Kangxi was one of the most famous emperors of the Qing Dynasty, and his life was full of legends, and he wisely captured Ao worship as a teenager and firmly held the imperial power in his hands. In fact, Kangxi was able to grasp Ao Bai without the help of women, especially Kangxi used the big marriage to marry the Sony family, so that the Sony family wholeheartedly helped Kangxi to deal with Ao Bai. Unfortunately, Sony's granddaughter Herschel died in childbirth nine years after marrying Kangxi.
After the death of Thechel, although Kangxi was sad, the harem could not be left without a master. In order to help himself manage the harem, kangxi soon promoted another empress, this person is Kangxi's second empress Xiaozhaoren Empress Niu Cobalt Lu clan, today our story is related to Niu Cobalt Lu clan.
Born into a large family, she was the daughter of one of the four auxiliary ministers, Shu bilong. In the fourth year of Kangxi, before the Kangxi wedding, there were two empresses, the first was the Herschel clan of the Sony family we mentioned earlier, and the second was the daughter of Theo Bilong.
So why did Kangxi choose the Herschel clan as empress dowager instead of the Niu Cobalt Lu clan? This is mainly related to the father of the Niu Cobalt Lu clan, Shu Bi Long, who is very close to Ao Bai, and Ao Bai also recognizes Niu Cobalt Lu as a dry daughter. If niu cobalt Lu becomes empress again, then the power of Qiu Bilong is bound to expand, and it will be more difficult to deal with at that time. In order to balance the factions, Kangxi eventually chose Sony's granddaughter, Herschel, as empress. However, Kangxi also married Niu Cobalt Lu at the same time and promoted her to a concubine.
The fact that the Niu Cobalt Lu clan was only named a concubine was not deliberately difficult for her, but that the harem system of the Qing Dynasty at that time was not perfect, and there was no so-called imperial concubine, noble concubine, etc., so the Niu Cobalt Lu clan could only be named a concubine. Niu Cobalt Lu's entry into the palace is Kangxi four years, and now many historical sources indicate that the time of Niu Cobalt Lu's entry into the palace is Kangxi 16 years, which is actually incorrect, Kangxi 16 years Niu Cobalt Lu clan is already 23 years old, far more than the Qing Dynasty women as showgirls age.
In the 13th year of Kangxi, Kangxi's original empress, Hesheli, died of difficult childbirth, and Kangxi was devastated. However, although he was grieving, he also knew that he had to promote another person to help him manage the harem. In terms of seniority, the Niu Cobalt Lu clan who entered the palace with the Herschel clan was undoubtedly the best candidate, so Kangxi ordered the Niu Cobalt Lu clan to temporarily take charge of the harem.
Three years later, the Niu Cobalt Lu clan successfully passed the Kangxi test. In the 16th year of Kangxi, that is, 12 years after the Niu Cobalt Lu clan entered the palace, Kangxi Jin made her empress, and she officially became the second empress of Kangxi, and the Niu Cobalt Lu clan, who had been waiting for 12 years, finally became the lord of the harem.
As we said earlier, the father of the Niu Cobalt Lu clan was Shu Bilong, one of the four auxiliary ministers, who became a political victim after kangxi eradicated Ao Bai because of his close relationship with Ao Bai. After Niu Cobalt became empress, the first thing he did was to ask for the title for his father, Shu Bilong, and Kangxi granted her wish. It can be seen that the Niu Cobalt Lu clan is not only a virtuous empress, but also a filial daughter.
Unfortunately, the Niu Cobalt Lu clan did not give birth to a son and a half daughter for Kangxi, which may have a lot to do with the environment in which she lived. When Niu Cobalt Lu first married Kangxi, Kangxi wanted to eradicate Aobai, and Niu Cobalt Lu was Aobai's dry daughter, which undoubtedly gave her a layer of invisible pressure. Coupled with the relationship between Qiu Bilong, the pressure of the Niu Cobalt Lu clan in the harem is undoubtedly enormous.
In August of the 16th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, the Niu Cobalt Lu clan was officially crowned empress, but unfortunately, only half a year later, in February of the 17th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, the Niu Cobalt Lu clan died of illness at the age of 24. After the death of the Niu Cobalt Lu clan, Kangxi was extremely sad and deliberately decreed that the standard of the funeral was equivalent to that of Empress Renxiao (Hesheli clan).
Resources:
"Biography of concubines after the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", "Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty"