Why does Qianlong only have 2 people capable of inheriting the throne?

As the longest-serving emperor, also the longest-lived emperor in Chinese history. Qianlong ruled for 63 years, at the age of 89, the fact that his number of sons surpassed all other emperors seems to be beyond doubt.

But in fact, Tong Huy Tong reigned for 28 years and gave birth to 80 children. Duong Huyen Tong reigned for 44 years and gave birth to 59 children. Kangxi reigned for 61 years and gave birth to 55 children. Minh Thai To reigned for 31 years and gave birth to 44 children. Duong Thai Tong reigned for 23 years and gave birth to 35 children (all of which included both men and women).

In the end, Qianlong only had a total of 27 children, perhaps unable to enter the “top 10 largest chart” compared to other emperors, among those 27 children, there were 17 princes and 10 princesses. . Although not much, but perhaps as usual, there will be an extremely fierce royal competition. The reality is quite the opposite, out of those 17 sons, only 2 people are qualified to compete, that is, Thap Nhat Prince Vinh Tinh and Thap Ngu Prince Vinh Diem.

Why is that?

After Qian Long and the royal court, the Empress Phu Sat welcomed the birth of her true son, Vinh Lien, and planned to make him Crown Prince. In 1736, when Qian Long ascended to the throne, six-year-old Vinh Lien was secretly decided by Qianlong to set up a reserve army, set up a holy reserve placed only behind the sign ” Chinh Dai Quang Minh” (the sign hanging above the throne) gold in the imperial court), it is obvious that Qianlong has decided his successor is Yong Lien.

Unfortunately, in the 3rd year of Qian Long, Vinh Lien passed away, Qian Long was severely attacked, but he did not resent his fate. In the 11th year of Qianlong, Empress Phu Sa gave birth to the Seven Princes, Vinh Tong, and Qian Long did not think about it and immediately made him Crown Prince. As a result, in the 12th year of Qianlong, Vinh Tong also died prematurely.

Both times he wrote the name of the reserve army in the holy book, but both of the sons he had hoped for died before him. Not being able to pass the throne to the eldest son is the most regretful thing in Qian Long’s life.

In the last years of Qianlong’s life, the royal competition between the princes was not fierce, the reason for this is probably two main points. First, Qianlong lived to be 89 years old, most princes did not live as long as him. On the other hand, after the death of Empress Phu Sa, although Qian Long continued to establish another Empress, but no longer had a real son, Qian Long seemed to respect the children of the main family and the concubine. other concubines), so the sons of other concubines were basically eliminated by him.