In 1398, Zhu Yuanzhang was lying on the dragon bed dying, and he struggled to get up with all his strength, leaving the last dictation: "After leaving, all concubines will be buried!" The voice did not fall, the concubines of the full palace fled in fear, and the internal guards chased and intercepted with white aya.
The whole palace was in mourning, and Zhu Yuanzhang listened to the concubines crying and shouting, and couldn't help but burst into tears. At this time, a little girl crawled over from the side of the bed and pleaded: "Daddy, let go of the mother-in-law, let the mother-in-law go!"
Zhu Yuanzhang slowly opened his eyes, stared at the little girl with wide eyes, and said deeply: "Don't be afraid, it will be fine in a while!" After saying this, the old emperor fell into the arms of the little girl and slept peacefully.
The burial system can be traced back to the Yongsan culture period 5,000 years ago. During the Shang Dynasty, the system of human martyrdom became popular, and slave owners enjoyed all their glory while they were alive, and they did not want to live in poverty after death, so they brought the women who had served them, along with gold and silver utensils, to the ground.
Because the burial of the living is too cruel, rulers in successive dynasties have decreed its abolition, but the thick burial custom that runs through history has made the human martyrdom system repeatedly abandoned and must not be banned.
The "History of Qin Benji" records that when Qin Wugong died, "66 people were martyred in the beginning", and after Qin Mugong's death, "177 people died from the dead".
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu Bang once decreed the abolition of the system of human martyrdom and allowed concubines without children to leave the palace after the emperor's death. However, during the reign of the Yuan Dynasty, the system of human martyrdom began to recur, and after the death of Genghis Khan, a large number of living people were buried with them. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty even encouraged the burial of the living.
Therefore, after Zhu Yuanzhang established the country, he inherited the dregs of the Yuan Dynasty and revived the martyrdom system. According to the "Minghui Canon", "Taizu's forty concubines, only the second concubine is buried in the mausoleum, and yu ju is buried."
In addition to the two concubines who had died before Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the remaining 38 people were forced to give Zhu Yuanzhang a martyrdom.
So, did Zhu Yuanzhang's harem have concubines who escaped by chance? According to folklore, there is a Zhang Meiren who is not among the collective martyrs.
Zhang Meiren entered the palace relatively late, and gave birth very late. When Zhu Yuanzhang was 68 years old, Zhang Meicai gave birth to a little princess, ranked sixteenth, named Baoqing, which is the little girl we mentioned earlier.
The old woman, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy, and treated Princess Baoqing with great affection. And this little princess is also extremely clever, always able to smile with her innocent father.
Once, Zhang Meiren took Princess Baoqing to visit Zhu Yuanzhang, who was seriously ill, and the old emperor looked at his younger daughter and asked leisurely, "Will you be okay if you look at your father's illness?"
Zhang Meiren listened to the silence, Princess Baoqing is only 3 years old, she knows what life and death matters? If you accidentally reverse the dragon scales, then the mother and daughter will really have no place to die.
Without thinking, Princess Baoqing blinked her big eyes and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang gently, and said sarcastically: "Daddy will get better, and he will be cured when he sleeps!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled after listening to it, and since then he has loved Wu and Wu, and treated Zhang Meiren with special preferential treatment.
Many stories portray Zhang Meiren as the image of her daughter Baoqing who was spared from martyrdom, but unfortunately this is not recorded in the history.
Shortly after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Zhang Meiren also died of incense and jade, leaving behind Princess Baoqing, who was only 4 years old. We can only boldly speculate that although Zhang Meiren was not among the collective martyrs, he was not exempt from martyrdom.
Although Princess Baoqing was born in the royal family, her fate was uncertain.
In 1402, Zhu Di replaced Zhu Yunjiao in ruling the Ming Dynasty, and he regarded his younger sister, who was 35 years younger, as if he were his own and like a brother and a father.
Although Empress Xu of Zhu Di had three sons and four daughters, she raised her sister-in-law Baoqing as her own daughter and did not dare to neglect her at all. The "History of Ming" records: "Chengzu ascended the throne, the lord was eight years old, and Empress Renxiao was like a daughter."
The best time in Princess Baoqing's life was about 19 years old. After that, she began a very unhappy marriage and spent all year with her prodigal son.
Ming dynasty princesses would generally hold ceremonies at the age of 15, and then they would choose a good son-in-law to marry. But Princess Baoqing lived in the palace until she was 19 years old before she got married.
Some people say that Zhu Di and his wife love this sister too much and are reluctant to marry her, and some people say that Zhu Di has worked hard to choose a horse for the princess, which has delayed the marriage age.
However, what is puzzling is that the pony selected by Zhu Di for Princess Baoqing was actually only a thousand households guarding the Jinchuan Gate, the Wupin official Zhao Hui.
Zhao Hui's father, Zhao He, accompanied the army on an expedition to Annam (i.e., Vietnam) and sacrificed his life for the country. According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the sons and grandchildren of the father's death could attack the knighthood, so Zhao Hui became a small official of the Ming Dynasty because of his father's grace, and the town guarded the city gate.
In 1413, Zhu Di went so far as to point out Zhao Hui to Princess Baoqing as a donkey, and on the basis of talent and learning, Zhao Hui was not on the list; on the family lineage, Zhao Hui did not have a high-ranking official in his ancestors; on virtue, Zhao Hui was not a loyal and upright person.
However, such a person who "cultivated Wei of the character" was actually taken in by Zhu Di at a glance and referred to as "Lieutenant Ma Du". And the miserable second half of Princess Baoqing's life began.
As a horse of the dynasty, Zhao Hui's material life was abundant.
Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that when a princess marries, she can enjoy the annual offering: "If she has been enthroned, she will be given a village, and she will receive 1,500 stones of grain and 2,000 pieces of yarn."
These years of offerings far exceeded those of the courtiers. And the princess also has a personal farm, and does not have to pay taxes, Ming Yingzong's Princess Longqing chang has "one thousand acres of idle land and twenty acres".
In addition, the dowries of ming dynasty princesses were extremely rich, and Princess Baoqing was given 10 times more dowry when she married because she was favored by Zhu Di.
Zhao Hui can climb the dragon and attach the phoenix, and he is really a big winner in life. However, in order to avoid the princess's chaotic administration, Zhu Yuanzhang forbade the participation of donkey horses in politics as officials, and those who were officials in the family could only resign from office, and only ate horses for a living.
Zhao Hui, as a seven-foot boy, once a donkey horse, his political future is ruined, and he can only be a vassal of the princess for life, without any personal dignity, which man can endure such a life?
In 1433, as soon as Princess Baoqing died, Zhao Hui released himself like a wild horse that had lost its reins. The "History of Ming" records that Zhao Hui "had a good family and a good wife, and his concubines reached more than a hundred people." ”
Zhao Hui not only connived at the private occupation of the people's land by relatives, but also summoned "zigong people" at home. What is even more lamentable is that Zhao Hui actually took more than a hundred concubines after the princess's death! #历史 #
