Life and service under the Qing dynasty

Zaizhen was born in the Aisin Gioro clan as the eldest son of Yikuang during the reign of the Guangxu Emperor. His family was from the Bordered Blue Banner of the Eight Banners. In 1894, Zaizhen was awarded the title of a second class zhenguo jiangjun. Seven years later, he was promoted to beizi.

In 1902, Zaizhen represented the Qing Empire on a diplomatic trip to Great Britain to witness the coronation of King Edward VII. He also visited France, Belgium, Japan and the United States. In 1903, he travelled to Japan to attend the fifth Kangyō Exhibition (勸業博覽會). After returning to China, he actively advocated government reforms and requested for a Ministry of Commerce (商部) to be established. The Qing government approved his request and appointed him as the shangshu (尚書; Secretary) of the ministry. Zaizhen also concurrently held the following appointments: dutong (都統; commander) of the Bordered Blue Banner; yuqian dachen (御前大臣; a senior minister reporting directly to the emperor); zong zuzhang (總族長; clan chief) of the Plain White Banner; head of the Firearms Battalion (火器營).

In 1906, after the Qing government introduced some reforms, Zaizhen, then 30 years old, was appointed as shangshu (尚書; Secretary) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce (農工商部). His portrait appears on notes issued by The Sin Chun Bank (華商上海信成銀行) in 1907. A year later, the Guangxu Emperor sent him to Hangzhou to supervise the education system there. Along the way, he passed by Shanghai, where he accepted bribes from an official, Duan Zhigui, in return for helping Duan secure the position of xunfu (Provincial Governor) of Heilongjiang. He also had an affair with Yang Cuixi (楊翠喜), a courtesan and drama actress presented to him by Duan Zhigui. Zhao Qilin (趙啟霖), an Inspector-Official (御史), wrote a memorial to the imperial court to accuse Zaizhen of corruption. The incident caused an uproar in the imperial court, which ordered an investigation. However, due to "lack of concrete evidence", the case was closed. Zhao Qilin was charged with making a false report and dismissed from office.

In 1911, Zaizhen was appointed as a guwen dachen (顧問大臣; consultant minister) in the Bideyuan (弼德院; a government body established in May 1911 which provided advice to the emperor). His father, Yikuang, served as the Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet from May to November 1911. In 1911 Zaizhen visited Britain to attend the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary.

Life after the Qing dynasty

Zaizhen fled to Shanghai when the Xinhai Revolution, which overthrew the Qing dynasty, broke out in October 1911. He returned to Beijing later. In 1917, after Yikuang's death, Zaizhen inherited his father's princely title, "Prince Qing of the First Rank". He was granted permission to do so by Li Yuanhong, the President of the Republic of China.

In 1924, after Puyi, the Last Emperor who had abdicated in 1912, was forced out of the Forbidden City by the Beiyang Government, Zaizhen feared that he would be implicated so he fled to Shanghai and took shelter in the British concession there. During his time in Shanghai, he invested in various businesses and stayed out of politics.

Zaizhen died in Shanghai in 1947. Cao Rulin, Zhu Zuozhou and others proposed to the Nationalist Government to award Zaizhen the posthumous name zhen (貞; "chaste") to honour him for his role in making Puyi abdicate in 1912, and for abstaining from politics despite having various opportunities to make a political comeback under either the Beiyang Government, Nationalist Government, or the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War. His tombstone reads: Zaizhen, Prince Qingzhen of the First Rank (慶貞親王載振).

Family

Parents

• Father: Yikuang, posthumously known as "Prince Qingmi of the First Rank"

• Mother: Secondary Consort, of the Hegiya clan (大側福晉合佳氏)

Consort and issue

• Primary Consort, of the Socoro clan (嫡福晉索綽羅氏)

　• Puzhong (溥鐘; b. 1898 - d. ?), married a daughter of Grand Secretary (大學士) Natong (那桐)., first son

　• Purui (溥銳; b. 1899 - d. ? ), married another of Natong's daughters, second son

　• Pujun (溥鈞), married a woman of the Erdet (鄂爾德特) clan who was a daughter of Duangong (端恭) and younger sister of Wenxiu, third son

• Secondary Consort, of the Fuca clan (侧福晋富察氏)

　• Pugang (溥钢, b. 1928- d. ?), fourth son

• Secondary Consort, of the Konggiya clan (側福晉孔佳氏)

• Secondary Consort, of the Migiya clan (側福晉米佳氏)

