Xianfeng was the last emperor in Chinese history to hold real power, and at the same time, he also single-handedly brought the Qing Dynasty into the abyss of decline, and Xianfeng was also a very beautiful emperor, and it is said that in the later period of his reign, he received many beautiful women in the Yuanmingyuan, of which The Fourth Spring Lady was the most famous. Today, I want to talk about xianfeng's first concubine, who is wan guifei.
It is said that the Qing Dynasty had an institution dedicated to the service of the imperial family, called the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was collectively known as the Baoyi, that is, the royal slaves, although the status was not as good as the Eight Banners family, but sometimes it was easier to get the emperor's weight, and many families in the Ministry of Internal Affairs became the family because they were reused, of which the most famous was the Suoqi Luo clan.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Suoqi Luo family produced two major officials, one named Guan Bao, the official Zhi Zuo Du Yushi, was the father-in-law of the fifth brother Yongqi (Guan Bao's daughter was Yongqi Side Fujin), and the other was called Debao, the official Zhilibu Shangshu, who was the father of the Qianlong Rui nobleman.
It is said that this Debao has a very talented son, named Yinghe, this Yinghe has been very famous since he was a child, and he was favored by Qianlong's favored courtiers and Yan, and Hezhen was bent on marrying his daughter to Yinghe, who knows, this Yinghe's father, Debao, looked down on the upstart like Hezhen, and finally rejected this affair. This Yinghe was later reused by the Jiaqing Emperor, and became a famous courtier in the Jiadao period, and Yinghe was the grandfather of The Noble Concubine to be talked about today.
Wan Guifei's father was named Kui Zhao, the official to the Ceremonial Department Shangshu, although Wan Guifei's family has been a high-ranking official for generations, but due to the identity of the wrapper, Wan Guifei still has to participate in the palace women's draft.
At the beginning of the first year of Xianfeng, the Ministry of Internal Affairs held a palace women's draft, and Wan Guifei was unsurprisingly selected, and XianFeng immediately issued a decree to give Wan Guifei the title of Wan Chang zai. However, since it was still during the great funeral of the Daoguang Emperor at that time, Princess Wan Guifei could not enter the palace. A year later, on May 12 of the second year of Xianfeng, Princess Wan was able to enter the palace, and it is worth mentioning that at the same time, Xianfeng also selected four daughters of the Eight Banners, including the later famous Ci'an and Cixi.
It is said that soon after Wan Guifei entered the palace, Xian Feng ordered the painter Shen Zhen to draw a picture of Wan Chang's joyful appearance with new rice paper, and, in September of this year, Xian Feng could not wait to promote Wan Guifei as a Wan Gui Ren: "Wan Chang is in the title of Wan Gui Ren, Li Gui Ren, before Chun Gui Ren." ”
At that time, Lan Guiren and Li Gui were very favored, and in the fourth year of Xianfeng, she was promoted to Yi Concubine and Li Concubine, but Wan Guifei did not hesitate to let go, and she was also named a concubine in this year, called Wan Concubine. Yi Concubine and Concubine Li were both born from the Eight Banners of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er, and their family lineage was naturally much better than that of Concubine Wan, so combined with the origin of Concubine Wan, she was also very favored at that time, not under Concubine Yi (Cixi) and Concubine Li.
However, for some reason, just after Xianfeng was made a concubine for four years, Wan Guifei seemed to have lost the favor of the emperor, and after that, XianFeng never got a promotion again, of course, this also had a lot to do with the fact that Wan Guifei failed to give birth to a man and a half woman for the emperor.
After the death of the Xianfeng Emperor, Wan Guifei was honored by the Tongzhi Emperor twice, and her name also came to Wan Guifei, Jushou Kangzhong Palace, Guangxu twenty years, Wan Guifei died of illness in the Qing Palace at the age of 60, and three years later, Wan Guifei was buried in the Qing Dongling Shunshui Yuding Mausoleum Garden.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Wenzong of the Qing Dynasty, Manuscript of the Concubines of the Qing Dynasty