The first generation of harem masters and the cruel palace concubine burial system

The Cry of the Qianqing Palace - the first generation of harem masters and the cruel palace concubine burial system

The Yongle Emperor was the first owner of the Beijing Imperial Palace, what is the story of his harem? Let's start with Empress Xu.

Empress Xu of the Yongle Emperor was the eldest daughter of Xu Da, the founding father of the Ming Dynasty, who had been quiet since childhood, liked to read, and was known as a female student, that is, a female intellectual. Zhu Yuanzhang heard that this girl was virtuous and quiet, so he summoned her father Xu Da and said, "Shuo and you are friends with cloth clothes." In ancient times, kings and subjects were harmonious, so they let their children marry and marry as relatives. You have a good daughter, and you are a match for Zhu Di, the son of Yuan. Therefore, Empress Xu was the wife that Zhu Yuanzhang had chosen for Zhu Di.

In the ninth year of Hongwu (1376), Zhu Di was made the King of Yan, and Xu Shi was also crowned princess of Yan. She was liked by her mother-in-law, Empress Ma, and after following King Yan to Beiping, her mother-in-law died, and she kept a vegetarian diet for three years and strictly observed etiquette; she could recite her mother-in-law's last words.

Zhu Di, the King of Yan, launched the "Battle of Jingnan" to seize the throne of his nephew Emperor Jianwen. At the beginning of the Battle of Jingnan, the imperial court sent a large army to surround Peiping. At this time, the King of Yan led his troops to fight outside, and only Shizi Zhu Gao was in the city, and the troops were weak. Princess Xu of Yan encouraged the generals and the wives and daughters of the soldiers and civilians to give them armor, climb the city wall to defend, and finally the imperial army withdrew, and the city of Beiping was saved.

After King Yan ascended the throne, Xu shi was crowned empress, and although she lived in the harem, she was concerned about Zhu Di's governance and sometimes helped him. For example, Empress Xu once said to Zhu Di: "In recent years, the north and south have been fighting every year, and the soldiers and people are tired, so they should be given rest." He also said, "The wise men of the world were all left behind by your father, Emperor Gao Zhu Yuanzhang, and it is not appropriate for Your Majesty to distinguish between new and old subjects." This suggestion was adopted by the Yongle Emperor. One day, Empress Xu asked, "Your Majesty, who will help you govern the country?" The Yongle Emperor replied, "The Six Secretaries of State are in charge of government affairs, and Hanlin is on the basis of his duties." That is to say, the officials of the six ministries take care of government affairs, and the Hanlin people of the Hanlin Academy are responsible for thinking about the strategy of governing the country. Empress Xu then summoned their wives, gave them crowns and coins, and said to them, "Wives serve their husbands, not only eating and drinking clothes, but also helping other aspects." There are some who hear what friends say, but between husband and wife, the wife gently persuades, and the husband is more receptive. I serve the Emperor every day, thinking only of the people, and I hope you will do the same. "Empress Xu's work has been done to the officials' families."

Empress Xu's nephew Xu Zengshou, who was in Nanjing during the Battle of Jingnan, once provided remote palace information to the King of Yan and was killed by Emperor Jianwen. The Yongle Emperor wanted to posthumously give him a knighthood, but Empress Xu could not say anything. The Yongle Emperor felt that it was still appropriate, so he made a Duke of Dingguo and ordered Xu Zengshou's son to inherit this title. When Empress Xu learned of this, she still said, "This is not my idea. "I never thanked the emperor as a member of the Xu family.

Empress Xu also compiled a book, entitled "The Book of Persuasion", which was promulgated in the world.

In July of the fifth year of Yongle (1407), when Xu Hou was critically ill, she advised the Yongle Emperor to cherish the people, seek talents, treat the clan with grace, and not be accustomed to foreign families, that is, the homes of foreign relatives. He also warned crown prince Zhu Gaozi: "The wife of the general of Beiping at that time helped us to take up arms to guard Beiping, and not forget to reward compassion." "Empress Xu died of illness at the age of forty-six, and the Yongle Emperor was very sad and never made an empress again.

The concubines of the Yongle Emperor, there are only three people recorded in the Biography of the Later Concubines of the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, the Yongle Emperor was a group of wives and concubines, and no one can say how many there are. His favorite Empress Xu, Princess Wang Guifei, and Concubine Quan all died before him. The Yongle Emperor had four sons and five daughters, all of whom were born before he seized the throne, which means that no more children were born after he ascended the throne.

