In the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties for more than 500 years, there were only two empresses, namely Empress Zhang of emperor Akihito and empress dowager Chenghua of Emperor Mingxianzong. They have good external opportunities and good cultivation on the inside. Their common characteristics are: accumulation of virtue and good deeds, pure heart, broad mind, and high moral integrity. As a result, they became the model of women in ancient times.
The emperor's mother (not necessarily the birth mother) was called empress dowager, and the grandmother was called empress dowager. This is a tradition since the Qin and Han dynasties: "Han Xing, because of the title of Qin, the emperor's mother is called empress dowager, and the grandmother is called empress dowager." "The empress dowager, especially the empress dowager, has the most honorable status and the highest honor in the palace. The empress is subject to the two levels of restriction of the emperor and the empress, and the empress dowager is above the emperor and the empress.
Empress Zhang of Akihito's makoto clan was a native of Yongcheng (永城, in modern Yongcheng, Henan). In the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu (1395), He was conferred the title of Princess Zhu Gao of the Yan Dynasty. In the second year of Yongle (1404), she was crown princess. The Hongxi Emperor succeeded to the throne, and Zhang Shi was made empress. Emperor Xuande of Ming ascended the throne and was honored as empress dowager. Emperor Mingyingzong ascended the throne and was honored as empress dowager. Empress Zhang's characteristics are:
First, the relationship between the in-laws and the mother-in-law will be handled. As a princess, you must first deal with your in-laws. The History of Ming says that she was "a crown princess from the beginning, a woman who was extremely prudent, and who was a virtuous woman, and that Shede Chengzu and Empress Renxiao were happy." That is to say, she can strictly follow the woman's ethics, which is quite liked by her in-laws Yongle Emperor and Empress Xu.
Second, will deal with the relationship between uncle and sister-in-law. Her two younger brothers-in-law were Zhu Gaoxu, the King of Han, and Zhu Gaoxuan, the King of Zhao, both of whom "plotted to seize the throne" and wanted to replace the position of prince, and the prince was repeatedly separated by the King of Han and the King of Zhao, from which she protected, comforted, and explained, helping her husband to keep the position of prince and not be stored by Yi Chu.
3. The relationship between husband and wife will be handled. The prince was "too fat to ride and shoot", and the Yongle Emperor was very unhappy. She "reduced the diet of the prince", that is, to let the prince reduce his diet, strengthen his exercise, and reduce his weight, which was quite effective.
Fourth, will be in the mother-child relationship. His son Emperor Xuande initially succeeded to the throne, and when the military state was in charge, he listened to the ruling. When the sea was too peaceful, the emperor served and lived, accompanied the feast, contributed in all directions, and first served the empress. The emperor and the empress dowager, filial piety to the world. The empress dowager toured the Western Garden, accompanied by the empress dowager, and the emperor personally helped you to climb the Banzai Mountain, enshrined Shangshou, and offered poems and praises. Go to the Yongle Changling Tomb and the Hongxi Ancestral Mausoleum, and when passing the river bridge, the emperor dismounted and supported the emperor.
Fifth, will deal with the relationship between ancestors and grandchildren. Emperor Xuande died, Emperor Sun Zhengtong succeeded to the throne at the age of nine, and rumors spread in the palace. The empress dowager hurriedly summoned the ministers to the Qianqing Palace, pointed at the grandson and wept, and said, "This new Heavenly Son is also." "Long live the courtiers, and the rumors stop." A minister asked the empress dowager to bow down to the government, and the empress dowager said, "There is no need to break the ancestral law." The first thing is not urgent. "Always exhort the orthodox emperor, study diligently, and appoint the stock humerus." When the grand eunuch Wang Zhenyu was alive, he did not dare to monopolize power and act in violation of the law.
6. The relationship between the monarch and the subject will be handled. From the British Gongzhang Fu, Shang Shu Jianyi, the university scholars Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Jin Youzi, and Yang Pu, saw in the Xingdian Temple, the empress dowager comforted the courtiers, and said: "Er and others first to the old people, Mian Fu Si Jun." In October of the seventh year of orthodoxy (1442), when he was critically ill, he summoned the scholar Yang Shiqi to join the university, and ordered the eunuch to ask the state what other major events had not been done, and Yang Shiqi listed three things: First, "Although the Jianshu people died, when the Jianwen people died, they should repair the Jianwen Shilu"; Second, the Yongle Emperor once decreed that "those who receive the suicide notes of fang xiao and the children should be forbidden"; Before the third could be played, the empress dowager gasped ——— dead. The edict exhorted the ministers, assisted the emperor, and practiced benevolent government for the benefit of the people. Her good governance was praised.
7. Will deal with the relationship between the mother and the family. For the brothers of the mother's family, they should act according to the rules, "the empress dowager is strict in the face of foreign affairs", and they are not easily promoted and rewarded, they are not allowed to engage in privileges, and they are not allowed to manage state affairs.
Eighth, the relationship between the people will be handled. To the Thirteen Tombs Gurudwara, "the people of Qijia road to worship, the old and naïve mountains next to the mausoleum to greet." The empress dowager turned back to the emperor and said, "The people wear the emperor, and with the ear of neng," the emperor should repeat it." "The common people love the monarch, because the people can live and work in peace and contentment, and the emperor should bear in mind." On the way back, he passed by the farmer's house and "summoned the old woman to ask about her birth and give her money." There are those who offer vegetables and wine syrup, and they take it to the emperor and say, "This tianjia tastes also." "Admonish the emperor not to forget the peasant family."
The "reign of Hong Xuan" mentioned in the history books, Empress Zhang also had a historical merit.