Shunzhi has a total of four empresses, two of whom were not empresses during their lifetime, one is Kangxi's biological mother Empress Xiaokangzhang, and the other is Empress Xiaoxian Duanjing, who is favored by Shunzhi, and today I want to talk about Empress Xiaokangzhang, who was the shortest-lived empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty.
The Liaodong Wang clan of the half-world
Speaking of this Empress Xiaokangzhang, I have to mention the two ancestral figures of their family, one is called Tong Yangzhen (Tong Yangzheng) and the other is called Tong Yangsheng, and these two people are cousins.
It is said that since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Tong clan has been doing business in Liaodong for a living, is a well-known local noble family, the family has money, Tong Yangsheng is also a businessman, he took advantage of the opportunity to do business, often provided some information for Nurhaci, and later Tong Yangsheng was captured by the Ming Court and sent to prison, who knew that he bribed officials to escape, and after escaping, he submitted to Nurhaci.
Unexpectedly, during the zhenshou of Zhenjiang, Tong Yangzhen was exploited by the Ming army guerrilla Mao Wenlong, and he himself, his son Tong Fengnian and nephew Tong Songnian were captured and immediately sent to the Beijing Division. The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not hesitate to order that the three fathers, sons and nephews, Ling Chi, be executed, and passed on the liaodong to show the public.
Tong Yangzhen, who was executed by Ming Tingling, was the grandfather of Empress Xiaokangzhang.
After Tong Yangzhen was executed by the Ming Court, his second son Tong Tulai (Tong Shengnian) continued to serve the Qing court, and by virtue of his military achievements, he became the commander of the Han Army's Zhenglan Banner and an official to the Ceremonial Department. This Tong Tulai was the father of Empress Xiaokangzhang.
Shunzhi Concubine who gave birth to the First Emperor of the Ages
It is said that in the tenth year of Shunzhi, the Shunzhi Emperor deposed the Yuan Hou Borjigit clan and demoted him to Concubine Jing, and in this year's draft, the daughter of Tong Tulai (Empress Xiaokangzhang), the rebbe attendant, was elected to the palace. Tong shi was from the Han military banner, naturally can not be compared with those noble Mongolian princesses, therefore, her position in the harem is not high, not even Xiao Fujin, may be slightly higher than those Gege (palace women).
At that time, after Shunzhi had just been abolished, these newcomers who entered the palace naturally paid more attention to it, so Tong Shi was favored by the emperor, and fortunately, Tong Shi, who had just inherited yulu, was pregnant with a dragon fetus.
It is said that once, Tong Shi went to ask Empress Xiaozhuang for peace, and when she went out to leave, Xiao Zhuang found that Tong Shi seemed to be surrounded by a golden dragon, and after inquiring, he learned that he was pregnant, and Xiao Zhuang said happily that he was the same when he was pregnant with the emperor (Shunzhi), and the child in Tong's belly must be a blessed person.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Tong gave birth to the three brothers Xuanye at Jingren Palace.
The shortest-lived empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty
Although Tong gave birth to the three brothers Xuan Ye, but then Shunzhi adopted a new concubine, she is the once favored Concubine Dong E, after Dong Efei entered the palace, many concubines including Tong Shi almost became a decoration, what made Tong even more sad was that the three brothers Xuan Ye out of the palace to avoid pox, her life was in danger, but she could not take care of it, just waiting for the heavenly arrangement. Fortunately, the Third Brother Xuanye escaped this fate.
But unexpectedly, the Shunzhi Emperor eventually died of smallpox disease, and before his death, Shunzhi adopted the advice of his mother Xiaozhuang and made the third brother Xuanye the crown prince, inherited the throne, and changed the era name to Kangxi.
After Kangxi succeeded to the throne, Tong's value suddenly doubled, and an unknown concubine became the emperor's biological mother, and Kangxi honored his mother Tong as the Empress Dowager of the Virgin Mary, with the title of Cihe and the two palaces of Empress Renxian (Empress Xiaohuizhang). However, what people did not expect was that only two years later, Tong Shi died of illness in the palace at the age of 24.
After Tong's death, Kangxi gave him the titles of Xiao Kang ci and Zhuang Yi Gonghui Chongtian Yusheng Empress, because Kangxi was not yet pro-government at that time, therefore, Tong's tablet did not enter the Taimiao Temple, and the title did not have the "chapter" character of Shunzhi, until the ninth year of Kangxi, tong's tablet was able to enter the Taimiao Temple, and the title was Emperor. Later, after the addition of the yongzheng and Qianlong emperors, Tong's final titles were: Xiao Kangci and Zhuang Yi Gonghui Wen Mu Duanjing Chongtianyu Shengzhang Empress.
In the eighth year of Kangxi, Kangxi carried his mother Tong clan from the Han army's Zhenglan banner into the Han army's yellow flag, and in the twenty-seventh year of Kangxi, he lifted the Tong clan to Manchuria with a yellow flag, thus becoming the first family in the Qing Dynasty to enjoy the treatment of raising the flag as a foreign relative.
Zichen said:
Empress Xiaokangzhang's life was only 24 years (actually the 23rd anniversary), but she became famous because of her son Kangxi, and was able to be buried with the Shunzhi Emperor in Xiaoling, and the family prospered as a result, laying the foundation for the emergence of the half-dynasty situation during the later Kangxi dynasty.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Eight Banners, Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty