Kangxi canonized three queens throughout his life, and the fourth queen was Yongzheng's biological mother. After Kangxi's death, Yongzheng ascended the throne and became the emperor, so she became the queen. But just like the first three queens who were canonized by Kangxi himself, they died soon after.
Therefore, this question arises, why did the three queens canonized by Kangxi all die young? To understand this issue, we need to start with these three queens.
The first queen canonized by Kangxi was: Queen Xiaochengren, named: Hesheli, the biological mother of the deposed prince Yinreng. According to historical records, she was the granddaughter of Sony, the minister of Tuogu. She entered the palace as a queen at the age of 11 and was the first wife of Kangxi.
Obviously this was a political marriage, because at that time Kangxi had not yet taken charge, and all power was in the hands of Obai. Moreover, among the candidates for the queen, there was also Obai's adopted daughter, so Kangxi married the grandson of Sony, the grandson of Minister Tuogu, in order to strengthen the imperial power and hedge against Obai's power.
However, this did not affect the love between the Kangxi couple. Kangxi liked Queen Xiaochengren very much. When Queen Xiaochengren was 15 years old, she gave birth to Kangxi's first son, Chenghu. It's a pity that he died when he was only four years old. So when Queen Xiaochengren was 20 years old, she gave birth to Yinreng to Kangxi. Unexpectedly, this birth cost Queen Xiao Chengren her life, and she eventually died of dystocia!
The second emperor of Kangxi was Empress Xiao Zhaoren, named Niu Colu. In fact, Niu Colu entered the palace as early as when Kangxi married Queen Xiaochengren, and she was among Kangxi's "first wives". She was canonized as queen three years after the death of Empress Xiao Chengren.
The reason why Niu Colu was able to take over as the queen has nothing to do with her family background, because she is the daughter of Yi Bilong and the adopted daughter of Ao Bai, and at that time Ao Bai Bai Que had already fallen. Therefore, Niu Gulu's rise to power relied on his own talent and virtue.
Therefore, even Kangxi said that she was "a good assistant in the inner court". But it is very regrettable that Niu Colu died after less than a year as queen. As for the cause of death, there is no clear record in the historical data. Now it is speculated that he died of illness.
The third queen of Kangxi was Queen Xiaoyiren, named Tong Jia. She was the last queen canonized by Kangxi during his lifetime. Since the first two queens died young one after another, Kangxi felt that his life was too hard. Therefore, for a long time, he did not canonize the queen again. He only canonized Tong Jia as the imperial concubine, let her act as the queen, and raised Yongzheng.
Unexpectedly, even so, Tong Jia was not able to escape the "Queen's Tragedy". After assuming the duties of the queen for eight or nine years, Tong Jia became seriously ill. At this moment, Kangxi was very anxious, so he thought of the folk method of "celebrating happiness" and quickly named Tong Jia the queen, hoping to retain Tong Jia. However, Tong Jia's condition did not improve and she eventually died of the illness.
The three queens all died early, which made Kangxi cruel and never canonized the queen again. So why does this happen? Could it be that Kangxi's "life was too tough"?
In fact, in the author’s opinion, the answer lies with Kangxi himself! In addition to accidental factors and women's fertility risks (Empress Xiaochengren died in childbirth), the most critical factor was the continuation of the power struggle in the Kangxi dynasty.
The struggles in Kangxi's dynasty were quite fierce. From the early days when Kangxi captured Obei and pacified the Three Feuds, to the "nine sons seizing the legitimate sons" in Kangxi's later years, each of them set off huge waves. Many people and strength have been brought in. So in this case, how can the harem escape?
For example, the reason why Queen Xiaochengren became Kangxi's first wife was to hedge against Obai's power. And the reason why Niu Colu became the queen was after Obai fell. Behind the first two queens, there was the background of the struggle between Kangxi and Obai.
As for the third Tong Jia, she acts as the queen's concubine. This is called: the name is not justified and the words are not correct. It should be noted that almost most of those who can enter the harem as concubines represent a certain force. But Tong Jia has to deal with it. Among them, it is inevitable that you will encounter various difficulties due to status issues, this is for sure.
The so-called harem fight is a fight for favor, and it is also a fight for the benefits of the power behind them. The terrible thing is that Kangxi is the hero. He wants to control his relatives and dignitaries (the Eight Banners dignitaries), powerful ministers and important ministers, all under his control.
This means that a queen is not allowed to interfere in politics. Want to be exclusively favored? This is not possible! Second, when necessary, Kangxi would also send signals to those forces that needed beating by beating the queen. This means great pressure on the queens. Therefore, the queens of Kangxi were frightened almost every day, and suffered great physical and mental torture, which ultimately led to this result.