Preface
In the feudal dynasty, it was a very common thing to be friendly, and those princesses who were close to each other, after going to the place where they wanted to be close, almost never returned to the place where they grew up.
However, what makes people wonder is that many of those princesses who are close to each other do not have their own heirs after marrying the Xiongnu, which is mainly because of a bad habit on the Xiongnu side......
Happy to marry a princess
In history, it is a very common thing for the Central Plains Dynasty to make peace with ethnic minorities, and the main reason for this is because the Central Plains Dynasty needs to stabilize the forces of those ethnic minorities.
For those nomads, the Central Plains Dynasty is definitely a treasure of feng shui, where people have a fixed place to live, and as long as they work hard enough, their lives can be guaranteed.
The nomadic people have no fixed place to live, and the living environment is very harsh, in the harsh environment, they must be physically strong, and learn certain skills, they can survive in the harsh conditions.
Therefore, there is indeed a certain gap between the physical strength of the people of the Central Plains Dynasty and the nomads, and sometimes, some nomads will go to the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty to plunder when they are very poor.
The nomads are good at riding and shooting, so they generally run away as soon as they finish grabbing, which makes the people of the Central Plains Dynasty feel very angry and have no choice but to consider themselves unlucky.
In ancient society, some dynasties had no way to face those nomads head-on because of the limitations of national strength, so the Central Plains Dynasty could only choose the way that seemed to sacrifice the least to maintain the balance on the surface.
Since they coveted the wealth of the Central Plains Dynasty so much, the Central Plains Dynasty chose another way to send them wealth, and the princess and relatives had a lot of benefits.
One is that the princess is mainly a relative, whether it is because of politics or because of face, the princess's dowry will not be less, but this is only material wealth, and some wealth is intangible.
The technology of the Central Plains Dynasty is an intangible wealth, and some books about technology, as well as the craftsmen brought by the princess when she married, can bring great changes to their lives.
For this kind of good thing sent to the door, they naturally will not refuse, so they are naturally willing to marry the princess.
The customs of the Huns
However, if the Central Plains Dynasty marries a princess, sometimes it will not use the real princess, after all, the real princess is the emperor's child, delicate and expensive, and the emperor is reluctant to go to the territory of the Huns to suffer.
But someone has to do it, so the emperor thought of a way, that is, to make a clan girl a princess, so that the clan girl is a princess, and she can go to kiss.
Of course, these are not absolute, there may be real princesses who marry the Huns, but the possibility of this is very small, when the team of relatives embarks on the trip, it means that they have embarked on a road of no return.
The journey to the Xiongnu is very long, because she has lived in the Central Plains Dynasty for a long time, so the long journey is a challenging thing for the princess.
When the princess arrives at the place, she will transmit some of the technology of the Central Plains Dynasty to the Xiongnu, and the princess also needs to integrate into the life of the Xiongnu.
However, for the princess, this is indeed a very difficult thing, because the life habits of the princess are completely different from those of the Huns, even if it is the diet, it is very different.
Nomads have nothing else, that is, there is a lot of meat, the Central Plains Dynasty, pay attention to the combination of meat and vegetables, but these living habits are okay, the customs of the Xiongnu are not only princesses, but even modern people sound unacceptable.
Because the living environment is really bad, the mortality rate of Xiongnu babies after birth is also very high, so in order to ensure the continuation of their own ethnic group, the Xiongnu have a rule, that is, the father and wife succeed, and the brother dies to marry the sister-in-law.
In the Central Plains society, if such a thing is done, it will be instructed by 10,000 people, and if they really want to do such a thing, they also need to be mentally prepared and then accept the results.
But for the Huns, such things were very common, and the education that the princesses received in the Central Plains Dynasty was very orthodox, so they would feel that such customs were unethical.
Maybe they can't even pass the level in their hearts, but in that environment, they have no choice but to be pushed.
Wang Zhaojun, the famous princess in history, was married to a father and son, these three people are still three generations of grandchildren, and the cause of Wang Zhaojun's death is also a mystery, according to historical data, Wang Zhaojun may have died because of years of psychological pressure.
Why don't you let the princess have a baby?
There is a very important reason why the Xiongnu did not let the princess give birth to a child, that is, if the princess gave birth to a child, this child would not pose a threat to her rule.
After all, the child's mother is Han, so the child's body is also half of the Han blood, if the Central Plains Dynasty wants to meddle in the power of the Xiongnu, wouldn't it be much easier?
The Central Plains Dynasty naturally knows this truth, if the princess gives birth to a child, the Central Plains Dynasty will stand behind the child and support the child's ascension.
When this child takes power in the future, this child's heart is naturally more towards the Central Plains Dynasty, so no matter what, it is very dangerous to let the princess give birth to a child.
But if the princess is pregnant, the leader of the Huns will also try to get the princess to take out the child!
In fact, there are more important reasons for this, that is, these princesses have some physical or psychological problems due to changes in their living environment.
What's more, those princesses who are close to each other are not very old, and they are naturally not very good at some things that compete for favor, and as women of the Central Plains Dynasty, they also have their own insistence.
Some princesses will feel that they are from the original and represent civilization, so they disdain to compete for favor with the wives and concubines of the Hun leaders, which is the idea of the princesses, and there are certain problems on the Hun leaders' side.
The leaders of the Xiongnu are not necessarily all young, they may also be very old, in this case, even if they want to have a child of their own, it is a difficult thing.
Resources:
【1】昭君出塞”中南匈奴视角下的民族融合实践 j.cnki.cn51-1729/g4.2023.04.005。
【2】和亲公主后代研究 d.cnki.gytdu.2023.000824