• Secondary Consort, of the Ninggiya clan (福晉甯佳氏)

生平

載振於光緒二年三月生于北京，光緒十五年被賞給頭品頂戴，光緒二十年晉封二等鎮國將軍。

光緒二十四年（1898年），發生戊戌政變，慈禧太后如何處置光緒帝是當時中國政治生活的焦點。各類傳聞中，他與溥偉、溥儁，皆是取代光緒帝，承繼皇位的宗室人選。

光緒二十七年（1901年），載振被賞加貝子銜。光緒二十八年（1902年）被派任出使英王愛德華七世加冕典禮專使，並到法、比、美、日四國進行訪問。1903年赴日本考察第五屆勸業博覽會。回國後積極參與新政，奏請成立商部，任尚書。

歷任鑲藍旗漢軍都統，御前大臣、管理火器營、正白旗總族長等職。光緒三十二年頒佈立憲，改革官制，又任農工商部尚書要職，這時他年僅30歲，可謂少年得志。

光緒三十三年，載振奉旨赴杭州督辦學務，途經上海，因接受兩江道員（另一說為蘇州南段警察局總辦）段芝貴為賄謀黑龍江巡撫之職花巨金買的歌妓楊翠喜，被御史趙啟霖上疏彈劾，此事轟動京都，經奉旨查辦，以「事出有因，查無實據」而不了了之。《清稗類鈔》卷一言：「載振為藏嬌，千載一時名大振。」。御史趙啟霖則以謊奏之罪被奪官。奕劻也責令其上疏辭職。

宣統三年（1911年）任弼德院顧問大臣。辛亥革命後一度躲避上海，後返回北京。民國六年（1917年）經黎元洪總統特准，襲慶親王銜，其詞曰：「清宗室慶親王奕劻因病出缺，所遺之爵，本大總統依待遇清皇族條件第一項，以伊長子載振承襲罔替」。1924年因溥儀被驅趕出宮，恐禍及自己，遷入天津英租界，購置了宦官小德張早先在天津英租界內修建的房產，和津門買辦高星橋合辦「新業公司」，並投資三十萬元和高星橋合股興建了法租界的勸業場、交通旅館和渤海大樓三處大樓，從事工商投資活動，遠離政治。

1947年（民國三十六年）12月31日（農曆十一月二十日）在天津病逝。經曹汝霖、朱作舟等人商議，鑒於載振自清帝遜位，歷經北京政府、南京政府、日佔時期均未出山，私諡曰「貞」，於是在他的靈牌上寫的是「慶貞親王載振」。

家庭

父母

• 父慶密親王奕劻；母側福晉合佳氏。

兄妹

• 胞弟載𢱿；妻喜塔臘氏（父光緒二年(1876)丙子恩科進士文慎公裕德；母尚氏，鑲藍旗漢軍、正紅旗護軍統領尚昌懋之女，堂兄光緒十八年（1892年）進士尚其亨）。

• 胞妹愛新覺羅氏，嫁正黃旗蒙古伍彌特氏世梁（胞叔福州將軍、閩浙總督希元，祖父成都、杭州將軍倭什訥）。

• 胞妹愛新覺羅氏（四格格，又稱熙九太太），嫁正白旗滿洲襲三等承恩公喜塔臘氏熙俊（父直隸總督裕祿，胞叔光緒二年(1876)丙子恩科進士文慎公裕德）。

• 胞妹愛新覺羅氏，嫁扎薩克和碩親王博爾濟吉特氏那彥圖。

妻妾

• 嫡福晉索綽羅氏：江蘇、陝西巡撫恩壽之女。

• 側福晉福查氏。

• 側福晉孔佳氏：護軍常福之女。原為媵妾，宣統十年晉封為側福晉。

• 側福晉米佳氏：原為媵妾，宣統十年晉封為側福晉。

• 側福晉甯佳氏：護軍校福泰之女。原為媵妾，宣統十二年晉封為側福晉。

子女

第一子溥鍾，生於光緒二十三年，嫡福晉索綽羅氏（其父鑲白旗滿洲恩壽）生，妻為大學士那桐之女，賞頭品頂戴。

第二子溥銳，生於光緒二十四年，嫡福晉索綽羅氏生，妻亦為大學士那桐之女，賞頭品頂戴。

第三子溥銓。

第四子溥鋼，生于民國十六年，側福晉富察氏生，妻亦為上海聖約翰大學只緣，近代基督教先驅之一。

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