Time: October 26, 40 years of Qianlong
Location: Shengshuiyu Imperial Mausoleum (Qianlong Yu Mausoleum) on the west side of the Qing Xiao Mausoleum
On this day, the Shengshuiyu Imperial Mausoleum welcomed the fifth hostess, she was the lingyi emperor's noble concubine Wei shi who was pregnant with a dragon fetus for Qianlong seven times and gave birth to six children, and the fifteenth son of the emperor Yongyan was sent to the lingyi emperor's concubine. Yong Yan was the fourth child born to Emperor Lingyi's concubine, and he was also the heir chosen by Qianlong, and it was up to him to send his mother, which was a smooth matter.
When did Emperor Lingyi enter the palace?
Emperor Lingyi's noble concubine Wei Shi was a man from the Yellow Banner of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his father was Wei Qingtai, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The people under the collar of the cloak are the Xinzhiku people as we know them, and many people think that Emperor Lingyi's concubines are of low birth, which is a wrong view. According to records, Emperor Lingyi's grandfather, Wu Shiyi, was once the minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and this position was not low, so Emperor Lingyi's concubine was at least from a middle-class bureaucratic family, and compared with many palace women, this family lineage was still very good.
The first appearance of Emperor Lingyi's concubines was in the first month of the Qianlong decade, and this month, The Lingyi Emperor's concubines, who were already Wei Guiren, were crowned as Concubines.
Emperor Lingyi was born on the ninth day of September in the fifth year of Yongzheng, and according to the regulations that she could run for the palace at the age of 13, she could participate in the draft in the fourth year of Qianlong, but being able to participate did not mean that she would definitely be selected, or it might be a name to be read first. Qianlong Thirty Years Ling Yi Emperor Guifei CrownEdi Concubine there is such a sentence: "Xiang Twenty Years within the reign", that is, Ling Yi Emperor Guifei became the emperor's concubine in the Qianlong Decade, before her identity is most likely a palace girl, she should enter the palace between the fourth year of Qianlong and the ninth year of Qianlong.
Emperor Lingyi's concubine was a palace maid at the empress's side?
In Qianlong's imperial poems, there was a saying that Emperor Yi's concubines had received the teachings of Empress Xiaoxian in their early years, which made many people think that Emperor Lingyi's concubines had been palace women around the empress before they were canonized, and this view actually had a certain one-sidedness. Empress Xiaoxian, as the head of the six palaces, all harem concubines and concubines may be subject to her teachings, but in order to make Emperor Yi's concubines' family lineage, the concubines she serve must be the top inner court lords, of course, it is also possible to serve the empress.
Emperor Lingyi was pregnant with a dragon fetus seven times, but why did she have six children?
According to historical records, from the twenty-first year of Qianlong to the thirty-first year of Qianlong, Emperor Lingyi gave birth to six children for Qianlong, namely the Seventh Princess, the Fourteenth Brother Yonglu, the Ninth Princess, the Fifteenth Brother Yongyan, the Sixteenth Brother (unnamed) and the Seventeenth Brother Yongxuan.
But we should not ignore that in the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong, Ling Yi Emperor's concubine also had a small birth, this time the child could not be saved, in order to comfort Ling Yi Emperor's noble concubine, Qianlong specially promoted her to Ling Guifei.
The six children born to Emperor Lingyi's concubines, the fourteenth Brother Yonglu and the sixteenth Brother died prematurely, the other four were all grown up, but none of them were brought up by Emperor Lingyi's concubines, the adoptive mother of the seventh princess was suspected to be Yu Concubine, the adoptive mother of the ninth princess was Shu Concubine, the adoptive mother of the fifteenth brother was Qingfei (Qinggong Emperor Guifei), and the adoptive mother of the seventeenth brother was Yingfei (Yingguifei).
Who posthumously honored Emperor Yi as empress?
Many people believe that Emperor Lingyi's concubine was the birth mother of the Jiaqing Emperor, and that the Jiaqing Emperor only posthumously honored her as Empress Xiaoyi after he succeeded to the throne, which is also wrong.
Historical records record that in September of the 60th year of Qianlong, Qianlong proclaimed the fifteenth son of the emperor Yongyan as the crown prince, and at the same time posthumously awarded Yongyan's biological mother, Emperor Lingyi, The Title of Empress dowager was not given by his son Jiaqing, but by her husband Qianlong, so we can fully say that Emperor Lingyi's concubine was the third empress of Qianlong, that is, Empress Xiaoyi.
However, Emperor Lingyi's concubine had already been buried twenty years ago (forty years after Qianlong) into the Shengshuiyu Underground Palace, that is, the Yuling Underground Palace of Qianlong, and thus she became the last woman to be buried in Yuling.
References: "Biography of concubines of the Qing Dynasty", "Tomb Easy to Know", "Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty"