Chapter 24 Empress Dowager Empress Dowager Empress

Emperor Guangxu had been imprisoned in Yingtai by the Empress Dowager Cixi since the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898. Later, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing and fled westward with Cixi.It is a sad joke that an emperor has his own freedom only when he is on the run.After Guangxu returned to Beijing, he was still imprisoned in Yingtai, alone.My favorite Concubine Zhen died, and Concubine Jin didn't dare to disobey her orders, she usually seemed very lonely.Guangxu, who is always thinking about national affairs, feels sad that he is like a bird in a cage, and he still can't please his master.Even the eunuchs around Empress Dowager Cixi can bully him, what a useless emperor.Li Lianying once ridiculed that he has the name of Long Live and does not need to be distracted from handling state affairs. He is really blessed and happy.

When a person who wants to make a difference is bound physically and mentally, he will often worry too much, and he will inevitably get sick. Moreover, he will not receive timely recuperation, so it will become more and more serious, and he will look haggard.Even so, on Cixi's Longevity Day, Emperor Guangxu had to go there sick, but it was difficult to even lead the ministers to celebrate the birthday, so he had to reluctantly pay his birthday early to avoid holding activities with the ministers and wasting energy. Seeing that Guangxu was haggard and panting, Cixi couldn't help feeling compassionate, and told him not to accompany him, and ordered him to go back to rest first.

One day in the golden autumn of October, Cixi led the harem concubines, Fujin, Li Lianying, etc. to go boating on Kunming Lake. The Empress Dowager Cixi was so excited that she pretended to be a Guanyin master and ordered Li Lianying to pretend to be a boy and take pictures. On the way home, the weather became colder and invaded the muscles and bones, and Cixi suffered from dysentery when she returned to her bedroom.However, he was still able to manage the government and reviewed many memorials.Unexpectedly, the next day, he couldn't go to the palace, and Emperor Guangxu was always in poor health, so no one was able to handle state affairs for a while.

On the third day, Empress Dowager Cixi and Guangxu Tong Yubian Hall, Fu Zengxiang, the envoy of Zhili Tixue, resigned (leave the court, bid farewell to the emperor).Cixi told him that recently the thinking of students tends to be more revolutionary, and this trend will not last long. He is required to do his best to restore the trend, and his words are quite sentimental.Since then, Guangxu has never been in court again. Not only that, even the Empress Dowager Cixi also rested in the palace and no longer in the imperial palace. The imperial doctor predicted that the situation was not good, so he notified the Military Aircraft Department early that the pulses of the two uteruses were not stable, and a skilled doctor was needed to make a diagnosis, so as not to miss the illness.The Military Aircraft Department immediately strengthened the security of the palace, and all personnel entering and exiting must be strictly searched.

Cixi was seriously ill, and the Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of Beiyang, Governor of Zhili Yuan Shikai and Li Lianying were all very anxious.Because both of them climbed to high positions by relying on the Empress Dowager Cixi, and gained prominent status and glory.At the same time, they were all great enemies of Emperor Guangxu. Yuan Shikai was the informer of the Reform Movement of 1898, and Li Lianying personally imprisoned Emperor Guangxu in Yingtai. Although Emperor Guangxu suffered from chronic diseases, he was in his prime after all, so he might not die.The Empress Dowager Cixi was over seventy years old, and the imperial physician also said that her pulse was not good. If Cixi died violently before Emperor Guangxu, Emperor Guangxu would definitely arrest them both for questioning.

Yuan Shikai hurried to find Li Lianying, but Li Lianying calmly told him that he was already prepared and there was no need to worry.Seeing that Li Lianying was so confident, Yuan Shikai nodded and felt relieved. Empress Dowager Cixi believed that Guangxu was seriously ill and unable to govern, and immediately decreed that Puyi, the four-year-old son of Prince Chun Zaifeng and grandson of Ronglu, should be appointed as his heir.Prince Qing Yikuang was shocked, thinking that the establishment of an heir was not in accordance with the etiquette system, so he rushed to the palace to meet the Empress Dowager Cixi, Li Chen, according to the tribe, Pu Lun should be the first successor, followed by Prince Gong Puwei, how could it be Puyi's turn?

