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Empress Dowager Cixi was one of the few women who held power for a long time during the imperial era in Chinese history, and her political skills were extremely capable.

She was particularly good at manipulating the balance of power among the royal family and court officials in order to maintain her absolute authority. The Qing Dynasty was able to survive for several decades because of her ability.

Empress Dowager Cixi, the actual ruler of China in the late Qing Dynasty, ruled for forty-seven years.

At the same time, she also has a special title, Karl Lagerfeld.

From a noble who had just entered the palace to the Empress Dowager who ruled the country from behind the scenes, Cixi's methods and ambitions were rare in the entire history of the Qing Dynasty.

On the road to usurping the throne and seizing power, Cixi's cruelty and wisdom are astonishing.

As the most important political figure in the late Qing Dynasty, Cixi's cowardice and greed seriously damaged China's sovereignty and integrity.

There is no doubt that Empress Dowager Cixi was one of the main culprits for the Qing government to cede territory and pay indemnities.

In order to satisfy her own greed, Empress Dowager Cixi put personal preferences above national interests.

In modern Chinese history, Cixi's reign was full of failures and humiliations.

"Among the most famous political figures in late Qing China, Empress Dowager Cixi must be on the list."

"A woman ruled China for half a century and became the most powerful woman in the Chinese feudal dynasty."

"Empress Dowager Cixi, of the Yehenara clan, was from the Manchu Bordered Blue Banner. Her father once worked in Anhui."

"In 1852, Emperor Xianfeng ordered a selection of concubines, and Cixi successfully entered the harem and was named Lan Guiren."

"It was also at this time that Empress Dowager Cixi, Niuhulu, entered the harem and was called Concubine Zhen."

"Emperor Xianfeng's first wife died early, and Concubine Zhen, who had only been in the palace for half a year, was made empress, while Cixi was still an unknown concubine."

"But Cixi knew that if she wanted to stand out, she had to attract the emperor's attention."

"So she took the initiative to create opportunities to get along with the emperor, and it took her two years to be promoted from a noble lady to a concubine."

"In the emperor's harem, it has always been popular for a mother to gain status through her son."

"In 1856, Cixi gave birth to Emperor Xianfeng's only son, Zaichun."

"Princess Yi was promoted to Imperial Concubine again, and her status in the harem is second only to the Empress."

"But she didn't catch up with the good times. At that time, the Qing government was already facing internal and external troubles and was on the verge of collapse."

"The invasion of foreign powers and the Taiping Rebellion in China seriously threatened the security of the Qing Dynasty."

"In 1860, Emperor Xianfeng fled to Rehe with his family, and the frail Emperor Xianfeng became seriously ill."

"Before his death, he appointed his only son, Zaichun, who was only 6 years old at the time, to the throne, and arranged for eight ministers to assist in government affairs."

"But this move by Emperor Xianfeng caused dissatisfaction among the imperial harem, especially the power-hungry Empress Dowager Cixi, who began to try to launch a coup to seize power in the government."

"The eight ministers appointed by Emperor Xianfeng at that time were extremely powerful and did not take the young emperor seriously at all."

"The harem was no match for them either, so Cixi decided to contact Prince Gong Yixin, who was far away in Beijing, to join forces."

"The reason why we chose to join forces with Prince Gong is because Prince Gong has a very good relationship with his brother Emperor Xianfeng."

"When they fled, Emperor Xianfeng deliberately left Prince Gong in Beijing to deal with the foreigners."

"It was essentially an attempt to exclude Prince Gong, and Prince Gong, who had been wronged, was of course resentful."

"After receiving Cixi's request for help, Prince Gong rushed to Rehe in the name of attending the funeral, and the two of them worked out a detailed plan for the coup."

"Prince Gong quickly sent troops to control the troops around the capital, while the two Empress Dowagers Cixi and Ci'an quietly returned to the capital with the little emperor."

"All the powerful officials in the court were arrested, and the coup was successful. History calls this coup the Xinyou Coup."

"After the coup was successful, the country's name was changed to Tongzhi."

"The Imperial Concubine Yehenara was officially honored as Empress Dowager Cixi, and the Concubine Niuhulu was honored as Empress Dowager Ci'an."

