Why did the sons of Emperor Qianlong die young?

Emperor Qianlong himself was too strong, leaving his sons a narrow living space.

Emperor Qianlong had seventeen sons in his life, four of whom came from two real queens (Yuan Pei Fucha gave birth to Yong Lian and Yong Cong, and then Nora gave birth to Yong and Yong Jing). Whether it is about ranking, birth or talent, it is reasonable to say that this throne will never be his turn. It's just that most of the carefully selected dragons have not been blessed by God. The best successors in Emperor Qianlong's mind died one after another. The short ones only lived for a few months, and the many were only in their mid-twenties. In particular, the deaths of two sons of Yuan, Charles, dealt a great blow to Aisingiorro Li Hong, who was bent on learning from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Immune deficiency and smallpox abuse destroyed the Qing royal family-the Qing Dynasty "fought smallpox" for 300 years.

Smallpox virus has always been a major concern in the Qing Dynasty. The success of "war pox" laid the foundation for stabilizing the country in Qing Dynasty. However, sticking to the ancestor's "human pox" prevention law and not accepting the "vaccinia" vaccine developed by Europeans became a symbol of the demise of the Qing Dynasty.

1649-it was the fifth year that the Qing dynasty entered Beijing-just after the Spring Festival, there was panic in Beijing. It was not another enemy that called, but smallpox (commonly known as pox) broke out. The news soon spread among the crowd. "People in Beijing are a mess. On the 30th day of the first month, Regent Dourgen ordered that people who have never had pox among Beijing residents and strangers who have no household registration in Beijing (with or without pox) should be "taken out of 20 miles away" according to the imperial court's pox avoidance system.

For ordinary people, this is a disaster. In a memorial of Zhao 1645, when the descendants visited the empire in Beijing, they saw such a narrative: anyone with low fever or scabies will be expelled. The poor are driven out of the city, without shelter and food, and often leave young and weak children on the roadside to starve to death.

The people were driven away, and the princes and ministers fled everywhere.

The emperor shunzhi ran to Nanyuan outside the city early to avoid acne, and the Manchu nobles who stayed in the city also closed their deep houses one by one, waiting for the plague to pass early.

Despite the strict defense, smallpox virus is still difficult to prevent.

On March 18 of the lunar calendar, the emperor shunzhi's uncle, Prince Yu Duo Duo, finally breathed his last breath after suffering from smallpox virus for dozens of days. This outstanding general was praised as "the most meritorious military service among the founding emperors" by the later Emperor Qianlong. At that time, he was only 36 years old and was in his prime. Prince Yu, who is so strong and has good medical conditions, can't escape the clutches of smallpox virus, and the harm of smallpox disease is not difficult to imagine.

Smallpox, a terrible ghost, lingered in the Great Qing Dynasty for more than 300 years.

Smallpox is coming.

Just 30 or 40 years before Duoduo's death, his Manchu ancestors did not know what smallpox was.

In fact, Manchu people who lived between Baishan and Heishui for generations (then known as Jianzhou Nuzhen) did not have smallpox. The northeast region where they have lived for generations has a cold climate, a vast territory and few people, so it is difficult for smallpox virus to survive and spread. Until the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was a saying in the Central Plains that "the northern minorities (including Mongolia and Manchu) did not get acne". To be sure, it was the Han people in the Central Plains who brought smallpox virus.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of bankrupt farmers in Guanzhong migrated to Liaodong, and they were mixed with Jianzhou Jurchen. They brought the advanced farming techniques of the Central Plains and the traditional culture of China, and also brought the smallpox virus that ravaged the Central Plains. It can spread not only through contact infection, but also through droplets, dust or air with virus, which is highly contagious.

This unwelcome virus is actually not native to China. According to archaeological data, it originated in ancient Egypt in North Africa, and the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses V, who died in BC 1 143, was the earliest smallpox patient discovered so far. About 250 BC, smallpox virus was introduced into China from Xiongnu. Smallpox has been raging for more than a thousand years. Although the Han nationality in the Central Plains has accumulated rich experience in prevention and treatment, the mortality rate is still as high as 30% to 40%.

Manchu people who have just come into contact with smallpox have no resistance to this virus at all, and infected people often die in nine cases out of ten.

