The history of the "Lafayette" Empress Dowager Cixi can be described as the most dishonorable period in China's modern history.
However, the evaluation of Cixi has never been uniform. What kind of person is Cixi? What did Cixi do? And why does it cause disgust among people?
China's uncrowned emperor, who had been obedient to government for half a century, arrogantly controlled the Qing government, and relied on the emperor's young ignorance to become lawless.
Some people spoke highly of her, saying that she knew people well and was good at duty, respected foreign affairs, and revitalized the Qing Empire.
However, some people commented on her as extremely disgusted, saying that she was greedy for pleasure and only knew how to do whatever she wanted all day, which eventually made the Qing government a colony.
Most of the historical evaluations of him are negative, because this person not only messes with the imperial government, but also has many bad habits.
In ancient times, people's standard of living was not high, and they were often threatened by natural disasters, so in this case, people's health requirements became higher and higher.
However, at that time, most of the food people ate was made from rough food, so few people paid attention to the importance of water to human health at that time.
In this case, ancient people often drank water to replenish the missing water in the body. However, this also leads to a problem, that is, ancient people generally did not like to drink boiled water.
Because the taste of boiled water is too weak, many people will choose to replace boiled water with other drinks.
And the Empress Dowager Cixi we are going to talk about today is an exception. So did Empress Dowager Cixi drink boiled water? What if she's thirsty?
Empress Dowager Cixi's eating habits
As we all know, Empress Dowager Cixi is the most legendary woman in mainland history. As the mother-in-law of Empress Dowager Cixi, her family also obtained very rich wealth because of the favor of the emperor
However, with the decline of the end of the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi also came to the end of her life. But even so, Empress Dowager Zixi still likes to eat meat very much. She loves raw meat, and often has raw meat cut into small pieces and soaked in salted water in a bowl.
In addition to raw meat, Empress Dowager Cixi also liked to eat some meat products, such as pig brains and deer whips.
It is worth mentioning that although these foods were delicious, they were very difficult to buy at the time. Because the living conditions of the people at that time were generally poor, only the royal family had the opportunity to eat these foods.
And Empress Dowager Cixi, as the most noble person at that time, naturally could not enjoy this treatment.
Empress Dowager Cixi's solution when she was thirsty
According to relevant sources, Empress Dowager Cixi did not drink water like other women when she was thirsty, but would put water into her mouth.
Moreover, Empress Dowager Cixi also paid a lot of attention to drinking water, that is, to drink it in a small sip. If you drink too quickly, it may cause irritation to your mouth and affect your diet.
When Empress Dowager Cixi was thirsty, she would pour a small portion from her mouth, then take the rest of the water in her mouth, and dilute the water again with saliva. In this way, the feeling of thirst can be greatly relieved.
However, although this method sounds troublesome, it is not as cumbersome as you think. Because we know that Empress Dowager Cixi is not a person who likes to drink water in ordinary times, she can use such a method to solve her thirst.
Moreover, Empress Dowager Cixi would not drink water in large gulps like others, but would drink in small sips. Because she uses saliva to dilute the water, she doesn't waste water at all.
Cixi's requirements for water
The method that Cixi used to quench his thirst was simply strange, and ordinary people could not understand it, which was unimaginable.
As everyone knows, Cixi promoted the Qing Empire to become a semi-colony and a laughing stock of the world.
Moreover, when Cixi was in power, the country was very dark, and in order to allow self-study and pleasure, officials at all levels emptied the treasury and shielded each other.
Moreover, Cixi also spent a lot of money on the national treasury for his own happiness, which eventually left the Qing army empty and unable to resist the invaders of various countries.
Just when the country was worried about internal and external troubles and the people were living in dire straits, Cixi Que did not care about the life or death of the people and the rise and fall of the country, just for his own pleasure.
According to historical records, Cixi had more than 100 dishes for each meal every day, many of which were eaten in one bite, and some were not even eaten, just to look good.
Although we all know that the life of ordinary emperors is almost like this, but that is when the country is rich and powerful, and the emperor does not have as much as Cixi's meal.
You must know that in the Qing Empire at that time, the food intake and living habits of ordinary people, the food wasted by Cixi for a meal, which could be worth a month's food for ordinary families.
So we can see that Cixi's life is very luxurious, of course, in addition to the luxury of eating, Cixi's clothing, food, housing and transportation are very luxurious.
Cixi believes that women are made of water, and in order to keep himself young and young forever, she is very harsh in daily water.
First of all, after Cixi took power, she did not drink a drop of boiled water, although there are many wells in Bauhinia City, but for Cixi, they are all decorations.
The water that Cixi drinks every day must be fresh spring water brought down from Yuquan Mountain, because if it is fresh spring water, it must be transported every day.
In addition, Cixi also loves roses very much, she believes that roses are the most beautiful flowers in the world, so if you soak roses in water and make rose tea, you can maintain your youth forever.
Therefore, in addition to collecting fresh spring water every day, the palace eunuchs also had to pick fresh roses, and use the water of Yuquan Mountain to brew rose petals and make rose tea.
Cixi only drinks rose tea, and what is even more surprising is that the water used by Cixi to brush her teeth and rinse her mouth is different from ordinary people.
