In fact, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi originally had no chance to take the throne, after all, his father Zhu Youqi was the fourth son of Xianzong, although the first two princes of Xianzong died, but there was a third son Zhu Youji, according to the ancestral system of "there is a grandson, no grandson is long", Zhu Youqi will not be on the throne, even if his biological mother Shao Guifei is favored again.
However, because Xianzong favored Shao Guifei, he did want to abolish the crown prince of the third son Zhu Youzhu and canonize Zhu Youji, the son of the favorite concubine, as the crown prince. However, this move was opposed by the Manchu civil and military forces, after all, there was no such precedent in the Ming Dynasty, and even among the many vassal kings, there was no precedent for "having the eldest son or concubine, and letting the second son or concubine" succeed to the throne.
Xianzong had no choice but to give up, Zhu Youqi did not inherit the throne in order, and his son naturally missed the throne.
Maybe even Zhu Youqi himself didn't expect that he would be posthumously crowned emperor after his death, and the god card would be able to enjoy the Taimiao, and enjoy the same treatment as the emperor who inherited the throne. And all this is because his son Emperor Jiajing, Zhengde sixteen years Wuzong (Xianzong's grandson, Xiaozong's eldest son) died of illness, Wuzong has neither a prince nor a brother, according to the ancestral system, can only choose a cousin from the close branch "brother to brother" to inherit the throne.
And Zhu Youqi, as the fourth son of Xianzong, his son is the most suitable candidate.
And Zhu Houxi is the only adult son-in-law of Zhu Youqi, so he is naturally the most qualified to inherit the throne.
In this way, Zhu Houxi, who was only 14 years old, was taken to the capital and officially ascended the throne, known as Ming Shizong in history, and the year name Jiajing.
Emperor Jiajing was very intelligent since he was a child, and he could remember the poems by reciting them several times; when he was a little older, he studied ancient books and was well versed in the way of self-cultivation and family rule; not only that, Emperor Jiajing was very proficient in etiquette and norms under the cultivation of his father since he was a child.
Zhu Youqi cultivated his son so carefully, and also hoped that his son could become a virtuous vassal king;
However, an emperor was "inadvertently" raised.
Emperor Jiajing reigned for forty-five years, and he was indeed a qualified emperor at the beginning:
Not only did he clarify some of the malpractices of Wu Zong's time, but also reactivated those officials who were dismissed by slander
Tax reduction
Implement a new policy and strictly control eunuchs
The selection of talents attaches great importance to character and ability
Severely punish corrupt officials, and return the land and property of the emperor's relatives to the people
.....
However, from the middle of Emperor Jiajing's reign, he began to ignore the government and seek Taoism. For more than 20 years, he did not go to court, so that the traitor Yan Song had the opportunity to control the government, and the Ming Dynasty began to decline.
At the beginning of Sejong's reign, he tried his best to eliminate all maladministrations, and the world was ruled in a state of flux. Gu Die's big gift, public opinion boiled, Xingchen pretended to be in prison..... And advocating Taoism, enjoying the Buddhist scriptures, building prosperous, the government is scarce, and the industry of more than 100 years of prosperity and peace has been gradually replaced.
And as the queen of the world, she is the most directly affected. During his forty-five years of reign, he had four queens (one of whom was posthumously). Among the more than 20 empresses of the Ming Dynasty, the empress of Emperor Jiajing can be said to have the most tragic ending:
One was so frightened that he had a miscarriage and died
One was deposed and died in the cold palace
One is not favored, and his son is not allowed to serve three years of mourning for him after his death
In this article, let's take a look: What happened to the four queens of Emperor Jiajing?
