In the popular Qing Palace drama "The Biography of Zhen Huan", the historical real character prototype of the protagonist Niu Hulu is Empress Xiaoshengxian. After the death of the Yongzheng Emperor, Qianlong ascended the throne, and Niu Hulu, who was the biological mother of the Qianlong Emperor, became the empress dowager at a young age and became the most honorable woman in the world.
In her later years, Empress Xiaoshengxian indulged in pampering her grandson and enjoyed the joys of heaven and died at the age of eighty-six under Qianlong's filial piety; the longevity of more than eighty years was very rare in ancient times, which showed the depth of her blessings.
In the more than three hundred years from the entry of the Qing Dynasty to the overthrow, only Empress Xiaoshengxian experienced the dynastic changes of the three emperors of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, and even enjoyed the glory and wealth, and a strand of hair left behind after her death was used by the Qianlong Emperor to pray for her mother's blessing.
The daughter of a famous man married into the royal family
The Niu Hulu clan was a Manchurian yellow flag people, born in the family of officials and eunuchs, whose ancestors were all officials in the dynasty and made great contributions to the Qing court, so the Niu Hulu clan was quite trusted by the Kangxi Emperor.
In the forty-third year of the Kangxi Dynasty, the 11-year-old Niu Hulu was accused by the Kangxi Emperor of marriage to Beile Yinchen, who was already 26 years old at the time, that is, the later Yongzheng Emperor.
At that time, because his father's official position was not high, and his official rank was only four pins, when he first entered the mansion, he was given the title of Gege, but he was only a low-ranking concubine, and his status was far below that of Fujin and Fujin.
The newly entered gege niu hulu clan was not favored by Yongzheng at first, and has always played the role of transparent person in the house, and this situation has continued for more than ten years.
The blessed Niu Hulu clan ushered in the first change in his life after Yongzheng fell ill with the epidemic, when the medical conditions were very backward, and an epidemic almost killed Yongzheng.
When Yongzheng was very seriously ill, the Niuhulu clan served diligently on the side, and the matter of decoction and boiling medicine should be done personally, taking care of and accompanying Yongzheng on the sickbed.
Under the meticulous care of the NiuHulu clan, Yongzheng soon recovered. After the initial recovery of the serious illness, Yongzheng was very touched, and only then did he notice that there was such a virtuous woman in his house, who was very fond of her heart, and the Niuhulu clan also won Yongzheng's favor.
The two people who were very affectionate soon ushered in the crystallization of love, and in the fifty years after the Kangxi Dynasty, the NiuHulu clan gave birth to a son in the Lama Palace, the fourth eldest among the princes, named Hongli, which was the later Qianlong Emperor.
The fourth son of the Emperor, Hongli, grew up to the age of ten and was brilliant. One day Hongli followed his father Yongzheng to the side of the Emperor's grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, who saw the Emperor's grandson Hongli at the first sight and saw that this son was gifted and would become a great instrument in the future, and he was particularly fond of him.
The Kangxi Emperor ordered that the emperor's grandson Hongli be taken to the palace, taught by the emperor's grandfather himself, and when he saw Hongli's biological mother, Niu Hulu, he praised her as a blessed person. From then on, although the NiuHulu clan was still a gege in terms of status, Yongzheng's grace for her was even greater.
In the 61st year of the Kangxi Dynasty, the Kangxi Emperor died, and the fourth son of the Emperor, Yin Chan, won the battle of the nine sons and succeeded to the throne after the death of the Kangxi Emperor.
In 1722, Prince Yong officially ascended the throne as the Yongzheng Emperor, and was promoted to concubine of the Niuhulu clan on the fourteenth day of the first month of the first year of Yongzheng, and was enthroned in the same year, and later promoted to Concubine Xi in the eighth year of Yongzheng.
In the first year of Yongzheng, in order to avoid the chaos of the previous generation of nine sons taking the throne, the Yongzheng Emperor decided to secretly select the candidate for the crown prince, and he placed a note with the name of Hongli behind the plaque of "Zhengda Guangming" in the Qianqing Palace, so that he could clearly take the throne after his sudden death.
Qianlong ascended the throne, and his mother was honored as empress dowager
On the 23rd day of the eighth month of the 13th lunar calendar of the 13th year of Yongzheng, the Yongzheng Emperor died at the age of 58, and the throne was inherited by the fourth son of the emperor, Hongli, who changed his era name to "Qianlong" after taking the throne.