There were many concubines selected from Korea in the yongle Emperor's harem. Among them, the most favored is Concubine Quan, who is not only good-looking, but also good at blowing pipes. The Yongle Emperor saw her for the first time and asked her what her specialty was. She took out the jade flute she carried with her and blew it, the sound of the flute was ethereal, and Zhu Di was very happy. In the palace, there was a female official Wang Sicai who was in charge of storing satin horses, who had sat in the same car with Concubine Quan and was very familiar with Concubine Quan, so he wrote a palace poem for this purpose, saying "Win the king's step, jade reed bright moon mingzhong", which means that Concubine Quan used a beautiful jade reed to attract the emperor to stay. Concubine Quan not only attracted the Yongle Emperor with her jade reeds and appearance, but was also better at serving the emperor to eat and drink. The Yongle Emperor liked to eat the Su fish, purple shrimp, and Wen fish produced in Korea, and Concubine Quan waited for him to eat these things, so the Yongle Emperor could not do without Concubine Quan, and even went out to the north with Concubine Quan. But the good times were short-lived. In the tenth year of Yongle (1412), during the yongle Emperor's triumphant northern expedition, Concubine Quan died in Lincheng, Shandong (present-day Zaozhuang City). The Yongle Emperor was so sad that he could not speak.

Why did Concubine Quan die suddenly? It wasn't until four years later that the old account was turned over again. One day, Concubine Quan's palace maid quarreled with Lü Meiren, who was also from Korea, saying that Lü Meiren was jealous of the wind, colluded with the eunuch, bought arsenic from the silversmith's house, put it in the tea that Concubine Quan drank, and poisoned her to death. When the Yongle Emperor learned of this, he was furious and executed the palace ladies, eunuchs, silversmiths, etc., killing hundreds of people in total. For Lu Meiren, he had her burned with a soldering iron and tortured her for a month before killing her. Lü Meiren's mother was also spared, and ordered North Korea to send it and kill her.

In fact, this is an unjust case. It turned out that there were two beauties in the palace with the surname Lu. The two Lu Meiren competed with each other for jealousy. Concubine Quan died suddenly, and Lü Meirenjia took the opportunity to falsely accuse Lü Meirenyi of poisoning Concubine Quan, creating this tragic case.

After this palace case, another case occurred in Zhu Di's harem.

Lü Meirenjia and the Gong Mermaid clan behaved inappropriately, had an affair with the eunuch palace, and later learned that the matter was exposed, and even feared their sins and hanged themselves. The Yongle Emperor detained Lü Meirenjia's palace daughters for interrogation. This palace lady could not withstand the severe torture, so she talked nonsense, saying that she wanted to murder the Yongle Emperor. So a murderous catastrophe ensued. Inside and outside the palace, up and down, exposing each other, implicating each other, women implicated their mothers, relatives implicated friends, and the number of people who were killed by the sitting reached 2,800! The Yongle Emperor became mad and became a sadistic and murderous demon king. Every time he executed a palace man, he had to "come and kill him in person."

The Yongle Emperor killed so many people in the harem when he was alive, and after he died, he wanted his concubines to be martyred, and staged a tragic court tragedy.

After the death of the Yongle Emperor, more than thirty concubines and palace ladies gathered at the desk in the inner courtyard of the Qianqing Gate, on which a farewell banquet was placed. Then, they were taken to the Qianqing Palace where the coffin of Emperor Daxing was parked. At this time, many small wooden beds had been set up in the lobby, and the concubines and palace ladies stood on the wooden beds, crying loudly, and the cries shook the hall. They were forced to stick their heads into the hanging rope nooses, and as soon as the eunuch standing nearby withdrew the bed, the palace people were hanged. Before his death, the Yongle Emperor's favorite Han Clan cried out to his nursing mother, "Mother, I have gone!" Mother, I went! The sound had not stopped, and the wooden bed had been removed.

In the four dynasties of Taizu, Chengzu, Renzong, and Xuanzong in the Ming Dynasty, concubines were martyred. It was not until Emperor Mingyingzong issued a will before his death that the system of palace concubines being buried was abolished.