Daming "Gongsu Duanshen Rongjing Imperial Concubine" - Wan Zhen'er, Emperor Mingxianzong Zhu Jianshen's imperial concubine, former empress dowager of Empress Xiaogongsun, "uncrowned queen" of the harem during the Chenghua period, commonly known as Wan Guifei.
Ming Dynasty court figures stills
Wan Zhen'er was the favorite concubine of Emperor Xianzong, who could get the king's affection for decades without changing his mind, and favored the six palaces, which was also very rare in history. She is also a "vicious" woman in the history books, flattering the king, suppressing the main palace, supporting adulterous eunuchs, mutilating the imperial heirs, and being extravagant and extravagant, as if to add all the words and phrases that have brought calamity to the country and the people to her.
In my eyes, Wan Zhen'er, she is lucky, has true love, and stays until she is old; she is also tragic, her heirs have died prematurely, and she is infamous. But no one is born with malice to live, and behind all kinds of absurd acts there must be unknown heartache and sorrow, not to mention that we are not sure that she in the history books is the original face of Wan Zhen'er in history.
imperial palace
Wind and frost, rain and snow, Yimu Yijie
Wan Zhen'er is a native of Zhucheng, Shandong, born in Xuande for five years. His father, Wan Gui, was originally a local county magistrate, who was implicated in the crime of his relatives and demoted to Bazhou. Therefore, there are two theories about Wan Zhen'er's entry into the palace.
First, in order to be able to make a comeback in the future, Wan Gui took the initiative to send his daughter to the palace; second, because of the connection, Wan Zhen'er was filled into the palace.
Considering that Wangui was still able to be cautious after his daughter became a noble concubine, and was dissatisfied with the arrogance of several sons, Wangui should not be a person who was good at drilling camps. Therefore, I personally prefer the statement that Wan Zhen'er was filled into the palace.
Ming Dynasty female figure
When Wan Zhen'er entered the palace, she was only four years old. A four-year-old girl is about to leave her parents and enter the Ouchi Deep Palace, and face the harem's deception alone, which is indeed regrettable.
But if you resist this pressure and stubbornly persevere, then the child's mind will be far more mature and determined than his peers, and he will be able to carry things more. In fact, Wan Zhen'er did a good job, and during the orthodox years, she was elected to empress dowager Sun's palace.
Empress Sun was the biological mother of Emperor Mingying's Zhu Qizhen and the grandmother of Emperor Mingxianzong's Zhu Jianshen.
According to the custom of the harem of the Ming Dynasty, the palace ladies of the empress dowager's palace are generally of relatively high comprehensive quality. Many of these female officials were originally concubines who entered the palace and lost the "show girls" in the last few rounds. Wan Zhen'er's ability to serve by the side of the old lady is enough to show that she has superiority.
Portrait of Empress Xiaogongsun
In the fourteenth year of orthodoxy, the "change of civil engineering", Ming Yingzong was tied up by the Wallachians as "meat tickets". In order to keep Emperor Yingzong's throne alive, Empress Sun hurriedly made Emperor Yingzong's youngest son Zhu Jianshen crown prince. After that, everyone knows that Emperor Zhu Qiyu of the Ming Dynasty ascended the throne, and after Emperor Yingzong returned to the dynasty, he was placed under house arrest in the Southern Palace, and Zhu Jianshen's position as crown prince was in jeopardy.
It was at this time that Wan Zhen'er was sent by Empress Sun to Zhu Jianshen's side. This year, Wan Zhen'er was less than 20 years old, and Zhu Jianshen was less than 3 years old.
When Empress Sun sent Wan Zhen'er to Zhu Jianshen at this time, she was actually looking for someone to trust to protect her grandson. This is a very difficult task. Because the current Emperor Zong's throne is becoming more and more consolidated, Zhu Jianshen's position as crown prince is bound to be unsafe. No one knew whether Emperor Daizong would kill this young nephew.
Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Qiyu statue
In more than one historical material, we can often see scenes describing Wan Zhen'er wearing a military uniform, and some directly say that Wan Zhen'er is tall and has a rough voice. We can deduce that Wan Zhen'er has a heroic spirit that the average daughter's family does not have, and may even have some fist and foot kung fu.
