In December of the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang, the empress dowager Niu Cobalt Lu was ill, and at this time, the Daoguang Emperor was not in good health, he was a great filial piety, and he went to the empress dowager's palace three times a day to ask for peace and personally feed the soup medicine. However, the empress dowager still did not survive this winter and died on the eleventh day, and she was the second empress of the Jiaqing Emperor, Empress Xiaoherui.
Just one month and three days after the empress dowager's death, the Daoguang Emperor also died. Historical records say that emperor Guang was too sad because of the death of the empress dowager, coupled with continuous participation in heavy funeral activities, and finally died of physical weakness.
It is the common sentiment of people to do filial piety after the son is the mother, and it is also in line with the fundamental concept of "ruling the world with filial piety" in the Qing Dynasty. However, the empress dowager was not the birth mother of the Daoguang Emperor, and the age difference between the two was not large, only six years old.
Historically, the position of any empress dowager whose son did not inherit the throne was very embarrassing. Far from it, in the Ming Dynasty, for example, Emperor Mingyingzong's original empress Qian Shi, because she did not give birth to a prince, suffered a cold reception after Emperor Xianzong succeeded to the throne; and Empress Zhang of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, although she was also an empress, the Jiajing Emperor was also extremely disrespectful to her.
On the contrary, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty were more humane, and there were four empresses in the Qing Dynasty who were in this situation. One was Empress Xiaohui Zhang of the Shunzhi Emperor, who suffered a lot in the Shunzhi Dynasty and was almost deposed as empress, but Kangxi was very filial to this heir, no different from her own child.
In addition, there are Empress Xiaojing of the Daoguang Emperor (Yi Bi's biological mother), and Empress Xiaode of the Xianfeng Emperor (Ci'an), and then there is the Empress Xiaohe mentioned in this article. Except for Empress Xiaojing, they were basically treated with courtesy by later emperors.
Returning to the truth, the reason why Empress Xiaohe won the respect of the Daoguang Emperor was not only the factor of "filial piety" in traditional culture, but also related to her own virtuousness and righteousness. It should be said that Empress Xiaohe was a woman of great political wisdom.
Empress Xiaohe was born into a famous family, and her Niu Cobalt Lu family is one of the eight major surnames in Manchuria, and there are too many celebrities and concubines in this family. She was the concubine of the Qianlong Emperor when the Jiaqing Emperor was crown prince, and her status was second only to Empress Xiaoshu (Daoguang Emperor's biological mother).
Empress Xiaohe was of noble character and had the appearance of a mother in the world, and was highly respected by the Jiaqing Emperor. The Jiaqing Emperor had five princes, two of whom were born to Empress Xiaohe, which also proved that she was very favored by Jiaqing.
When the Daoguang Emperor was crown prince, due to the early death of his birth mother Empress Xiaoshu, there was no strong support in the harem. Theoretically, in the case that the title of crown prince has not yet been formally determined, the status of the two princes of Xiaohe And Empress, namely the third son of the emperor Miankai and the fourth son of the emperor Mianxin, is also out of the way, and there is no difference with the Daoguang Emperor, and there is a certain competitive relationship.
Since the Yongzheng Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty has implemented a secret reserve system, and the selection of the crown prince in jiaqing's later years has not been announced, but the courtiers speculated that it should be Min Ning (Daoguang Emperor) of Prince Fengzhi. Because the two princes of Xiaohe and Empress Xiao were not satisfactory in Jiaqing's eyes, they were not as good as Min Ning in terms of reading, talent, and martial arts riding and shooting. The empress dowager was also quite self-aware, and it was later proved that it was wise for empress dowager not to encourage her two sons to participate in the battle for the throne.
But what made the Daoguang Emperor grateful to Xiaohe and the Empress was something else. On July 25, 25, Jiaqing Emperor died violently at the Rehe Summer Resort, and the most urgent thing at that time was to clarify the successor, and the most legal way was to find the jiaqing Emperor's will.
According to the regulations, when the emperor secretly established the throne, he had to write two identical edicts, one of which was placed behind the Zhengda Guangming Plaque of the Qianqing Palace and carried with him. After the sudden death of the Jiaqing Emperor, several military ministers accompanying him searched the Rehe Palace and did not find the edict of succession.
There was no way, the military ministers could only send people day and night to rush to the capital, this time returning to the capital nominally to ask for peace for The Empress Xiaohe, but in fact to retrieve the will of the throne after the Zhengda Guangming Plaque to determine the heir. Strangely, the back of the Zhengda Guangming plaque was not found, so things froze here, although everyone knew that Min Ning was the heir of the silent, but without the will of the first emperor, it was impossible to succeed to the throne.
At this time, Empress Xiaohe did not take into account personal interests, but put Jiangshan Sheji first, and she issued a decree in the name of the empress dowager, ordering Min Ning to succeed to the throne. A few days later, the will of the succession was finally found, and the name on it was Min Ning.
Objectively speaking, this will of Empress Xiaohe could not determine the fate of Min Ning's ascension to the throne, but at this critical moment, Empress Xiaohe had such an attitude, which made the Daoguang Emperor very pleased. Therefore, after he succeeded to the throne, he paid great respect to Filial Piety and the Empress, and also made his two younger brothers princes.
The Daoguang Emperor was known for his frugality, and during his reign, the use of the harem was reduced again and again, making it impossible for the empress and noble concubines to be properly supplied. The treatment of the empress dowager is still the same, and whether it is a birthday or a celebration, the empress dowager enjoys the highest standards.
As the empress dowager, Empress Xiaohe had regrets, after all, her son did not become emperor, and the identity of the empress dowager was more embarrassing. But she was also fortunate to have won the respect of the Daoguang Emperor with her superior political wisdom, worthy of a generation of empresses.