She did something the day before she fled to the west.
Cixi The most miserable and embarrassing time in her life was probably when she fled to the west.
How many people did Cixi take with her when she and Guangxu fled west? What do you eat on the road? Where will you stay at night?
In fact, the truth is not that embarrassing.
When the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing, Cixi actually did not choose to escape immediately, and the day before her escape, she did something that has been scolded by people to this day.
On this day, Cixi called Emperor Guangxu's most beloved Concubine Zhen. The two did not know what they discussed. In the end, Concubine Zhen was thrown into the well by Cixi.
According to official historical records, Concubine Zhen did not abide by palace rules, sold her official position, and engaged in massive corruption in the court. However, regardless of whether this is true or not, in short, Concubine Zhen died unexpectedly under the watchful eyes of many people.
When the coalition forces came in, Cixi had been hesitating whether to escape. After all, as a person in power, she knew very well that only if she stayed in the palace could it have a deterrent effect . If she really escaped, then 大清 is really over.
Cixi stayed up all night that night. She was thinking about her future and whether she could keep the Qing Dynasty and keep her own power.
After getting up in the morning, Cixi had not yet made a decision. She thought, The Qing Dynasty still had hundreds of thousands of troops, and it was impossible for foreigners to really invade the Forbidden City .
But it didn’t take long for her to realize that she was totally wrong.
After washing up, Cixi was preparing to have breakfast with the maids waiting on her. However, at this moment, a cannonball exploded on the beam, instantly shocking Cixi.
At this time, she could no longer sit still. Li Lianying hurriedly knelt down and begged: " Lafayette, please get off the road. If you don't leave, it will be too late."
Although the Qing Dynasty may not be safe if she leaves, it is not possible now. She had to risk her life immediately before leaving, so Cixi gritted her teeth, took off all her headdress and clothes, changed into ordinary women's clothes, and ordered people to clean up her clothes.
But she knew she couldn't escape by herself, she had to take Emperor Guangxu with her.
Guangxu is not her biological son. Many people think that she is not heartless and knows that she cannot abandon Guangxu. But in fact, she took Guangxu away not because she was afraid that he would be in danger, but for her own power.
As the saying goes, "If you keep the green hills, you won't have to worry about running out of firewood." If Guangxu had any shortcomings, he would have no reason to control the government. In this extraordinary period, keeping the puppet emperor is the most important thing.
Cixi ordered people to find Guangxu. At this time, Guangxu was fully dressed and ready to go to court. Now it was important to escape, and the eunuchs no longer cared about whether the emperor was emperor or not. directly took off Guangxu's clothes and changed him into a servant. clothes.
This day was August 15, 1900. The night in Beijing was already a little cool, but Guangxu left in a hurry and only wore a very thin set of clothes.
Cixi gave an order, saying that she was going to "hunt in the west" , and then she sneaked out of the palace with a group of people.
This moment was probably the most embarrassing moment for Cixi. After half her life, she never imagined that she would have such an embarrassing day.
So besides Guangxu, who else did Cixi take with her when she fled west this time?
What kind of life did
spend on his way to the west?
How embarrassed was Cixi on the way to escape?
This is the most disgraceful period of history in Cixi's life. She fled westward from the palace in embarrassment with the emperor, but she still euphemistically called it "Western Hunting".
There is no record of Cixi's escape in the official history, but there are still many rumors among the people. The then magistrate of Huailai County recorded this period of history in great detail.
The magistrate received an urgent official document. The general content stated that the Queen Mother was accompanied by more than a dozen people, who were more than ten miles away from . He needed to receive the Queen Mother and provide supplies.
And when the magistrate saw the Queen Mother, he realized how embarrassed this person in power was.
In addition to Emperor Guangxu, Cixi also brought Empress Longyu, Concubine Jin, Fourth Brother, Eldest Brother, Pulun, Li Lianying, Cui Yugui, and the rest were some personal maids.
They were all in disguise, but they were leaving in a hurry. With so many people, there were only three carriages in total. The first carriage was occupied by Cixi and her maid, and the driver turned out to be the eldest brother.
The second car was filled with Emperor Guangxu and his queen and concubines, while the remaining car was filled with eunuchs and maids.
The three cars came out of Shenwu Gate and set off all the way to the Summer Palace . There were still some princes and clan members waiting there. They needed to get together and discuss an escape plan.
Fortunately, the princes still had thousands of divine machine camp guards to protect them along the way. However, despite people's best efforts to protect the Queen Mother, Cixi still inevitably suffered a lot.
When Cixi was in the palace, she was so pampered that a meal would consist of hundreds of dishes, but now that condition is no longer available. There are many people on the road and little food, so the best food they can take away is eggs.
Cixi relied on two eggs every day to stay full . The rest of the people didn't even have to eat eggs, and they didn't even have enough dry food.
Originally, Cixi thought that she could ask for some food from the common people she met along the way, but the reality was far crueler than imagined. Foreigners invaded the country and burned, killed and looted everywhere. Where were the common people in the village, they had already disappeared. .
Fortunately, the maids saw corns in the fields on the way, so they pulled out a few and cooked them.
When she was in the palace, Cixi still drank freshly picked mountain spring water. Now let alone mountain spring water, there is no clean water. They can only find some well water on the road to drink.
It was not until 2 days later that the magistrate of Huailai went to see the driver, which made Cixi's life improve a little.
What the magistrate saw at this time shocked him greatly. He saw that the Queen Mother and the Emperor did not look like they were in power at all. They were all unkempt and their clothes were dirty.
He hurriedly ordered people to cook some mung bean porridge, and finally gave Cixi a hot meal. However, it was not easy to magistrate the county. At that time, foreigners robbed his yamen, and he had to fight to save the mung beans. At this time, he There is nothing else to eat except mung bean porridge.
Fortunately, he could still take out some clothes, and the Queen Mother and the Emperor were quite pleased to put them on. After two days of rectification in Huai Lai, Cixi set off with the team again.
In addition to preparing dry food and clothing for them, the magistrate also donated several carriages. They finally no longer had to be so crowded, but the more than a thousand soldiers still had to run on their legs and had little to eat.
Cixi traveled to several places along the way. In fact, apart from some hardships in the first two days, she was well fed and clothed later, so she didn’t suffer much. Moreover, she was riding in a sedan, so she didn’t have to work hard to run. At most, she was just A bit embarrassed.
The luxurious life on the way to the west
When Cixi fled to Taiyuan, she actually lived a luxurious life. At this time, she had been on the run for 70 days.
The government offices in various places did not dare to neglect when picking her up, so she insisted on letting Cixi live a comfortable life along the way, just like traveling around the mountains and rivers. After arriving in Taiyuan, she even lived in a magnificent palace.
Later, when she passed through Xi'an, her life became even more exaggerated.
Prior to this, Cixi could not sleep well along the way and could only sleep in a sedan at night. She could barely get a good night's sleep when she arrived at the prefectural and county government offices.
But it was only after she arrived in Xi'an that she realized that she had arrived in heaven. At that time, her daily expenses exceeded 200 taels. . Although this amount was not worth mentioning compared to when she was in the palace, she was still on the run after all, and poor people would spend their entire lives. You may not be able to see 200 taels.
The money came not only from the yamen, but also from the officials of various provinces.
After Cixi moved in, all provinces learned the news. Although Cixi herself still advocated frugality, officials could not really ask her to be frugal.
This is undoubtedly a good opportunity to show hospitality , so many officials are rushing to curry favor, giving money to those with money, and contributing effectively. At that time, a special "support bureau" was even set up in Xi'an, which was responsible for the food of Lafayette. Wearability.
has careful arrangements for his daily food and daily life. There are hundreds of cooks on call at any time, and there are hundreds of menus listed every day. spends hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in a month.
This place is far away from the capital, and the life is affluent, so foreigners must not be able to come to Xi'an, So Cixi lived here with peace of mind, and stayed there for a year.
It was not until the news came that Li Hongzhang signed the " Xinchou Treaty " that the foreigners promised not to kill Cixi as long as they paid compensation. After the situation gradually stabilized, Cixi embarked on her journey back to Beijing.
What is unbelievable is that Cixi only took a dozen people with her when she left Shenwumen, but supplies were supplied one after another along the way. When she returned to the palace, she actually had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.
After all, as the most powerful person in the world, although the Qing Dynasty was in danger, as long as the country was not destroyed for a day, local officials along the way would not dare to neglect Cixi.
On the way back, Cixi obviously felt a lot more confident. She returned to Beijing in glory, and promoted many officials who had helped her on the way.
For example, the magistrate of Huailai County at that time was promoted to the magistrate. Although he was not a high-ranking official with real power, at least Cixi remembered his kindness.
Cixi did have a good time and slept in the open for two days on the road, but instead of experiencing hardship during the journey afterwards, actually enjoyed it very much. It would be an exaggeration to say that she was on vacation.
However, as soon as the treaty was signed, it meant that the entire Qing Dynasty was classified as a colony. The countdown to the demise of the Qing Dynasty had begun.
Cixi held power in her hands and only cared about her own enjoyment without caring about the people of the world. When the coalition forces attacked the Qing Dynasty again, Cixi was still strongly advocating for peace.
She is not so that the people will not suffer, but she is afraid that the war will delay her birthday.
Cixi continued the Qing Dynasty for decades, but at the same time, the late Qing Dynasty was opened to the country and wantonly bullied by foreign powers, which was inseparable from Cixi.
