorious contributions, becoming Kangxi's most trusted clan prince. In particular, in the twenty-ninth year of Kangxi (1690), Kangxi personally entrusted Fuquan to the general Fuyuan and ordered his marshals to recruit Gardan, and the emperor's eldest son Yin Zhen, the uncle of the great power Tong Guogang and many other imperial relatives and relatives all served in the army, which showed Kangxi's honor and trust in Fuquan. Although Fuquan's army defeated the rebel Gardan at Ulan Butong, due to the death of Tong Guogang and Fuquan's failure to organize a pursuit, Kaldan fled, and was demoted by Kangxi, and later restored to his official position and continued to accompany Kangxi to lead troops on the expedition.
In the forty-second year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1703), Fu Quan died of illness at the age of fifty. After Fuquan's death, the Kangxi Emperor specially ordered a painter to paint a portrait for the Kangxi Emperor and Fuquan to sit together under the shade of Tong, showing the meaning of brotherhood and old age, and the Kangxi Emperor used this picture to send heartfelt feelings to express his longing for Fuquan.
Another of Kangxi's brothers, Chang Ning, was also made prince of Gong by Kangxi in the tenth year of Kangxi (1671). Like Fuquan, in Kangxi's conquest of Kaldan, Changning ushered in his own highlight moment, Kangxi named his brother Changning as the great general of Anbei, commanded the Western Route Army out of Xifengkou, and marched hand in hand with Kangxi and Fuquan's large armies to jointly meet Kaldan, which also made a great contribution to Kangxi's final pacification of Kaldan. In addition, Chang Ning's eldest daughter was also fostered in the imperial palace from an early age, and later she was also named Princess Gulun Chunxi, "Princess Gulun" is a title that should only be the princess born to the empress, which also shows kangxi's importance to Changning.
In the forty-second year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1703), Chang Ning died of illness at the age of forty-six, and the date of his death was only more than ten days away from that of his brother Fuquan.
Kangxi maintained a very close and friendly relationship with his brother, which became a good story.
Kangxi and his brothers maintained a very harmonious relationship, especially with Fuquan and Changning, which can also be regarded as a good story of "Junchen Brothers", on the one hand, Kangxi and his brothers were born of concubines, grew up together, the relationship was very close, plus Kangxi very well implemented the "benevolence" to rule the world, and also gave enough trust and respect to his brothers; on the other hand, these two brothers of Kangxi, Fuquan and Changning, were also loyal to Kangxi, for example, Fuquan made a position of "willing to be a virtuous king" from an early age. He did not covet the throne all along, but dutifully served the Kangxi Emperor.
It is precisely because of the joint efforts and maintenance of the Kangxi Emperor and his brothers that they have a very close and harmonious and friendly relationship between them, which has achieved the good story of "Junchen Brothers" and has become an important factor in the creation of the "Kangxi Prosperous Era".