When we talk about Cixi, we will think of the ugly old woman in the late Qing Dynasty who listened to the government and misbehaved the country, "Ugly deeds are often accompanied by filthy smells, and fornication is always the same as evil." In Cixi's personal private life, there is another one that is often said, that is, open behavior and chaotic harem. On this point, in her may only be a "sub-section" issue, the official history book is ashamed to say, outsiders are difficult to know the secrets, but the wild history rumors have a nose and an eye, here are the following:
1. Cixi does not forget her lover.
According to the "Chongling Transmission Record" and other sources:
"Xiao Qin's father served as the deputy general of Hunan, died in an official, and his sisters were lost, poor, and almost unable to do anything."
When the ship was moored in Qingjiangpu, it happened that the ship of a friend of Wu Tang in the local Zhixian County sailed here. Wu Zhixian sent three hundred taels of silver as a consolation, but unexpectedly the silver giver mistakenly sent the funeral to Lan'er (Empress Dowager Cixi's breast name) sister boat. Wu Tang was furious and immediately ordered someone to chase him back.
An aide dissuaded: I heard that the ship was a Manchurian bridesmaid, and went to Beijing to choose a woman, and once this woman was selected, Yu Gong might be advantageous. Wu Tang thought that it was also reasonable, and immediately pushed the boat along the water, personally went to mourn, and sure enough, she touched that Lan'er, and she said to her sister: "My sister has achieved great success day by day, and she has not forgotten this thought." "The next day I set sail north. Who knew that Wu Tang's son Wu Qing also took a fancy to this beautiful Lan'er. He hid from his father, took the book boy, and hurried to the Hongze Lake. Lan Er learned that it was Enweng's son who came, saw that he was born with a table of talents, and immediately developed a good feeling, immediately welcomed into the warehouse, and thus privately made a love, agreeing to marry Qin Jin.
Later, Lan Errong selected a talented woman and ascended to the Ninth Heaven one step at a time, but did not forget to return to the Wu family. She first appointed Wu Tang as the governor of Sichuan, then gave Wu Qing the official Huaiyang Hetai, and then promoted him to the governor of Caoyun and the governor of Jiangning. Later, Wu Qing participated in the Kangliang Transformation Law, was arrested and imprisoned, and when he was cut off from the list in the circle, this former Lan'er did not forget his old feelings, zhu pen turned, leaving Wu Qing a life.
2. Cixi raises male pets.
As a woman in charge of the imperial power, she also had a face for herself like Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty. This Western Empress dowager has been widowed since she was twenty-six years old, and naturally she cannot bear the loneliness of empty rooms, and she cannot help but resort to sound and color. Originally, there was a "Xiyuan Drama Class" composed of internal guards in the palace, and the acting skills were also very good. However, Cixi just couldn't look at them, and under the pretext that their tone was astringent, she asked the grand master Li Lianying to introduce a famous person to the palace to perform. After the drama was dispersed, he ordered a person to keep the inner palace, called the drama, which was actually a declaration of adultery.
According to legend, yang Xiaolou, a famous martial artist at that time, was particularly favored by him, and specially gave him a nickname called "Sanyuan", often giving him a "special reward", and one reward was two, and this affair was transmitted inside and outside the palace. Later, Yang Xiaolou was afraid of harming himself, and ran to beijing to become a Taoist priest in the Baiyun Temple outside the Xiben Gate in Beijing. When Cixi heard this, she still remembered it, and repeatedly rumored that he had entered the palace to sing, and Yang Xiaolou had to pretend to be crazy, which escaped her entanglement. Of course, Li Lianying understood the hunger and thirst of Empress Dowager Xi, and in order to provide for her sexual pleasure, she set up a dark room in the palace, constantly selecting handsome workers, and Cixi did not refuse to accept them, so she could not do without this general manager of the Great Interior, and personally gave Li Lianying the second product to wear as a sign of grace. The transaction after the top is mysterious, but it is actually well known.
Cixi's male pets are not limited to celebrities, but she also likes young and handsome men in society. According to the late Qing Dynasty scholar Wen Tingshi's "Notes on Smelling Dust Dolls", in the eighth year of Guangxu (1882 AD), Li Lianying introduced a beautiful man surnamed Bai from Liulichang into the palace, who was loved by Cixi, and soon became pregnant, which was detected by the Eastern Empress Dowager Ci'an, who thought that she had finally grasped Cixi's handle and wanted to rectify it well to revitalize the palace rules. She secretly sent a key member of the ceremonial department to get rid of Cixi. This person was well aware of Cixi's methods and advised Empress Dowager Dong to act cautiously. Soon after, Empress Dowager Ci'an died violently in the palace, apparently Cixi had poisoned her, and no one dared to mention Cixi's pregnancy anymore.
