What is the real relationship between Cixi and Guangxu? Li Lianying's cousin claimed that Cixi had not died of illness
After death, it can change or destroy a person.
So, what would a woman get if all the compliments, recognition, and compliments she received in her life were concentrated in one place?
If the woman's name was Cixi, the answer might not be so important. No matter how glorious her name may be after her death, history has long predicted that she will be a dead queen.
The feud between the adoptive mother and her son who is different.
In 1835, Dong Jiazhi was born into an ordinary family of banner people. No one expected her to be one of the women who changed Chinese history.
But Heaven has more in store for her. At the age of ten, he became a royal blessing.
This prince later became Emperor Xianfeng. He liked Dong Jia, and the two had a son named Zaichun, who later became the Tongzhi Emperor.
In 1861, Emperor Xianfeng died, and the 5-year-old Zaichun ascended the throne, and his mother, Dong Jia, was honored as the empress dowager. However, the good times were short-lived, and the Tongzhi Emperor died suddenly at the age of 19, ending his short 14-year reign.
The throne was supposed to pass to the son of Emperor Tongzhi, but he was still a baby. For the sake of the country and the consolidation of her own power, Empress Dowager Dong came up with a solution: let Emperor Xianfeng's niece, that is, Emperor Guangxu at that time, be the emperor and herself as the regent to help the three-year-old child.
This creates a unique relationship between the adoptive mother, the birth mother and the child.
For Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Dong was his stepmother, but more importantly, she was the woman who decided the fate of his life. For Empress Dowager Dong, Emperor Guangxu was just a puppet to be used, a puppet emperor who helped her rule the dynasty.
One must be relied upon, the other is happy to manipulate. It can be difficult for both to truly understand, respect, and support each other, even if they have lived together all their lives.
Maybe that's why they're tragic.
As an adoptive mother, Empress Dowager Dong must treat Emperor Guangxu as her own child, place high hopes and expectations on him, and raise this future overlord of the world with love and tolerance.
However, Empress Dowager Dong apparently abdicated her responsibilities as an adoptive mother. She treated Emperor Guangxu as a pawn that could be manipulated at will, and spent her life raising and disciplining him in her own way and ideas.
In the eyes of Empress Dowager Dong, Emperor Guangxu was just a puppet at the mercy of others, an emperor who had to obey her orders and could not disobey in the slightest.
As for the Guangxu Emperor, although his stepmother was strict with him, she rarely loved him.
What rulers need is enlightenment and education, not threats and punishment. This stepmother controls him so deeply that he can't feel the warmth and care that a son deserves.
She sometimes wondered if her birth mother would love her more than her adoptive mother if she was still alive.
When the supporters fall, the end is predictable.
Empress Dowager Dong realized that if she wanted to stay in power for a long time, she had to find a confidant who she could fully trust and entrust for life, so she set her sights on a eunuch named Li Lianying.
Li Lianying was smart and capable, and soon won the favor of Empress Dowager Dong. In order to win the favor of the Empress Dowager Dong, the imperial court did its best to flatter Li Lianying, and Li Lianying also encouraged her relatives and friends.
One of his cousins, Li, entered the palace with his consent and became Empress Dowager Dong's personal attendant.
Li Shimin has served the Empress Dowager Dong for decades and knows her secrets well. In the year of Empress Dowager Dong's death, 74-year-old Li Shimin finally opened his heart and told the secret buried deep in his heart.
He said that the Empress Dowager Dong did not die of illness.
Li Lianying was not surprised at all. She was well aware of the intelligence and ruthlessness of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and had confused countless courtiers over the years. Now that I think about it, some of them have a grudge against her, but they don't dare to rebel openly.
When Empress Dowager Cixi died, her soldiers were defeated in the Western Expedition and the country was in decline. For some powers, this is undoubtedly a better time to try to eradicate this strong woman.
Li Lianying has been loyal to the Empress Dowager Cixi for many years, but when she saw this cruel ecology in the palace, she couldn't help but sigh sadly.
He found that the Empress Dowager Cixi had not slept all night. Her most powerful supporters have fallen, and I am afraid that the road ahead will be much better.
Was Cixi's death suspicious or coincidence?
In November 1908, the country was in the midst of internal and external troubles, and all kinds of food products were in the shadows.
This year, the 74-year-old Empress Dowager Cixi's health deteriorated, and her diarrhea could not be cured for a long time. She wants to help the young lord and protect the inheritance of the dynasty, but she is also doomed to die.
On November 14, Emperor Guangxu died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage at work at the age of 37.
The next day was a good day for the Empress Dowager Cixi.
Faced with the grief of his henchman eunuch Li Lianying, Li Shimin was silent. He knew that the death of the Queen Mother was not so simple.
The Empress Dowager Cixi had diarrhea in her later years, and the imperial doctors in the palace were helpless. Li Shimin believes that this is evidence that the Empress Dowager Cixi was secretly poisoned.
I think that the Empress Dowager Cixi has been in power for decades, and it is inevitable that some people will hold a grudge against her. If Dafu joins forces with the imperial court, it will not be difficult for the Empress Dowager Cixi to get rid of it.
However, this is undoubtedly just Li Hongzhang's speculation, which is difficult to confirm. Perhaps Cixi died of natural causes, after all, it is not easy for her age to live to be 74 years old.
However, the sudden and violent death of the Guangxu Emperor made the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi another mystery.
It seems not to be a coincidence that the two died in quick succession. Guangxu was a subordinate of the Empress Dowager Cixi all his life, but after the fall of the Empress Dowager Cixi, he took over power. In doing so, he threatened all that was left of the Empress Dowager Cixi.
So, is there a connection between Guangxu's death and the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi? This is no longer verifiable.
All we know is that with these two thunderous mournings in November 1908, an era ended.
A woman's thirst for power.
Empress Dowager Cixi, a legendary woman.
Perhaps it was the thirst for power that made his life legendary.
She entered the palace at an early age and became the emperor's concubine; After her son ascended the throne, she became the Empress Dowager Cixi; After the untimely death of her son, she chose the Guangxu Emperor and began a 47-year reign.
This woman of humble origin single-handedly ruled an empire for nearly half a century.
For the Empress Dowager Cixi, power meant life. Power satisfies her desire for honor, status, and dignity. It allows an ordinary woman to straighten her waist and be admired.
Even in her later years, when her abdication was imminent, the Empress Dowager Cixi still restrained the young Guangxu Emperor and refused to give up even the slightest bit of power.
Guangxu knew very well that if he took power, half a century of hard work would be in vain.
Emperor Guangxu's reforms were unsustainable in the face of fierce resistance. It wasn't until the Empress Dowager Cixi took her last breath on the sickbed that her clenched fist of power relaxed slightly.
But it was too late, and the empire he had built collapsed with his death.
Empress Dowager Cixi's life was full of legends, and she became famous and powerful after her death. However, she was also recognized as the last tyrant of China, and was responsible for the fall of the Qing Dynasty due to her support for the Gengzi New Deal that led to the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance.
However, regarding his relationship with Emperor Guangxu, the true cause of his death will always remain an unsolved mystery.
History is like that, and the more we try to go deeper, the more we discover something unfathomable and unknown.
All we can do is accept the imperfections and imperfections of all things, remain humble and curious, and learn to accept love so that our lives can be more meaningful.