Q: Please consult the editor. It is said that Yongzheng died of Dan medicine poisoning. Is this statement credible? My opinion is: credible. The mystery of this matter can be found in a decree issued by Qianlong on the second day after the death of Yongzheng. The full text of the imperial edict is as follows: Imperial edict: In his spare time, the emperor once heard that there was a saying of practicing fire outside, and the holy man knew what was right and wrong and wanted to try his skills, thinking that games were a tool for leisure. Because Zhang Taixu, Wang Dinggan and others were placed in the vacant lot of Xiyuan, Sacred Heart regarded them as the ears of You and others, and never listened to them and did not need one of their medicines. And knowing that he is a street rascal, it is best to make trouble. The emperor repeatedly asked me and the prince to talk to him. Today, I will drive Iraq and others out and return to their hometown. Bold statement. Iraqis and others are usually restless, arrogant and perverse, deceiving the world and the people. They are disciplined and taught by the emperor for a long time. Our lenient dismissal is the grace of reform. Ruoyi and others walked in the imperial palace for several years, said a word in front of the emperor's order, and then flaunted and incited the people outside. Once interviewed, they will be strictly investigated, punished immediately, and never lend. I admire that. My father was busy all day. In his spare time, he heard that there were alchemists in the Jianghu, so he recruited Taoist priests such as Zhang Taixu and Wang Dinggan and placed them in Yuanmingyuan. In fact, my father didn't believe what these alchemists said at all. He just wants to see how they make a scene as a pastime. He never believed anything they said, nor did he take any pills they refined. My father talked to me about it many times before his death. Now, I have driven Zhang Taixu and Wang Dinggan out of Yuanmingyuan and ordered them to return to their original places. These guys are restless on weekdays, and they are everywhere in cheat people, breaking the law and discipline. My father has insight. Now they are just expelled, which is a great kindness of my royal family to them. If these guys dare to fabricate words and deeds about my father after going out because they have been in the palace for several years, even if there is only one sentence, they will never let go and be punished immediately. Photo: The imperial edict of Qianlong expelling Zhang Taixu and other Taoist priests, which is included in Volume II of Yongzheng Dynasty Words Collection, is an imperial edict of shattered glass. Yongzheng died suddenly, and Qianlong and the princes and ministers of the DPRK were caught off guard. This passage can be proved by a self-made chronology. In this case of being caught off guard and doing everything by himself, the day after Yongzheng's death, Gan Long would give priority to the two alchemists in Yuanmingyuan, which naturally showed that the relationship between the two alchemists and Yongzheng's death was unusual. The imperial edict emphasized that Yongzheng never believed in the theory of alchemy, never ate the elixir refined by Taoist priests, and knew all kinds of deceptive tricks of these Taoist priests before he died. Naturally, there is no money here. But Gan Long had to deal with it this way. Because his father was keen on alchemy and swallowed Dan medicine all the year round, he was well known to the bureaucrats of the Qing Empire. He must use such letters to set the tone for the public opinion of Yongzheng's death-those conclusions that Yongzheng did not believe in alchemy and did not take medicine, and those who dared to fabricate a word did not stop, not only for Taoist priests such as Zhang Taixu and Wang Dinggan, but also for all subjects of the Qing Empire. It is precisely because of this treatment that Zhang Taixu, Wang Dinggan and other Taoist priests were able to escape and save their lives-Qianlong did not kill Taoist priests in Yuanmingyuan, apparently hoping to "prove" that Yongzheng did not die of Dan medicine poisoning. Photo: In fact, as early as the prince's time, Yongzheng had close contact with Taoist priests, who thought that Taoist priests could help him sort out his destiny. After he ascended the throne, he became more polite to Taoist priests. He once allocated more than 10,000 taels to build the Dragon and Tiger Mountain Taoist Temple and set up more than 3,000 mu of fragrant fields for it. Yongzheng took Dan medicine at the latest in Yongzheng four years. This year, historical records recorded that he often took a pill called "Ji Ji Dan" refined by Taoist priests. "Ji Ji Dan" is a medicine