Cixi refused to listen to Yikuang's advice, but still insisted on her own opinion, saying that the deal was done and could not be changed.Li Lianying also tried her best to flatter Cixi, so that Yikuang didn't have to make unnecessary struggles, and asked him to go to Guangxu to convey his intention. Yikuang came to Yingtai to visit Guangxu according to the order. He saw Emperor Guangxu's eyes were glazed over, he was out of breath, and he was as skinny as a stick.There are only two old eunuchs who are nearly 60 years old to serve.Seeing this scene, Yikuang thought to himself, as the king of a country, it was so horrible that he couldn't help crying.

Yikuang knew that talking too much would reach people with ulterior motives, so he quickly told Guangxu what Cixi meant.Although Guangxu was seriously ill, he still felt that this matter was inappropriate. He thought it would be better to establish the Changjun, and asked him to agree to strive to succeed Mu Zong in front of Cixi, and also to worship Guangxu.Yikuang told Guangxu that everything was on him, asked about his condition, and reported back to Cixi. Li Lianying soon understood Guangxu's intention to establish the Changjun, and immediately became frightened.If Cixi changes her mind and does not establish Puyi, it will be detrimental to herself.So, he spread a rumor in front of Cixi that Guangxu was very happy about Cixi's illness, and he was very happy.

Cixi didn't know the truth about this, and was immediately furious, and ordered Li Lianying to poison Guangxu like she had done with the Empress Dowager Ci'an, and Li Lianying immediately took the order. At noon that day, Li Lianying went to Yingtai, mixed the poison with Guangxu's medicine, let Guangxu take it, and then left.After he came out, he happened to meet the queen wandering outside Yingtai. Li Lianying suddenly had an idea, greeted her humbly, and said that the end of Guangxu's time had come, and let her go in to see her.However, the empress did not dare to trespass because she did not have the order of the Empress Dowager Cixi.Li Lianying took care of everything, saying that he was responsible for everything and let the queen go in.

Why is Li Lianying suddenly so polite to the queen?It turned out that he had seen the situation take a turn for the worse in recent days.First of all, there is no doubt that Guangxu will die, and it seems that Cixi will not last long. Her backer is about to fall, and her future has become confusing.Today, the Empress Dowager Cixi has established the young Puyi as the emperor, and the Empress Dowager will definitely be in charge in the future.By that time, the current Empress Guangxu, who will be the future Empress Dowager, will hold real power just like Empress Dowager Cixi.I am kind to her now, maybe I will get her favor in the future and climb new heights.Even if she doesn't like her behavior, it won't offend her, and it can be regarded as leaving a way for the future.

