The Ultimate Song of the Empire

Cixi and her minions—

—: My name is Xingzhen

Hui Zheng, who is only an eight-pin "pen-sticker" today, would not have imagined that this child who had just taken over from his mother would become the actual ruler of the country more than twenty years later.

On February 11, 2002, xianfeng 2nd year, the annual eight flags beauty contest was held as scheduled, and on the day of the selection, the contestants were led by eunuchs from shenwumen to wait in front of the Shunzhen Gate, holding the number plate and waiting for the judges to enter with a nervous mood, today's judges are the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Ai Xinjue Luo Yixuan and his adoptive mother Jing Taifei. At the beginning of the competition, five of the beautiful ladies of the Eight Banners of the Mongolian and Han Dynasties entered the Yanhui Pavilion in a row for the selection of the Emperor's concubines, only to see that the beauties were either gentle or elegant or beautiful and dignified Inside the Yanhui Pavilion, the fragrance was suddenly overflowing. The time was nearly noon, the dazzling young emperor took a sip of tea, moistened his dry lips and tongue to the eunuch on the side of the nod, the eunuch said loudly to the next one, the five beautiful ladies under the third-level stage fluttered down to worship the original tired and difficult young emperor at this moment, only to see that one of the five women under the steps was wearing an elegant blue Manchu flag suit, embellished with light blue butterfly embroidery feet on multicolored mandarin duck shoes, the pearl pendant in the ear swayed gently with the wind, and the handsome eyebrows were slightly powdered Originally, the northern eight flags woman was slightly charming.

The little emperor looked down at the roster on the case, turned away from the book case and went down the stairs to take the jade ruyi presented by the eunuch, and said, "Are you the Yehenara clan?" The woman replied, "Yes, Yehenara Apricot." ”

Although it is nearly March, the capital in mid-February still can't feel the shadow of spring, and the bone-chilling spring cold reminds people that the tail of midwinter is still fierce. Ai Xinjue Luo Yixuan was satisfied when he left Yanhui Pavilion, and he had just given a beautiful girl named Xingzhen the title of "Lan Guiren". Looking at the emperor's distant back, Xingzhen's palms were hot as if there were flames, and the cold jade ruyi gradually melted in the Ten Finger Jade Mountain, and the early spring of the seventeen-year-old was originally like this.

Two: Mothers rely on children to be precious

At first, the Xianfeng Emperor had two sons and a daughter, but unfortunately both sons died early, and now the twenty-six-year-old emperor often thinks about the problem of heirs, and often feels ashamed of the pressure on his ancestors, and the previous Qing emperors had long-lasting heirs before the age of twenty. Not only the emperor himself, but also the harem concubines were also impatient, because in ancient China, if there was no political in-law relationship, and there was a strong maternal family as the backing, the most honorable position coveted by the harem women was almost unrelated to ordinary concubines, except in one case.

Xianfeng's first empress died early, and the second empress was Niu Hulu, the later Empress Dowager Ci'an, who sat on the throne of the empress by virtue of the emperor's favor, but unfortunately never had children, which gave other women in the harem the opportunity to advance. Xingzhen is no exception to one of these many women, according to relevant records after entering the palace, Xingzhen has not been in good health, menstruation is often irregular menstruation is often painful and unbearable, and then because of the emperor's love for The treatment and welfare of the concubines rose, after the careful cultivation of the tai doctor, the physical condition improved, and finally pregnant with the dragon species for Xianfeng to give birth to the dragon son Ai Xinjue Luo Zaichun is also the later Tongzhi Emperor, the concubine who gave birth to the prince stood out among the concubines of the harem, and in the same year, The concubine of Jin Yifei did not set up an imperial concubine because of Xianfeng, At this time, Xingzhen seems to have become the second person in the harem, and in the unknown future, she has taken a key step towards the core of power.

In 1860, the Second Opium War of the Anglo-French Coalition army captured Tianjin and Seized Beijing, and the weak Xianfeng Emperor and his wife and children threw down the people of the capital to go to Rehe to "hunt in the north", I don't know how the Qing Taizu Nurhaci, who was buried outside the Northeast Pass, felt under the ground, and the coffin board was still pressed. In order to escape from reality, the Xianfeng Emperor in the Rehe river and the palace spent every day in the hands of the sound and color dog and horse, and the Yishou Ruyi ointment in the hands of the sound and color dog and horse was smoked all day long, and the ash smoke dissipated and burned out the last trace of Xianfeng's heart and also dissipated the already slim future of the Great Qing.

On August 22, 1861, Ai XinJue Luo Yi Died of Illness at the Rehe Palace Xianfeng, the bitter emperor who was born in the troubled autumn and died at the time of internal and external difficulties ended his short mediocre imperial career at the age of 31, Xian Feng died before the establishment of Ai XinJue Luo Zaichun as crown prince, his mother-in-law Niu Hulu clan crowned empress dowager, the birth mother Yehenara clan crowned the Empress Dowager, Yehenara Xingzhen finally grasped the handle of power, Khan Shu's hand could not suppress the heartbeat, took a deep breath to pull it apart.

Three: Two houses rule together

The life of the orphans and widows is not good, the orphans and widows in the palace are even more unhappy, Xian Fengyan closed his legs and stomped on the big treasurer, but the mess behind him always has to be cleaned up, who will continue the course of history, the young prince Zaichun? Beijing's Devil Six? Shousuke Sushun? History always gives unpredictable answers at key points.

The human heart is always the most loyal slave of absolute power, and whether you are a man or a woman, it is difficult to escape the trickery of this fate. The emperor's coffin has not yet had time to bury the imperial tomb, and the game of thrones has been staged eagerly in the Rehe Palace, and the eight ministers of Gu Ming, led by Su Shun, frequently attacked orphans and widows. Ci'an is a small woman, although she is the empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty, she has always been the emperor's beloved little woman, but the one next to her is not a fuel-saving lamp, in the face of the distress of the minister of gu order Cixi had to swallow his anger and wait for the opportunity to move, Cixi actively contacted the little uncle Gong Prince Yi bi who was far away in Beijing to handle the Anglo-French negotiations, this shrewd and capable imperial brother received secret instructions, came to Rehe to be obstructed by the eight ministers, and the imperial brother chatted for about an hour after meeting with the empress dowager of the two palaces. No one knows the content, but the ending of the eight ministers later says it all.

Ai Xinjue Luo Zaichun returned to Beijing to take the throne, Cixi and Prince Gong joined forces to divide and rule the eight ministers of Gu Ming one by one, and Cixi, who had defeated the political enemy, sat on the phoenix collapse in the Yangxin Hall and separated the curtain, bowed his head and lightly sipped the Mengding tea of The New Gong, and cleared his voice, "My sister and I, the orphan and widow, will rely on the sixth master after I am widowed." Yi Bi outside the curtain knelt to listen to the hadith, his forehead was covered with subtle beads of sweat that were not easily detected, and the blood of the eight ministers outside the noon gate had not yet dried, "The minister must be exhausted to repay the emperor's favor." ”

The floodgates of power are opened by a weak woman, and in the future this woman and her slaves or those famous courtiers of the late Qing Dynasty will lead this crumbling Qing kingdom to where.