The gratitude and resentment between Zhen Fei and Empress Dowager Cixi
Zhen Fei, the daughter of right assistant minister Chang Xu, was sent to Manchuria by the red flag, the daughter of a veritable family of high officials. In the fifteenth year of Guangxu, Tata and her sister (Jin Fei) entered the palace at the same time and were conferred the title of Zhen Emperor. Five years later, due to the 60th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi, Jane was promoted to princess. However, in the same year, Zhen Fei was angered by Empress Dowager Cixi, and was downgraded to a noble person by Empress Dowager Cixi on the grounds of "flashy and frequent begging". As for the reason, Empress Dowager Cixi gave the reason that she lived in luxury. Is that a reason? Empress Dowager Cixi lived more luxuriously than anyone else! Obviously, this is just an excuse. The reason is probably because Zhenfei went into politics. According to some historical records, Zhen Fei took advantage of her favor and actually played the business of "selling officials and titles"! Although Empress Dowager Cixi played politics, she was generally good to the Qing Dynasty. Even her brother Gui Xiang only gave a high position and had no real power. However, Princess Zhen actually used the official tools of the imperial court to seek personal gain for herself, and Empress Dowager Cixi must punish her, otherwise the future trouble will be endless.
Judging from the restoration of the position of Princess Zhen in the second year of Empress Dowager Cixi, the contradiction between Empress Dowager Cixi and Princess Zhen at that time was not irreconcilable. It is very likely that Empress Dowager Cixi just wants to punish Princess Zhen with small punishment and punish her in public, so that she can be honest and do her duty. However, Zhen Fei did not learn the lesson. During the Reform Movement of 1898, Zhen Fei committed another "old problem" of being in charge. She took advantage of the love of Emperor Guangxu in Qing Dynasty and recommended some talents to Emperor Guangxu. 1898 After the coup, all this naturally became a "crime" that Empress Dowager Cixi could not tolerate! While imprisoning Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi once again openly courted Princess Zhen and imprisoned her in the Northern Three Realms behind Zhong Cui Palace.
Judging from the ending of Princess Zhen's sister Jin Fei, Empress Dowager Cixi did not deliberately target the Tata family or the concubines of Emperor Guangxu. Zhen Fei ended up like this only because she committed the big taboo of Empress Dowager Cixi-interfering in politics. How did Empress Dowager Cixi rise in those days? Leaving the role of Princess Zhen is a great threat to the niece of Empress Dowager Cixi and later Yulong! For Cixi herself, she is also a potential opponent. Only by keeping her in solitary confinement for life can Empress Dowager Cixi rest assured. If there is no accident, it is estimated that Feifei will die alone in Beisan. It happened that Eight-Nation Alliance had already entered Beijing, and Empress Dowager Cixi threatened Zhenfei's life, which was obviously a burden. Don't take her with you. In case those foreign Qiu Ba gave something to this precious princess, wouldn't the emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty want to build a world prairie on his head? As a result, Empress Dowager Cixi threw her heart into the well and dropped it!
After the Empress Dowager Cixi came back from Xi 'an, out of the need to clear her responsibilities and cover up the truth, she told Zhen Fei to avoid humiliation and throw herself into the well. Later, Empress Dowager Cixi made Princess Zhen a imperial concubine. However, what doesn't match the status of the imperial concubine is that Empress Dowager Cixi didn't order her to be buried in the later imperial concubine garden, but hastily buried her in the palace maid cemetery near the eunuch cemetery in Enjizhuang ... Although she was promoted to the imperial concubine in the period, it was not until the fourth year of the Republic of China that her sister Jin (also the imperial concubine of the last emperor Puyi) moved her to the imperial concubine garden. It can be seen that Empress Dowager Cixi's pursuit of the title of Princess Zhen is entirely to cover up the truth. When Empress Dowager Cixi was alive, the cause of Zhen Fei's death was always characterized as "martyrdom and suicide" by Qing officials. It was not until the death of Empress Dowager Cixi that my brother-in-law and princess Zai Feng publicly corrected their deaths because of homicide.
Regarding the death of Empress Ci 'an, the most widely circulated story is that Empress Dowager Cixi murdered her. It is said that Emperor Xianfeng, the literator of the Qing Dynasty, left a secret imperial edict to Empress Ci 'an, who was still the empress at that time. As soon as Empress Cixi came to power, Empress Ci 'an could kill her with this secret imperial edict. After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Empress Dowager Cixi tried every means to please Empress Ci 'an and finally got a secret imperial edict. After receiving the secret imperial edict, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered someone to poison Empress Ci 'an!
Does the secret imperial edict really exist?
