Recently, the TV series "Daming Style" has been a hit. As a TV series depicting Sun Ruowei (the prototype of Empress Xiaogong Sun) experiencing the stories of Ming Chengzu, Ming Renzong, Ming Xuanzong, Ming Yingzong, and Ming Dynasty Emperor Five Emperors and Six Dynasties, it is more inked between the male protagonist Zhu Zhanji and the female protagonist Sun Ruowei. For other supporting characters, there are very few depictions, but in real history, the first woman to influence the direction of the Ming Dynasty is not this Sun Ruowei filial piety to Empress Sun, but her mother-in-law, the princess Zhang Yan, who rarely has lines and loves poisonous tongues, and Empress Chengxiao Zhang.
As the wife of Emperor Akihito, Zhang was not of noble birth, and the History of Ming records that when she was made a princess, her father Zhang Qicai was awarded the post of commander of the soldiers and horses of Zhengqipin.
The reason why he was able to enter the palace and become a princess of the world was due to the ancestral training of the Ming Dynasty royal family set by The Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in the "Women's Training": "All the heavenly sons, the queen of the princes, the concubines, the concubines, the concubines, the concubines,
Under such a grounded marriage system, Zhang Shi was also able to marry Zhu Gaozi, the son of Zhu Di, the King of Yan at that time, in a lowly capacity, and in the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, at the same time that Zhu Gaozi was registered as the Shizi of the Yan King, he was also made a princess of the World.
After Zhu Di seized the throne through the Battle of Jingnan, in the second year of Yongle, Zhu Gaozi was again made crown prince, and Zhang Shi became a crown princess.
But even so, the position of her husband Zhu Gaozi was not solid. Because as an emperor who likes to kill on the battlefield, in the Battle of Jingnan, although Zhu Gaozi had the ability to defend Beiping and stabilize the rear defense, Zhu Gaozi, who was "surrounded by waist and abdomen", "inconvenient legs and feet", and had a humble personality, was obviously far from the future emperor that Zhu Di imagined.
Not to mention, during the Battle of Jingnan, his second son Zhu Gaoxu, the King of Han, had the merit of saving the car, and the third son, Zhu Gaoxu, the King of Zhao, was also a heroic tiger general.
But for Zhang Shi, who is a daughter-in-law, she has two magic weapons that can offset her father-in-law's abolition. One is that she is respectful, filial, and never disobedient, which is deeply liked by Empress Xu and Zhu Di; the other is the son Zhu Zhanji she gave birth to, who won the heart of her grandfather Zhu Di, and even more was carried by Zhu Di during the Northern Expedition.
In this regard, Zhu Di even made no secret of Zhu Gaozi's words: "I do not take the daughter-in-law as a wife, and I will waste it for a long time." There was even a palace banquet, and there was a similar "entrustment" of "the zhu family's major events in the future, all belong to this woman". In this way, the position of crown prince of her husband Zhu Gaozi was gradually stable.
In 1424, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di died during the return of the Northern Expedition. Crown Prince Zhu Gaozi ascended the throne for Emperor Akihito, and Zhang shi also became empress. Although Akihito was a rare Emperor Ming, he died after only ten months on the throne.
At this time, the crown prince Zhu Zhanji was in Nanjing (the capital was moved to Beijing in 1421), and although Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han, had already taken the throne, his covetous heart did not die, and he intended to intercept it halfway. Fortunately, Zhu Zhanji was in no danger, and he ascended the great treasure for Ming Xuanzong. Ming Xuanzong, like his father Akihito, ruled the country well, and created the "Rule of Ren Xuan", but he also died after only ten years on the throne, leaving behind the 9-year-old crown prince Zhu Qizhen.
At this time, rumors spread over the hall. There are even rumors that Akihito's son, Zhu Zhanyuan, the King of Xiang, will take the throne. As empress dowager, Zhang Shi played the role of Dingding. Although Zhu Di's succession to the throne was not correct, resulting in the challenge of the primogeniture system, once King Xiang took the throne, it was bound to cause the Ming imperial family to be torn apart again, and the foundation of rule was in danger, not to mention that Ming Xuanzong, who was the emperor, was not without a queen, so she decisively gathered her ministers and appointed crown prince Zhu Qizhen as the new king, for Ming Yingzong.
Although Emperor Mingyingzong was young, Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji left a last word at the time of his death, and the major events were instructed by the empress dowager. However, unlike many female strongmen in history, she did not choose to bow to the government, but entrusted the major events to Sanyang, Zhang Fu, and Hu Qian, which also allowed the orthodox early years to continue the momentum of Renxuan's rule.
In the seventh year of orthodoxy (1442), Empress Zhang died.