The Secret History of Xiaozhuang, I want to know about Queen Xiaozhuang.

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Horqin Grassland has outstanding people. Hundreds of historical celebrities have emerged from ancient times to the present. Among them, Xiaozhuang is famous in Chinese feudal society. The magnitude and depth of its impact are unparalleled. In recent years, movies, TV dramas and literary works that joke about Xiaozhuang have become common, allowing the general public to understand this Mongolian female politician in the Qing Dynasty. However, from the perspective of historical research, it is still necessary to restore a historically true Xiaozhuang.

Zhuang Fei

The name of Xiaozhuang was Benbutai (also translated as Bumbutai), and she was born on the eighth day of February in the 41st year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1613). , is the second daughter of Beilezhai Sang of the Horqin tribe in Mongolia. She received a good education since she was a child and is fluent in both Mongolian and Chinese languages. The vast grasslands gave her a strong body, and the Mongolian customs made her a cheerful and bold character. When she was 13 years old, Huang Taiji, the Sibeile of Houjin Great Khan Nurhachi, came to visit Zhaisang's house in order to consolidate the alliance with the Horqin tribe. She was attracted by Benbutai's charming appearance and immediately proposed to marry Benbutai. Zhai Sang happily agreed. One month later, Wu Keshan, the eldest son of Zhaisang sent Benbutai to marry Huang Taiji. Huang Taiji held a feast in Northeast Gang, Liaoyang, to welcome the bride-to-be team. Nurhaci also led his concubines, belles, and ministers to travel 10 miles outside Liaoyang City to meet him. From then on, Benbutai became Huang Taiji's favorite confidant.

In the eleventh year of Tianming (1626), Nurhaci was wounded in battle and died of illness soon after. During the competition between his bele brothers for the throne of Khan, Huang Taiji used a clever trick to be elected as the Great Khan. After succeeding to the throne of Khan, he was changed to the Great Khan. The reign name is Tiancong. In the tenth year of Tiancong (1636), Huang Taiji took control of the Central Plains and changed the name of the country to Qing, Yuan Chongde, ascended the throne of emperor, and moved the capital to Shengjing (today's Shenyang). Benbutai was named the Zhuang Concubine of Yongfu Palace and became The last of the five concubines. The young Concubine Zhuang made suggestions on some of Nurhachi's policy mistakes. After Huang Taiji adopted them, he implemented the integration of Manchu and Han, used and treated Han officials well, reformed the central agencies, established six ministries, imitated the official system of the Ming Dynasty, and eased the Manchu-Han conflict. Ethnic conflicts; the "Regulations on Leaving the Master" and the "Fugitive Law" were revised to improve the status of Manchu and Han slaves and create conditions for the unification of the country.

Concubine Zhuang gave birth to three princesses for Huang Taiji. In the first month of the third year of Chongde (1638), she gave birth to the emperor's ninth son, named Fulin, which means "blessings come from heaven." On August 9, the eighth year of Chongde (1643), Huang Taiji died suddenly, and a fierce battle for the throne arose. Two major forces, headed by the emperor's eldest son, Prince Su Hauge, and Huang Taiji's fourteenth younger brother, Prince Rui Dorgon, competed fiercely. Concubine Zhuang knew that Fulin, who was only 6 years old, had no competitive strength at all. She watched the changes, sized up the situation, and persuaded Dorgon to serve as regent to solve the political crisis. As a result, the princes and ministers finally compromised and gained the consensus that Fulin would succeed him. It was agreed that Dorgon and Jierhalang would be the regents and in charge of the affairs of the country before Fulin took over.

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang Wen

After Fulin succeeded to the throne and changed the Yuan Dynasty to Shunzhi, the 31-year-old Concubine Zhuang was revered as the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. Because Huang Taiji was posthumously known as Emperor Wen, she was also called Empress Dowager Wen of Xiaozhuang. Since then, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang has stepped onto the political stage, highlighting the wisdom and talents of female politicians. In the 16th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1643), the peasant uprising army led by Li Zicheng captured Yanjing (today's Beijing). Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, and the Ming Dynasty was destroyed. When the news reached Shengjing, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang made a decisive decision and suggested that the regent Dorgon lead all the soldiers and horses of the Qing Dynasty to enter the pass in a large scale to aspire to conquer the Central Plains and realize the last wishes of Qing Taizu Nurhaci and Qing Taizong Huang Taiji. She warned Dorgon to strictly enforce military discipline after entering the customs, win over the people, and move the capital to Beijing after victory to stabilize the Central Plains. Dorgon led the Qing army and Wu Sangui, the surrendered Ming general, joined forces to annihilate Li Zicheng's rebel army and soon occupied Beijing.

