The Secret History of the Qing Palace: The Mystery of the Early Death of the Romantic Emperor Xianfeng.

It is often said in historical materials that Emperor Xianfeng died of excessive vomiting blood due to debauchery, but unexpectedly, the highest Qing emperor in the Ninth Five-Year Plan died under the pomegranate skirt of a beautiful widow with little feet. According to the records of unofficial history Grand View in Qing Dynasty, there was a widow named Cao in Shanxi, who was "beautiful in color" and had very slender feet, "only three inches", which was really a three-inch golden lotus. Her shoes are "based on vegetable jade and lined with fragrant crumbs", which is even more unusual. Emperor Xianfeng paid special attention to them.

In fact, at the beginning of his succession, Emperor Xianfeng, like many emperors who had just boarded Dabao, had the political ambition of making great efforts to revive his ancestral business, issuing imperial edicts, begging for words and punishing officials who followed suit. But Emperor Xianfeng was neither so heroic nor so blessed as his ancestor Kangxi. Since he ascended the throne, he has been facing a double crisis of internal and external troubles, and he has never settled down for a day. The domestic uprising represented by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the second Opium War launched by foreign troops allied with Britain and France, and the increasingly bad official style soon wiped out the spirit of Emperor Xianfeng's strenuous efforts to revitalize the Qing Dynasty, and instead began to live in luxury, indulge in debauchery and commit suicide with women who drank alcohol.

Emperor Xianfeng indulged in debauchery, whether it was a virtuous and generous queen or a jealous and competitive concubine, and later Cixi was naturally uncomfortable. Yi Guifei, in particular, repeatedly urged the queen to persuade Emperor Xianfeng on the grounds of protecting the emperor's health and national affairs. Emperor Xianfeng always showed great respect for the queen who was in the middle palace, and initially accepted the "gentle advice" from the queen. Whenever military newspapers from other provinces and court ministers were sent to him, he would read them immediately without hesitation as long as the Queen gave him a little warning and persuasion.

But not long after, Emperor Xianfeng relapsed and still went his own way. The reasons are as follows: First, everyone has inertia, and the nature of Xianfeng Emperor's pursuit of melody is more difficult to change; Second, the situation at home and abroad and North Korea's national affairs have not improved, but have become worse and worse, almost hopeless, and there is really no hope to govern ZTE. In this case, it is more realistic to lean over and eat, drink and be merry in time.

Xianfeng emperor's "good lewdness, this sudden power", and there are many beautiful concubines around him. The only concubines whose files can be checked are the original imperial concubine Sakata, the empresses Niu Zhilu, the imperial concubine Nora, the imperial concubine Tara and,,,, Yun (fū) Gui, Gui, Qing Gui, etc. Emperor Xianfeng probably watched it for a long time and had too much contact, resulting in "visual fatigue" and "aesthetic paralysis". Manchu concubines have made him uninterested, and it is difficult to * * interest in lewdness.

It seems normal for the Manchu emperor to have great interest in Han women, but he seems to have great interest in Han women who bind their feet, especially widows who bind their feet. This cannot be explained by "following the fashion" or "kitsch", and it seems that he is in a abnormal psychology. Cao, a beautiful Shanxi widow recorded in unofficial history Grand View in Qing Dynasty, was the favorite woman of Emperor Xianfeng.

As early as when the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, the headstrong the emperor shunzhi recruited Han women, such as Shi, Chen, Tang and Yang. His mother, sourdrang dowager, was worried that the emperor shunzhi would be hurt by her premature infatuation with women, but more importantly, in order to ensure that the prince and grandson were of pure Manchu descent, she once hung an edict at the Shenwumen Gate of the Qing Palace: "Anyone who enters the palace with foot-binding women will be beheaded." In this regard, Wu once said in Qing Dynasty:

The Chinese style is slim, and the wonderful dance competes for the land lotus.

He Sizhu Palace strictly prohibits micro-defense as early as the year of entering the DPRK.

