At the beginning of the second year of Xianfeng, the large-scale Eight Flags Draft was staged in the Forbidden City as scheduled, and a woman from the Fengchao Family stood out, her surname was Niu Hulu, and what people did not expect was that only one month after entering the palace, this woman was promoted to a noble concubine, and then was made empress by Xianfeng.
She ruled the harem of the Qing Dynasty for thirty years, becoming the last glory of the Fengchao Family.
1. The famous woman of the Fengchao Family
Empress Xiaozhenxian of the Niuhulu clan, a Manchurian yellow bannerman, was born on July 12, 17th year of Daoguang, and was the daughter of Mu Yang'a, the Third Rank Cheng'en Duke of Cheng'en.
The family where Xiao Zhen is located is the yellow flag with the "Fengchao Family", the eighth ancestor is the founding father of the Qing Dynasty, Hongyi Gongyuan, we have said earlier, this family is absolutely top existence in the harem, and there are five empresses, namely Xiaozhao, Xiaosheng, Xiaohe, Xiaomu and Xiaozhen. Although Empress Daoguang Xiaoquan was not from the same lineage as Eun Yidu, she was also related to this family.
We have also said before that the reason why there are so many queens in the Er yidu line is because there are too many branches, and The er Yidu has a total of 16 sons, which are divided into sixteen houses and form a huge group of descendants.
For example, Xiao Zhao and Xiao Mu came from the Sixteenth House of Shu Bi long, which occupied a major position in the Hongyi Gongfu. Hyo-ho is from the sixth house, dalong mist. Filial piety originally belonged to the cousins of the Hongyi Gongfu, and in order to elevate the status of the mother's family, Qianlong ordered the Filial Piety Mother's Family and the Hongyi Gongfu to merge into one. The filial piety we are talking about in this article comes from the third caravan Erge, that is, the seventh ancestor of filial piety is the third son of Erdu, Cheerge.
Che'erge was a Hubu Shangshu in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, with two titles, namely Qidu Wei and Yun Riding Wei, and Che'erge had a younger sister who married Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty as his wife (元妃 Niu Hulu clan). However, this woman was abandoned by the Emperor Taiji for breaking into the Nurhaci Khan Palace in a sedan car, which is really an unlucky woman.
After Cherg, the sixth Zubaka and the fifth Zu Yongshou of Xiaozhen declined slightly, and Baka only did the protection of the army, and Yongshou was only a small pen paste, that is to say, the xiaozhen empress's team was insufficient in the Kangqian period, and there were no major officials. However, when Xiaozhen's grandfather zun this generation, it rose again, and although it was only a pen paste, he married Zhang Jiashi, the niece of the university scholar Yin Jishan, and the eldest son Zeputan became the chief soldier, and the third son Fu Sen did the Hubu Shangshu, which made the Xiaozhen branch return to the ranks of the first-class family.
Zeptan, who had become a general soldier, was empress xiaozhen's great-grandfather.
Zeptan had two daughters (Xiao Zhen's maternal grandmother), one married to the grandson of Prince Zhuang Yinlu (胤禄) the Prince of Zhuang ,auxiliary general Yongfan (永蕃), and the other to Jingmin the Prince of Sushen as his successor to Fujin.
Xiao Zhen's grandfather was named Fu Ke Jing'a, who served as the minister of affairs in Xining, and Fu Ke Jing'a had three children, of which the only son was named Mu Yang'a, who was the father of Empress Xiaozhen. The other two daughters (Xiao Zhen's aunt), one married the son of Shang Shu Dewen and the other married Duan Hua, the Prince of Zheng, and Concubine Fujin.
Xiaozhen's father, Mu Yang'a, was once in Youjiang Province, Guangxi, so this Xiaozhen was also born in Guangxi, and Xiaozhen had an older brother and two sisters, and his brother was named Guangke, who inherited the title of Third Rank Duke of Cheng'en by his father. Both sisters married into the Zhuang Dynasty, one married to Yiren the Prince of Zhuang as Concubine Fujin, and the other to the Feng'en general Mianlin.
It can be seen that from the ancestors of Empress Xiaozhen, she has constantly married with the imperial family, and Xiaozhen's aunts and aunts have married into the Iron Hat Palace, such as the Zhuang Wangfu, the Su Wangfu and the Zheng Wangfu. The aunt who married Duanhua the Prince of Zheng had a daughter (Xiaozhen's cousin) who married the Mongol Emperor Chongqi and gave birth to Empress Xiaozheyi of the Tongzhi Emperor, that is, Empress Xiaozheyi was the cousin niece of Empress Xiaozhen.