At the same time, Wan Zhen'er, who grew up in the palace since childhood, is well versed in the way of survival in the palace, and it is quite appropriate for her to take care of the young Zhu Jianshen. It can also be seen that Empress Sun trusts Wan Zhen'er's loyalty and ability.
How bad was the situation? Emperor Yingzong and his concubines were trapped in the Southern Palace, under close guard, sometimes with no guarantee of basic use; Empress Sun wanted to visit her sons and grandsons in person, but was also threatened by Emperor Daizong's cronies. Empress Dowager, the treatment of the "Emperor Taishang" is still like this, and Zhu Jianshen's situation can be imagined.
In the cold eyes and avoidance of everyone, Wan Zhen'er stayed by Zhu Jianshen's side without complaint, taking care of and protecting the young prince. Suffering, she suffered; tears, she shed; hurt, she endured. I can't count how many nights she didn't dare to close her eyes, standing next to the sleeping Zhu Mishen, ready to die with the "enemy" who might rush in.
The difference between seventeen years and seventeen years of age, in this period of hardship and hardship, step by step, relying on each other, once it was seven or eight years.
I can conclude that the sense of security that Wan Zhen'er gave Zhu Jianshen was irreplaceable by anyone, not even her biological parents. So much so that after Zhu Jianshen ascended the throne, he often asked Wan Zhen'er to wear a military uniform and accompany the waiters to drink.
The psychological dependence left behind in childhood cannot be changed for a lifetime.
Therefore, the sword is deep, such as glue casting paint
In the eighth year of Jingtai, Emperor Mingyingzong Zhu Qizhen launched the "Change of Seizing the Gate", restored the throne, and changed the year of Tianshun. Wan Zhen'er and Zhu Jianshen could not have imagined that they would actually be able to survive to the moment of desperate life. This year, she was 28 and he was 11.
In the early years of Tianshun, Wan Zhen'er actually returned to Empress Sun's side. Of course, going back to the house, for Zhu Jianshen, who was re-established as the crown prince, wanted to see Wan Zhen'er, it was still very easy.
The affection between the two should also begin to sprout during this period.
In the sixth year of Tianshun, Empress Sun died. Wan Zhen'er was asked by Zhu Jianshen to go to the East Palace and enter the Eastern Palace. Yingzong and Zhu Jianshen's birth mother, Zhou Shi, was aware of the "wrong" between her son and Wan Zhen'er.
Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen statue
However, the two couples considered Wan Zhen'er's protection of Zhu Jianshen during that difficult time, and chose to turn a blind eye. After all, Zhu Jianshen was only a teenager at this time, and when he grew up later, a beautiful woman next to him was haunting, and a person who was gradually getting old and fading, this "absurd thing" was not worth mentioning.
But who knows that Zhu Jianshen is actually a rare infatuation.
In the eighth year of Tianshun, Emperor Mingying's Zhu Qizhen died, and Emperor Mingxianzong Zhu Jianshen succeeded to the throne and changed the following year to Chenghua. This year, she was 35 and he was 18.
In the first year of Chenghua, Zhu Jianshen was married.
Ming Dynasty royal men generally had three wives, one main palace, and two side concubines. Zhu Jianshen's three wives finally reached the final after many selections, and were recognized by Emperor Yingzong and Empress Zhou.
They are Wu, Wang, and Bai. Wu became the lord of Zhu Jianshen's palace, the first empress.
Didn't Zhu Jianshen want to make Wan Zhen'er empress? Of course I want to, and I think very much. But it does have to be difficult.
First, Wan Zhen'er belongs to the category of Zhu Jianshen's "nursing mother".
She herself was a palace maid in zhu mishen's grandmother's palace and was assigned to take care of zhu mishen, who was less than three years old at the time. If Zhu Mi shen established Wan Zhen'er as empress, it would be unreasonable in the order of lun.
Emperor Mingxianzong Zhu saw a deep portrait
Second, in the first year of Chenghua, Wan Zhen'er did not have children.
If Wan Zhen'er still has the hope of becoming an empress, it can only be the mother who is the first to give birth to the emperor's eldest son. When Chenghua was in her second year, she did give birth to a son, but died a year later.
