Respect it
The Qing Dynasty was also a woman, and the dead were also women.
In the history of Qing rule, the early Empress Xiaozhuang and the late Empress Dowager Cixi were great politicians. It can be said that the existence of both of them directly determined the fate of the Qing Dynasty for forty or fifty years. Although the two women have been separated by more than two hundred years, their political experiences are very similar, but the endings are very different.
Xiaozhuang influenced the three dynasties of Emperor Taiji, Shunzhi and Kangxi, and witnessed the growing prosperity of the Qing Dynasty, while Cixi contacted the Three Dynasties of Xianfeng, Tongzhi, and Guangxu, and accompanied the Qing Dynasty to its decline.
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Let's start with Empress Xiaozhuang.
Xiaozhuang, whose original name was Bumubutai, was from the Horqin department of Mongolia and married Emperor Taiji at the age of 13. After Emperor Taiji, that is, the Khan's throne, Bumubutai was given the title of Concubine of the West Side, also known as The Western Palace Fujin, and later as the Princess Zhuang of Yongfu Palace, and chongde gave birth to the ninth son of the emperor in the third year (1638) and later the Shunzhi Emperor Fulin.
In the "Secret History of Xiaozhuang", Liu Dekai's version of Emperor Taiji and the tranquil version of Zhuang Concubine
In August of the eighth year of Chongde, Emperor Taiji died, and Princess Zhuang was given the compromise and help of her younger uncle Rui Prince Dolgun, who helped her son Fu Lin to take the throne, changing the era name to "Shunzhi", and honoring her aunt and Empress Xiaoduanwen in the two palaces, and was called the Empress Dowager. In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi, the ancestor died, and the third son of the emperor, Xuan Ye, took the throne as the Kangxi Emperor, honored Xiaozhuang as the empress dowager, and called Empress Zhaosheng. In December of the twenty-sixth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1687), Xiaozhuang died of illness.
And Empress Dowager Cixi?
Cixi, the empress dowager of the Haixi Jurchen Clan of the Four Yehenara clan, entered the palace at the age of 16, and Xianfeng gave lan guiren ("Yi Guiren" recorded in the Qing History Manuscript), and the following year jin was crowned yi concubine. In the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856), he was born to the later Tongzhi Emperor Zaichun, Feng Yifei, and the following year Jin Yi Guifei, Juxi Palace.
Empress
In the eleventh year of Xianfeng (1861), the Xianfeng Emperor died and was honored with Empress Xiaozhenxian (Ci'an) and was called Empress Dowager. Later, in conjunction with Empress Dowager Ci'an, the younger uncle Prince Gong yishi launched the Xin You coup d'état, forming a pattern of "the second palace hanging curtains, the prince deliberating on the government". In 1875, the Tongzhi Emperor died and died, and Cixi chose his nephew Zai Xiang to succeed the emperor, with the era name Guangxu, and the two palaces once again bowed to the government. After Ci'an's death, Cixi had monopoly power. In November 1908, the Guangxu Emperor died, and Cixi chose the 3-year-old Puyi as the new emperor, and he was honored as the empress dowager on the same day, and died the next day.
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Although Xiaozhuang did not bow to the government like Cixi, she was the best political mentor of the two emperors during the Shunzhi Dynasty and the early Kangxi Dynasty. Both Xiaozhuang and Cixi were assisted by concubines of the Western Palace with the help of their younger uncle, and their mother, gui, stepped onto the peak of imperial power, and changed from empress dowager to empress dowager, which determined the direction of the Qing Dynasty for a long period of time.
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Not only that, but when they were concubines, they showed full political talent.
In March of the seventh year of Chongde (1642), the Qing army captured hong chengyu, the governor of Jiliao in the Ming Dynasty, and emperor Taiji ordered that Hong be taken to Shengjing and sent Hanchen Fan Wencheng to persuade him in turn. Emperor Taiji knew that hundreds of thousands of Qing troops and millions of Qing people could not completely defeat millions of Ming troops and tens of millions of Ming people, and if he wanted to win this war, he must subdue such a great talent as Hong Chengzuo. Who expected, Hong is unyielding, Huang Taiji is quite hesitant, and the food is not sweet.
Concubine Zhuang of Yongfu Palace took the initiative to ask for help, personally persuaded, "with a pot to bear his lips", poured ginseng juice into him one mouthful after another, moved with affection, metaphorical reason, after several days of hard work, finally persuaded Hong Chengzuo. This matter has been widely circulated, and there have been many works of interpretation in later generations, including the novel "Qing Shi Yanyi" that Zhuang Fei used beauty to do things that could not be done under the bed, and there was a TV series "Jiangshan Wind and Rain" that Zhuang Fei borrowed the Confucian classic to worship the teacher Hong Chengzuo, but the detailed record is not found in the history, and the authenticity is still controversial in the academic community.
