Seeing this, we can’t help but ask: How charming is this Concubine Dong E, and why is she so favored by the young Emperor Shunzhi? You must know that the number of Shunzhi Emperor's concubines in history is quite large. Judging from current records alone, Shunzhi Emperor had four queens (including Dong E's concubine), seven principal concubines, nine concubines and seventeen princesses. Although many of the people here are just the emperor's whims and have no real feelings, but after all, the number is here, and generally speaking, it is relatively large.
Why did Emperor Shunzhi only favor Concubine Dong E?
The concubine Dong E mentioned here is the daughter of the internal minister E Shuo. She was born in 1639 AD, the fourth year of Chongde in the Qing Dynasty, and was a native of Zhengbai Banner in Manchuria. Concubine Dong E's younger brother was Fuyuan General Fei Yanggu, who was later deeply trusted by Emperor Kangxi.
According to historical records, Concubine Dong E was not only beautiful in appearance, but more importantly, she was well-educated and sensible, with a gentle personality and noble conduct. Therefore, she was deeply loved by Emperor Shunzhi after entering the palace.
But to be honest, it would be too simple if it was just because of these reasons that Emperor Shunzhi favored her. Among the dozens of concubines of Emperor Shunzhi, was there not one who was beautiful and well-educated? Of course not. After all, during the Shunzhi period, the Qing Dynasty's "draft system" had already come out. There were clear requirements and indicators for selecting concubines. Therefore, judging from these alone, Concubine Dong E did not actually have an advantage. So what is the reason?
It’s simple, because Emperor Shunzhi found real warmth in Concubine Dong E! How to say it?
We know that Huang Taiji left no heir before his death, which led to a fight between Dorgon, Hauge and others. Finally, when the stalemate reached a stalemate, Dorgon decided to transfer Huang Taiji's inheritance to the throne. The ninth son, Fulin, who was only six years old, succeeded to the throne and became the later Emperor Shunzhi.
To put it bluntly, Dorgon's move was not to truly support Emperor Shunzhi, but to realize his dream of imperial power through him. Because at this time Dorgon's dream of becoming emperor had been shattered, and if he wanted to take power, he could only achieve it through Shunzhi.
So until Dorgon's death, Emperor Shunzhi lived the life of a puppet emperor. Not only could he not issue political decrees, but Dorgon had the final say in his own marriage matters.
So for many years, Emperor Shunzhi had always been uncomfortable, and even though there were several beautiful concubines in the harem, they were just passing clouds. They did not understand what Emperor Shunzhi was thinking at all. think.
Furthermore, although the time from Emperor Shunzhi's succession to the throne to his death was not long, he had already felt tired of the throne. You know, a child loses his beautiful childhood at the age of six and spends all day "sitting in court and listening to government affairs" without any freedom.
Although Kangxi ascended the throne at the age of eight, the situation in the Kangxi Dynasty was much better than that of the Shunzhi Dynasty. After all, Kangxi did not have a powerful minister like Dorgon. As for Obai and others, they are much inferior to Dorgon. At least Obai and others cannot directly control the royal family, but Dorgon can.
So one can imagine how depressing and miserable Emperor Shunzhi's eighteen-year career as emperor was. Therefore, he desperately needs a woman who can understand him, love him, and know what he is thinking in his heart. Concubine Dong E played this role very well.
For example, Concubine Dong E was talented and intelligent since she was a child. She also particularly liked reading historical books and was proficient in calligraphy. She exuded a special temperament from the inside out that other concubines did not have. of. Emperor Shunzhi himself also liked history very much, so the two of them always had endless topics to talk about together. More importantly, Concubine Dong E could control Emperor Shunzhi's thoughts, knowing exactly when to obey and when to refute, so For Emperor Shunzhi, Concubine Dong E was not only his concubine, but also his close friend.
In August of the 13th year of Shunzhi, Concubine Dong E was canonized as a "virtuous concubine" when she first entered the palace.
Logically speaking, when a woman enters the palace, her rank is relatively low, such as promised, permanent, or noble, and the highest level is just a concubine. However, as soon as Concubine Dong E entered the palace, she was directly canonized as a concubine and became a concubine. Several levels, which shows that Emperor Shunzhi valued and loved her!
It is worth mentioning that in December of the same year, Emperor Shunzhi believed that "there was no one more intelligent, intelligent, and good than Concubine Dong'e", so he upgraded her two more levels, to Imperial Concubine, or even Concubine Dong'e. He also made an exception and issued an edict to grant amnesty to the whole country. In other words, in just four months, Concubine Dong E was promoted one after another, and her status was second only to the queen.
Of course, if Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and others had not stopped her, Emperor Shunzhi would have really planned to depose the empress and replace her with Concubine Dong E.
In October of the 14th year of Shunzhi, Concubine Dong E gave birth to a son, the fourth son of Emperor Shunzhi. Logically speaking, this child was just a concubine, but Emperor Shunzhi regarded him as a legitimate child, doted on him in every possible way, and even believed that he would become an excellent king in the future. Later, Emperor Shunzhi even said in many public occasions and edicts that this was "my first son." To put it bluntly, Emperor Shunzhi had already intended to make him the crown prince.
Unfortunately, the fourth son of the emperor died less than a hundred days after his birth, which made Emperor Shunzhi very sad. And this also made the originally weak Concubine Dong E finally become ill.
In order to comfort Concubine Dong E, Emperor Shunzhi posthumously named the fourth son Prince Heshuorong in March of the 15th year of Shunzhi, built a garden and bed for him, and personally wrote an epitaph for his son who died young. . This shows how much Emperor Shunzhi loved Concubine Dong E. However, at this time, Concubine Dong E was already extremely ill and there was no way to save her.
In August of the 17th year of Shunzhi, Concubine Dong E died of illness at the age of 22.
The death of Concubine Dong E was like a bolt from the blue to Emperor Shunzhi, who almost collapsed. On the third day after Concubine Dong E's death, Emperor Shunzhi posthumously named her empress, with the posthumous title of "Queen of Xiaoxianzhuang and Zhide Xuanren, Wenhui and Duanjing", and was known as "Queen of Xiaoxian" in history.
It is worth mentioning that when Emperor Shunzhi was grief-stricken, he ordered all the maids and eunuchs who had served her to be buried for him, and even ordered the royal family members and officials of fourth rank and above to be buried. His act of mourning. Fortunately, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang finally stopped and stopped.
The death of Concubine Dong E brought a great blow to Shunzhi, causing her to be mentally depressed and exhausted physically and mentally. Finally, on the seventh day of the first lunar month of the 18th year of Shunzhi, Emperor Shunzhi died of illness in the Yangxin Hall. 24 years old.