Third, Zhu Saw Shenxin succeeded to the throne, and his actions needed to be restrained.
Quite simply, Emperor Yingzong left behind a group of old courtiers during the Tianshun period. Many of them are heavy ministers who have experienced the "change of civil engineering" and the "change of seizing the door", and one by one they are very close to Zhu Mi, who has just come to power. At this time, Zhu Jianshen did not fully establish his own ruling team, so he still had concerns about doing things.
Fourth, Zhu saw Empress Dowager Zhou, the birth mother of Shen Shen, and did not want to see Wan Zhen'er.
The issue of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law also exists in the royal family. Empress Zhou was very aware of Zhu Jianshen's emotional dependence on Wan Zhen'er, which was even mixed with a certain "Oedipal plot". As the birth mother, Empress Zhou was naturally jealous of this woman who had "robbed" her son of her sense of belonging from herself.
More importantly, if you look up the birth and death years of Empress Zhou and Wan Zhen'er, you will find that the two of them are actually the same age!
This is why Zhu Jianshen followed the wishes of Emperor Yingzong of the Former Emperor in the first year of Chenghua and crowned Wu as empress.
The youthful and beautiful Wu Clan Gui is the mother of the country, and she is proud of her position, so naturally she does not put Xu Niang's half-old Wan Zhen'er in her eyes. When she found out that Zhu Jianshen was still spending the whole night in Wan Zhen'er after the big wedding, she began to burn with jealousy.
Finally, one day, in the face of Wu's constant provocations, Wan Zhen'er could not bear to fight back, and it is said that the two people quarreled so badly that Wu even used a staff to torture Wan Zhen'er.
Wu Shi's evil breath was out, but her empress's seat was also sitting on the head. Just a month after their marriage, Wu was deposed as empress by Zhu Jianshen and sent to the Cold Palace.
At this time, Wu Shi should be less than 18 years old.
Cold Palace Woman Stills
After this battle, everyone understood the situation in the emperor's harem, and no one would challenge Wan Zhen'er's authority again, and the new successor Wang Clan obediently did not dare to speak out, for fear of provoking Wan Zhen'er to be unhappy one day.
In the second year of Chenghua, Wan Zhen'er gave birth to the emperor's eldest son. In the same year, the Jin Emperor's noble concubine, Wan Zhen'er at this time, was the "uncrowned queen" of the harem.
With a name for himself, no one pities him
Wan Zhen'er's most criticized thing is that after the death of her son, she began to continuously mutilate other pregnant women in the harem and force them to have abortions. The history books say that Wan Zhen'er did this, first, to consolidate her favor, and second, to let herself give birth to the "eldest son of the emperor" again.
In fact, I am skeptical about this matter.
Some people have done a search, saying that Wan Zhen'er persecuted the pregnant palace concubine, which was not mentioned in the Records of Emperor Mingxianzong, but in the "History of Ming" compiled by the Qing People, it was sworn that Wan Zhen'er used despicable means to "drink medicine and injure countless people".
It should be made clear that the Records of emperor Mingxianzong were compiled and revised during the reign of Hongzhi. And the Hongzhi Emperor was the Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youxian who grew up eating a hundred meals in the palace in the later history books, hid for five or six years before he recognized Zhu Mi, and even his mother Ji Shi was forced to die by Wan Zhen'er.
If the above situation is true, imagine that Zhu Youfan became an emperor, and when he wrote a record for his father, how would he write Wan Zhen'er?
There was also a key figure, the eunuch named Zhang Min.
The "History of Ming" says that Zhang Min could not bear to kill the newborn Zhu Youfan and hid the child. And when Chenghua was eleven years old, he told Zhu Mishen about the matter, and then he committed suicide by swallowing gold. Remember the time of Zhang Min's suicide here, Chenghua eleven years.
Then we consulted the county chronicle of Zhang Min's hometown, but found that it recorded that Zhang Min's death was in the twenty-first year of Chenghua. Also in the biographies of others in the History of Ming, we can also see zhang Min's activities in the thirteen years of Chenghua.
This contradictory record has to be reminiscent of the authenticity of Wan Zhen'er's account.