In addition to this man with the surname Bai, it is said that Cixi also had a crush on an imperial doctor named Yao Baosheng. This person was over fifty years old, with a handsome body and elegant conversation, and was summoned to the Chuxiu Palace many times to "diagnose his pulse". At first, Cixi only exposed her jade wrist through the yarn tent, but later she simply removed these trivial gifts, and the wind in the palace caused a lot of gossip.
3. Cixi had an illegitimate son.
According to the "Wild History of the Qing Dynasty", Cixi loved to eat Tang Wo Guo, and spent 24 taels of silver every morning, and only bought four Tang Wo Guo.
This kind of snack making process is complex, and only the Jinhua restaurant on Qianmen Street can make it. The restaurant had a man surnamed Shi, who was born with a dignified appearance and specialized in sending soup and fruit, which attracted Cixi's heart when he came and went, so he kept this person in the palace. Jinhua Restaurant sensed the inside story, and no one dared to ask the whereabouts of the guy, so he had to send someone else on an errand. Later, Cixi quietly gave birth to a baby boy. At that time, the Xianfeng Emperor had been dead for ten years, and the son born could not be kept in the palace, so he had to give the child to her sister, Fu Jin of prince Shuo. The Prince of Alcohol's family understood and carefully cared for them as if they were their own.
Soon, Empress Dowager Cixi, tired of the young man surnamed Shi, found an excuse to kill him. A few years later, the Tongzhi Emperor died, and there were no heirs to inherit the unification, Cixi remembered the original child, so he pulled the succession from his sister's house, which was the Guangxu Emperor of Qingdezong. Nominally he was Cixi's nephew, but in fact he was a son. So far, in some dramas, films and televisions, the Guangxu Emperor has also called Cixi "pro-father".
4. Cixi complex palace castration.
In empress dowager Xi's life, there were always one or two intimate eunuchs around her, such as An Dehai, Li Lianying, Zhang Rand, etc., all of whom had a very close relationship with Cixi. In particular, An Dehai, he and Cixi had the most gossip, and even the ten-year-old little emperor could not look at it.
According to the fifth chapter of the sixth chapter of the "Foreign History of the Qing Dynasty", "The Volta of Andehai", Comparing An Dehai to Yan Yi, and even the ten-year-old child knows about the affair between the two, it can be seen that Cixi's love affair has reached the point where everyone knows it.
Regarding the love affair between Cixi and Andehai, it is also recorded in volume 7 of the third volume of the Great View of the Wild History of the Qing Dynasty, and the two are roughly in harmony, which shows that the matter between Cixi and Andehai is not a vain statement. Subsequently, this little Anzi became more and more bold, and he went to Guangdong on the orders of Empress Xi to buy dragon clothes, violating the ancestral system of eunuchs not allowed to leave the capital, and was beheaded in Jinan by Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, and ended up with a deserved end. After Andehai's death, another well-behaved eunuch, Li Lianying, filled the vacancy.
Although this person was quick-witted and intelligent, because of his long face and thick lips, Cixi only let him comb his hair and do things. Later, the young and handsome eunuch Zhang Rand became another lover of hers.
Zhang Rand, also known as Xiao Dezhang, was another eunuch in the late Qing Dynasty. Not only was he born handsome, but he was also articulate, and was favored by Cixi when he was singing in the "Oriole Hall", and promoted him to the side as the "Eight Treasure Eunuch", who was specifically responsible for managing the four treasures of the study room and the seal, Buddha beads, tibetan incense, etc. Because of his diligent service and smooth handling, he was soon promoted to the position of chief of clothing, eunuch of the imperial court, and head of the imperial dining room, and the official residence sanpin was only one step away from li Lianying's grand master, and he was only twenty-four years old! At this time, although Cixi had entered old age, she was still in love with Xiao Dezhang, either explicitly or secretly. In order to cover up this extremely abnormal affair, it is said that Xiao Dezhang once recognized Cixi as a dry mother.
