Among the emperors of the past dynasties, there were very few emperors who only married one woman in their lifetime, and Emperor Xiaozong of Ming was one of them.
In February 1487, Emperor Xiaozong married Zhang Shi, and in the same year Emperor Xiaozong succeeded to the throne, and Zhang Shi was officially made empress. After that, Emperor Xiaozong and Empress Zhang were like a folk couple, the two of them got up and slept together, talked about the past and the present, read poems and paintings, listened to the piano and watched dances, and shared day and night.
Empress Zhang was happy and was favored by all the emperors of a generation. For her sake, Emperor Xiaozong never took a concubine or a concubine again, and was also very good to her mother's family.
The harem beauty is like a cloud, and the practice of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youfan is very puzzling, what is the reason why he only marries one wife?
01 Early childhood experience
Ming Xiaozong experienced very difficult times when he was a child, which can be described as nine deaths.
His mother, Ji Shi, was originally the daughter of Tusi of the Guangxi Ji surname, and in the second year of Chenghua, after the Ji rebellion was quelled, the Ji clan was captured in the court and was responsible for managing the emperor's private money. Later, Ming Xianzong occasionally met her, saw that she was quite talented and young and beautiful, and was fortunate to meet her on a whim. Afterwards, Kishi became pregnant.
According to historical records, after Wan Guifei of the favored harem learned of it, she sent a palace maid to have an abortion for Ji's family, and the palace maid could not bear to do it, and came back to lie about the situation, and Wan Guifei demoted Ji to the cold palace.
Later, Ji Shi secretly gave birth to Zhu Youfan, and When Princess Wan Guifei found out, she sent the eunuch Zhang Min to drown the new crown prince. As a result, the little prince Fu had a great life, and Zhang Min also spared him, and helped Ji Shi hide the little prince in the Anle Hall and secretly raise him.
After a few years, After the death of the two princes, Zhu Jianshen was almost thirty years old, still childless, anxious and helpless in his heart, just happened to hear Zhang Min say that he already had a son, and was surprised and happy, and immediately met Zhu Youfan, and at the end of the year he made him crown prince.
At that time, Zhu Youfan was born with a deficiency, he was thin and thin, and his fetal hair was never shaved, and his identity was not told to the world until he was six years old. Soon after, his mother died, and according to the Ming Shi, Ji was killed by Wan Guifei.
Later, Zhu Youfan was fortunate to be protected and cared for by Empress Zhou and escaped the persecution of Wan Guifei. However, his father, Zhu Jianshen, almost listened to Wan Guifei's words and deposed him as crown prince.
Zhu Youfan grew up in the cold palace as a child, almost lost his life, ate a hundred meals and grew up, and then his mother died violently, and the position of prince was almost lost, and his father did not care much about him. For the jealousy between concubines and the struggle between the palace, he had a very deep understanding and had a pain in his skin.
Perhaps Zhu Youfan was already tired of harem battles and did not want to have too many concubines.
From the perspective of personality, Zhu Youfan had a mild temper, was deeply influenced by Confucianism, and had little interest in the affairs of men and women.
02 Emperor Xiaozong almost took a concubine
For the emperor, heirs are very important, if the emperor wants to recruit concubines, usually the ministers will not object, sometimes even the ministers are more anxious than the emperor, busy helping Zhang Luo to select concubines.
In February of the second year of Koji, Zhu Youfan was 20 years old. An official named Guo Yong (郭镛) of the Imperial Horse Guard went up to the court and requested the pre-selection of ladies, and after the three-year mourning period of the former emperor, two women were selected as concubines.
It was originally a very good thing, but at this time, someone interjected, and a waiter from the Hanlin Academy, Xie Qianjin, said: The emperor should choose a concubine, but the three-year mourning period of Emperor Mingxian Zhu Jianshen has not yet passed, how can he forget? The tomb of the former emperor is not yet completed, and the grass hut where the emperor lives is still new, so it is not appropriate to talk about the selection of concubines now!
