On September 22, 1860, amid the rumbling of artillery fire from the Anglo-French forces, the 29-year-old Xianfeng Emperor Ai Xinjueluo Yixuan paid homage to his ancestors, and then fled the Beijing Division in a hurry and announced that he would go to Rehe Province for an "autumn tour". The things of the Holy One are not called escape.
The summer of Chengde Summer Resort is not too hot, beautiful women, silk bamboo, fine wine, opium, a lot of one, Yi Xi has a lot of fun. As for those troubles and worries of the country, they were entrusted to Cixi and Prince Gong to handle.
The Xianfeng Emperor in the TV series
A month later, China signed the Treaty of Beijing with Britain, France, and Russia. Surrender in exchange for a moment of tranquility.
On the fifth day of June of the following year, after Yi Xuan celebrated his 30th birthday, he fell ill. This young man was weak since he was a child, and after becoming emperor, he emptied his body early, and he drank deer blood every day and could not make up for it. In the early morning of August 22, the Xianfeng Emperor died.
Xianfeng died of illness
Cixi, who had a deep heart, had already obtained the jade seal, and although Yi Xuan had issued an edict before his death authorizing 8 people to be regent by 8 people, including Zaiyuan the Prince of Yi, Duanhua the Prince of Zheng, and Sushun, the royal nobleman, the edict had to be stamped before it could take effect.
At this time, Cixi and Prince Gong united and began a power struggle with the eight ministers of Gu Ming. After a battle of wits and courage, the 26-year-old Cixi won and firmly grasped the power of the late Qing Dynasty.
From then on, Cixi sat on the dragon chair of the early dynasty, and was supreme in the political character of the Qing Dynasty. The 5-year-old Guangxu Emperor sat next to him, a veritable puppet.
Empress
Cixi, who had tasted the sweetness of power for the first time, began to plan her political career. Since she was a teenager, she has been reading books and studying history, and she knows that China is a patriarchal society, and it is difficult for women to be rulers and it is difficult to get social recognition and support.
Throughout her life, she idolized Lü Hou and Wu Zetian. After studying Wu Zetian more than once, I found that this most capable woman in history, even if she became emperor, was still regarded as a usurpation of power after her death.
Fan Bingbing version of Wu Zetian
There is also Lü Hou, which laid the foundation for the rise of the Han Dynasty, and his personal political ability is no less than that of any man of the same era, and he is still disdainful for posterity, and he cannot be recognized by history and respected by people.
Stills from Mi Yue
Thinking of this, Cixi couldn't help but be sad. Without dictatorship, he will be eliminated by political enemies and his life will be difficult to protect. Dictatorship, and no bright future, worried about the insult of usurpation. What are you counting? What to do?
She looked at history again and found that those empress dowagers who had tilted their power to the opposition had all bowed to the government and had tilted their power to the opposition: Qin Guo Miyue, Zhao Guo Zhao Empress, Eastern Han Deng Empress, Northern Wei Ling Empress, Tang Dynasty Wu Zetian, Liao Dynasty Empress Xiao, Southern Song Xie Empress ... History has provided her with so many role models! "Others can, why can't I?" The 26-year-old Cixi suddenly became enlightened when she thought of this, and immediately made a decision, and that was it!
Cixi bowed to the government
Therefore, after Prince Gong and others once again put forward the request that the empress dowager bow to the government, Cixi Ci'an, who could not "resign", "helplessly" jointly issued a decree:
"It is not our wish to listen to the government, but at the request of the princes and ministers, for the ministers cannot go a day without the Lord of Retribution. When the emperor reaches adulthood and completes his studies, we will no longer be regent, and all power will be handed over to the emperor. I hope that the people of the world will understand the helplessness of my waiting, and the ministers and workers will work diligently and wholeheartedly to assist me and others in governing the country. ”