The emperor's name is Tianzi, but he is not a true god, he is still a mortal who wants to eat and sleep, and he also has a career and a family. The families of emperors are often different from those of ordinary people.
The family life of the common people is relatively rough, chai rice oil salt sauce vinegar tea, everything is around the theme of "survival", bland with a little warmth; the emperor's family life is indifferent, not to mention the father and son brothers, as long as it comes to the division of power, the six relatives do not recognize, we can not see the warmth of family affection at all. It is no exaggeration to say that the emperor's family is the most perverted family, and it is the feudal society that has created all this.
Zhu Di was the most like his father among Zhu Yuanzhang's many princes. When he was the king of the clan, his father planned the next life for him - guarding the Yanjing important land for Zhu Jiazhen, in order to squeeze out the political value of Zhu Di, Zhu Yuanzhang even chose the princess for him.
This family affair is the right door, the other party is the founding hero Xu Da's family's thousand gold. Xu is reasonable, loves to read, and has a gentle personality. Zhu Di heard that this girl was of good character, so he said to Xu Da: "Those who are in harmony with each other in ancient times are marriages. Qing has a lingnu, who is matched by Zhu Di, a descendant. ”
In fact, even if Zhu Yuanzhang said it was not euphemistic, Xu Da did not dare not follow it, after all, the king's order could not be violated. In 1367, Zhu Di married Xu Shi. This year, he was only seventeen years old.
The Battle of Jingnan was won thanks to a large extent to this Concubine Xu. Zhu Di took the main army out on a campaign to attack the military stronghold of Daning. During this period, Li Jinglong sneaked into Yanjing with his men and horses. Staying in the city was Shizi Zhu Gaozi. Zhu Gaozi was good at internal affairs and was not good at fighting, so Concubine Xu took the initiative to take up the burden of defending the city and began to plan the yanjing garrison.
At that time, the strength of the city was relatively scarce, in order to gather enough men and horses to resist the officers and soldiers, Princess Xu came to the front of the people and encouraged the wives and daughters of the defenders in the city to participate in the battle as Princess Yan. Princess Xu formed a team of soldiers and civilians to fight with the military and civilians of the whole city, and finally defended Yanjing. If Yanjing City was captured, then Zhu Di would face the situation of being attacked from the belly and back. At that time, the other princes of the clan who maintained a wait-and-see attitude would probably not continue to support Zhu Di, and the outcome of the Battle of Jingnan would certainly be rewritten.
Therefore, The merits of Concubine Xu are indelible.
Zhu Di overthrew Yun's dynasty and proclaimed himself orthodox. Concubine Xu, who accompanied him through the years of Zhengrong, naturally became Empress Xu. Empress Xu's style was similar to that of her mother-in-law, Empress Ma, and she knew that Zhu Di's temperament was very similar to Zhu Yuanzhang's, and there were signs of poor soldiers, so she advised her husband to rest with the people. Zhu Di trusted the Yanjing party in his early years, and the empress persuaded him not to discriminate and to treat them equally.
During the Battle of Jingnan, Empress Xu's brother Xu Zengshou served as a spy in Nanjing, reporting Zhu Yunxiu's orders to Zhu Di in advance, giving King Yan a great advantage. Later, things failed, and an enraged Zhu Yunjue killed Xu Zengshou. After King Yan became a child, he wanted to pursue this unfortunate brother-in-law, but was opposed by Empress Xu. However, Xu Zengshou had great kindness to Zhu Di, and Zhu Di did not dare not report it, but still insisted on posthumously appointing him as the Duke of Dingguo and letting his son inherit the title.
Empress Xu was well aware of the hidden dangers of foreign relatives interfering in politics, and also paid attention to the cleanliness of her own wings, so she told Zhu Di that this was not her intention and would not thank Zhu Di. Five years after Yongle, Empress Xu passed away. Before dying, Zhu Di grabbed her hand and refused to let go. In the last days of her life, Empress Xu did not forget to advise her husband to cherish the people and recruit talents. Moreover, Empress Xu also specifically instructed Zhu Di not to be arrogant and spoil foreign relatives.
The marriage between Zhu Di and Empress Xu was the order of her parents, not free love. But in the years of raising eyebrows, Zhu Di has developed a sense of dependence on her. Empress Xu's death made Zhu Di extremely sad. Zhu Di came to linggu temple and Tianxi temple to fast, and the group of courtiers spontaneously came to mourn. After Zhu Di's imperial tomb was completed, the first concubine to live in was Empress Xu. Since Empress Xu's death, Zhu Di has not been reappointed empress for the rest of her life.
To be fair, Empress Xu's status in the field of historiography is still somewhat low.
After all, according to feudal rules, Zhu Di's throne came from the wrong way, so Empress Xu's reputation was more or less affected. If this were not the case, empress Xu's character would definitely become an ancient empress on a par with Empress Changsun and Empress Ma.
Although Empress Xu died for a long time, Zhu Di's love did not end. In Zhu Di's harem regiment, there were two other women who satisfied him, namely the noble concubine Wang Clan and the Xianfei Quan Clan.
Wang Guifei's character was equally outstanding, and her relationship with Empress Xu was also good. After Empress Xu's death, Princess Wang Guifei took empress Xu's place as an intermediary to mediate between Zhu Di and her courtiers. Zhu Di's temperament was more violent, and in his later years, he exposed the cruel and bloodthirsty side of his bones, if it were not for Wang Guifei's reconciliation, I am afraid that Zhu Di would kill like his father.
As for the Xianfei Quan clan, her identity is more special.