On October 19, the first year of Shunzhi (1644), Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang left Shengjing with Fulin and hundreds of civil and military officials. Under the kneeling of the princes and ministers, they entered the Forbidden City and settled in Cining Palace. She devoted herself to cultivating Fulin to be the first emperor after the Qing Dynasty took over the Central Plains. She carefully raised the little emperor with the cultural quality of "only fond of pictures and history". She chose the most knowledgeable Manchu and Han ministers to be Fulin's teachers, "making the Hanlin officials and advisers ready to study and write down the classics and history without letting go of them."

Every time Fulin went to the harem to greet the Queen Mother, he would kneel down and receive instructions. She persuaded the young emperor to title Dorgon the "Emperor's Uncle and Regent" for his contribution to the Central Plains.

In order to maintain the rule of the Qing Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang accepted the suggestions of Hong Chengchou and Fan Wencheng, who were demoted to the Qing Han officials in the Ming Dynasty, and advised Dorgon. With Dorgon's permission, the Ming Dynasty's political structure was adopted with the Manchu aristocracy in the core position, and Ming Dynasty civil servants and military officers were used; in order to reduce the tax burden on farmers, the "Regent Decree of the Qing Dynasty" was promulgated, canceling the late Ming Dynasty The Liao pay, suppression pay, training pay, and increased taxes, corvee and other burdens have achieved good results and played an important role in stabilizing the political situation in the early Qing Dynasty and developing the economy.

However, Dorgon dominated the government and the opposition, excluded dissidents, formed cliques and monopolized power, and had the ambition to dethrone the emperor and establish himself on his own. The Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang realized that in the event of a coup, not only would the lives of orphans and widows be saved, but the Qing Dynasty might also be ruined by the civil strife of the Eight Banners. She goes up and down, advances and retreats, compromises, and handles her relationship with Dorgon rationally. In December of the fifth year of Shunzhi (1648), she suggested that Emperor Shunzhi honor Dorgon as "Emperor Father and Regent", and Emperor Shunzhi issued an edict to grant him the title, thus successfully protecting the young emperor and preventing Dorgon from succeeding in his plot. Regarding the theory that "the Queen Mother married Dorgon", there is no clear record in the history books of the Qing Dynasty. In the seventh year of Shunzhi (1650), Dorgon died of illness. In order to win over the power of Dorgon's two white banners, the Queen Mother arranged for Emperor Shunzhi to lead the kings, Baylor, and civil and military ministers, wearing heavy mourning, to greet Dorgon's coffin five miles away from Dongzhimen. Six days later, Emperor Shunzhi posthumously named Dorgon the "Emperor of Honesty and Jingyi" and his temple name was "Chengzong".

In order to stabilize the political situation and win the hearts of the people, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang guided the Shunzhi Emperor to extend imperial favors to the princes and ministers of the Eight Banners, grant them titles, promotions, and rewards, and vigorously support ministers who were loyal to the emperor; The unjust case of Dorgon's persecution was vindicated, and his title and official position were restored. For example, Prince Su Hauge, who was killed by Dorgon, was repressed, and his son was made Prince Heshuo and Minister of Political Affairs; he also made important use of Manchu ministers Tu Lai, Sony, Ebilong, Aobai, Baha, and Su who were both wise and courageous. Ke Saha and others served as important ministers of the imperial court, and won the support of the princes and ministers for Emperor Shunzhi.

The Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was a practitioner of the Manchu-Mongolian marriage. She recognized that this national policy was crucial to consolidating the Qing regime and continued to implement it. In the eighth year of Shunzhi (1651), she elected the daughter of her niece and eldest brother Wu Keshan, Prince Zhuoliketu, as the queen. Because Emperor Shunzhi didn't like her, she was demoted to Concubine Jing three years later. The next year, the Queen Mother summoned her two grandnieces and the two granddaughters of her second brother, Prince Chahan, into the palace. She named her elder sister Queen Xiaohuizhang and her younger sister as Concubine Shuhui. In order to maintain the special status of the Horqin Mongolian Borjigit clan, the Queen Mother also married three of her own princesses to Mongolian nobles to consolidate the Qing Dynasty's rule over various Mongolian tribes.

In order to gain the support of Han officials for the Qing Dynasty, in the ninth year of Shunzhi (1652), the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang kept Kong Sizhen, the daughter of Kong Youde, the Han Dingnan king who died fighting for the Qing Dynasty, with her and named her Heshuo. The Queen Mother also dared to break the ancestral system of non-intermarriage between the Manchu and Han Dynasties. In the 10th year of Shunzhi (1653), she married the fourteenth daughter of Huang Taiji, Princess Shuo Kechun, to Wu Yingxiong, the son of Wu Sangui. This move made the vast majority of Han generals loyal to the Qing court and would also help Kangxi's victory in the "Three Feuds Rebellion" in the future.

