Born in the family of the prince, the family relationship seems to be fragile in the first place, but it should be clarified that Cixi did not ignore the fact that her brother was poor and poor.
Before answering this question, let's first get to know Cixi's three younger brothers: the eldest brother, Yehenara Zhaoxiang (Buddha), the second brother, (Buddha You), yes, the younger brother, whose title is the Third Rank Cheng'en Duke, the Deputy Governor of Manchuria with the Yellow Banner; and the third brother, Yehenara Fuxiang (Buddha Bao).
According to the Great Qing Dynasty, the empress's father was enthroned as the Duke of En, and his children would also enjoy the blessings along with them. However, at that time, Cixi was still only an imperial concubine, and she also had an Empress Ci'an above her, so no matter how much Cixi wanted to get ahead, she had to face the wife and concubine system of the feudal era.
However, fortunately, his son Zaichun was still more contentious, and successfully sat on the throne and became the later Tongzhi Emperor. When one person attained enlightenment, the chicken dog ascended to heaven, and Empress Dowager Cixi naturally became the empress dowager, and her father Hui Zheng also became the Duke of Cheng'en as he wished. Unfortunately, Hui Zheng died early and did not fully enjoy such treatment. The son inherits the father's business, and this cheng'en gong is naturally inherited by Cixi's eldest brother.
But the good times did not last long, and after two years, Zhaoxiang also died. The title of Duke of Cheng'en fell to the second brother Gui Xiang. Gui Xiang relied on the power of his sister Empress Dowager Cixi and behaved ostentatiously, so many people wanted to curry favor with him. Gui Xiang either drank or played everywhere every day, and did not work with his salary. It is no wonder that Cixi did not lend a helping hand, and the only reason to blame her brother was that he was a real fool and a loser.
Imagine that if her brother had a little ability, Cixi would not privately teach her brothers to enter the official arena and stir up the dung.
But what about the real situation? It wasn't that Cixi didn't want to promote them, but she really couldn't afford to mention these three pieces of stinky tofu. The relatives who received help did not know how to cherish their hard-won wealth and power, because most of them were themselves representatives of laziness, greed, and incompetence. From the initial low birth, leaping to become the master of that era, such a psychological gap will inevitably make people have a sick thought, the original high-ranking magistrates, suddenly became the same level, or even the subordinate, this heart is called a beauty, suddenly oblivious, began to run rampant in the township, forcibly plundered; began to annex land, bully men and women, completely disregard the court above the sister who is accompanying the king like a companion tiger, conscientious, diligent and earnest.
In fact, if we look through all the dynasties, we will find that all those who have a stable ruling position must have many wings and followers in the imperial court. Empress Dowager Cixi cultivated many of her own people in the palace, whether it was the younger uncle Prince Gong Yixuan, or the later four famous courtiers of the late Qing Dynasty, all of whom were more or less taken care of by Cixi in the early days. In addition, in order to prevent foreign relatives from interfering in politics, she also recruited her own brothers into the palace and was knighted; Guixiang's daughter was also forcibly given to emperor Guangxu by her, although Guangxu did not like this woman who looked ordinary and was still her cousin, but under the threat of Empress Dowager Cixi, she still had to make this woman empress.
In this way, Gui Xiang, who did nothing, became the emperor's father-in-law.
In the same year of Guangxu's wedding, Cixi let GuiXiang inherit the title of Third Rank Engong, and subsequently, Cixi began to cultivate him intentionally, first making him the Right Attendant of the Ministry of Works, and also in charge of the affairs of the QianfaTang, that is, supervising and inspecting the work of the Money Minting Bureau in making copper coins. Although the official position is not large, on the one hand, his sister is Cixi, and his daughter is the empress of Guangxu, so there are as many people who befriend him as carp across the river. Later, Cixi also appointed him and the Fuguo Gong Zaizhuo to be in charge of the affairs of the Jianrui camp. When the Sino-Japanese War broke out, at the recommendation of Prince Gong, Cixi agreed to let Guixiang unite the army against the Japanese as a staff general.
Cixi thought it through and sent him two lieutenants with rich combat experience. According to Cixi's original intention, she wanted Guixiang to follow him to the front line to play a soy sauce, and if he won the battle, it must be his first achievement. When the time comes, there will be a reason for the king to be knighted.
Unexpectedly, before Gui Xiang left Shanhaiguan, he was so frightened that he cried and refused to leave. Because Guixiang was in the process of participating in the war. Only know the pleasure, mess up ideas, and finally the battle fails. When Cixi heard this, she suddenly felt that her face was dull, so she had to ask Prince Gong to transfer him back.
At this point, Empress Dowager Cixi had no way to increase his influence, and when Gui Xiang returned, she could not avoid being scolded by Cixi.
Gui Xiang also saw that he had no patience at all, so he slowly withdrew from the imperial court, and since then, Cixi has hated iron and steel, and has never managed Gui Xiang again. Gui Xiang, who has broken off his career, eats, drinks and has fun as usual, and he spends his days soaking with a bunch of Manchurian children, smoking opium, gambling money... Anything else. The family is not rich, the messenger in hand is idle, there is no chance to earn money, and in the blink of an eye, they sit and eat the mountain.
In desperation, Gui Xiang went to the palace to find Cixi or Longyu (that is, his daughter Jingfen). Saying that he came to visit them was actually coming to cry and be poor, waiting for them to give them something so that they could sell it for money. Long Yu had been cautious in the palace, lest Cixi not look for her. Seeing his old father Gui Xiang's indisputable look, his heart was even more unhappy; Cixi was also tired of Gui Xiang's delicious and lazy appearance, so it was difficult for these two people to give Gui Xiang a good look. But Gui Xiang did not feel ashamed, no matter what, one was his own sister, the other was his daughter, no matter what, they could not watch him die poorly, so as long as they were soft and hard, they could always catch something in the palace to change money, and then go to live in a muddy way.
However, for this kind of person, Heaven will not give him much to live. After 1908, with the successive deaths of Cixi and Longyu, Guixiang's dependence was gone, so he followed in the year after Longyu's death (1914).
Looking at the whole thing, it is actually not difficult for us to find that Empress Dowager Cixi, as a sister, is not so unkind, Cixi did her best, and did everything she could, but she still couldn't pull this stupid disciple back on track. In the final analysis, it is still the younger brother who is too angry, and the mud cannot support the wall. Even In the end, Cixi was completely dead hearted and ignored it. The family has a difficult scripture to practice, and who can understand Cixi's helplessness at this time!