Long ago, Goryeo had become a vassal of the Central Plains Dynasty. Since the Yuan Dynasty, every year the Goryeo royal family has offered beautiful women to the Central Plains. The Ming Dynasty completed the change of dynasty and replaced the Mongolian Yuan, but in the eyes of the Goryeo people, the Ming Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty were actually no different, and both were incisive Heavenly Dynasties. Therefore, the tradition of offering beauty was preserved.
During the Hongwu period, zhu Yuanzhang's harem appeared many beauties from Goryeo, and Zhu Di's mother was a Goryeo imperial concubine. Perhaps because of the mixed race, Zhu Di liked Chinese beauties as well as Goryeo beauties. Every year, Zhu Di would issue an edict urging Joseon (which had been renamed Joseon during the jianwen Emperor's time) to send show girls to the Central Plains.
In the sixth year of Yongle, the Ming Dynasty's minister of Chincha, Huang Yu, was ordered to go to Korea. On this trip, Huang Yu brought with him 1,000 taels of silver, 50 horses of silk silk, 50 horses of sustenance, and 100 horses of cooked silk; these things were all gifts that Zhu Di had given to the king of Joseon. After all, the king of Joseon (who was still a prince at the time) had donated three thousand BMWs to the king of Yan to support Zhu Di's cause, so Zhu Di should repay himself.
At that time, the two princes had a relationship in Peiping, and their situation and fate were strikingly similar--both princes who had no inheritance rights and both seized the throne by usurping power. In Zhu Di's heart, he may have regarded the King of Joseon as a friend. For friends, Zhu Di naturally has no courtesy.
Before Huang Li left, Zhu Di instructed, "Go and tell the boy that if there are beautiful beauties in North Korea, choose a few to give to me." Judging from the performance of the King of Joseon, he still cherished Zhu Di. The King of Joseon ordered the suspension of civil marriage activities, and summoned the yellow flower bridesmaids who had not left the cabinet from the people and let the emissaries Huang Yu choose.
However, Huang Yu's vision is relatively high, and he feels that there are no beautiful people in North Korea who can get their hands on it, and he is quite dissatisfied. There was no way, the King of Joseon could only inform the various places:
"The former, do not have to push the brush, there are many underreports." More importantly, large and small orders, officials, township officials, two classes of daily keepers, township schools, students and apprentices, and households of the people, if there is a posture, all of them are selected. If there is concealment or there are acupuncture, hair cutting, and medication avoidance, it is as the law. ”
A more elaborate selection began, and each beautiful woman had to be selected like a sieve. In the end, Huang Yu finally picked out five of the beauties from all over North Korea that made him feel good, including the later Concubine Quan.
Judging from this incident, Huang Yu's boy was really a bit unauthentic. Why should diplomacy between countries be forced too much? Do we have to turn North Korea upside down and choose the five most beautiful girls in the family to be willing to give up? Look at the historical records of North Korea, it is written: "Nine heavy thoughts, ten thousand miles to choose Wanting." It is difficult to say goodbye, and the tears are wiped back to zero. Where the sorrows are far apart, the mountains are dreaming green. ”
What does this describe?
It is these five beauties who are sad and miserable to say goodbye to their families.
After the beauty was sent to the DPRK, Zhu Dile could not close his mouth. Among the five daughters, Zhu Di's favorite was Concubine Quan. Concubine Quan was "posture nongzhi" and knew the rhythm of the music and was good at blowing the flute, and the first time Zhu Di saw her, he watched a solo performance.
"I overheard the sound of jade outside the sky, and I heard it alone."
Thirty-six palaces autumn color, I don't know where the moon is bright.
The squid window is cold at night, and the clouds of the sea are far away.
The palace leak has sunk into the reflection, and the beauty is still teaching herself to blow the flute. ”
With this wonderful performance, the status of the concubines has already surpassed that of the concubines. Out of love for Wu and Wu, Zhu Di made Concubine Quan's brother the Secretary of Guanglu Temple. This Guanglu Temple Secretary is different from other Guanglu Temple Secretaries in history, just a fictitious title with no practical significance, but can enjoy the welfare benefits of the highest rank of Daming.
Interestingly, Kwon's brother lived in Korea, so his Loc was issued by the King of Joseon — after all, Daming was too far away, so it could only be distributed by the highest official of Korea. How high was the treatment of the Guanglu Temple Qing of the Ming Dynasty? Therefore, the salary of Concubine Quan's brother once became a financial problem for North Korea.
Just as the so-called one person has ascended to heaven, we can see from The exhortation of Empress Xu in the previous text that Zhu Di could easily make the mistakes that Li Longji had made. When He Zeng, when Li Longji fell in love with his daughter-in-law Yang Yuhuan, a similar situation also occurred, and Yang Guozhong, the brother of Yang Guifei, was gradually promoted by Li Longji and became a big figure who tilted his power toward the opposition, and even more became the fuse of the Anshi Rebellion.
Fortunately, Zhu Di was not Emperor Tang Ming, and he still had such virtuous women as Empress Xu and Wang Guifei by his side.
Although Zhu Di favored Concubine Quan, the life of this beauty was not very good. When Zhu Di was on an expedition to Mongolia in the tenth year of Yongle, Concubine Quan, who had accompanied her husband on the expedition, died in Lincheng because of her travels. Zhu Di was grief-stricken and buried Concubine Quan. At this point, the two women Zhu Di loved most in his life had left him.
The story isn't over yet, though.
Concubine Quan's death is full of doubts and confusion. Zhu Di's indiscriminate killing is also directly related to the death of Concubine Quan.
Resources:
【History of the Ming Dynasty" and "Records of Korea"】