Cixi was an important political figure in the late Qing Dynasty, ostensibly empress dowager, but de facto ruler. She was born on November 29, 1835, and entered the palace at the age of seventeen, all the way from a concubine to a noble concubine. By giving birth to the only son of the Xianfeng Emperor, she became empress dowager, and she was adept at manipulating the balance of power between courtiers. It was also by this that she seized power and became the actual ruler of the Qing Dynasty, but she also bore many insults.
Her intervention was partly one of the reasons for the oppression at the time, and whenever she faced war, she hoped to make peace. Even if the situation was favorable at that time, such as the Zhennanguan Victory in 1885, the Qing army had stopped the French army. But she took a posture of seeking peace, but how to ask for peace? The answer was the signing of an unequal treaty of mourning power and humiliation of the country, and in the great victory of Zhennanguan, the Qing court signed the Sino-French Treaty of Tianjin, which lost the suzerainty of Annam.
Later, it was not appropriate for people to count the Treaty of Maguan and the Treaty of Xinugu on Li Hongzhang, because these two articles were signed by Cixi. The treaty between Maguan and Xinugu stemmed from the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War and the Gengzi Fist Rebellion, and these two articles were inseparable from Cixi's ruling and decision-making. She had some means that were very skillful, but the purpose was to maintain Manchu rule, and she could sacrifice everything for it. Just like the examples given above, can't the Qing army really crush the French and Japanese troops?
During the war, France was in chaos and Japan's national strength was about to be exhausted, and it could be dragged to death. But Cixi would not delay, because the Manchu Qing dynasty was very likely to collapse due to protracted war, so she was willing to accept the shame. Then there is the extravagance, her extravagance is unimaginable, a day's meal money even eats up the income of ordinary people for a lifetime. More is still waste, Cixi spends money on herself, and the more it is, the better.
Take her death, for example, the list of funerary items is simply a sky-high funeral list. The coffin is covered with a thick layer of pearls, and tourmaline, gemstones, and jade statues are not uncommon, and 2200 gemstones alone are used. It is no wonder that later Sun Dianying stole the Dongling Tomb, and the first choice was the Tomb of Cixi, after all, it was almost the most luxurious tomb in the Qing Dynasty. Even after enjoying the glory and wealth of the world, Lafayette still had a day to die, and Cixi died on November 15, 1908 ( around 2 p.m. ) .
Many of the answers given in the records are death, and indeed, the death of Cixi at the age of 74 is still very likely. But Li Lianying's sister gave a different answer, Li Lianying must be no stranger, Cixi's side of the first-class red people. At that time, who wanted to be appreciated by Cixi, it was necessary to please Li Lianying. He had followed Cixi for decades, knew her well, and was deeply trusted by him. Because of this, he also had the opportunity to arrange various positions in the palace, and a distant cousin also entered the palace.
This person was with Cixi, so he also knew quite well about Cixi's various deeds, and it was not surprising that he learned some secrets. According to her, Cixi had diarrhea before her death, and often tortured her to death. This also seemed normal, but Li said that Cixi was actually poisoned. Many imperial doctors also know about this matter, but no one dares to say it, and perhaps they are unwilling to say it. One was that the imperial doctor could not cure the old empress, and the other was that Cixi's methods were vicious, and there were many people in the palace who were dissatisfied with her.
However, This statement of Li Shi can only be regarded as a wild history, after all, as the supreme ruler, it is so easy to be poisoned. Even if someone is poisoned, it is impossible for everyone to hide it wholeheartedly, and then there is Cixi's age. Finally, if someone poisoned Cixi, who was that person? Li's claim that Cixi was poisoned is a wild history because it has not been confirmed and there is no conclusive evidence.
However, guangxu was poisoned not a wild history, and there have always been rumors that Cixi poisoned Guangxu. Passed down decades later, in 2008, Modern Identified Guangxu's residual hair, he did die of arsenic poisoning. It's just that there is still a debate about who the culprit is, and many people believe that the biggest possibility is Cixi. After all, Guangxu is not her own son, and he is not compatible with Guangxu, but this is only speculation. Now that decades have passed, these things will probably only be unsolved mysteries, unless there is more conclusive evidence in the world.
Reference: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty