In her lifetime, Cixi experienced five wars of imperialist aggression against China from 1840 to 1900.
During the First Opium War, she was a 5-year-old child. By the Second Opium War, she was already a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor. After the Sino-French War, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, and the invasion of the Eight-Power Alliance, she was the supreme decision-maker of the Qing Dynasty. From Cixi's main battle and peacemaking, we can see the changes in the relationship between Cixi and imperialism.
Speaking of Cixi's crimes, it is difficult to read, and among these numerous crimes, one of them has attracted our special attention, that is, Cixi once planed the grave of The Guangxu Emperor's biological father, Yi Zhen.
We all know that in traditional Chinese culture, going grave is a particularly cruel act, and if one party does this to the other, then it means that both sides have a deep hatred. Here, what kind of deep hatred and hatred can make Cixi disregard the condemnation of public opinion and want to cut the grave of Yi Zhen? When it comes to this, we have to go back to the background of the time.
YiZhen was the seventh son of the Daoguang Emperor, and after emperor Xianfeng succeeded to the throne, he was given the title of King of Alcohol County, which won the trust of emperor Xianfeng. After the death of the Xianfeng Emperor, he joined forces with Prince Gong to help Cixi launch the Xin You coup. It can be seen that at this time, Cixi still appreciated him quite much, and Yizhen not only had the title of prince, but also held the real power of the military aircraft department.
In Prince Gong Yi? After being deposed from his post as minister of military aircraft, Prince Shi Duo of Li took his place, and Cixi specifically instructed him: "If you have any problems that you cannot deal with, you can discuss with Yi Zhen." After the signing of the Sino-French New Covenant, Yi Zhen proposed to Li Hongzhang and others the preparation of the navy, and handed over to Li Hongzhang to take full responsibility.
Compared with many unclear relatives of the emperor and the state, Yi Zhen was already a model of clear-headedness, and even Cixi's proposal to let him return to the dynasty to assist the Guangxu Emperor in ruling the country refused. He told Cixi that Cixi should personally train the government, and after the emperor's big wedding, he would return the government affairs to the emperor. Of course, his original words were not so short, and there was a wave of rainbow farts in the middle, which was very pleasant to listen to from Cixi's point of view anyway.
When Yi Zhen passed away, Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor personally went to mourn him, and it seemed that the relationship between the two sides was still good.
So, why did Cixi order Yi Zhen's grave to be removed more than a decade later? This brings us to the location of Yi Zhen's tomb.
In other words, when YiZhen was less than thirty years old, he chose a cemetery for himself in advance. This cemetery, at the foot of the mountain at Miaofeng Peak in the western suburbs of Beijing, was called the "Tomb of the Seven Kings" by the people. Construction of the Tomb of the Seven Kings began in the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868) and was completed in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900). The cemetery has four treasure domes: the largest in the middle is the tomb of the Seven Kings, and the three smaller ones on the left and right are the tombs of his three wives.
Yi Zhen's opportunity to choose this cemetery is also very legendary, he was recuperating in Weixiu Garden, and one day, he felt very bored and ran to the Xiangtang Temple in Xishan to play. Although he simply went out to play, after all, he was a prince, and naturally he would not go alone. At that time, there was a man named Mr. Li Tang Feng Shui by his side, and after this Mr. Feng Shui and Yi Zhen climbed the Wonderful Peak, they looked at it, which was not good.
Isn't this the feng shui treasure land that Yi Zhen wants? Therefore, he hurriedly told Yi Zhen that the cemetery was the best feng shui here. Yi Zhen was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly decided to make this place his garden bed. During this period, although some people felt that this place could not be used to build garden beds, at the insistence of Mr. Feng Shui, Yi Zhen finally chose this place.
Even, in order to buy the cemetery here as Yi Zhen, Cixi and the Tongzhi Emperor also funded him with 50,000 taels of silver. Moreover, according to the system of the Qing Dynasty, the general prince's garden should be built with green and blue glazed tiles, but Yizhen received special treatment, and the emperor allowed him to use the yellow glazed tiles exclusive to the emperor. Throughout the history of the Qing Dynasty, this is the first and, of course, the last.
From here, we can see how much grace Yi Zhen received from the imperial court.
It is said that after Yi Zhen's death, the stele stone selected at the beginning was too large to be transported to the mountain, so it was left at the foot of the mountain, and later, a smaller stele was changed to be transported to the mountain.
The interior of the Garden is picturesque, with pure springs flowing through it, lush green trees, and an ancient white fruit tree. However, it was this white fruit tree that disturbed the tranquility of Yi Zhen's death. At that time, there was a minister in the Ministry of Internal Affairs named Yingnian who was good at feng shui and once selected the auspicious land of Putuoyu for Cixi.
YingNian wanted to climb to a high position faster, so he took an opportunity to give Cixi an opportunity and said, "I heard that in Yi Zhen's garden bed, there is a tall white fruit tree, more than ten feet tall, and the body of the tree is the thickness of eight people hugging." Its shade is very large, and it feels like an emerald green barrier, protecting Yi Zhen's tomb, which is a sight that can only be seen in the imperial tomb. Speaking of this, Cixi became interested, so she continued to ask questions.
YingNian said, "Besides, the addition of the 'white' character of the white fruit tree and the word 'wang' of the prince is a 'emperor' character, and he is just a prince, how can he be worthy of this auspicious land?" I think we should cut down this tree quickly, otherwise, I am afraid that it will have a bad impact on the royal family. When Cixi heard this, she thought that Yingnian was right, so she ordered Yingnian to cut down this white fruit tree without the consent of the Guangxu Emperor.
Although the Ministry of Internal Affairs had Cixi's will, it did not dare not inform the Guangxu Emperor of this matter, so it asked the Guangxu Emperor to order the cutting down of this white fruit tree. When the Guangxu Emperor knew about it, his first reaction was to veto this order, after all, this was his father's garden, how could he plank his own father's grave? He said, "If you want to cut down this tree, you will cut off my head first." But Cixi refused to back down, and the two men were deadlocked for more than a month.
In the end, there was no way, Cixi personally led people to cut down this white fruit tree, and also dug a deep pond of more than ten meters around it, and buried it with lime before it was finished. When the Guangxu Emperor got the news, it was already too late, and he could only walk around Yi Zhen's grave a few times and go back crying. The minister present told the emperor: "The empress dowager herself took the axe and cut it down three times before ordering the people to cut it down, and the empress dowager's demonstration did not dare to disobey, so they had to cut down the tree." ”
At present, the Tomb of the Seven Kings has basically retained the appearance of the Tomb after the completion of the Tomb, not only the Yin Mansion but also the complete Yang Mansion. Therefore, the Tomb of the Seven Kings can be called the most complete preserved tomb of the Qing Dynasty princes in Beijing. The Tomb of the Seven Kings is not closed all year round, and visitors can freely enter and visit. With such a complete building and the characteristics of free opening all year round, coupled with the fame of the "Seven Princes" Prince Yizhen, it is no wonder that there are many visitors.
Resources:
[Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Biography of The Later Concubines, Draft history of the Qing Dynasty, Volume 221, Liechuan VIII, Draft of the History of the Qing Dynasty, Twenty-three Of the Twenty-third Chronicle of the Emperor Dezong, Tomb of the Prince of the Qing Dynasty]