The ancients could not stand the chicken Si Chen the most, but in ancient times, there were still many women in power. Empress Wu Zetian needless to say, she is the first strong woman who dares to risk the world. In addition to her, there are some women who have not been able to claim the title of emperor, but they have also controlled the government for many years, resembling emperors. Those women were some of the empresses of various dynasties, such as Empress Qin Xuan of the Qin Dynasty, Empress Lü of the Han Dynasty, and Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty, whom we are most familiar with.
When it comes to Empress Dowager Cixi, she is very different from other powerful empresses, and her era is the most complicated. Empress Dowager Qin Xuan and Empress Lü basically did not experience major disasters in their lives, nor did they have any worries about the destruction of the country. However, in Cixi's time, the door of the country was forced to open, and the Western powers were eyeing China, impacting the entire society of our country and making the rule of the Qing Dynasty crumbling.
In 1900, the Eight-Power Alliance attacked the city of Beijing with foreign guns and cannons. After the Qing army's resistance was ineffective, Cixi fled in fright and fled all the way to the west. This experience of fleeing was definitely not experienced by Empress Qin Xuan and Empress Lü. So what stories did Cixi experience when she fled west?
Empress Dowager Cixi lived in the palace for a long time and did not understand folk life. So when she fled, she brought very little food and a lot of money. But in the era of war and chaos, everyone didn't have food in their hands, and even if you had money, you might not be able to buy anything. After Eating All the Food they had brought, Cixi and his party were really hungry.
There is a "Gengzi Xi Hunting Cong Talk" that tells the story of Cixi's life when she fled west. It is said that she rushed from Guanshi to the fork in the road, and lived in a broken shop. She asked for a bowl of mung bean soup, and she couldn't find a place to eat a bowl of coarse rice. Where the empress dowager had suffered such a hardship, she felt very miserable when she thought about it.
When Cixi fled to Shanxi, everything changed, because Shanxi was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it was less affected by war. Moreover, at that time, Shanxi's economy was super prosperous, with many Jin merchants and rich people. After Cixi arrived in Shanxi, she felt like heaven, and the silver she brought with her was finally useful, and she could buy something to eat.
Probably because of the long suffering from hunger, Cixi was very excited when she learned that she could buy food. Pick up the money and start buying and buying, shark fin bird's nest eating and eating. Cixi stayed in Shanxi for a long time, and lived an extremely luxurious life, although she brought a lot of money, but she did not move the national treasury, and it would always be spent. After spending all the money, Cixi was a little confused.
When Empress Dowager Cixi had no money, she had to pull down her face and borrow money like the rich people in Shanxi. Although there are many rich people in Shanxi, but people are not stupid, they are not very willing to lend to this fleeing empress, who knows if she will not get it yet. But at that time, there were still families willing to help Cixi, that is, the famous Shanxi Qiao family.
The Qiao family may be unfamiliar to many people, but the Qiao family compound is well known. The Qiao family was one of the richest merchant families in Shanxi at that time, sitting on big businesses such as grain, money, and silk. Therefore, when the Qiao family helped Cixi, one shot was 100,000 taels of silver. With those 100,000 taels of silver, Cixi was able to live a prosperous life again.
Empress Dowager Cixi was fortunate that she returned to Beijing and returned to the Forbidden City after fleeing west. After she returned to the palace, she returned to power, remembering the Shanxi Qiao family that had helped her. She asked the Qiao family what reward they wanted, but the Qiao family did not want money or officials, but only asked Cixi to help write a plaque. Of course, this was Cixi's hand-raising effort, and with a big stroke of her pen, she inscribed the four words "Fu Seed Lang Ring" for the Qiao family.
Now if you go to the Qiao family compound, you can still see the plaque inscribed cixi. This small plaque is one of the best testimonies of the Qiao family's help to Cixi.