The Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly fell into a coma, and her last words were hurriedly left three sentences
On November 14, 1908, Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty died, and his adoptive mother Cixi began to take care of the funeral. Cixi was busy until late at night, but the next morning she still got up at six o'clock to freshen up and eat, and seemed to be in a good mood.
However, in the afternoon of the same day, Cixi had already put on a shroud and died. Before she died, she only said three words in a hurry.
01 Emperor's Birthday The 10th day of October in the 34th year of Guangxu (1908 AD) is the birthday of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Usually the emperor is already very extravagant, but this celebration is naturally even more luxurious, and the court has been preparing for half a year, spending a lot of financial resources.
Today's Forbidden City is bustling and lively. Delicacies, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, and antiques from all over the world flocked to the Yiluan Hall where Cixi was located. Envoys and princes and ministers from all over the world came one after another to win her laughter.
Thousands of people in the palace are busy, some are pruning flowers and plants, some are carrying vases and pasting window flowers, and some are killing pigs and sheep, and the atmosphere is warm and cheerful.
New copywriting: The top chefs in the capital were also invited into the palace to prepare a feast, presenting a total of 108 delicacies, including 54 southern dishes and 54 northern dishes, and specially prepared various mountain and sea delicacies such as bird's nest 10,000 characters gold and silver duck pieces and pot roasted carp, not to mention those delicacies that fly in the sky and swim in the water, which have long been commonplace.
In the face of this festive feast, the Empress Dowager Cixi was even more refreshed, she called the chief eunuch Li Lianying, poured herself a full glass of liquor, and drank it all. During this period, the Empress Dowager Cixi was full of interest, frequently raised her glass, and took a variety of dishes, which was dazzling.
After the birthday banquet, Cixi took her entourage to the lake for a walk. The breeze blew gently, and she felt a hint of coolness in her thin clothes. However, after returning to the palace, Cixi began to feel unwell.
At first, there was some dull pain, which turned into a continuous severe cramp, and then the symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea appeared. After this torture, Cixi was exhausted and could only lie motionless in bed.
Galeries Lafayette"The maid was so frightened by the abnormality that she immediately called in the imperial doctor. After the diagnosis of the imperial doctor, it was learned that the Empress Dowager Cixi was suffering from dysentery, so she prescribed some antidiarrheal drugs.
However, the next morning, Cixi's condition did not improve, but the number of toilet visits increased significantly, even as many as dozens of times, and the feces were filled with pus and blood. At the end of the day, Cixi's body was so weak that she couldn't even eat.
There was a panic in the palace, and the imperial doctor, who was eager to stop diarrhea for the Queen Mother, actually overused opium in order to be effective. However, opium does not eliminate dysentery bacilli, and this attempt to stop diarrhea is only a symptom rather than a cure.
The Queen Mother's condition deteriorated day by day, and a week later, she was so thin and so weak that she could no longer walk. In order to maintain her life, she began to take precious tonic medicine every day and forced herself to eat some precious medicinal food, but her complexion did not improve.
Chief Eunuch Li Lianying specially brought the secret recipe of his hometown - "Wang Ba Tang". This soup is said to have the miraculous effect of prolonging life and strengthening the body. The Empress Dowager Cixi was so sick that she immediately asked her to make a bowl according to the secret recipe.
To her surprise, after drinking the "Wang Ba Soup", her body felt much more comfortable. In the following weeks, Cixi drank a large amount of "Wang Ba Tang", gradually recovered her mental state, and returned to the government.
Emperor Guangxu died on November 14, 1908, at the age of thirty-eight. People up and down the capital never expected that Emperor Guangxu, who was still watching the excerpt in bed yesterday, died suddenly in Hanyuan Hall today, making this winter even more bleak.
After the death of Emperor Guangxu, the Empress Dowager Cixi quickly issued three important edicts, the contents of which were interlocking. The first is to require Pu Yi, the son of Prince Zaifeng, to be educated in the palace and study in the upper study.
The second item is to designate Prince Alcohol Zaifeng as the regent. The third item is to order the Minister of War and Aircraft to declare that the regent should be ranked before the kings in the court ceremony and the regular court shift.
The Empress Dowager Cixi decided to appoint Puyi, the grandson of Puyi, who was only two years old, as the emperor, and at the same time authorized Prince Zaifeng as regent. Since then, Zaifeng and Puyi, father and son, have become the ** people appointed by Cixi, while those members of the imperial family with bad intentions are forced to stand aside.
Despite the discussion of the whole court, the Empress Dowager Cixi still firmly carried out the funeral arrangements of the Guangxu Emperor.
