What I want to talk about today is that the two empresses of the Ming and Qing dynasties, when writing about the empresses of the Ming and Qing dynasties who had the same nickname, there was always one of them who was more tragic, will this time be different? The two empresses of Xiaoding today not only sat in the position of empress dowager, but also became more famous in history, and later generations also had a high evaluation of them.
Empress Xiaoding of the Ming Dynasty, Li Shi, was the concubine of Emperor Mingmuzong Zhu Zaiyuan and the biological mother of Emperor Mingshen Zhu Yijun, and we generally call her "Empress Li". Li Shi's education of his son is very strict, so when it comes to Zhu Yijun's growth, it is inseparable from talking about his mother.
Empress Xiaodingjing of the Qing Dynasty, Yehenara, was even more famous, she was the niece of Empress Dowager Cixi, which is what we are accustomed to call "Empress Longyu". Although Longyu was the last empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty, she was still highly evaluated by later generations.
So what kind of experience did these two Empress Xiaoding of the Ming and Qing dynasties have, and why do they have a high evaluation? In fact, as long as you understand their lives, it is not difficult to understand.
Empress Xiaoding Li
Ming Muzong Zhu Zaitu's birth mother was not favored, and his father, Ming Shizong Zhu Houxi, was very superstitious, firmly believed that "the two dragons do not meet", and was also cold to Zhu Zaikun. Nevertheless, Zhu Houxi would not prevent his son from marrying a wife and taking a concubine, after all, it was still necessary to pass on the lineage.
Therefore, in the thirty-second year of Jiajing, Zhu Zaiyuan, who was then the King of Yu, held a big wedding, and his wife was not Empress Xiaoding Li, but another Li clan, later Empress Xiaoyi. The protagonist Li Shi was originally just a palace girl, but only later was favored by Zhu Zaiyuan and began to serve him.
In the forty-second year of Jiajing, li gave birth to Zhu Zai's third son, Zhu Yijun, later emperor Mingshenzong. When Zhu Zaiyuan ascended the throne, his two sons had already died prematurely, and his wife had already died, and Zhu Yijun became the eldest son. As Zhu Yijun's biological mother, Li Shi was given the title of noble concubine. In the second year of Longqing, Zhu Yijun was made crown prince.
However, everyone knows that Zhu Zaituan was addicted to sound and color, and after only six years as emperor, he died of excessive indulgence. At this time, Zhu Yijun was only 9 years old, and he took over the Daming Jiangshan from his father. After he ascended the throne, his mother-in-law Chen Shi was made Empress Rensheng, and his biological mother Li Shi was made Empress Dowager Cisheng.
Here is a brief introduction to the Empress Dowager Rensheng, Zhu Zai's original wife died of illness in Jiajing thirty-seven years, after which Zhu Zaituo established Chen as a stepfather. Zhu Yijun's birth mother, Li Shi, was originally a palace maid by chen's side, so the two palace empresses got along more harmoniously.
Because Zhu Yijun was still young when he ascended the throne, the empress dowager of the two palaces found many good teachers for him. As a birth mother, Empress Li was very strict with Zhu Yijun's education, hoping to train him to become a qualified emperor. Therefore, every time Zhu Yijun came back from reading, she would let her son repeat it to see if he was serious about studying. Sometimes when zhu Yijun was found to be not serious about reading, Empress Li would let him kneel.
Zhu Yijun grew up, and he sometimes wanted to indulge a bit, so he held a banquet and drank a lot of wine. Unexpectedly, after Zhu Yijun was drunk, he wanted to let the internal servant sing to him, and the internal servant said that he would not, and Zhu Yijun was so angry that he wanted to kill him. The next day, When Empress Li heard about this, she specifically asked Zhang Ju to advise him in the courtroom, and also asked him to draft a royal seal for Zhu Yijun. Of course, Zhu Yijun could not avoid being punished by his mother for kneeling.
Once Zhu Yijun came to ask Empress Li for peace, but empress Dowager Li was not there, and he took a fancy to a palace lady in the empress dowager's palace and secretly blessed her. Later, the Wang clan gave birth to a son for him, that is, the later Mingguang Emperor Zhu Changluo, but Zhu Yijun hated that the Wang clan was born as a palace girl and did not want to recognize the mother and son.
According to the Ming Dynasty system, the emperor "has a concubine, no concubine", Zhu Yijun did not have a concubine, then he should make Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of The Concubine, the crown prince, but he did not do so for a long time. Empress Li pressed her son to ask why he had not been made crown prince, but Zhu Yijun did not expect zhu Yijun to say that Zhu Changluo was the son of a palace maid. Empress Li was furious when she heard this, saying that you were also the son of a palace maid, which frightened Zhu Yijun to kneel on the ground and did not dare to get up, and later Zhu Changluo was able to become the crown prince.