In order to cultivate Fulin's ability to govern, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang wrote inspiring words of advice: "He who is the emperor is in the highest position, and it is not easy to be honest. The foundation of the Republic is to govern the people by appointing talented people, and to govern the country must be close. Loyal and far-sighted, people must be based on insight and knowledge, administration must be carefully scrutinized and decisions must be made, rewards and punishments must be fair, and administration must be in accordance with the rules. Do not be extravagant, pursue far-reaching goals, be diligent in learning, and be dedicated to punishment. If you don't know, the great cause will be taken care of. You must do everything before you get tired. If you stick to this word sincerely, it will bring blessings to all generations. It is also the foundation of great filial piety." However, the young emperor sometimes has an impatient temper. Things are not cool enough. In June of the 16th year of Shunzhi (1659), Nanming general Zheng Chenggong besieged Jiangning (Nanjing), claiming that he would pacify Jiangnan and take Beijing directly. When the news came, the government and the public were shocked. Emperor Shunzhi was so panicked that he proposed to abandon Beijing and retreat outside the customs. Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang sternly rebuked: How can the emperor easily ruin the inheritance of his ancestors? Emperor Shunzhi felt deeply ashamed. He drew his sword and struck several cases, saying that he would personally conquer the emperor.

The Queen Mother patiently advised the emperor that as the emperor, he should not act impulsively and should deal with important events calmly. Emperor Shunzhi stayed in Beijing to take command and sent Qing troops for rapid reinforcements. Due to Zheng Chenggong's mistakes in decision-making, Jiangning finally rescued the siege. The resolution of the Jiangning crisis showed the Queen Mother's style as a statesman who grasped the current situation and responded calmly.

In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (1661), Emperor Shunzhi was bedridden due to pox. It was urgent to decide who would succeed the throne. Emperor Shunzhi considered that because the prince was young, he planned to establish a younger brother. The Queen Mother listened to the advice of Tang Ruowang, a German who served in the Qing court, who suggested that "Xuan Ye had suffered from smallpox and was immune, so he was suitable for succession." After careful consideration, she insisted on establishing the third son of the emperor, Xuan Ye. After the Empress Dowager's strong recommendation, Emperor Shunzhi obeyed his mother and issued an edict that the emperor's third son, Xuan Ye, should succeed him, thus choosing a wise emperor for the Qing Dynasty.

The Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang

On the seventh day of the first lunar month of the 18th year of Shunzhi, Emperor Shunzhi passed away. Xuan Ye, who was only 8 years old, succeeded to the throne, changed the reign of Emperor Kangxi, and honored the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang as the Empress Dowager. After the death of Emperor Kangxi's biological mother, the Empress Dowager resolutely took on the important task of raising and training her grandson Xuan Ye with the grief of losing her son in old age. Some ministers advised the empress dowager Xiaozhuang, who was highly respected and conscientious in her words, to listen to politics behind the curtain, but she politely refused.

In order to cultivate Emperor Kangxi's ability to govern the country, the Empress Dowager personally wrote instructions and taught her grandchildren: "Our ancestors rode and shot to open the foundation, and the weapons were unstoppable. We employ people to administer affairs with respect to the sky. Xu Gong made the decision. "He also warned: "In ancient times, it was called the king's difficulty. There are many people in the world, and the emperor is here to give birth and care for them. He must look forward to guiding them. He must think deeply about the way to win the country, so that he can reach Kangfu from all over the world. Under the guidance of his grandmother, Emperor Kangxi "learned to study hard, love calligraphy, and pay attention to classics, but he was overworked and had blood in his phlegm." "dropped out" and became one of the rare diligent and studious emperors in history. The Empress Dowager not only used traditional education methods, but also focused on absorbing advanced Western culture to cultivate Kangxi. She hired foreigners who had mastered contemporary scientific knowledge to the palace to teach Kangxi various scientific knowledge. Those who taught Kangxi included the German Tang Ruowang, the Italian Li Leisi, the Portuguese Anwensi, the Belgian Nan Huairen, etc., and taught courses in astronomy, mathematics, geography, painting and medicine. Emperor Kangxi asked Nan Huairen to design a light artillery suitable for mountain warfare, which showed great power in quelling the "San Francisco Rebellion".

According to the imperial edict of Shunzhi, before Emperor Kangxi took office, four auxiliary ministers, Sony, Abilong, Obai, and Suksaha, managed the government. However, they each had their own ambitions and were full of contradictions. Ao Baimu had no young master, monopolized the power, tyrannized the government, killed innocent people indiscriminately, tried to usurp the imperial power, and held the emperor hostage to order the princes.

