Yongzheng Emperor

The Yongzheng Emperor was the third Qing emperor to rule China, reigning from 1722 to 1735 after the long reign of his father, the Kangxi Emperor. His accession followed an intensely competitive succession among Kangxi's sons, and he devoted his relatively short reign to strengthening imperial authority, improving fiscal administration and making central government more responsive to the throne.

Yongzheng expanded the palace memorial system, relied on trusted officials to bypass slower bureaucratic channels and pursued reforms intended to improve taxation and provincial finances. He also defended the legitimacy of Manchu rule and dealt harshly with political and ideological challenges. His administrative centralisation provided much of the institutional foundation inherited by his son, the Qianlong Emperor.

Jonathan D. Spence’s Treason by the Book begins in 1728 when the scholar Zeng Jing attempted to persuade the Qing general Yue Zhongqi to rebel against the Yongzheng Emperor. Yue reported the approach, setting in motion an investigation that traced anti-Manchu arguments through teachers, students, prohibited writings and rumours about the emperor’s accession.