01 The queen who died of miscarriage
The first empress of Emperor Jiajing was Empress Chen of Xiaojiesu, Chen was a native of the Daimyo Mansion, and her father was Chen Wanyan, a Xiucai of the Daimyo Mansion. In the first year of Jiajing, Chen participated in the draft, and was elected to the palace by Emperor Jiajing because of his good appearance, and was named the queen of the main palace in September of this year.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, most of the candidates for both queens and concubines were from relatively low backgrounds, just to prevent relatives from interfering in politics. In this way, the show girls cannot compare their family background, but only their talents. Chen's beautiful appearance has become the most outstanding of the show girls
This year, Chen was only 15 years old.
In fact, the Chen family was still more favored after being named the queen, but Chen's background was not high after all, and his mother's family could not rely on him, so he could only rely on the favor of Emperor Jiajing to stabilize his position. Therefore, for the Chen family, if they want to keep their position as queen, they need Emperor Jiajing to spoil themselves all the time, and they can't let their harem have a favorite concubine like Wan Guifei (Xianzong's Wan Guifei). If this is the case, it will be difficult to preserve his posteriority.
However, there are 3,000 beauties in the harem, and it is still difficult for the Chen family to be favored. It is very likely that "if you accidentally lose all the games", and Chen only spent 7 years in the back position, he ended up with a "lose" ending, and also lost the lives of himself and the child in the womb.
In the seventh year of Jiajing, Chen was pregnant when she was 21 years old. In the spring of this year, Emperor Jiajing was sitting and drinking tea with Empress Chen, and it happened that Concubine Zhang Shun and Concubine Wen Gong came to drink tea together, and Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but look at the hands of the two concubines. This move caused Chen to be jealous, and he was very angry, and he threw the quilt in his hand to the ground at once.
Emperor Jiajing was furious when he saw this, and Chen was frightened and had a miscarriage directly.
Moreover, after the miscarriage, the Chen family has been seriously ill, and Emperor Jiajing not only did not have mercy, but moved it directly out of the Kunning Palace, and even wanted to directly abolish the Chen family's throne, but when discussing with Yang Yiqing and other ministers, he was opposed by the ministers, the reason is: Empress Chen is seriously ill, and if she is deposed at this time, it will affect the reputation of the emperor.
In this way, Emperor Jiajing did not directly abolish the Chen family's throne.
In October of this year, Chen died of illness.
Emperor Jiajing was angry at that time, and did not bury the Chen family according to the specifications of the empress, the funeral was simple, and the Chen family was buried in Tianshou Mountain, where the imperial concubine and the crown prince were buried. Although some courtiers advised him, Emperor Jiajing refused to listen to anyone.
In the fifteenth year of Jiajing, Chen had died of illness for 8 years, and Emperor Jiajing at this time was no longer angry with Chen. Therefore, Xia Yan, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, played and changed Chen's nickname to "Queen Xiaojie".
After Mu Zong succeeded to the throne, according to Emperor Jiajing's will: Empress Fang and himself should be buried in the emperor's mausoleum. However, the courtiers played Muzong: Empress Xiaojie was the original match of Emperor Sejong, and she should be buried with Sejong and ascended to the temple. If Empress Fang and Emperor Jiajing are buried together in accordance with the will, it is to abandon the original match, and if the two queens are buried together in the imperial mausoleum, it is inappropriate. Sejong was attached to the temple, and Empress Xiaojie should be moved to Yongling to be buried with Sejong, and as for Empress Fang, her god tablet should be enshrined in other places.
"Empress Xiaojie, Emperor Daxing, should be buried in the temple. If you follow the will of the queen (Sejong's will wants to let Queen Fang temple), then she Yuan is matched, if the same is the same, then the second queen is also. When Emperor Daxing ascended to the throne, it was advisable to serve filial piety, move to the Yongling Tomb, and the lord of filial piety should be worshipped. ”
In this way, Chen was relocated to Yongling many years after his death.
No matter how angry Emperor Jiajing is with Chen, Chen is his wife after all, as long as Emperor Jiajing does not abolish Chen's throne, Chen, as the queen, has the qualification to be buried with Emperor Jiajing.
