Under the ancient feudal imperial system, we can often see the concubines of the harem desperately giving birth to children in order to win the favor of the emperor in order to obtain glory and wealth. But after they give birth to a child, they are not able to raise themselves, but are left to other women to take care of.
So there is the position of nursing mother, and in the court dramas we usually watch, we can often see that the young prince is always accompanied by a nursing mother. In fact, in the ancient royal family, the nursing mother was a very important figure, specifically responsible for feeding children and raising them to grow up.
So the identity of the nursing mother is not as simple as we see, and they are responsible for much more than that. Also to avoid concubines from touching children and endangering imperial power, let's see what kind of role they really are.
First, the identity of the nursing mother
In fact, in the royal family, if the identity is the sister-in-law who feeds the child. However, because of their humble status, they are also like babysitters for children. It is necessary to obey the emperor's dispatch and take good care of the child in a meticulous manner, not only to ensure the child's rations, but also not to let the child have any mistakes in the process of growing up.
The identity of the nursing mother is related to the heirs of the emperor and also affects the growth quality of the royal bloodline, so the general emperor attaches great importance to the selection of nursing mothers for the emperor. The responsibility of the nursing mother is very great, to feed the prince with her own milk, accompany him day and night to take care of his left and right, and educate the prince's words and deeds from an early age, which plays a kind of mother's responsibility.
When the child is still young, the nursing mother needs to ensure that there is enough milk available to the crown prince. Therefore, the screening system of nursing mothers is very strict, and if the breast milk is not enough, they are not eligible to feed the prince. The first condition for being eligible to be crown prince was adequate breast milk and quality assurance, which was not easy to do in the poor years of the time.
Another condition is that the nursing mother's body must be healthy, otherwise it is impossible to guarantee that the health of the prince will not be affected. When selecting nursing mothers, the royal family will not only examine their physical condition, but also screen their appearance conditions. Only after meeting the standards can they be eligible to feed the prince, and after a lot of screening, there are not many truly qualified candidates.
Moreover, the responsibility of nursing mothers is very great, they must come from educated families, and they are best able to read and hyphenate, so as to facilitate the future education of the prince. In this way, under such a strict system, the nursing mother who has been screened out is not only the nanny of the prince, but also an enlightenment teacher.
In the palace, the number of milk nuts is very large, because once a nursing mother has an abnormal physical condition, she must be directly replaced. Avoid the lack of milk supply from the nursing mother, which affects the normal feeding of the prince. In the selection of some details, it is also quite exquisite, just like if you are feeding a prince, you must choose the nursing mother who gives birth to the girl.
If it is necessary to feed the princess, the selection of nursing mothers is the opposite, and the Tao of this is not documented, and it may be that the superstitious thoughts in ancient times were more serious. Because the nursing mother is responsible for taking care of the emperor's offspring, the status of the nursing mother is still relatively noble, much higher than the status of ordinary palace women.
When screening into the palace, the conditions of the nursing mother are more stringent than those of the palace women, and the nursing mother helps the concubines to take care of their children, often can contact the concubines, and has a certain position in the palace.
Second, the treatment of nursing mothers
The function of the nursing mother is to help the concubines to take care of and feed the princess when the concubine does not have enough milk, the body is relatively weak, and it is impossible to feed the prince normally. Occasionally, some concubines died due to difficult childbirth, or were ordered by the emperor to restrict their access to their children, and the nursing mother also had the effect of ensuring the survival rate of the prince.
Nursing mothers have been respected by emperors in all dynasties and are like the emperor's mothers, so their treatment is very unusual. In the palace, he could receive generous subsidies, in addition to the basic salary, and sometimes he could also receive rewards from concubines.
Such an income is very optimistic compared to the average rural family, and at least some people may not have such wealth in their lifetime. If the nursing lady worked meticulously and was deeply appreciated by the emperor, she might also receive rich material rewards. In those days, many women wanted to be able to enter the palace as nursing mothers.
But high income also means high risk, after all, it is the offspring of the emperor who serve, and once there is something unsatisfactory, the nursing mother may lose her head at any time. However, being a nursing mother must also leave her own child, which is very cruel for any mother, and the emperor has given such a high treatment to the nursing mothers considering this.
From another point of view, the nursing mother also represents the face of the royal family, and how well the prince is taken care of depends on the ability of the nursing mothers. It is many factors that make the ancient nursing mother system so strict and punishable.
Third, the role of politics
In fact, nursing mothers do not simply breastfeed, but also have a certain political role. After all, in the feudal dynasty, any position around the emperor may affect the emperor's rule. In many dynasties, there have been cases in which the interference of mothers has led to the killing of princes and threats to rule.
In order to avoid the relationship between the prince and his mother being too close, the emperor chose a person who was not related by blood and separated the child from the mother. This not only ensures that the children can grow up healthily, but also prevents the concubines from abusing their power and privately forming gangs.
The crown prince has always been cared for by the nursing mother, and the feelings between mother and son will naturally not be too deep, which can effectively prevent the concubines from interfering with the government. Of course, after completing the task, the nursing mother must also leave the prince to prevent them from using the prince to develop their own power. By feeding the crown prince by the nursing mother, the concubines could better maintain their figure and continue to gain the favor of the emperor.
This is also conducive to the feelings between the emperor and the concubines, and the emperor's life is happy, so that he can better dominate the government. Under the guidance of the nursing mother, the prince can better appreciate the difficulties of the life of the people, lay the foundation for sympathy for the people in the future, and facilitate him to manage the world in the future.
summary
All in all, nursing mothers were a very important role in ancient times, not only as milk suppliers to the royal offspring, but also as a variety of functions. They need to accompany the prince, carefully take care of the growth of the prince, guide them to study and study, and facilitate the future to have enough talent to manage politics.
Nursing mothers have a great influence on the early stages of the crown prince's growth, and they are the first enlightenment teachers of the prince, and their status is noble, often respected by many people. But if you meet a nursing mother with bad intentions, it is indeed a terrible thing, they lurk around the emperor, it is likely to adversely affect the emperor's bloodline, and finally threaten the rule.