Before writing the two "Empress Xiaozhuang" of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, today we will explain the two "Empress Xiaozhen" of the Qing Dynasty, I don't know who you will think of when mentioning the "Empress Xiaozhen", I guess it must be the Qing Dynasty, because she is more famous. So who are they?
In fact, this one of the Qing Dynasty, we generally do not call her "Empress Xiaozhen", but are accustomed to being called "Empress Dowager Ci'an". However, "Ci'an" was only her emblem when she was empress, and her nickname should be "Empress Xiaozhenxian".
As for the Ming Dynasty, she was the second empress of Emperor Mingxianzong Zhu Jianshen. Speaking of Zhu Jianshen, we must think of Wan Guifei, who is 17 years older than him and is deeply loved, so it is not difficult to understand why he is said to be his empress in name only. The empress's surname was Wang, and her courtesy name was "Empress Xiaozhenchun".
The "Xian" and "Pure" in the two empresses' titles are the emperors of their husbands. So next, let's take a look at the lives of the two queens.
Empress Xiaozhen chun
Empress Xiaozhenchun of the Wang clan, whose father was named Wang Zhen (王镇), was given the command of Kingo Zuowei in the early chenghua period, and later his daughter became empress, and he was promoted to the position of Governor of the Chinese Army, Tongzhi, and later the Marquis of Rui'an. Wang was the second empress dowager of Emperor Mingxianzong Zhu Jianshen, so what happened before that?
In fact, Emperor Mingying's Zhu Qizhen had long begun to plan the selection of concubines for crown prince Zhu Mishen, and after thousands of selections, three candidates for the princesses of the Wu clan, the Wang clan, and the Bai clan were determined. But unexpectedly, Zhu Qizhen was still hesitating, and then he fell seriously ill and then died.
Before dying, he told Empress Qian and Zhu Jianshen's biological mother, Zhou Guifei, that he was more interested in the Wu clan, and asked them to observe it again, and if they also felt that the Wu clan was the best, then choose her. After Zhu Jianshen ascended the throne, he honored his concubine Empress Qian and his birth mother Consort Zhou Guifei as empresses, and after observation, the two elders finally decided to choose Wu as empress, and Wang and Bai as concubines.
However, as we all know, Zhu Mishen liked his childhood nanny Wan Shi, but according to Wan's identity and age, it was impossible to become an empress, and Zhu Mishen could only be forced to accept Wu. In order to appease the Wan clan, Zhu Jianshen made her a noble concubine.
Wan's favor crown harem, which made Empress Wu very uncomfortable, sometimes when she saw Wan, she punished the other party as empress. Once, she scolded Wan Guifei, and afterwards was known by Zhu Jianshen, who was distressed by Wan Guifei, and not only scolded Empress Wu with the same staff, but also ordered her to be deposed. At this time, it was only a month since Wu became empress.
Wu clan was deposed, Zhu Jianshen was going to make another empress, he naturally still wanted to choose Wan Shi in his heart, but he knew that it was impossible to achieve it. Therefore, he had to choose between the Wang and Bai clans, who had previously lost to the Wu clan, and eventually the Wang clan was selected to become the second empress of Zhu Jianshen.
The reason why Zhu Jianshen chose Wang Shi is because of her personality, to put it bluntly, she is more obedient and will not add to the chaos. It was also true that wang shi learned the lesson of Wu's abolition, and then let Wan Guifei run wild in the harem, and she didn't even see it. This made Zhu Jianshen very satisfied, so the throne of the Wang clan was very stable.
In the twenty-third year of Chenghua, Wan Guifei and Zhu Jianshen died one after another, and the crown prince Zhu Youfan succeeded to the throne, that is, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming. Empress Wang was completely unloved by Zhu Mi, so she did not have children, and Zhu Youfan was a concubine. However, as a concubine, she was naturally honored as the empress dowager.
After Zhu Youfan's death, the crown prince Zhu Houzhao succeeded to the throne, that is, Emperor Wuzong of Ming, and Wang shi was honored as the empress dowager. Thirteen years after Zhengde, Wang died. At that time, some ministers believed that the Wang clan was not The original match of Zhu Mishen, so the title should not be the emperor. However, some people believe that the original Wu clan has been abolished, so the Wang clan should be the emperor.
In the end, Zhu Houzhao adopted the latter suggestion, and honored his grandmother "Empress Xiaozhen Zhuang Yi Gong Jing Benevolent Qin Tianfu Shengchun", and buried maoling and taimiao temple with Zhu Jianshen.
Empress Xiaozhenxian
Empress Xiaozhenxian, also known as empress dowager Nuhulu of Ci'an, whose eighth ancestor was One of the five founding ministers of the early Qing Dynasty, was Also Du, and the Niu Hulu clan was from the third son of Er Yidu, Cherg, which was not the most prominent, but it was also a first-class family. The Qing Dynasty was not like the Ming Dynasty, and the selection of empresses did not value origin, so the birth of the Niu Hulu clan brought her a natural advantage.