In order to prevent smallpox, Manchu people formulated a strict "pox avoidance system". Their first step was to escape. For example, Manchu people generally don't go to public places in case of pox epidemic. Even in major national celebrations, such as smallpox epidemic, even the royal family can avoid being absent as long as they have not been vaccinated. For example, in the first month of 163 1, Balama, the fifth son of Huang taiji's eldest brother Daishan, died of smallpox, but Huang taiji, Daishan and Baylor were afraid to attend the funeral.

The second is isolation. Once the soldiers and civilians of the Eight Banners in Manchuria got pox, they were forcibly expelled from the capital. Manchu people's regulations on the royal family are particularly detailed, and royal families who have been vaccinated and have not been vaccinated cannot be together. People who have never had pox are sick and cannot visit for nine days.

Before entering the customs, in order to consume the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Taiji sent elite cavalry to bypass Shanhaiguan and plunder Hebei, Shandong and other places. In order to avoid smallpox infection, Huang Taiji always tried to choose Baylor who had been infected with smallpox, and at the same time tried to avoid sending troops from April to August when smallpox was easy to break out. Although each attack was so cautious, Nurhachi's two grandsons, Yue Tuo, a famous soldier, and Ma Zhan, his younger brother, were infected with smallpox on the way to plunder Shandong and died young.

The death of Shunzhi

1644, Li Zicheng captured Beijing, and Regent Dourgen, who assisted the young emperor, ordered to March into Shanhaiguan. Prince Haug of Heshuo Su, after receiving the dispatch order, didn't get acne, complaining: (This) is not going to kill me!

The emperor shunzhi was seven years old when he entered the customs. Born outside Shanhaiguan and acceded to the throne at the age of six, the young emperor watched many relatives and friends of the royal family be killed by smallpox since childhood. However, he has never had smallpox, and after entering the customs, he will live in Beijing where smallpox is prevalent, so he must be on high alert all his life.

The pox screening system that existed before the Qing dynasty entered the customs was more severe after entering Beijing. At that time, acne rash was inevitable almost every year, and the subjects of acne investigation were expanded from the Eight Banners military and civilians to Beijing residents, foreign businessmen and foreign envoys in Beijing. Once symptoms are found, they should be isolated, residents suffering from smallpox should be forcibly expelled from the capital, or foreign ministers who are not suffering from smallpox should be ordered not to come to Beijing.

Shunzhi followed Huang Taiji's example, and built a pox shed for himself in Nanyuan and Xiyuan. But as long as there is a little trouble, they are scrambling to avoid acne. This situation has only been recorded five times in the official history.

But smallpox never let him go.

1660, Dong Efei, the favorite of Shunzhi, died of smallpox. Three or four months later, another smallpox epidemic spread in Beijing, and Shunzhi, who was deeply in pain, forgot to go out of the city to avoid smallpox-this is consistent with the amorous and upright image of the young emperor in folklore.

Shunzhi, 24, was infected with smallpox.

After Shunzhi was infected with smallpox, he didn't know it, so he asked the ministers around him to draft a will.

166 1 On the seventh day of the first month, the imperial edict of Shunzhi granted amnesty to the whole world. In the middle of the night, he died of smallpox.

On his deathbed, he chose his successor.

The success of "fighting smallpox" created the heyday of the Qing Dynasty.

One emperor was unfortunately killed by smallpox, but another emperor was lucky to be enthroned by smallpox.

When considering the heir, the emperor shunzhi prefers his second son, Fuquan, to be Chu Jun, while sourdrang dowager insists on his third son, Michelle Ye.

Michelle Ye has been fighting smallpox since he was a child. Shortly after his birth, he was sent to the acne shelter outside Xihuamen (later converted into "Fu You Temple") to avoid acne. Despite all the precautions and precautions, Michelle Ye was infected with smallpox when he was less than two years old. Fortunately, under the care of Sun Shi, a nurse, Michelle Ye finally broke free from the death of smallpox, although his face was pockmarked.

Is it still Li? Sick the emperor shunzhi decided to send someone to consult Tang Ruowang, a German missionary whom he had always respected. Therefore, the reason why Tang Ruowang thinks that Michelle Ye is Chu Jun is very simple, but at this time, it is irrefutable-Michelle Ye has smallpox.

