The Xianfeng Emperor was the last emperor in Chinese history to have real power. For the continuation of imperial power, the emperors of each dynasty hoped that they could have as many descendants as possible, but the Xianfeng Emperor had very few children. However, the Xianfeng Emperor had many concubines, and there were 18 concubines he often brought with him.
So it seems that the reason why he has fewer children is mainly because of himself. His habits were particularly poor, he drank and smoked opium. In the long run, these bad habits will corrupt his body and make it difficult for him to reproduce.
The Xianfeng Emperor was not the last emperor in Chinese history, but he was the last emperor in Chinese history to take actual power into his own hands. The Xianfeng Emperor, like every emperor in Chinese history, had many concubines. According to records, he often favored 18 concubines.
But the truth is that the Xianfeng Emperor left only two sons in his lifetime. In the traditional concept of Chinese, more children and grandchildren mean more blessings, and fewer children means less blessings. There are also many reasons behind the Xianfeng Emperor's lack of children, first of all, the first point is that the Xianfeng Emperor himself is not in good health, and he has been weak and sick all his life.
According to ye shi, the Xianfeng Emperor was a premature baby. At that time, his mother and another concubine were both pregnant with the child at the same time, so it should have been about the same time to give birth. In some concepts of Chinese feudal society, there is a difference between the elder and the young, so the first born child has a great advantage in inheriting the throne.
Emperor Xianfeng's mother, in order to give birth to a child earlier, forced the tai doctor at that time to give him some medicine to stimulate premature birth. In this way, the Xianfeng Emperor was born some time earlier than another prince.
However, because his mother had obtained such consequences by taking medicine at that time, the Xianfeng Emperor was weaker than the other children from the time of birth. Later, in the process of growing up, he also suffered a more serious injury.
Because he was a prince, he had a teacher to teach him both in terms of culture and riding archery, and there was a schoolwork that needed to be checked. When he was 20 years old, he fell off his horse while hunting in the hunting ground. Although he was treated in time, he became a cripple after treatment.
This whole thing also makes people sigh at the ancient concubines' means of competing for favors, and also makes people sigh. Because in fact, to some extent, the Xianfeng Emperor can also be regarded as a victim of the imperial power struggle. And it is precisely because of this that the Xianfeng Emperor has been ill since he was a child, and it is good that he can leave heirs, it is really difficult to have many children.
The Xianfeng Emperor himself was not in good health, and later he became addicted to opium smoking. In China's feudal society, there was no such drug as opium in China. China was after the Qing court and the British began to trade, the British in order to make huge profits from China, so the opium drug brought to the Chinese market.
Since then, there has been such a bad trend of opium smoking in Chinese society. The Xianfeng Emperor, as the leader of a country, instead of leading by example in rejecting opium and driving the drug out of the Qing Dynasty, indulged in it himself. The Xianfeng Emperor smoked opium, which on the one hand brought great harm to society.
Because his behavior will attract many people to follow suit. On the other hand, opium smoking also brings great harm to his own body, so it is more difficult for him to reproduce, and the last point is that he has delayed national events because of opium.
At that time, the European powers had already reached Beijing, but the Xianfeng Emperor would only flee with his concubines and flee to Rehe. And even in such a situation, he still did not want to forge ahead, and it was not good to sum up with the ministers how to drive the foreign invaders out of the Qing Dynasty.
Instead, he became more addicted to opium smoking, hoping to use this way to numb himself and avoid problems. Moreover, the Xianfeng Emperor not only smoked opium but also liked to drink, and every time he drank, he had to get drunk before he was willing to give up, and after getting drunk, he would play drunk crazy. When he was drunk, he usually became very angry, and it was easy to beat a concubine or a slave, and even kill people.
He also realizes his problems after he wakes up, but refuses to quit drinking. As the emperor of a country, he did not exert great efforts to govern, but instead wantonly drank and lived in fine wine and food all day long. Whether it is opium or alcoholism, it will have a very bad impact on his body and spirit.
Although he was the emperor of a country, his physical health was more important than anything else. There were many Tai Doctors who conditioned his body, and some of the best ingredients and herbs in the whole country were also paid tribute to him. But under such a vicious habit, even if there were more medicinal herbs and even the most powerful Tai Doctor, it would be of no use at all.
Another reason is that the Xianfeng Emperor himself was also greedy for beauty. In fact, it is common for people to like beautiful things, but the Xianfeng Emperor is a bit excessive. He not only likes beautiful people but also beautiful music. He has always enjoyed listening to opera, in the morning and in the afternoon. When it is cold, the drama team should sing to him, and when it is hot, the drama team should also sing to him.
At any time, he must be accompanied by beautiful people. Even if the Qing Dynasty was later defeated in the face of the iron hooves of the Western powers, the Xianfeng Emperor did not ask. He still drank and played with his beautiful concubines day and night, calling out to the opera team day and night to perform and sing to him.
Indulging in this wine-colored and wealthy life atmosphere for a long time, the life of day and night upside down and irregular work and rest accelerated the deficit of his body. Therefore, even if he had more concubines, it would be difficult for him to give birth to many children. The Xianfeng Emperor lived for 31 years before he died, and even in ancient times, when the medical level was not good, he was a short-lived emperor.
The reason why the Xianfeng Emperor was short-lived was largely his own doing. In general, the Xianfeng Emperor was in poor health, so it was difficult to have many children. Congenitally speaking, he himself was born prematurely and was physically weak. From the day after tomorrow, he smoked opium, drank heavily and was obsessed with beauty, and it was difficult to recuperate his body.
People and the environment will influence each other, such as the Xianfeng Emperor at the end of the Qing Dynasty. The Xianfeng Emperor was either opium or alcohol at that time, regardless of state affairs, so this also led to the National Strength of the Qing Dynasty being worse than a day. Under the attack of the iron hooves of the West, it was defeated step by step.
In turn, the decline in the national strength of the Qing Dynasty brought great pressure to the Xianfeng Emperor, who chose to escape under pressure and went to smoke opium and drink alcohol. Therefore, under such a back-and-forth interaction, the Qing Dynasty will slowly go to its demise, and the Xianfeng Emperor will die early.