A Survival Guide to the Qing Harem

Chapter 17
It's no wonder that everyone wants to be in the back seat, because the feeling of "speaking well" is so good, which is much more practical than accepting everyone kneeling down and saying insincere blessings every day.The Empress Dowager Cixi once promulgated a decree: "The empress has the responsibility of commanding the six palaces. If the concubines in the inner palace do not abide by the family law, interfere with the state affairs in front of the emperor, and reverse right and wrong, the empress will strictly visit and investigate and report according to the facts. Severe punishment, never lenient loan." This decree mainly explains two things: first, it clearly states that women in the harem are not allowed to participate in politics (but she herself does it very happily); second, the empress has the command of the sixth palace, The power to order concubines.

As for what exactly does the commanding of the Sixth Palace do?In fact, there are too many trivial matters, such as enforcing the laws and regulations in the palace, maintaining the hierarchical order in the palace, and punishing the palace people, etc. The most important thing is of course to persuade the monarch.

To put it bluntly, the queen can prevent the emperor from entering and leaving the women's bedroom at will.As we said earlier, the Qing Dynasty was different from other dynasties. The emperor’s overnight life did not go to the palace of the concubines, but someone specially assigned to send the concubines to the emperor’s bedroom (except for the empress, of course. The privilege of the mother of the country is that she doesn’t have to be stripped and sent directly to the bed), but this is not a dead rule. Some emperors are tired of living in their own palaces, and they are always willing to sleep where women live. To do so, the emperor must obtain the consent of the empress, and the emperor can only move to a certain concubine's bedroom after seeing the empress's golden seal.If the queen is not happy, she will not issue the "consent letter". Even if the emperor arrives at the door of the concubine, he will not be able to enter.

Of course, this is just a written rule.I believe that few emperors would respect the queen's responsibilities so much, and they would not go if they couldn't say it; there were not many queens who interfered with the emperor so foolishly and blatantly.However, going to the concubine's dormitory to spend the night without permission, or being too obsessed with women, or pampering someone exclusively, these are all against the precepts of the ancestors. From the perspective of the queen's responsibility, it is necessary for you to remind you The emperor's husband.

There is a story in "Qing Barnyard Banknotes" about the queen's exhortation.It is said that a certain emperor slept in the bedroom of a certain concubine without authorization one night.The eunuch who served did not dare to be careless, and hurriedly reported the matter to the queen.The queen was angry, and she reprimanded the eunuch who followed the emperor, and then informed the staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.A few minutes later, someone came to read the ancestral precepts aloud outside the bedroom where the emperor stayed.Because it is the ancestral precept, even the emperor can't violate it, so he had to come out in his clothes and kneel on the ground to listen to the precept. This recitation didn't stop until the morning morning.

This is simply a Qing Dynasty version of "Yu Fu Ji".How scheming this queen is, she didn't show up directly, but let people reason with the ancestors' precepts.The ancestor is greater than the sky, which emperor would dare to disobey him?Now, let's pass the time tepidly, this emperor, who wanted to sleep well with his beloved woman in his arms, but now he can only kneel on the porch to suffer from the cold and hunger, full of aggrieved stomach!But he can't get angry yet, the empress acts according to the rules, and the whole harem is almost aware of it, even if he wants to complain a few words, or indifferent to the empress, he can't do it too obviously, otherwise it will appear Being stingy, secondly, the empress dowager must be alarmed and reprimanded later.

It seems that the queen's "soft sanctions" still have some effect.Not only can you snatch your husband away from the "sluts" in the most upright way, but you can also come up with a lot of reasons to punish these "sluts".For example, the Empress Dowager Cixi suffered this kind of "treatment" when she was a concubine and concubine.

At that time, Emperor Xianfeng still loved Xiaoqin very much (that is, Empress Dowager Cixi in the future). Even though she was only a concubine at that time, she still attracted the emperor's husband so much that he stayed in her bedroom for several days. The sun is not up and the morning is early.At this moment, Empress Xiaozhenxian Ci'an became anxious, and she personally came to the outside of Concubine Yi's bedroom holding the ancestral precepts, knelt down, raised the ancestral precepts above her head, and asked someone to invite the emperor to go out to listen to the precepts.

Emperor Xianfeng was blinded now, and he went out timidly and told the queen: "I'm busy going to the morning court now, so don't talk too much here." Then he left in a hurry.

In the next court, the emperor inquired where the empress was, and chased him to Kunning Palace, where he found the empress sitting on the throne, while concubine Yi bowed her head and knelt in the hall.

The empress punished the concubine Yi who "seduced the emperor" according to the ancestral family law, which is a normal event that can be brought to the table in terms of emotion and reason.Who would have thought that this planted the seeds of hatred in Concubine Yi's little heart.How many years later, I will not say more about how the Empress Dowager Ci'an died here.

