It is hard to imagine that a lady who specializes in serving people, because she served her master, actually gave birth to the Great Qing Tianzi, and even Kangxi said that she was a blessed person. She can be said to have enjoyed all the glory and wealth in her life, and her life span is long, ranking first among the emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty, what kind of woman is it that she has the honor of becoming the happiest woman in the Qing Dynasty?
A man from a famous mane
Empress Xiaoshengxian, of the Niuhulu clan, a Manchurian yellow flag bearer, and a lady of the Four Pin Ceremonial Officials LingZhu.
Speaking of this yellow flag button, there is a special name: the House of the Phoenix Nest. Yes, this family has a special empress, there is a Qing generation, a total of five empresses, namely Empress Xiaozhaoren, Empress Xiaoshengxian, Empress Xiaoherui, Empress Xiaomucheng and Empress Xiaozhenxian. (Note: Empress Xiao Quancheng was the only empress of the Qing Dynasty who was not from the Yellow Flag Niu Hulu clan)
In fact, among the five Empresses of the Great Qing Dynasty who were set with the Yellow Banner, one of them was far away from the other four, and it can be said that they were "strong" to join this family, and the reason was to raise the status of her mother's family, which was Qianlong's birth mother, Empress Xiao Shengxian.
It is said that the ancestor of the Qing Dynasty family, the Niuhulu clan, was called Aling Abayan, and this Aling Abayan had two grandsons, namely Er YiTeng and Er YiDu. Everyone must not think that these two are brothers, in fact, they are cousins, this named Eyi Teng is the great-grandfather of Empress Xiaoshengxian.
As for Er Yidu, everyone must be more familiar with it, Er Yidu followed Nurhaci to start a business in his early years, and after countless battles, he made great achievements and became one of the five founding ministers of the Qing Dynasty, feng Hongyi Duke, and Nurhaci even married his daughter Mukush to him.
After Er Yidu, his sons were also very contentious, and used their bravery and courage to win the family a good name for an iron-blooded family, among them, the most famous one was Er Yidu's younger son Shu Bilong, who became an auxiliary chancellor in the early years of Kangxi, although he had been attached to Aobai and almost lost his reputation, but his daughter (Empress XiaoZhaoren) competed for anger and became the second empress of Kangxi, and made the family continue to prosper.
Empress Xiaozhaoren of the Kangxi Dynasty, plus the later Empress Xiaoherui, Empress Xiaomucheng and Empress Xiaozhenxian, were all descendants of Eyidu, and it was precisely by virtue of this that the Yellow Banner NiuHulu clan almost became the most prominent foreign relatives of the Qing Dynasty. Empress Xiaoshengxian was not a descendant of Eun Yidu, but could only be regarded as a distant relative.
As we all know, this branch of the Eyidu family has both dukes and hereditary rulers, which is an important condition for the Qing Dynasty to evaluate the status of a family, and most of their family members are powerful people in the DPRK. According to records, Empress Xiaoshengxian's family originally belonged to Manchuria with a white flag, and her great-grandfather Ey yiteng and grandfather Wu Lu did not hold any official positions, until Empress Xiaoshengxian's father, Ling Zhu, mixed with a four-pin ceremonial official's errands.
As we all know, Yongzheng was sealed in the white flag during the Kangxi Dynasty, and Empress Xiaoshengxian's family belonged to the white flag, so it is speculated that Yongzheng and Empress Xiaoshengxian's family may belong to the master-servant relationship, that is to say, Ling Zhu's ceremonial official is the official of the palace responsible for the ceremonial system, ceremonial festivals and other miscellaneous things, and it is also possible that Ling Zhu originally served in Yongzheng's palace.
The Grace of the Yong Dynasty
According to the marriage system of the Qing Dynasty royal family, a family like Empress Xiaoshengxian needs to participate in the Outer Eight Banners Draft, and if she is not selected into the palace, she may be pointed out to the prince as a concubine fujin or a side Fujin, and those palace women who are born in clothing will point to the prince as concubines, also known as Gege. Empress Xiaoshengxian was born in the Eight Banners, and it is reasonable to say that how can she also be Yin Chan's side Fujin, but the result is only a grid, or a relatively low status, it is estimated that it may be due to the low status of Empress Xiaoshengxian's family, or related to Yin Chan's status as Baylor at that time.
In the forty-third year of the Kangxi Dynasty, the 13-year-old Empress Xiaoshengxian came from the Yongbeile Province and became a servant of the people, called Gege. To tell the truth, although this Empress Xiaoshengxian was young, she looked like an ordinary person, and at first she did not attract Yin Chan's attention. However, the physical quality of Empress XiaoShengxian is not to say, she is strong, and if she does not look carefully, she still thinks that she is a man, and for this reason, Empress Xiaoshengxian often does some rough work, and she can do what others can't do.
It is said that in a certain year, Yin Chan suffered from the epidemic, a terrible infectious disease, the mortality rate was quite high, and no other servant dared to approach it, only Empress Xiao Shengxian served, boiled soup and decoction, quite thoughtful, and Yin Chan also escaped the disaster. Subsequently, Yin Chan re-examined the man who had saved his life, and with a fierce heart, they were together. Together, together.
On August 13, 1950, Empress Xiaoshengxian gave birth to a son in prince Yong's palace, named YuanShou (元寿), which was later renamed Hongli (弘历). What she did not expect was that it was this son who changed the fate of her and her family.