The water used by Cixi to brush her teeth and rinse her mouth is not ordinary water, but flower dew water every morning.
In order for Cixi to use water to brush his teeth and rinse his mouth, his palace maids had to get up early every day and go to the imperial garden to collect dew for Cixi.
Not only does Cixi brush her teeth and rinse her mouth with fresh flower water every morning, but she also rinses her mouth with flower dew water every time she finishes eating.
She cleans her mouth with flower dew water every time she eats to ensure that after each meal, she can still have a fresh fragrance in the inside.
From these habits, we can know that Cixi's daily life is quite moist.
Although Cixi's life was very nourishing, in which era, the life of the people could be described as a poor life for the people, and the country was also troubled internally and externally.
But as the supreme ruler, her own life is quite moist, more or less out of fashion.
It was really for this reason that the Qing government began to slowly decline, because of Cixi's profligacy, so the people hated her to the bone.
If a country does not have the support of the people, then the country will not survive for long, so the Qing government gradually went to destruction.
Finally, three years after Cixi's death, the Qing government was completely disintegrated.
Speaking of Cixi's death, Cixi also squandered after her death, she built her own tomb and used a lot of jewelry to accompany the burial.
Why does Cixi have such great power?
Empress Dowager Cixi was the de facto ruler of the late Qing dynasty, and she was the most powerful woman in the Qing dynasty.
Starting with the Xianfeng Emperor, to the Tongzhi Emperor, the Guangxu Emperor, and finally to the Puyi Emperor, almost all important events in the history of the Qing Dynasty were decided by Empress Dowager Cixi.
Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi was the biggest political conspirator of the late Qing Dynasty and the largest political conspirator in the history of the late Qing Dynasty. For this, many people agree.
Empress Dowager Cixi had already held the real power of the Qing Dynasty since the beginning of the Xianfeng Emperor, and had a great influence on the political direction of the entire Qing Dynasty.
Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi has always been known as the greatest political conspirator of the late Qing Dynasty.
In fact, Empress Dowager Cixi has always used her power and power to seek personal gain for herself.
This is also traced in the history of the late Qing Dynasty. It can be said that Empress Dowager Cixi did not hesitate to betray the country and the people for personal gain, and she was an extremely selfish and greedy woman.
Empress Dowager Ci'an, like Empress Dowager Cixi, was the de facto ruler of the late Qing dynasty. At that time, China had been bullied by Western powers for a long time, and many people were eager to get better, but Empress Dowager Ci'an and Empress Dowager Cixi were people who did not want China to become better.
When the Sino-Japanese naval battle broke out and China suffered a crushing defeat, Empress Dowager Cixi, like Empress Dowager Ci'an, was a person who very much wanted China to be better. At that time, the Guangxu Emperor was even more bent on changing the law, and so was Empress Dowager Cixi.
However, what Empress Dowager Cixi, like Empress Dowager Ci'an, did not expect was that the Guangxu Emperor's road to changing the law turned out to be so difficult. Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi, like Empress Dowager Ci'an, did not want to make China better.
If you think that Empress Dowager Cixi can only engage in politics, then you are very wrong. During the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi, she was also a very good politician.
It was only later, because of the problem of her son Ai Xin Jue Luo Yinren, that Empress Dowager Cixi's political career eventually came to an end.
Aixin Jue Luo Yinren was the sixth son of the Xianfeng Emperor, and he had a good chance to become emperor, but he ruined his political future because of an incident.
It was after the death of the Xianfeng Emperor that he was made crown prince. However, the situation in the Great Qing Dynasty was very chaotic at that time, so there was a dispute between Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an over the establishment of the crown prince.
Empress Dowager Ci'an hoped that Yinren would inherit the throne, but Empress Dowager Cixi believed that Yinren did not have that ability. So in the dispute, a contradiction arose between the two people.
After the death of the Xianfeng Emperor, Empress Dowager Cixi began to obey the government. But she is a smart person, she knows that she is a woman, she cannot be compared to men, nor can she compare to other women.
Therefore, she can only manage the affairs of the country in a woman's way. At this time, Empress Dowager Cixi had changed from a politically sophisticated politician to a political madman.
She completely abandoned some of her responsibilities and obligations as an emperor and as a woman. Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi's obedience to the government was a completely helpless move.
In short, during the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi, she was a key figure in the entire history of the late Qing Dynasty.
She carried out comprehensive reforms in the political, economic, military, and cultural aspects of the entire late Qing Dynasty. However, it was during the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi that the entire society of the late Qing Dynasty underwent earth-shaking changes.
From this incident of Empress Dowager Cixi, we can see a very important problem, that is, ancient people generally did not like to drink boiled water.
On this issue, Empress Dowager Cixi is also an exception. Because most of the food she eats is made from small foods, they don't really like boiled water.
However, as the ruler of a country, Empress Dowager Cixi was able to insist on drinking boiled water every day when everyone did not drink it, which is undoubtedly very admirable.
In fact, to some extent, Empress Dowager Cixi still had a very great influence on Chinese history.
She had a very huge impact on the Qing royal family and even Chinese history, but it was not a good influence. So for Empress Dowager Cixi, her life was actually a tragedy.