In China's history, although women's status is relatively low, due to their large population base and long history, many dynasties in which women hold great power have emerged.

In China's history, although women have relatively low status, due to their large population base and long history, many dynasties in which women hold great power have emerged. The most representative one is the queen Wu Zetian . However, in addition to this woman who established a dynasty, there are many women who did not become emperors themselves, but actually controlled the supreme power, and the emperor on the surface became their puppets.

One of the representative figures is Queen Jia Nanfeng in the Western Jin Dynasty. At that time, Emperor Hui of Jin was born with ignorance, so he was unable to deal with the government. Jia Nanfeng took the opportunity to use the emperor's mouth to gain benefits for himself, quickly killed the ministers who opposed him, and arranged his family members to important positions, delaying the government's affairs.

Jia Nanfeng's end was miserable, but not every woman who participated in politics like her did not end up in a good life. The late Qing Dynasty Cixi had the power that was even better than her, but Cixi's true appearance was always mysterious. It was not until the photos of Cixi collected by American museums were exposed that they were well-known.

Cixi enters the palace

Cixi once had a small accident, which almost missed the peak of power later. According to legend, Cixi was a descendant of the Yehenara clan, and there was a rumor about the Yehenara clan: when the Yehenara clan was massacred by Nurhaci , a curse was left behind - the Aisin Jueluo clan would definitely be destroyed by the hands of the Yehenara woman.

Therefore, Cixi's identity is considered unknown and she is not qualified to be selected into the palace. However, since this statement is old, bribes can still be used to make peace. So with the help of money, Cixi successfully entered the palace. Because she had the word Lan in her name, she was named Concubine Lan.

The emperor at that time was Xianfeng . Cixi, who was beautiful and knew how to seize opportunities, quickly won his favor, which laid a solid foundation for her later rise. But Cixi understood that being favored by the emperor was just the beginning, and giving birth to a dragon son for the emperor was an important guarantee.

With her unremitting efforts, she finally got pregnant with the emperor's flesh and blood and successfully gave birth to a boy. This is also the only descendant of Emperor Xianfeng, which naturally caused the emperor to be overjoyed. Not only did Cixi be named a concubine, her son naturally became the only candidate for the next emperor. Even if Xianfeng is gone in the future, Cixi's status will not only not be affected, but will instead be taken to a higher level.

With her descendants, Xianfeng's trust in Cixi went further. Because he found that her handwriting was well written, he occasionally told her oral words and asked Cixi to write to memorials. As many memorials were criticized, Cixi gradually developed her own political propositions under the influence of her. After several conversations with

, Xianfeng found that Cixi's level was not low, so he simply asked her to make an idea on her behalf and handed over the reviews to her completely. In this way, Cixi completely took over the work of reviewing memorials, and her political status became increasingly important. If giving birth to the prince was the beginning of her stable position, then criticizing memorials was the beginning of her entry into politics.

Fighting for power and power

In the late Qing Dynasty, China had already accumulated difficulties. If we met a wise emperor, it would not be easy to improve, let alone Xianfeng was a person who was content to enjoy himself. But at this time, overseas countries were in a prosperous period due to the influence of the industrial revolution .

The invaders represented by Britain and France have been coveting China for a long time. Soon after, The British and French coalition forces found a reason and launched a war. The Qing army was defeated all the way. Even Xianfeng had to take Cixi and others to escape to the Summer Resort. In fact, the health was not good, and the journey was bumpy. Xianfeng, who came to , Chengde , had already exhausted his energy and passed away soon.

In fact, before Xianfeng's death, Cixi's influence in the court was already quite strong, and even aroused the vigilance of many traditional nobles. Before Xianfeng died, they proposed to get rid of Cixi to avoid the possibility of women chasing the government in the future.

But Xianfeng did not agree because he didn't want his son to lose his father and his mother again. After Xianfeng's death, his son ascended the throne and became emperor, which was later Emperor Tongzhi. This year name is very interesting. The literal meaning of " Tongzhi " is to govern together. Those who can govern the government with the emperor are basically rebels, but it doesn't matter if this person is the emperor's biological mother. So Cixi became the empress dowager and became the real ruler behind the emperor.

However, Cixi's approach affected the interests of the ministers. Although the proposal to kill Cixi was rejected by Xianfeng, the attempt in this regard has never stopped. After learning about this, Cixi decided to take the initiative. She first contacted Yixi, a new strength among the nobles, and in turn liquidated the eight ministers who were taking care of their lives.

This time the coup caused by the seizure of power is known in history as the "Xinyou Incident". Cixi and Yilin eliminated the old nobles and their followers in one fell swoop, and eliminated most of the opposition forces in the court. Since then, the entire Qing dynasty has been completely controlled by Cixi. Neither the emperor nor other ministers dared to easily resist Cixi's rule.

Cixi's later years

Cixi, who had just taken power, made some positive reforms. It was also her who learned from the invasion of Western powers and began the first step in military modernization reform. However, as Cixi grew older, her power was stable, her enterprising spirit was gradually exhausted, and she became extravagant and conservative. Not only did she stop reforming herself, she also strongly opposed other people's reform proposals. This is probably the unsolvable cycle of the dragon slayer who eventually became evil dragons. After his son Tongzhi died, he ascended the throne. Cixi still wanted to control Guangxu as much as Tongzhi, but was resolutely resisted by Guangxu.

Although Guangxu's reform ultimately failed, Guangxu died in depression. However, Cixi had exhausted her energy due to this coup and died soon after. Only after Cixi's death did people dare to discuss her life publicly. Many people are curious about how such an old woman can control the emperor and even the entire empire?

The status of Cixi in her later years can be seen from the photos saved in American museums. She has gorgeous clothes and elegant temperament. Although he is over 60 years old, his skin is still fair. With those sharp eyes, the image of a high-ranking ruler is about to emerge. Although Cixi was a woman at this time, she was domineering with the king. Perhaps this was also an important reason why she could get to this point. Interestingly, the rumors about Yehenara seemed to have come true, and Empress Dowager Cixi really became the last woman who ruined the Qing Dynasty regime.

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