Emperor Daoguang's choice of prince: The open and secret struggle between Yixu and Yixu Emperor Daoguang is faced with a dilemma: who is the best candidate for the prince of his two sons, Yixu and Yixun?
Yi Su and Yi Xun were not born to the same mother, but they were raised by Emperor Jing's concubine**, and the two brothers have a close relationship. Emperor Daoguang is well aware of the abilities of the two, Yixu has a good personality, and Yixu has a high IQ.
At the suggestion of their teacher, Yi Su showed filial piety and benevolence, while Yi Xun showed intelligence. However, the position of prince ultimately belonged to Yi Su, and his teacher Du Shoutian provided him with strong support.
When Emperor Daoguang announced the establishment of the crown prince, Yixu became the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty and even in Chinese history to hold real power. This battle for the prince shows the complexity and depth of human nature.
Portrait of Emperor Daoguang 01 The young Xianfeng ascended the throne and changed the year name to "Xianfeng", which means "the four seas are abundant and the world is rich". Although it remains to be seen whether the Qing Dynasty will be able to withstand this era name, Xianfeng at this time is definitely a young emperor full of vitality and aristocratic temperament.
According to historical records, Emperor Xianfeng had the highest attainment in Chinese among the Qing emperors, and his review of the chapters was brilliant: "The literature of the ten emperors of the Qing Dynasty is the best with Emperor Wenzong." He is also good at painting, especially fond of figures, landscapes, and horses, and the Palace Museum still has several of his paintings, and their artistic value even exceeds Qianlong's poetry.
Xianfeng was also a fan of Peking Opera, and he couldn't listen to the opera during his father Daoguang's funeral, so he secretly ordered someone to find the swords, guns, swords, and halberds of the opera troupe and practice alone in the palace. In the late Qing Dynasty, Peking Opera became popular throughout the country, and it was from Xianfeng's love that it began.
Regarding Xianfeng's private life, most of the wild histories that circulated after the death of the Qing Dynasty thought that he was lascivious and lustful, doted on four Han beauties, and named them "Four Springs". These women were all personally selected by Xianfeng, and although they could not officially enter the court, Xianfeng still sent them to the Old Summer Palace in the name of "beating the people's women".
In addition, Xianfeng is also infatuated with a beautiful and moving Shanxi Cao widow because of her "three-inch golden lotus". However, the authenticity of these legends has yet to be verified, and some historical books also record another side of Xianfeng's harem.
Once a draft girl, because the war in the south was tight, Xianfeng was busy dealing with military affairs and forgot about it. A group of girls waited in the palace, hungry and thirsty. These girls are the daughters of eunuchs and cannot bear this predicament.
One girl took the lead and began to cry, followed by the others. The eunuch warned them not to cry, but when Xianfeng learned about this, he was moved by the girl's courage and determination, and ordered all the show girls to be sent home, leaving no one behind.
In Emperor Xianfeng's "Immediately Map", the most striking is undoubtedly the Yi Guifei Yehenara clan, that is, the later Empress Dowager Cixi. It is said that she was selected into the palace among the draft girls.
According to wild history, Cixi's ancestors had a holiday with the Aixin Jueluo family, and originally could not intermarry with the royal family, but during the Xianfeng period, Cixi successfully attracted Xianfeng's attention with her talent and wit.
However, the authenticity of this story is not high, and in fact the two families of Aisin Jueluo and Yehnara have been intermarrying since the Nurhachi period, which is a kind of political marriage.
In the history of the Qing Dynasty, there were many concubines with the surname Yehenara, and Cixi was only one of them, and she was named a Lan nobleman during the Xianfeng period, rather than being favored for singing.
Although Cixi is not a "super girl", her talent is impeccable. When Xianfeng was in power, the Qing Dynasty was in crisis, and he had to deal with mountains of twists and turns every day, and the ** from all over the country asked him for money and food.
In this case, Cixi, with her own level of education, often helped Xianfeng to review and listen to his anguish. Although the concubine was not allowed to interfere in political affairs, Cixi's help made her political ambitions swell.
Xianfeng didn't know what kind of storm the lovely man in front of him would set off. However, history tells us that Cixi did show amazing talent and determination in the later political arena.
Emperor Xianfeng and Emperor Daoguang chose Yi Su as their heir, hoping that he would become a virtuous monarch. After Xianfeng inherited his father's frugal living habits, he once said: "Just repair it, and look at the reimbursement funds, 5,000 taels of silver!"
Is this a door repair, or an aircraft carrier? His decision shows his frugal spirit, and at the same time he also educates his ** to pay attention to frugality. After Emperor Xianfeng's clothes were burned to a hole, the eunuch said that he could no longer wear them.
But Emperor Xianfeng said: "Just make up for it, the material resources are difficult, it is a pity to abandon it, and it should be supplemented at your discretion." This decision of his showed his frugality, and at the same time touched the eunuchs very much.
However, the heavens did not fulfill people's wishes, and during Xianfeng's 11 years of reign, almost every day was "water reversal", and all parts of the country flew into the Forbidden City like snowflakes, overwhelming the world with bad news, and there was no day of peace.
In the eighth month after his accession to the throne, the Yellow River burst its banks, flooding more than 60 prefectures and counties, flooding fields and houses in various parts of the north, and killing countless people. Almost at the same time, a major disaster occurred in Sichuan, and more than 20,000 victims were killed.
Xianfeng's most trusted minister, his teacher Du Shoutian, also died of a sudden illness while away to deal with disaster relief, which made him grief-stricken. Despite all the difficulties, Emperor Xianfeng still adhered to his principles and adhered to his spirit of frugality and frugality.
