胤禮 Yìnlǐ

Yunli, Prince Guoyi of the First Rank

Yunli, Prince Guoyi of the First Rank, was the seventeenth son of Shengzu. In the forty-fourth year of Kangxi he accompanied the emperor on a tour beyond the frontier. From then on he always accompanied him. In the first year of Yongzheng he was enfeoffed as Prince Guo of the Second Rank and administered the affairs of the Court of Colonial Affairs. In the third year the emperor decreed: "Prince Guo serves the state with a sincere heart and is incorruptible in his conduct; he should be given the stipend of a prince of the First Rank, and his bodyguards likewise, and his place in court audiences shall be above Prince Shuncheng of the Second Rank." In the sixth year he was advanced to prince of the First Rank. In the seventh year he was ordered to administer the affairs of the Ministry of Works. In the eighth year he was ordered to take general charge of the Three Treasuries of the Ministry of Revenue. In the eleventh year he was appointed Director of the Imperial Clan Court and administered the Ministry of Revenue. In the twelfth year he was ordered to go to Taining, to escort the Dalai Lama back to Tibet, and on the way to inspect the garrisons of the provinces and the Green Standard troops. In the thirteenth year he returned to the capital and was ordered to handle the affairs of the Miao frontier. When Shizong's illness became grave, he received the testamentary edict to assist in government. Edit

When Gaozong came to the throne, he ordered him to take general charge of affairs, relieved him of the post of Director of the Imperial Clan Court, and had him administer the Ministry of Justice. Soon afterwards he was granted a double stipend as prince of the First Rank and excused from kowtowing at banquets and audiences. In a secret memorial he asked that the arrears owed by the people of the Jiangnan provinces in grain-transport levies, reed taxes, school rents and miscellaneous taxes be remitted, and it was granted. The emperor decreed: "Prince Guo is loyal and upright by nature and was trusted by the Late Emperor. Outsiders rather suspected him of severity, but now, looking at his secret memorial, it is plain that his heart is generous and kind, and I specially make it known to the Nine Ministers." Yunli was of weak constitution, and the emperor ordered him to handle affairs at his residence and to come in for duty once every few days. In the first year of Qianlong he was found guilty of an offence and his double stipend was stopped. In the first month of the third year, when he was gravely ill, Hongzhou, Prince He of the First Rank, was sent to visit him. In the second month he died; the emperor was shocked and grieved, and came in person to the mourning that same day. He was given a posthumous name. He had no son, and Yunlu, Prince Zhuang of the First Rank, and others asked that Shizong's sixth son Hongzhan be made his heir. Edit

Hongshi was good at poetry and verse and had a refined love of collecting books, comparable with the Mingshan Hall of the household of Prince Yi. He was strict in controlling his subordinates; he rose in the morning, put on his robe and went on inspection, and if he met anyone breaking the law he had him beaten with staves at once, so that no one dared to do wrong. He was frugal and good at accumulating wealth, and once, in opening a coal [...], seized the people's property. When he accompanied the emperor on the southern tour, he entrusted Gao Heng, the Liang-Huai Salt Controller, with selling ginseng for profit, and also ordered the Textile Commissioners and customs superintendents to supply embroidered silks and curios, for which he paid a low price. In the twenty-eighth year, when the Jiuzhou Qingyan hall at Yuanmingyuan caught fire, Hongshi arrived late and talked and laughed, showing his teeth, with the other imperial sons, and the emperor was displeased. He also once recommended a private man of his household to Aligun. The emperor disclosed his offences, and also rebuked him for supporting his mother the imperial consort meagrely and stingily; he was reduced to beile and dismissed from every commission. From then on he stayed at home with his door shut, depressed and without any comfort. In the third month of the thirtieth year, when he was gravely ill, the emperor went to comfort and look in on him. Hongshi kowtowed on his sickbed and took the blame on himself, and the emperor took his hand and said in grief: "Because you were young, I only chastened you a little; why be so ashamed as this?" He therefore restored him as a prince of the Second Rank. He died soon afterwards and was given a posthumous name. Edit

His son Yongshu inherited. In the fifty-fourth year he died and was given the posthumous name Jian. His son Miancong inherited as beile. His grandson Yixiang inherited as Duke Who Guards the State. He held office successively as Deputy Lieutenant-General, General of Guangzhou, General of Shengjing, and Minister of War. He was given the rank of beizi. When he died he was given the posthumous name Keshen. His sons and grandsons were reduced one degree at each succession and inherited as Dukes Who Assist the State. Edit