Cixi's political talent
Cixi has been in power for so many years, she must have some political skills, otherwise the Qing Dynasty could not have struggled for so long under the circumstances of internal and external troubles. During the reign of Xianfeng, Cixi was a rare bilingual talent in the palace because she knew both Manchu and Chinese. Xianfeng was a person who didn't like to handle state affairs, but as an emperor, the memorial was to be approved. Cixi was given the right to read the memorial for him by virtue of her talent. In this way, Cixi learned about many national events, including the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Opium War. What's more, she also learned how to get along with ministers and how to deal with these political affairs. These skills laid a good foundation for Cixi's later administration.
Cixi is even calmer than Xianfeng in times of crisis. In the Second Opium War, the British and French allied forces captured Tianjin. When the news came, Xianfeng was having fun with the concubines in Yuanmingyuan. Hearing the news, Xianfeng instinctively sat there crying. At this time, only Cixi kept a clear head, saying that it was useless to cry at this time. We should find a way at once and put forward our own way at once, so that Prince Gong, as a strategist, could handle this matter together.
This incident really reflects the hidden general demeanor of Cixi, which may be one of the reasons why Xianfeng later wanted to kill her.
Xianfeng murder case
As the mother of Xianfeng's only son, she is bound to become the empress dowager after Xianfeng's death. Xianfeng is in poor health, and he will drive a crane to the west when he is 30 years old. After Xianfeng's death, his only son, Zai Chun, is bound to become emperor, but Zai Chun is too young to be controlled by a doll of several years old. Can he control these ambitious ministers? This has become Xianfeng's heart disease.
The little emperor needed help when he ascended the throne, and the reason why women were able to step onto the political stage was largely because the emperor was unable to handle state affairs. Cixi is so capable politically that even Xianfeng is not as good as her. Therefore, Xianfeng revealed this concern to Su Shun before his death.
On the other hand, Su Shun has the ambition to seize the imperial power. What's his opinion? Follow the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, killing children and keeping mothers. To tell the truth, this is indeed a very good way, but the little emperor always needs someone to help him. The little emperor of the Qing Dynasty ascended the throne by Shunzhi and his son Kangxi. When Shunzhi ascended the throne, Dourgen assisted him. Dourgen became a regent, nominally a prince, but in fact he was only a birthright from being an emperor. And Kangxi? With the assistance of the Empress Dowager Xiao Zhuang and four ministers, Xiao Zhuang did not dare to repeat the mistakes of Shunzhi, so he did not let the Prince assist him, but Ao Bai was authoritarian again. This made Xianfeng hesitate to kill Cixi. After all, Cixi is dead. How do these ministers in Su Shun solve this problem?
Cixi's scheming
Cixi knew Su Shun's proposal and asked Xianfeng to kill her, but she didn't want to. She wants to be in power, too. Faced with this situation, she chose to retreat for progress.
How to return it? She pretended not to know Su Shun's proposal in front of Xianfeng, but after Xianfeng fled to Jehol, all the palaces of concubines in the harem (that is, salaries) were all managed by Su Shun. As a noble princess, Cixi was second only to Empress Ci 'an at that time, but her palace was intermittent. Obviously, Su Shun deliberately targeted her. Cixi also chose to endure this. At this time, she dared not expose her dissatisfaction for fear of being killed.
Facing the pressure from Su Shun, Cixi did not flinch. When Xianfeng was seriously ill and wanted to see his son, where was Cixi? Don't talk, just holding the child at Xianfeng's bedside, silently crying, looking at Xianfeng with tears. Xianfeng, after all, was not decided by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Cixi was really beautiful when she was young. Xianfeng still had some feelings for her, and finally Xianfeng didn't want to lay hands on her.
Xianfeng's decision
Xianfeng made a final decision before he died. He wrote an imperial edict: First, he made the emperor's eldest son (Zai Chun) the Crown Prince. Second, Pai,, Jing Shou,,, Kuangyuan, Du Han, Jiao Youying, etc. assisted in the completion of the project, and gained worldwide fame. Even so, Xianfeng still doesn't trust him. He was worried that eight ministers in Gu Ming would threaten Zai Chun's throne. Xianfeng put two seals representing the imperial power, one for the imperial reward of Empress Cian and the other for the countryman of Little Emperor Zai Chun. But the emperor was too young, and finally the seal fell into the hands of Cixi. Only these two seals, imperial edict can play a role, can contain Gu Ming eight ministers. In this way, Cixi finally participated in politics and achieved her goal. As for complete mastery, it was after the new emperor ascended the throne.
Have to say, Xianfeng's plan is perfect, the two sides contain each other, as long as Zai Chun can have a certain ability, it should be no problem to get back the imperial power. It's a pity that Xianfeng underestimated Cixi's ability and thought it was enough. In any case, Cixi escaped the murder of Xianfeng by her own skill.