Zhu Jianshen, a legendary Ming Emperor, the story that happened to him is enough to fill a costume TV series with dog blood, of which the love story between him and Wan Guifei is most talked about by future generations.
Ming Xianzong's dismal childhood
Speaking of Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, he was originally a heavenly nobleman born with a golden spoon, but fate made a big joke with him. He was only two years old after his birth, and his father, Emperor Mingyingzong, was confused and became a prisoner of the Wallachians in the "Tumu Fort Change". In order to prevent Vala from using Emperor Yingzong's life as a bargaining chip, the ministers decisively abandoned this unfortunate emperor and installed Emperor Ming's younger brother Zhu Qiyu the Prince of Qi as emperor, for Emperor Ming, and poor Emperor Mingying became Emperor Taishang at a young age.
Power is the most fascinating eye, Zhu Qiyu not only wants to occupy the throne for a long time, but also wants to keep the imperial power in his own vein forever, so Zhu Jianshen's position as crown prince was abolished, and Zhu Qiyu set up his son as the new prince. Not only that, after many defeats, Vala wanted to release Ming Yingzong for peace, but Zhu Qiyu did not want to accept it. In the end, he reluctantly welcomed back the Emperor Taishang, and Zhu Qiyu still put him under house arrest in the Nangong for seven years.
According to the "Biography of Ming Shilu Wan Guifei", in the harem of "following the high and stepping on the low", the young Zhu Mishen was unprotected and became the object of bullying, and only a palace maid named Wan Zhen'er did not abandon him and took good care of him. When he was in pain and despair, he was comforted and excused in every way.
During the darkest period of Zhu Mishen's life, Wan Zhen'er was the only person he could trust and rely on. Perhaps because of a "chick complex", Zhu Jianshen identified this woman from then on, although Wan Zhen'er was a full seventeen years older than him, but he was the exclusive favorite of Zhu Jianshen for more than twenty years, which made the world call it "incredible".
The love story of the Chenghua years
In 1457, Emperor Mingying took advantage of Zhu Qiyu's serious illness to launch the "Change of The Gate" and reinstated him, and Zhu Jianshen also took back his position as crown prince. Since then, Zhu Jianshen and Wan Zhen'er's hard days have also been considered to be out of the ordinary. After the death of Emperor Yingzong in 1464, Zhu Mishen ascended to the throne and changed his era name to Chenghua, and Wan Zhen'er was immediately made an imperial concubine. In fact, Zhu Jianshen's obsession with Wan Zhen'er was originally intended to give her the position of empress, but a large number of etiquette and rules restricted him, making him unable to achieve his wishes.
No one could understand why the flamboyant Zhu Jianshen would love a woman in her thirties who was not good-looking and behaved vulgarly, and who stayed at Wan's place every day, making the young Empress Wu jealous and almost crazy. Empress Wu really underestimated the extent of Zhu Jianshen's favor for Wan's family, and because of this incident, Zhu Jian deeply hated Empress Wu, saying that she had given a gift to the eunuch Niu Yu at the time of the establishment, which falsely passed on the emperor's will and taken away the position that belonged to Empress Wang.
Not only that, zhu Jianshen also said that Empress Wu "acted frivolously, her courtesy was slight, and her morality was not worthy of the throne", so that Wu was only an empress for a month, and then she was deposed. Although Bai picked up a back seat, the Wang clan who was innocently involved, she was well aware of the selfishness in this, and never dared to provoke the Wan clan, only to be able to live in peace and security in the harem.
The real owner of the harem
Zhu Jianshen's exclusive favor and the concession attitude of the concubines made Wan Zhen'er more and more inflated, and she was no longer the kind and gentle little palace girl of the past. Monopolizing Zhu Mishen's favor and firmly grasping the power of the harem is what she cares about most. In 1465, Wan Zhen'er gave birth to a boy, and was promoted to imperial concubine by the overjoyed Zhu Mishen. Wan Zhen'er could have been a mother with a noble son, so that the position was more consolidated, who knew that the heavens did not follow people's wishes, and a year later her son actually died prematurely. Since then, because of her age and the relatively limited medical technology in ancient times, Wan Zhen'er has nothing to do, which is nothing more than a big blow to her.
