Author: Jin Manlou
On the ninth day of october in the eleventh year of Xianfeng, the ninth day of the successful coup d'état of Xin You, the Taihe Hall held a grand enthronement ceremony.
This morning, the 6-year-old little emperor Zaichun wore a small crown on his head, wore a small dragon robe, and pedaled small dragon boots, and with the help of the eunuch, the little doll barely rubbed on the tall and vermilion paint gilded emperor's throne.
Subsequently, the whips sounded in unison, the auspicious music was made, and the princes and ministers of the Manchu Dynasty performed three kneeling and nine prostrations in a noisy sound, and the little emperor was officially enthroned.
After the ceremony, the official of the ceremony was ordered to issue a testament to the throne and an edict of accession to the throne, and announced it to the world.
On the tenth day of the first month of October, the day after the young emperor ascended the throne, it happened to be Cixi's 27th birthday.
With the overall situation set, Cixi's mood was obviously much better.
That evening, the Imperial Dining Room made her a very sumptuous dinner, counting:
Two hot pot products: lamb stewed tofu, stove duck stewed cabbage;
Four large bowl dishes: bird's nest Fuzi pot roasted duck, bird's nest Shouzi white duck silk, bird's nest swastika red and white duck, bird's nest New Year character assorted silk;
Four dishes in the middle bowl: bird's nest fat chicken shreds, slippery shrimp, duck loin, three fresh pigeon eggs;
Six dishes on the dish: bird's nest fried chicken smoked shredded, meat shredded fried wings, mouth-ground fried chicken slices, wild duck balls, fruit sauce, crushed chicken;
Two products on a plate: hanging stove duck, hanging furnace pig;
Four products of gluttony: white sugar oil cake Shouyi, Alfalfa cake Shouyi, Wang Fu Holding Shou Peach, Baishou Peach;
Four small dishes on a silver plate: bird's nest duck strip soup, chicken noodles, old rice food, fruit porridge.
Seeing such a rich birthday feast, Cixi had mixed feelings, and it was inevitable that she would be sad and lost. Since escaping from Beijing with her husband XianFeng in August last year, he has suffered a lot along the way;
After arriving at Rehe, Xianfeng's health deteriorated, and the entire Rehe river was under the control of Sushun, and the supply to the harem was extremely thin, so he did not eat a comfortable meal.
Today, the husband has long returned to heaven, leaving only orphans and widows, and the palace is cold and cold, so it is not sad! Fortunately, now that the political enemies have been eliminated, this birthday can finally eat a good meal with peace of mind.
Since the previous era name "Qi Xiang" was drawn up by the Eight Ministers, after the former was broken, the era name of "Qi Xiang" could no longer be used.
After the coup d'état, the university scholar Zhou Zupei scoffed at the era name of "Qi Xiang", believing that the word "Qi Xiang" was not smooth in terms of both text and righteousness.
For example, the word "Qi" has never been used by that dynasty in the era name;
The word "Xiang" was only used by the Young Emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty ("Xiangxing"), but the Young Emperor was the king of the fallen country, and the ending was extremely tragic.
He was the last emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, who was chased by the Mongol army all the way to the south coast, and finally died by the minister Lu Xiufu who jumped into the sea on his back, which shows how unlucky the word "Qi Xiang" is.
Remembering the humiliation of Sushun when he was doing Hubu Shangshu, Zhou Zupei couldn't help but take a bite out of it, and scolded in his heart:
Sushun these people have not learned any skills since they were young, and even the proposed era name has been very foreign, can they still be expected to govern the country? To govern the country, we still have to rely on those of us who read books!
Therefore, Zhou Zupei suggested changing "Qi Xiang" to "Tongzhi", and was quickly approved by the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces.
Speaking of the era name of "Tongzhi", the meaning is complicated.
In the eyes of the ministers, this is the "co-rule" of the two palace empresses and the little emperors, of which the two palace empresses are the main ones;
In the eyes of Empress Dowager Ci'an and Empress Dowager Cixi, this is the "same rule" of the two women, and Cixi is the main one;
In prince Gong's eyes, this should be his "governance together" with the empress dowager of the two palaces, and he is the real backbone.
At that time, Yi Xian may have thought to herself, after all, these two empresses are women in the inner palace, with limited knowledge, and it is not good to show their faces casually, and then the government is not up to me to decide?
However, judging from the later facts, Yi Xun was wrong, big mistake, and his wishful thinking was basically in vain.
The woman in the palace, how powerful!
(Excerpt from Jin Manlou: Women In Power: Empress Dowager Cixi and the Fifty Years of the Late Qing Dynasty, China Workers Publishing House, 2015)
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