2. The fastest promoted Empress of the Qing Dynasty
In February of the second year of Xianfeng, after the mourning period of the Daoguang Emperor, Xianfeng ordered the Eight Banners Draft, and because Xianfeng's original concubine Fu Jin Sakda (Empress Xiaodexian) died before Xianfeng succeeded to the throne, there was only one Wujia clan (Yun Concubine) left in the Xianfeng harem, which was almost idle. Therefore, this draft is actually to select a Qing empress, but also to fill Xianfeng's harem, Xianfeng selected four show girls to enter the palace.
These four showgirls were the Niuhulu clan, the Ilgenjue Luoshi, the Yehenara clan and his Tala clan, except for the demoted Ilgenjue Luoshi, the other three all became the heroes of the Qing harem, the Niuhulu clan is what we call filial piety, and the Yehenara clan is the famous Empress Xiaoqinxian, that is, Empress Dowager Cixi, and he Ta lashi is the later Zhuangjing Emperor's concubine.
On April 27 of the second year of Xianfeng, the Niuhulu clan (孝贞) was ordered to enter the palace with the IlgenJue Luo clan and was given the title of concubine. "Zhen" is a word specifically used in Manchu to describe chastity, and the Chinese extension is "正", and Xianfeng's intention could not be more obvious, which is to make Niu Hulu his wife.
Sure enough, on May 25, less than a month after Niu Hulu entered the palace, Xianfeng ordered him to be promoted to the rank of Concubine Zhen and directly skipped the concubine level. Twelve days later (the eighth day of the first month of June), Xianfeng issued an edict to make Niu Hulu empress. From concubine to empress, the NiuHulu clan took only 40 days, which is the fastest promotion empress in the Qing Dynasty.
In fact, it is not difficult to see from this promotion situation that from the time of the initial selection of the draft, the Niu Hulu clan actually entered the palace as a preparatory empress, but why didn't Xianfeng directly establish the Niu Hulu clan as empress?
Because there is no money.
As soon as Xianfeng succeeded to the throne, he was busy preparing for the three funerals of his grandmother Empress Xiaoherui, his father Emperor Daoguang, and the original Empress Xiaode, at that time, the Taiping Army in the south rose up again, and if the empress was directly appointed, a big wedding would be held, which would cost money. Therefore, Xianfeng gave up directly becoming empress, but chose to promote the NiuHulu clan, thus saving the big wedding and saving a lot of money.
Some readers may wonder, since Xianfeng attaches so much importance to the Niu Hulu clan, presumably the Niu Hulu clan must be a very prominent beauty in all aspects, we can look at the edict after the book:
"Zhen Guifei Niu Hu Lu Clan, Quality Bing Rou Jia, Line Of Laws." Since the heavens, Nie Zhengwen dingxiang. There should be no boundaries in the land, and the Si Xie is the auspicious inheritance. Wei Kemao Xiufu Neizhi, Yun Yi was in the middle palace. ”
"Concubine Niu Hulu of the Zhi'er Guifei Clan, Teaching BingmingMen, Qingyi Xun Valve." Ye An Dun and Yu Fu, should be the place to go. Ben Shu cautiously with the flow of emblems, The Heavens are determined. In the Former Yu TingShendian, Zhao Chuanfei's type. Zhou Mu Yanli, the transformation of the River Continent. IKEA leads the way, when the right position is to be named. Hereby shall be crowned with the Golden Book of Gold and Lier as empress. ”
It can be seen that Niu Hulu is indeed a dignified and gentle, graceful and atmospheric woman, and is the best candidate for the empress. Moreover, there is no need to question in terms of appearance, it must be the appearance of the line, but why did she fail to give birth to a man and a half woman for Xianfeng?
According to the Qing Palace archives, the physical condition of the NiuHulu clan has not been very good, the liver and stomach drink hot, and even the phenomenon of amenorrhea, it can be said that it is a completely sick seedling, so that the folk have a "lame dragon disease phoenix sitting in the hall" saying, try to ask such a physical condition, how to have children?
3. The Eastern Empress dowager who bows to the government
On July 17, 1111, Xianfeng died of illness at the age of 31 at the summer resort, and before his death, he designated his only son Zaichun to succeed to the throne as the Tongzhi Emperor.
