The first years of Yongzheng's reign have been spent consolidating his power.

He has imprisoned or executed some of his brothers and their supporters and undermined the power of the others.

Longkedo, for example, is disgraced and executed in 1728 for reasons that remain shrouded in mystery.

Yongzheng's espionage system is so efficient that every action of his ministers is said to have been reported to him.

He even tampers with the imperial records from the last years of his father's reign and the first years of his own, ordering the suppression of any accounts unfavorable to himself or favorable to his opponents.

More significant is his removal of the Imperial princes from control of the Eight Banners, the major Qing military units.

When the Yongzheng emperor had ascended the throne, three of the Eight Banners had been controlled directly by the throne, but the rest had been under the rule of Qing princes.

Fearing that they could use this control for personal advantage—as the Yongzheng emperor had done in his own ascension to the throne—he compels all the princes to attend a special palace school, where they are indoctrinated with the idea of subservience to the throne.

As a result, the Eight Banners will remain loyal throughout the existence of the dynasty.