The person I’m going to talk about today is Empress Ci’an of the Xianfeng emperor in the late Qing Dynasty.
Queen Ci'an
Ci'an whose surname is Niu Gulu, is a member of the Manchu inlaid with yellow flag . His father is Mu Yang'a, the third-class Chengen Gong of Youjiang Road, Guangxi. Niu Colu was born in Guangxi in the 17th year of Daoguang, and returned to the capital from Guangxi before the draft. When Xianfeng was still a prince, Niu Colu entered Xianfeng's mansion. After Xianfeng ascended the throne, she was named Zhenconcubine in the second year of Xianfeng. In May of the same year, she was canonized as a noble concubine, and in October, she was canonized as a queen. In the entire history of Qing Dynasty , the speed of Niu Zuanlu's promotion to Jin Dynasty was unprecedented. Moreover, throughout Emperor Xianfeng's life, Niu Colu had been sitting safely on the throne, and received the respect and love from the romantic Emperor Xianfeng from beginning to end.
In the tenth year of Xianfeng's reign, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing. Xianfeng fled to Jehol with Niu Gulu and other concubines. While in Rehe, Xianfeng's health became worse and worse, and because of the country's internal and external troubles, he always felt aggrieved in his heart. No one could empathize with an emperor about the feeling of watching the country fall. At this time, the most favored Concubine Yi (Cixi) and Concubine Li were always jealous, which made Emperor Xianfeng, who was caught in the middle, often feel tired. The endless intrigues made him feel bored. And deep tiredness. However, at this time, fortunately, the kind-hearted and considerate Niu Gulu was by his side, so Emperor Xianfeng's depressed mood could be relieved.
However, the weak Emperor Xianfeng died of illness in his palace in Rehe in the eleventh year of Xianfeng after experiencing a long period of suffering. After Emperor Xianfeng died of illness, his posthumous title was Xie Tianyi Yunzhi Chui Mo De Zhen Wu Sheng Xiao Yuan Gong Duan Ren Kuan Min Xian Emperor, and his temple name Wenzong. His son Zaichun born to Cixi was established as Emperor Xianfeng. After Zaichun ascended the throne, he revered Queen Niu Colu as the Empress Dowager, with the title Empress Dowager Ci'an, also known as the Eastern Empress Dowager; Cixi was honored as the Holy Mother Empress Dowager, with the title Empress Cixi, also known as the Empress Dowager of the West. . The two palaces are called together and have equal status.
Xianfeng's little thoughts
Before Emperor Xianfeng died of illness, Cixi had been helping Xianfeng handle government affairs. During this period, she expressed her desire for power without concealment. Therefore, Emperor Xianfeng had always been very jealous of Cixi. He After seeing clearly Cixi's ambition, she was very worried about the future ownership of power. The harem's interference in politics was the reason for the decline and even destruction of many dynasties. Compared to Cixi, who was scheming and resourceful, Xianfeng trusted Ci'an more, who had always remained aloof from the world.
Before Xianfeng's death, because he was afraid that the harem would interfere with politics in the future, and for the purpose of checking and balancing power, he issued a will to return Prince Yi Zaiyuan, Prince Zheng Duanhua, University Scholar Sushun, and Prince Consort Jingshou. Eight of the original five military ministers, Mu Yin, Kuangyuan, Du Han, and Jiao Youying, were named "Zanxiang Ministers of Government" to assist the young Zai Chun and control the two queen mothers.
In order to prevent the minister from monopolizing power, he gave his two imperial seals engraved with "imperial reward" and " Tongdaotang" to Ci'an and Cixi respectively, and ordered that all imperial edicts must be There are two royal seals printed on it. Xianfeng's purpose was not to let any one party have too much power, thus forming an authoritarian situation.
On the surface, it seems that the decree left by Emperor Xianfeng before his death gave the eight ministers and the two queen mothers equal powers. But that's not actually the case. Power is really a huge temptation. Faced with such a temptation, neither the Eight Ministers nor Cixi could settle for the status quo of mutual checks and balances.
