In 1722, Emperor Kangxi died, and his fourth son, Yinzhen (Tang Guoqiang), known as the "Cold-Faced Prince," ascended the throne. Although Yinzhen was not the favored choice for the throne among the court and the public, he was the Yongzheng Emperor chosen by Kangxi himself. In Jiangnan, he "incited" disaster victims to riot. At a banquet at the City God Temple, he held a Hongmen feast and extracted more than two million taels of silver from local officials and wealthy merchants to fund disaster relief. He pursued repayment of debts owed to the imperial treasury, driving an old minister to hang himself. During the wrongful imprisonment case at the Ministry of Justice, he watched from the sidelines as the Eighth Prince and the Crown Prince fought each other to a standstill. In the officials' bribery case, he used Nian Gengyao to massacre Jiangxia Town, leading to the Crown Prince's removal from office once again.