After Emperor Kangxi came to power at the age of 14, the Empress Dowager worked behind the scenes to provide Kangxi with ideas and measures to govern the country. She did not agree to immediately take back the power of the auxiliary ministers, and adopted a strategy of dividing and exploiting the four auxiliary ministers. After Sony died of illness, Obai became the chief assistant. He became even more unscrupulous and deceived the emperor. He framed and killed Suksaha who was fighting against him when something happened. Emperor Kangxi was determined to get rid of Obai, so the Empress Dowager and Emperor Kangxi planned a clever way to capture Oboi. Emperor Kangxi personally selected a group of noble young men as bodyguards, and often wrestled and practiced martial arts with them in the imperial garden. Oboi often saw them wrestling, thinking that the emperor was just having fun and didn't care. One day, Obai was summoned to the palace. As soon as he entered the palace gate, he only heard an order. Young martial arts students swarmed him, knocked him down, tied him up, threw him into prison, announced his thirty major crimes, and sentenced him to death. Later, because Obai had great military exploits, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. His followers were eliminated one by one, and the imperial power was consolidated.

As soon as the rebel ministers were eliminated, the vassal chaos broke out again. The Three Feuds of Jiangnan, namely Pingxi King Wu Sangui, was stationed in Yunnan and Guizhou; Pingnan King Shang Kexi was stationed in Guangdong; and Jingnan King Geng Zhongming was stationed in Fujian. The Qing court used these three kings as a barrier to defend against the forces of the Southern Ming Dynasty, so it was called the Three Feudatories. After Emperor Kangxi came to power, the Southern Ming forces had been eliminated, and the ethnic conflicts between the Manchu and Han Dynasties were gradually easing. However, the three vassals had their own troops and each occupied one side, which cost a lot of money. The emperor decisively proposed to withdraw the vassal. Many princes and ministers were afraid of causing rebellion and opposed the withdrawal of the vassal. . The Empress Dowager supported the withdrawal of the vassal state against all opinions and personally persuaded the ministers to come to a unified understanding. In the twelfth year of Kangxi (1673), Wu Sangui raised troops in Yunnan after issuing an edict to withdraw the vassal state.

The next year, Geng Jingzhong (grandson of Geng Zhongming) and Shang Zhixin (son of Shang Kexi) also responded with great momentum. Sichuan and Shaanxi also raised troops to respond. The rebellion spread to half of China, and was known as the "Rebellion of the Three Feudatories" in history. Emperor Kangxi was determined to put down the rebellion and adopted a divided strategy of suppression and appeasement. He mobilized the main force of the Qing army to attack Wu Sangui and made Shang Zhixin and Geng Jingzhong surrender. Wu Sangui suffered successive defeats and was in dire straits. Five years later, he was in mourning. It took 8 years to finally put down the "San Francisco Rebellion" and reunify China. During the war to quell the rebellion, the Empress Dowager and her grandsons worked closely with each other and made suggestions for them. She also used her own share of silver and the money saved by the harem many times to reward the soldiers who went out to fight, and encouraged the soldiers to bravely quell the rebellion.

In the 14th year of Kangxi (1675), at the critical moment when Burni of the Mongolian Chahar region rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, the Empress Dowager decisively recommended the dismissed academician Tu Hai as general to lead the army. , quickly put down the rebels and stabilized the overall situation.

The Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang has always opposed extravagance and advocated frugality. He took the lead and set an example, and the harem's utensils were not allowed to be updated for many years. In July of the 10th year of Shunzhi (1653), heavy rains caused disasters in the south and people were displaced. The Empress Dowager used the 80,000 taels of silver saved in the palace to provide relief to the victims. In the eleventh and thirteenth years of Shunzhi's reign, she spent 40,000 taels and 30,000 taels of silver respectively for disaster relief. The frugal family tradition advocated by Xiaozhuang influenced the Kangxi and Yongzheng dynasties. Emperor Kangxi respected the Empress Dowager very much and asked for instructions on all important matters in the court. He often said: "I have followed my grandmother's knee for more than 30 years, and I have nurtured and taught me, so I have achieved success." "If there were no grandmother, the empress dowager, she would never be able to stand today."

The 26th year of Kangxi's reign. On December 25 (1687), Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang passed away at the age of 75. After the three emperors of Kangxi, Yongzong and Qianlong, the posthumous titles were: Xiaozhuang Renxuanchengxiangongyi to Dechun Huiyi Tianqi Shengwen Queen. She is a Mongolian female politician who came out of the Horqin Grassland in Inner Mongolia and served in the Qing Palace for more than 60 years, dedicating her life to the Qing Dynasty. She experienced four emperors, helped three dynasties, and supported two young emperors. She made important contributions to the establishment and consolidation of the Qing Dynasty's regime, and was known as the mother of the Qing Dynasty. Some people say that the rise and fall of the Qing Dynasty is closely related to two female politicians: the rise of the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang brought about the rare "Kangxi and Qianlong Dynasties" in the Chinese feudal dynasty; the decline of the Empress Dowager Cixi brought the Qing Dynasty from humiliation to destruction. .