In the love story of the Ming Emperor, the most famous should be the Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, who fell in love with the sister and brother of the noble concubine Wan Zhen'er.
But in fact, among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, there is a relatively infatuated, or has staged an affair.
It was the harem love story staged by Emperor Jingtai of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Qiyu, and Li Xi'er, a fireworks woman of the Jiaofang Division.
So where did this Li Xi'er come from, why did he appear in Zhu Qiyu's harem, and what was the final fate?
1. Why does fireworks Li Xi'er appear in the harem?
Emperor Zhu Qiyu of the Ming Dynasty was not low in history, especially after the change of Tumu Fort, which turned against the wind and avoided the tragedy of the Ming Dynasty like the Southern Song Dynasty.
Moreover, Zhu Qiyu's performance in private morality was not bad, and there were not many empress concubines in his harem, leaving only 5 records.
Two of them were still empresses, that is, the original Empress Wang, and the birth mother of the crown prince Zhu Jianji, Empress Hang, and there were only 3 concubines.
One of them has a more special birth, that is, Li Xi'er, who has not left any title in the history books, which is probably related to Li Xi'er's origin.
According to the pitiful records of Li Xi'er, we don't even know when she entered the palace, it is speculated that it should be the fifth year of Jingtai.
Not only are there very few records set by Li Xi'er, but in fact, there are few records left by other concubines of Emperor Daizong.
Because after the restoration of Emperor Mingying's Zhu Qizhen, he devoted himself to obliterating the existence of Emperor Daizong Zhu Qiyu.
So we can only speculate based on a few words.
In the first month of the first year of the Tianshun year after the restoration of Emperor Mingyingzong, zuo Sile Jinrong, an official of the Sect Department, and Chen Yi, an official of the Zhonggu Division, were killed.
The reason was the revelation within the Sect Department that the two of them had flattered and intended to gain wealth during Zhu Qiyu's succession.
Even the matter of driving out the harem of the selection of fireworks women.
"Jing Taizhong, Rong YiYi, Yi Chengzhi TongRong, And Li Xi'er, the daughter of The Chosen Ji, successively entered the palace." (Records of Emperor Ming Yingzong)
That is to say, during the reign of Emperor Jingtai, Jin Rong's flattering service to Chen Yi was both favored by Zhu Qiyu.
Subsequently, Chen Yi and Jin Rong adhered to Zhu Qiyu's will, carefully selected fireworks Li Xi'er and others, and sent them to the palace to serve Zhu Qiyu.
It can be seen that not only Li Xi'er was sent to the palace, but Li Xi'er's origin is indeed fireworks, which is somewhat disgraceful.
However, it is said that Li Xi'er was born in Jiangnan fireworks, and only after he was exiled into the city was sent to the palace because of his talent, which is somewhat of an element of evolution.
There is no historical record of Li Xi'er's life, and other contemporaneous sources only use fireworks to defame her when mentioning her.
However, there are records that he was born in the Ministry of Education.
"Emperor Jing's chuxing taught Li Xi'er." ("Wan LiYe Won Editor: The Lord's Outer Concubine")
However, the Ming Dynasty's teaching department is indeed not a good place to go, this is generally the place where the children of criminal subjects are distributed, and the bad point is the fireworks place of the official family.
Although there are many good family women here, most of them are engaged in fireworks, no matter what Li Xi'er's previous origin is, but when she enters the teaching department, she is not a clean person.
This is also the main reason for the indiscriminate disparagement of many materials related to her origins.
Li Xi'er, who did not know why he had fallen into the Teaching Department, was given the opportunity to enter the palace to serve Zhu Qiyu on the recommendation of Chen Yi, an official of the Sect Division, and others.
This should be one of the few flipping cases among the women of the Church Division.
2. Zhu Qiyu was extremely fond of him
After Li Xi'er entered the palace in the late Jingtai period, although the main deeds lacked records, it could still be seen that Zhu Qiyu was favored by her.
However, it is not from Li Xi'er's own canonization, because there is no trace of her title in the historical data, and I do not know why she was canonized as a concubine.
But her brother, Ang Lee, did.
At the latest in July of the seventh year of Jingtai, Zhu Qiyu ordered Li An to be an official, and the reason was because of Li Xi'er's favor.
"Li An, the man who ordered the man, was a hundred households guarded by Jinyi, and ann sister was sorry for her, and she was fortunate to be a servant of the self-taught fangsi, so she had a fate." (Records of Emperor Ming Yingzong)
Because Li Xi'er was deeply favored in serving Zhu Qiyu, his brother Li An followed and was appointed as the official of the Jinyi Wei Hundred Households.
Regardless of whether this official position holds real power or not, at least Ang Lee's identity has been promoted, because his previous identity was a "handsome person".
It can be seen that Li An should also be a male music worker from the Teaching Workshop Division, and his status is basically on a horizontal line with Li Xi'er, and it is said that there is no day to start.
According to this speculation, Li Xi'er and Li An's origins are really not good, and the sisters and brothers are mixed in the teaching department.
It is more likely that their family is a sinner.
However, Li An's good fortune did not end, and after Li An entered the Jinyi Wei Hundred Households, he was rewarded by Zhu Qiyu less than a month later.
"With the former eunuch Li De, the Lingfu Temple and the garden, li an incense courtyard was given to the hundred households of Jinyi Wei as an incense temple." (Records of Emperor Ming Yingzong)
A month ago, he was given an official position, and a month later, he was given real estate, which shows that Li Xi'er was like a fish in the harem, and Zhu Qiyu was full of joy.