So the emperor shunzhi died, and Aisingiorro Michelle Ye, who was under 8 years old, succeeded him. He is Kangxi, the first pockmarked emperor in Qing Dynasty.

In fact, the consideration of setting up the national treasury in Qing Dynasty was similar to the folk concept of China at that time. At that time, there was even a folk saying: "The child was only half born, and smallpox was all there"-it can be seen that the harm of smallpox was serious, and it can also be seen that the harm of smallpox was mainly aimed at children at that time. Some researchers estimate that if children get smallpox, one-third of them will not survive, and those who survive will be immune to smallpox.

How many people died of smallpox in China is unknown. But from a global perspective, an estimate in the history of medicine is 65.438+0.5 billion people. The most famous and typical example occurred in 15 19. At that time, most Spanish people who were resistant to smallpox brought smallpox to this "new world" when they conquered American Indians, which made the Indians with a population of tens of millions almost extinct, and finally only one or two million people were left.

Smallpox was rampant in the American continent, which happened before the Qing Dynasty entered the customs 125. It seems that the resistance of the officers and men of the Eight Banners to smallpox is not much stronger than that of the Indians. The emperor shunzhi had eight sons and six daughters, who died of smallpox before the age of eight, and four emperors and five daughters, more than half of them.

Han people outside the Eight Banners were also ravaged by smallpox. Dale. Bauer, a western missionary who came to China at that time, recorded the tragic situation in Shanxi epidemic area: because there was no effective treatment, 50% to 60% of the infected people could only sit still. What is even more frightening is that the southern region with mild climate is a hotbed of smallpox virus and is regarded as a place of boils by the Han people. How dare Manchu people who are afraid of pox rule?

Kangxi realized that smallpox had become a serious threat to the rule of the Qing Dynasty and must be actively dealt with.

Kangxi set up a special acne clinic under the Imperial Hospital to recruit famous doctors, and specially set up a "Beijing acne inspection chapter" to be responsible for the prevention and treatment of acne in the Eight Banners. He also built chengde mountain resort, the most famous acne refuge in history, as a special refuge for the children of the royal family. In the seventeenth year of Kangxi, Crown Prince Yin Zhen got pox, which was at the critical moment when Wu Sangui and other San Francisco rebelled. But in order to take care of the prince, Kangxi didn't read the throne for 12 days.

During the period of the Prince's pox, the magistrate Fu took active care of him and was promoted to judge Wuchang. Two years later, he was called to Beijing. This Fu later became a key figure in the history of smallpox prevention and control.

Fu knew the technology of vaccination-it was an advanced smallpox treatment at that time.

This folk inoculation method originated in the south, and is also called nose blowing inoculation. It originated in Qin Long in the Ming Dynasty, and there are generally two ways, one is called dry seedling method, and the other is called water seedling method. The so-called dry seedling method is to remove the scab skin of smallpox patients and grind it into fine powder, add borneol and camphor and blow it into the nose of the vaccinator; The rule of water seedling is to dilute the patient's acne scab with human milk or water and implant it into the nose of the vaccinator. The inoculation method is to make the vaccinator slightly infected with smallpox symptoms, and then develop into a flower, and then through the careful care of Chinese medicine, make it safely spend the flowering period, and the vaccinator will be immune to smallpox.

Although this "vaccination method" can not guarantee the success of 100%, and may even lead to the death of the patient, Kangxi ordered Fu to start vaccination experiments among the princes. Since then, the prince's smallpox vaccination has also been formally established as a system.

As a result of vaccination, 17 of the 20 Wang Zizhong born 20 years after Kangxi grew up healthily-only 7 of the previous 15 Wang Zizhong grew up.

With the success of intrauterine vaccination, Emperor Kangxi began to carry out smallpox prevention on a large scale, extending from the palace to the people in the Eight Banners and reaching the northern borders such as Monan, Mobei and Mongolian prairie.

More than a hundred years later, there was little news about smallpox in the palace. The panic days of Manchu people avoiding pox are over.