After Zhang was abolished
Zhang was the second empress of Emperor Jiajing and a native of Xinxiang, Henan. In 1522, he entered the palace through the draft with Chen and others, and Zhang was undoubtedly selected by beauty. In September of that year, Chen was named queen, while Zhang was named Shunfei, that is, Zhang Shunfei.
From the first year of Jiajing to the seventh year of Jiajing, the Zhang family has always been in the position of concubine.
In the seventh year of Jiajing, after Empress Chen died of illness, Zhang was named the successor. Zhang's father, "father and daughter", achieved the position of Jinyi's commander and allowed him to live in Fengcheng, Chang'an
It can be seen that Emperor Jiajing at this time was very fond of Zhang.
In the ninth year of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing wanted to restore the ancient rites - the silkworm ceremony, so he asked Zhang to take the harem concubines to the northern suburbs to feed silkworms;
It can be said that the Zhang family at this time not only has the favor of Emperor Jiajing, but also the prestige and status of the mother in the world.
However, Emperor Jiajing's character determined that Zhang's position was not destined to last long.
Sure enough, soon the Zhang family followed in the footsteps of Empress Chen, and was deposed in the first month of the thirteenth year of Jiajing and moved out of Kunning Palace.
The reason why Zhang was deposed as queen is not recorded in historical materials, but there is a theory that the reason why Zhang was deposed was because of Xiaozong's wife, Empress Xiao Kangjing. Empress Xiaokangjing is the only queen of Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youzhang, the only concubine in the harem, and the only lover of Xiaozong's life. Empress Xiaokangjing gave birth to two sons and one daughter for Xiaozong, but it is a pity that only the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Houzhao, grew up and inherited the throne.
Zhu Houzhao did not give birth to a prince during his sixteen-year reign, and after Zhu Houzhao died of illness, the Ming Dynasty had a break in the heir to the throne. can only be in accordance with the "Emperor Ming Zu Xun" "brother to brother and", and among all Zhu Houzhao's cousins, Zhu Houxi, the son of Xingxian Wang Zhu Youqi (the fourth brother of Xiaozong, Xiaozong is the third son of Emperor Xianzong), is the most suitable heir to the throne.
Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen: The era name is Chenghua
Ming Xiao Zong Zhu Yu Lang: Year Hongji
Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao: The era name is Zhengde
Ming Shizong Zhu Houxi: The year name is Jiajing
Ming Muzong Zhu Zaikun: The year name is Longqing
In this way, Empress Xiaokangjing sent someone to bring her nephew Zhu Houxi to the capital, that is, Emperor Jiajing. However, after succeeding to the throne, Emperor Jiajing had a biological mother, although he respected his uncle Xiaokangjing Empress as the queen mother, but he was not polite, and even called his aunt directly instead of the queen mother later.
Empress Xiaokangjing's two younger brothers have done many illegal things, and they were protected by Xiaozong and Wuzong (Zhu Houzhao) before, so naturally no one can do anything about it. But the reigning emperor at this time was Emperor Jiajing, the nephew of Empress Xiaokangjing, no matter how Empress Xiaokangjing pleaded, Emperor Jiajing just refused to forgive. Empress Xiaokangjing had no choice but to turn to Emperor Jiajing's empress (Zhang), who offended Emperor Jiajing and was deposed from the throne.
However, there is another saying about the abolition of the Zhang family: Emperor Jiajing was mean, and the Zhang family couldn't bear it, so he had a dispute with Emperor Jiajing because of some trivial matters. Emperor Jiajing was very angry and directly abolished the Zhang family's throne.
According to the character of Emperor Jiajing, both of these statements are possible.
Two years after Zhang's abolition, he died of illness. Emperor Jiajing decreed that the Zhang family would be buried in accordance with the burial specifications of the Wu family (the first queen of Xianzong, who was abolished for scolding Wan Guifei with a rod and buried with concubine specifications after death).
