Qianlong's Affairs

Author: Gao Yang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: Fiction is not history; it must have dramatic and engaging storylines. Gao Yang was a master storyteller. Another major advantage of Gao Yang's historical novels lies here. The late Qing Dynasty history was complex and unpredictable, "a tangled mess." Yet Gao Yang navigated it with ease, weaving separate threads while intertwining them. Through the tension and release of storytelling, the historical landscape of the late Qing Dynasty naturally unfolded. Readers, driven by their eagerness to learn more about the story, unknowingly became familiar with the historical facts. Kangxi's abdication and the's succession, fraught with twists and turns, led to Yongzheng's cunningly altering the imperial edict to seize the throne! The large-scale massacre of his rivals burdened Yongzheng with the of plotting against his father, forcing his mother, killing his brother, and slaughtering his younger siblings! When Qianlong ascended the throne, he granted a general amnesty, making amends for his father's past deeds, only to discover he was not the biological son of the empress dowager. Gao Yang used numerous historical allusions to depict the "Kangxi and Qianlong Prosperity," highlighting many captivating anecdotes and political rivalries.