Xianfeng did not expect that his decision would cause a bloody political storm - the "Xinyou Coup" (Beijing Coup) that was later mentioned repeatedly by historians.
Xinyou Coup
After Emperor Xianfeng died of illness, all the concubines and ministers still stayed in Rehe, and in Rehe Palace, the power of the Eight Ministers was everywhere, and the Eight Ministers did not pay attention to the two queen mothers at all. Here, the movements of the Queen Mothers of the two palaces were restricted everywhere.This is very unacceptable to Cixi who wants to monopolize power.
As soon as Cixi became the Queen Mother, she couldn't wait to take power into her hands. Cixi thought of "listening to politics behind the curtain". However, since the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, there has been no phenomenon of the Queen Mother hanging down the curtains. Even the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang in the early Qing Dynasty never lowered the curtains when assisting the young emperor. Although Cixi wanted to listen to politics behind the curtain, she must not bring this matter up herself, but needed the help of others to achieve a justifiable effect. Cixi was so weak in Rehe that there was no room for all her plans to be implemented. A person's strength is too weak. Without help, it would be difficult to fight against the powerful Eight Ministers.
The eight ministers were so powerful in Rehe that they did not take the two empress dowagers into consideration at all. This made the usually calm Empress Dowager Ci'an very dissatisfied. So the two queen mothers reached a consensus on this matter that was related to their own interests. After discussing, the two agreed on a strategy, which was to unite with Prince Gong Yiliu in the capital. At the Rehe Palace, Cixi was closely monitored by the eight ministers and had no way to directly contact Prince Gong who was far away in the capital. In such a critical situation, Cixi used her intelligence and wisdom to send her confidants to Beijing and secretly contacted Prince Gong Yixin.
Soon after, Yixin, who received Cixi's secret message, dressed herself as a shaman and secretly went to the Rehe Palace to meet with the two queen mothers. Although this meeting did not last long, it was a very precious opportunity and became the most important turning point in the lives of the three people. The Queen Mother of the two palaces and Yi Xin have reached consensus on many aspects. Later, Yixin returned to Beijing to prepare for the coming storm.
One month after Emperor Xianfeng's death, the Eight Ministers and the Queen Mothers of the Two Palaces decided to send Emperor Xianfeng's coffin back to Beijing for burial. The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces and Emperor Tongzhi, who had just ascended the throne, only stayed with Ling Jia for one day. They hurried back to Beijing from the small road on the pretext that the Emperor was young and the Queen Mother of the two Palaces was a young woman. It was four days earlier than the coffin arrived in Beijing.
After returning to Beijing, the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces immediately summoned Prince Gong Yixin and launched a coup the next day. He stated the various crimes of the Eight Ministers and took back most of the powers of the Eight Ministers. Sushun, the head of the Eight Ministers, was beheaded at Caishikou . Sushun's death meant the collapse of the once powerful Eight Ministers Group.
In the first year of Tongzhi, that is, three months after the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Empress Dowager Ci'an and Empress Dowager Cixi listened to politics behind the curtain in Yangxin Hall. The place where people listen to government affairs behind a curtain is located in the east room of Da Nei Yangxin Hall. At this point, Xinyou's coup ended with the victory of the Queen Mother of the two palaces and Prince Gong Yiliu. This is a fight between nobles for power. The winner will gain the right to rule in the next few decades, while the loser will either die or become a prisoner. The winner is the king and the loser is the law of history that no one can change.
The Qing Dynasty has since opened an era in which two women were in power.
The two empresses listened to politics behind the curtain
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According to historical records, from the first year of Tongzhi to the fourth year of Tongzhi, daily government affairs were handled by the two empresses together. In terms of handling government affairs, Ci'an was "better than virtue" and Cixi was "better than オ". The two compensated for each other and checked each other. In Ci'an's heart, Cixi was the biological mother of Emperor Tongzhi, so she would take the initiative to let Cixi handle any problems; in Cixi's heart, Ci'an's status had always been high since the Xianfeng era. For herself, years of habits prevented her from being too presumptuous in front of Ci'an. In the early days of attending politics together behind the curtain, the two queen mothers got along very harmoniously.