In the eighteenth year of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing restored the identity of Zhang's successor.
Empress Xiao Martyngang
Empress Fang is the third empress of Emperor Jiajing, a native of Jiangning (Nanjing), who entered the palace in the ninth year of Jiajing.
Emperor Jiajing has been on the throne for many years, but has not given birth to a prince, which is related to the issue of the heir to the throne, the courtiers are naturally anxious, so they persuaded Emperor Jiajing: in addition to canonizing the queen, it is necessary to establish six palaces, canonize three wives, nine concubines, twenty-seven wives, etc. The queen is in her prime, but she has not given birth to an heir, and the emperor is prosperous in the spring and autumn, and the harem should be enriched, so as to continue the heirs.
Emperor Jiajing accepted the minister's suggestion and drafted again, this time a total of nine were selected and canonized as concubines.
And Fang's is one of the nine concubines, Jiajing ten years and three years, Jiajing Emperor officially canonized the nine concubines, first to the temple, and then to the nine concubines in the Huagai Palace. After the canonization ceremony was completed, Emperor Jiajing took the Empress Zhang to worship the Fengxian Palace, and after the worship was completed, he accepted the worship of the ministers.
Because of his daughter's concubine, Fang's father Fang Derui was named the Jinyi Wei Zheng Qianhu of the five products.
In the thirteenth year of Jiajing, after the Zhang family's throne was abolished, the Fang family was made the queen.
After only three years in the palace, she was able to be named the queen, which shows the degree of favor of Emperor Jiajing for the Fang family, but favor does not mean that you will be able to stay in the back position, and Empress Chen and Empress Zhang are the best examples. So Queen Fang, will she follow in the footsteps of these two?
"The concubine Fang of the Advisory, from Qingmen, is a virtuous candidate, a virtuous person, a good character, and a good character...... With the golden book of Jinbao Lier as the queen. ”
According to the ancestral system, the canonization of the queen only needs to visit the ancestral temple in the palace, but this time the canonization of the Fang family as the queen, Emperor Jiajing not only took the Fang family to visit the ancestral temple, but also visited the temple, and announced to the world, the activity lasted for three days. After this closure, it is indeed extraordinary. From the post-sealing ceremony alone, it can be seen that the Fang family's status in the mind of Emperor Jiajing.
In the seventeenth year of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing posthumously named Fang's biological mother, Sun, as his wife;
In the nineteenth year of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing named his abbot Fang Rui as An Pingbo. The following year, he was made a marquis.
The reason why Emperor Jiajing successively promoted his father-in-law was also because of the Fang family's life-saving grace to Emperor Jiajing.
Those who know Emperor Jiajing should know that Emperor Jiajing was suspicious and violent by nature, moody, and the palace people who served in the palace were often punished. There were more than 200 people who were killed by Emperor Jiajing's cane, which made the palace people very afraid and hated Emperor Jiajing. In order to get rid of Emperor Jiajing, in the twenty-first year of Jiajing, under the instruction of Wang Ningfei and others, more than a dozen palace maids planned to strangle Emperor Jiajing to death while he was asleep.
This is the "Renyan Palace Change" during the Jiajing Dynasty.
It's a pity that the rope was tied into a dead knot, and Emperor Jiajing was not strangled to death for a while.
And the palace maid Yang Jinlian was frightened, so she hurried to tell the queen Fang. After the Fang clan arrived, he hurriedly untied the rope around Emperor Jiajing's neck, and Emperor Jiajing was saved.
Immediately afterwards, the Fang clan asked the eunuch Zhang Zuo to arrest all the palace people involved, because Emperor Jiajing was in Concubine Cao Duan's bedroom when the accident occurred, and Concubine Cao Duan was also implicated. Emperor Jiajing was too frightened to speak, so Fang, as the empress, directly ordered that Concubine Cao Duan, Concubine Wang Ning, Yang Jinlian and others all be executed, and all the relatives of these palace people were punished.
