Two years ago, a big hit drama "Yanxi Raiders" brought the image of Qianlong's concubine to the audience's eyes, and the heroine Wei Yongluo also became the "strongest concubine in history". In fact, as early as "Huan Zhu Gege", the image of LingFei has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the personality of the two dramas may not be the same, but it undoubtedly shows the audience that Lingfei is deeply favored by the emperor. But is this really the case?
Concubine Wei Jiashi,born in 1727, daughter of Wei Qingtai (魏清泰), a third-class Duke of Cheng'en, was the biological mother of the Jiaqing Emperor, and was posthumously honored as Empress Xiaoyi chun. The life of this harem daughter can be said to be beautiful and glorious, she jumped from a palace girl to a nobleman at the age of 19, and has been promoted continuously since then, giving birth to four sons and two daughters for Qianlong in 10 years, which shows the grandeur of her glory.
But until Xue's death, Wei Jiashi only sat in the position of "LingYi Emperor's Noble Concubine", even if the back seat was suspended, she did not become an empress, what kind of hidden feelings did she have?
First, let's talk about the three empresses of Qianlong. Empress Yuan was Empress Xiaoxian of the Fucha clan, and was also one of Qianlong's most beloved wives, she was graceful and gentle, and Qianlong "loved her with respect". After collapsing in Texas on the eastern tour in 1784, Qianlong mourned to the extreme, and wrote a poem "Dreaming of Spring Breeze and Preferring to travel to the shore" to mourn her.
He was followed by Huifa Nara, who was initially a concubine and later promoted to empress. This promotion was not the emperor's wish, but the empress dowager's will, and the posthumous position could not always be vacant, so only another empress could be created. In Qianlong's heart, the empress dowager was far inferior to the Yuan empress, so the empress dowager had not been favored.
Then there was Empress Xiaoyi chun Wei Jiashi, the only Han empress of the Qing Dynasty, who was posthumously honored, but already very special. In 1745, she was favored and was enthroned as a nobleman, starting from a higher starting point than other concubines. In the same year, he was promoted to concubine and given the title of "Ling", which is taken from the sentence "Ru Gui Ruzhang, Ling Wen Ling Wang" in the Book of Poetry. Yue was a concubine for 3 years and a noble concubine in 1759, and the road to promotion was like riding a rocket.
In 1765, Qianlong directly promoted Ling Guifei to imperial concubine, you know, the status of imperial concubines is second only to that of empresses, equivalent to deputy empresses. At that time, although the empress dowager had lost peace, but the empress was still alive, Qianlong promoted Concubine Ling to imperial concubine, which showed her weight in the emperor's heart.
Until 1773, her son Yongyan was secretly made empress at the age of 13, while the linghuang concubine who was still alive at the time was not made empress. Qianlong allowed his posthumous position to hang in the air, and it was not until twenty years after the death of the imperial concubine that he announced the selection of the crown prince and posthumously crowned Wei Jiashi as empress.
It is this behavior that makes future generations feel that Wei Jiashi is not really favored, but just a "fertility machine". Although it is true that she has had 6 children in succession in 10 years, which has caused her physical losses, this statement is biased. Before Wei Jia's death, her residence, clothing, etc. had already referred to the specifications of the empress, and what she lacked was only a name.
There are also later generations of examinations of the body of the imperial concubine, and it is found that she has chronic poison in her body, which ensures that the body is not decomposed. Therefore, some people put forward the "theory of poisoning concubines", believing that Concubine Ling was poisoned by the emperor, which is not very credible. The most likely thing is that Lingfei was in deficit due to production, her body was short, and the Chinese medicine did not stop for ten years before her death, it was the three poisons of the medicine, and the medicinal properties of ten years precipitated in her body, so that Lingfei's body was full of "toxins".
As for why Ling Huang guifei was not made empress when she was alive, it was because Wei Jiashi was a Han woman, and even if she looked forward to the empress's position, Yu Li could not make her empress dowager. In addition, if the imperial concubine was appointed empress, Yongyan's identity as crown prince would be exposed early, which was also something that Qianlong was not happy to see.
Therefore, it was not that Qianlong did not favor her until after her death, but in the situation at that time, considering the stability of the court and the heirs, she could only sacrifice her position as empress in exchange for temporary stability, which was the best arrangement for Qianlong.