On April 25, 1392, the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu (1392), Zhu Biao, the crown prince who had high hopes for the emperor and Manchu Wenwu, died of illness. Zhu Yuanzhang, the 65-year-old Ming Taizu, saw that the best successor of the Ming Dynasty who had been cultivated for many years by his own hands was gone, and he could not stand the white-haired people sending the black-haired people, and he could not help but cry and scold the prince for "disobedience". In addition to grief, he had to worry about the sudden vacancy of the crown prince, which was a kind of pain for an old man with a flower armor.
Under the system of primogeniture succession, the crown prince died and the throne was vacant, and the old emperor had two ways of establishing the throne: one was to select a candidate from the brothers of the former prince and appoint another prince; the other was to select a candidate from the prince's heirs and appoint the emperor's grandson. Although both are in line with the principle of concubinage, considering the age problem, the first way is the mainstream.
The eldest son Zhu Biao died, and Zhu Yuanzhang still had four concubines alive, the eldest and younger of whom were: the second son Zhu Zhu (朱樉) the Prince of Qin, the third son Zhu Tang (朱棡) the Prince of Jin, the fourth son Zhu Di (朱棣) the Prince of Yan, and the fifth son, Zhu Shu (朱橚), the Fifth Son, the King of Zhou.
"Whoever has no prince in the court shall be a brother and a brother, and shall be born of a concubine." Born of a mother-in-law, although he could not stand for a long time. If a traitor abandons his concubine, he shall keep his share and not move, and he who shall send a letter to repay the concubine shall be on the throne. The imperial court beheaded the traitors, and its three-year hajj, as before. ”
According to this rule, which was personally formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang and recorded in the "Ancestral Precepts of the Emperor Ming", Zhu Zhu had the greatest probability of standing. However, this high-status, "Daming First Relatives", who was also valued by the old father, used various strange ways to make himself a joke, and finally was imprisoned, cutting off his way to promotion to prince.
The second can't do it, and naturally the third can make up for it. It's just a pity that the old third Zhu Zhuo and the old fourth Zhu Di are not dealing with each other, and the Jin and Yan clans where the two are located are not only the strongest clans in the world, but the key is also close together. As a result, the two sides naturally reached a balance of terror, and the first move will lead the whole body, leaving a major hidden danger to the stability of the country.
Zhu Tang, who was not so well received, and Zhu Di, who was relatively satisfied, naturally could not stand. With the third and fourth elders in front of them, the fifth elder Zhu Xu naturally could not cross the two people and was in the right position as the prince. As for the rest of the sons, they were all from the shuzi family, and there were four elder concubines there, which was even more unlikely to climb to the position of prince.
Since the road of establishing a prince is not feasible, then it is only possible to select a suitable candidate from the family of Zhu Biao, the crown prince of Yiwen, and set up a grandson, anyway, there is a precedent, and Lao Zhu has already stated in the "Imperial Ancestral Training" that "the eldest son of the crown prince is the emperor's grandson". Therefore, li taisun is reasonable and legal, and no one can blame it. Zhu Biao had five sons:
The eldest son, Zhu Xiongying, was born in the seventh year of Hongwu (1374), and was born to the Chang clan;
The second son, Zhu Yunjiao, was born in the 10th year of Hongwu (1377), born to lü shi;
The third son, Zhu Yunxi, was born in the eleventh year of Hongwu (1378), and was born to the Chang clan;
The fourth son, Zhu Yunxi, was born in the eighteenth year of Hongwu (1385), and was born to lü shi;
The fifth son, Zhu Yunxi, was born in the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu (1391), and was born to the lü clan.
Chang Shi was the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, the daughter of Chang Yuchun, the King of Kaiping known as "Chang Shiwan", and was crowned crown princess in April of the fourth year of Hongwu (1371), which was the original match of Zhu Biao. After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, he posthumously honored his father Zhu Biao as Emperor Xiaokang and gave the highest honor of "From Emperor Yu" to the Chang clan, called Empress Xiaokang. Therefore, whether before or after his death, Chang Shi was Zhu Biao's well-deserved wife. In this way, the concubine identity of Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Yunxi is recognized by everyone.
According to the principle of "the elder who lives in the house must be the right to the throne" set by the elder Zhu, he could have obtained the title of imperial grandson when his father Zhu Biao was alive, but unfortunately he only lived for 8 years before he died and was not canonized.
At the time of Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunxi were young, so that the 16-year-old Zhu Yunxi, together with Zhu Yunxi, who was a year younger than him, became the most important contenders for the imperial grandson. However, in September of that year, Zhu Yuanzhang made Zhu Yunjiao the emperor's grandson. In Ah Yue's view, there was no problem with this operation of this old Zhu, Zhu Yunjiao and Zhu Yunxi were both Zhu Biao's concubines, and according to the principle of "establishing a concubine to grow up and not to be virtuous", Zhu Yunjiao, who had the advantage of age, was naturally the first choice for the position of the emperor's grandson.
However, in the eyes of many people, Zhu Yunxi is a concubine, so Zhu Yunxi is the natural candidate for the emperor's grandson, so Ming Taizu's operation is obviously "using Shu Ling concubine" to personally destroy the principle of primogeniture system that he has set.
After all, the distinction between concubines and concubines in ancient times was a fundamental matter related to the inheritance of the clan, and there was no room for sloppiness, not to mention that Zhu Yunxi's concubine was the second son, and Zhu Yunxi's concubine was the third son, the two were only one place apart in rank, and the age difference was only one year, even if this concubine was a hundred sons, the age difference was thirty or forty years old, and the inheritance right was also given priority to the second son.
The key to determining that Zhu Yunjiao is "嫡" is "庶" lies in the identity of his birth mother Lü Shi. Lü Shi was originally a princess concubine, and when Hongwu died in the eleventh year of the crown princess Chang Shi, Lü Shi was able to help her and become a crown princess, and Zhu Yunjiao was born before she was raised. Therefore, in the eyes of many people, the fourth elder Zhu Yunxi and the fifth zhu Yunxi both became concubines, but Zhu Yunxi was a concubine, and for this reason, he also introduced the story of the three brothers of the King of Shang. Occasionally, those who recognized Zhu Yunjiao's concubine status also believed that the status of the concubine born to the original match was higher than that of the concubine born to the successor.
This became the theoretical basis for them to believe that Zhu Yunxi was the first person to take the throne of the emperor's grandson, and even complained: "Your old Zhu is the emperor, you are the biggest, what you say is right, saying that Zhu Yunxi is a concubine, then he is a concubine, who dares to oppose." ”
Those who have this idea obviously forget the fact that the Shang Dynasty was dominated by brothers and brothers, the longevity system was still in the infancy period, very imperfect, and the patriarchal system with the longevity system as the core was perfected in the hands of Zhou Gongdan, who became the "Yuansheng" in later generations, so the stories of the three brothers of the King of Lu cannot be counted.
At the latest, starting from the two Han Dynasties, the children born of the promotion of concubines to the subsequent empresses, whether born before or after ascension, are regarded as concubines, and their status is equal to that of concubines born after the Yuan Dynasty, and they have the same right of inheritance.
For example, Liu Zhuang, the Emperor of HanMing, was the fourth son of Liu Xiu, the Emperor of Han Guangwu, and his birth mother Wasilihua. Yin Lihua was Liu Xiu's original match, but Liu Xiu claimed that the empress dowager had made Guo Shengtong empress out of political necessity. Although Yin Lihua gave up her throne in her original name and made herself a special existence in Liu Xiu's harem, the nobles were not empresses after all, and the Liu Zhuang and Liu Cang she gave birth to naturally belonged to Shuzi. Therefore, although Liu Xiu repeatedly expressed the intention of establishing Liu Zhuang as a crown prince, the first crown prince after the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty was still Liu Qiang, the eldest son of Empress Guo Shengtong.
It was not until the seventeenth year of Jianwu (41) that Guo Shengtong was deposed from the throne, Yin Lihua was made empress, and Liu Zhuang, who was then the king of the East Sea, was promoted to concubine and qualified to become a crown prince.
In the nineteenth year of Jianwu (43 years), liu qiang, the crown prince who had been in the throne for 18 years, voluntarily abdicated, and Liu Xiu immediately made Liu Zhuang the crown prince and made Liu Qiang the king of the East Sea, which was a loss of the status of the two. Although Liu Zhuang became the crown prince with the acquiescence of Liu Xiu's heart, the identity of the concubine was undoubtedly an important chip, otherwise why did he bypass Liu Fu, the King of Zhongshan born to Guo Shengtong, and prepare for the throne.
What the? You say that the Eastern Han Dynasty did not implement the primogeniture system?
Then the experience of Emperor Zhangdi of Han being made crown prince can tell you very well that the Eastern Han Dynasty did not implement the system of primogeniture.
Emperor Liu Zhuang of Hanming had nine sons, the eldest and younger of whom were: Liu Jian the Prince of Qiancheng, Liu Xian the Prince of Chen, Liu Gong the Prince of Pengcheng, Liu Dang the Prince of Lecheng, Liu Yan the Prince of Hanzhang, Liu Yan the Prince of Xiapi, Liu Chang the Prince of Liang, Liu Xun the Prince of Huaiyang, and Liu Chang the Prince of Jiyin.
Liu Zhuo ranked fifth among the brothers, and his birth mother was Jia Guiren, although Liu Zhuang's empress Ma Shi did not come out, so that the brothers were concubines, but with his identity of not slipping autumn, no matter how you look at it, he was properly isolated from the position of prince.
But luck can not stop it, Liu Zhuo's birth mother Jia Guiren is the niece of Empress Ma of the HanMing Emperor, at this time, although Ma Shi is also a nobleman, but the ability is outstanding, favoring the harem, it is only a matter of time before she is made empress. Liu Zhuang saw that Ma Shi was childless, so he asked her to take Liu Qi under his knees and raise him.
In the third year of Yongping (60 years), Ma Shi was made empress, and Liu Qi, who was her adopted son, was promoted to concubine, crossed four elder brothers, and was made crown prince.
Adopted sons can become concubines, and the children of the successors and concubines who have been born before are not concubines? Therefore, Zhu Yunxi was automatically promoted to concubine after Lü Shi was corrected, and he had the status of sitting side by side with Zhu Yunxi, and as the second son, he suppressed the third zhu Yunxi, and was finally made the emperor's grandson by Zhu Yuanzhang.
It can be said that the identity of Zhu Yunjiao's concubine is unquestionable, and Zhu Yuanzhang's choice of Li Chu is also indisputable. It is precisely because of this that after Zhu Di launched the Jing Dynasty, he never questioned Zhu Yunjiao's concubine identity, and even gave Zhu Di a great beauty, and did not dare to question Zhu Yunjiao's concubine identity in the extremely ugly "Fengtian Jing Difficulty" against Zhu Biao and Zhu Yunjiao's father and son.