The Qing Dynasty came to an end, and this 300-year-long feudal dynasty finally failed to be reborn. In the face of such a rare phenomenon of severing the imperial rule, people can't help but ask why. Was this a fortuitous coincidence or a contrived conspiracy? If this is only the result of a genetic defect, then how can it explain such a strange overlap of three generations of emperors?
Could it be that there is really a conspiracy behind all this? What is even more questionable is that around these three generations of emperors, there is a special woman - the Empress Dowager Cixi. She has absolute control over the lives of the three emperors, is that the root of all this?
1. The decline of the royal family of the Manchu Dynasty may be rooted in genetic factors
Since Kangxi Yongzheng, the heirs of the emperors of the Qing Dynasty have withered day by day, and in the later period, the emperors did not even have an eldest son. This is really puzzling, what was the reason why the Manchu Dynasty was unable to pass on the lineage when it collapsed?
To solve this mystery, we must first dissect it from the perspective of medical genetics. The Manchu royal family of the Qing Dynasty had long practiced consanguineous marriage, aiming to maintain a "pure" royal lineage. However, consanguineous marriage will inevitably cause recessive harmful genes to leak out and accumulate from generation to generation, resulting in the gradual decline of royal heirs.
According to historical records, although there were many emperors and concubines in the late Qing Dynasty, the candidates were often from the same family, and the blood relationship was too close. For example, Guangxu's concubines Longyu and Concubine Zhen are both from Wei Yongzeng's mansion, and Longyu is the same clan as Cixi; The concubines of Xuantong are all from the Longyu clan. As a result, the genetic gene pool of the royal family is becoming more and more homogeneous, and harmful genes are constantly passed on and aggravated in inbreeding.
To cite a counter-evidence, in the imperial era, the royal family often chose foreign beautiful women to enrich the harem, aiming to optimize racial genetics, but in the late Qing Dynasty, the Manchu closed nature intensified, and the crazy internal circulation made the royal heirs weaker and weaker.
In fact, in addition to showing genetic defects, the emperors of the late Qing Dynasty did have many quirks and diseases.
Emperor Tongzhi had no intention of studying since he was a child, only knew how to be amusement and debauchery, and was lazy and timid by nature. It is reported that his symptoms include "impotence, bad breath, leakage of sperm, and dreams", all of which are hereditary diseases. He died of smallpox or willow disease at the age of nineteen.
Emperor Guangxu was short, had poor bones, slurred speech, and may have been born with a defect in intelligence. Throughout his life, he suffered from severe neurasthenia, extreme paranoia, and a paranoid personality.
Emperor Xuantong had a weak and incompetent physique since he was a child, and when he ascended the throne at the age of fourteen, he was only four feet six inches tall and weak. During his reign, he became more and more decadent and mediocre, and became more and more inactive.
It can be said that although the three emperors of the late Qing Dynasty were kings, none of them were completely sound throughout their lives. They have undoubtedly inherited some genetic defects, but this is only one aspect of the bane.
Second, Cixi's lust for power distorted the emperor's concept of survival
The three generations of emperors of Tongzhi, Guangxu and Xuantong did not have any heirs, which is inherently influenced by genes, but if analyzed from a medical point of view alone, it is obvious that such an extraordinary phenomenon cannot be explained. On closer inspection, Cixi, a woman who has been consumed by power since she was a child, has had an extremely distorted impact on the life philosophy and living environment of the three emperors, which may be the real culprit that led to the breakdown.
Let's look at Emperor Tongzhi first. Tongzhi ascended the throne at the age of six, and his mother Cixi should have personally raised him to become a wise and wise ruler of the country. It's a pity that since Cixi fought for power, she no longer had the heart to discipline her own flesh and blood. She has always had a tight face towards Tongzhi, and she was strict and harsh to her son, which made the young Tongzhi have a strong rebellious psychology towards his mother.
On the other hand, the Empress Dowager Ci'an is like a kind mother to Tongzhi, and she cares for her everywhere. Tongzhi has had many attachments since he was a child, and his relationship with Ci'an is close. Therefore, when Tongzhi grew up, he often rebelled against Cixi in major decisions, but he was more willing to trust Ci'an's decision.
For example, at the time of Tongzhi's wedding, Cixi recommended the daughter of the meek and virtuous woman of Zhenghuangqi to be the queen, but Tongzhi insisted on marrying the talented Mongolian girl Arut. This undoubtedly made Cixi very annoyed, and the relationship between mother and son became more and more strained.
Until the time of critical illness, Cixi never sympathized with Tongzhi. Not only did the queen who deliberately hit him when Tongzhi was seriously ill, but also when Tongzhi was dying, he took the lead in issuing an edict and listened to the government again. It's outrageous that a mother is so callous to her dying own flesh and blood.
Although Tongzhi is the respect of the emperor, it cannot escape the trauma of the mother and son's rebellion. He has no intention of being a harem beauty, idling all day long, abandoning political affairs, and indulging in fireworks and willow lanes. In the end, he died young at the age of nineteen, and his future ended without a problem, and there was naturally no way to talk about his heirs.