A few days later, at three o'clock in the afternoon, Cixi listened to the report from the eunuch serving Guangxu, saying that the emperor was seriously ill (he was dying and was about to die).The Empress Dowager Cixi immediately led the Empress and Concubine Jin to Yingtai, at this time Guangxu was already in a state of anger. According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, when the emperor was dying, he must wear a long-lived dress, otherwise it would not be good for the emperor to ascend to heaven, because if he only wore ordinary clothes, he would not attract the attention of the Jade Emperor and would be blamed by his ancestors. The eunuchs were about to change clothes for Guangxu, but he stopped him and he disagreed.Cixi may feel that she owes him too much, because she has never shown Guangxu a good look in her life, nor has she heard him a good word. He still blamed her after death, so he didn't insist on asking the eunuch to dress him. At one o'clock in the afternoon, Emperor Guangxu, who had been a puppet all his life, finally passed away. This day was October 21st in the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908).When Guangxu died, only Cixi, the Empress, Concubine Jin, Li Lianying, and several eunuchs and court ladies were by his side.There were no princes, ministers, military ministers, or imperial ministers, and the scene was very sad. When the Empress Dowager Cixi saw the death of Emperor Guangxu, she couldn't help feeling a little sad and cried a few times.After that, he immediately went back to pass down the edict of Emperor Guangxu, and issued the edict of the new emperor's ascension to the throne.In fact, this posthumous edict was written a long time ago, and it is waiting for Emperor Guangxu to announce it to the world after his death! Prince Qing Yikuang heard that Guangxu had passed away, so he hurried into the palace to meet Cixi and asked the new emperor to be the heir to succeed Mu Zong (Emperor Tongzhi). The boss of Cixi was unhappy, but the emperor died recently, so she didn't want to get angry.At this time, Li Lianying believed that it was time to express to Empress Guangxu and the future Empress Dowager, so she persuaded Cixi that the words of Prince Qing Yikuang were really for the sake of the Qing Dynasty. Seeing that Yikuang insisted on his own opinion, and Li Lianying was on the sidelines to help out, Cixi had no energy to argue with Yikuang, so she had to agree with Yikuang and drafted an order.In this way, Queen Guangxu can be regarded as a big winner, and Guangxu can be regarded as having a future. Sure enough, as Li Lianying expected, the system of concubine marriage has been established. Empress Guangxu is very grateful to Prince Yikuang and Li Lianying, because Empress Tongzhi is dead, and she is a legitimate empress dowager. Later, one year after Emperor Xuantong ascended the throne, the regent Zaifeng was forced to step down by the Queen Mother Longyu (Queen Guangxu), which caused the Qing Emperor to abdicate.The regent Zaifeng wanted to copy Li Lianying's home, but was stopped by Queen Mother Longyu, which saved Li Lianying's life.This is a later story, so I won't show it for the time being. After Yikuang finished drawing up the decree of Jianyou, it was already midnight before he withdrew.The next day was October 22. Yikuang showed the drafted decree to the Empress Dowager Cixi. The Empress Dowager Cixi summoned the Minister of Military Aircraft and the Empress, the Regent and the Regent Fujin to discuss for a long time, and reused the new emperor. In the name of Xuantong, an edict was issued.Respect Empress Dowager Cixi as Empress Dowager, and Empress Guangxu as Empress Dowager. During lunch, Cixi, who had become the Empress Dowager, suddenly became dizzy and collapsed on the dining table.Fortunately, Li Lianying hurriedly helped Cixi to the bedroom with the eunuchs and maids, and ordered the imperial doctor to give first aid, and then she woke up. It turned out that Cixi suffered from facial wind, thirst, hemorrhoids and blood in the stool for a long time in her later years.Moreover, according to the records of the pulse case, Cixi suffered from facial wind when she was fifty years old in the twelfth year of Guangxu (1886).Mianfeng didn't get better until the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), but his thirst and hemorrhoids were never cured. Empress Dowager Cixi fell into a coma suddenly because of diabetes.After she woke up, she summoned Empress Guangxu, Prince Regent Zaifeng and Minister of Military Aircraft to gather before the sick bed to give instructions on what to do next.Hand over state affairs to the Regent, and order the Minister of Military Aircraft to draft an order on the spot, the general idea is as follows: According to the imperial decree of the Empress Dowager: Yesterday, a decree has been issued to take King Chun as the regent of the supervisory country, and follow Yu's instructions to handle state affairs.Now that I am in critical condition, I know that I can't afford it. In the future, the state affairs will be completely handed over to the regent of the country.If there is an important matter, the empress dowager must be consulted, that is, the regent of the country shall consult and decide. After the Empress Dowager Cixi finished giving her instructions, a thick phlegm suddenly rushed up in her throat, and she almost lost her breath because of choking. The surrounding court ladies and eunuchs hurriedly made her a sip of tea, and then she recovered.During this period, the proposed edict was finally finalized after repeated consideration and modification, and with reference to the opinions of Queen Guangxu.In the evening, Cixi's eyes gradually blurred, and then she passed away.Empress Dowager Cixi, who ruled the Qing Dynasty for nearly fifty years, finally left this world, only one day later than Emperor Guangxu. The inner and outer coffins have already been prepared, and they are made of high-quality golden nanmu.The inner coffin is made of nanmu red lacquer and filled with gold. Tibetan Buddhist scriptures are engraved on the subtle brocade patterns around the inner coffin. The scriptures are all neatly pasted with gold. Play peony pattern. The outer coffin is also made of golden nanmu.The outside of the coffin was painted with forty-nine layers of lacquer, the last layer was gold lacquer, and the four heavenly king mantras written by the lama on it were used to save the dead. What exactly was placed inside Cixi's coffin?There have always been different opinions. But according to Li Lianying's records, except Cixi's body, the coffin is full of rare treasures.Someone made a rough count based on his notes, and found that only three, three, five or six five pearls were used, and three, four, five or five red sapphires.Other gold, silver, emerald and jade have not yet been counted. Just because Cixi contained too many treasures in the coffin, only 20 years after her death, Cixi's tomb was visited by tomb robbers many times, and finally all the treasures in the coffin fell into the hands of the great warlord Sun Dianying.