As we all know, there were sixteen emperors in the Ming Dynasty, but how many empresses there were, I am afraid many people do not know. If you don't count those who are posthumously honored, only those who have enjoyed the title of empress before they die, a total of twenty. It is reasonable to say that the queen's mother is so honorable in the world, but there is an empress who is very pitiful, deposed for no reason, and forced to leave the family.
Recently, there is a TV series about the history of the Ming Dynasty, that is, "Daming Fenghua", which tells the entanglement between the two empresses of Ming Xuanzong, namely Sun Ruowei and Hu Shanxiang. It should be said that this TV series completely reversed the real history, Empress Sun was "whitewashed", and Empress Hu was seriously "smeared". So what does real history look like?
Empress Hu's name was Hu Shanxiang, a native of Jining, Shandong, and was born into a family of eunuchs. Hu Shanxiang's father, Hu Rong, served as a hundred households of Jinyi Wei, "although he lived in a minions, he was kind and kind, meticulous and elegant, and people said to have the style of an elder." Hu Shanxiang's eldest sister was named Hu Shanwei, and during the Hongwu years, she served as a female official in the palace. Zhu Di declared himself empress dowager, and Hu Rong was removed from his official post, so he planned to return to his hometown. Just on the eve of returning home, Hu Shanxiang was born.
Influenced by the family environment, Hu Shanxiang is knowledgeable and rational, "virtuous by nature, and solemn in demeanor". In the fifteenth year of Yongle, Zhu Di ordered the selection of a concubine for his grandson Zhu Zhanji. At that time, the officials of the Qin Tianjian reported to the emperor, "Houxing Zhiluye". So Zhu Di sent eunuchs to Shandong to select, and Hu Shanxiang was selected.
At that time, there was also a woman who participated in the election, and she was Sun Shi. Sun's father, named Sun Zhong, became acquainted with Zhu Di's own mother, and through this relationship, sent Sun to the palace. However, Sun Shi was defeated. Later, Emperor Xuanzong of Ming ascended the throne, making Hu Shanxiang empress and Sun Shi a noble concubine. However, Emperor Xuanzong of Ming broke with the convention, "Emperor Shangbao made the golden treasure after the queen, and gave it to the Sun clan", which caused doubts among the government and the public at that time.
Although Ming Xuanzong was also an accomplished emperor, he was even worse than Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di. Ming Xuanzong was more playful, and liked to go out for cruising, fighting crickets and other activities. Hu Shanxiang believed that he was an empress and wanted to help the emperor, so he regularly persuaded Xuanzong to put state affairs first. This aroused the disgust of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, "a little tired of the queen".
The Sun clan was favored by Xuanzong and obeyed Xuanzong in everything. In this court struggle without smoke of gunfire, Hu Shanxiang was obviously not a rival of the Sun clan. Sun Shi was quite clever, and eventually created a farce of "stealing the queen". According to records, a palace maid in Sun's palace was favored by the emperor and later gave birth to a prince, "the noble concubine is hidden", and this child is the later Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen.
Subsequently, Emperor Xuanzong used this as an excuse to summon the Cabinet University Scholars, "Thirty years without children, and the Middle Palace was repeatedly infertile and ill. The Japanese said that the palace would be childless, and now the noble concubine had a son, and should be established as an heir. Husband and mother are precious to their children, and etiquette is also. Why is it in the middle of the palace. However, except for Yang Rong, no one else supported it, and the empress dowager did not support the deposed empress. In the end, Emperor Xuanzong adopted Yang Shiqi's suggestion and asked Hu Shanxiang to "take the initiative" to give up the position of empress.
Hu Shanxiang lost his position as empress and was forced to become a monk. Sun Shi got his wish and became empress. Hu Shanxiang "was abolished without fault, and the world heard and pitied it." Emperor Xuanzong's mother, Empress Zhang, was very Hu, "the inner court feasted, and ordered sun to live on the throne", which made Empress Sun very unhappy, but she could not have a seizure. It was not until Empress Zhang fell ill and died that the Sun clan was able to take revenge. At Empress Zhang's funeral, Hu Shanxiang "was not allowed to talk to Sun Hou among the concubines who were listed in the memorial service" and "did not cry bitterly, and collapsed over the years."
When discussing Hu Shanxiang's funeral, the chancellor, fearing Sun Shi (who was already the empress dowager at this time), "used the concubine ceremony and did not bury him in Jinshan." In the sixth year of Tianshun, Empress Sun fell ill and died. Emperor Ming's empress Dowager Qian was the first to stand up for Hu Shanxiang and gained the support of the cabinet. Therefore, Emperor Mingying posthumously honored Hu as "Empress Gong rang Chengshun Kang mu Jing Cizhang" and rebuilt the mausoleum. The TV series will smear the white, wash the black white, and don't forget the sentence "Joke is not nonsense, adaptation is not random editing.".
References: 1. "History of Ming"; 2. "Records of the History of Tongshi of the Victorious Dynasty"