The same is true of Emperor Guangxu. He was strictly disciplined by Cixi since he was a child and was devastated. Cixi regarded Guangxu as a marionette, completely enslaved him to power, and even once planned to ask for Guangxu. Affected by this, Guangxu's personality became more and more extreme and perverse, and he suffered from severe neuroticism for life.
He has been cowardly and fearful since he was a child, and he cannot bear the huge mental pressure. On weekdays, the grass and trees are full of soldiers, and they are like birds with bows everywhere. In the face of the harem beauty, he is even more like a great enemy, too timid, and rarely able to get in close contact with him. This kind of perverted psychology will naturally seriously affect the emperor's normal physiological needs.
What's worse is that Guangxu is over thirty years old, and he once wanted to completely abandon the harem and concentrate on becoming a monk in Buddhism. If it weren't for Cixi's forced order, I'm afraid he wouldn't even have given birth to an heir.
3. The imperial power was entangled with selfish desires, and Cixi hindered the emperor's normal birth
In addition to the psychological trauma and the distortion of the living environment, Cixi directly intervened in the emperor's married life, resulting in their inability to have children normally. This is undoubtedly another key reason that led to the three emperors of the late Qing Dynasty cutting off incense.
Let's look at Emperor Tongzhi first. Although Tongzhi insisted on Naarut as the queen, Cixi was secretly obstructing the marriage. It is reported that Arut was strong by nature and often worked against Cixi. Cixi was so angry that she personally put Arut under house arrest in the cabinet, forbidding her to have sex with Tongzhi. This practice undoubtedly seriously affected Tongzhi's normal life, making it impossible for him and Arut to have sex with him normally.
What's even more terrifying is that Cixi once instructed the imperial physician to "eat the elixir of immortality" for Tongzhi, but this "elixir" actually made Tongzhi's impotence constitution worse, and he couldn't have sex with the concubine. In the later period of Tongzhi, although a few young and beautiful women such as Concubine Ming were summoned, they were no longer able to return to the sky, and in the end, half of the heirs were not left.
During the Guangxu period, Cixi's intervention was even more explicit. Concubine Zhen was single-handedly arranged by Cixi to enter the palace, Concubine Zhen not only came from a humble background, but also looked mediocre, which is really puzzling why Cixi praised Concubine Zhen so much.
According to research, Concubine Zhen was included in the family by Cixi's beloved uncle because of her family's poverty when she was a child, and she was "disciplined" by him for a long time. After Concubine Zhen was elected to the palace, she became Cixi's confidant spokesperson, and was finally appointed by Cixi as the queen of Guangxu. It seems that behind Concubine Zhen's entry into the palace, there seems to be something else strange.
Guangxu has been respectful of Concubine Zhen since he was a child, treating her as an enemy. Although he tried hard to have sex with Concubine Zhen, he was reluctant in the end, and his fertility was greatly impaired. In the end, Concubine Zhen only gave birth to a mentally handicapped young son, and died in infancy. Although Guangxu later included a number of concubines, none of them came out.
As for Emperor Xuantong, his married life was even more of a mess. Xuantong has been endowed with weakness since childhood, but Cixi deliberately dissuaded him from being too indulgent, and said strange things such as "the prince does not need to give birth", and wantonly obstructed the matter of Xuantong's childbirth.
And the concubines who entered the palace in Xuantong, except for the daughters of a few powerful families such as Queen Yongxuan, were all selected from Longyu's corrupt and shady family. These concubines have been immersed in the palace walls and mansions since they were children, and they have nothing to do all day long, and the entire harem is gradually shrouded in a corrupt atmosphere.
In order to pass the time of boredom, these concubines often attacked each other and embraced each other. Their various improper styles are undoubtedly worse for an adolescent Xuantong, and the impact can be imagined.
What's even more outrageous is that when Xuantong was thirteen years old, Cixi also forced him to have sexual intercourse with a little eunuch "male pet". This undoubtedly deepened Xuantong's disgust and fear of sexuality, and also made him weaker and weaker.
Fourth, the interests of the powerful ministers were tilted, which aggravated the physical and mental trauma of the emperor
In addition to Cixi's obstruction, the government and the opposition in the late Qing Dynasty were extremely corrupt, and the ministers often sowed discord between the emperor and the queen for their own interests, bringing physical and mental trauma to the emperor, and then affecting their normal fertility.
In the later years of Tongzhi, several powerful ministers such as Prince Gong, Yongxuan and others, in order to curry favor with Cixi, secretly instigated Tongzhi to lose trust in Cixi. They told Tongzhi that Cixi wanted to control the imperial power with one hand and deliberately prevented him from growing up. Tongzhi, who was bewitched, really stayed away from his mother.
However, there were also some ministers who opposed Cixi's autocratic power, and they turned their ears to Tongzhi, saying that Cixi was a "murderer", and also advised Tongzhi to quickly accept a concubine and give birth to a child, so as to prevent Cixi from setting up a new lord as soon as possible. This undoubtedly aggravated Tongzhi's wariness of his mother, making it difficult for him to devote himself to harem childbirth.
