On December 2, 1861, the name of the year was changed to "Tongzhi", and the queen mother of the two palaces raised the heart of the palace, and listened to the government with curtains. In the early days of her reign, with the assistance of Wang Yixun, she rectified the rule of officials, reused Hanchen, and relied on the armed forces of Han landlords such as Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Li Hongzhang; With the support of the great powers, he successively suppressed the uprisings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Twist Army, the Miao people, and the Hui people, alleviating the ruling crisis of the Qing Dynasty and temporarily stabilizing the Qing Dynasty. In order to maintain the feudal autocratic rule, she also reused the Westernists, and with the principle of "self-improvement" and "seeking prosperity", she developed some military and civilian industries, and trained the navy and army to strengthen the strength of the political power. Objectively, it has played a certain positive role in China's modernization. During this period, the domestic uprising was put down, the two opium wars temporarily satisfied the greed of the great powers, and there was no great loss in diplomacy, and the military strength of the Qing Dynasty improved after the Westernization Movement, and the industry and commerce had an initial development, which was called "Tongzhi Zhongxing".

In the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872), Zaichun was 17 years old, and Cixi had no choice but to choose for him. However, after Emperor Tongzhi came to power, it was still difficult to get rid of Cixi's intervention. Cixi for pleasure, instructed the Tongzhi Emperor to repair the Old Summer Palace for his residence, the Tongzhi Emperor also wanted to take this opportunity to let the Empress Dowager leave the palace to live in order to get rid of Cixi's interference in the government, but at that time the financial shortage, the Old Summer Palace was seriously damaged, and the repair cost was very huge, the Tongzhi Emperor insisted on starting the construction, causing many opposition from the princes and ministers such as Yixun, and the Tongzhi Emperor dismissed them all. Cixi intervened to stop Emperor Tongzhi's decision.

In January 1875, Emperor Tongzhi died of illness. Cixi appointed her nephew (her husband's nephew) and nephew 4-year-old Aixin Jueluo Zaiyan as emperor, changed the era name to "Guangxu", and the empress dowager of the two palaces once again lowered the curtain to listen to the government.

From 1865 to 1870, the Central Asian invader Kokand Khanate's invaders invaded and seized most of Xinjiang. In 1871, Tsarist Russia sent troops to occupy the Ili region. In 1875, Cixi adopted the suggestion of Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and sent troops to Xinjiang, and the Qing army recovered Xinjiang in January 1878; In 1881, China and Russia negotiated for China to recover most of Ili. [7]

On April 8, 1881, the Empress Dowager Ci'an died at the age of 45, and the official theory was a cerebral hemorrhage, which is believed to be the victim of Cixi.

From 1883 to 1885, the Sino-French War broke out, and the two sides won and lost each other militarily, but the Qing government headed by Cixi advocated "taking advantage of the victory and reaping the rewards", and signed the "Sino-French New Treaty" with France, which made France gain a lot of aggressive benefits. [8]

On April 8, 1884, Cixi launched the Jiashen Yishu Dynasty Change, and dismissed the entire class of ministers of the Military Aircraft Department headed by Prince Gong Yixun, and began the dictatorship of the Western Palace.

In February 1889, Guangxu got married, nominally by Emperor Guangxu, and Cixi disciplined for several years. After the end of the training, all the employment and administration of the court are still out of their hands, "the Empress Dowager (Guangxu Emperor) is respectful, and the great government of the court will ask for orders." ”

In 1894, Prince Alcohol took the opportunity of Cixi's 60th birthday to "receive congratulations in the Summer Palace, imitating the practice of Kangxi and Qianlong, from the inner to the garden, the road passed, set up a colorful shed altar, and held a celebration". Divert the funds of the navy, renovate the Summer Palace, decorate the scenery, and collect contributions.

That year, Japan launched the Sino-Japanese War. Guangxu is the main battle, Cixi is also the main battle, "there are no weak words". However, when someone proposed to stop the Summer Palace project, stop the scenic spots, and transfer them to military spending, Cixi was furious and said, "Whoever makes me unhappy today, I will also make him unhappy for life." Later, the Qing army suffered successive defeats on the Korean battlefield, and the Beiyang Naval Division suffered another serious setback in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. In order not to affect her sixtieth celebrations, Cixi hoped that foreign countries would intervene and end the war as soon as possible. She supported Li Hongzhang's policy of avoiding war and seeking peace, and used various excuses to attack the main battle faction headed by Guangxu.

Due to the increasingly tense situation and the heavy pressure from the government and the opposition, she could no longer insist on going her own way and put on a big show, so she had to change her original plan and reduce the scale of the birthday celebration. When Jinzhou and Dalian fell one after another, and Lushun was in great danger, Cixi spent her 60th birthday in Ningshou Palace in the Forbidden City.

On February 7 of the following year, Weihai Weiwei Japanese ships and batteries attacked Liugong Island, and the Beiyang Naval Division was annihilated.