Many people should have heard that qianlong was able to succeed to the throne as emperor mainly because Kangxi was very fond of him, and Kangxi showed great joy when he first saw him in the Yuanmingyuan, and later took him to his side to raise him. Thanks to Qianlong, Kangxi will gradually value Qianlong's father Yongzheng, and finally choose to pass the throne to Yongzheng after a hundred years.
In fact, this statement is speculated by later generations and is not accurate, and Kangxi, as the first emperor of the ages, will certainly not choose the future crown prince because a grandson is excellent. Moreover, in Kangxi's view, there is not only one outstanding person in Qianlong's generation, but there is also one person who is also deeply valued by Kangxi, and he is Hongchen.
Hongchen may not be familiar to many people, but his father is very famous, Hongchen is the second child of The Kangxi Deposed Prince Yinrong, and Yinrong's first child died before he was a minor, so Hongchen can actually be said to be the eldest son of Yinrong and the eldest grandson of the Kangxi Emperor.
Yin Rong was the child that Empress Xiaochengren exchanged for her life, Kangxi regarded him as a pearl in his hand, Yin Rong was taken to Kangxi's side since he was a child, taught by him personally, Kangxi had high expectations for Yin Rong, and even completely cultivated him as an heir, loving Wu and Wu, and Hongchen when he was young was also Kangxi's heart treasure.
Later, fierce competition for reserves began to appear in the DPRK, and the civil and military officials stood in two camps, one faction was led by Prince Yinrong, and the other faction was the Eight Masters Party led by Yin Yu, the two camps fought unevenly, and in the end, everyone did not win, Yin Rong was deposed, Yin Yu was jealous of Kangxi because of the rapid growth of his power, and then Yin Yu engaged in the "fortune telling" set, so that the jianghu warlocks said that they were "true destiny heavenly sons", which made him completely lose the qualification to compete for reserves.
Among the remaining princes, only the four brothers Yinchen and the fourteen brothers Yinchen were capable of assuming the position of crown prince, and finally history chose the four brothers to inherit the throne, that is, the yongzheng emperor in history. According to historical records, Kangxi left two holy wills before his death, one of course was to pass on the throne to Yongzheng, and the other was to let Yongzheng reuse a person, that person was Yin Rong's son Hongchen, and the Kangxi Emperor's holy will made Yongzheng Jin crown Hongchen as a prince.
After the Yongzheng Emperor succeeded to the throne, he made Hongchen a county king, but he followed the sacred instructions left by Kangxi to reuse Hongchen. According to historical records, Hongchen and Yongzheng had a very close relationship, and even called Yongzheng "Emperor Father" in the recital, which can also be seen from here that the relationship between their monarchs and subjects is very harmonious.
Another thing that can reflect the reuse of Hongchen is that in the eighth year of Yongzheng, Hongchen became a prince, and he was the first person in their generation to become a prince, even if the "prince" Hongli at that time did not have a prince title, which shows that Hongchen was quite important in the Yongzheng dynasty.
However, Hongchen's personal fate changed drastically after Qianlong succeeded to the throne. In the fourth year of Qianlong, the Qianlong Emperor imprisoned Hongchen on the grounds that he "had different aspirations" and renamed him "Forty-Six" as an insult. In the seventh year of Qianlong, Hongchen died, and until his death he was unable to regain his freedom.