Empress Dowager Cixi was empress dowager of the Yehenara clan, a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor and the biological mother of the Tongzhi Emperor; she was an important politician of the late Qing Dynasty and the de facto ruler of the late Qing Dynasty.
In 1861, the Xianfeng Emperor died, and he was honored with the "Empress Xiaozhenxian" in two palaces, called the Empress Dowager of the Virgin Mary, and the title of Empress Dowager Huī (上ஷ) Cixi; later, in conjunction with Empress Dowager Ci'an, Prince Gong Yixuan (xīn) launched the Xin You (yǒu) coup d'état, killing the eight ministers of Gu Ming, seizing power, and forming a pattern of "two palaces hanging curtains, princes deliberating on politics"; the Qing government temporarily entered a period of calm, known as Tongzhi Zhongxing.
In 1875, the Tongzhi Emperor died and chose his nephew "Ai Xin Jueluo. Zai Xiang (tián) "Following the Xianfeng Grand Unification, the era name Guangxu, the two palaces once again bowed to the government.
In 1881, Empress Dowager Ci'an died at the age of 45, and the official version is cerebral hemorrhage, which is believed to be the victim of Cixi.
In 1884, Cixi launched the "Shū" to depose Prince Gong and began to take sole power.
In 1898, Cixi launched the Wushu Coup d'état, imprisoned the Guangxu Emperor, beheaded the six gentlemen of Wushu, and re-trained the government.
In 1908, the Guangxu Emperor died, and Cixi chose the three-year-old Pu (pǔ) Yi as the new emperor, the same day as the empress dowager, and died on October 22 at the Yiluan (Luán) Hall.
Cixi's last words: After that, women cannot foresee the affairs of the state; this is contrary to the family law of this dynasty, and must be strictly restricted; especially it must be strictly guarded against, and eunuchs must not be allowed to use their rights (shàn); and the things of the end of the Ming Dynasty can be Yin Jian!
Let's take a look at this politically savvy empress:
1. Xin You (yǒu) coup d'état, deposing the Eight Ministers
The Xianfeng Emperor died of illness in the Palace of the Rehe Summer Resort, and the eight ministers, including Yuán and Sushun, had serious conflicts with Empress Dowager Cixi, the biological mother of the new Emperor Zaichun .
Empress Dowager Cixi instigated Emperor Xianfeng's empress dowager "Empress Dowager Ci'an" to fight with the eight ministers for power, and instructed Yushi Dong Yuanyue to play the invitation of the emperor, and the empress dowager bowed to the government, which was immediately resisted by the eight ministers.
On the other hand, Prince Gong Yi (yì) 訢 (xīn), together with the Xianfeng Dynasty minister "monk Gelinqin (qìn)" and the military minister "WenXiang", had been excluded from the supreme power and were extremely dissatisfied.
Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi joined forces with Yi Xi and others to launch a coup d'état and overthrow the forces of the Eight Ministers.
Some of the eight ministers were given death, some were beheaded, some were dismissed, and some were exiled.
Empress Dowager Cixi showed little mercy to political opponents; even her own son, Emperor Tongzhi, and the Guangxu Emperor's manipulation and control were quite oppressive and severe.
2. Shū ( Shū ) deposed the Minister of Military Aircraft headed by Prince Gong
In 1884, Cixi took advantage of the unfavorable situation in the Sino-French War to launch the "Jiashen Yishu" and suddenly issued the Yi (yì) decree to depose the entire class of ministers of the Military Aircraft Department headed by Prince Gong Yi (yì) (xīn), expelled the power center, replaced it with the chún party group that had become a tool for taming, and dismantled the Qing school that had long been dissatisfied with it.
At this point, he finally had the supreme power of unchecked control.
3. In the coup d'état of the e(wù) 戌 (xū), the six gentlemen of the Wu Dynasty were killed and the Guangxu Emperor was imprisoned
In September 1898, the conservative forces led by Empress Dowager Cixi launched a bloody coup against the restoration forces led by the Guangxu Emperor.
As a result of the coup, the Wushu Rebellion, which lasted for more than a hundred days, failed, the six gentlemen of the Wushu rebellion were killed, and Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and others fled abroad.
The Guangxu Emperor lost his personal freedom and was placed under house arrest at Zhongnanhai Ying (yíng), while the conservative forces led by Empress Dowager Cixi returned to power.
In 1860, the Qing army was defeated at Bali Bridge, the Anglo-French army forced into Beijing, the Xianfeng Emperor decided to flee to the Rehe Summer Resort; when it was about to leave, The noble concubine Yi (yì), later Empress Dowager Cixi, strongly discouraged Xianfeng and asked Xianfeng to stay in Beijing and continue to resist; for this reason, xianfeng was angered, and almost led to the disaster of killing.
In 1884, French warships launched a surprise attack on the Fujian Marine Division, and the Fujian Marine Division was completely destroyed; cixi edict (yù) ordered war on France declared war, and would continue to adhere to the peace talks of "Zhang Yin (yìn) Huan (huán)" and other 6 prime ministers Yamen ministers were dismissed from their posts.
In 1900, the Eight-Power Alliance invaded Beijing; Cixi fled to Xi'an with the Guangxu Emperor, empress, and others; Ling Yili (kuāng), Li Hongzhang, as plenipotentiary minister, negotiated with the great powers, put the responsibility for the war on the Boxers, and ordered the Boxers to be "severely eradicated."
During her lifetime, Cixi experienced five wars of imperialist aggression against China from 1840 to 1900.
The first Opium War, still a 5-year-old child; the second Opium War, was already the Xianfeng Emperor's concubine Yi (yì); the subsequent Sino-French War, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, and the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance were the top decision-makers of the Qing Dynasty.
It can be seen that his whole life is full of war, externally he has to deal with the aggression of the great powers of various countries, and internally he has to launch a coup d'état to consolidate his supreme power; although it seems to be brilliant, the people of ten thousand people really live hard.