From then on, Wan Zhen'er's biggest concern was whether the other concubines would have children and whether they would threaten them. The ministers who did not open their eyes also made a big fuss about the appearance of the comet, advising Zhu Mishen to be soaked in the harem, otherwise he would be ominous. Wan Shi could not tolerate such a thing happening, she kept monitoring Zhu Jianshen, if there were concubines and palace women who were pregnant, the first gift Wan shi sent was an abortion pill. Even if there are fish that slip through the net, Wan's will not let them grow up safely and completely.
Princess Bai Xian had risked her life to secretly give birth to a son, and had just been made crown prince, and the following year she died violently, and everyone in the harem suspected that this was the hands and feet of Wan Guifei. Despite this, Zhu Jianshen did not complain much about Wan Zhen'er, and she never made a sound by her mutilation of her own flesh and bones, and such love was really blind to the point of horror.
The prince who struggled to survive in the cold palace
Although the Wan clan implemented such a high-pressure system in the palace, in the end, a hundred secrets were spared, and a prince survived. It was in 1470 that a palace maid surnamed Ji secretly gave birth to a young prince in the Cold Palace. No one knows how she hid the fact that she was pregnant as a humble person, and no one believed that she could protect this weak life with her own strength. Fortunately, the eunuchs and palace ladies of the harem helped to save the child, and the Wu clan also quietly helped after the abolition, and secretly raised the child in the wall of the cold palace.
At that time, no one dared to think about what kind of future this child would have. Until the child was six years old, a dramatic change occurred: on this day, a eunuch combed Zhu Mishen's hair and heard his sigh: "Shuo has given birth to Huafa, but he does not yet have a son." The eunuch who knew the truth thought about it again and again, and finally dared to tell him: "Emperor, you actually have a son." ”
Zhu Jianshen was surprised and delighted, and immediately ordered the eunuch to take him to the Cold Palace, which was the first time he met the thin and weak third son of the emperor, Zhu Youfan, the future Ming Xiaozong. Finding his own son, he was in a good mood, and immediately announced the world and made Zhu Youfan the crown prince. Because he was worried that the crown prince would be poisoned by Wan Guifei, he carried the child to the Renshou Palace where he lived, so that the child could grow up safely. At this point, Wan Zhen'er also restrained her behavior and did not dare to do anything to the harem concubines again, so after this, the princes were born smoothly, in addition to Zhu Youfan, Zhu Jianshen also had more than ten sons.
The end of history
Wan Zhen'er not only stirred up trouble in the harem, but also used her power to influence the former dynasty, and the Records of Emperor Xianzong listed several major crimes of Wan Guifei, "exclusive favor, luxury, and utensils used to usurp his own rank, promote his mother's family, collude with foreign ministers to interfere in the affairs of the dynasty..." Nevertheless, Zhu Jianshen was still inseparable from Wan Zhen'er, and his grace was great, and this deep affection was really difficult to comment.
In 1487, Wan Guifei died of liver disease at the age of 58. Compared with his son's indifference when he died, according to the detailed records of the Ming Xian Sect Records, Zhu Jianshen was so upset this time that he even sighed in pain: "Zhen'er has gone, and I will soon die." Sure enough, just a few months later, the 41-year-old Zhu Jianshen was overly worried and traveled west with his beloved Concubine Wan Guifei.
summary:
Zhu Jianshen is a good lover and a good husband, but he is definitely not a good father, a good emperor, and he has no bottom line to indulge his lover to do all kinds of bad things, which is by no means worthy of being called love, but is confused and blind, a pathological and twisted attachment, not worthy of the beautification of future generations. However, the crown prince Zhu Youfan, who came out of the Cold Palace, became a generation of Ming Emperors, which revitalized the Daming Jiangshan, which may be the greatest merit of Zhu Jianshen's dedication to the Ming Dynasty.
bibliography:
1. History of the Ming Dynasty
2. Records of Emperor Mingxianzong
3. "Ming Shilu , Biography of Wan Guifei"
4. "The Biography of Wanfei in the History of The Victorious Dynasty"