Before his death, Emperor Xianfeng tried his best to design a system of power checks and balances in view of the fact that his only son was young. To put it simply, it is that the eight ministers of Fuzheng contain each other, then the empress dowager contain the eight ministers of Fuzheng, and finally the queens of the two palaces contain each other, forming a delicate balance of power, so as not to affect the son's restoration of power after the Emperor Tongzhi came to power in the future! So, here's the problem. If Qian Lu has such a secret edict, who will balance Cian? Once, Empress Ci 'an joined hands with Empress Dowager Cixi to get rid of the Minister of Auxiliary Affairs, and then executed Empress Dowager Cixi with this secret imperial edict in her hand, becoming the Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty. The main principle of Xianfeng Emperor's dying power layout is to let all factions check and balance each other. How could he leave such a secret imperial edict to Empress Cian?
Did Empress Dowager Cixi deliberately please Empress Ci 'an?
It is said that Empress Dowager Cixi cheated the secret imperial edict. Empress Dowager Cixi flattered Empress Ci 'an everywhere and even cut meat for Empress Ci 'an as a medicine introduction, thus cheating the secret imperial edict. The problem is that as early as the Tongzhi period, Empress Dowager Ci 'an reached a tacit understanding with Prince Gong Zhong Yixin because Empress Dowager Cixi was sharp-edged. The famous "An Dehai Incident" is actually a power confrontation between Empress Ci 'an, Yixin and Empress Dowager Cixi. In other words, although Empress Ci 'an and Empress Cixi were not completely torn, they were not so harmonious since the Tongzhi period. When did Queen Cian die? Guangxu seven years! The time doesn't match at all If Empress Ci 'an really had a secret imperial edict, she could have taken it out and killed Empress Dowager Cixi during the Tongzhi period, couldn't she? To say the least, even if there was, Empress Dowager Cixi cheated the secret imperial edict before she and Empress Ci 'an were torn apart, at least during the Tongzhi period. According to the murder theory of Empress Dowager Cixi, Empress Ci 'an should have died in Tongzhi period, and could not have lived to Guangxu for seven years.
Can Empress Dowager Cixi really murder Empress Cian?
Don't say those rumors, just say a little. Until the tenth year of Guangxu, the "Shen Jiayi Book" and the Prince of Gong Zhong Yixin always controlled the military department. Although the so-called "Communist Party" force has been suppressed by Empress Dowager Cixi, it is still a powerful political force. If Empress Dowager Cixi murdered Empress Ci 'an, wouldn't Yi Xin be able to make a fuss? Apart from Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu and his biological father, Prince Chun Xian, benefited a lot. Once these political forces merge, plus the crime of "murdering the main room in the side room", Empress Dowager Cixi will have a good drink! It is unknown whether Empress Dowager Cixi can still hold the post of Empress Dowager. Therefore, the statement that Empress Dowager Cixi murdered Empress Ci 'an is probably just a joke, which is not true.
How did Queen Cian die?
Since Empress Dowager Cixi didn't murder her, how did Cian die? According to historical records, Empress Dowager Cixi was fully armed in Guangxu for six years, and all political affairs were handled by Empress Ci 'an. On the ninth day of March, the seventh year of Guangxu, Empress Dowager Ci 'an was still summoning the minister of military aircraft. There was nothing unusual, but her cheeks were slightly red. According to Weng Tonghe's Diary, the next morning, "Dong Taihou (Ci 'an) refused to drink because of the cold, and occasionally refused to follow, and no military aircraft was seen". On the same day, that is, the tenth day of March in the seventh year of Guangxu, Empress Dowager Ci 'an died suddenly.
Such a rapid death, in addition to homicide, I am afraid there are only cases of sudden cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Associated with "blushing cheeks", Empress Ci 'an is likely to suffer from high blood pressure or potential heart disease. Otherwise, why does everyone else look normal, and she is the only one with a reddish cheek? This is also consistent with the symptoms of related diseases. From this, we can speculate that Empress Ci 'an suffers from hypertension or potential heart disease. After more than a year of dealing with political affairs and high-intensity work alone, she was infected with "wind chill", which led to a stroke or sudden heart attack, such as myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death. In that era when there was no modern first aid technology, we had to "wait for death" in such a situation, and it was not surprising that we went from illness to death in one day. Therefore, Empress Ci 'an probably died of sudden cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, rather than being murdered by Empress Dowager Cixi. Forty-four-year-old, with a long-term political struggle and great pressure in dealing with state affairs, it is normal to suffer from this disease. It is not surprising that people are induced by fatigue and other diseases, such as stroke and myocardial infarction.