that claims to be able to tonify vitality, strengthen yang and consolidate the body. According to the Southern Song Dynasty's medical skill "Health Care Jiabaofang", this medicine specializes in treating "turbid nocturnal emission, weak kidney-qi, and no sperm absorption", and its ingredients contain toxic cinnabar and other substances. Yongzheng once gave a bottle of this medicine to his confidant E Ertai. E Ertai claimed that he took this medicine on a special auspicious day and it was "very effective". Yongzheng wrote in his reply: "This prescription is really good, ... and it is also used as a quotation of Qiu Shi, especially? Judging from the reply, it seems that discipline alone is not enough to meet the needs. While taking Ji, he also took another kind of medicine refined from human urine-since Yongzheng suggested that E Ertai take Ji as a medicine, naturally he did the same himself. Photo: Apart from E Ertai, Nian Gengyao, Zhang, Tian Wenjing, Yue Zhongqi and other cronies have all received Ji from Yongzheng. Yongzheng himself refused to accept this medicine every day. In October of the tenth year of Yongzheng, Tian Wenjing thanked the emperor for giving him the gift of "Ji". The emperor wrote on the bamboo skin: "Ji, I can't take it today"-I eat it every day now. In July of the 11th year of Yongzheng, he wrote in Tian Wenjing's "Zhu Pi Memorial": "This elixir is exquisite and its efficacy is quite different. Take it boldly, don't doubt it. This is a good medicine. I know best "-don't worry, it is a good and harmless medicine. I eat it every day and know it best. " Yongzheng also said to Tian Wenjing, "I know you are seventy years old, but I still hope you will have more sons. Photo: Yongzheng's long-term use of Ji He is closely related to his means of ruling the Qing Empire-unlike his father Kangxi and his son Qianlong, Yongzheng believed in "ruling the country with secrets" all his life. The "secret folding system" in the Qing Dynasty began in the reign of Kangxi, but only a hundred people were qualified to play secret songs to the emperor during the reign of Kangxi. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, the "secret folding system" was promoted to the core means of maintaining the rule. As many as 65,438+065,438+000 officials were allowed to participate in secret broadcasting activities. The contents of the secret folding report are not limited to your own place, and you don't need real evidence. You can get wind of it at any time. To put it simply, Yongzheng's "secret rule of the country" is to bring all the core bureaucrats of the middle and upper classes of the Qing Empire into a huge spy network. This net radiates all over the country, and spies are isolated from each other, and only direct contact with the emperor is allowed. Any information, whether it is nearby or not, and whether there is conclusive evidence, can be directly reported to the emperor for screening. Except for the emperor, all middle and high-level bureaucrats in the country are surrounded by this huge spy network. Everyone is under the supervision of others, everyone knows that there are spies of the emperor around him, and everyone is not allowed to know who the spies are. For example, Yongzheng once ordered Wang Shijun, the Guangdong envoy, to monitor Fu Tai, the governor of Guangdong, and let Fu Tai monitor Wang Shijun. Hao Yulin, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was ordered to monitor Wang Shijun, and Wang Shijun was ordered to monitor Hao Yulin; He ordered Fu Tai, Kong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi (there was a time difference with Hao Yulin) and General Shi of Guangzhou to monitor the prefect king of Guangzhou at the same time. None of the three monitors knew each other's secret tasks ... Yongzheng believed that by this means, he could sit in the Forbidden City and keep all the dynamics of Guangdong officialdom thousands of miles away in his hands. Whether this means can really make Yongzheng effectively control the dynamics of bureaucratic groups. What is clear is that in order to maintain the normal operation of the "secret folding system", Yongzheng had to bear a huge workload. According to historical records, he is extremely diligent, reviewing a mountain of scripts every day and getting little sleep. It's not empty talk-it's conceivable that he contacted hundreds of spies with a single person, read, compare and identify the reports they sent, and then judge the authenticity of the reports. Therefore, Yongzheng needs a "Ji" that claims to be able to replenish vitality, strengthen yang and consolidate the foundation. Photo: Emperor Yongzheng cursed Fan Shiyi, the governor of Jiangnan, for sending garbage to