In the history of the Qing Dynasty, it was not uncommon for two nephews to serve a husband and wife together, but it was rare for two aunts and nephews to participate in the draft and be selected together, and it appeared once during the Tongzhi period. What is unexpected is that this time, the niece was selected as the empress of the Middle Palace, but the aunt only became a concubine, and this aunt is the noble concubine of the Gongsu Emperor who has gone through four dynasties as we are talking about today.
1. Daughter of a university scholar
Emperor Gongsu's noble concubine Arut, a Mongolian Zhenglan bannerman, was born on the third day of the first month of August in the seventh year of Xianfeng, the daughter of the university scholar Sai Shang'a, and the aunt of Empress Xiaozheyi of the Tongzhi Emperor.
In fact, the ancestors of The Gongsu Emperor's noble concubines did not have any glorious history, and his grandfather Jing Hui was all white in the previous five generations, until Jing Hui's generation, he only relied on his personal efforts to pass the translation and lifting people, and achieved the four pin Daoists, so that the family began to enter the ranks of the official eunuch family.
After Jing Hui, his two sons were admitted to the translation of the people, and in one fell swoop established the status of the Arut family. The two sons of Jing Hui's translators in the examination were also translators of Xie Yuan, and one of the brothers, named Sai Shang'a, was the translator Xie Yuan of Jiaqing for twenty-one years, and this was the father of The Noble Concubine of Emperor Gongsu.
After being promoted to the rank of Minister, Sai Shang Akao was appointed to the cabinet and served as a cabinet attendant, a first-class bodyguard, a minister of Hami affairs, a metropolitan government, and a tobe shoshu.
During the First Opium War, Seschan was highly valued and appointed as a co-founder of the university, and many of his suggestions for the defense of the border were appreciated by the imperial court.
After the Xianfeng Emperor succeeded to the throne, Sai Shang'a was promoted to a scholar of the Wenhua Temple, became the chief military minister, and became a member of the imperial court above ten thousand people under one person, Sai Shang'a was entrusted by Xian Feng with a heavy responsibility to suppress the Taiping Army, but he did not expect to be defeated, Xian Feng Long Yan was furious, and ordered Sai Shang Ah to be dismissed from his post and sent to serve in the military platform, and Sai Shang Ah's three sons were also implicated and dismissed.
However, after several years of atonement, Sai Shang'a was pardoned, and Yu Xianfeng was awarded the vice-capital of the Mongolian Zhenghong Banner in the eleventh year, and lived until the first year of Guangxu, ending at the age of 82.
Moreover, what Sai Shang'a did not expect was that his third son, Chongqi, actually passed the examination in the third year of Tongzhi, breaking the tradition of the Manchu Han Tongke's "full of no point yuan" and promoting the Arut clan's door again.
In addition, Sai Shang'a's daughter (Gongsu Emperor's concubine) and granddaughter (Empress Xiao Zheyi) were selected in the Eight Flags Draft in the eleventh year of Tongzhi and entered the imperial palace, and the granddaughter also became the empress of the mother's world, which gave Sai Shang'a a a little more comfort in his later years.
2. The aunt and nephew participate in the draft together
At the beginning of the eleventh year of Tongzhi, the Qing court held a large-scale talent show, mainly to select concubines for the Tongzhi Emperor, and after some competition, the daughter of Chongqi, an attendant of the Hanlin Academy, was designated as the empress candidate. At the same time, Chongqi's half-sister Arut, the daughter of Sai Shang'a, was also elected to the harem and was given the title of Concubine Xun, who is what we call the Gongsu Imperial Concubine.
"Only praise Kun Yuan and YiHua." Duty Palace. Sundanese decreed to Be Glory. Encheng Lun. Style Yi Dian . With the Dragon Badge. Charlut clan. Bing's softness. Be humble. Grace of The Harmony. Worthy of the proverb. Gui Bi's Fang Yi. Abide by the internal rules. Hereby hereby honor The Will of Empress Dowager Cixi Duanyou of The Crown Princess Dowager Cixi. He was enthroned as a concubine. Erqi is only spoiled. Column pepper to Xiangqin. Yimao emblem tone. Qi Zhi Han and Yu Fu. Thanks. ”
The harem of the Tongzhi Emperor is relatively clear, and the confrontation between the Empress Alute clan and the Hui concubine Fucha clan is actually a secret contest between the two palace empresses Ci'an and Cixi, while the remaining concubines, Concubine Yu and Yu Gui are sandwiched in the middle, belonging to the marginalized forces that are ignored.