In the Guangxu period, the well-known ones were the powerful ministers of the Wuzeng family. In order to protect the interests of his family in the court, the martial arts of the Wei family blindly supported Cixi; However, the Zeng family's Su Zeng strongly persuaded Guangxu to get rid of Cixi's control as soon as possible. The two families attacked and abused each other, and the government and the opposition disturbed. In the end, Guangxu was forced to defect repeatedly, which led to the mother-son relationship between him and Cixi several times.
What's more, some officials simply openly exaggerated that Guangxu had a conspiracy to "castrate the egg and seize the heir". They falsely claimed that Guangxu wanted to castrate all the men of the Cixi family to prevent future troubles. For this reason, Cixi's suspicion of Guangxu became more and more serious, leading to a complete breakdown of the mother-son relationship.
This tense situation will naturally cause great trauma to Guangxu's mental state. If an emperor is in danger and his relatives are infighting, how can he accept his descendants and have children with peace of mind? Therefore, an important reason why Guangxu has no heirs is that his mental state is often under great pressure.
In the period of Xuantong, the dark and corrupt situation of the government and the opposition became more serious, and the wind of palace fighting became more and more intense. Cixi's cronies and ministers, such as Zaifeng and Gangheng, in order to favor Cixi, openly slandered Xuantong's concubines as "disasters to the country and the people". They tried their best to obstruct Xuantong from accepting concubines, resulting in Xuantong not even marrying a concubine when he was young.
What's more, these ministers also secretly slandered the Emperor to Cixi with the intention of slandering them. For this reason, Cixi was even more suspicious of Xuantong, for fear that he would take revenge once he grew up. Therefore, Cixi strictly ordered the eunuchs in the palace to monitor Xuantong's every move at all times, so that Xuantong's actions were greatly restricted, and women were rarely seen in adolescence.
This predicament of being under house arrest made Xuantong increasingly decadent and degenerate, and he had nothing to do all day long, only to escape from reality. In order to curry favor with Cixi, some old eunuchs in the palace actually instigated Xuantong to commit adultery with them, which contributed to Xuantong's indulgence and degeneration.
Fifth, due to the dilemma of concubines, the eunuch drunken gold fan has a great impact
In addition to the entanglement of imperial power and selfish desires and the dumping of ministers, the three emperors of Tongzhi, Guangxu and Xuantong were also a major problem in the selection of harem concubines. Most of their harems are controlled by eunuchs, and the entire harem is filled with a corrupt atmosphere of eunuch drunkenness, which has also had a serious impact on their fertility.
In the later years of Tongzhi, the most powerful in the harem was Prince An, the little red-robed eunuch. Due to the struggle for power between the Empress Dowager Deling and Cixi, the harem was in turmoil, and Prince An took the opportunity to bribe and collect money in the harem. He is not only corrupt and perverts the law, but also has a lot of sexual precepts, swaggering and deceiving everywhere.
At that time, in order to appease Prince An, countless eunuchs and palace maids who pursued fame and fortune gathered around Prince An, colluding with each other, and exchanging benefits and power for physical transactions. For this reason, the harem, which was supposed to be the place where the emperor and concubine gave birth, became a hotbed of corruption and fornication.
On the one hand, Emperor Tongzhi rarely saw normal and healthy virtuous women, so he could only focus on these beauties; On the other hand, there are quite a lot of complaints about this promiscuous atmosphere, and the mental state has been under great pressure, so it is impossible to establish a normal heir with peace of mind.
During the Guangxu period, the power of the harem began to be concentrated in the hands of the great eunuch Li Lianying. Li Lianying colluded with Concubine Zhen to engage in corrupt activities in the harem, not only accepting bribes from countless high-ranking officials, but also opening up the door to concubines for fun.
In order to please Li Lianying, many concubines did not hesitate to sacrifice their bodies. They often roamed around the palace in revealing costumes, openly fornicating with Li Lianying and her group of fox friends and dogs. Some even sacrificed their daughters in order to please Li Lianying, doing the so-called "dowry".
This kind of erosive and depraved scene is undoubtedly worse for Guangxu. It is reported that every time Guangxu saw the lewd state of these concubines, he would feel extremely angry and disgusted, so he became more and more respectful of the harem beauties, affecting his normal physiological needs.
What's more, in order to curry favor with Cixi, Li Lianying secretly ordered the eunuchs to "serve" Xuantong in advance, so that Xuantong began to indulge in male sex in adolescence. For this reason, the situation of drunken gold fans in the palace can be imagined.
Such a depraved environment will naturally affect Xuantong's mental health. Xuantong lost his innocence when he was young, and let the eunuchs control and manipulate his life, and had no intention of living in the normal harem. So in the end, although he had an heir, he didn't even have a descendant.
It can be seen that whether it is Tongzhi, Guangxu or Xuantong, their harem life is deeply affected by cruelty. In order to seek personal gain, the eunuchs wantonly squandered drunk money in the harem, which undoubtedly brought huge physical and mental trauma to them, and made them fall into a dilemma in terms of normal concubines and children. If the cycle continues, it is not surprising that the incense will be broken.