The success of War pox created the heyday of the Qing Dynasty. In just over 30 years from 166 1 to 1697, the unconcerned Kangxi successively pacified San Francisco, seized Taiwan Province Province, resisted Russia and pacified galdan, thus consolidating the rule of the Qing Dynasty in China.

Don't believe in vaccinia, only believe in "human pox": the Qing Dynasty is over.

The success of vaccination in China has attracted the attention of foreign countries.

At that time, not only people in China suffered from smallpox. Millions of people in Europe and Asia die of smallpox every year, and all countries in the world are eager for effective smallpox prevention technology.

1688, Russian doctors came to Beijing to study vaccination and vaccination methods. 18th century, this law spread from Russia to Turkey. Montague, the wife of the British Ambassador to Turkey, returned to Britain on 17 18, and strongly advocated vaccination in China. Since then, human pox vaccine has become popular in Britain.

The global spread of human pox vaccine has saved tens of millions of lives. However, even under the most ideal medical conditions, this method will still have a mortality rate of 2%, and even lead to the death of nearly half of the vaccinators in severe cases.

Jenner, an English country doctor who had smallpox when he was a child, accidentally discovered that cows would get a kind of "vaccinia" similar to smallpox, but the condition would be much smoother than that of people with smallpox. Women who milk cows are easily infected with vaccinia, and once infected with vaccinia, they will not regenerate smallpox. Jenner was inspired by this and thought that it might be cowpox that made them resistant to smallpox. 1May, 79614th, Jenna first got some pox pulp from a milkmaid who suffered from vaccinia and inoculated it on the arm of an eight-year-old boy who didn't suffer from smallpox. Six weeks later, Jenna specially inoculated the boy with smallpox slurry. As a result, the boy was safe and sound, which proved that he was immune to smallpox. Vaccinium inoculation method, which is safer and more effective than human pox method, has come out and is constantly improving.

About ten years later, Portuguese doctor Havert brought the vaccinia vaccine from Manila to Macau. Since then, Alexander Pearson, a British doctor of the East India Company, has brought the vaccinia vaccine from Macau to Guangzhou. The human pox vaccine from China was improved into vaccinia vaccine. After a big circle in the world, it returned to its hometown-China.

People who have had vaccination experience in China have shown unprecedented welcome to safer and more economical vaccination methods. Many local officials also participated in the promotion of vaccination. They set up vaccination bureaus in many places to vaccinate people free of charge. 18 15 Guangzhou established vaccination office. 1828, Beijing established the Kyoto Vaccination Bureau. Vaccinia vaccine spread rapidly in China.

However, perhaps because of the strange mentality of a big country, the court doctors turned a deaf ear to the popular vaccination method from the west and still held the ancestral vaccination method for the royal family to use. On the other hand, the threat of smallpox has been greatly reduced, and doctors are becoming more and more slack. After Jiaqing, the epidemic prevention system of the prince failed.

When Emperor Xianfeng was two years old, his vaccination almost failed. Although he was carefully recuperated by the physician and saved his life, he left an indelible pockmarked face and became the second "pockmarked emperor" after Kangxi.

Doctors still have no intention or dare to improve the backward human pox vaccination.

1874101On October 30th, Xianfeng and Cixi's only biological son, Emperor Tongzhi, 19 years old, was diagnosed with smallpox. In the face of the more and more serious illness of Tongzhi, Empress Dowager Cixi will only lead the ministers of civil and military affairs to "offer pox gods" inside and outside the palace according to the rules handed down by her ancestors.

On February 5, 65438 of the same year, the battered Tongzhi emperor died in a daze amid the noise of praying to God and worshiping Buddha. He died in hall of mental cultivation, where the emperor shunzhi died of smallpox 1 13 years ago.

After two Opium Wars, the Qing Dynasty had run out of gas and food.

End of movement

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, some westerners asserted that smallpox and other plagues were one of the difficult problems in New China.

1950 Vaccination was widely promoted in June in New China. With the efforts of 1 1 year, the last smallpox patient in China was discharged from hospital in June. Since then, smallpox has completely disappeared in China.

1979101On 26th October, the United Nations World Health Organization announced in Nairobi that smallpox had been eradicated all over the world. Since then, smallpox virus has only been kept in eight laboratories for research.