Moreover, after the marriage of the Tongzhi Emperor, Cixi even intervened in the conjugal life of her son for a time, which made the three concubines such as Xun Concubine also affected to a certain extent, and the newlywed Yan'er could not enjoy the emperor's warmth, and these three concubines were really a bit pitiful.
Only two years later, the news came that the Tongzhi Emperor was infected with pox, and in order to rush the joy, the empress dowager of the two palaces unified the concubines, and the concubines were promoted to concubines. But this did not seem to have any effect on the recovery of Tongzhi Emperor's illness, and twenty days later, the 19-year-old Tongzhi Emperor still died in the Yangxin Hall, becoming the shortest-lived emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
At that time, Princess Alut was only a 19-year-old girl, but she was about to start living a toffee life, which was a little too cruel for a woman? But this was her destiny, and she had nothing to do about it, and she couldn't change it.
Less than three months after Emperor Tongzhi's death, Consort Xun's niece Empress Xiaozheyi died at the Chuxiu Palace at the age of 22, and the poor Empress of the Qing Dynasty eventually followed her husband, Emperor Tongzhi.
3. Imperial concubines who have gone through four dynasties
After the Guangxu Emperor succeeded to the throne, concubine Xun as a concubine of the Tongzhi Emperor was completely ignored, and Empress Dowager Cixi preferred to be close to the Guangxu Emperor's concubines rather than take care of the widows of her own son, of course, except for one, she was the Fucha clan who was honored as a concubine of the Dunyi Emperor.
In the first month of the twentieth year of Guangxu, Cixi was about to usher in the sixtieth birthday, and on this occasion, Concubine Xun followed the light and was given the title of Concubine Xun. After the deaths of Guangxu and Cixi, the young Xuantong Emperor succeeded to the throne, and since Xuantong was both Muzong and Dezong, the harem evolved into a struggle between Muzong's widow, led by Emperor Xianzhe's concubine, and Emperor Dezong's concubine, led by Empress Xiaodingjing.
After Emperor Xuantong succeeded to the throne, he honored Concubine Xun as The Noble Concubine of Emperor Kaoxun and ordered her to move to the Chuxiu Palace, where Empress Xiaozheyi lived before her death.
Among Muzong's three widows, the most powerful one was the Concubine of Emperor Xianzhe, this old lady did have a set, when the Eight-Nation Alliance army entered the Forbidden City, this princess was not afraid of danger, while organizing eunuchs and guards to guard the inner court, while trying to negotiate with foreigners, it did not lose the face of the royal family.
Relatively speaking, the Xun Emperor's noble concubine Arut clan is more Buddhist, of course, this is related to her poor body, her health is not good, naturally can not withstand the toss, and the other princess (Ronghui Emperor Concubine) is more Buddhist, directly studying the Dharma. These two were to some extent attached to the imperial concubines of The Emperor Xianzhe.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, according to the preferential treatment regulations, the imperial family headed by Puyi was still allowed to reside in the inner court, and the noble concubine of the Xun Emperor Arut was honored as the Zhuanghe Imperial Concubine.
Eventually, Arut died of illness in the Forbidden City in 1921 at the age of 64, 45 years after the death of the Tongzhi Emperor.
Zichen said:
Compared with her niece Empress Xiaozheyi, the presence of The Gongsu Emperor's concubines in the harem is extremely low, of course, the personalities displayed by the two nephews are completely different, Empress Xiaozheyi is strong and upright, and the Gongsu Imperial Concubines are gentle and obedient, and different personalities have created different life experiences. But whether it is the fleeting nature of Empress Xiaozheyi or the long-term flow of the Imperial Concubine Gongsu, it is a pitiful existence.
Even if The life expectancy of The Gongsu Emperor's concubine is more than forty years longer than that of her niece, she has only spent decades in the harem, lacking the warmth of her husband, and not having her own children.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of the Qing Dynasty