the throne, which increased the workload. What a shame! However, taking this toxic Dan medicine for a long time can be imagined. In the seventh year of Yongzheng, the emperor finally began to feel seriously unwell. He instructed Yue Zhongqi, governor of Shaanxi Province, to secretly visit a monk nicknamed "Deer Skin Fairy" (also known as "Dog Skin Fairy") in Zhong Nanshan. Yue replied that the man was crazy and there was nothing he could do. In the same year, Prince Yi Yunxiang recommended Jia Shifang, a Taoist priest of Baiyun Temple, to Yongzheng, saying that he was "skilled in medicine", but he was not satisfied after being summoned by Yongzheng and did not stay. The core purpose of paying homage to the Taoist priest in Yongzheng is to acquire the skill of keeping in good health in order to solve his own physical diseases-he never thought that the problem lay with Ji. Photo: Yongzheng Road is equipped with a double-circle image axis, in which there is a gourd with an elixir. In the eighth year of Yongzheng, the emperor was seriously ill and almost died. He was afraid, so he instructed Xian De, the governor of Sichuan Province, to secretly look for a man named Gong Lun. When you find him, you must be polite and send him to Beijing as soon as possible, and don't let others know. Because Yongzheng heard that this Gong Lun is 90 years old, but he is good at keeping in good health and strong as a young man. At the age of 86, he still has a concubine, who is good at his uncle, and is called "Gong Ren Xian" among the people. To his disappointment, the Governor of Sichuan replied that Gong Lun was dead. Yongzheng, unwilling to give up, gave instructions in the secret fold, asking the governor of Sichuan to "show good" Gong Lun's son diplomatically. Maybe his son knows Gong Lun's health care secret. Gong Lun's son is not stupid. He insisted that he knew nothing about the occult. At about the same time, Yongzheng also sent a secret letter to Hedong Governor Tian Wenjing, Zhejiang Governor Li Wei, Yunnan-Guizhou Governor E Ertai, Sichuan-Shaanxi Chief Inspector, Shanxi Governor and Fujian Governor Zhao, asking them to pay attention to visiting "a good doctor in internal medicine and surgery, a man with deep cultivation", which can be a Taoist or a layman. As long as I hear of such a person, I will enlighten him with courtesy and send him to Beijing. In short, in order to find an outstanding talent who can solve his physical ailments and teach "the art of keeping in good health", Yongzheng cast a secret net all over the country. As a result of casting the net, Taoist Jia Shifang was recommended to Yongzheng. In July of the eighth year of Yongzheng, the hapless Jia Shifang entered the palace for the second time, and performed "* * * technique" and "secret method" on the emperor. Perhaps * * * has relieved the pain, or the spell has produced some kind of placebo effect, or both. Yongzheng said in a secret letter to his confidant Li Jue that he has fully recovered-I have fully recovered, "all because of Jia Wenru recommended by you"-all thanks to Jia Shifang recommended by you. However, whether it is pain relief or placebo effect, it does not mean that it really has therapeutic effect. Yongzheng soon discovered that pain and discomfort still existed. He began his unparalleled suspicion that Jia Shifang was playing tricks on himself and used the method of "recovering from illness": since January, although my bow has been greatly restored, I am uncomfortable in life and sleep. " Jia Shifang had ups and downs in his life. He was greatly favored in the first month when he entered the palace, and his head was cut off in the second month. Photo: The imperial edict of Yongzheng's handling of Jia Shifang's relatives is included in the Collection of Chinese Letters in Yongzheng Dynasty, Volume II. In September of the eighth year of Yongzheng, Jia Shifang was killed, but the emperor's health did not improve-because he still insisted on eating "Jiji Pills" and other things every day. In October, the emperor began to believe that the problem was "the ghost of Jia Shifang", that is, Jia Shifang's witchcraft was still at work. He turned to the Taoist Lou Jinyuan in Longhushan, Jiangxi Province, and began to build a "fighting altar" in the palace. According to statistics, from the middle of October in the eighth year of Yongzheng to April in the ninth year of Yongzheng, seven large-scale "fighting altars" were built inside and outside the palace. The "Doumu" enshrined in Dare is the goddess in Taoism. It is characterized by sitting on the "Seven Pig Veins of Xiangyun"-a cart pulled by seven pigs surrounded by Xiangyun. God is in charge of the soul and seven orifices, and the Lord holds