The legendary richest man in Shaanxi, Zhou Ying, was Cixi’s goddaughter. Why was she buried in a mass grave after her death?
In real history, Zhou Ying is not the one who behaves gorgeously in TV series or follows the footsteps of her adoptive father. Zhou Ying was born in a wealthy family. Her great-grandfather Zhou Meicun was a wealthy man at that time and a famous wealthy businessman. However, an unexpected incident occurred and an anti-Qing uprising destroyed the family's happiness. The Zhou family suffered heavy losses in this uprising, and the original wealthy businessman family suddenly became homeless family members. When Zhou Ying was born, her family's living standard was very poor. Shortly after her birth, both her father and mother died. At the time, she was raised by her brother-in-law. In order to earn more money, her brother-in-law even assigned her to a wealthy family with serious illness, and the husband she was going to marry was the only son of the Wu family compound. In an era when women's status was extremely low, marriage was all based on the orders of parents and the words of the matchmaker. Since then, Zhou Ying's fate has been closely related to the Wu family.
When 16-year-old Zhou Ying married Wu at the time, her husband Wu became seriously ill. However, this situation did not change after Zhou Ying's marriage passed. Not long after his marriage, Wu hired him, and young Zhou Ying became a widow. Everything happened too fast, whether she was marrying into the Wu family as "Zhongxi" or her husband died and became a widow, all of this was heavy for Zhou Ying. Where should she go in the future?
At that time, Zhou Ying's father-in-law Wu Yingwen had a close relationship with Zuo Zongtang, so the Wu family received this support and the business was booming. At that time, the Wu family became a famous wealthy businessman in Shaanxi. However, the good times did not last long. After Zuo Zongtang died of illness, his support was eliminated, and Zuo Zongtang's opponent Li Hongzhang was suppressed, and the Wu family's business plummeted. Wu Weiwen was also framed and imprisoned, and eventually died in prison.
Who should support the Wu family without Wu Weiwen? Zhou Ying suffered from her husband's pain and the death of her father-in-law. At this moment, she stood up bravely and began to shoulder the burden of raising the Wu family. In that era, women's status was already very low. How can a woman be a leader of women? Without Wu Weiwen, the Wu family was disintegrated, and the Wu family's property became the "fat man" in everyone's eyes. However, this little woman was not favored by others when she took over the huge family and managed the family business in an orderly manner. The business is more prosperous than that of his father-in-law Wu Weiwen. It can be seen that this little woman has huge power in her body. After becoming the richest man in Shaanxi, Empress Dowager Cixi also viewed her in a different way.