The Empress Dowager Cixi decreed that Shiduo, Kuibin, Nayantu, Zai Ze, Na Tong, Yuan Shikai, Pu Liang, Jilu, Zeng Chong and others were responsible for preparing for the funeral. She also proposed a series of regulations, including "the three-year funeral should be carried out by respect", "the queen mother should be honored as the queen mother", "the regent Zaifeng is in charge of supervising the country, and all etiquette should be practiced", "Puyi should be avoided", and the generals and ministers of the provinces "do not need to report to the Zigong".
Cixi was busy day and night, and did not rest until late at night. However, the next morning, she still got up at six o'clock to get up and dress up as usual, and she seemed to be in a pretty good mood.
The imperial dining room had already prepared breakfast for her, and she began to eat it under the service of the maid. However, after only a few bites, her facial expression went out of control, and she fell into a coma after a few calls.
One or two old rice, five points of ginseng, five dollars of wheat winter, five dollars of fresh dendrobium. However, although the prescription could invigorate and invigorate Qi, it could not save Cixi's life.
Women are not allowed to participate in state politics, which is contrary to the family rules of our dynasty and must be strictly restricted. In particular, we must pay attention to not allowing eunuchs to hold power, and the historical lessons of the late Ming Dynasty should be taken as a warning! ”
With that, she fell into a coma. Li Lianying followed her instructions and quickly took out a night pearl and put it in her mouth.
At 3 p.m. on October 21, only 19 and a half hours after the death of Emperor Guangxu, the Empress Dowager Cixi passed away peacefully on the bed in the Fuchang Palace.
At the funeral that day, it seemed that all the people in Beijing had come out, and the streets were crowded with people who came to see them off. People came to see Cixi off and were amazed by the extravagant ceremony.
In the luxurious funeral, a 33-pound pure gold ball was placed on the coffin of golden silk nanmu, covered with tens of thousands of tons of brocade silk, which needed to be carried by 7,920 people in turn.
Hundreds of officials followed the funeral, everyone wore linen and filial piety, and the whole people knelt down to greet and send off, and Cixi's funeral ceremony was comparable to that of the emperors of the ages. However, after this lavish funeral, Cixi was laid to rest, but her dying words left a fog over history.
Why did the iron-fisted empress dowager, who once controlled the Qing Dynasty for half a century, finally leave such a last word?
04 Interpretation of Cixi's last words The Empress Dowager Cixi has been in power for 48 years, but before her death, she emphasized that "women must not interfere in court politics and must not violate the ancestral system", this kind of duplicity makes people wonder whether she really advocates that women must not interfere in court politics.
At the same time, she also emphasized that "eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics", but this contradicts her past behavior of pampering eunuchs such as An Dehai and Li Lianying and supporting them. Thus, her last words show her ambivalent attitude towards women and eunuchs.
Scholars believe that the Empress Dowager Cixi has been a special and unique woman all her life, with extraordinary wisdom and courage, and is a rare strong woman in history.
As a ruler, she considered herself to surpass all men and women in her abilities and achievements, even the Xianfeng Emperor. She believes that her political talent and influence are unmatched, which is why she asked Guangxu to call her "pro-father".
In her time, female governance was considered an impossibility, an unacceptable reality. Although she longed to communicate directly with her ministers and participate in the war as the emperor did, her status and traditional beliefs meant that she could only issue simple directives through the curtain.
She was forced to take her place in politics, and if she didn't fight, she could be forgotten by history. It was for these reasons that made Cixi question the rationality and possibility of women ruling on her deathbed.
Why did Cixi prevent the eunuchs from exercising power? On the one hand, many dynasties in history, in order to counter the threat of foreign forces, will give eunuchs a certain amount of power, allowing them to indirectly intervene in court politics to strengthen the centralization of power.
On the other hand, Cixi was too fond of her own cronies and eunuchs, and she was worried that the eunuchs would use their power to do evil, causing chaos in the court. A notorious eunuch like Li Lianying, because of Cixi's protection, rose to prominence in the palace and had supreme power, and even many ministers moved closer to him.
On her deathbed, Cixi may have realized that the power of the eunuchs was too large and could threaten the regime, so she left a legacy that the eunuchs were not allowed to exercise exclusive power.
Conclusion: The Empress Dowager Cixi left a strong mark in the history of the Qing Dynasty, and during her reign, she signed a number of unequal treaties, which put the Chinese nation in danger.
However, when the Qing Dynasty was about to collapse, she died at the age of 74. Although her last words were still full of lust for power, she did not seem to have a full sense of the future of the Qing Dynasty.
Although we cannot judge the right and wrong of Cixi, we can learn from her historical experience and cherish the peaceful life we have now.