During the Qing Dynasty, being able to be elected to the palace and become the emperor's concubine was certainly an honor for the family, but for the concubines personally, it was not so, and it was after all a minority that could maintain long-term favor. But even so, these lonely women can live without worry and can die well. However, some people have worse luck, and they will end their lives in a bizarre way, for example, the concubine of the Qianlong harem, who was drowned by the water.
1. Daughter of a sinner of the Iron-Blooded Family
In the Qing Dynasty, there were four major families, namely the Yellow Banner Niu Hulu Clan, the ZhengHuang Banner Hesheli Clan, the Yellow Banner Tong Jia Clan and the Yellow Flag Fu cha Clan. Among them, the Yellow Banner Button Hulu clan started with military merit, known as the Iron Blood Family, and later because the family produced five Empresses of the Great Qing Dynasty, it was called the Fengchao Family, which can be called the leader of the Manchurian family that has built achievements in the outer and inner courts.
The concubine we are going to talk about today is from the Yellow Banner Niu Hulu clan, and the ancestor (the fifth ancestor) was one of the five founding ministers of the Qing Dynasty, Hongyi Gongyuan Yidu.
Although Concubine Cheng came from a prominent Manchurian family, she was the daughter of a sinner, why? This has to be said about her great-grandfather Alinga.
First of all, look at Kangxi's evaluation of Alinga: "All military aircraft are in tune with each other, and for a while there is no minister who is out of his right." Emperor Shengzuren was very generous and often gave the upper parts and the famous horses of the upper relatives. ”
It can be seen that Aling'a was a minister whom Kangxi relied on and trusted very much, and not only inherited the title of Duke of Guoyi in the twenty-fifth year of Kangxi, but also served as the minister of internal affairs, the minister of parliament, and also managed the affairs of the Shangshu of the Imperial Yuan, the prime minister of the firearms battalion, and Kangxi even rewarded him with the famous horse he rode.
Moreover, The interpersonal relationships of Alinga are also very complicated.
Aling'a was the younger son of Kangxi's assistant chancellor, Shu Bilong, and his wife was the sister of Empress Xiaogongren (Princess De), in addition, Aling'a was also the teacher and father-in-law of Yinli, the seventeenth son of Kangxi, and the second daughter was married to the seventeenth brother Yinli as Concubine Fujin.
In such a relationship, it is difficult to think of underdevelopment, of course, Alinga must also have his excellent personal ability.
In the forty-third year of Kangxi, Kangxi gave a plaque of "Chongxian Yuhou" and asked the Ten Brothers Yinchen (Alinga's nephew) to send it to Alinga. In the fifty-fifth year of Kangxi, When Alinga was seriously ill, Kangxi personally sent an imperial doctor to treat him, and when he heard that Aling'a could not eat, he asked the Second Princess (Princess Gulun Rongxian) to cook for him.
After Alinga's death, Kangxi sent the guards of the Yellow Banner and one banner minister to serve him wine, and let the officers and men of the nine leading leaders wear filial piety clothes, and on the day of The funeral of Aling'a, Kangxi sent four brothers, five brothers, ten brothers, seventeen brothers, seventeen brothers, seventeen brothers, and the guards of the yellow flag and one banner to the tomb, and gave the title minke on the tombstone.
However, one of the several brothers who participated in the funeral of Ah Ling'a was absolutely reluctant, and he was the fourth brother Yin Chan, the later Yongzheng Emperor.
Because Alinga was a favorite of Kangxi's heavy ministers, but he was a yongzheng sinner.
In the second year of Yongzheng, Yongzheng, who had recently succeeded to the throne, issued a very long edict:
"Among the ministers of this dynasty, they have treacherous intentions and form parties for personal gain, but Alinga and Shushu are the most important. Princess Wen died, and outside the chaoyang gate of the funeral, her family was mourned at the funeral home. He was not at peace with his brother Fakasu, and wanted to cause death, but he spread a rumor to slander Faka, and Faka heard it, and he was furious, and he took away his office, and he remained the duke.
The abolition of the second brother in that year was broken from the holy heart. Did it be abolished because of the gossip of his subordinates? It is Alinga and Ah Ling'a, and seducing the kings into making nonsense by plotting day and night, causing the Emperor to be indignant, and Mo Ke questions, this Fall and Ah Ling Ah Shu do not share the hatred of heaven. Arjun Ariel is more cunning than his father. He was sent to Fengtian to guard the tomb of his ancestors, and the tombstone of Alinga was engraved with the words 'Tomb of Alinga, who is not a subject, a violent and greedy man', in order to justify his sins.