In the forty-second year of the Wanli Calendar, Empress Li died at the age of 68, and Zhu Yijun was buried in Zhaoling as his mother", "Empress Xiaoding Zhen Chun Qin Ren Duan Su Bi Tianzuo Sheng". Empress Li had a strict temperament, although she did not serve as empress for a day, but during her tenure as empress, she gave full play to her abilities, and the government affairs in the early years of the Wanli Calendar were indeed more meritorious to Empress Li. Therefore, her evaluation in later generations is very high.
Empress Xiaodingjing
Empress Xiaodingjing of the Yehenara clan was the niece of Empress Dowager Cixi, so under Cixi's rule, she became the empress of the Guangxu Emperor. On the same day of the empress's wedding, Concubine Jin and Concubine Zhen were also welcomed into the harem by the Shenwu Gate. This is Guangxu's extremely simple lineup of one queen and two concubines.
In fact, Cixi made her niece empress in order to send her to spy on the Guangxu Emperor. But first, Guangxu liked Zhenfei, which was well known, and second, he knew the relationship between the empress and Cixi, so he was more wary of her. Therefore, the empress was unable to complete Cixi's task at all, and she was not flattered by both sides. But after all, it was his niece, and Cixi naturally took care of her.
In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu, the Guangxu Emperor died, and the next day Empress Dowager Cixi also died. Before Cixi died, she was ordered to succeed Puyi to the throne, that is, The Xuantong Emperor, and empress Yehenara was honored as the empress dowager, with the insignia "Longyu", so later generations used to call her "Empress Longyu".
When Longyu first married Guangxu, she was completely arranged by her aunt Cixi, and she never imagined that one day she would become the empress dowager, and when faced with a new emperor who was only 3 years old, she would listen to the government like Cixi and take charge of the already crumbling Qing Dynasty.
In order to keep the position of empress dowager, the unsociable Longyu had to choose to win over the Prince of Qing, Yi Xi, who also became a high-powered Iron Hat King with the help of Longyu. However, Longyu, who had no political means, could not fight the regent Zaifeng (the biological father of Emperor Xuantong), and later rarely intervened in political affairs.
It was not until three years after the xuanun, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, Zaifeng resigned as regent, and Longyu regained power, that she once again became the de facto supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty. However, at this time, the Qing Dynasty was about to come to an end, and she, the supreme ruler, could only be forced to face the most difficult situation and make the most difficult decisions.
At this time, the calls for the abdication of the Qing Emperor throughout the country were getting louder and louder, and Empress Longyu was embarrassed. She knew that agreeing was the best way to save everyone, but in doing so she became a sinner of the Aisin Kyora family. But if you don't agree, you don't know what will happen later, and more people will be hurt.
She consulted with Yi Xi and Yuan Shikai and others, but in the end she could only accept the result of abdication. In this way, Longyu, as the final decision-maker of the Qing Dynasty, agreed to issue the Edict of abdication of the Qing Emperor. It is precisely because of this decision of Longyu that she has won a lot of praise, and even some people have commented that she is: "Virtue is supreme, female middle School Yao Shun." ”
Longyu's decision, in exchange for the safety of everyone, she herself was respected by the Republic of China. But in Longyu's heart, she could never pass her own level, and she knew that she had become a sinner who loved the Xinjue Luo family. Therefore, she was depressed all the time, and finally died of illness on the seventeenth day of the first month of the second year of the Republic of China, at the age of 45.
After the death of Empress Longyu, the Republic of China held a solemn funeral for her, and also paid tribute to half-mast for three days, and the civil and military officials wore filial piety for twenty-seven days. Later, Puyi gave him the title of "Empress Xiaoding Longyu Kuan Hui Shen Zhe Xie Tianbao Shengjing", and after the Chongling Tomb was built, he was buried with Guangxu.
These two empresses of the Ming and Qing dynasties had high evaluations in later generations.
Empress Xiaoding, although she did not serve as empress for a day, had a great presence in the early years of the Wanli Calendar. She had a certain political ability, reused Zhang Juzheng, strictly educated Zhu Yijun, ensured Zhu Changluo's position as crown prince, and never favored her mother's family, worthy of the praise of future generations.
Empress Xiaodingjing of the Yehenara clan, also known as Empress Dowager Longyu, was actually forced to stand in that position. Although she did not have any political achievements before, when she decided to abdicate later, she was under great psychological pressure, and at this moment she was the "hero" in everyone's heart. But only she understood that she had become a sinner by the time she had fulfilled all of them.
In contrast, Empress Longyu was much more miserable.
(References "History of The Ming Dynasty", "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", "Diary of Weng Tonggong")