Imperial power in ancient China meant supremacy, and for this reason, the emperor represented absolute authority. Although it is said that in times of chaos, the emperor may not even live as well as ordinary people, but on the whole, the emperor is indeed better than the vast majority of people.
Probably also because the status of the emperor is very high, the status of the empress in ancient times is also very high. The empress is the emperor's wife, of course, in addition to being called the right wife, the empress is more regarded as the mother of a country, and the role is a symbol of the country. Generally speaking, there can only be one emperor in a dynasty, but there will never be only one empress.
The vast majority of empresses are selected through careful selection, they are usually the best of the best, even if the emperor looks at the empress is not satisfied, but because of the identity of the empress, or the power of the family, the emperor will not say much. Changing the empress is not a trivial matter, and it is even a major event that shakes the foundation of the country.
So was there an emperor in Chinese history who had only one empress? It is true that in his lifetime, there were two empresses, but these two empresses did not have a good relationship with him, and this emperor was the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
When Shunzhi first ascended the throne, he did not have real power in his hands, and the real power was more in the hands of the regent Dolgun at that time, whether it was Ye shi or Zhengshi, more to say that there was an unclear explanation between Dolgun and the then Empress Xiaozhuang, that is, because of this reason, the first empress of Shunzhi was not chosen by himself, so Shunzhi was not very special
And later, even gradually mastered, then the queen chosen by his mother for himself naturally did not need to be asked, and soon, this blinding queen was abolished. The country could not be without a monarch for a day, and the same was true, so Empress Xiaozhuang immediately chose an empress for her son.
It is not that this empress of Empress Xiaozhuang is not good, but that at this time, there was even someone she liked, that is, Concubine Dong appeared. Moreover, at the beginning, Dong Efei was not Shunzhi's concubine, on the contrary, he was the wife of Shunzhi's younger brother Bogol.
In the eyes of the Manchus, they did not have these ritual programs, and it was for this reason that Shunzhi summoned Concubine Dong E into the palace several times. As the days went on, not only Did Concubine Dong realize it, but even Bogol knew about it. An angry Bogol chose to enter the palace, but what he did not expect was that Shunzhi actually reprimanded him.
Later, Shunzhi left Concubine Dong in the palace in a righteous manner, and after learning about this, Bogol was angry to death. At this time, Shunzhi seemed to have some apologies in his heart, so he gave Dong Efei the identity of a concubine. After this, the treatment enjoyed by Concubine Dong was almost the same as that of Hai Lanzhu in the previous dynasty, and both of them were favored by the emperor, and even the emperor was willing to die for him.
It should be known that Hai Lanzhu of the previous dynasty was also a powerful figure, after she gave birth to the eighth son of the emperor, the emperor Taiji was overjoyed, and even pardoned the world, and once wanted to establish the eighth son of the emperor as the prince. It wasn't long before the child died, and Hai Lanzhu also died, and Huang Taiji, because of excessive grief, quickly followed.
Shunzhi is also similar, he was even more sad after the death of Dong Efei, he did not choose to suicidal thoughts, he chose to escape into the empty door. Perhaps for the Shunzhi Emperor, this harem beauty three thousand is not as good as Dong Efei's person, in his life to get this person is enough.
However, the reason why Princess Dong Efei died soon after entering the palace was mainly because her heart was too painful, after all, according to historical records, the relationship between her and Bogol was quite good. At the same time, after entering the palace, he once gave birth to a child for Shunzhi, but this child died soon, and under the double blow, the death of Concubine Dong was inevitable.
If you look closely at these kings in ancient times, you may feel a little absurd, sometimes they have the most beautiful things in the world, but they are not satisfied with what they have, maybe what they can't get is the best, just like the Shunzhi Emperor, who has the world and concubines, but he likes his sister-in-law.
Conclusion: Of course, in addition to this reason, it may be because the first two empresses of the Shunzhi Emperor really did not meet his wishes. For the Shunzhi Emperor, he wanted to find someone he really liked, and it was obvious that these two empresses had been taken care of for him by others. A fate that is arranged too clearly can sometimes only provoke people to rebel, and Shunzhi is like this.