To tell the truth, the emperor Xianfeng did not do a good job, and the arrangements for the future affairs were still carefully considered. Before his death, he appointed eight ministers to assist the government, known as the eight ministers of the Zanxiang government, and at the same time, he gave the empress Dowager Niuhulu (孝贞) and the Tongzhi Emperor two seals, namely "Imperial Reward" and "Tongdaotang".
Xianfeng did not want the situation of the eight auxiliary ministers to arbitrarily use power, nor did he want the phenomenon of harem interference, and it was the best state for the auxiliary ministers and the harem to contain each other. In fact, this arrangement is not problematic, it can be said to be relatively perfect, but Xian Feng underestimated their desire for power.
Shortly after the empress dowager of the two palaces returned to the capital, she launched a coup d'état with Prince Gong Yixuan, which was a coup d'état for Qi Xiang. As a result, the eight ministers of the Zanxiang Government were eliminated, and two who were only in their twenties (Ci'an was 25 years old and Cixi were 27 years old) began to hang the curtain, and ci'an was called the Eastern Empress Dowager because ci'an lived in the Zhong Chu Palace (one of the six eastern palaces).
Regarding the relationship between Ci'an and the empress dowager Cixi during the curtain-hanging period, some people believe that it is a conspiracy and a contradiction, but in fact it is not the case. In fact, these two empresses have the common interests of representing the royal family, so it is impossible to have a relatively large contradiction, that is, they are actually people in the same boat.
In this regard, the "Qing Palace Testament" has such a description:
"At that time, the world said that the Eastern Palace (Ci'an) was superior to virtue, and the great reward was actually the lord. The Western Palace (Cixi) is superior to the talent, and judges the pros and cons of reading the recital and summoning the right time to visit, and the East Palace sees the minister like a speechless person. Whenever there is a recital, bishinomiya speaks for the sake of chanting, or even the moon is undecided. Ci'an was not interested in power, so the daily government affairs were mostly handled by Cixi. Although Cixi was two years old, she still had to call Ci'an a "sister" because of the distinction between concubines and concubines. In all major matters involving the government's political measures, Cixi knew that Ci'an had no objections, and still had to ask for instructions first, "Cixi was afraid of the distinction between concubines and concubines, and she did not dare to be disrespectful." ”
In fact, it is also very easy to understand that Ci'an is not very interested in government affairs, and mainly makes decisions on some major policies, while ordinary government affairs are mainly handled by Cixi. Although Cixi was the biological mother of the Tongzhi Emperor, she was also more respectful of Ci'an because of the distinction between concubines and concubines, and although she was older than Ci'an, she also had to call her sister.
However, the two empresses did have some conflicts, mainly reflected in two things: the first was the murder of Andehai. The second is the incident after the Tongzhi Emperor's election.
In July of the eighth year of Tongzhi, the eunuch An Dehai took a boat south along the canal in the name of the Tongzhi Emperor's dragon robe, but he touched the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty: eunuchs were not allowed to leave Beijing. According to this ancestral system, Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, took An Dehai, and since Cixi was ill at the time, ci'an, who was in charge, ordered that an dehai be brought to justice on the spot, and in this way, Cixi's henchmen were disposed of by Ci'an.
In the eleventh year of Tongzhi, the 17-year-old Tongzhi Emperor wanted to get married, and in the draft, Ci'an took a fancy to the daughter of Zhuangyuan Chongqi, Alute, and Cixi took a fancy to the young and beautiful Fengxiu's daughter Fucha. In the end, the Tongzhi Emperor took Ci'an's advice and chose the Arut clan, which was Empress Xiaozheyi.
In fact, the reason why Ci'an chose the Alut clan is that the Arut clan is dignified and atmospheric, and the Rongde is excellent, which is indeed the best choice for the empress. The second is that the Arut clan is ci'an's cousin niece, that is to say, the children of ci'an's cousin's family also have a certain selfish heart. However, ci'an's suggestion really hurt this cousin niece Alute clan.
4. Death is a doubt
At about 8:00 p.m. on the tenth day of march in the seventh year of Guangxu, Empress Dowager Ci'an suddenly died in zhong pu palace at the age of 45.
Regarding the death of this Eastern Empress, there are really many doubts, mainly because from the onset of illness to death, there is only less than one day, which is not an exaggeration at all. Therefore, some people believe that Cixi did something to kill Empress Dowager Ci'an.
According to the records of Emperor Dezong, on the ninth day of the first month of March, it was all right, but it was just "occasionally infected with micro-boils", and on the tenth day of the first month, he fell ill, and even "felt cold and stopped drinking", and he could not eat or drink water, which showed that the condition had deteriorated very seriously. By about eight o'clock in the evening, "the mind was gradually dissipated, and it was dying", and then collapsed.
However, judging from the series of reactions of Cixi at that time, it was relatively normal, and on the night of Empress Dowager Ci'an's death, Cixi immediately summoned her ministers and went to Empress Dowager Ci'an's residence, Zhong Pu Palace, to pay respects to her remains, which showed that there was nothing unseemly. Immediately afterwards, Cixi arranged the funeral of Empress Dowager Ci'an in accordance with the regulations and personally served the funeral. In this regard, the "Diary of Weng Tonggong" can be recorded in detail.
In fact, this is not the first time that Ci'an has had such a disease, as early as the second year of Tongzhi, there was a seizure: "Empress Dowager Ci'an has been disobeying since the fifteenth day of the first month, and has a liver-like seizure, and cannot speak, until it is the first Dayan." In the eighth year of Tongzhi, there was another time: "Yesterday Empress Dowager Ci'an was sick and sick, and she rebelled against half an hour." ”
These two episodes of the disease, both mentioned a word "厥" disease, there is a manifestation of this disease is generally cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, therefore, some experts infer that Empress Dowager Ci'an may have died of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Empress Dowager Ci'an's Testament:
"Give Bo De, emperor Wenzong Xian's appointment, and prepare for the throne." Emperor Muzong yi Yin Shao Piji, filial piety, consecration, will be respectful and sincere. The present emperor entered the throne, regarded the food and greeted the peace, and was sincere and filial piety. And since the Imperial Pole, the classics have been diligent and diligent, and the Ke Mao is respectful. Yu Xinmi was deeply relieved, although things were difficult at that time, Xinxiao was diligent in government, but fortunately his physique was called strong, or Ji Ke enjoyed his age and was well nourished. On the ninth day of the first month of this month, the emperor was even infected with a slight defect, and the emperor greeted him with medicine and prayed for a quick recovery. Unexpectedly, on the first ten days, the illness was severe, and when it was extended to the end of the day, the mind gradually dissipated, and it was until death. Forty years and five, the mother is respected, twenty years, repeated celebrations, stacking the Jin emblem said, husband fu he regrets. Emperor Di Nian was greatly saddened by the death of Zi Zi. But the lord of man is the one who is related to the world, and it is necessary to mourn and mourn, and to attach importance to state affairs, so as to comfort Cixi Duanyou Kang Yi Zhao Yu Zhuang Emperor Cheng's heart of education. Chinese and foreign writers and martial artists, scrupulously honor their duties, and jointly rule with Zhizhi, and give Lingshuangshi and Jiazhi. His mourning clothes were in accordance with the old code, and the emperor took the clothes for twenty-seven days. The great ancestors must not be neglected, and the group of worship cannot be left. Then give the direction to be frugal and simple, for the palace first, everything is related to the ceremony, and it is not allowed to be corrected and suppressed. As for the decoration of the final ceremony, there are those who can be slightly frugal, and the material resources are also the same as the su wishes of the second giving. Therefore, he hereby proclaims that each of them shall be obeyed. ”
On September 17, 1977 of Guangxu, Xiao Zhen was buried in the Puxiang Yuding Dongling Tomb in the westernmost part of the southern foothills of Changrui Mountain, and after being added to the throne, the final title was: Xiao Zhen Ci An Yu Qing and Jing Cheng Jing Yi Tianzuo Shengxian Empress.
Zichen said:
Although Empress Xiaozhenxian was only a successor to Xianfeng and did not give birth to children for Xianfeng, her popularity was very high, and we have always called her Ci'an or Empress Dowager Dong.
From Xianfeng's second year into the palace and became empress, to Guangxu's death in the seventh year of illness in Zhong Pu, Empress Xiaozhenxian ruled the harem of the Qing Dynasty for thirty years, even if there was a power-hungry Empress Dowager Cixi, she did not dare to move her half a point, but hindered by the distinction of concubines and respect for her. Therefore, Empress Xiaozhenxian is actually not as cowardly as we think, and in the early stage of listening to the government, she is the highest existence, which is beyond doubt. However, her death officially announced the arrival of the era of Cixi's dictatorship, and the Qing Empire inevitably embarked on the road of no return.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Qing Shilu, Diary of Weng Tonggong, Remains of the Qing Palace