In the spring of Kangxi's sixty-first year, Kangxi suddenly and happily came to see the Peony Terrace of the Yuanmingyuan to which Yin Chan belonged, and accidentally encountered the Emperor Sun Hongli, who had never seen before, and hongli's wisdom made Kangxi very fond of it, kangxi seemed to see his young self in Hongli, and when he was happy, he ordered Hongli to be taken to the palace to raise. In addition, Kangxi also made a special visit to Hongli's mother, Niu Hulu (Empress Xiaoshengxian), although Niu Hulu's appearance was average, Kangxi called her a blessed person.
The second in command of the Yongzheng Harem
After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, at first Empress Xiaoshengxian's position was Concubine Xi, ranking fourth after Empress Xiaojingxian, Concubine Nian, and Concubine Li of Qi. However, The son born to Empress Xiaoshengxian, Hongli, was secretly appointed crown prince in the first year of Yongzheng, so in the long run, Empress Xiaoshengxian will rise.
Concubine Xi:Xi
"The left attendant of the Ministry of Orders, Dengde, is the right envoy." Cabinet Scholar Selen, deputy envoy. Holding festivals and canonizing concubines. Book of texts. Only praise the palace court and celebrate. Duan Lai Rou Jia. The class number is honored by points. Pi Zhao Shuhui. There are rules for honing. Lun Silk with Xuan. Erge Nuru clan, Yu quality famous door. Jan Hugh asked. Wen Gongmao. The effect is smooth and not contradictory. Etiquette. Diligent cultivation and recklessness. He once admired the Emperor's Empress Dowager Ci and made her a concubine. Erqi was only alive. Yi Jingfu was salty. Yifu Kunyi. He Hongyu yu Fang Yong. Thanks. ”
Indeed, in the early years of Yongzheng, the noble concubine Nianshi, who had always been weak and sick, died early, and Concubine Li of Qi fell out of favor because of the fault of her son Hongshi, and by the eighth year of Yongzheng, Empress Xiaoshengxian was already the second in command of the harem of the Qing Dynasty. According to official accounts, at that time, Empress Xiaoshengxian's name was Xi Guifei, but there was never a record of her being officially canonized, and the most likely situation was that Empress Xiaoshengxian was not officially crowned as Xi Guifei, but enjoyed the treatment of a noble concubine in the harem.
Moreover, at that time, Empress Wulanara (Empress Xiaojingxian) was also plagued by illness, and died in the ninth year of Yongzheng, so Empress Xiaoshengxian became the highest-ranking concubine in Yongzheng's harem.
Forty-two years as empress dowager
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, Empress Xiaoshengxian's mother became the Empress Dowager with her son, with the title of Chongqing, called Empress Chongqing.
In addition to honoring his mother, Qianlong did not forget to raise the status of his mother's family:
"Now the grandfather Ling Zhu is still in the Gongzhong Zuo. He should promote the grace of the empress dowager, give it a special title, and pass it on to her descendants. But Yi and another group of people did not have enough to compile the collection. Ling Zhu's uncle, Zu Erdu, also had Batulu, and the number of prisoners obtained by military merit was very large, so he was compiled as the Nine Lords, and there were many people in the breeding area. Here, you can compile one collar at your discretion, and form a total of ten collars. His newly compiled leader was placed under the jurisdiction of Ling Zhu's son, and his descendants would be hereditary in the future. The sons of his clan are willing to join the new editors and leaders to listen to it. ”
That is to say, in order to elevate the status of his mother's family, Qianlong ordered that the branch of Empress Xiaoshengxian be included in the Yellow Banner Niu Hulu Clan (Hongyi Gongyuan Yidu Family), that is, the family of Empress Xiaoshengxian changed from a white flag to a yellow flag.
In addition, Qianlong also ordered his maternal grandfather Ling Zhu to be a first-class duke, so that Empress Xiaoshengxian's family would have everything.
Of course, the most important thing for Qianlong was to be filial to his mother, so he specially built the Shoukang Palace for Empress Xiaoshengxian to live in. During Qianlong's reign, four southern tours, four eastern tours, three visits to Wutai Mountain, two visits to Shengjing, two visits to Dongling, and a summer hunt in Rehe, etc., were all accompanied by Empress Chongqing, who can be said to have enjoyed the blessings of Qing.
On the twenty-third day of the first month of the 42nd year of Qianlong, the 86-year-old Empress Xiaoshengxian died of illness at the Changchun Immortal Hall in the Yuanmingyuan, and the whole country mourned, honoring her as: Filial Piety Ci Xuan Kang Hui Dun and Empress Jing Tianguang Shengxian. In April of the same year, Empress Xiaoshengxian was buried in the Taitung Mausoleum. After jiaqing and Daoguang dynasties, the final title was "Filial Piety Ci Xuan Kang Hui Dun and Chenghui Ren Mu Jing Tianguang Shengxian Empress".
Zichen said:
Empress Xiaoshengxian's life can be said to be complete, but when she was first crowned as a concubine, her surname was mistakenly recorded as "Qian" because it was abbreviated as "Niu Shi", and for this reason Yun Qi was also stripped of beizi and demoted to the title of Fuguo Duke. Later, there was a series of statements that Qianlong's birth mother was not Empress Xiaoshengxian, and we can only scoff at these.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of emperors of the Qing Dynasty, General Genealogy of the Eight Banners of Manchurian Clans