Let's use the simplest logic to think about it, Emperor Xianzong's biological mother, Empress Zhou, that is, the grandmother of Emperor Mingxiaozong Zhu Youfan, lived until the seventeenth year of Hongzhi.
The status of the ming emperor's birth mother in the inner palace was almost sacred and unshakable. For example, Empress Zhang in Xuande Nian, Empress Sun in Tianshun Nian, Empress Li in Wanli Nian, and so on. Some of these empresses are in charge, some are indifferent, but none of them are stupid enough to doubt their right to speak in the harem.
Then I would like to ask, during the Chenghua years, if Wan Zhen'er really repeatedly forced the palace concubines to have abortions in Zhu Jianshen's harem, would Empress Zhou not know? What's more, according to the "History of Ming", the number of victims has reached the order of "innumerable". You know, the little lives that have passed away are all the grandsons and granddaughters of the old empress.
There was also the temper of the Ming Dynasty courtiers who dared to manage anything. Look at the extent to which the courtiers managed the affairs of the emperor's harem during the Wanli years, and even dared to directly criticize the emperor for having too many affairs. Even the secret affairs of the emperor and the concubines, the courtiers all inquired, dared to point to the emperor's nose to teach a lesson, Wan Zhen'er forced people to have abortions such a big thing, the courtiers during the Chenghua years did not react at all? I don't believe it anyway.
We can also objectively see that in the early years of Chenghua, Xianzong's fertility rate was indeed not high, and it was not until he recognized Zhu Youfan that Xianzong began to have children one after another like an opening. Many people used this to prove that Wan Zhen'er mutilated the imperial heir.
Actually, I have a better explanation.
Zhu Youfan was made crown prince in the eleventh year of Chenghua. When Chenghua was eleven years old, Wan Zhen'er was already 46 years old. According to the medical technology at that time and the age of Wan Zhen'er, it was difficult to get pregnant anymore.
Emperor Xianzong made Zhu Youfan crown prince, indicating that the emperor had acquiesced to the fact that Wan Zhen'er was childless. Because according to Zhu Youfan's vision, in the case of Empress Wang's childlessness, Wan Zhen'er gave birth to a son, and the mother was gui, plus the identity of the original imperial concubine, she could directly impact the empress's throne. Then this son of Wan Zhen'er became a concubine and had the right to inherit.
When this idea could no longer be realized, the energy that Xianzong had originally left on Wan Zhen'er would begin to be dispersed to other concubines, which led to the gushing birth of the emperor's heirs.
Beyond that, I have a secret view. Remember when Emperor Yingzong abolished the ming dynasty's burial system? At that time, the system was mainly aimed at concubines who had no children.
The monarch of a feudal dynasty, having children is actually a political task. The prosperity of the heirs represents the prosperity of the country in a sense. Therefore, this burial system of the Ming Dynasty can be understood in disguise as an "incentive" policy for the harem. That is to say, the concubines were required to work hard to get close to the emperor, and strive to be able to conceive and give birth to children, so as to avoid the fate of being martyred in the future.
Emperor Yingzong abolished this article, which also exempted the concubines from the "evaluation system" for having children.
So can we understand that everyone in the harem during the Chenghua period saw the deep affection between Xianzong and Wan Zhen'er, and it was impossible to easily insert a lever. Coupled with the experience of Empress Wu, many concubines, in line with the principle that more is better than less, are actually suspected of "slacking off" in the matter of getting close to the emperor.
Therefore, in summary, if wan Zhen'er's cruelty to the emperor's heirs is "nothing", then can the many negative evaluations of her other aspects also be debatable? Of course, this is still a matter of opinion in the end.
Conclusion
Twenty-three years after Chenghua, Wan Zhen'er suddenly fell ill and died soon after, at the age of fifty and seven. Shi Xianzong was so distraught that he said, "I will soon die." If a woman can occupy such a heavy weight in her man's heart, I think she can smile and say firmly and happily before drinking Meng Po soup: Love.
Ten years of life and death are vague, do not think, unforgettable; night dreams suddenly return home, small Xuan window, is dressing up.
There is only one label for Wan Zhen'er in my eyes: the woman that Ming Xianzong loves deeply. The rest of the floating things are no obstacle to her.