Emperor Xianfeng 19 years old, young emperor. Since he became the emperor, he must have recruited women to fill the harem and reproduce his descendants. In those years, 60 people signed up for the women's education campaign, including the later Empress Dowager Cixi.
Why did only 60 people come out to draft women in Qing Dynasty? In fact, there was ancestral training in the Qing Dynasty, and girls who bound their feet by the Han nationality were not allowed to enter the harem. The emperor's women can only be selected from the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty in form. Rich and powerful families in the Eight Banners generally want to work, and they will pay some money to prevent their daughters from participating in the draft.
Because once the girl is selected, no matter whether she is favored by the emperor or not, she can't go out of the palace again. There are 3,000 beauties in the emperor's harem, and only a few people are lucky. For most of the selected female practitioners, after entering the palace, they are nothing more than handmaids around the queen and the imperial concubine, living a lonely life.
However, some parents will let their daughters go out to work hard to revive their family business. If it happens to be favored by the emperor, then the chicken and dog will ascend to heaven from now on. If they are not loved, what they sacrifice is nothing more than a daughter. Moreover, the status of ancient women was low, so it is not surprising to sacrifice a daughter.
In addition to parents' decision to let girls participate in the draft, some girls are willing to go. For example, Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Cixi are familiar to everyone. They were the favorite concubines of Emperor Xianfeng, the birth mother of Emperor Tongzhi, and the real rulers of the late Qing Dynasty. Expensive is expensive, but this is all in the future.
Cixi's childhood was not good. It should be said that she was poor and difficult. Her grandfather Yehnara Jing Rui was born in Qianlong forty-five years. After graduating from imperial academy, her great-grandfather Ji Lang donated a pen sticker to Jing Rui and was assigned to Taibu Temple to learn to walk. After Jiaqing came to power, he had a good impression on Jing Rui and promoted him many times.
However, Daoguang didn't give him a good evaluation. In the 23rd year of Daoguang, the capital was exposed with a huge deficit in the national treasury, and Ji Lang, the great-grandfather of Cixi, was also involved, and he had to compensate the court for 210.62 million silver. But Geelong is dead, so Jing Rui must pay his father's debts within two years.
Jing Rui was dismissed and imprisoned by the court for failing to repay his debts in time, so he had no choice but to sell his property and pay 60% of the compensation. Therefore, when Cixi's father came to Zheng Hui, his family wealth declined, and he was very miserable. When Cixi was four or five years old, her father, Cheng Wai, was just a pen with eight immortals crossing the sea, and was later released as an alternate Taoist priest.
Alternate, as the name implies, as a backup, is dominated by members, with little income, and it is difficult to maintain even basic living expenses. Fortunately, Cheng Wai's good friend Wu Tang helped many times, otherwise Cixi might have starved to death in the streets. Therefore, after Cixi came to power, it was also a kind of gratitude to entrust the important task to Wu Tang.
The charming Cixi lived a hard life all day. She wants to turn over and fight with her beauty. At this time, Xianfeng became emperor and wanted to recruit women. Cixi seized this opportunity and entered the draft with the eunuch after signing up.
On the day of the Xianfeng draft, sixty female practitioners listened to the propaganda one by one, and Cixi was at the back of the team. When the propaganda reached her, she knelt down respectfully and kowtowed. After kowtowing, she heard it said that she looked up, and she looked up according to the instructions. Sitting on it is an old Manchu flag girl, Kang Ci's imperial concubine. Her eyes turned slightly and met the eyes of Emperor Xianfeng, who was looking at her carefully.
Cixi and Xianfeng looked at each other for a long time, and no one spoke. Cixi knelt down and did not dare to bow her head. She thought, does this young son of heaven have a crush on me? I was surprised and happy in my heart, and my heart turned charming again. Cheek red with white, white with red, more charming.
In this way, Emperor Xianfeng looked at Cixi for a long time without speaking. The eunuchs and ladies-in-waiting next to him were wondering when the Queen Kangci sitting at the table said, "This woman is really blessed." As soon as this was said, the stunned Emperor Xianfeng came to his senses and said, "What a good appraisal of kindness!" So I picked up a paintbrush and drew a circle on the name of Cixi, and Cixi was successfully elected.
After Cixi was elected as a nun, she was placed on duty at the Palace of Kunning, and took turns to do trivial chores like other maids and eunuchs every day. So she worked continuously for half a year, but she didn't get a call from Xianfeng. Since Xianfeng took a fancy to Cixi at a glance, why didn't he call her for so long? Where did Emperor Xianfeng go in the past six months? What are you up to?
Later, through activities and asking around, Cixi learned that Emperor Xianfeng had been busy with some Han foot-binding women in Yuanmingyuan for six months. As a prince, Emperor Xianfeng never lacked a flag girl since he was a child. He mixed with them day after day since he was a child, so he was not very interested in these flag girls when he grew up.
On the contrary, those China women who bound their feet attracted her very much. Because of the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor was not allowed to bring women who bound their feet into the harem, so Emperor Xianfeng isolated China beauty in the pavilion of Yuanmingyuan, and he took turns to be the lucky one every day. Four of them are the most popular, and Xianfeng named these four beauties: Peony Spring, Begonia Spring, Apricot Spring and Wuling Spring.
Emperor Xianfeng only cares about trying to appreciate the "four springs" of Yuanmingyuan. How could he remember seeing cross-eyed Cixi that day, and Cixi was also a flag girl?