The Qianlong Emperor, the longest-lived emperor of the Qing Dynasty, ascended the throne at the age of 25, reigned for 60 years, and then became Emperor Taishang for four more years, before collapsing at the age of 89.
The Qianlong Emperor had a concubine who lived longer than him, and at the age of 13 he entered the palace and became the Gege of Qianlong, and it was 12 years after Qianlong's death that the empress dowager died at the age of 92.
This empress dowager was only made a noble concubine during the Jiaqing period, and only became a concubine when she became empress dowager in Qianlong, and stayed on the concubine throne for 46 years.
Compared with the very popular concubines in the harem, such as Empress Fucha, Noble Concubine, Jia Guifei, Ling Guifei, Empress Nala, and Pure Noble Concubine, she was childless and spoiled, but she was much luckier than these concubines.
She can be found in both "Yanxi Raiders" and "Ruyi Zhuan", Qianlong's concubine, the most obscure presence in the harem.
There is only one introduction to her family lineage in the history books, that is, "Chen Yanzhang's daughter, born on December 20, 55 of the Kangxi Dynasty." Among Qianlong's concubines who were similar to her family lineage, only Lu Shi, who was given the title of "Qing", and the family introduction only had one sentence: "Daughter of Lu Shilong, a suzhou native".
The chen and Lu families are very similar, both are Han Chinese who have not entered the flag. Moreover, the early experiences of the two were also very similar, not favored, and the rank was also low, but since Lu Clan was crowned "Qing Concubine", grace increased, and later raised Ling Guifei's son, the fifteenth son of the Emperor Yongyan, and then became the second person under the harem Ling Guifei.
Looking at the Chen clan again, after the self-proclaimed "Wan Concubine", he stayed on the concubine throne for 46 years, until Qianlongdu abdicated as emperor taishang and then further promoted to concubine.
In the harem, the Chen family, as an old man of the hidden residence, has deep qualifications. But not only was she inferior to the old people of the submerged mansion with the same starting point, but even the newcomers were not as good as the newcomers. There was no grace, no heirs, no flags like other Han concubines, not even adopted sons and daughters.
When Qianlong was still a prince, Concubine Fujin was the Fucha clan, and the lateral Fujin was the Nala clan and the Gao clan, and as for the Yue Concubines Kerryet Clan, the Jia Guifei Jin Clan, and the Chun Concubine Su Clan that we later knew through the Ruyi Zhuan, they were all Gege, which was the same as the status of the Chen Clan at that time.
In the thirteenth year of Yongzheng, Qianlong inherited the unification and sealed the harem for the first time. The Fucha clan was made empress dowager, the Gao clan was made a noble concubine, the Nala clan was made a concubine, the Gegesu clan was made a pure concubine, the Jin clan was made a Jin nobleman, the Kerryet clan was given the title of Hai Chang zai, and the Chen clan was given the title of Chen Chang Zai.
In the second year of Qianlong, Chun Concubine, Jin Guiren, Hai Changzai, and Chen Chang were each promoted to one place, and they were for Pure Concubine, Jia Concubine, Hai Guiren, and Chen Guiren.
From this, it can be seen that the Status of the Kerryet clan was the same as that of the Chen Clan at the beginning, and it was equally unfavored.
However, in the sixth year of Qianlong, the Kerryet clan gave birth to the fifth son of the emperor, Yongqi, and in the same year she was given the title of Concubine Of Pleasure. Ten years after Qianlong, she was promoted to the title of Princess Yu.
In Qianlong's harem, the level of concubines was determined by these three: first, family lineage; second, heirs; and third, grace.
It is because of the heirs to the throne, pure concubines and concubines have many heirs, and there are many graces, and the status in Qianlong's heart is also very high, before she was born, she was named a noble concubine, so that the concubines gradually became imperial concubines from a palace girl, but also because of the heirs and graces.
But the Chen family had no family, no heirs, and no grace.
Let's take a look at how non-existent Chen is in the harem?
