People in ancient times believed in ghosts and gods, even emperors were no exception. Li Shangyin once wrote a poem, in which there are two sentences that say, "It's a pity that I sit down at the front table in the middle of the night and don't ask about the common people or ghosts and gods." Although Kangxi was not that extreme, he did have awe and belief in these illusory and confusing things.
It is said that Kangxi had the most direct influence on fortune telling, even affecting the two emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong.
There is a detail in the Qing Dynasty archives. It is said that in June of the 60th year of Kangxi, when Sichuan Governor Nian Gengyao came to Beijing for business, Emperor Kangxi ordered him to find the capital's "famous calculation" to calculate something. Although Gengyao did not actually go to find the "famous fortune teller", Kangxi gave instructions in the memorial he reported that this person was indeed good at divination. It shows that Kangxi often went to him for divination.
In the 61st year of Kangxi's reign, he met Qianlong Emperor Hongli for the first time at Yongzheng's home. At that time, he liked Emperor Qianlong very much as soon as they met. Among Kangxi's grandsons, Qianlong was undoubtedly the best.
A few days later, Kangxi specially ordered an eunuch to come to Yongzheng and ask him to write down Qianlong's horoscope. There is no doubt that Qianlong's horoscope is naturally rich, smart and smart.
Kangxi was overjoyed and ordered people to take Emperor Qianlong into the palace to raise him.
If Emperor Kangxi loved fortune telling and divination, then this might be the kindest joke that fate played on him.
Some people say that it was precisely because of Kangxi's preference for Hongli that he finally decided to pass the throne to Hongli's father Yongzheng. This may be a bit biased, because Yongzheng may have just wanted his son at first. Pushed in front of Qianlong, if he could be favored, even if he did not become the emperor, Hongli would not be persecuted by the royal family.
But fortunately, Hongli's "eight characters" happened to match Kangxi's hobbies, which created Yongzheng and Qianlong.