From the ascension of the Qin King to the abdication of Puyi, the more than 2,000 years of feudal imperial era produced a total of 494 emperors recognized by history (including posthumous titles), so how many empresses were there in these more than 2,000 years? Although there are no specific statistics on this, the number of empresses far exceeds the number of emperors.
Among these countless empresses, most of them were from the famous family, or after the meritorious yuanxun, and even some came from close relatives of the royal family, such as Zhang Yan of the Han Dynasty and Longyu of the Qing Dynasty, the former being the niece of emperor Hui of Han, and the latter being the cousin of the Guangxu Emperor. In short, if you want to become the queen of the mother's world, without a noble birth, it can be said that it is more difficult than ascending to heaven.
There must be exceptions to everything, during the Ming Dynasty, except for Empress Xu of the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, who was the founding hero of the country, the rest of the empresses were basically Cinderella from poor folk families. So, why did these "Cinderella" from a humble background become the empress of the Ming Empire's mother?
Zhu Yuanzhang's Empress Ma, naturally needless to say, is an entrepreneurial couple who share zhu Yuanzhang's hardships, and it is natural that they can become empresses.
Emperor Akihito's empress Dowager Zhang was born in Hanmen, and Zhang's father, Zhang Qi, was only an ordinary peasant in Yongcheng, Henan, and was given an official position because his daughter was chosen as a concubine of Zhu Gaozi, the son of the Prince of Yan. After Zhu Gaozi ascended the throne, Zhang Shi was crowned empress, and Zhang Qi was promoted to the position of commander of Jingwei.
Emperor Xuanzong's empress Dowager Hu Shanxiang, whose father Hu Rong was originally an ordinary family in Jining, Shandong, was promoted to Jinyi Wei Baihu because her eldest daughter entered the palace as a female official, and later, Hu Rong's third daughter Hu Shanxiang was crowned empress by Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji, and her family members were promoted to higher ranks.
Empress Li of Emperor Mingmuzong's zhu Zaiyuan, whose father was a mason in his early years, was given the title of empress because his daughter was made empress, and Gui was named Wu Qingbo.
Empress Zhang of the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu You was selected from more than 5,000 beautiful women in the folk.
The reason why the Empress of the Ming Dynasty came from the Hanmen family was mainly because of the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. Since the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang has personally presided over the compilation of a book "Huangming Ancestral Training", the content of which is mainly an admonition to Zhu Ming's descendants. In the book, Zhu Yuanzhang also made clear instructions on how to find wives for future generations: "The son of heaven and the prince, the queen concubine, the palace people, etc. must choose the children of the good family, marry with courtesy, and do not go anywhere; do not accept the minister's entry, for fear of adultery." But prostitutes are not allowed to come near. This means that the concubines of the emperor and the princes can be the children of good families without asking for provenance.
Hongwu twenty-seven years. Zhu Yuanzhang also issued a decree to elect wives for the princes and grandchildren throughout the country, and Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated: "All officials and military and civilian families, or the daughters of former officials and former officials, who are between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, and those who have rongde and no disease and have good family law, are ordered to be dispatched." Since then, emperors and princes have become a common practice in the folk sea selection of concubines, so many folk Cinderellas have entered the harem of the Ming Dynasty.
The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang did this was mainly to prevent foreign relatives from being powerful and authoritarian. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty did not have the monopoly of foreign relatives and the harem to interfere in politics. Although the Ming Dynasty did not have the monopoly of foreign relatives, there were eunuchs who were chaotic in government, and the civilian official clique was strong, and there was constant party strife.