When it comes to Cixi, many people hate him deeply, because under his rule, the Qing Dynasty is getting worse day by day, and it will soon be finished. She played a large role in the decline of the Qing Dynasty, constantly taking money from the treasury for her own extravagant life, and even using the military expenses of the Beiyang Fleet. It can be said that the national strength of the Great Qing was hollowed out by her, and Cixi had the primary responsibility.
So how extravagant was Empress Dowager Cixi's life?
It can be revealed from a small thing that Cixi has extremely high requirements for her life, and even when she goes to the toilet, she needs to let the palace maid wait with warm water in her mouth, why is this?
After the death of the Xianfeng Emperor, Empress Dowager Cixi began to monopolize power, and in the face of the Qing dynasty, which had already begun to decline, Cixi did not have the idea of reviving Heshan, but decided to live his life first. Cixi's requirements for life have reached the point of harshness, she likes the smell of fruit, so she ordered her subordinates to collect fresh fruits and put them in this big vat, just because they could smell the fruit in the palace. And these fruits, after they are not fresh, Cixi must also immediately throw them away and replace them with new ones, just for personal requirements, Cixi will waste a lot of fruits and consume a lot of silver money every year.
Of course, her extravagant life doesn't stop there
For this aspect, Empress Dowager Cixi is also very particular. Every time she ate, she had to prepare more than 100 dishes from the imperial chef, and five or six palace maids served the meal. However, he never ate with other people, which caused Cixi to waste a lot of food every time, which perfectly interpreted the saying that Zhumen wine smells of flesh and the road has frozen bones.
In addition, Empress Dowager Cixi is also very particular about bathing. Any towel that has been stained with water will never be used a second time, he will use up nearly a hundred new towels once he takes a bath, and the extravagant life can be seen, even if she sleeps, Cixi must have five people to watch over her at the same time. The two gatekeepers have the most power, they have to prevent anyone from disturbing Cixi's rest, and the dressing room and window are also occupied. The worst thing is that the people who remain in Cixi's dormitory cannot make any noise all night, and if they make a little movement, they may be killed, which is too dangerous. Even for the sake of eternal youth, he set up a department to provide himself with fresh milk.
It can be said that Cixi's pursuit of life has slowly become somewhat perverted from high standards, and Cixi's perverted pursuit is vividly displayed when she goes to the toilet, and there is even a procedure. It still needs ah, the palace maid finishes it with her mouth. In the Qing Dynasty, most people still used dry toilets, and the hygiene was very poor, and Cixi, as the empress dowager, certainly could not use dry toilets, and its toilets were called the place of reincarnation of grains.
It is reported that the toilets are made of sandalwood with a certain aroma, but Cixi who is still not satisfied also puts a large number of apples next to the toilet to remove the unpleasant smell for it. Before going to the bathroom, he had to be surrounded by servants to change into other clothes, and someone had to stand aside to hand her paper. At that time, due to backward craftsmanship, paper was often rough, uncomfortable to use, a little ass, and the people still used leaves. The paper used by Cixi is different from that used by the people, the paper he used is called white cotton paper, which is very soft and made of cotton, which is more interesting. Even if it was such a piece of paper, Cixi was not willing to pass through his own hands, but let the great eunuch Li Lianying help him solve it. After Cixi's convenience, the eunuchs would go out and empty it with his toilet on their heads, but Cixi felt that his body was delicate, and she was still not satisfied with such a luxurious life, especially the comfort of white cotton paper, he felt a little panicked.
So when she went to the toilet, she would tell all the palace maids standing on the side to have warm water in their mouths. Why would you do that?
It turned out that when Empress Dowager Cixi needed paper, the palace maids would spray water on the white cotton paper, so that it would be more supple and have a certain temperature, and there would be no discomfort even in winter. Even the palace maid he asked to spray the water evenly, and if he felt any discomfort when he used it, he would punish him severely. At that time, some palace maidens, in order to better serve Cixi, in private, also conducted water spray competitions, and they regarded this work as the highest honor.
Cixi's life can be said to be quite moist, but behind her extravagant life is the Qing Dynasty, which has gradually eroded it.
The Qing Dynasty perished in the process of Lafayette's pursuit of quality of life, and Cixi was also scolded by the world for this.
Cixi's reputation in history has always been poor, and as the de facto ruler of the Qing Dynasty, she was extravagant and wasteful, emptied the treasury, and tried to preserve herself and cede land to the enemy in the face of foreign invaders. The starting point of all Empress Dowager Cixi's actions was her own rule, and she exercised elegant control over her children, the Tongzhi Emperor, and the successor Guangxu Emperor, in order to maintain Cixi's rule. And later in the war against foreign invasion.
Cixi always chose to end the battles by making peace, especially the Zhennan Pass and the Sino-Japanese War.
In these two battles, the Qing army already had a certain advantage, but he voluntarily surrendered, chose to cede land and pay reparations, and signed a treaty. Many people believe that Cixi was the culprit of the demise of the Qing Dynasty. If Cixi really does not have any talent for governing the country, it is certainly not right, but from a historical point of view, Cixi is still responsible for the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Although before Cixi took over, the Qing Dynasty had begun to decline, and Cixi's extravagance only accelerated the speed of destruction, but as the supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty, she was highly centralized and hindered the progress of history, especially in the Sino-Japanese War, the front-line army was tight, Cixi asked the army to win the battle, and at the same time took a lot of money to repair the Summer Palace. When the war was lost, Empress Dowager Cixi did not think about how to strengthen the country, but accepted reality and directly chose to accept shame, without the slightest national integrity.
After the Gengzi incident, in the face of huge reparations, she still did not change her previous extravagance, and she still went her own way and wasted wantonly, and the late Qing, who was already financially stretched, was no longer able to protect herself. In general, Empress Dowager Cixi's extravagant life and excessive dictatorship accelerated the process of the mainland's degeneration into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. Although she is only a woman for rights, she is also a sinner from a historical point of view.
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