The original wife of the Xianfeng Emperor Yixuan died before he ascended the throne, so after Xianfeng ascended the throne, he had to appoint another empress to take charge of the harem. In the second year of Xianfeng, the Niu Hulu clan entered the palace through a draft and was enthroned as a concubine. In fact, the Nyūrō clan entered the palace as an alternate empress, and before that, the identity was just a transition.
Therefore, after being made a concubine for about a month, Xianfeng ordered her to be promoted to a virtuous concubine. After another ten days, the NiuHulu clan was officially registered as the queen. In this way, the NiuHulu clan became the fastest successor to the Qing Dynasty' promotion speed, of course, originally she was chosen to enter the palace to become an empress, and such a rapid promotion speed was only a formality.
All along, as long as Empress Dowager Ci'an is mentioned, it is inevitable to mention Empress Dowager Cixi. Many people think that Xianfeng loves Cixi and does not love Ci'an, so Ci'an has been suppressed by Cixi, and finally even killed by Cixi. However, in fact, Xianfeng's favorite was not Ci'an, nor Cixi, but The Noble Concubine of The Zhuangjing Emperor, Tatara.
He was very fond of XianFeng, who bore him his only daughter, whom he later pampered. On the contrary, when Cixi first entered the palace, she was only a Lan Gui, and it took two years before she was named Yi Concubine, and gave birth to her eldest son, Zai Chun Cai's mother, Who was named Yi Concubine, and then Yi Guifei. In general, it is still mostly dependent on the factors of her son's ascension to the throne, so she cannot be like the rumors, because she is favored and dares to suppress the image of Ci'an.
Before Xianfeng died, he gave two seals symbolizing power to Empress Dowager Niu and Her son Zaichun. In fact, it can be seen from here that Cixi's identity cannot be compared with Ci'an. It was only because of Zaichun's young age that she was able to temporarily help her son keep the seal.
After Zaichun ascended the throne, the honored concubine Niu Hulu clan was the mother empress dowager, with the emblem "Ci'an", and the birth mother Yehenara clan was the Empress Dowager, with the emblem "Cixi", which formed a situation in which the two palace empresses bowed to the government. The truth is not like everyone imagines, everything is decided by Cixi, and Ci'an can only protect herself. In fact, on the contrary, Cixi can only decide on some small things, and when she really encounters big things, she must get Ci'an's consent to deal with them.
Like the Xin You coup, although Cixi was the organizer and planner, it must have been carried out with Ci'an's consent. It can only be said that Cixi is very capable, and can get Ci'an's support in this matter and win her over in advance. In such a major matter as the establishment of the Tongzhi Emperor, the two palace empresses had different opinions, and in the end, Tongzhi chose the Arute clan supported by Ci'an as the queen, and it can also be seen from here that Ci'an's influence at that time.
Everyone knew that An Dehai was Cixi's confidant eunuch, but when Ci'an wanted to order The murder of An Dehai, Cixi was powerless. All this shows that cixi cannot suppress ci'an in the main palace, but when ci'an is there, she has to be careful.
In the seventh year of Guangxu, Ci'an died of illness at the age of 45, and the Guangxu Emperor gave him the title of "Empress Xiaozhen Ci'an Yuqing and Jingyi Tianzuo Shengxian", and later after Xuantong, the full title was "Filial Piety Ci'an Yuqing and Jingcheng Jingyi Tianzuo Shengxian Empress", and was buried in Puxiang Yuding Dongling, Zuotai Temple. Only at this time could Cixi be said to have monopolized power and had no worries.
Today, these two "empresses of filial piety" have two similarities, one of which is not the original match of the emperor, and the other has no heirs. However, one not only has no heirs, but also has no real name and obscurity, while the other has no heirs, but sits firmly in the middle palace.
Empress Wang was a substitute temporarily pulled up by Zhu Jianshen, and her role was to occupy the position of an empress, but there was no real name, and the harem was actually Wan Guifei's decision. In this case, the queen could only live with her fingers crossed. And she successfully survived Zhu Jianshen and Wan Guifei and lived to the end of zhengde dynasty, which is also not bad. It is only because her situation is not easy, so she is unknown in the future generations, and few people know her.
The situation was different for Empress Dowager Ci'an, who had a prominent family and was capable of her own, recognized by Xianfeng, and had absolute power. Although she had no heirs, neither the favored Princess Zhuang Jing nor Cixi, who had given birth to a son, could shake her status. Ci'an was a virtuous empress, and she was not as weak as everyone thought, but unfortunately, she could not survive Cixi and died a little younger.
(References "History of Ming", "Draft History of Qing", "Record of Qing")