She was born ordinary, but she lived an extraordinary life. Her mother was expensive, but she never "protected her calves" like other mothers. She was the famous "Tiger Mother" of the Ming Dynasty, and she was also a strange woman who combined beauty and wisdom - Empress Li.
Born into a commoner family, Li entered the Yu Dynasty palace as a palace maid at the age of 15 and served Zhu Zaiyi (Ming Muzong). It is said that she is very beautiful, a first-class beauty in the palace, and the city government is very deep. After two years in the Yu Dynasty, she gave birth to a third son, Zhu Yijun, for Zhu Zaiyuan, and was promoted to a side concubine.
In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing (1566), Emperor Ming died, and he passed the throne to Zhu Zaigao. Since Zhu Zaiyuan's eldest son Zhu Yilei and second son Zhu Yiling both died prematurely, Zhu Yijun was made crown prince, and Li Shi was naturally promoted to noble concubine, and her status was second only to that of empress.
What he never expected was that the short-lived Zhu Zaiyuan had been the crown prince for more than ten years, but he had only been emperor for six years before he died. After Zhu Zaiyuan's death, his 10-year-old son Zhu Yijun succeeded to the throne, and as soon as he took office, he honored Empress Chen with her birth mother Li Guifei as empress dowager.
Because Empress Chen had always been unpopular in the palace, Li's influence was obviously far greater than that of Empress Chen. Of course, the two sisters got along very well. Under the teachings of Empress Li, the emperor also had great respect for Empress Chen.
In just over a decade, Li Shi went from an unknown little palace girl to an empress dowager.
As the empress dowager, she did not command because she was in a high position, but instead kept the whole country in good order and harmony. Even if his son has become emperor, his education is not ambiguous.
Once, Zhu Yijun drank too much wine at the Xicheng Qu feast, and after the rise, he ordered the waiter to sing the latest little song to him to help him. After being rejected by the internal servant, Zhu Yijun wanted to take his life, but fortunately the attendants dissuaded him, and the internal servant was spared death.
But the matter is not over here, the young and crazy Zhu Yijun is very naughty. He felt that the sin of death was avoidable, the sin of living could not be escaped, and since he could not kill him, he had to vent his anger. Finally, Zhu Yijun laughed and scolded him while ordering someone to cut off his hair as punishment.
Empress Li was very angry when she learned of this, and she ordered the eunuch to send a message to zhang Juzheng, the first assistant, asking him to advise the emperor, and she herself drafted a royal seal for the emperor to repent of his immoral behavior.
Not only that, Empress Li also summoned her son to kneel, and counted his mistakes, and the tone was extremely harsh. When the son saw that his mother was so angry, he realized that he was wrong, and he cried and begged his mother for forgiveness, and it took a long time before he received her forgiveness.
Empress Li was an unusual woman, who was not only quite strict with her son's education, but also very shrewd and strong in military affairs. She entrusted the important affairs of the military state to the first assistant Zhang Juzheng to take care of, and spared no effort to support him in implementing various reforms.
With the full support of Empress Li, Zhang Juzheng smoothly implemented reform measures such as the "One Whip Law" and the "Examination Law", which revitalized the national strength and made the rule of officials a new one. At this point, Empress Li received unanimous praise from later generations.
However, Empress Li's excessive trust in Zhang Juzheng also laid the foundation for his later years. And the son she had painstakingly cultivated could not become a generation of Ming Emperors, not even a qualified emperor.
In the sixth year of the Wanli Calendar (1578), Empress Li returned to Cining Palace and handed over the government to her adult son. However, this baby performed well in the early stage, and then directly neglected her duties, and did not go to the DPRK for 28 years, making a good country a miasma.
The emperor's achievement of this may be the consequence of Empress Li's "chicken baby". But this man! Once he chooses to fall, the immortals can't save him, so what can the mother do with him? She's done her best.