During the reign of Emperor Xianfeng, natural disasters and man-made disasters continued, but he always tried to deal with them, reviewed them diligently, asked the people for their guilt, and at the same time was conscientious, and it was even more accustomed to dealing with political affairs in the middle of the night.
He is a master of time management, but he is not keen on multi-person sports, but is entangled in busy political affairs every day, and he is overwhelmed by national events. Emperor Xianfeng is facing changes unseen in 3,000 years, and it is also the biggest crisis since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, he just wants to be a good person.
In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), the Taiping army captured Yangzhou, and the Qing army could not besiege it, so he wrote to the emperor, requesting that the embankment outside the city be dug and the city should be flooded with water, so that the Taiping army and Yangzhou City would be destroyed together.
For this poisonous plan, Xianfeng personally made instructions: "Yangzhou can be slowed down without harming our people." Emperor Xianfeng also used people properly, although Zeng Guofan was a fledgling and repeatedly defeated, Emperor Xianfeng still trusted him and appointed him as the "Minister of Tuanlian" to help fight against the Taiping army.
The rapid rise of the Hunan army in the following years was a far-reaching event in modern Chinese history.
When Xianfeng ascended the throne, he found that the Qing Dynasty officialdom was full of ills, but there was still an ideal of rectifying the rule of officials. Sushun was reused by Xianfeng, and carried out a purge and proposed reform measures, including the reduction of money and grain in the Eight Banners, which caused dissatisfaction among the Manchu nobles, but Xianfeng supported Sushun's reforms.
Su Shun also investigated and handled the ** case "Wuyu Official Number Case", which involved ***, including the emperor's younger brother Yixun.
The Forbidden City Taihe Palace. Source: In the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), the largest science field case in the Qing Dynasty occurred - the Wuwu science field case. This year, township tests were held all over the country, but something big happened to the Shuntian township test at the feet of the Son of Heaven.
This time, 300 lifters were admitted to the Shuntian Township Examination, among them, a local Peking Opera enthusiast and Manchu people were named on the gold list of the same age, and ranked seventh. Readers have their own circles, and as soon as the candidates inquire, they all know that this ordinary age is a second-rate child, and it is enough to be able to participate in the township examination.
So someone went to the emperor and asked to find out about the matter, and Xianfeng asked Chen Fuen and other ministers to investigate. Chen Fuen checked and found that there was indeed a problem with the test paper of Ping Ling. At that time, the imperial examination implemented the "vague name system", in order to avoid the examiner from encountering the candidates he knew, it was also specially divided into "ink rolls" and "zhu rolls", the former was the candidate's paper, and the latter was the examiner's copy of the answer sheet for scoring.
There were many mistakes and omissions on the ink scroll of Ping Ling, but all of them were corrected on the red scroll. Who changed it? It can only be the relevant personnel responsible for copying, and the fraud at the same age is "real hammer". Unexpectedly, Ping Ling died an unknown death shortly after he was imprisoned.
Originally, some ministers said that the examiner of the Shuncheon Township Examination would be fined for one year, and the case would be closed. Xianfeng listened to Su Shun's suggestion and ordered to investigate again, to the death! Chen Fuen and others conducted a comprehensive review of the test papers of the lifters in the Shuncheon Township Examination, and found that out of 300 lifters, 50 test papers had problems, that is, at least one-sixth of them should not have been lifted, and they stole the lives of other candidates.
Xianfeng immediately "shivered and cold" after reading the report. The imperial examination is to select talents for the Qing Dynasty, and it is the last pure land for scholars, and someone dares to do such nonsense, and it is at the feet of the Son of Heaven.
With the support of Xianfeng, Chen Fuen and others unveiled the shady curtain and found out the candidates and ** who participated in the fraud one by one, and investigated them all the way to Bai Ye, a cabinet scholar and minister of military aircraft.
Xianfeng asked the minister's opinion, and was silent for a while, only Su Shun stood up and said, the imperial examination is a national ceremony, once favoritism and fraud, the punishment is extremely severe, Bai Ye is a first-class member, and he is from the branch school, it is he who has failed the emperor's grace, and also flouted the country's decrees, please execute the death penalty immediately.
Su Shun's words strengthened Xianfeng's determination, and on the same day, Bai Ye and four others were executed.
Portrait of Emperor Xianfeng 05: Troubled at home and abroad, Xianfeng is about to usher in his 30th birthday, and the young emperor is in his prime, but he is physically and mentally exhausted. On the day Xianfeng took his concubines, princes and close ministers from the Old Summer Palace to Beijing, a strange thing happened.
The ferry port where Xianfeng left by boat is called "Anle Ferry", and every time the emperor's imperial boat sets off here, the eunuchs and palace maids will shout one after another: "Anle Crossing." The sound was so melodious that it did not stop until the boat reached the other side.
Xianfeng's son Zaichun followed the eunuchs and palace maids and shouted "An Le Du" one after another, and he was only 5 years old, and he didn't know what had happened. Xianfeng hugged his son, burst into tears, and said, "There is nothing more today!" ”
At this moment, Emperor Xianfeng said goodbye to Beijing City.
Emperor Xianfeng was immersed in the sound of dogs and horses all day long in the Rehe Palace, and there were even rumors that he had suicidal tendencies. His physical condition deteriorated day by day, and at the age of 31, he was emaciated and coughed up blood, but he didn't care about it, and even drank desperately during the "Northern Hunt" to get drunk to vent his emotions.
However, for tuberculosis patients, alcohol is contraindicated. Eventually, he ended his life at the Rehe Palace.