The treacherous deeds of these two people cannot be so well understood, and the non-degeneration cannot be so auspicious, that is, there is foolishness to protect the party and resist death without realizing it, and the purpose of the fall has been determined, and it is not especially possible to accumulate hatred for decades. ”
Everyone may wonder, since Aling's wife is the sister of Empress Xiaogongren, then isn't he Yongzheng's uncle, and why Yongzheng hates Ah Ling'a so much?
You don't understand this, during the Kangxi Dynasty, the factional struggles between the princes were complicated, and sometimes, even if it was the same family, there would be support for different princes. To put it bluntly, although this Alinga was the uncle of Yongzheng (Yin Chan), he was a member of the Eight Masters Party.
Don't forget, the people's Aling'a is not only Yongzheng's uncle, but also the uncle of the Fourteenth Brother Yinyu, moreover, Aling'a is also the uncle of the Tenth Brother Yinchen, supporting the Eighth Master, what's wrong, no?
Alinga not only recommended the Eight Brothers Yinyu in the 48th year of the Kangxi Dynasty's new crown prince, but also spread the bad news of the abolition of the prince Yinrong, so that people believed that Alinga was accompanied by Yinchen (Yongzheng) to spread it in this way. Moreover, this incident was not a small blow to Yin Chan (Yongzheng), so after Yin Chan succeeded to the throne, he liquidated Alinga, and even if Alinga died, he had to re-engrave "The Tomb of Ling'a, Who Is Not a Subject, Not a Brother, Aruchi and Greedy".
However, one thing is more surprising, Ah Ling's son-in-law, The Seventeenth Brother Yinli, is on the side of Yongzheng, so that after Yongzheng succeeds to the throne, Yinli is reused. (I have to say that the factional struggle of the royal family is really too complicated)
After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, this Alinga family was planted.
Alinga's second son, Alsuna (Yongzheng's cousin), was even executed, and the whole family had no family property, was punished as a slave in the Xinzhiku, and sent to the Guangxi Yanmai Land, and this Arsonga who was executed by Yongzheng was the grandfather of Cheng's concubine.
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, the Cheng Concubine's family was pardoned and the whole family was able to return to the flag. However, the Duke was inherited by Yin De, the sixth son of Shu bilon.
The Shungui of the Qianlong harem (who had been given the title of Shun Concubine and later demoted) was Yin De's granddaughter, so from this point of view, shungui should be the cousin of Cheng's concubine. (Yin De and Aling'a are brothers, Shungui is Yin De's granddaughter, and Concubine Cheng is Aling's great-granddaughter)
In addition, Daoguang was originally matched with Empress Xiaomucheng, who was Yin De's great-granddaughter, that is to say, Empress Xiaomucheng was a cousin of Concubine Cheng, in addition to Empress Xiaomucheng, the Yellow Banner Niu Hulu clan also produced Empress Xiaozhaoren, Empress Xiaoshengxian, Empress Xiaoherui, and Empress Xiaozhenxian, a total of five empresses (Note: Empress Daoguang Xiaoquancheng is the only empress of the Niuhulu clan who is not from the Hongyi principality)
I have to say that these are full of knowledge points!
2. Eight Flags draft into the palace
In the twenty-second year of Qianlong, the daughter of 13-year-old Mu Kedeng, Niu Hulu (Cheng Concubine), was selected into the palace through the Eight Banners Draft, and in June of the same year, she was named Lan Guiren. After entering the palace, the Niu Hulu clan lived with Shu Fei in the Yongshou Palace.
To say that this man is unlucky, drink cold water and stuff his teeth.
Although the Niuhulu family was pardoned as early as the beginning of Qianlong's succession, their family had long lost its former glory, and after entering the palace, although the Niuhulu clan was favored by Qianlong, it was only a whim, and Qianlong did not pay too much attention to her, if not, she would have been a concubine long ago.
In fact, in the harem of the Qing Dynasty, those eunuchs and palace women who were waiting for them were also very good at looking at the eyes and acting. Which master is favored cannot be easily provoked, on the other hand, if the master is not favored, these eunuchs and palace women will be bold.
According to the data, after the Niu Hulu clan entered the palace, a eunuch stole clothes more than once, and the clothes were taken out by the eunuchs to exchange money outside the palace, which was a big deal, niu Hulu clan was no longer favored, and was also the emperor's concubine, if you were a eunuch who wanted to bully, you could be bullied, and later this eunuch was assigned to the armored people as slaves.