The records of Li Xi'er and Li An basically appear in the seventh year of Jingtai, that is, the year before Zhu Qiyu's death.
If Li Xi'er entered the palace in the fifth year of Jingtai, it can be seen that she was not valued at first, because there were other sect leaders who followed the fireworks into the palace.
The pressure of Li Xi'er's competition for favors was still very great, until Jingtai was in the first line when he was seven years old, and he let his brother Li An change his life against the sky.
Just two months after Li An was rewarded with the Incense Academy, Zhu Qiyu once again knighted Li An, and this good luck could not be stopped.
"Li An and Sun Zhen, who are the deputy thousand households of the Shengjin Yiwei Hundred Households, still have a salary." (Records of Emperor Ming Yingzong)
From jinyi wei hundred households to deputy thousand households, then the day when Li An was promoted to a thousand households is still far away?
Just from Ang Lee's promotion path alone, it can be seen that Zhu Qiyu's favor for Li Xi'er is not blown, because Zhu Qiyu is really too good for Li An.
There is no harm in this kind of thing without comparison.
Zhu Qiyu's second empress, Hangshi, not only gave birth to Zhu Qiyu the crown prince Zhu Jianji, but also served as empress for four years.
However, while she was alive, Empress Hang's brother Hang Min was not granted an official and a half-post by Zhu Qiyu; it was not until after Empress Hang's death that Hang Min was given the title of Jinyi Wei Hundred Households by Zhu Qiyu.
It can be seen that Li Chen, because of his sister Li Xi'er's favor, mixed better than the serious uncle of the country.
Zhu Qiyu's feelings for Li Xi'er were definitely not blown.
3. What is the fate of Li Xi'er?
If there is no accident, Li Xi'er and Ang Lee should have a good ending, but in the end there was an accident.
Because Emperor Mingzong Zhu Qiyu's health was not good, and he was also restored by Emperor Mingying Zhu Qizhen, the fate of Emperor Ming was very bad.
That Li Xi'er's fate was naturally not much better.
Li Xi'er's favor and Li An's sealing occurred in the seventh year of Jingtai, and the town of Zhuqi had been restored in the eighth year of Jingtai, and the happy time of Emperor Jingtai and Li Xi'er should not be long.
It's just over a year.
After the restoration of Zhu Qi Town, Zhu Qiyu and his former courtiers were liquidated, and the harem was naturally in liquidation.
However, Li Xi'er's exposure was still quite late, and it was not until the Sect Department exposed the official Chen Yi that Zhu Qizhen did not know about Li Xi'er.
As for the officials involved, Chen Yi and Jin Rong, Zhu Qizhen tortured them under the Jinyi Wei Zhao prison, and then ordered them to be executed.
This is not to say that they were guilty of choosing fireworks for the emperor, but only because they were flattered by the Jingtai Emperor, which was equivalent to standing against Zhu Qizhen.
Naturally, they will not be able to escape this fate.
"The treacherous villain, when it comes to the desire to be rich and noble, is so, si li supervises his daughter (referring to Li Xi'er) to give his relatives. Rong, Yi, etc. under the Jinyi guards tortured the interrogation. (Records of Emperor Ming Yingzong)
Zhu Qizhen executed the officials involved, but for the heroine Li Xi'er, he only ordered her to be expelled from the palace.
Judging from this account, Li Xi'er should have other relatives besides his brother Li An.
In April of the first year of Tianshun, Emperor Mingying again dealt with Liu Jing, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, because of his flattery towards Emperor Jingtai.
Referring to Liu Jing's charges, there is one:
"The prostitute Li Xi'er, JingTaijian was fortunate to enter the palace, and he respected his family." (Records of Emperor Ming Yingzong)
Liu Jing, who was the commander of the Jinyi Guard, actually had very close contact with Li Xi'er's family, which showed that Li Xi'er's family power had risen.
However, this "family" may also refer to his brother Li An, after all, Li An is also a Jinyiwei official, and Liu Jing wants to marry Li Xi'er through his foreign relative Li An, and then get the promotion of Emperor Jingtai.
The history books for Li Xi'er's fate, until the expulsion from the palace is over, so the end is not too bad.
Because Emperor Jingtai's other concubines were forced to be martyred, such as Tang Guifei, who was deeply loved by Zhu Qiyu, she was forced to be buried by Emperor Jingtai because she had no children and no daughters.
According to this speculation, although Li Xi'er was favored in the later period of Jingtai, she was indeed not crowned as a concubine, and she did not conceive children.
Even because she was too poor and lowly, even Zhu Qizhen did not bother to liquidate her, but instead expelled her from the palace to show mercy.
Of course, it is also possible to leave this living mouth, let the subjects all see Zhu Qiyu spoil the fireworks and corrupt private morality, and smear Zhu Qiyu as much as possible.
Regardless of what kind of consideration Zhu Qizhen was, anyway, Li Xi'er was lucky to escape, and her brother Li An was not dealt with.
"His brother Li An was given a brocade robe, a bounty was given to Tian Zhao, and the Later Rui Emperor was restored, and An only shu was killed." ("Wan LiYe Won Editor: The Lord's Outer Concubine")
Li An was only deposed, and Zhu Qizhen was indeed merciful to her Li Xi'er sister and brother, which was really intriguing enough.
After that, the record of Li Xi'er was basically gone, and whether she was from Liang or did her old job after she left the palace, then only she herself knew.
However, later generations did criticize Zhu Qiyu's private morality because of Li Xi'er's affairs, which may be what Zhu Qizhen wanted.
(A word of family, seek common ground while reserving differences, thank you for reading)