Kangxi was the second emperor after the Qing Dynasty entered the Customs, and his birth mother, Tong Jia, was not originally favored by Shunzhi, and Kangxi was able to become emperor because of the support of his grandmother Xiaozhuang. There was also a bit of luck in it, because Shunzhi's favorite son died prematurely, which gave Kangxi a chance.
Kangxi's birth mother, whose original surname was Tong, came from the Zhenglan Banner Han Army, and entered the palace as a concubine in the tenth year of Shunzhi. A year later, Tong gave birth to the emperor's third son, Xuan Ye. The Emperor died in the eighteenth year of Shunzhi, and Xuan Ye, who was only eight years old, succeeded him as the Kangxi Emperor.
As we all know, the Qing Dynasty has entered the prosperous era of Kangqian since the beginning of the Kangxi Emperor. Kangxi Captured Aobai, Ping San Fan, Ding Taiwan, Expelled Tsarist Russia, and Conquered The Northern Desert, the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty commented on him in this way: "The scriptures are wefty and the world is unified, although it is known that shoucheng is the same, it is actually the same as the founding. ”
Not only does The country have a high opinion of Kangxi, but even foreigners regard kangxi as one of the greatest rulers of China. The Japanese during World War II, when studying the history of foreign conquest of China, particularly admired the Kangxi Emperor in China, and even regarded him as an example of their future rule over China.
The Koreans once commented on Kangxi: "The ancient Yingjie also." Americans said of Kangxi: "The Qing Empire he ruled was the most powerful and wealthy country in the world, and even the pretentious European visitors had to admit it." The British even said: "He (Kangxi) is one of the few people who can change the course of human history at will!" ”
Kangxi received such a high evaluation at home and abroad, as his birth mother, Tong Jiashi should be extremely proud. However, Empress Xiaozhuang said that Tong Jia was an unblessed person, so why did Xiaozhuang say this? The author believes that this is related to the following reasons.
First, not favored by the emperor
Tong Jia gave birth to Kangxi, and her son became the emperor of the ages, which was the proudest thing in her life. Unfortunately, apart from this incident, Tong Jiashi didn't have anything to be happy about.
In the tenth year of Shunzhi, the fourteen-year-old Tong entered the palace and became Xiao Fujin, the Shunzhi Emperor. Here I would like to explain, why did she become a concubine, and she would still be Xiao Fujin? At that time, not long after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the rank of concubines in Shunzhi was not perfect, so the ranks of concubines were divided into: empress, imperial concubine, concubine, concubine, concubine, Fujin, Xiaofujin, and Gege.
Xiao Fujin was the second-to-last in the rank of concubines at that time, so it can be seen that Tong's position when she first entered the palace was extremely low, which had a lot to do with her coming from the Han Military Banner. After she entered the palace, she did not get shunzhi's favor, just to extend the imperial heir, only to have the opportunity to be favored by shunzhi, but the emperor did not have her in his heart.
Second, there is no mother and child
A year after Tong entered the palace, he gave birth to the emperor's third son, Xuan Ye. In ancient times, when a concubine gave birth to a prince, she was generally able to rely on her mother and son, or she could either be promoted to a higher rank or be raised by the flag. But tong gave birth to a prince and got nothing. Some people will say, wasn't she carried into the yellow flag?
In fact, during the Shunzhi period, the Tong clan was not raised, it was the flag that Kangxi carried for his mother's mother's family after Tong's death. It can be seen that Shunzhi did not like her at all, not only did he not care at all that she gave birth to a prince, but he did not let Tong enjoy the treatment he deserved because of the prince. You know, at this time, Concubine Dong Efei had not yet entered the palace.
Think of Concubine Dong E, before giving birth to the fourth son of the emperor, she was promoted to the title of imperial concubine. After the birth of the fourth son of the emperor, Shunzhi not only accepted the courtesy of the courtiers, but also repeatedly called the fourth son of the emperor "the first son of yuan". Others are all mothers and sons, but the fourth son of the emperor is "the son is precious by the mother", while the mother and son of the Tong family have become "sons by mother".
Third, there is no chance to enjoy the well-being of children and grandchildren
In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi, the Shunzhi Emperor died and was succeeded by the emperor's third son, Xuan Ye. After Kangxi ascended the throne, he made his birth mother together with Empress Xiaohuizhang and honored her as empress dowager, and Tong shi as empress dowager. Now that his son has become emperor and he has become the empress dowager himself, the days of the Tong clan are finally bitter.
Who knew that in the second year of Kangxi, Tong Shi suddenly fell seriously ill, and as a result, he died at the age of twenty-four. In May of the same year, Kangxi gave his mother the title of "Empress Xiao Kangci and Zhuang Yi Gonghui Chongtian Yusheng." "Buried with the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty in Xiaoling. It was not until the eighth year of Kangxi that Kangxi carried his mother's family into the Han army with a yellow flag and changed his surname to Tong Jia. In the twenty-seventh year of the Kangxi Dynasty, he was carried into Manchuria and set up a yellow flag.
Therefore, in Tong Jia's life, except for the birth of Kangxi, there is nothing that can be called "blessed". Because of her status as a Han junqi, she could not get too high a position, and Shunzhi did not look at her. Coupled with the fact that Concubine Dong E's concubine entered the palace later, there was nothing to do with Tong Jia.
If Concubine Dong's son had not died prematurely, it would have been difficult for Kangxi to sit on the throne. Unfortunately, the fourth son of the emperor died early, which was an extremely painful thing in life for Shunzhi and Dong Efei, but for Tong Jiashi, it became the only "fortunate" thing. Without the favor of the emperor, there is only filial piety of the son.
Kangxi was very filial, but "the son wanted to raise and did not wait." When Tong Jiashi died, Kangxi was not yet ten years old and had not yet been pro-government, and he had very little to give his mother. Therefore, it was not until the eighth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, when the emperor had been in power for two years and everything was stable, that he raised the flag for his mother's family.
Why does Xiaozhuang say that Tong Jia is a blessed person? Because she was not favored by her husband, she could not enjoy the service of her son, and she could not enjoy her old age peacefully. If Tong Jia could live as long as Qianlong's birth mother, she would be able to witness with her own eyes how her son created a prosperous world. She may also be like Xiaozhuang, remembered by more posterity, so that she can live forever.
(References "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", "Qing Shilu")