After the fall of the Qing government, Xiao Dezhang ran to the Tianjin mansion to "Nafu", married four wives at once, and even sneaked to the Qinglou, whether this eunuch was true or false is self-evident, and the reason why Empress Dowager Cixi favored him can be imagined.
Judging from the above several theories, Cixi seems to have been an unorthodox woman since she was a girl, and after entering the court, especially after ranking empress and empress, she not only did not restrain but became more and more powerful. Despite the depth of the palace and the majesty of the king's law, these scandals were still irresistibly spread, and some of them turned into black and white words. However, these are just gossip, and the so-called black and white words are not found in the official history, and even her political enemies are not recorded. The predecessors have long had the question of "the puppy barking in the air, and who is forbidden to come in the late night palace".
So, is Empress Dowager Cixi really a "merry" woman?
Before clarifying this issue, it is useful to look at some of the situations related to it.
Empress Dowager Cixi, known historically as Empress Xiaoqinxian. If only from the surface, it is indeed a beautiful woman who can fascinate all men, and the official shu yeshi has mentioned her beauty. For example, the "Great View of the Wild History of the Qing Dynasty" contains:
"The western back of the hair is well groomed. ...... Every time Xihou traveled, the bystanders of the Dao murmured joyful praise, saying that the incarnation of the Heavenly Immortals was not a passing. ”
Some film and television dramas depict Lan Guiren, who has recently entered the palace, who charmed the Xianfeng Emperor by singing the small song "Sunny Days", but in fact, this is just an artistic imagination. Judging from the records of the Internal Affairs Office in the third year of Xianfeng (1853 AD), there are ten empresses, concubines, Lan Guiren, Li Guiren, Wan Guiren, Yi Guiren, Rong Changzai, Xin Changzai, Ming Changzai, and Mei Changzai in the harem, and the Lan Guiren Nala clan ranks third. On April 27 of the sixth year of Xianfeng, the Nala clan gave birth to a son, whose position rose to the second, and did not change until the death of The Xianfeng Emperor. If her appearance is not superior in the harem, I am afraid that this position is rare.
Even when Cixi reached the age of ancient rarity, its charm was still very charming. The American female painter Carr, who painted her portrait, wrote in her book "Miscellaneous Records of Qing Officials":
"The empress dowager is a very beautiful and kind lady." He was only forty years old (in fact, he was sixty-nine years old). ...... Yanran smiled, and her posture was full of emotion, which was naturally pleasing. ”
After she entered the palace, she could quickly get the favor of the special room, and her extraordinary beauty could not but be said to be a primary condition.
Beautiful women often attract attention, which is also an important factor in the easy to produce scandals. Yet take a look at her family and origins. Some of the gossip, of course, disappeared.
Narashi, who grew up well, had a good diet and was well educated, otherwise it would be difficult for her to easily approve the recital and issue the "Yi Zhi" in the future. From the beginning of her understanding, she is a woman who knows books and etiquette, and belongs to the more standard "show girls". On March 28, the first year of Xianfeng (1851 AD), the Nala clan took a mule cart into the palace draft, and from then on, they were close to Long Yan and stepped step by step to the peak of power in the Qing Empire. It is true that in the official arena before and after her entry into the palace, there was indeed a discussion that she was Wu Tang's righteous daughter, and some said that she had accepted Wu Qing's help many times and became his lover.
So is there such a thing?
Legend has it that although there is a nose and an eye, just by looking at the experience of his father Huizheng, you can see that there is no factual basis for the records of the Chongling Transmission and Other Information.
First of all, Hui Zheng was a pen-and-post official, and it was impossible to release his military post, so naturally he did not go to be a deputy general in Hunan. When Nala was thirteen or fourteen years old, his father was severely attacked by the Taiping Army during his tenure at Ningchi Guangtai Dao, and he fled to Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, with the official yin and silver, and Xianfeng was dismissed from his post in April of the third year, and died of illness in Zhenjiang shortly after. And the Nala clan had been elected to the palace two years ago and named "Lan Guiren", she did not go to her father's funeral, why did she accept Wu Tang's "silver gift"? How could he make love to Wu Qing in the ship's warehouse? According to archival records, the Nala clan was born and raised in Beijing before entering the palace, and never went to the south, and the so-called "lover" is only a speculation.
As for cixi's raising of male pets, this is also not true.
