The position of power of the ancient Chinese emperors was very powerful. As the highest point of feudal rule, the emperor has the supreme power and status in the feudal society, as well as the wealth that is difficult for most ordinary people to reach, there is no doubt that it is not unreasonable for countless chaotic courtiers and thieves and brother princes to stare at the dragon chair, but there are still many emperors who always say that they are "unfortunate to be born in the imperial family", many emperors in ancient China have said similar words such as "unfortunately born in the imperial family", for example, Shunzhi once said" "I am a Son of the West, why was I born in the imperial family", Emperor Liu of song shun said that he "wished to be born again without the imperial family", while Liu Ziluan said that "I wish not to be born again to the royal family"...
Why do these emperors say that? Is it just to pretend? Of course, the answer is no, there are indeed many emperors who do not want to be emperors, in addition to the above few, there are Li Yu, Zhao Huan, Zhu Qiyu, etc. Today Xiaobian will carefully analyze with you one of the most tragic occupations in ancient times - what the life of the emperor is like, and see what the reason why those emperors said that they were "unfortunate to be born in the emperor's family" is what the reason is.
First, huge work pressure
In ancient times, if you want to be a slightly competent emperor, then the work pressure you face is really not generally large, China's first feudal emperor Qin Shi Huang once had "the world's affairs are decided on the top", "not in the middle of the presentation can not rest" situation, and China's famous "workaholic" emperor Zhu Yuanzhang is "the stars exist every day, the sun enters and rests", every day can not see the sun several times, and the most pitiful "workaholic" Yongzheng is "daily management of government affairs, all year round", It is said that he was exhausted alive...
Among them, the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once abolished the system of chancellors who shared the political affairs for the emperor in order to strengthen the centralization of power and consolidate imperial power, and set a record of 1660 copies of the approval and folding for eight consecutive days, and handled 3391 state affairs, which is basically the legendary "daily rational thousand opportunities".
Second, the emperor was extremely insecure
Even if the emperor could withstand the huge daily workload or simply did not bother to work, the emperor was still not so good, because the probability of the emperor being killed by others was as high as thirty-one percent, and basically one in every three or four emperors was killed.
In order to be able to guard against others plotting against him at any time, the emperor often had to enter a state of high tension, and he had to be wary of people and things around him, and Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang even asked his heirs to be more vigilant about the people around him in the group training, not to trust his cronies, bodyguards could not leave his body, weapons and armor could not leave his left and right, and he was always ready for all kinds of mistakes and means just in case, making himself feel extremely insecure.
Third, there are many rules and no freedom
Because when the emperor is a master of ten thousand people, the rules and etiquette system of the imperial palace are not generally much, and to the emperor, the complexity of various rules has once again escalated, and these various kinds of rules have led to the emperor being very unfree in both life and work, such as the emperor of the Qing Dynasty needs to get up quickly at five o'clock every morning, or even earlier, after getting up at five o'clock, he will have to learn the glorious deeds of his ancestors, seven o'clock to nine o'clock is the time to eat breakfast, and each dish even if the emperor loves to eat again, it can not exceed three bites, after eating, The emperor began to work until eleven o'clock, and from eleven o'clock to two o'clock in the afternoon was the time to rest and eat lunch, and then then it was work and study until five o'clock, and from seven o'clock to nine o'clock he needed to worship god and pray to the Buddha, and the free time every day was really pitiful, almost for several consecutive years, like a high school student preparing for the college entrance examination.
And at night, the emperor to find an emperor to sleep with, but also have the eunuch to record the time, place, people, and always urge the emperor to finish things as soon as possible, that is to say, there is a time limit, so as not to let the emperor indulge in beauty, if the time comes to the emperor but has not finished, there will be someone to carry the concubine away, think about it, the emperor and the concubine will be carried away until half of the concubines will be carried away, the emperor's life is really miserable.
IV. The Political Struggle of Terror Leads to "Morde Feelings"
Occupations like the emperor, which are at the highest center of power in feudal society and have a very high position of power themselves, often face a variety of political struggles, cruel and ruthless, and extremely terrible, so the emperor often has to "have feelings" in the face of these political struggles.
For example, after Qin Shi Huang's son, that is, Qin II Hu Hai ascended the throne, he beheaded his "brothers", "sisters cha split", known as the Ming Emperor Tang Taizong Li Shimin also once killed his own ten nephews, this is not to mention, sometimes the emperor is not willing to kill such people is not OK, as early as the Han Wen Emperor period, because of political reasons, there were four sons "sick and dead", there is no way to keep, and in the Northern Wei Dynasty, there was even a "son to establish a crown prince, the mother should give death" regulations, although it is to prevent the dictatorship of foreign relatives, But the approach is really ruthless.
If it is the turn of the last emperor, the emperor can not even control his own fate, just like the second emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Huizong, seeing that the Jin army was going south to destroy the Song, he hurriedly passed his throne to his son, that is, Song Qinzong Zhao Huan, which is really a very faceless behavior, it is estimated that if Song Huizong is Song Qinzong's father, Song Qinzong Zhao Huan estimated that he had the heart to kill Song Huizong.
And what is even more tragic is that Liu Zhun, who said that "I wish to live in the next life and never give birth to the imperial family again", he was helped to the throne as a puppet emperor at the age of seven, forced to take the throne at the age of ten, and directly killed at the age of thirteen, basically a day of stability has not passed, and his fate is extremely tragic.
Fifth, the average life is very short, but also easy to carry the pot
The average life expectancy of working people in ancient times was generally about thirty-five years old, but if the infants who died prematurely and soldiers who died in battle were excluded from the statistical objects, the average life expectancy of working people in ancient China was still relatively high, even in one of the most chaotic periods in ancient China, the Wuhu Chaohua period, the average life expectancy of Chinese working people could be as high as fifty to sixty years old, while the average life expectancy of the emperor was only about forty years.
The emperor not only has a short average life expectancy, but also has extremely colorful ways of dying, from his killing, suicide to overwork death and death in situ, which can simply write an encyclopedia of death, plus the emperor because he is in the highest ruling position in China's feudal society, so that the people and ministers often put all kinds of pots on the emperor's head, where a flood and a drought must be said to be caused by the emperor's "immorality", the emperor will have to "sin himself" and "think about it" at every turn, and the local officials do evil to lead to peasant uprisings. Insurgents often call for "down with the dog emperor", the emperor should do a good job, it is a matter of course, and if he makes a mistake, he will be scolded and smeared in various ways, which is really not a good job.
VI. Conclusion
All in all, if you become an emperor, or if you want to be a slightly more competent emperor in ancient times, you must be able to do everything in the day, defend against people, fulfill strict rules, and have no feelings, always worry about the usurpation or overthrow of the regime, and deal with foreign invasions and foreign wars outside, so the ancient emperors are really high-income and high-risk, high-pressure "three high" occupations, and it is not a happy thing to be born in the imperial family.
bibliography:
History of the Ming Dynasty, History of the Song Dynasty, Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Zizhi Tongjian, Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Old Book of Tang, General Classic, Literature Examination