Although the Yongzheng Emperor left the Qianlong Emperor with a relatively stable jiangshan and a relatively abundant treasury, it also left him with a very tense clan relationship. Because of the "Nine Dragons Conquest" in the Kangxi Period, Yongzheng suppressed several brothers who were involved in the struggle for the throne after succeeding to the throne, so after the Qianlong Emperor succeeded to the throne, he faced a very serious problem, that is, how to win over these clans. Later, he rehabilitated many of his clan relatives, but he did not rehabilitate Prince Yinrong, what was the reason for this?
Yongzheng was also very clever, he did not first suppress his brothers after he ascended the throne, he first reused a group of brothers, gave them canonizations, and rewarded them with silver, in the second year of Yongzheng, the Yongzheng Emperor ordered a crackdown on the Eight Ye Party, and from then on, the Eight Ye Party was in vain. The Yongzheng Emperor not only imprisoned the Eight Brothers, but also stripped him of his clan membership, which can be said to have no regard for brotherhood. After the Qianlong Emperor succeeded to the throne, he first rehabilitated his own imperial uncles, saying that they had no intention of rebellion, and then restored the names of some imperial uncles who had their ancestral records stripped.
In fact, the Yongzheng Emperor also had remorse in his later years, he was not ruthless, in his heart, his brother still had a certain status, he first restored some brothers who changed their names to their original names, and then released some brothers who were still in captivity. The reason why the Yongzheng Emperor did this, many people said that it was because the Yongzheng Emperor wanted to leave a good reputation for himself, and he did not want others to think that he was very ruthless. The Qianlong Emperor's treatment of his great uncle Yinzhen was very special, he only gave his son a hereditary Feng'en general, which was the lowest rank in the Qing Dynasty clan, equivalent to a military attaché of Sipin. Although it was hereditary, the hereditary inheritance of the Qing Dynasty followed a principle of demotion hereditary, that is, the title of General Feng'en should ultimately be no different from that of the commoners.
The Qianlong Emperor's treatment of Yin Zhen in this way may also be to highlight the merits of his father, the Yongzheng Emperor, who in the twelfth year of Yongzheng, the emperor's eldest son Yin Zhen had been imprisoned for 26 years, and in this year, he died of aggravated illness. After Yin's death, the Yongzheng Emperor held a funeral for him as a beizi, and his son Hongfang inherited a title of Duke of Zhenguo, and later Hongfang died, and his son inherited the title. Everyone should know that Yin Zhen was imprisoned during the Kangxi Dynasty, and it was already very good that he could give Yin Zhen and his descendants such treatment.
In the two months after the Qianlong Emperor succeeded to the throne, in order to show his virtue, he first issued a holy decree to reclassify his uncle Yin Yu into the clan and issued him a red belt symbolizing the sons of the clan. However, it is worth noting that the Qianlong Emperor did not overthrow all of Yongzheng's punishments for them, and later he released Yin and Gengyin. In the second year of Qianlong, the deceased Yin Zhi was also restored to his title by the Qianlong Emperor and given him a courtesy name. In the forty-third year of Qianlong, almost all the members of the Eight Ye Party were rehabilitated, but only Prince Yinrong was not among them.
Crown Prince Yinrong was imprisoned for 12 years, he died at the age of 51, and until his death, Crown Prince Yinrong was not released, and he was imprisoned by Kangxi orders, and most of the uncles rehabilitated by the Qianlong Emperor were ordered by his father to be banned. In fact, the relationship between the crown prince Yinrong and the Yongzheng Emperor was quite good, and when Yinrong was seriously ill, the Yongzheng Emperor personally visited him. Regarding the captivity of Yin Rong, I believe that everyone knows better, the Kangxi Emperor once deposed the crown prince twice, and once had full expectations for him, but he had no choice but to do it himself. After the Qianlong Emperor ascended the throne, although he rehabilitated many cases, he made a rule for himself, that is, the cases involved in his grandfather Kangxi would not be rehabilitated.
Regarding this rule of the Qianlong Emperor, many people say that it is because the Qianlong Emperor greatly respected his grandfather, and it is true that the Qianlong Emperor imitated the Kangxi Emperor in many ways. When he first ascended the throne, he had made a vow that he would not reign longer than his grandfather, so even if the Qianlong Emperor was in good health, he would insist on abdicating when he succeeded to the throne for sixty years. But the real reason for not rehabilitating Yin Rong may only be known to the Qianlong Emperor himself.