From the twenty-second year of Qianlong's entry into the palace to the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong, in the past twenty years, the Niuhulu clan has also accompanied Qianlong on three visits to the Rehe River, during which he has also been demoted to a regular once, which shows that this Niuhulu clan is really not a favored master.
3. The Imperial Concubine of the Qing Dynasty who fell into the water and died
In June of the 41st year of Qianlong, Concubine Shun, the cousin of the Niuhulu clan, was promoted to concubine because of her pregnancy. The Niu Hulu clan also seemed to have a hint of joy, and in November of that year he was made a concubine and was crowned on the same day as Jin Chang.
However, due to the death of Empress Dowager Chongqing (Empress Xiaoshengxian) in the first month of the second year (the forty-second year of Qianlong), the canonization ceremony of the Niuhulu clan had to be postponed until the first day of February in the 44th year of Qianlong, when the Niuhulu clan was crowned together with her cousin Concubine Shun, and the title was Cheng Concubine:
"The Purple Court is in office. Nie Yang Ming Yu Fen. Dan Zhen sealed. It is advisable to prepare the engraving ceremony. Tega's rank. Pi Huan Yi Zhang. Ergui Niu Hulu clan, Yu Zhi He. Be humble. Xiefang type yu lancer. Inside, there is no violation. Bong jie zhi yu Xuan Min. CiYu Ke Ho. Tin with dragon light. Increase the brilliance of Zhai's clothes. I hereby follow the will of the Empress Dowager. Feng Er is a concubine. Erqi paid homage to Mizhao. Mao Yan Yu Jia No Ze. Honorary title type vice. Double-handedly shu shu prudent. Thanks. ”
Shun Concubine Book:
"Xuan Xuan chooses virtue." Cheng Qingze in pepper coating. Engraving. Jin was sealed in Zhijian. Rank Shin Seok. Dian Xie Rong said. Ershun concubine Niu Hulu clan. The Yumoto family. Discipline the Inner Rules. The order of the proverbs. Teach Nathan. The Qingfen of The History of Yantu. Yizhang-style preparation. Both Hongyu's grams and vices. It is advisable to add glory to the costume. I hereby follow the will of the Empress Dowager. Feng Er was a concubine. Erqiwei pipe Yan Zhen. Yimao Roujia's reputation. Ming Huang served. Beware of caution. Thanks. ”
By comparing the Cheng Concubine Niu Hu Lu clan and the Shun Concubine Register, it can be found that there is no similar statement in the Cheng Concubine Book text of "Early Yu Famous Gate", but the Shun Concubine Book has such a statement as "Yu Ben Family", that is to say, although it is also from the Yellow Flag Button Hu Lu Clan, but the Cheng Concubine branch is completely lost, and the Shun Concubine branch is the nouveau riche of the imperial court.
In the first half of the 49th year of Qianlong, Cheng Concubine accompanied Qianlong on a southern tour, and on the night of April 11, a strange scene occurred: Cheng Concubine went to the side of the boat at night to cool off, and even lost her foot and fell into the water, and was later caught and buried.
A key piece of information is revealed here, that the concubine was "fished" rather than rescued. That is to say, Cheng Concubine lost her footing and fell into the water and no one found out, and it took a while before it was "fished" up, and there may be no one around Cheng Concubine at that time.
There are two possibilities for how The Concubine fell into the water:
First, it is that I am not careful, it is estimated that I am drowsy in the shade, and I accidentally fall into the water.
Second, it may be pushed into the water by someone, after all, a person accidentally lost his foot, and the probability of no one around him is still relatively low, so the possibility of Cheng Concubine being deliberately framed is very large. But what is the use of framing such an unloved person?
As for whether Qianlong sent someone to investigate after Cheng Concubine fell into the water, we do not know, but we only know that Cheng Concubine was then buried and transported back to The Beijing Division by water, but did not return to the palace to stop the spirit, and was directly sent to the Jing'an Zhuang Funeral Palace.
On the eighth day of September in the 49th year of Qianlong, the concubine Niu Hulu was buried in the Yuling Concubine Garden, estimated to be about forty years old.
Zichen said:
Although Concubine Cheng was born into a Manchurian family such as the Yellow Banner Niu Hulu Clan, she was a courtier after Yongzheng, and even though the family was pardoned and was elected to the harem by Qianlong, she did not receive the favor of the emperor. But even so, it is very good to be able to end well until old age. However, heaven seems to be deliberately trying to trick this ill-fated woman, so that she eventually became a ghost in the water, and I have to say that this is the sadness of women of that era!
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Qing Dynasty