After his son Qianlong ascended the throne, Concubine Xi Gui's mother, Niu Hulu, was honored as the empress dowager, and the Qianlong Emperor also personally formulated the honorific title of Empress Chongqing for the empress dowager, and ordered the construction of the Shoukang Palace for her mother as the residence of the empress dowager.
The Qianlong Emperor truly fulfilled his promise to raise his mother with filial piety in the world.
The Qianlong Emperor was very filial to his mother, and regarded the Niuhulu clan as the mother of the country, and every time he went out on a tour during his reign, he took his mother Niuhulu with him to accompany his mother to tour the beautiful scenery and taste local food, just like the style of motherly kindness and filial piety in ordinary people's homes.
Whenever there was a major festival in the palace, the Qianlong Emperor would personally lead the princes and ministers to celebrate, and the scene was very solemn. Under the filial piety of the Qianlong Emperor, the Empress Dowager Niuhulu enjoyed the glory and happiness of the world.
The Qianlong Emperor often took his concubines and princesses to Shoukang Palace to dine with the empress dowager; the empress dowager had grandchildren who undertook the knees, and in her later years she did not feel lonely and enjoyed the joy of heaven.
At the end of his life, he drove in peace
In the forty-second year of Qianlong, the Qianlong Emperor accompanied the empress dowager to the Yuanmingyuan to relax, and specially ordered someone to arrange the residence of the empress dowager in the Changchun Xianguan, first, to pray that his mother Niu Hulu was healthy, live a long life, and live forever, and second, to facilitate himself to go to the empress dowager as soon as he was free to handle government affairs and accompany his mother to eat together.
On the first day of the new month, the Qianlong Emperor ordered the concubines, princes and grandchildren to accompany the empress dowager and dine together at the Jiuzhou Qing Feast, after which the family was lively and lively to watch the festival lights. At this time, the Qianlong Emperor was already a grandfather, and the empress dowager Niu Hulu enjoyed the pleasure of the four generations.
On the fourteenth day of the first month of the same year, the Qianlong Emperor heard that the empress dowager was not in good health, so he hurriedly put down his hand and signaled to hurry to the Changchun Immortal Hall to visit his mother.
At that time, Niu Hulu was not seriously ill, but he only felt a cold occasionally, and after the treatment of the Doctors, his condition had improved. But after all, the advanced age has arrived, and the newly improved condition continues to have repeated symptoms, and it is becoming more and more serious, and it is lingering on the sickbed all day long.
Knowing that his destiny was coming and that the medicine stone was useless, he did not want to worry his son, and he did not want to distract the Qianlong Emperor or even delay the affairs of the court because of his illness.
So when the emperor came to ask Ann and asked how his illness was, he talked and laughed with his son as always, only saying that the illness was already good and that there was no need to worry too much, and advised the Qianlong Emperor, who was also getting old, to take care of his body.
By the twenty-second day of the first month, the empress dowager was terminally ill, and the whole person had entered the time of death, and the filial Qianlong Emperor had been standing by her mother's collapse. On the second day, the seriously ill empress dowager died and drove the crane west at the age of eighty-six, becoming the person with the highest number of life expectants among all the empresses of the Qing Dynasty.
On the twenty-third day of the first month of the 42nd year of Qianlong, the palace announced that the empress dowager of the world, Niu Hulu, was peacefully driving in the Yuanmingyuan. Hearing this news, the whole country paid tribute to mourning, and the Qianlong Emperor ordered that the empress dowager Niu Hulu be buried in the Taidongling Underground Palace.
His honorific title was "Empress Xiaosheng Cixuan Kang Huidun and Empress Jingtianguang Shengxian", and later generations called her Empress Xiaoshengxian. Later, through the emperors of Jiaqing and Daoguang, he was given the title of "Empress Xiaosheng Cixuan Kang Huidun and Chenghui Renmu Jing Tianguang Shengxian Empress" and made it the final title.
Throughout the more than three hundred years of rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Empress Xiaoshengxian was not only the longest-lived empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty, but also the happiest one.
Empress Xiaoshengxian was born into a family of eunuchs and enjoyed great glory and wealth throughout her life, and after her son ascended the throne, her mother was honored as the empress dowager.
In addition to being posthumously honored, the filial Qianlong Emperor also built a blonde pagoda for the Niuhulu clan to place the Shou Buddha and retain a strand of his mother's hair for worship and prayer.