Cixi's work on calligraphy, on the other hand, prepared the prerequisites for his intervention in politics. During the Xianfeng Emperor's reign, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement swept through most of China in the south, and the British and French allies invaded Beijing and Tianjin all the way to the west in the north, and internal and external troubles made him feel weak and sickly. Therefore, the Xianfeng Emperor often dictated that Yi Guifei should write and approve the recital and allow her to express her opinions.
Under the eaves of the palace gate hangs the royal pen of Cixi
On September 21, 1860, the Qing army lost the Battle of Bali Bridge, the British and French forces advanced into Beijing, Xianfeng decided to flee to the Rehe Mountain Resort, Yi Guifei strongly discouraged, asked Xianfeng to stay in Beijing, continue to resist, for this anger Xianfeng, almost invited the disaster of killing. Yi Bi signed the Treaty of Beijing with the Anglo-French coalition forces, and Yi Guifei was deeply ashamed and advised Xianfeng to abrogate the treaty and fight again. Only because Xianfeng was critically ill, he had to give up.
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Not only that, but the greater the political value that Xiaozhuang and Cixi embodied during the term of office of the future monarchs.
For Filial Piety, the evaluation of future generations can speak. Yang Zhen, an expert in Qing history, said: "Xiaozhuang is recognized as an outstanding female politician of the Ming and Qing dynasties, who maintained the unity of the Qing imperial family under the particularly difficult circumstances of entering the Qing Dynasty, and protected and cultivated the historical masters of Shunzhi and Kangxi, which played an important role in reversing the split situation in China at that time and bringing China back to reunification. ”
In the Kangxi Dynasty, Sichen Gaowa's version of Xiaozhuang and Chen Daoming's version of Kangxi
As one of the parties, Kangxi's evaluation of his grandmother was more convincing: "Remembering his weak age, he lost his shame early, and he tended to inherit his grandmother's knees for more than thirty years, and he was able to cultivate and teach, so that he could succeed." If there is no grandmother, the empress dowager, it must not be established today. This affectionate passage can be found in the "Holy Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty" Volume 1 "Holy Filial Piety".
After the death of Emperor Taiji, led by his fourteenth brother Prince Dorgon the Rui Andrgun and the Emperor's eldest son Prince Su Hauge, "the brothers of the kings fought each other and spied on the artifact". The 32-year-old Xiaozhuang mediated with Empress Xiaoduan of The Emperor Taiji in many ways, so that after Dorgon was given the title of regent and real power, he supported the succession of the ninth son of the emperor, Fu Lin. Dorgon held a high position of power, still coveting the throne, and constantly forced the young lord to crown himself as his uncle regent, the emperor's uncle regent, and even the emperor's father regent, and posthumously named his birth mother as an empress, which was the emperor's business.
Ma Jingtao's version of Dolgun
Xiaozhuang assisted Shunzhi with all his strength, and also used strategy and soft and hard measures against Dorgon, alleviating his ambitions and desires, and consolidating Shunzhi's throne. Later, when the 8-year-old Kangxi ascended the throne, Xiaozhuang again assisted him, granting him the strategy of governing the country and the state, while fighting wits with sonny and Aobai, while supporting Kangxi in pacifying the "San Fan", recovering Taiwan, expelling Tsarist Russia, and personally conquering Dzungar. Many major decisions and major events in the early Kangxi period were inseparable from Xiaozhuang's planning.
Cixi, on the other hand, must use facts to explain. Empress Dowager Cixi, beginning with the eradication of the SuShun Gu faction, was particularly adept at manipulating the balance of power between pro-noble courtiers in order to maintain her absolute authority. She can make a capable prince like Yi Li rule for many years, and she can also use the corrupt straw like Yi Li to wrap the prime minister's military government. While reusing Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong and other Han courtiers to launch a foreign affairs movement at the local level, she also supported the conservative faction's strength to strengthen and restrict the western affairs faction. She could either provoke the Boxers to turn their guns around when the great powers invaded, or she could suddenly change her mind and cooperate with the foreigners to sharpen the knife to the Boxers.
Lü Zhong's version of Cixi and Wang Bing's version of Li Hongzhang in "Toward the Republic"
With the support of the achievements of the Foreign Affairs Self-Improvement Movement, Cixi spent huge sums of money to buy first-class warship guns and guns from the West, build modern army and navy armaments, train the new army, and even temporarily support the Reform of the Reform faction. When she experienced the catastrophe of Gengzi, she realized that the situation no longer allowed her to adhere to the imperial tradition - the so-called "ancestral law" allowed the Qing court to carry out a variety of new policies: reform of the official system, preparation of the constitution, abolition of the examination system, prohibition of women's foot binding, establishment of women's schools, new schools, Gengzi refunds to build education, etc.
