How did Yongzheng die?

In the 13th year of Yongzheng (1735), Yong Zhengdi died suddenly in Yuanmingyuan on August 23rd. Yong Zhengdi's death in expect the unexpected, his empress dowager and the most favored ministers around him were unprepared.

According to the Chronicle of Customs written by Zhang, a great scholar in Yongzheng period, there was no sign of illness before his death. Zhang had a "daily visit" shortly before his death. On the day of Yongzheng's death, Zhang was called into the palace and learned that Yong Zhengdi was dying. The news made him tremble with fear.

Yongzheng died in a hurry, and there are few records about his death in the official history of the Qing Dynasty. According to Yongzheng's "Ju Ju Zhu", Yong Zhengdi felt a little sick on August 2 1 day, but he was still able to summon his ministers. On the 22nd, Yongzheng didn't summon ministers again, but let Prince Bao and Prince He stay with him all day to prevent accidents.

Yong Zhengdi's illness suddenly worsened at the beginning of the Qin Dynasty (from 7: 00 pm to 9: 00 pm), and he was summoned urgently by the palace to kings, ministers and university students. As a result, on the 23rd (from 11: 00 pm to 1: 00 the next day), Yong Zhengdi was the guest of honor. But the official history did not say what was wrong with Yongzheng.

Extended data:

As for the cause of Yongzheng's death, the historical records are very simple, only that Yongzheng was seriously ill in the palace of Yuanmingyuan the day before and critically ill the next afternoon. He called the minister urgently and died that night. What caused the death of Yongzheng is not recorded in historical materials. Zhang's personal records made him "terrified" when Yongzheng was bleeding.

The reason for Yongzheng's sudden death was not recorded in official books, which naturally aroused people's doubts. In addition, there were many legends and comments about him at that time, which easily aroused people's doubts, so various statements were produced.

1, live and die

Some people say that Yong Zhengdi "died of a stroke".

2. Assassination

The assassination of Lv Siniang.

The most popular folk story is that there was a chivalrous woman named Lv Siniang whose father and grandfather were both killed by Yongzheng because of the literary inquisition. In retaliation, Lv Siniang cut off Yongzheng's head. Therefore, when Yongzheng was buried, he had to cast a golden head. [67]

(2) The eunuch in the palace was assassinated

There is also a legend that in the ninth year of Yongzheng, maids-in-waiting eunuchs Wu Shouyi and Huo Cheng tied them to death with ropes while they were sleeping in Yongzheng, and were cured with the medicine of Doctor Zhang.

3, Dan medicine poisoning

Historians have done a lot of research on the archives of the Qing Dynasty, and more and more historians believe that Yongzheng was most likely poisoned by taking Dan medicine. If it was suspected that it was poisoned by Taoist Dan medicine, Yang thought it was "poisoned by bait Dan medicine" in the book Study on Yong Zhengdi and His Secret Fold System.

References:

Yong Zhengdi-Baidu encyclopedia