Concubine Cao Duan is quite beautiful, Emperor Jiajing loves her very much, and Concubine Cao Duanfei gave birth to two princesses for Emperor Jiajing.
But although this incident happened in Concubine Cao Duan's palace, Concubine Cao Duanfei did not know about it, and Emperor Jiajing only realized afterwards that he had wronged Concubine Cao Duan.
Fang reigned for 13 years, but did not give birth to a son and a half daughter for Emperor Jiajing, and died of illness in the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing.
Because of Fang's life-saving grace, Emperor Jiajing buried Fang's with the specifications of the original queen, and buried Yongling with himself, nicknamed "Empress Xiaolie". Moreover, Emperor Jiajing also planned to put Fang's divine tablet in the main hall and attach it to the temple, but this move was opposed by the scholar Yan Chong. After all, according to the Ming system, the Fang clan is the successor, and its god card should be placed in the side hall. Although Emperor Jiajing was reluctant, he could not violate the ancestral system.
In the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing, Fang's death had been three years, and Emperor Jiajing still wanted to attach Fang's family to the Taimiao; although Shangshu Xu Jie's and others objected, but finally Fang's divine tablet was placed in the ninth room of the Taimiao. Later, on the issue of Fang's death day sacrifice, Emperor Jiajing once again disagreed with the ministers, and Emperor Jiajing insisted on sacrificing according to the specifications of the original queen, but Fang's was the successor after all, and Yan Chong and others were naturally opposed. But seeing that Emperor Jiajing insisted so much, the ministers of the Ministry of Rites did not dare to oppose anymore, only the minister Yang Sizhong was still resolutely opposed.
And Yang Sizhong's move also offended Emperor Jiajing, and later he was severely scolded by Emperor Jiajing for the matter of congratulatory watches.
After the death of Emperor Jiajing, Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, and the Fang clan was enshrined in the Hongxiao Hall together with Empress Xiaojie Chen.
There is such a saying about Empress Fang's death: The Fang family was jealous of Concubine Cao Duan's favor, although they knew that the "Ren Yan Palace Change" had nothing to do with Concubine Cao Duan, but they got rid of Concubine Cao Duan with the help of this matter. Later, Emperor Jiajing learned that Concubine Cao Duan was wronged, so he hated the Fang family in his heart. Five years later, that is, in the twenty-sixth year of Emperor Jiajing, the Kunning Palace caught fire, and the Fang family was trapped. Emperor Jiajing did not intend to save the Fang clan, and the Fang clan was burned alive in the Kunning Palace.
In fact, most of this statement appears in the wild history, among the four queens of Emperor Jiajing, the most favored is still Fang's; if not, how could Fang's insist on letting Fang's be buried with him after his death, and attach a ceremony to the Taimiao?
The unfavored filial piety queen Du became the final winner
Du Shi was in the tenth year of Jiajing, and entered the palace with Queen Fang and Concubine Cao Duan, ranking at the end of the nine concubines, and was named Concubine Kang.
In the fifteenth year of Jiajing, Du was named Concubine Kang, and in the following year, he gave birth to Zhu Zaikun, the third son of Emperor Jiajing (Ming Muzong, year name Longwu). In fact, Zhu Zaikun, as the third son of Emperor Jiajing, had no chance to be named the crown prince, but the first two princes of Emperor Jiajing died of illness before Emperor Jiajing died, and Zhu Zaikun became the de facto eldest son.
Zhu Zaiji: The eldest son of Emperor Jiajing, his biological mother was Yan Guifei, who died soon after birth and was posthumously named Prince Aichong;
Zhu Zaili: The second son of Emperor Jiajing, his biological mother was Wang Guifei, born in the fifteenth year of Jiajing, and was named the prince in the eighteenth year of Jiajing, and died suddenly in the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing, only 14 years old, and was posthumously named Prince Zhuangjing.
