Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, came from a humble background and came from a poor family, and his rise was entirely under the banner of the descendants of the Han people, relying on the strength of the people, especially the strength of the peasants.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the society was unstable, in order to maintain the rule, but also in order not to forget the original intention, the Ming Dynasty implemented the folk draft.
The draft and the people mean the use of more manpower and material resources, longer time, larger scale, so the Ming Dynasty draft is the most intense in the past,
At the end of the first round, as many as 5,000 show girls were selected, and only one of these 5,000 people could stand out and become the queen.
First, the origin of the draft system
A thousand years ago, Chinese history was written on the basis of feudal dictatorship
The wheel of history rolls forward, looking forward is feudal, and looking backward is also feudal. The history of feudalism lasted for thousands of years, and such a long time was not broken, relying on many factors, the most important of which was the support of dictatorship.
Maintaining a dictatorship requires a large and complex system, which is supported by many human and material resources, and dynasties that lack support or whose balance of power is broken will perish. The Yuan Dynasty was a feudal dynasty in history, and this era was an era of ethnic minority unification.
The occupation of high positions by unorthodox minorities is a hidden danger to the continuation of dynasties. In just a hundred years, these contradictions have been intensified.
Under the banner of orthodoxy, the rebels who created themselves the descendants of han aristocrats were innumerable in the Yuan Dynasty. The situation of more monks and fewer porridges made the beginning of the uprising not smooth. A poor man, in the process of participating in the uprising, gradually grew from a small person on the margins to a leader,
Under the banner of "restoring China," he called on the poor people to join his group and annex other groups to break through the siege.
The orthodox banner resonated most with the people, and Zhu Yuanzhang, who called himself "King of Wu", gradually integrated the rebel army, eliminated the opposition group, captured the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and established the Ming Dynasty, with the name Hongwu
。 After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he painstakingly thought about it, learned the lessons of his past life, was very frugal, strengthened the centralization of power, cracked down on corruption, reduced the tax burden on the people, and won the support of the people.
Curb consumption desire, reduce taxes, and contribute to the economic development of the early Ming Dynasty.
But in contrast to this is the Ming Dynasty's complicated and strict draft system. At first, the draft was originally selected from near Kyoto, but it became a national event, and private women could also participate.
So the emperor's choice of concubines became one of the thousands, and the empress chose one out of thousands of people.
Second, the original intention of the draft system
At the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the foundation was unstable and internal and external troubles.
The internal system was not perfect, the huge territory could not be well managed; the external people were uneven, although they had the support of most of the people, but there were still some people who were loyal to the Yuan Dynasty and wanted to restore the Yuan Dynasty.
In the face of internal troubles, there is an urgent need to reform the political system, and the most intuitive change is to improve the examination system; in the face of external troubles, send troops to clean up the remnants and stabilize the people's will.
There is also a system that came into being, which was the draft system pioneered by the Ming Dynasty.
Most of the imperial families in the past have attached great importance to the theory of blood, and the Son of Heaven is a figure who is high above and difficult for mortals to reach. A woman of the royal family must also be born noble and motherly in the world.
This theory of descent has been recognized by successive generations, but for a country like the Ming Dynasty, which was founded by low-level people in the name of nobility, it was more harmful than beneficial.
First, Zhu Yuanzhang was born a commoner, from childhood poverty, many of the founding ministers of the Ming Dynasty were civilian warriors, they were disdainful of the aristocratic system from the bottom of their hearts, and the red tape made them quite a headache. The second is
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was on the throne of the common people, was well aware of the strength of the people, and uniting the people was his means of victory. Therefore, successive Ming rulers have been indoctrinated with the idea of putting the people first.
Various reasons have created opportunities for the folk draft to tilt to the people, and the draft system has come into being.
As soon as this system came out, it increased the enthusiasm of the people and was of great help to the consolidation of rule. Most of the empresses of the Ming Dynasty affected by this were not of high birth, and also reduced the behavior of the harem dictatorship, which was equivalent to weakening the harem and the forces behind the harem in disguise, which was conducive to the emperor's centralization of power.
Third, the complexity of the draft system
In order to keep the emperor's harem full, that is, the configuration of the harem's three thousand beauties, every once in a while, a draft will be held.
Unlike its predecessors, the Ming Dynasty's drafts were complex, long,standard, and wide-ranging.
According to historical records, during the Ming Dynasty emperor draft, qualified unmarried women in the folk must participate, these women range in age from 13-16 years old, as long as they are not married, women need to wait at home for special screening. A total of 5,000 people were elected throughout the country as showgirls to enter the palace.
During the period of selection of 5,000 people, the people are not allowed to hold marriage activities.
That is to say, if a folk woman has a sweetheart, she must marry before this, otherwise she may face a fate separate from her sweetheart, which can be described as the wall of the palace she loves and cannot be obtained in a lifetime.
For folk women who have no favorite people, they are most looking forward to this day, because this is the best time for women to counterattack, and they can fly up the branches as phoenixes
A lifetime of glory and wealth can also add glory to the family, so when the palace people come to choose concubines, the women will dress up well, wear the most beautiful clothes, and look forward to the moment of changing their destiny.
After five thousand people have been selected, the selected ones can be further screened by eunuchs and ministers. Height and weight, skin color, and body posture are all criteria for selection.
Women who are too tall and thin, plump and obese, with rough skin and poor posture, are screened out and have to leave the talent show and go home to wait for the next draft or remarry.
In addition to this, there are subtle, demanding comparison items. The screening of hair, the screening of good or bad teeth, and even the screening of foot shapes are all carried out at this stage.
After the screening is completed, it enters the next stage, which is the body examination link. This link is responsible for the elderly palace girl, all the show girls need to take off their clothes, be examined by the old palace girl, but also smell the body odor, and the heavy body odor will also be brushed off.
These links have all passed, and it is the last level - looking at the face. Look at whether the face of the show girl is compatible with the royal family, but also to see whether the show girl has a rich and noble appearance and a Wangfu face.
Only if the manners, appearance, and appearance are qualified, can they meet the emperor, be selected by the emperor, and enter the harem. Only in this way can you climb up step by step and become a queen.
summary
The folk draft system of the Ming Dynasty was very strict and complex
Only five thousand people in the country can pass the primary election and become showgirls, and most of these five thousand people will be eliminated because of non-compliance in some places.
All that can be left are the beauties of beauty.
Such a wide range of drafts provides opportunities for small households in the folk to soar, and also provides opportunities for women from poor families to get out of poverty.
However, because it is to send ministers and eunuchs to the primary election, it is easy to bribe officials corruption, and there are also drawbacks.
This kind of large-scale, regardless of origin, is conducive to promoting the development of the private economy and improving the status of women in the family, and also has a positive impact.
In addition, most of the selected showgirls are smart and beautiful, and most of the empresses who stand out from the 5,000 people are also extraordinary-looking, intelligent and resourceful, and have a good improvement effect on the genes of the Ming Dynasty royal family.