As the last feudal dynasty in China, the Qing Dynasty was destined to occupy a special position in history, and its peak and demise are worth thinking about for future generations.
Speaking of the most familiar emperors of the Qing Dynasty, it is certainly Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, these three emperors created the prosperous era of Kangqian and made the Qing Dynasty reach the peak since the founding of the country.
Guotai Min'an people living and working in peace and contentment should be the most popular for every emperor, and Qianlong is the luckiest of the three emperors, and it can be said that the Qing Dynasty was in a prosperous era during his reign and there were no major problems.
Unfortunately, after Qianlong's death, Jiaqing ascended the throne of the Qing Dynasty began to decline, and various problems appeared, and although Jiaqing wanted to govern the country well, it was a pity that he was powerless.
The only thing worthy of praise in the Qing Dynasty is the professionalism of several emperors, and it can be said that the Qing Dynasty was a dynasty with the smallest proportion of emperors, and almost every emperor wanted to govern the country well.
Many people say that the reason for the fall of the Qing Dynasty is Cixi, but a woman cannot influence a country.
Although Cixi was not the key to the demise of the Qing Dynasty, she also had a reason, if there was no Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty, it may not have perished so quickly, Cixi only accelerated the demise of the Qing Dynasty, and the root cause of the disaster had already been laid.
01
Cixi's ambitions swelled for 47 years
As a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor, Cixi was initially no different from other concubines, and after giving birth to a son, Cixi's status was greatly enhanced, because this child was the only son xianfeng grew up with.
Therefore, the throne was naturally inherited by this child, and Cixi, as the biological mother of the Tongzhi Emperor, suddenly became a noble mother with her son, and after Xianfeng's death, she became the honorable Empress Dowager Cixi.
Since the Tongzhi Emperor was only six years old when he ascended the throne, it was simply a fantasy to deal with major state affairs at this age, so the two empresses of Cixi Ci'an bowed to the government.
Cixi, who was originally only assisting Tongzhi, had inflated ambitions after tasting the taste of power, and she hoped that Tongzhi could delay pro-government, and Tongzhi was also very dependent on her mother, so Cixi held power for many years.
Tongzhi died at the age of nineteen, and Guangxu, who ascended the throne, was even younger, and Cixi naturally continued to hold power, even after Guangxu took power.
During cixi's forty-seven years in power, her ambitions grew, and the Qing Dynasty became a miasma in her hands, and by the time of her death, everything was too late to recover.
02
Lonely deep palace life, all rely on two treasures to "relieve boredom"
The Xianfeng Emperor died when Cixi was twenty-six years old, and the young Cixi became a widow, and the requirements for women in ancient times were very high, and ordinary women could not remarry at will, let alone Cixi.
Because Cixi had Tongzhi, she did not have to leave the palace but became the empress, which meant that Cixi would live a lonely life, and there were almost no people around the empress dowager who could speak her own words.
Forty-seven years of loneliness, Cixi relied on two treasures to relieve her boredom, these two treasures are Cixi's beloved things, even after her death, they were brought into the coffin, which shows how much she loved before she died.
The first piece, called emerald watermelon, is made of imported watermelon tourmaline, the skin of the melon looks crisp and raw, the flesh of the melon is red with black seeds, and the lifelike appearance makes Cixi very fond of it.
Cixi regards the emerald watermelon as a treasure, and every day there is a special person to take care of it, and when she is in a good mood, she will take it out to appreciate it and praise it as a unique treasure in the whole world.
The second is called the Descending Magic Wand, which is a gift from Zhang Zhidong to Cixi, the ancients were very superstitious, so the name of the Descending Magic Wand made Cixi like it, it is said that this treasure can make people feel at peace, so Cixi takes it with her when she sleeps.
Of course, the two treasures that I loved so much before I died must be carried with me after death, and perhaps Cixi had ordered them before she died, so these two treasures also became funerary items.
Unfortunately, only twenty years after Cixi was buried, the tomb robbers dug up her tomb and looted Cixi's favorite treasure before she died, and such a honorable empress dowager could not escape the clutches of the tomb robbers after her death.
Life in the deep palace is lonely, as a person in the deep palace, of course, she also finds pleasure for herself, Cixi's pleasure is power and treasure, her enjoyment is the damage to the Qing Dynasty's treasury, Cixi's finances during her lifetime also had great problems, even then Cixi still does not change the extravagant style, which is really regrettable.
Reference: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty