1.
Empress Hu's helplessness
In the early spring of the third year of The Great Ming Dynasty (1428 AD), Empress Hu Shanxiang of the Middle Palace suddenly appeared on the table, saying that she was ill and had no sons, and asked to be relinquished from the empress position.
She said that Sun Guifei, who had just given birth to the emperor's eldest son, had both moral integrity and ability and could serve as empress.
This was the best era of the Ming Dynasty, when the four seas were unified and the world was at peace, which was historically called "the rule of Benevolence". Empress Hu Shanxiang was so good, why did she suddenly have to abdicate herself? "Sick and childless", what is the reason for this? Throughout the dynasties, there have been many sick and childless queens, and which one has resigned for this reason? She is just 27 years old, not old, nor terminally ill, how can she not be cured, and it is impossible to give birth to a son in the future?
Empress Hu was a native of Jining, Shandong, and her father was a Jinyi Wei Baihu. Eleven years ago (1417), zhu Di, the then Yongle Emperor, personally chose her to marry his grandson Zhu Zhanji and become the "Imperial Princess". Four years earlier (1424), Zhu Zhanji was made crown prince, and she became the "Crown Princess". Four years ago, Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, and she was made empress.
Although Hu Shanxiang was young, she was recognized by Zhu Zhanji's grandfather and father for two generations of emperors, and she stepped onto the empress position step by step. Her queen's name is justified, her words and deeds are impeccable, and she is fully worthy of the "motherly world".
Therefore, everyone in the world knows that "sick and childless" is just an excuse to find out. Behind her voluntary abdication was the hint of the emperor's husband, the visible and invisible persecution of the most favored Sun Guifei.
Seeing that Empress Hu resigned and recommended herself to be empress, Sun Guifei was overjoyed. However, on the surface, she did not dare to show it, and she immediately expressed her thanks. She said that she was sincere, saying that the queen was well, and naturally she could still have a concubine, so how could she replace the queen?
Seeing that Sun Guifei was so hypocritical, Hu Shanxiang had no choice but to accompany her to continue acting.
Subsequently, they actually gave three concessions and three words, and they behaved very gentle and frugal. In the end, Empress Hu really couldn't continue acting, so she simply took the initiative to move away from the Empress Palace.
At this time, Emperor Zhu Zhanji pretended to be reluctant and formally decreed that Hu Shanxiang's title of empress be revoked, and he was given the title of "Jing Ci Immortal Master" and retired to Chang'an Palace, with the same treatment. At the same time, the imperial concubine Sun Shi was made empress.
2
, Sun Guifei's grievances
For the melon-eating masses, who have no personal stakes, most of them sympathize with the weak. The ministers and people of the Ming Dynasty could not help but feel sorry for her when they saw that Empress Hu, who was not at fault, was so forced to take off the crown and was lonely at a young age. They believe that this is all because of Sun Guifei's "fox charm and seduction", she is too bad!
As everyone knows, Sun Guifei also has her own grievances.
Although she was also not of high birth, Sun Guifei had a deeper seniority in the palace than Hu Shanxiang. She has long been recognized by three generations of the Zhu family's grandchildren, and has always been cultivated as Zhu Zhanji's concubine.
Sun Guifei was a native of Zouping, Shandong, and was a fellow villager with Zhu Zhanji's mother, the then crown princess Zhang. Zhang's mother, Lady Peng Chengbo, met Sun Guifei, who was still a little girl, and immediately fell in love with her cleverness and beauty. She brought her granddaughter to her daughter, and the princess also liked it, so she raised her around and became the playmate of her son Zhu Zhanji.
Just like Baoyu and Daiyu in "Dream of the Red Chamber", Sun And Zhu Zhanji also grew up together with green plum bamboo horses, and forged incomparably deep love and affection between the ear and sideburns.
Sun Shi was very intelligent, she was liked and recognized by the Zhu family up and down, and even the old emperor summoned Sun Shi, who was very satisfied with her, and specifically told the crown princess to raise her well.
However, because the two people are still young, the name is undecided, but sun's "princess" is known to everyone.
Unexpectedly, when Zhu Zhanji grew up and got married, the old emperor Zhu Di suddenly changed his mind, he put the Sun clan aside, and selected Hu Shanxiang as the "Imperial Princess Concubine". In order to take care of sun tzu's feelings, he agreed to let Sun also marry Zhu Zhanji at the same time, but she could only be the "imperial concubine"—from a full wife to a concubine.
Such an arrangement made Zhu Zhanji and Sun Shi extremely disappointed, but in the face of the powerful emperor, no one dared to say more and ask more "why"? Zhu Zhanji did not dare to go out of the family for love like Jia Baoyu, and he could only silently accept this arrangement.
No one knows what Zhu Di thinks, why should he break up this pair of golden boys and jade girls that everyone is optimistic about? Some people speculated that because Sun Shi and the crown princess were fellow villagers, Zhu Di did not want his daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law to form a harem dictatorship, which was not good for his country, so he did not hesitate to beat the Mandarin duck. Of course, some people say that it is because Hu Shanxiang is quiet and generous, and in Zhu Di's view, she is more suitable for the motherly world than Sun Shi.
3
Marriage is colder than death
Although Grandpa's holy will did not dare to be violated, his feelings could not be deceived.
After marriage, Zhu Zhanji not only gave all his love and affection to the Sun family, but also often wondered how to exchange the positions of the two people.
I don't know when Hu Shanxiang knew about Zhu Zhanji and Sun's love? However, even if she knew that Zhu Zhanji had other love, she had no choice but to confess her fate.
In the days after marriage, probably in order to please her grandfather, Zhu Zhanji still respected her, and Hu Shanxiang gave birth to two daughters. This made her fantasies arise in her heart. She is careful in her words and deeds. He was very filial to his in-laws, and he was also particularly friendly and kind to Zhu Zhanji's favorite Sun Clan. She thought that with generosity and forbearance, with no complaints, she could move her husband and leave a little love for herself in her heart.
With the death of his grandfather Zhu Di, Zhu Zhanji became crown prince and soon crowned emperor, and Hu Shanxiang became the most honored empress of the empire. It was the top of her glory and the beginning of her tragic fate.
The husband is young and handsome, both literary and martial, but he does not love himself, even though they can sit side by side and accept the worship of all. However, as soon as he turned his head to look at her, his eyes immediately became cold, and his expression was distant and bored. She tried desperately to please him and impress him, but to no avail, she was ridiculed. Later, she was afraid, and in front of her husband, she only felt infinitely depressed and suffocated
Such a marriage is really colder than death.
She finally understood his meaning: Zhu Zhanji and Sun Guifei could not find their own faults, hoping that she could take the initiative to give way.
The marriage is so cold, she is also nostalgic, then, complete you.
Historical abolitions generally do not have a good ending, but Hu Shanxiang is still lucky, she has a sensible and humane mother-in-law - the former crown princess Zhang Shi, later Empress Zhang, Empress Zhang.
Originally, Empress Zhang watched her son grow up with Sun Guifei and knew their love, and she was once dissatisfied with the old emperor's rebellion, so at first she did not like Hu Shanxiang, the daughter-in-law who was forced to her.
However, Hu Shanxiang was gentle and virtuous, and no matter how much her son snubbed her, she endured silently and never complained. Yes, this girl is innocent, and she is also a victim of the imperial plot. Therefore, when Empress Zhang saw that under the persecution design of her son and Sun Guifei, she took the initiative to ask for resignation, and then cooperated with them to act "three words and three concessions", and finally took off the crown of the empress, put on the Costume, and still asked herself for greetings, her heart was full of pity for her.
After Hu Shanxiang was deposed, Empress Zhang treated her as she had before—no, even better than before. She often let Hu Shanxiang come to her bedroom and chat and gossip with her. When encountering a less formal court banquet, she even arranged the position of Empress Hu after the abolition of The Sun Dynasty, and did not care at all that Empress Sun was not happy.
The son no longer takes Hu Shanxiang as his wife, but she still recognizes this daughter-in-law. Later, her son Zhu Zhanji died, and her grandson Zhu Qizhen became emperor, and she became the empress dowager, and this is still the case.
Human nature is to worship high and low, and motherhood feels that only her own son is the best.
It was rare for Empress Zhang to be so considerate and kind, which made Hu Shanxiang grateful in her heart, which was also the only thing she relied on to survive in the lonely deep palace.
In the seventh year of orthodoxy (1442), the empress dowager Zhang Shi died, and Hu Shanxiang was deeply saddened and "wept bitterly". She was crying not only about her mother-in-law, who had always been kind to herself, but also about herself. After Empress Sun took power, what good life could she have?
After sending Empress Zhang away, Hu Shanxiang became ill, and a year later, she followed her mother-in-law. After her death, under the auspices of Empress Sun, she was buried as an ordinary concubine, and her body was very cold.
It was not until Empress Sun's death that Empress Qian of Zhuqizhen said a word for Hu Shanxiang, and she was finally reinstated as empress, more than twenty years after her death.
4
The image of the subverted film and television drama, why did the screenwriter not change his name
Not long ago, the popular "Daming Fenghua" in order to highlight the heroine Sun Ruowei (Sun Guifei), seriously subverted the real image of Empress Hu in the history.
In the play, Hu Shanxiang and Sun Ruowei actually became sisters, and they met in the Ming Palace for many years after they were separated. Hu Shanxiang became a cunning woman, and she deliberately wanted to be the "Imperial Princess", not only repeatedly framed her sister Sun Ruowei, but also did all the bad things: she had an affair with the King of Han, and Zhu Zhanji finally deposed her after she could not bear it; Zhu Qiyu became her own son, and she forced her daughter-in-law and grandson to die... She actually lived to the last episode, released her previous suspicions with Sun Ruowei, and then died without regrets.
No, this is not the historical Empress Hu, this is the Empress Hu in the TV series.
But screenwriter, you know that the historical prototype and the character you created are so big, why can't you change the name? Even if you change it to a homophone, it's better! For example, last year's popular TV series "Ruyi Chuan", because the protagonist is the Qianlong abolition of the Nala clan (Ru Yi), it will brutally blacken the historical Concubine Wei Jia. However, the TV series did not use "Lingfei", but changed it to "Concubine", and named it "Wei Jiawan" (Wei Jiashi did not leave a name in history), so you can also say that this "Concubine Wei" is not the historical Concubine Wei Jia.
The screenwriter of "Daming Style", we understand your artistic creation, which is to make the story look better and make the comedy conflict more acute. But alas, you also respect history a little, since You changed Empress Hu to such a different face, don't use your real name? Even if you change a word, such as "Hu Shanxiang" and "Hu Shanxiang" or the like.
Also in this "Daming Style", there is also an important character in the play - Sun Ruowei's blue face confidant Xu Bin. There is no "Xu Bin" figure in history, probably a combination of the historical figures Xu Bin (the first assistant of the cabinet in this period, very important to Zhu Qizhen) and Yuan Bin (he accompanied Zhu Qizhen through the captive years in Vala and had deep feelings). Therefore, although the ending deviates from history by 18,000 miles, Xu Bin finally eloped out to sea with his first love, Empress Sun Ruowei, and we can also laugh it off.
The screenwriter knows how to be kind to Xu Bin and Yuan Bin in history, why not give Hu Shanxiang a mercy?
Is it because Xu Bin and Yuan Bin have left their descendants, even if five hundred years have passed, once the TV series is broadcast, in case someone pursues it, it will be endless trouble. As for Hu Shanxiang, it doesn't matter, she only has two daughters, both of whom died early and did not leave a single offspring. So there is no need to worry, the screenwriter began to boldly use his real name to blacken (this reason is my guess, maybe the screenwriter does not think so, people just can't look at Hu Shanxiang, they will not change her name to black).
For the historical figure Hu Shanxiang, the "empress" is just a dream, and her 11-year marriage is lonelier and colder than death. Although it has been written into history, her life story really lacks highlights, so for 500 years that she has been buried underneath, no one has cared. It also rarely appears in literary and artistic works, and people who are not familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty do not know that there is such an empress. This time, I was fortunate to finally enter the screen through the light of my opponent Empress Sun, and I was familiar with it by more people, but I was hacked and couldn't bear to see it.
Empress Hu was unfortunate, she was really lonely and cold before she died, and she was also ruthlessly cold after death...