In 1908, the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi died one after another. The death of the nominal supreme ruler and the actual ruler of power is nothing less than worse for the Qing court, which is in the midst of storms. However, in order to restore the dignity of the so-called Qing Dynasty, it is still necessary to bury the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi.
The guangxu emperor's coffin migrated
Because the Guangxu Emperor died so suddenly, even his mausoleum had not yet begun construction (the Chongling Tomb only began construction in 1909). Therefore, the coffin of the Guangxu Emperor was temporarily suspended in the Guande Hall of the Forbidden City. It was not until March 1909 that it was moved from the Guande Hall to the Lianggezhuang Palace in the Qing Dynasty, and the real burial was already in 1913. Although it was only the relocation of the coffin, the Qing court still carried out a "beautiful burial" for the emperor who had been under house arrest for many years. More than 1,400 vehicles were used; there were 60 shifts of barmen carrying coffins, with 128 people per shift; coffins were carried to Fucheng Gate, but only 5 kilometers, and more than 1,000 catties of paper money were sprinkled; and three reed halls were set up along the way. After this whole set of operations, the Qing court spent a total of more than 438,400 taels of silver.
If it is said that the Guangxu Emperor was not buried in time because his mausoleum had not been repaired, then why was Empress Dowager Cixi buried a year after her death? It should be known that the mausoleum of Empress Dowager Cixi began to be built as early as the twelfth year of Tongzhi (1873), and was completed in the fifth year of Guangxu (1880), and was renovated in the twenty-first year of Guangxu (1895). Was it really because she poisoned the Guangxu Emperor and did not dare to face him underground, so she did not dare to bury him immediately? Perhaps, this may be one of the reasons, after all, the ancients were superstitious. But the main reason should be to prepare a larger funeral for Empress Dowager Cixi.
In order to enable herself to continue to live a luxurious life in the so-called "hades", Cixi wanted to collect all kinds of funerary goods. According to the "Notes on Ai Yuexuan" written by the nephew of the grand eunuch Li Lianying, before Cixi's body entered the coffin, three layers of gold wire beaded brocade and a layer of pearls were laid at the bottom of the coffin, a total thickness of one foot. The head is a lotus leaf on the head, and a pink tourmaline lotus flower is placed at the foot. He wears a crown of pearls and phoenixes, the largest of which is as big as a chicken egg. There are 27 statues of gold, precious stones, jade and jade carved Buddhas next to him. On both sides of the feet are emerald watermelons, melons, cabbages, and more than 200 peaches, plums, apricots, and dates made of gemstones. Put a jade lotus on the left and a jade carved coral tree on the right. In addition, there are 8 jade horses and 18 jade arhats, a total of more than 700 pieces. After the burial, four liters of pearls and 2200 gemstones were poured into the coffin.
It is said that the total value of the various funerary items in the Coffin of Cixi alone reached 50 million taels of silver. It should be known that at that time, the annual income of the Qing court was only 70 million to 80 million taels, and there were also heavy external indemnities (the "Treaty of Maguan" reparations of 230 million taels of silver, the principal and interest of the "Xinugu Treaty" totaled 980 million taels of silver). Therefore, cixi's desire to raise such a large number of rare treasures after her death is definitely not something that can be completed in a short period of time. What's more, in addition to the various treasures in these coffins, the various materials used in funerals and funerals, for example, there are hundreds of various "yin soldiers" and "slaves" used in the funeral, which all take a certain amount of time to prepare.
After completing various preparations, the coffin of Empress Dowager Cixi was buried on November 9, 1909. Although Cixi was only an empress dowager, she adopted the highest royal etiquette system for her funeral. Like the Guangxu Emperor, the coffin was carried in shifts by 128 bartenders. At the same time, there were 64 heralds at the front, holding high the flags and umbrellas of the people; followed by the Empress's halogen honor guard, with as many as 1628 people, holding various weapons, banners, and all kinds of paper or satin "burning" (that is, the "Yin soldiers" mentioned above); in addition, thousands of vehicles and livestock were also used. This mighty funeral procession walked for 5 days before Cixi's coffin was sent to the Qing Tombs 150 kilometers away for burial.
Although Cixi was buried, the various passages that arranged her kept appearing. For example, when it comes to his funeral, there are coffins dripping blood, and the smell of the funeral is stinking. The so-called coffin dripping blood is said to be shortly after Cixi was buried, and Li Lianying found that her coffin was suddenly dripping blood. Li Lianying had to open the coffin when no one was there, and found that there were rats poisoned for stealing spices. The blood that dripped from the coffin came from this seven-trick bleeding mouse. In fact, the coffin of Cixi was made of the best materials, and the place where the coffin was parked was strictly guarded, so how could this rat burrow into Cixi's coffin? Perhaps this is just a way for people to mock Cixi.
For the day of the funeral of cixi coffin, the funeral procession stinks, perhaps even more falsely rumored. Imagine that Empress Dowager Cixi's funeral process lasted for 5 days, so what day was it? Is it the day of departure from the capital, or when the coffin arrives at Tanglin? Moreover, the Cixi coffin needs to hire thousands of vehicles to transport to Tanglin, and all kinds of livestock can not have any sense of public morality, and may expel all kinds of filthy things from the body at any time. But the 150-kilometer-long journey may have overestimated the excretion capacity of these livestock.
However, what Empress Dowager Cixi may not have expected was that her extravagant funeral would actually allow her to die without a place to bury herself. Years later, Sun Dianying stole the treasure of the mausoleum and discarded her body, perhaps the most ruthless mockery of her.