When it comes to Qianlong's son, everyone is most familiar with the fifth brother Yongqi, and Yongqi is also Qianlong's most outstanding son, however, Yongqi's status in Qianlong's heart is not the highest, and Qianlong's most valued son is the eldest son, the second brother Yonglian.
On June 26 of the 8th year of Yongzheng, Yonglian was born in the Western Second House of the Forbidden City, later Chonghua Palace, and his biological mother was the Fourth Brother Hongli Concubine Fu jin Fucha (Empress Xiaoxian). Although Hongli already had the first son, Yong Huang, but Yong Huang was born of a concubine, and Yong Lian belonged to the concubine, and the status was naturally not comparable.
Within a few days, Yongzheng heard about the birth of this imperial grandson and personally gave him a nice name: Yonglian. For the name given to his son by the emperor's father, Hongli was also overjoyed, and Yonglian implied the meaning of inheriting the emperor' instrument, which showed that his father was not only likely to pass the throne to himself, but also wanted himself to pass the throne to Yonglian in the future.
Therefore, from the moment Yong Lian was born, he occupied a very high position in Hongli's heart, and this position was recognized by almost everyone.
In September of the thirteenth year of Yongzheng, Yonglian's father Hongli inherited the throne of the Qing Dynasty as the Qianlong Emperor. In terms of inheriting the throne, in view of the turmoil that occurred in the late years of the Kangxi Dynasty, Yongzheng deliberately created a secret reserve system, that is, the emperor wrote the person he liked behind the Zhengda Guangming plaque, which cleverly avoided the struggle between the princes. After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he also adopted this method, and on the second day of the first month of July in the fifth year of Qianlong, he wrote the name of the emperor's second son, Yong Lian, on the secret decree and placed it behind the Zhengda Guangming plaque.
Sometimes, however, the more you cherish a person or something, the easier it is to lose it.
In October of the third year of Qianlong, the emperor's second son Yonglian followed his father Qianlong out hunting, accidentally infected with wind and cold, unexpectedly it was this "occasional wind chill" that took Yonglian's life when he was only 9 years old. Yonglian's death was a huge blow to Qianlong and Empress Xiaoxian, and Qianlong did not go to the court to handle political affairs for five days, and then Qianlong made public the secret appointment of Yonglian as crown prince:
"Yong Lian was born to the Empress, the concubine of The Emperor, intelligent and valuable, and extraordinary. The imperial examination is named, implying the meaning of the inheritance vessel. After the fall of the Imperial Pole, he scrupulously adhered to the cheng style, personally wrote a secret will, and summoned the ministers to hide behind the Qianqing Palace's "Zhengda Guangming" list, although it was not established, he had been appointed crown prince. Now that he has passed away, all ceremonies are performed with the crown prince ceremony. ”
In the end, Yonglian's nickname was Crown Prince Duanhui, and through this title, it can be seen that Yonglian not only looks extraordinary in Qianlong's heart, but also is an extremely intelligent son.
Subsequently, after repeated selection, Qianlong determined the site of the crown prince for his son Yonglian at Zhuhua Mountain, and did not hesitate to spend a huge amount of money to build a cemetery for his son, after some tossing, the highest specification of the Duanhui Crown Prince's garden was presented to the world, and even in terms of sacrifice, Yonglian could enjoy the imperial regulations.
Later, Yongyan (Jiaqing) was made crown prince, and Qianlong was named "Crown Prince Duanhui First ZengMili." He already had a name, and instead of worshipping his brother as a brother, he ordered him to perform a prostration to Prince Duanhui, and then he was enshrined in the ceremony. Moreover, this Crown Prince's Garden Bed (Duanhui Crown Prince's Garden Bed) eventually became the only Crown Prince's Garden Bed in the Qing Dynasty.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, Canon of the Great Qing Dynasty