the magic medicine for treating diseases. Photo: Lou Jinyuan, a female fighter of Seven Pigs Xiangyun, treated Yongzheng by worshipping her mother and drinking water, which seems to have played a placebo role. According to Yongzheng himself, with the help of Lou Jianyuan, Jia Shifang's witchcraft has been "completely released". Photo: The illusion that Lou Jinyuan, painted by Jiao Bingjun in Qing Dynasty, was a map (part) to eliminate diseases through ritual fighting during Yongzheng period did not last long. By the middle of the tenth year of Yongzheng, the emperor found that his health was still not improving. He no longer believed in Dou Mu and ordered Dou Tan to be demolished everywhere. Yongzheng, who was poisoned by Dan medicine, decided to treat himself with Dan medicine. In fact, Yongzheng never stopped alchemy while seeking help from Jia Shifang and Lou Jinyuan. Yuanmingyuan was the core place for his alchemy. For example, in June of the eighth year of Yongzheng, as a preparation for alchemy, he ordered that a "steamed rehmannia" shot put jar be cast in Yuanmingyuan with ore; 10, under the guidance of Ambassador Liu of the Imperial Palace, Yuanmingyuan began to burn silver carbide and formally blast an alchemist-it is conceivable that long-term steaming of Rehmannia glutinosa with a lead bomb jar and then refining Rehmannia glutinosa into Dan for Yongzheng to eat will inevitably lead poisoning after a long time. Yongzheng lost confidence in Lou Jianyuan's "fighting mother" and went further and further on the road of alchemy. On the third day of the first month of the 11th year of Yongzheng, he ordered a gossip furnace to be set up in hall of mental cultivation, the bedroom where he slept, and ordered five lead bars to be taken. At the same time, under the auspices of Taoist priests such as Zhang Taixu and Wang Dinggan, the blast furnace in Yuanmingyuan and the surrounding willow trees also ignited a raging fire-from August to December of the eleventh year of Yongzheng, in four months, the blast furnace and the surrounding willow trees consumed 40,000 kilograms of coal, 65,438+0,000 kilograms of charcoal, 90 kilograms of copper, 62 iron bars and 65,000. Besides the willows around my cottage, there are also the blast furnaces in Tousuo, No.2, No.4, No.6, Zibi Mountain House, Jiexiu Mountain House and Xiu Qing Village of Yuanmingyuan. The Dan medicine refined in Yuanmingyuan is not only eaten by Yongzheng himself, but also often given to ministers and generals. For example, in March of the 12th year of Yongzheng, he ordered people to get "four boxes of Dan medicine" from Yuanmingyuan, and sent them to Charang, the acting general, Zhang Guangsi, the lieutenant, Mu Deng, and Fan Ting, the prefect. The law stated that "this medicine should be taken at any time and everything should not be taboo". At that time, Chalang and others were still on the western front. About Yongzheng ate the newly refined Dan medicine and thought it was fierce, so he thought of giving it to these front-line commanders, hoping that they would be fierce after eating it and help the front-line war. Chalang 'a and others thanked him after winning the elixir, saying that after winning the emperor's elixir, he was "full of energy and strong neck, and he didn't know how to work on the pommel horse." As for whether they really took Dan medicine, it is not known. What we can know is that although there have been many criticisms of alchemy since the Tang and Song Dynasties, from beginning to end, no minister in Yongzheng Dynasty dared to persuade the emperor not to continue taking Dan medicine; On the contrary, when they received the elixir from Yongzheng, they all shouted "Blessed, blessed". On the ninth day of August in Yongzheng, 200 Jin of black lead was transported to Yuanmingyuan. Twelve days later, Yongzheng died suddenly in Yuanmingyuan. He finally succeeded in poisoning himself. (End) Reference ① Yang, A Study on Yong Zhengdi and His Secret Folding System, Yuelu Bookstore, 20 14. (2) Li Guorong, "Yongzheng and Dandao", "Research on the History of Qing Dynasty", No.2, 1999. (3) Wang Zilin, Textual Research on Building Doors and Burning Dan, Journal of the Forbidden City, No.2, 20 14. (4) China No.1 Historical Archives, Collection of Letters from yongzheng emperor, Volume II, Guangxi Normal University Press, 1999. ⑤ (Song Dynasty) Zhu Zhu's A Manned Prescription, China Traditional Chinese Medicine Publishing House, 20 15. In the new media editorial department where this topic is ubiquitous and loves reading, we often encounter interesting novelty in various official WeChat accounts. Now, they will appear in this column one by one. 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