Cixi dominated the dragon bed alone, upgraded to a concubine in 5 years, why did Xianfeng leave an edict to kill Cixi before he died? The last glorious history of the Qing Dynasty lies a fascinating story. A woman from an ordinary background, with her extraordinary wisdom and beauty, finally boarded the dragon chair and became the queen mother who listened to the government. However, her rise to prominence is shrouded in intrigue and power play. In her emotional entanglement with the emperor, did she take risks and achieve her goal at all costs? In the end, why did the emperor leave an edict on his deathbed to remove her? The reason for all this will be unveiled in this fascinating story.
Yehnara's origins and early life
Yehenara was born into a family of middle-ranking eunuchs, and his father, Hui Zheng, was a jinshi with an extraordinary background. However, due to the fault of the ancestors, the family was once implicated and hit. Despite this, Hui Zheng did not give up on the education of his children, and taught the Four Books and Five Classics of the Yehenara clan and the Manchu script from an early age, and let her go through the entire twenty-four histories. It was this solid knowledge that later opened a path to power for the Yehnara clan.
From an early age, Yehnara showed great talent, not only for his good looks, but also for his intelligence and eagerness to learn. She is considerate, good at reading words and feelings, and has known the art of pleasing people since she was a child. County Cheng's father is naturally very attentive to her education. In addition to the Confucian classics, Yehenara was also taught many boudoir talents, such as painting, calligraphy, Peking opera, etc., which can be described as a comprehensive development.
Yehenara had the reputation of "the immortal descended to earth" when she was a girl, and whenever she went out, she would definitely attract the attention of passers-by. She is gentle and virtuous by nature, low-key and humble, and never shows off her beauty. This outstanding talent coupled with a good upbringing is destined for her to shine and achieve extraordinary achievements.
It is worth mentioning that Yehenara's mother, Tong Jia, was born in a famous family and had a great influence on her. Tong Jia's family is gentle by nature, and she has always been strict with her daughter's teaching. It is said that it was the edification of Tong Jia's clan that made the Yehenala clan establish lofty ambitions and pursuits since childhood, and was fully prepared to enter the harem in the future.
Entering the palace and the initial power struggle
After the death of Emperor Daoguang, the crown prince Xianfeng succeeded to the throne and became emperor. After the end of the mourning period, Emperor Xianfeng began to select show girls, and finally summoned the Yehenara clan into the harem and named him "Lan Guiren". Yehenara clan's gorgeous complexion and elegant demeanor attracted the attention of Emperor Xianfeng as soon as he entered the palace. She was arranged to live in the Chuxiu Palace.
As a nobleman, although the status of the Yehenara clan is not high, it is already a leader in the harem. However, she is not satisfied with the status quo and aspires to a higher title and status. At that time, Emperor Xianfeng's harem had gathered countless beauties, such as Yun Concubine Wu Jia, Li Guiren, Mei Guiren, etc., all of whom were deeply favored concubines. It is indeed difficult to stand out from such a crowd.
Yehnara knew that the opportunity was fleeting and could not stop there. She began to use her ingenuity and resort to various means to seek favor. First of all, she transferred the jewelry rewarded by the emperor to the eunuchs and palace maids, so as to make eye connections and always understand the emperor's every move. Secondly, she humbly asked the southern nurse to learn Jiangnan Xiaoqu and practiced Peking Opera diligently, hoping to please the emperor with artistic means.
In addition, Yehenara also pays special attention to his own charm cultivation. She followed the advice of the imperial doctor and used egg whites to apply to her face every day, bathing with human milk, etc., to keep her face delicate and bright. She is even more bold to try "fragrance lotion", wanting to make herself aromatic. It can be said that the Yehnara clan used all kinds of means to capture the emperor's heart.
However, this alone is not enough. The Yehnara clan soon discovered that in order to gain the emperor's favor, they had to get rid of other competitors. So, she began to conspire and calculate in the harem, instructing her subordinates and others to frame the favored concubines and concubines, causing them to be belittled or sent to the cold palace one after another.
One of the most famous is that she designed to frame Mei Guiren for poisoning her dim sum, causing Mei Guiren to be demoted from a noble person to a permanent person, and then to a palace maid. Then, she fabricated charges to frame Yun Concubine, so that she was punished by being sent to the cold palace, and finally committed suicide in pain. It can be said that the means are vicious and ruthless, and he does everything he can.
Under the guidance of the imperial doctor, she plotted to get pregnant
As time passed, Yehnara discovered that conspiracy alone was not enough, and that she had to give birth to a son in order to finally gain the emperor's favor. So, she began to secretly seek the help of the imperial doctor, trying to get pregnant by conditioning her body.
The imperial doctor saw Yehenara's thoughts, so he specially formulated a set of recuperation prescriptions for her. These include taking some drugs that nourish yin and yang, such as gastrodia, yellow essence, angelica, etc. At the same time, the imperial doctor also taught her some tips for helping to conceive, such as how to regulate the menstrual cycle and precautions when in the bedroom.
In addition, Yehenara also implored the imperial physician to prescribe medicine for her alone, and often discussed with the imperial physician the plan to conceive a prince. The two can be described as intriguing and companions of each other, and the imperial doctor has become her important assistant on the road to the harem conspiracy.