In terms of character, Cixi is a quick and decisive person who does not tolerate objections on many things and always puts his own interests first. However, Ci'an is a soft-tempered person who has no interest in political affairs. They are not interested and don't like to have meaningless arguments, so two people rarely have conflicts.
Cixi is a person who has a strong possessive desire for power. Since she came into contact with power, she has become more and more obsessed with power.After tasting the glory that power brings, she no longer wants to hand over the power in her hands to others, nor does she want others to get involved in the power in her hands. In the fourth year of Tongzhi, that is, 1865, Cixi dismissed her former ally Prince Gong Yixin from all positions and took back the power in Prince Gong's hands, turning him into an idle prince. Since then, the three-way check and balance between Cixi, Ci'an, and Prince Gong has been broken, and Cixi and Ci'an have stood on opposite sides.
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Ci'an who caused trouble
The two queen mothers gradually had conflicts. Ci'an, who had always been considered incompetent, did two things that made Cixi very upset.
Killed Cixi's favorite Andehai
The eunuch beside Emperor Xianfeng Andehai, after the death of Emperor Xianfeng, quickly became Cixi's confidant eunuch because of his dexterity and ability to observe people's words and emotions. After becoming Cixi's confidant, Andehai did many important things for Cixi. He also advised Cixi when she made decisions and participated in politics. During the Xinyou coup, Andehai had been serving as Cixi's messenger between Rehe and Beijing, making a huge contribution to the results of the Xinxi coup. After Cixi came to power, he promoted him to the chief eunuch. After becoming the chief eunuch, Ande Hai relied on his achievements to not only suppress Prince Gong, but also to sow discord between the two queen mothers, making many enemies in the palace. Tongzhi and Empress Dowager Ci'an were very unhappy with him.
In July of the eighth year of Tongzhi, Andehai followed Cixi's order and went to the south to purchase clothing. According to the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, eunuchs were not allowed to leave the capital privately. Andehai's departure from the capital was undoubtedly a violation of the ancestral system. Moreover, Andehai used the name of Cixi to show off all the way and would disturb the people wherever he went. Xu Wu officials secretly expressed dissatisfaction with him. The Shuntianfu Yamen and Zhili Governor's Yamen that I passed by all held back. When he was in Shandong, he was captured by Shandong Governor Ding Baozhen . After Ding Baozhen captured Andehai, he wrote a memorial to request for punishment because the eunuch went out to Beijing and violated the ancestral order. When the memorial arrived at the palace, Empress Dowager Cixi was ill and unable to manage the court, and Empress Dowager Ci'an had been dissatisfied with Andehai for a long time. After discussing with all the ministers, they came to the conclusion: "The ancestral system cannot leave the capital, and the offenders will be killed without mercy and should be executed on the spot." So Ci'an expressed his attitude and ordered Ding Baozhen to execute Andehai on the spot.
Andehai was Cixi's confidant eunuch. His death seemed to have removed Cixi's left and right arms. Moreover, Cixi felt that it was a great shame. As a confidant, Andehai represented Cixi in many cases. Andehai was unscrupulous in the palace because of Cixi's support. Andehai's murder gave Cixi a great stimulus.
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Tongzhi and Guangxu control
The Qing Dynasty had ancestral rules and the biological mother and the prince could not meet often. After Cixi gave birth to her son Zai Chun, Ci'an, as the queen, cared more about Zai Chun, so in Throughout Zai Chun's life growing up, his relationship with Ci'an has always been more harmonious than his relationship with Ci Xi. In Emperor Tongzhi's heart, Ci'an was more like his mother than Cixi. Cixi also understood this in her heart. If she chooses the path of power, she is doomed to sacrifice precious family ties.
When Emperor Tongzhi was seventeen years old, Ci'an and the Empress Dowager Cixi began to prepare for Tongzhi's wedding. At that time, several candidates for the queen had been determined. These people were Arut, Fucha, and Hersheli. Regardless of their talent and appearance, they were all noble women selected from a thousand.