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No matter how later generations pour dirty water on Xiaozhuang with the so-called commitment to Hong Chengyu and the marriage of Dolgun, she has made great contributions to the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty. She lived frugally, did not do luxury, and when she rebelled against the "San Francisco", she donated the silver saved by the court to reward the soldiers. Whenever she was sorry for the famine years, she always took out her palace savings to help her, and fully cooperated with and supported her grandson's cause.
Xiao Zhuang and Chen Weichen in the Kangxi Dynasty version of the infant Kangxi
Her exemplary behavior made the emperor increase his respect by twelve points. In the spring of the twenty-first year of Kangxi (1682), the emperor went out to visit Shengjing, and almost every day along the way, he sent people to greet and live in a letter, report his whereabouts, and sealed the silver carp and crucian carp he caught in the river and sent people to Beijing to give his grandmother a taste; in the autumn of the twenty-second year (1683), Kangxi accompanied his grandmother to tour Wutai Mountain, and when he arrived at the uphill area, the emperor personally supported his grandmother to protect him. Xiaozhuang was critically ill, and Kangxi stayed around day and night, personally serving soup medicine, and personally leading the prince and minister to walk to the Temple of Heaven and pray to the heavens: "If you are calculating or poor, may you reduce the age of your subjects, and hope to increase the life expectancy of the empress dowager for several years." ”
Zhao Erxunxiu's "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" commented on Xiaozhuang: "The ancestors and saints of the ancestors all practiced the ancestors with the age of Chong, and empress Xiaozhuang, at that time, there was no discussion of building a curtain. Yin worries about qisheng, settles the Central Plains, and Kedi yu Shengping. ”
However, Cixi's methods of seizing power from the court struggle were cruel, and from the perspective of China's national sovereignty, Cixi should be on the pillar of shame. In 1885, when the Qing army won the zhennanguan victory in the Sino-French War and successfully prevented the French army from landing on Taiwan, Cixi ended the war by taking the initiative to seek peace and signing the unequal Sino-French Treaty of Tianjin. At this point, Zuo Zongtang once pointed directly at Li Hongzhang, who was the lord and the lord: "As far as China is concerned, ten French generals are not as bad as one Li Hongzhang", "Li Hongzhang mistakenly exhausted his life and will be cursed for eternity." But without Cixi's decision, Li Hongzhang's prestige would not help. The Treaty of Maguan after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and the Treaty of Xinugu caused by the Gengzi Fist Rebellion in 1900 were also Li Hongzhang's chief negotiators, but Cixi, as the person responsible for the highest power, had unshirkable responsibilities.
Li Hongzhang (first from right) at the signing of the Treaty of Xinugu
Before the Sino-Japanese War, Cixi was aware of Japan's tendency to use force, but was excited about the Ministry of Internal Affairs's misappropriation of military expenses for the Beiyang Marine Division to purchase equipment, and held a longevity ceremony for it. After the Gengzi Incident, when China was faced with huge reparations from the Xin ugly peace treaty, its extravagance had not yet been significantly curbed, which aggravated the financial problems that were already stretched in the late Qing Dynasty, and the people's livelihood withered. At that time, corruption was prevalent in the official arena, cixi had insight and did not stop it, and even impeached a hundred officials, thus completely emptying the Manchu Qing, which was once a "heavenly kingdom".
The Draft History of the Qing Dynasty focuses on Zhao Erxun
The "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" also has a more objective evaluation of it: "At the end of Emperor Wenzong, the two empresses of Xiaozhen and Xiaoqin took over the political authority, there were virtuous kings inside, and there were famous generals on the outside, and they were able to level the great difficulties and praise Zhongxing." Unfortunately, Muzong was born, Empress Xiaozhen collapsed, Empress Xiaoqin listened to the government for a long time, left the palace slightly, repaired the celebration, and regarded The Holy Ancestor Fengxiaozhuang Empress and Emperor Gaozong Fengxiaosheng Empress xiaosheng did not arrest one of the ten, and the world's carers had private opinions, foreign insults and disasters were frequent, and it was not the right time. Unfortunately, he was at odds with Emperor Dezong, and once he provoked the controversy, he provoked the rebellion of Gengzi. In the evening, it is a matter of changing the law, fearing the difficulties of the Mandate of Heaven, observing the people's hearts and minds, and wanting to save them with a constitution, a hundred ends at the same time, the government is anxious and the people are annoyed, the tomb soil is not dry, and the national pace is changed. The rise and fall of a generation depends on the palace. alack! Isn't that heaven forbid? Isn't that heaven forbid? "This filial piety is Cixi."
Zhao Erxun, who has a strong say in the study of Qing history, has made a historical comparison between Cixi and Xiaozhuang.