Nian Gengyao’s father Nian Xialing had served as Viceroy of Huguang from 1692 to 1704.

Nian Gengyao himself had in 1700 become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination) and had been selected a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.

The Banner company to which the Nian family belonged had in March 1709 been assigned to serve Yinzhen, later the Yongzheng Emperor.

A sister of Nian Gengyao became a concubine of Yinzhen about the same time.

Nian had been appointed Governor of Sichuan in October 1709 and had gradually come to the notice of the Kangxi Emperor.

During the sixteen years of his administration, he had quelled several uprisings of the aborigines west of Sichuan.

He had been made Governor-general of Sichuan in 1718 and had been given power to direct military affairs.

Following the appointment of Yinti, another of Kangxi's sons, as Border Pacification General-in-chief, there had been suggestions about Nian's loyalty to Yinzhen.

As General Who Secures the West, Nian Gengyao had taken an active part in supplying Yinti's campaign in Tibet against Tsewang Rabtan.

He had been granted an audience with the elderly Emperor at Rehe in June 1721 and subsequently raised to the rank of Governor-general of Sichuan and Shaanxi.

The new emperor displays a great amount of trust in Han Chinese officials, and appoints many of his protégés to prestigious positions.

After Yinzhen’s ascension to the throne as the Yongzheng Emperor, he grants an audience to Nian Gengyao early in 1723 and awards him a minor hereditary rank and the title of Grand Guardian, and makes his elder brother Nian Xiyao Governor of Guangdong.

As reward for his help in ejecting the Dzungars from Tibet, Nian is elevated z few months later to a duke of the third class.

The Emperor is uncharacteristically informal with him and promotes friendship between Nian and Longkedo, an eminent Manchu-Chinese official.

Longkedo, the third son of Tong Guowei and the younger brother of Kangxi Emperor's third Empress consort, Empress Xiaoyiren, Longkodo had been the Minister in charge of Lifan Yuan during the late Kangxi years, and, concurrently, the General Commandant of the Gendarmerie in Beijing, thus having the military power to control the capital region in times of crises.

His military power makes him an obvious scapegoat in conspiracies, and the Yongzheng Emperor is deeply suspicious of him.

The biggest mystery surrounding Longkodo is the exclusive attention given him by the late Kangxi Emperor during his dying days.

His military support had ensured a non-violent transfer of power between Kangxi and Yongzheng.

After Yongzheng ascended the throne, Longkodo had been given a position on the four-person imperial council, and is the President of the Board of Governance.

Nian becomes commander-in-chief of the forces sent in 1723, to quell the uprising of the Khoshotes of Qinghai under Lobdzan Dandzin.

With the help of the general Yue Zhongqi, Nian wins several victories over the rebels and in a few months quells the revolt, adding Qinghai to the Qing empire.

Nian is thereupon raised to a duke of the first class.