Of course, as a queen, she is in charge of the mother's rites and the power to rule the six palaces. Naturally, she can't completely focus on the jealousy of which woman the emperor spends the night with, and which woman the emperor favors.In this regard, what you need to worry about more is the affairs of the royal family.From this point of view, it is actually not easy to be a queen. Although she has a high status and enjoys the honor alone, she has to share her husband with so many women, and she has to show a magnanimous look, worrying about who her husband should be with today If you stay overnight, then who will have a higher chance of conceiving? Which young women who are suitable for childbearing have not been favored by their husbands? Which sisters have not seen their husbands for a long time? It is time to contact them appropriately...

Pushing one's own man into another woman's arms, this kind of cultivation and mentality is not something every woman can cultivate.Facts have proved that it is difficult to be a queen.

In addition to presiding over the work of the Family Planning Commission, the queen also had to be in charge of the police system.As small as a concubine's palace lost some valuables, or as big as someone died in a palace, the queen has to personally take care of these things, after all, it happened in the harem—your territory, you don't care, who cares?
The queen also had to do her part to raise the banner of the disciplinary committee. If any concubine did something wrong, the queen had to call her in front of her to reprimand her.If everyone is doing something wrong, in accordance with the principle of "the law does not blame the public", the queen has to change her strategy. After paying her respects in the early morning, the sisters will sit down and talk about some truths with earnestness and insinuations. The only problem is, "You guys, don't jump around, it's better to be well-behaved, so that I can tolerate you, sister. If you make trouble beyond the limit, don't blame me for not being able to tolerate you."

After talking about the queen for a long time, it seems that there is nothing about the queen mother.Could it be that the old lady spent her days comfortably in the Compassionate Peace Palace?

In Taiping years, this should be the case.Anyway, the daughter-in-law was worried about everything in the palace. The empress dowager made the reigning emperor big, and it was already the first achievement in the Qing Dynasty, so she didn't have to worry about so many trivial matters anymore.As for the affairs of the government, the harem was not allowed to interfere in politics, so why bother with those?
Of course, regardless, it does not mean that there is no power to control.The empress dowager can promulgate a decree. According to the ranking, this is the decree second only to the imperial decree in authority. If the empress dowager really wants to decide something, write it down in black and white and read it out, no one would dare to disobey it.Look at the "Zhen Huan Biography", the empress dowager left a secret decree before she died, "The Yehenala family will never abolish the empress", the emperor had to listen to it, no matter how hated it was, he couldn't abolish the empress.Although this plot is fictional, the etiquette in it is well-founded.

If it was a special period, the empress dowager and the empress would usually go together, and they could interfere or even preside over the government.For example, if the emperor died suddenly and did not leave any last words about the throne during his lifetime, the empress dowager would have the power to choose an heir to the throne on behalf of his son, and hold the power to abolish and establish.However, greater power means greater danger. In a patriarchal society, after all, a woman cannot control the overall situation. Even if she has this power, she may be just a dream in the mirror.

If you don't believe me, let's take a look at Nurhachi's concubine Abahai.It stands to reason that Nurhachi died and left his last words to pass the throne to Dorgon. Abahai only needs to gather everyone and announce the last words of the Great Khan. This is easier than choosing a person to inherit the Khan's throne .What was the outcome?Not only did Abahai fail to let his son inherit the Khan throne in an upright manner, he was also forced to be buried alive, and died without even telling his biological sons. It can be described as the first tragic palace fight since the founding of the Qing Dynasty. .

To say that this Abahai is really miserable. He served Nurhachi for decades and gave birth to three sons for him. He will be able to enjoy the treatment of the empress dowager immediately after his arrival, but he can't compete with those ambitious stepson and become a victim of politics. It's really emotional.

However, if there are failures, there will naturally be successes.After Huang Taiji inherited the Khan throne, he married a woman named Borzigit Bumbutai, who was later named Concubine Zhuang, who was also the famous Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang in history.This old lady has grown up.

Although Xiaozhuang had never been the queen of Huang Taiji, with her son Fulin succeeding to the throne, she became the empress dowager in a respectful way.But Fulin was only six years old when he became emperor, orphans and widows had no power in their hands, Xiaozhuang could only follow Dorgon in humiliation, in order to keep his son safe.

However, it was in this kind of time of compromise that Xiao Zhuang honed herself into a political strong woman, with extraordinary wisdom and good hands and eyes, no matter how old and cunning a minister was, she had to give her three points of respect.No, once Emperor Shunzhi died, the power she could exercise was fully manifested.She was promoted to the empress dowager, taking care of the eight-year-old Emperor Kangxi, and mediating with the ministers of Gu Ming in many ways. Although she never showed up in court, nothing that happened outside escaped her eyes. Young, but with a clear eye and a bright heart, he finally assisted a generation of Mingjun.

Obviously, Xiaozhuang not only has the final say, but also has the ability to control this power. After living in the Forbidden City for decades, she is probably the most boring woman, because her inner emotions have already surpassed The love between men and women has risen to the height of the country.

Like the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, the Empress Dowager Cixi successfully exercised the supreme power of the Empress Dowager. This old lady is even worse. Her son is useless, so she directly arrests her nephew and becomes the emperor. Anyway, I don’t care who is sitting on that dragon chair Well, I have the final say in this world. As the saying goes, "Those who follow me will prosper, and those who oppose me will perish", this is non-negotiable!

(End of this chapter)