When the second son Zhu Zaili was named the crown prince, the third son Zhu Zaizhen born to the Du family was named King Yu, and the fourth son Zhu Zaizhen born to Concubine Lu Jing was named King Jing. In the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing, Zhu Zaili, the prince of Zhuang Jing, died of illness, and according to the order, it should be that Zhu Zaili, the king of Yu, was named the prince. However, the Du family was not favored, and Emperor Jiajing never made a crown prince.
And King Jing Zhu Zaizhen also coveted the position of the crown prince, but it is a pity that King Jing died of illness in the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, and there was no child to remove the country.
In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing died of illness, and Zhu Zaikun, as the actual eldest son of Emperor Jiajing, although he was not named the crown prince, he was the most qualified to inherit the throne, known as Ming Muzong in history. After Zhu Zaikun inherited the throne, he posthumously crowned his biological mother Du Shi as Empress Xiaoke.
Du died of illness in the 33rd year of Jiajing, and after Du's death, the Ministry of Rites asked his son Zhu Zaikun to mourn for three years, which is also a reasonable thing. But the Du family was not favored, Emperor Jiajing did not agree, and the ministers did not dare to say anything.
After Mu Zong succeeded to the throne, he not only posthumously crowned his biological mother as the queen, but also moved her to Yongling and buried her with Emperor Jiajing.
In fact, before Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, according to the Ming system: only the emperor's original queen could be buried with the emperor in the emperor's mausoleum, unless the original queen was abolished, and then she was eligible to be buried with the emperor. For example, Ming Xuanzong, the original queen Hu Shanxiang was deposed, so it was the queen who was buried with Xuanzong.
However, starting from Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, the biological mother of the heir emperor can also be buried with the emperor in the emperor's mausoleum.
And this was won by Xianzong Zhu Jianshen's biological mother, Empress Xiaosu Zhou. Yingzong's wife is the filial piety of Queen Rui Qian, the love of Yingzong's life, but Qian has no heirs. Yingzong has no sons-in-law, so it is natural that the eldest son inherits the throne. Zhou's mother had the dignity of the queen mother by virtue of her son, and took advantage of the filial piety of her son Xianzong to be buried with Yingzong in the emperor's mausoleum.
Since the beginning of Empress Xiaosu Zhou, the Ming Dynasty allowed the emperor's biological mother to be buried with the emperor.
epilogue
Emperor Jiajing was suspicious and violent by nature, and such a character trait determined that it was not easy to be the empress of Emperor Jiajing.
Empress Chen: She is favored because of her beauty, but her position is not stable, after all, it is not a long-term solution to be favored by beauty, and there is no shortage of beautiful women in the harem. What's more, Empress Chen was jealous, and did not put her position right, she was jealous that Emperor Jiajing liked other concubines, and even made such a big fuss in front of Emperor Jiajing; how could Emperor Jiajing tolerate it?
So even if Empress Chen was pregnant, Emperor Jiajing did not intend to let it go, and even wanted to abolish the Chen family's throne.
After some shock, Chen not only lost the child in his womb, but also died of illness soon.
Empress Zhang: Empress Zhang was also favored by her beauty, and she was indeed favored by Emperor Jiajing for a short time, but she only served in the throne for six years, and finally died in the cold palace.
Empress Fang: Because of her favor, she was named the successor, and she also saved the life of Emperor Jiajing. After dying of illness, Emperor Jiajing wanted Empress Fang to enjoy the treatment of the original queen, and indeed gave Empress Fang such treatment; after Empress Fang died of illness, Emperor Jiajing did not establish a queen.
Empress Du: Empress Du is the least favored of the four queens, but because she gave birth to a prince, after her son inherited the throne, her mother was posthumously crowned queen by virtue of her son, and was buried with Emperor Jiajing. In this way, Queen Du can be regarded as the final winner among the four queens.