In the sixth year of Qianlong, the Kerryeet clan was given the title of Concubine of Pleasure because she gave birth to the fifth son of the Emperor. Just in time for Empress Dowager Daqing, Bai Shi, who entered the palace in the early years of Qianlong, was a beauty who paid tribute to Jiangnan and was also a concubine from the nobleman Jin. In the same year, the Yehenara clan entered the palace, was named a nobleman, and in February he was promoted to Shu Concubine, coincidentally, this year Shu Concubine was only 13 years old, the same age as the Chen clan entering the submerged residence to serve.
This year was considered to be the qianlong grand seal of the harem, but the Chen clan did not get the Jin seal.
In the tenth year of Qianlong, Concubine Ling appeared of the Wei clan, who was originally a small palace girl, and was first named a nobleman in this year, and in the same year she was promoted to concubine. In this year, the Coryet clan was also made a princess of pleasure. This time, there was still no chen matter.
Until the thirteenth year of Qianlong, Qianlong once again sealed the harem, Shu Concubine was named Shu Concubine, Ling Concubine was named Ling Concubine, Jin Jin was crowned Jia Guifei, and later Qing Guifei was still only Lu Guiren in this year. In this year, the Chen clan was finally crowned as a concubine, and the title of Wan was personally chosen by Qianlong, when the Ministry of Internal Affairs formulated three titles, namely Wan, Xun, and Ying, "Wan" in Manchu means "soft, obedient", this title can be described as a high summary of Wan Concubine's life.
After that, Empress Fucha, Empress Nala, Pure Noble Concubine, Jia Guifei, etc., who were also the old people of the Hidden Residence, were favored, gave birth to children, and died again, and the new people entered the palace, all the way to the throne, and the harem gradually became the most powerful concubine, and in the year when the Chen clan was crowned a concubine, the Lu clan who was crowned as a noble person was also gradually promoted to a concubine, and only the Chen clan has always been in the position of concubine, and every year on the birthday of the Qianlong Emperor, he can get a reward of two hundred and two silver from the Qianlong Emperor.
In the harem, a concubine meant either a son or a favor, and the position of power was already very high, and only the lower concubines were either senior or a little pampered. Moreover, the biggest difference between the concubine and the nobles below and often in the next is that the concubine is already the main seat of the first palace, in charge of the affairs of the palace, and has a formal establishment. It can be said that as long as this position does not cause trouble and does not make mistakes, it will not be bullied at will.
Therefore, even though Chen Shi was only a concubine for many years, she did not fight or grab, nor did she have children and lose her body, but lived longer. She survived one favored concubine after another, and lived tepidly in the harem.
In the eyes of the harem concubines, she was a poor woman of little use, and she did not even have the use value. This also allowed her to avoid the open and secret struggle of the concubines, so that she could live her life quietly and quietly.
It was not until the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong, when Qianlong last sealed the harem, the 80-year-old Chen clan was promoted from the position of wan concubine to wan concubine, and at this time, the old people in the submerged residence were only left with chen.
In addition, in the third year of Jiaqing, the Qianlong Emperor also promoted the Concubine of the Balin clan to a noble concubine, and what the Chen clan expected was not put in the eyes of Qianlong and did not have a jin title.
In the fourth year of Jiaqing, the Qianlong Emperor died, and in the sixth year of Jiaqing, the Jiaqing Emperor honored the Chen clan as a noble concubine, and it was not until the twelfth year of Jiaqing that the Chen clan died at the age of 92, childless and childless, and was the longest-lived of Qianlong's concubines.
If it is said that when Qianlong was alive, although Chen's life was peaceful, after all, because of his low rank and lack of favor, he lived a depressed life. Then after the Jiaqing Emperor ascended the throne, the Chen clan was truly blessed, and the high life expectancy of 92 years was a blessing in ancient times.
Therefore, it is better to fight than to live a long life, and although Chen Shi was childless and spoiled in this life, he was the most blessed person among Qianlong's concubines.