Yes, Nala does love to listen to Beijing opera, which is related to the fact that she grew up in Beijing. Moreover, there were many dignitaries who loved to listen to Beijing opera, such as the Guangxu Emperor and many princes and ministers who were fascinated by Beijing opera. These people watch the drama, of course, can not go to the opera garden like ordinary people, can only let the drama class into the palace. Many famous characters such as Tan Xinpei, Chen Delin, Wang Yaoqing, Wang Fengqing, Qian Jinfu, Wang Changlin, and Yang Xiaolou often entered the palace to perform, sometimes called "inner court offerings", however, this kind of "offering" is not in vain obligations, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued money and grain on a monthly basis, the amount is also very considerable, if you meet Cixi happy, you can also give some special rewards, such as rings, jade pieces, beads, ribbons, etc., and sometimes give "red packets", which contain one hundred and two silver.
Wusheng Yang Xiaolou is the favorite role of Empress Dowager Cixi, his appearance is handsome, his voice is bright, his skills are solid, and he is very young, and his performances such as "Evil Tiger Village", "Serial Set", "Falling Horse Lake" and other "Eight Great Take" plays are more loved by Cixi, almost to the point of not getting tired of watching.
Yang Xiaolou's name of "Sanyuan" was not given by Cixi, but his original name, which is not well known. Sometimes Yang Xiaolou really took two "special rewards", but this was not Cixi's preference for him, but there was a reason. It turned out that Yang Xiaolou was the righteous son of Tan Xinpei, the famous Susheng, and the two often went together to be "inner court offerings". Tan Xinpei received the "special reward" and handed it to Yang Xiaolou to take home, others did not know the bottom, mistakenly thought that he was extra rewarded, and there were rumors after a long time. Yang Xiaolou was afraid of harming himself, so he had to become a Taoist priest. However, Cixi, who also did not know the truth, still sent Yang Xiaolou to the palace as an errand boy, and he had to pretend to be crazy to hide, until Empress Dowager Cixi died, and then reappeared on stage to sing.
As for the thing said in the Wenting style "Smelling Dust Dolls", it was originally hearsay. Empress Dowager Ci'an's death was also a normal illness, which is well documented in the Qing Palace medical case, and it was not Cixi who killed her for fear of "adultery" being exposed. The so-called other male pet, Yao Baosheng, is also a figment.
According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty and The Empress Dowager", in the sixth to eighth years of Guangxu (1880-1882 AD), Cixi was ill, and the emperor ordered the governors of various places to recommend doctors to diagnose and treat the empress. During this period, the imperial physician Yao Baosheng had more strength and thus received more rewards, and some imperial doctors spread bad things about him out of jealousy. In fact, Yao Shi was full of guts, and he did not dare to do anything with the Nala clan, not to mention that Cixi was a seriously ill person at that time.
The claim that the Guangxu Emperor had an illegitimate son for Empress Dowager Cixi is even more nonsense.
This matter stems from the ignorance of the people and is not worth refuting. It is not surprising why the Guangxu Emperor directly called Cixi "his father", during the Tongzhi and Guangxu years of the Qing Dynasty, Cixi actually occupied the position of Emperor Taishang, and this high position could only be occupied by the emperor's father. In order to show her legitimacy and honor as Emperor Taishang, Cixi asked Guangxu to call herself "Father Kiss".
She herself once said: "The Father of the Guangxu Emperor is prince Alcohol, his mother is my sister, and my sister's son is the same as my own." When this word spread, it gave rise to the so-called "biological" rumors, and this rumor was the most confusing, and many people believed it to be true. The reason why the Guangxu Emperor called the Nala clan, who held a high position in the Taishang Emperor, was "pro-father" to hide the suspicion of not being a relative, and was not her biological son.
If Cixi is in love with the harem, the most rumored and most influential thing is her relationship with the three eunuchs of Andehai, Li Lianying and Zhang Land.
This is also due to the history of barnyard wilds, and there will not and cannot be an official record of this. Nara's relationship with the three eunuchs was truly extraordinary.
First of all, Andhai, a bold and insightful figure, in the "Xin You Coup Case", Andhai passed on secrets for the Nara clan, contacted important people, and made great contributions, thus becoming her hardcore cronies. In July of the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), he was rewarded with seven pins to wear, and two months later he was promoted to six pins to wear blue plume eunuchs, and his promotion speed was so fast that he broke the precedent of the Qing Palace.