"The Qing court entered an era where the two Empress Dowagers ruled the country from behind the scenes. In fact, Empress Dowager Cixi did not like politics."

"So it was basically Empress Dowager Cixi who handled government affairs, and this was exactly what Cixi wanted to see."

Yuan Shikai: Empress Dowager Cixi held power firmly for 47 years, and no one dared to seize power during this period.

In 1900, Empress Dowager Cixi declared war on all major powers in the world simultaneously.

There are two main reasons why this shocking behavior did not lead to her being overthrown.

First, the issue of the Qing Dynasty system.

The reason why Cixi was not overthrown was due to the dictatorship system established with great effort by several emperors in the early days of the Qing Dynasty. The core of the system was to prevent anyone from seizing power.

In the early days of the Qing Dynasty, neither Nurhaci, Huang Taiji, nor Dorgon had the final say.

In that era, there existed a Council of Ministers.

Almost all of the Qing Dynasty’s major military and political decisions were the result of collective discussions at the Council of Princes and Ministers.

From Shunzhi to Kangxi, the Qing emperors tried their best to weaken the Council of Princes and Ministers and strengthen the imperial power.

During the Kangxi era, Kangxi introduced the Nanshufang system and gradually abolished the Council of Princes and Ministers.

The ministers in the Southern Study only have the power to make suggestions but not the power to make decisions.

This is fundamentally different from the Council of Princes and Ministers, as the power is completely in the hands of the emperor.

In the past, the Council of Princes and Ministers could pressure the emperor to abandon his decisions and agree with their proposals.

During the Yongzheng era, the Grand Council was established, with the emperor making the final decision.

The country's military and political power was completely in the hands of the emperor, and all important military and political affairs of the country were decided by the emperor.

Thanks to the system of her ancestors, Cixi's position was unshakable.

It is almost impossible for his ministers to usurp the throne as the system does not allow it at all.

Second, there were problems with Empress Dowager Cixi herself.

In addition to the fact that the Qing Dynasty system made it difficult for others to usurp power, Empress Dowager Cixi had a tight control over power.

Cixi controlled the government for 20 years and supported the legitimate political forces, which had become difficult to shake.

From then until her death, no minister or royal family member was capable of confronting Cixi.

In addition, there was another extremely crucial reason why Cixi was not overthrown, that is, she took good care of the Manchu Qing’s powerful ruling group.

No matter how decadent the country is or how difficult the economy is.

Cixi would never touch the interests of the powerful ruling group, allowing them to eat and drink their fill, and even allowing them to do whatever they want openly.

Prince Qing was conferred the title of hereditary iron-hat prince by Empress Dowager Cixi and was also made a minister in the Zongli Yamen.

Soon he was in charge of the affairs of the Finance Department and the Military Training Department, concentrating both internal and external power in one person.

The powerful and wealthy all knew that Prince Qing was just a mediocre old bureaucrat with no ability but was very capable of corruption.

Although Prince Qing is greedy and useless, he is still better than the other good-for-nothings in the powerful group.

At least he could do things step by step, thus becoming an important member of the Manchu powerful group and an object of Cixi's wooing.

Cixi allowed him to hold a high position and engage in corruption in exchange for the support of Prince Qing and his group.

Although Prince Qing was incompetent, he was still quite supportive of Cixi.

At the critical moment of the Reform Movement of 1898, Prince Qing firmly supported Cixi and demanded that all reformists be killed.

Prince Qing supported Cixi in deposing Emperor Guangxu and establishing a new emperor.

After Cixi fled Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion, Prince Qing was willing to stay and negotiate the aftermath with the foreigners.

For Cixi, this was enough.

For Cixi, as long as the Manchu nobles could support her, her position would be as stable as a rock.

She didn't care at all about the people's dissatisfaction and complaints everywhere.

"Under this social situation of internal and external troubles, the Qing court began to try to save itself."

"Prince Gong and a group of Westernizationists began to promote the Westernization Movement and learn advanced Western technology and ideas."

"Cixi also strongly supported this and made full use of the ministers of the Westernization Movement, hoping to resist foreign aggression by enhancing the country's military strength."

"In 1864, the Taiping Rebellion was defeated, and the Qing Dynasty's rule temporarily returned to safety."

"The Qing government also took the initiative to cooperate with foreign powers, and at one point the situation of Tongzhi Restoration appeared."

"But this so-called Tongzhi Restoration was essentially more like the self-indulgence of those in power."

“Although there are open-minded talents, they have not been able to form enough synergy to influence national policies.”

“Although China’s modern industry was developed, it was both fragile and deformed.”

"Under this feudal rule, the corrupt and ignorant rulers were unable to fundamentally change China's backwardness."

"The only achievement that can be pulled out is the Beiyang Fleet."

"In addition to the failure of several foreign wars, China under the rule of the Qing government still failed to stop the inevitable pace of our country becoming a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society."

"In 1872, the 17-year-old Emperor Tongzhi began to rule the country."

"However, there was a big conflict between Tongzhi and Cixi over the choice of the empress."

"Tongzhi wanted to make Arutai the empress, but Cixi didn't like her, so she finally chose her with the support of Empress Dowager Ci'an."

"Three years later, the young Emperor Tongzhi died of illness."

"Cixi chose Guangxu as the emperor, and the two empress dowagers continued to rule the country."

"And the Empress of Emperor Tongzhi, Arutai, died of anger because Cixi secretly tampered with the emperor's will, which was quite tragic."

"In 1881, Empress Dowager Cixi died of illness."

"The only person who could share power with Cixi left, and Cixi's position in the court became even stronger."

"But this was far from satisfying Cixi's appetite. What she wanted was the supreme power similar to that of the emperor."

"Then Cixi launched the second coup in her political career."

"In this coup, Cixi joined forces with the young emperor's biological father, Prince Chun, to dismiss all officials of the Grand Council led by Prince Gong."

"The most capable group of politicians in the late Qing Dynasty were driven out of the center of power and replaced by a group of mediocre and corrupt people."

“These people have no vision and poor administrative skills.”

"Their main job was to be responsible for the Empress Dowager Cixi."

"At this time, the power of the entire Qing Dynasty fell into the hands of Empress Dowager Cixi."

Zhang Xueliang: Both Empress Lü and Empress Wu Zetian had bad endings, but Empress Dowager Cixi was able to maintain a stable rule for half a century and had a good end.

In Chinese history, the three women who sat on the throne of highest power were undoubtedly Empress Lü, Empress Wu and Empress Dowager Cixi.

Among these three women, the one with the best fate and the most stable power is obviously Cixi.

As soon as Empress Lü died, her Lü family was exterminated.

Before Wu Zetian died, she was pulled down from the throne by her son.

When these three women were in power, the most turbulent society was Empress Dowager Cixi. She went through a lot of hardships, but even so, her position was the most stable.

There was a big difference between Empress Lü and Empress Wu Zetian and Empress Dowager Cixi in the process of controlling power. Both Empress Wu Zetian and Empress Lü tried to change the status quo of power.

When they try to change the power status quo, they inevitably stir up huge conflicts.

Empress Lü tried to transfer the power of the Liu family to the Lü family.

Although it was out of fear that Empress Lü changed the status quo of power.

However, Empress Lü did change the power situation, which caused unrest among Liu Bang's children, grandchildren, and ministers.

Therefore, Liu Bang's children, grandchildren and ministers launched a coup to counterattack, which led to the tragic end of Empress Lu and her family.

Wu Zetian was also the person who changed the power status quo of the Tang Dynasty.

Originally, Wu Zetian had already taken control of power when Li Zhi was emperor.

All matters in the court were handled by Wu Zetian, and everyone was accustomed to the situation of two saints ruling the country.

However, Wu Zetian did not change the power status quo, so she did not encounter much resistance.

Later, she seized the throne from her son, which changed the power situation.

Empress Lü changed the power status quo out of fear, while Empress Wu changed the power status quo out of dissatisfaction.

But no matter what their starting point was, both of them changed, thus causing power turmoil.

Cixi was different. Although she launched the Xinyou Coup and defeated the Eight Regents, she did not dominate the court.

She, the ministers in the court, and the members of the royal family actually shared power.

For example, she shared power with Ci'an and with Prince Gong.

This fact prevented Cixi from making too many enemies.

The reason why Cixi could share power with others was because she didn't need to panic.