After a period of conditioning, Yehenara's physical condition has indeed improved. Her complexion became ruddy and delicate. It was at this moment that she began to blatantly offer courtesy to the emperor, hoping to arouse the emperor's interest.
Sure enough, Emperor Xianfeng became interested in the "Lan nobleman" of the Yehenara clan and began to pamper her frequently. Soon, Yehnara became pregnant. The imperial doctor even took the last hurdle for her to ensure that everything went smoothly during the pregnancy.
The news of the pregnancy spread quickly in the harem, causing an uproar. Empress Ci'an was very annoyed when she heard the news, she had not been pregnant for many years, and now a small noble person actually took the first step to conceive a dragon fetus, naturally she was very ashamed. Therefore, she immediately ordered someone to go to the Chuxiu Palace of the Yehenala clan to prepare for punishment.
But the Yehenara clan had her own plans, and she had already secretly sent someone to inform Emperor Xianfeng. Emperor Xianfeng personally arrived and pleaded for the Yehenara clan, saying that she was pregnant and must not be hurt. Since then, the status of the Yehenara clan has gradually risen in the harem, and she has successfully become one of the noble concubines. And the imperial doctor, a key assistant, was also rewarded for this.
Jin Feng concubine, power leaning towards the opposition
After the Yehenara clan gave birth to Emperor Xianfeng's only son, Zaichun, he was soon given the title of "filial piety concubine". Since then, her status in the harem has suddenly risen and she has become Emperor Xianfeng's favorite concubine. Empress Ci'an once had her eyeballs, but after the birth of her child, she could only temporarily put aside her prejudices.
As the biological mother of the prince, the Yehenara clan naturally received the attention and trust of Emperor Xianfeng. She began to participate in more court affairs, such as selecting concubines, supervising the internal affairs office, etc., and even sometimes observing court affairs. It can be said that her power in the harem is growing day by day.
However, Yehnara was not satisfied with this, she had bigger ambitions. In order to strengthen her position, she began to secretly cultivate her own henchmen, bribing some powerful eunuchs and the staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the same time, she also instructed spies to spy on other people's privacy, intending to attack dissidents.
The biggest opponent of the Yehenara clan is the Tong Jia clan, who is also a concubine, and the contradiction between the two has been a long time. In order to suppress Tong Jia's power, she did not hesitate to frame Tong for misconduct, which led to the latter's condemnation by Emperor Xianfeng. In addition, she also secretly supported other concubines to harm Tong Jia's family with all kinds of small actions.
It can be said that the Yehnara clan is almost unscrupulous in eliminating potential threats. She strikes anyone who poses the slightest threat to her power, and her methods are often despicable.
As his power continued to expand, the Yehnara clan also began to interfere in the power of the court. For example, in the Battle of Beijing by the British and French forces, she strongly advocated a tough attitude, which resulted in the catastrophe of the Old Summer Palace. Another typical case is the issue of the twisting army, where she insisted on suppressing Guan'a's suggestion, and the result also paid a price.
It can be said that Yehnara is a greedy and power-hungry woman. She has no regard for the interests of the people of the country at all and only blindly pursues her own interests. It was this selfish and arbitrary way of ruling that eventually led to more opposition and resentment from her later on.
The inside story of Xianfeng's deathbed edict
During the reign of Emperor Xianfeng, the power of the Yehenara clan expanded day by day, and the way of ruling became more and more arbitrary. She not only acted recklessly in the harem, but also interfered in the government affairs, causing a lot of drawbacks. This made Emperor Xianfeng a little worried in his eyes.
In the twenty-sixth year of Xianfeng (1866), Emperor Xianfeng was sick and dying. On his deathbed, he secretly summoned the scholar Shen Baogui and instructed him to leave a top-secret testament for himself. The content of the edict was extremely cruel, requiring that after his death, he should kill all the Yehnara clan.
What is the reason for this? According to Shen Baogui's later memoirs, there are mainly the following considerations:
First of all, Emperor Xianfeng was well aware of the narrow-mindedness and uncertain personality of the Yehenara clan, and was worried that if she came to power, she would definitely endanger the country's society. She has been selfish in military decisions many times, and eventually caused many military defeats.
Secondly, Emperor Xianfeng's more important concern was the issue of the descendants of the Yehenara clan. Since she only gave birth to one son, and his sons are smart and qualified, she is afraid that his future succession to the throne will cause political turmoil.
Thirdly, the Yehenara clan was greedy by nature, and Emperor Xianfeng was worried that once she took power, she would inevitably extort and extort tyranny, increasing the burden of servitude on the people. She has never been sympathetic to the suffering of the people, but only chases power and wealth.
In the end, the Yehenara clan was insidious and cunning, and Emperor Xianfeng was afraid that she would conspire and endanger the other royal families after her death. She has repeatedly designed to frame other nobles, and if she succeeds, she will definitely cause a big disaster.
For all these reasons, Emperor Xianfeng decided to leave a desperate edict for the Yehenala clan before his death. However, it is a pity that this edict was not implemented in the end, and instead became the capital of her future autocracy.
After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Dewang discovered this edict, but did not implement it. Instead, he revealed the existence of the edict to the Yehnara clan in order to intimidate her and force her to obey him. Since then, the Yehnara clan has monopolized power, and Dewang has also profited from it, and the two have formed a strange alliance.