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- Source/Curator Weijian
- Author/Curator Weijian
After watching "The Flowers Bloom and the Moon is Full That Year" starring Sun Li, you should know that she was recognized as a goddaughter by the Empress Dowager Cixi, and she was also given the title of Mrs. Yipin.
This is not just Cixi lamenting Zhou Ying's fate, thinking that the two of them have the same fate and are widows who have been widowed for many years.
Zhou Ying's encounter with Cixi was also because Cixi left the people of the Central Plains and fled westward, although she was the queen mother at this time, she was a ruler in distress.
The reason why Cixi left the Forbidden City and ran to Xi'an was because her actions annoyed the Western powers, not that she hated the aggression of the Western powers against the Qing government.
As far as Cixi was concerned, she had no problem with the dispute with the Western powers if it could be resolved through land reparations, but there was one thing she would never agree with, and that was that the Western powers told her to give up power in her hands.
This is intolerable to Cixi, from a show girl to the queen step by step, and after her son Zaichun ascended the throne as the emperor, she became the queen mother of the West Palace.
As her power grows, so does her ambitions, and when power reaches its peak, she loses everything she already has, even if it is the Western powers, she dares to fight.
There are many legendary figures in Chinese history, as women in feudal society, women who can have names in history, in addition to Empress Lu and Wu Zetian, Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty is also the most mentioned.
To be able to become the ruler of the Qing government with the ability of a woman under the condition that all forces are eyeing each other, it cannot but be said that Cixi is a woman with intelligence and scheming methods.
Of course, being able to become a generation of female politicians has a lot to do with the three hole cards she holds in her hand, the first hole card was once her own son Emperor Tongzhi, but Emperor Tongzhi died at the age of 19.
Cixi, who lost her son, knew very well in her heart that if the next emperor did not treat her, or held real power, she, the empress dowager, would lose all the power in her hands.
Since Emperor Tongzhi left no heirs, he had to choose one of the sons of the other princes, and in order to ensure that he could continue to monopolize the power of the court, Cixi gave up the 17-year-old Zaizi, because he would reach adulthood in another year, and could not easily be controlled by himself.
Choosing and choosing, Cixi chose her own sister's son Zaiyan, and his father was a person with little ability compared to Zai's father, Prince Gong, Yixun.
The reason why Zai Yan succeeded to the throne was because he was only more than three years old at that time, and it would take more than ten years for him to become in power.
For Cixi, these ten years were enough time to make her power more secure, and it was too simple for Cixi to keep him firmly in her hands when she was young and ignorant.
In fact, Cixi also did it, Emperor Guangxu did not hold real power in his life, which is equivalent to a puppet emperor.
Cixi's second hole card is Prince Gong Yixun, although she did not choose his son to be the emperor, but Yixun's loyalty to Cixi is incomparable to others, and Cixi is still good to those who are loyal to her.
She gave Yixun an important position and made him her most important courtier, and Yixun, as Cixi's right-hand man, helped her suppress political opponents, and was a good hand in this regard.
Cixi's third hole card, many people did not expect, that is the Empress Dowager Ci'an. Although there has always been a clear animosity between the two men.
But at the critical moment, Ci'an was still willing to support Cixi, after all, Cixi was the biological mother of Emperor Tongzhi, and she was just bearing the title of queen mother.
Although her status has always been higher than Cixi, Ci'an is very sober, and if she works against Cixi, it is difficult to guarantee that one day, Cixi will make her lose the honor of the empress dowager.
Tzu An has no doubt about this. So when she was needed, Ci'an was willing to join forces with Cixi.
After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Cixi's son Emperor Tongzhi ascended to the throne, even if there were eight ministers who helped Emperor Tongzhi deal with the government, Cixi also started her career in listening to politics in such a situation.
I thought that if I mastered Emperor Guangxu, I would be able to hold my power firmly in my hands, but I didn't expect that the chess pieces would grow up one day.
When Emperor Guangxu began to have his own ideas, accepted the ideas of the Restoration, and wanted to start a movement to change the law, Cixi felt an unprecedented crisis.
From the moment she held power, Cixi never thought of letting go, and when she learned that Emperor Guangxu wanted to take back the power in her hands, Cixi was of course impossible to agree.
For this reason, she launched a coup d'état, what she wanted was an obedient emperor, since Emperor Guangxu wanted to get out of her control, then he could be abolished and a new monarch could be established.
Although the Wuxu coup d'état was a success in Cixi's eyes, and Emperor Guangxu was also placed under house arrest by her, she did not expect that the Western powers did not agree with Cixi's approach, and they supported Emperor Guangxu more, hoping that Emperor Guangxu would be able to govern himself.
The reason for supporting Emperor Guangxu is, of course, not the hope that the Qing Dynasty will become stronger and stronger, but because Emperor Guangxu was a more progressive emperor and was willing to implement reforms, which was much better than the old school headed by Cixi.
After the Qing government's economy has developed and the market has been further expanded, the degree of openness will become greater and greater, which is a happy thing for Western countries.
Of course, Cixi was unwilling to do this, this was the first time she had a disagreement with the Western powers, and even wanted the Western powers to compromise.
She began to support the Boxer Rebellion, hoping to use them to force the Western powers to recognize their dominance.
In Cixi's view, anyone who tried to take power from her hands was her enemy, and she would never budge in this regard, even the Western powers, which she feared.
Seeing that the Boxer Rebellion was becoming more and more fierce and killing foreigners everywhere, the Western powers could not sit idly by, and they formed the Eight-Nation Coalition Army and officially launched an attack on Beijing and Tianjin in June 1900.
It can be said that the operation of the Eight-Nation Alliance was something that Cixi did not expect, but for the sake of the power in her hands, Cixi would not give up resistance even if she was stubborn, this is the first time.
Cixi took a tough stance and declared war on the Eight-Nation Alliance. It's just that this time the resistance was not for the Qing government, but for herself.
But when the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded Beijing, Cixi felt an unprecedented crisis, and instead of holding on to the Forbidden City, she fled west with Emperor Guangxu and other cronies.
It is undeniable that Cixi is a woman with political skills, but she is also a person with a strong desire for power.
She wants to have great power, not for the people, but to satisfy her own selfish desires, and it is not an exaggeration to say that she is a sinner in history.
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