Since it is forbidden in the palace and it is difficult to get close to Han women, live in Yuanmingyuan! Anyway, the imperial residence of Yuanmingyuan is also ancestral. In Ten Leaves of Wild Smell, Xu Zhiyan tells the true meaning of Emperor Xianfeng's permanent residence in Yuanmingyuan: "Literati are tired of the palace ban and strictly abide by the ancestral system. Don't indulge in debauchery, take an excuse to get sick and stay in the garden. "

At the beginning of the fifth year of Xianfeng, the Qing Dynasty completely suppressed the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In the spring of the same year, Emperor Xianfeng wanted to go to the Yuanmingyuan for recreation, and Fujian Road stabbed Xue Jian. Emperor Xianfeng became angry from embarrassment, not only refused to give advice, but also ordered Xue to be discussed by the Ministry of Industry. In particular, he issued an imperial edict saying: the Qing emperor served in Yuanmingyuan, which was the ancestral system. In recent years, due to unfinished military affairs, I have never been in the garden again. "I am conscientious in my career, Chinese and foreign subjects * * *". In addition, Emperor Xianfeng said unreasonably that if you want to be comfortable, you can enjoy yourself even in the palace. Why does he have idle thoughts when he is lucky in the imperial garden? Whether in the Palace or in Yuanmingyuan, I am "the same awe and anxiety."

At that time, a traitor found that Emperor Xianfeng was so keen on Chinese women that he bought dozens of little beauties from Jiangsu and Zhejiang for Emperor Xianfeng. Some ministers even flatter and say: Now that the world is in chaos and Yuanmingyuan is in the suburbs, we should strengthen our vigilance and let these women patrol around the emperor's bedroom in groups of three every night. Emperor Xianfeng naturally understood the mystery. With this convenient condition, he could call these beautiful women on duty into the temple at any time and call them lucky at will.

Later, Emperor Xianfeng simply named four particularly beautiful women "Four Springs", namely Peony Spring, Apricot Spring, Wuling Spring and Haitang Spring. These four Spring Scenes live in the Yuanmingyuan's "Lucky Moon", "Xinghua Guan Chun", "Wuling Spring Scenes" and "Yinqi Hall" respectively. Wu's Four Springs in Yuanmingyuan has a cloud:

The lotus flower is buckled and fragrant in April.

There are people who rob the harem in Yuanming, and whoever has a white head sings Xiang Qi's words.

The "four springs" in Yuanmingyuan are all beautiful women with little feet, which shows the enthusiasm of Emperor Xianfeng for women with little feet. During the five to ten years of Xianfeng, Emperor Xianfeng was "romantic". There is a poem about the Qing Dynasty, which describes the dissolute life of Emperor Xianfeng at this time:

It's dusk when the sheep cart looks broken, and it's lazy to take off its new makeup to cover the garden gate.

The wind amused me and sang Yan Xi. I don't know who is in debt.

However, Yi Guifei was jealous of Emperor Xianfeng's lust for other women, especially the little girl in Yuanmingyuan in April and the Han nationality, but she dared not directly persuade Emperor Xianfeng, so she had to constantly tell the queen about this situation. However, at this time, the queen has lost the confidence to persuade Emperor Xianfeng, so she can only persuade Nora to accept this reality.

Faced with so many charming girls, Emperor Xianfeng's sexual life was unrestrained. He was "tired for a long time", dizzy, with sore back and weak legs, and began to step into the dangerous road of a romantic ghost. Every time he offered sacrifices to the Temple of Heaven, Ditan, Community Altar or Ancestral Temple, Emperor Xianfeng often lost his instruments because he was worried that his legs and feet were weak, or he fell down when he was going to treasure, or he was afraid to come in person, so he had to send Prince Gong to do it for him. Later, internal troubles and foreign invasion, the worse the body, vomiting blood.

"Until the drums of Yuyang shook the earth and broke the tune of rainbow skirts and feather clothes". The guns of the British and French allied forces finally awakened a "spring dream" in the gentle hometown of Emperor Xianfeng.

Although it is said that "when a monk hits the sun bell", Emperor Xianfeng at this time only has the heart of becoming a monk and has no intention of hitting the bell. When I arrived in Jehol, I was depressed, bored and upset all day, so I personally wrote a banner of "Happy Taoist" and ordered people to hang it in the temple. Perhaps it is self-mockery out of inaction, but it can also be seen that his spirit is decadent. Queen Niu Zhilu thought that this would greatly hurt the emperor's virtue. While persuading, she personally urged her minions to remove the banner.

After Emperor Xianfeng led the minister to flee to Jehol, he soon entered the cold winter. Although Su Shun and other officials greeted him with smiles, his mood was as cold as the weather.

In March of the eleventh year of Xianfeng, Emperor Xianfeng's cough became more and more severe, and red phlegm was common, and his health became worse every day. Although Emperor Xianfeng still preached the play from time to time, until two days before his death, he still preached that "the flower of Yizhou will sing as usual". However, it is obvious that he has felt that his centenary birthday is coming.