The emperor is her son, and he is still a little emperor, so it is impossible for him to speak.

Therefore, Cixi's voice is the emperor's voice, and Cixi represents the emperor.

This is a unique advantage that Cixi had, which neither Empress Lü nor Empress Wu Zetian had.

When Empress Lü came to power, her son Liu Ying was already an adult.

Although Liu Ying was weak, he was a power-hungry man and wanted to play his role.

In addition to Liu Ying, Liu Bang had other sons who were even more dissatisfied with Empress Lu's power.

Empress Lü faced so many threats, so she panicked and wanted to change the power status quo.

Wu Zetian's power was also unstable because she also had adult sons who were also trying to seize power from her.

It can be said that if Empress Lü and Empress Wu also shared power with everyone, they would mean losing power.

Cixi's son, the emperor, was a minor, so she was able to take her time.

One reason why Cixi's power was more stable than that of Empress Lü and Empress Wu was that she lived in a turbulent era.

On the one hand, this made Cixi a backbone of the court.

Without such a backbone, no one will make decisions when faced with complex issues.

Therefore, neither the ministers in the court nor the Qing royal family were so eager to overthrow Cixi.

On the other hand, Cixi took full advantage of social unrest to cultivate her own power group.

Throughout her life, Empress Lü never developed a powerful power group of her own.

The same thing happened to Wu Zetian; none of her ministers truly supported her.

Cixi took a different approach and fully trusted the Han ministers.

The Han ministers were not only able to solve practical problems, but were also very supportive of Cixi because they were promoted by her.

In this way, Cixi easily replaced a group of ministers, and this group of ministers naturally strongly supported Cixi.

In short, Cixi's power and status were more stable than those of Empress Lü and Empress Wu.

In addition to the objective conditions she was in, it was also inseparable from her more mature and stable political skills.

Cixi is called the sinner of the Chinese nation, but she was able to maintain a stable rule for half a century, and her political tactics were obviously quite brilliant.

"In 1887, Emperor Guangxu had reached adulthood."

"The Empress Dowager Cixi continued to rule the country from behind the scenes and refused to give up any power. She even interfered in the love life of Emperor Guangxu."

"For example, Cixi forced her own niece to marry Emperor Guangxu and she became Empress Longyu."

"But this queen looked too ordinary, so Guangxu didn't like her and liked Concubine Zhen instead."

"Unfortunately, Emperor Guangxu was controlled by Cixi in every way and was unable to protect his confidante. He was caned by Cixi many times and Emperor Guangxu could only watch and dared not say a word."

"But the young Guangxu was competent and focused on handling state affairs."

"It's a pity that Guangxu's environment was too bad, because at this time Japan began to make no secret of its ambition to invade the East Asian continent."

"In 1894, Japan landed on the Korean Peninsula."

"The Qing troops stationed in Korea were expelled, and Qing warships were attacked. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894 officially broke out."

"At that time, the Qing Dynasty's Beiyang Fleet was defeated by Japan, and Cixi was still comfortably celebrating her 60th birthday."

"And the money from Cixi's birthday was originally intended to be used as military expenditure."

"Finally, in 1895, the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan, ceding Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, the Liaodong Peninsula, etc. to Japan."

"At this time, the Western powers had already seen that the Qing government was vulnerable and began to plan further invasion of China."

"In 1897, Germany sent troops to Jiaozhou Bay, and China's sovereignty was violated once again."

"Bourgeois reformists Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others wrote to the emperor to demand reforms, which is known in history as the Hundred Days' Reform."

"As a result, less than a hundred days after Emperor Guangxu implemented the New Deal, it was forcibly stopped by the stubborn feudal faction headed by Empress Dowager Cixi."

"Emperor Guangxu was also imprisoned by Cixi, who staged her third coup."

"After the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform, the Boxer Rebellion broke out."

"The Eight-Nation Alliance launched a war of aggression against China, and the vulnerable Qing government signed the humiliating Boxer Protocol with the foreign powers in 1901."

"The Qing government became a tool for the great powers to manipulate China, and diehards such as Empress Dowager Cixi became the culprits who sold out China's sovereignty and interests in the late Qing Dynasty."

"In 1908, Cixi poisoned Emperor Guangxu before her death and made Puyi the emperor."

