Ancient emperors all had a common feature, that is, their life expectancy was often relatively short. However, there are two special cases of Kangxi and Qianlong. Both of them lived past the age of 60.
Perhaps in the eyes of modern people, living to the age of 60 is not a difficult thing, as long as it is not a serious illness, living to the age of eighty or ninety is not a problem. Why did all the other emperors, except for Kangxi and Qianlong, often die early?
It has to do with the fact that they quit a hobby. Emperors in ancient times all pursued immortality, and the status of emperors was unmatched by others. In order to live longer, the emperor was very concerned about the art of immortality.
A typical example is that in order to obtain immortality, Qin Shi Huang sent Xu Fu to find the art of immortality, only to be deceived by Xu Fu twice, and he could not see through the deception until his death. Later emperors were troubled by immortality and believed in the alchemists.
In the eyes of the ancients, the refined elixir condensed the essence, and when people ate it, they could gather the heaven and earth aura. Emperors are naturally no exception, and those emperors who pursue immortality often find special warlocks to refine elixirs for them.
It was precisely because of taking too many elixirs that the life expectancy of these emperors was often shorter. The reason why Kangxi and Qianlong were able to live so long was that they did not believe that Dan Yao could make people live forever, so they did not take Dan Yao either.
Even if the conditions in ancient times were very poor, the emperor was well-treated and would not die easily because of any illness. There is no problem in living to be over 60 years old. Compared with their longevity, the life expectancy of ordinary people in ancient times was significantly shorter.
Long years of fatigue coupled with the threat of various diseases, the life expectancy of ancient people generally did not exceed 40 years. Many emperors in history had a short lifespan, some of whom died in their 30s, such as Cao Rui, the Emperor of Weiming.
Most of them died young because of some incurable diseases. By the Qing Dynasty, the emperor's life expectancy was somewhat longer than in other dynasties.
The Qing emperors were no longer so keen on the art of immortality, but paid more attention to health. In terms of human life expectancy, people who regularly exercise to strengthen their bodies also live healthier lives, and generally rarely suffer from serious diseases.
Ancient emperors traveled by palanquins, and usually did not have any leisure time to exercise, if it was the founding emperor, it was possible to fight a war and temper it.
As far as taking Dan medicine is concerned, ancient warlocks did not know what materials could refine the dan medicine of great supplement, and they often mistakenly thought that heavy metal substances could maintain a permanent luster, and the effect of refining the dan medicine with them as raw materials was naturally very good.
Tang Taizong ate Dan Medicine, the heavy metal content is very high, the result of long-term use of Dan medicine chronic poisoning and death. In fact, the ancient alchemists, because of the long-term alchemy, mastered some important chemical experimental methods.
They used tools of their own design to obtain heavy metals such as mercury through distillation and purification, and used these raw materials for redox reactions to obtain the elixir.
If they did not refine Dan for the emperor, but applied chemical methods to production and life, they would be able to effectively promote the development of social productivity.
Although alchemy could not obtain the elixir of immortality, it was still possible to refine a drug that could prolong life.
If the alchemist used ginseng deer antler velvet as a raw material to refine a large tonic elixir, it may not be a big problem for the emperor to live to the age of eighty or ninety.
Modern wealthy people who pursue longevity also take drugs that can delay aging. The pursuit of eternal life is contrary to the laws of nature, and naturally no one will believe in the method of eternal life.
Scientific research has shown that the natural lifespan of human beings can reach one hundred and fifty years, which is the limit of human lifespan under natural circumstances. As for how to live to this age, there is still a need for scientific research to solve the mystery.
Kangxi and Qianlong did not pursue immortality, but gained a longer lifespan by changing their cognition, which is indeed their cleverness.
If some emperors in ancient times could extend their lifespan to their level, some dynasties would last longer and the changes of historical dynasties would be slower.