However, this person does not know how to advance and retreat, and there are too many enemies. On July 16 of the eighth year of the Tongzhi dynasty, he "called himself Chincha and wore dragon robes" and was ordered to purchase dragon robes. The ship rans through Hengjia, Shandong, and demanded that the governor of Texas, Zhao Xin, hand over five thousand taels of silver. Zhao Xinshang sued Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, and Ding Cha, knowing that An Dehai did not have the holy will of the Tongzhi Emperor, sent the general Wang Zhengqi to Chase Tai'an to capture him, beheaded him on the grounds that "the ancestral eunuch was not allowed to leave the capital, and the offender was "not pardoned", and died violently for three days in Jinan's Dingzi Street.
Ding Baozhen played according to the facts, and although Empress Dowager Cixi was bitter in her heart. But he still praised Ding, saying that he was very good at doing things. Ding Baozhen knew in his heart that the violent corpse had clarified the rumors that she had an ambiguous relationship with Andehai, which was tantamount to dispelling rumors for Empress Dowager Cixi, which showed that the two were not ruthless and chaotic.
Let's talk about Li Lianying. His relationship with Cixi is also very historical. He had a compatriot named Shen Lanyu, who worked as a eunuch in the Nala clan and was very rich, which caused Li Lianying's eyes to be hungry. So Yu Xianfeng castrated himself into the palace in the sixth year, changed his name to Li Jinxi, and combed the hair of the Nala clan under the recommendation of Shen Lanyu. Every time there is a fall of hair, it is hidden in the sleeve, and deliberately imitates the new hairstyle of the Qinglou woman at that time, which makes this Lan Guifei who is competing for favors very happy and soon becomes a confidant.
In the last years of Xianfeng, the powerful minister SuShun and other words had a hook and a bow, intending to get rid of the Nala clan, Li Lianying learned of this intention, and crawled out of the dog hole that night to ventilate the message, so that the Nala clan could take precautions as early as possible and avoid the disaster of destruction, how could she not look at this loyal slave differently after she took power?
More importantly, Li Lianying was good at greeting and had evil wisdom, and many of Cixi's immoralities had a lot to do with her inducement. Li Lianying's victory came after Andehai's death. In October of the eleventh year of Tongzhi, he was rewarded with six pins and wearing flower plumes. Two years later, he was promoted to the position of eunuch at the head of the Chuxiu Palace, and in October of the same year, he was rewarded with four pins and wearing flower plumes. By the time Li Lianying was fifty years old, she had been promoted to the rank of Erpin Dingding, and the silver rice of the lunar eclipse had surged from the original four or two five dollars to forty-eight two, becoming the eunuch chief of the eight-sided might. Li Lianying's origins are also an exception in the history of the Qing Palace. However, when it comes to Cixi's relationship with him, there is no conclusive evidence.
Xiao Dezhang and Empress Dowager Cixi could not have had that relationship. Not to mention whether he would be able to hide from Li Lianying when he did such a thing, it was impossible only in terms of age. Just think, how much more can an old woman in her sixties and seventies spend?
Regarding Xiao Dezhang and other powers to get a wife after he was castrated from the palace, this is not a miracle. Eunuchs marrying wives has been very fashionable in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but it cannot be considered that eunuchs marrying wives must be false eunuchs, not to mention that in order to ensure the "safety" and "purity" of the royal inner courtyard, not only the eunuchs who have newly entered the palace must be strictly inspected, but also the eunuchs who have entered the palace should be looked down on every three years and a big inspection every five years to prevent someone from "making a fuss out of the ordinary."
No matter how good the relationship between Andehai, Li Lianying, Xiao Dezhang, and others with the Nala clan was, I am afraid that at the beginning and for a period of time after entering the palace, it would be difficult to escape this crucial examination, how could they imagine that they could hide for more than ten years or decades without being discovered?
History has already reached a conclusion on Cixi's evaluation. Her authoritarianism, viciousness, cruelty, cunning, extravagance, greed, etc., can find a lot of real evidence. When it comes to her affair, there are always many anecdotes and legends, and few cases that can withstand scrutiny.
In short, the reason why she has so many scandals may be related to her early widowhood, and she is an empress who has been in power for decades, which is easy to remind people of Wu Zetian, who raises her face. In addition, she has accumulated many grievances in her life, some people have orchestrated such scandals to damage her reputation, and the street talk is very keen on this kind of rumor that has been seen for a long time, and these seemingly true stories have been passed around.