In the late Qing Dynasty, the Jiangshan regime was in the hands of Cixi, and speaking of this, it has to be said that Cixi was really scheming, and she held power for nearly half a century in her life, surpassing her predecessors Lü Hou, Wu Zetian and others. But in the end, she ended up with a notorious end because of selfishness and extravagant life, even so, before she died, she still left a will and let her niece Empress Longyu raise the young emperor Puyi, which is what we want to talk about today as the last empress dowager of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, she was too ugly and cowardly to be favored all her life, and finally buried the Qing Dynasty.
Longyu, of the Yehenara clan, was originally named Jingfen, and was the daughter of Cixi's younger brother. She looks ordinary, and is even called ugly by many people, with a wide forehead, swollen eyes, tooth decay, a wooden look, a cowardly personality, a tall but hunchback, as if it is a sin to grow tall. However, in the end, she was appointed empress by Cixi. Guangxu did not like him, and had never been fortunate with her in his life, in addition to his appearance, there were 2 reasons. First, she and Guangxu are cousins and brothers, the two grew up together since childhood, Guangxu only has sister-brother friendship for her, and has nothing to do with pampering. Second, Guangxu treated her as Cixi's undercover agent and therefore did not get close to her.
Based on this, she was spoiled and childless in the harem all her life, not to be pleased by the emperor, not to approach the emperor, and naturally she could not find favorable news for Cixi, and gradually, she also fell out of favor with Cixi. It can be said that she has no status in the entire palace, there is no hope in charge of the harem, and even in front of the palace maids and eunuchs, she has no prestige to speak of, which is really a sad woman. Fortunately, before Cixi died, he helped her and let her run the government together with the regent.
After Puyi ascended the throne, she was honored as empress dowager, thus becoming the last empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty. However, at that time, the Qing Dynasty was already in danger, plus she did not usually play with the regime and was not interested in politics, so if she wanted to keep the back seat, she could only do her best to raise Puyi. After the internal worries were lifted, the external troubles continued, outside the Qing court, there were uprisings everywhere, and finally after the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, she watched many ministers resign and leave the capital, she also wanted to stay away from this life, but she could not, can only stick to the palace.
In the end, she did not have the ability to handle affairs, and pinned her power and hope on Yuan Shikai, but she did not expect that Yuan Shikai secretly negotiated good terms with the "enemy" and forced her to abdicate with the emperor, she knew that she was invincible, and she could not turn the tide, and finally in desperation, she personally signed the "Abdication Edict" in 1912, and the Qing Dynasty ended. The dynasty that lasted for more than 200 years was buried in her hands, she was full of guilt, she felt that she could not face the ancestors, and she was sorry for her aunt and the people of the world, plus the hundred officials of the Manchu Dynasty and the nobles of the royal family, at this time they also stood up to condemn her, she was depressed all the time, and finally she was unbearable, and the next year (1913) she was depressed and ended, at the age of 46.
Reference: Draft history of the Qing Dynasty