As the actual ruler at the end of the Qing Dynasty, Cixi can be said to have controlled the Qing Dynasty for more than half a century since the death of the Xianfeng Emperor, through the Tongzhi and Guangxu Emperors, during this half century, Cixi listened to the government and monopolized power, so why didn't she imitate Wu Zetian and also call herself emperor? So what concerns does she have?
East Palace and West Palace
In 1860, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded the city of Beijing, the Xianfeng Emperor fled with Cixi to the Rehe Palace, and the following year the Xianfeng Emperor died, and the only prince Zaichun was established as emperor, that is, the later Tongzhi Emperor, the mother of the Tongzhi Emperor, the mother of the Tongzhi Emperor and the empress dowager of the Xianfeng Emperor Ci'an and called the Empress Dowager, which was the later East Palace and the West Palace.
Cixi was honored as the empress dowager, but she knew that she was a mother and a noble son, and her seniority and fame were inferior to those of the Eastern Empress Dowager Ci'an, so Cixi had to seek Ci'an's opinion when deciding on some things, and because although they were all empresses, Ci'an was a concubine, And Cixi was a concubine, and under the constraint of the etiquette system of "the distinction between concubines and concubines", Cixi did not dare to cross. Therefore, during the period when Ci'an was alive, Cixi did not dare to move the mind of the emperor. Did Cixi move the mind of emperor after Ci'an's death? And the only people who actually held power during the Wu Zetian period were herself, Xiao Shufei, and Empress Wang, all of whom were killed by her, and no one else could restrain her at all.
In the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, the harem could not interfere in politics
In the "Kangxi Dynasty", Concubine Rong was stripped of her title by Kangxi for interfering with Kangxi's abolition of the prince, beaten into the cold palace, and later calculated to clean the toilet. It can be said that the harem is a minefield, and the empress dowager has violated the ancestral system, which is why she has always relied on Empress Dowager Ci'an, after all, she is not so high in status. The Tang Dynasty was an open society, and after the Tang Dynasty ruled by Zhenguan, the national strength was very strong, the culture was enlightened, and the status of women was relatively high. Moreover, Wu Zetian was deeply trusted by Emperor Gaozong of Tang and participated in the government for 24 years, which was not comparable to Cixi.
The queen who was brought in by the Great Qing Gate
Wu Zetian was made empress during the lifetime of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and her lovers had all been suppressed to death by her, and the rest did not dare to be reckless. And Cixi was promoted to empress dowager by virtue of Tongzhi's biological mother, and Xianfeng's legitimate empress was Ci'an, and since the Kangxi period, there was a rule that only the emperor and the empress could go through the Great Qing Gate, and Cixi eventually only became a noble concubine, and when she entered the palace, she walked the Shenwu Gate next to her. It was precisely because of this identity that Cixi was unhappy all her life, and the empress of the Tongzhi Emperor was angry because of a sentence "I am the Empress of the Middle Palace who was brought in from the Great Qing Gate", and finally suffered a cruel hand.
After Ci'an's death, Cixi's monopoly of power also moved the mind of the emperor, but was sentenced by the minister: "Lafayette is not welcomed through the Great Qing Gate, and those who do not enter the Great Qing Gate cannot be abolished into the Great Qing Gate." Choked back. To put it bluntly, even if you are in power, your status is not the most noble, and the emperor should not think about it.
Lack of strong backing
Compared with Wu Zetian's superior political means, Cixi was still too tender, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Wu Zetian began to participate in the government, and later became known as the "Second Sage", which shows that Wu Zetian has laid a solid foundation, while Cixi, although he later deposed his allies Yi Chen, but the Military Aircraft Department and the prime minister Yamen were still in the hands of Ai Xin jueluo, and since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the local armed forces have been strengthened, and the centralization of power has been weakened, if Cixi is called emperor, then Zeng Guofan, a Han minister who is deeply influenced by Confucianism, Li Hongzhang will definitely not agree If Cixi dares to claim the title of emperor, then they will do something in the name of King Qin, and in the end, stealing chickens will not become erosion of rice.
The Han ministers did not agree, and Cixi herself did not agree, first of all, the Ai Xinjueluo family did not lack heirs, but Cixi only had a short-lived son of Tongzhi, if he died, would he make his own son or his own nephew? This Wu Zetian had already given her a very good answer!
It depends on the faces of foreigners
Since the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded the city of Beijing, the Qing government began to look at the faces of foreigners to live a life, especially Cixi's sentence "with the material strength of China, the joy of the country" is the first to reveal the true color of the slave, if Cixi is called emperor, it will definitely cause turmoil in the situation, this is what the great powers do not want to see, they hope that the situation in China is stable, to facilitate the export of their interests, at that time Cixi wanted to abolish Guangxu, set up Pu Yan as the heir of Tongzhi to inherit the throne, but was opposed by foreign powers, and even did not hesitate to intervene by force, and finally Cixi's good was abandoned!
Finally, there is another reason, when Wu Zetian succeeded to the throne, the Tang Dynasty had just experienced the rule of Zhenguan and the economy was prosperous, and the Qing government during the Cixi period had reached the point where the wind and candles were in ruins, and anyone came to bully them, if they were not too stupid, no one would want to come to carry this pot!