There were differences between the two queen mothers on the choice of queen. Ci'an favored the Arut family. In ancient times, when women were valued for their virtue, the Arut family had the best reputation among all women. Cixi preferred the Fucha family. First of all, because Arut was already nineteen years old, two years older than Tongzhi. The two were not a good match in age, and the Fucha family was only fourteen years old, and seventeen years old. The year-old Emperor Tongzhi is even more suitable. The empress dowagers of the two palaces asked Prince Gong Yixin to resolve the matter. Yixin was unwilling to offend either of the two empress dowagers, so she proposed to let the emperor make his own choice.
Emperor Tongzhi finally chose the Arute family that Ci'an liked.As for why Emperor Tongzhi chose Arut, who was older than himself, most people believe that Emperor Tongzhi had a close relationship with Ci'an since childhood. Therefore, Tongzhi trusted Ci'an in such major life events and was unwilling to violate it. Ci'an's wishes. Facing the choice of her biological son, Cixi suddenly felt that her life was a failure. For the sake of power, he neglected too many things, and even his own son drifted away from him. From then on, when she saw Ci'an, her heart felt like a big stone, but she could not express her dissatisfaction directly to Ci'an, so she directed all her anger on the new queen Alute.
In the eleventh year of Tongzhi, Emperor Tongzhi issued an edict to canonize the queen and scheduled the wedding ceremony to be held in September. After his wedding, Emperor Tongzhi, although nominally given the opportunity to rule personally, was still surrounded by Cixi's shadow in his life and was deeply influenced by Cixi. Arut was born into a distinguished Mongolian family. Her father Chongqi was the only Mongolian champion in the Qing Dynasty for more than two hundred years. She grew up in an educated family and was a very independent and talented person. Insightful women. She felt very disapproval of Cixi's behavior of interfering with Tongzhi everywhere. Cixi didn't like Arut very much because she was not her favorite candidate for queen. Emperor Tongzhi, who was caught in the middle, often felt very embarrassed.
Queen Xiaozheyi (Arut clan)
Tongzhi was a dissolute person. Although he had many beautiful concubines in the harem, these concubines could not satisfy him. According to historical records, Emperor Tongzhi often put on civilian clothes and took two eunuchs to look for flowers and willows. As time passed, he became seriously ill and fell ill. Based on the symptoms, the imperial physician thought it was just an ordinary ailment. After treating it for a period of time, he found that the condition had worsened. In November of the 13th year of Tongzhi's reign, shiny purple patches appeared on his head and face. At the end of that year, Tongzhi, who was only 19 years old, died of serious illness.
After Tongzhi's death, the most difficult life was for Queen Arut. No one in the palace could help Arut except Empress Dowager Ci'an, but Empress Dowager Ci'an's indifferent character could not help. How many Arut's. The Arut family felt very desperate about their future. Emperor Tongzhi left no heirs. The successor was Zaitan, who was of the same generation as Tongzhi. The Arut family was very embarrassed to live in the palace as the eldest sister-in-law. At the same time, Cixi's tyranny and tyranny made Arut very uncomfortable, so she thought of death - following the dead Emperor Tongzhi. On the 75th day after the death of Emperor Tongzhi, Arut committed suicide on a hunger strike at the age of 22. After her death, she was posthumously named Empress Xiaozhe, Jiashun, Shushenxian, Mingxiantian, and Zhangshengyi.
After Tongzhi's death, Zai Tan, who was only four years old, was taken into the palace as the heir, who later became Emperor Guangxu. Guangxu was carried into the palace while he was sleeping. This young boy had no idea that his fate would change dramatically after he woke up. After entering the palace, Zaitan's life was not easy. Cixi was very strict with the child who would be in charge of the country in the future, and often scolded him because his behavior did not meet her requirements.
In Cixi's eyes, Zaitan was just a tool she used to seize power, like a puppet that could be played with at will. Cixi was always strict with Zaitian and did not give him the maternal love and warmth that a child needs most at this age. On the contrary, Ci'an, who has always been aloof, gentle and generous, became Zaitan's greatest comfort in the palace. Ci'an, unlike Cixi, did not have many political requirements for Zai Tan, but only educated Zai Tan in terms of life. While Zaitan's relationship with the Empress Dowager Cixi became increasingly tense, his relationship with the Empress Dowager Ci'an became increasingly close.
However, in the seventh year of Guangxu, that is, in 1881, Empress Dowager Ci'an died suddenly. Ci'an was one of the few people in the palace who could give Zai Tan warmth. Her death plunged Zai Tan's life into darkness again. Ci'an's sudden death caused an uproar in the court. Her death had a significant impact on the direction of the late Qing Dynasty. Cixi held great power and held the fate of the entire Qing Dynasty tightly in his hands.Without Ci'an's restraint, Cixi acted more unscrupulously and manipulated the declining country according to his own wishes.
Judging from the above two incidents, Ci'an and Cixi have developed a serious grudge and have reached a point where they will never give up. Next time we will talk about the secret of Ci'an's death.
Conclusion
In historical materials, there is very little information about Ci'an. In " Qing History Manuscript ", there is a record about Empress Dowager Ci'an:
Empress Xiaozhenxian, Niulu's family, was the daughter of Muyang, Youjiang Road, Guangxi. It was Wenzong's hidden residence. In the second year of Xianfeng's reign, she was granted the title of concubine Zhen and became the imperial concubine Zhen. Become a queen. Ten years later, I came to Rehe. In July of the eleventh year, Wenzong died, and Mu Zong ascended the throne, revered as the empress dowager. At that time, the two officials of Xiaoqin and Xiaozhen were respected together, and the imperial edicts called them "Mother Queen Mother" and "Notre Dame Queen Mother" to distinguish them. On the first day of the eleventh month, the two empress dowagers went to the Imperial Yangxin Hall and listened to the government behind the curtain. In the eighth year of Tongzhi's reign, the internal eunuch Andehai came out of Beijing. Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, heard about it and the Empress Dowager ordered him to be executed. In the twelfth year, he returned to power under Mu Zong. In the thirteenth year, Mu Zong died, Dezong ascended the throne and resumed his duties. Renshen died in March of the seventh year of Guangxu at the age of forty-five. He was buried in Puxiangyu in the east of Dingling Tomb. She was first honored as the Empress Dowager and given the title of emblem. National Day, cumulatively added, said Empress Dowager Ci'an Duankang Yuqing Showa Zhuang Jing. When he died, he was given a posthumous title. Xuantong added posthumous titles, namely Empress Xiaozhen Ci'an Yuqing and Jingcheng Jingyi Tianzuo Shengxian.
When Ci'an first entered the palace, he climbed from a concubine to the queen's throne at a flying speed in just half a year. From then on, he began to rule the harem of Emperor Xianfeng. The harem is the cruelest battlefield for women. In this battlefield without gunpowder, I don’t know how many women have been sacrificed and how many people’s youth have been buried. Women who can survive in the harem are all outstanding in some aspects. It is not an easy task to manage such a group of women. From ancient times to the present, many queens have been unable to escape the fate of being deposed. There are really very few who can start and end well. Ci'an can stand out among this group of women and become the queen and empress dowager, and can stay in this position for the rest of her life. In the end, it is not easy.
Ci'an is not keen on power. When she was the queen, she always did her duty well and set an example for her mother in the world. She never did anything that went against the rules. She is not Cixi's tool to listen to politics behind the curtain as people think. She is used by Cixi everywhere on the political road, which makes her look pitiful and pathetic. That is not the real Ci'an. The real Ci'an is a woman with great wisdom. Her wisdom is buried in the silence that is most common in her daily life. Those who are silent do not mean that she does not understand. This world, but she is not willing to face this world. Many people believe that Ci'an did not have much political talent and did not do many meaningful things during her lifetime, but her existence is a key to the check and balance of power.
From the Empress Dowager Ci'an, we can learn too much philosophy of survival. Today, when material desires are becoming more and more powerful, Ci'an's aura of indifference is exactly what modern people are increasingly lacking.
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