few months quelled the revolt, adding Qinghai to the Qing Empire. Nian was thereupon raised to a Duke of the First Class. When Nian made a visit to Beijing in late 1724, and paid his respects to the Yongzheng Emperor, he was given additional honours and privileges normally granted to a Prince of the First Rank. His attitude, however, aroused hatred and jealousy, and many officials submitted memorials hostile to Nian. Nian himself was not slow to discover that he had lost imperial favour, for on his return to Xi'an in January 1725 he submitted a memorial of his own, protesting his loyalty and imploring the Yongzheng Emperor's mercy. Meanwhile; it was discovered that Nian had engaged in secret correspondence with Yintang, the emperor's brother and political rival. His plea for leave being denied, Nian was, at the end of May, transferred to the post of Tartar General at Hangzhou. The armies he once commanded went under the control of Yue Zhongqi. As accusations accumulated from his former friends and officials, Nian was in a few months progressively degraded in rank until he became merely a bannerman-at-large. In November, he was arrested and taken under escort to Beijing. Early in 1726, his crimes were enumerated under 92 heads, and Nian was sentenced to be executed. The Yongzheng Emperor granted him the privilege of committing suicide but his eldest son, Nian Fu (年富), was beheaded and his other sons were banished. Nian is credited with three works on military tactics: General Nian's Art of War () among others, but all were apparently written by others and falsely attributed to him. He was married to the Imperial Duke Who Assists the State (宗室輔國公) Aisin Gioro Suyan's (蘇燕) daughter and to the Manchu Plain Yellow Bannerman Nalan Xingde's daughter. In popular culture Nian was portrayed by Jimmy Au (歐瑞偉) in the TVB historical fiction period television series Gilded Chopsticks. He was portrayed by Sun Ning in the 2011 TV series Empresses in the Palace. In the 1980 RTV TV series Dynasty, he was portrayed by Yeung Chak-Lam (楊澤霖). In the 1995 ATV TV series Secret Battle of the Majesty, Nian was portrayed by Elvis Tsui. See also Qing dynasty in Inner Asia References 1679 births 1726 deaths Han Chinese Bordered White Bannermen Han Chinese Bordered Yellow Bannermen Qing dynasty generals Viceroys of Shaan-Gan Viceroys of Sichuan