胤禎 Yìnzhēn

Yunti, Prince Xunqin of the Second Rank

Yunti, Prince Xunqin of the Second Rank, was the fourteenth son of Shengzu. In the forty-eighth year of Kangxi he was enfeoffed as a beizi. In the fiftieth year he accompanied the emperor on a tour beyond the frontier. From then on he always accompanied him. In the fifty-first year he was granted four thousand taels of silver. In the fifty-seventh year he was ordered to be Grand General Who Soothes Distant Lands and to campaign against Cewang'alabutan. In the twelfth month, as the army set out, the emperor took his seat in the Hall of Supreme Harmony to bestow the seal, and ordered that the standard of the Plain Yellow Banner be used. In the fourth month of the fifty-eighth year he impeached the Vice Minister of Personnel Se'ertu for failing in his duty in supervising the soldiers' provisions, and the Lieutenant-General Huxitu for extortion and harassment, and had their crimes dealt with. The Lieutenant-General Yanxin memorialised: "The Zhunge'er are linked to the Qinghai Mongols by marriage; if the Grand General leads troops out through the pass, there will surely be spies who report to the Zhunge'er chieftain, so it would be better to delay the advance for the present." The emperor ordered him to be stationed at Xining. In the first month of the fifty-ninth year, Yunti moved his army to Mulusiwusu, sent the General Who Pacifies Rebels, Yanxin, to lead troops into Tibet, ordered Zongchabu to guard Xining and Ne'ersu to guard Gumu. At that time a new Hubi'erhan was installed, and troops were sent to escort him into Tibet. In the tenth month Yanxin defeated the Zhunge'er general Celing Dunduobu and others at the Buke River and other places. In the fifth month of the sixtieth year, Yunti led his army to be stationed at Gan Prefecture, and advanced to camp at Turpan. Soon afterwards he asked to send troops forward the following year. In the intercalary sixth month, E'muqi Zhaisang of Heerbosi, with five hundred Eluote troops, besieged the Muslim people, and the remaining Muslims asked for relief. Yunti held that the transport of grain was difficult and obstructed and the troops could hardly stay long; if they moved into the interior, they would likewise suffer from scarce grain and narrow land, and the Hami jasagh Emin could not accommodate them either, while Bulongji'er, Dalitu and other places were again cut off by the Gobi; he asked that General Funing'an, the General Who Quiets Rebels, be instructed to give help and comfort as opportunity allowed, and this was approved. In the tenth month he was summoned to the capital, and the emperor gave him his strategy in person. In the third month of the sixty-first year he returned with his army. Edit

When Shizong came to the throne, he decreed to the princes and high officials in general charge: "In the military affairs of the western route, the office of Grand General is weighty; but if he does not come to the capital for the Late Emperor's great affair, I fear he will be uneasy in his heart. Send an urgent order to the Prince Grand General to hasten to the capital by post." When Yunti arrived, he was ordered to remain at Jingling to await the great sacrifice. In the fifth month of the first year of Yongzheng the emperor decreed: "Yunti is ignorant, wild and rebellious, proud in spirit and high in his thoughts. I hoped that he would repent so that I could bestow favour. Now I again fear that he cannot change and that the favour may not be bestowed in time, so I specially advance him to prince of the Second Rank, to comfort the heart of my imperial mother the Empress Dowager." In the third month of the third year the Imperial Clan Court impeached Yunti for having, when formerly Grand General, afflicted the soldiers, disturbed the localities and wasted military funds, and asked that he be reduced to Duke Who Guards the State; the emperor ordered that he be reduced instead to beizi. In the fourth year the princes and high officials impeached him and asked that the law of the state be applied. The emperor decreed: "Yunti is merely muddle-headed and wild; his treachery and sinister nature are very far from those of Yunsi and Yuntang. I know the conduct of these men in full detail, and I am not partial to Yunti alone. Now Yunti is staying at Malanyu, wishing him to look up to Jingling and thoroughly cleanse his former faults. Yunti cannot repent, and the wicked commoner Cai Huaixi has again fabricated [...] listening; he should be imprisoned, and together with his son Baiqi be confined near the Hall of Longevity, leniently and for years, awaiting his repentance. [...] treasonous words, shaking and bewildering [...]." When Gaozong came to the throne, he ordered his release. In the second year of Qianlong he was enfeoffed as Duke Who Assists the State. In the sixth month of the twelfth year he was advanced to beile. In the first month of the thirteenth year he was advanced to Prince Xun of the Second Rank. In the sixth month of the twentieth year he died and was given a posthumous name. Edit

His first son Hongchun was enfeoffed as a beizi in the first year of Yongzheng. In the second year, being implicated in Yunsi's faction, he was stripped of his rank. In the fourth year he was enfeoffed as Duke Who Guards the State. In the sixth year he was advanced to beizi. In the ninth year he was advanced to beile. In the eleventh year he was enfeoffed as Prince Tai of the Second Rank. In the eighth month of the twelfth year the emperor decreed a rebuke of Hongchun as frivolous, and he was again reduced to beizi. When Gaozong came to the throne, he was stripped of his rank. Yunti's second son Hongming was enfeoffed separately as a beile. In the thirty-second year of Qianlong he died and was given the posthumous name Gongqin. His sons and grandsons were reduced one degree at each succession by the rule and inherited as Dukes Who Guard the State, without the Eight Privileges. Hongchun's great-grandson Yishan has his own biography. Edit