"Three years later, the Qing dynasty was overthrown, and the feudal dynasty that had ruled China for more than 2,000 years came to an end."

Sun Yat-sen: On the last day of Cixi's life, everything she did will be infamous for eternity, and every bit of her behavior revealed how scheming she was.

Before her death, Cixi did a cruel thing, which was to kill Emperor Guangxu.

Emperor Guangxu was not the biological son of Empress Dowager Cixi. He was only the son of Cixi's sister. Therefore, Guangxu was the nephew of Empress Dowager Cixi.

Therefore, after Emperor Guangxu ascended the throne.

Empress Dowager Cixi began to rule the country from behind the scenes, and she held all the power in the court tightly in her own hands.

Faced with this situation, the grown-up Emperor Guangxu was unwilling to be manipulated by Empress Dowager Cixi anymore, and once attempted to take back the power from Cixi through the Reform Movement of 1898.

But unfortunately, the reform ended in failure, and Emperor Guangxu was eventually imprisoned by Empress Dowager Cixi.

In fact, Li Lianying’s instigation was crucial in Empress Dowager Cixi’s decision to kill Emperor Guangxu.

Li Lianying was a close associate of Empress Dowager Cixi, and there were some grudges between Li Lianying and Emperor Guangxu.

Therefore, in order to protect himself, Li Lianying said many things that were unfavorable to Emperor Guangxu in front of Cixi.

In the end, Empress Dowager Cixi decided to take action against Emperor Guangxu and directly poisoned him to death.

The second thing Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to do was to make Puyi the next emperor.

The reason why Empress Dowager Cixi did this was very simple.

First of all, Empress Dowager Cixi herself had a very lucky mentality.

Although she knew that she was about to die, she still believed that her condition might take a turn for the better.

Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi did not choose those adult members of the royal family, but chose Puyi, who was only three years old.

In addition, Puyi's maternal grandfather Ronglu had devoted a lot of effort to Empress Dowager Cixi.

Therefore, making Puyi the emperor also meant repaying a favor.

The third thing Empress Dowager Cixi did was to have Puyi's father Zaifeng assist Puyi in his work.

After all, Puyi was only three years old at that time and was unable to handle state affairs at all.

Therefore, in this situation, someone must be there to provide guidance.

The fourth thing Empress Dowager Cixi did was to ask Empress Dowager Longyu to assist Puyi in his work.

They say they are here to assist, but in fact they are here to supervise.

After all, Empress Dowager Longyu was her own niece, and the two were related by blood.

The fifth thing Empress Dowager Cixi did was to write a will and leave oral instructions, just to avoid being punished.

Empress Dowager Cixi did many wrong things, which had a very adverse impact on the entire palace and even the entire Qing Dynasty.

For example, he once executed eight regents, imprisoned Emperor Guangxu, tried to poison Emperor Guangxu, and lived a wasteful life. These actions are all very infuriating and despicable.

Therefore, before her death, Empress Dowager Cixi recounted her life to several ministers.

He also confessed for some of his past actions and said that all his actions were forced by reality and not what he wanted to do.

However, all that Empress Dowager Cixi did has not been forgiven by later generations, and she remains an unforgivable sinner throughout the ages.

The last thing Empress Dowager Cixi did was to write in an imperial edict that women were not allowed to interfere in state affairs.

This decision of Empress Dowager Cixi is really ironic. After all, Empress Dowager Cixi had always held the power of the country during the reign of Emperor Guangxu.

Even when arranging assistants for Puyi, it was Empress Dowager Longyu who supervised and assisted him.

However, women are prohibited from interfering in state affairs. This statement is indeed contradictory and ridiculous.

Just like that, after explaining these things, Empress Dowager Cixi closed her eyes and left the world forever.

Looking back on the life of Empress Dowager Cixi, she put in a lot of effort to become an empress dowager who could hold great power from a small palace maid.

However, she did not use her power to seek happiness for the people. Instead, she made many irreparable mistakes.

He lost himself in power and money, and did many things to harm others in order to achieve his inner desires.

Although Empress Dowager Cixi reviewed and repented of her past before she passed away.

However, her ironic and ridiculous behavior ultimately failed to gain forgiveness from later generations, and she became an eternal sinner. (End of this chapter)