In ancient times, there was a system of keeping filial piety for three years, whether it was an official or an emperor, it was necessary to abide by it. During the period of official observance, according to the Daming law, they could not drink alcohol and eat meat, could not have fun, could not have sex and enter or leave the public gate.
In the early years, before the death of Emperor Mingyingzong, Zhu Jianshen had not yet married, and Emperor Yingzong took this into account and specially left a last word before his death, ordering Zhu Jianshen to marry three months after his death.
Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, who claimed to rule the world with filial piety, once set a three-year system for his father to keep filial piety: three years without ringing bells and drums, not subject to pilgrimage, and wearing plain clothes in the palace on the first and fifteenth day of each month. Therefore, since Xie Qian had spoken, the matter of choosing a lady to prepare for a concubine was shelved.
He couldn't blame Xie Qian for this, how could he have expected that Ming Xiaozong would only marry one wife? If he had known that a casual sentence had changed the history of the middle and late Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that he would not have spoken much when he was killed.
According to Xie Qian's meaning, instead of forbidding Emperor Ming to choose a lady, he asked the emperor to do it slowly, which was also reasonable. However, after a moment's hesitation, he missed the best time to choose a concubine for the emperor.
At that time, Ming Xiaozong and Empress Zhang did not have a long marriage time, and their feelings were not very deep, and Empress Zhang did not give birth to a son or daughter in the four years after marriage. Originally, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming agreed to the selection of the lady, but after Xie Qian came, the ministers repeatedly advised him to take a concubine, and Emperor Xiaozong ignored it, that is, did not refute or obey.
Emperor Xiaozong of Ming only married one Empress Zhang, and the result was that there was only one son, Zhu Houzhao, and Zhu Houzhao was absurd after succeeding to the throne, leaving no son, and finally The line of Emperor Ming Xiaozong was severed, and it was really regrettable that such a saintly emperor had his heirs cut off!
Jiao Fang, who edited the Records of Emperor Xiaozong, was quite critical of Xie Qian, believing that he was trying to please Empress Zhang of the Middle Palace at that time, but I think this seems a bit far-fetched.
03 Emperor Ming Xiaozong paid attention to family affection and was devoted to Empress Zhang
Empress Zhang had a lively personality, and historical records called her "arrogant".
Emperor Ming died of a short life span, only to the age of 36. He married at the age of eighteen and spent eighteen years with Empress Zhang, during which was also the most beautiful age for Empress Zhang. Emperor Xiaozong was a diligent emperor who was like-minded with Empress Zhang and did not have the time and energy to manage another relationship.
Judging from various historical materials, there is no doubt that Ming Xiaozong was deeply in love with Empress Zhang, and in addition to being young and beautiful, Empress Zhang was also his spiritual companion. He not only loved Empress Zhang very much, but also treated her two younger brothers very well, cleaning up a lot of mess for the asshole brother-in-law, so that he was criticized.
Emperor Xiaozong experienced ups and downs since childhood, lacking the comfort of family affection, and after he succeeded to the throne, he sent people to Guangxi to search for his mother's relatives, and he was deceived for this. Emperor Mingxianzong once wanted Yi Chu and made the emperor's fourth son Zhu Youqi the crown prince, and after Emperor Ming xiaozong succeeded to the throne, he did not care about his previous suspicions, treated his brothers very well, and even treated Zhu Youcang, who almost took his throne, very kindly.
It can be seen above that Ming Xiaozong attaches great importance to family affection, and Empress Zhang happens to be the first woman he has fallen in love with, and when he identified Empress Zhang in his heart, he was determined to remain unswerving throughout his life.
Empress Zhang was "jealous", and perhaps Emperor Xiaozong did not want to make her sad, so he shelved the matter of Concubine Na.
Emperor Ming Xiaozong only married one wife in his lifetime, which does not mean that he did not have other women, which is recorded in wild histories such as the Records of Sin, the Compilation of Wan Li Ye, and the Aftermath of the Reign of the World.
In the previous article, I wrote about the mystery of the life of Zhu Houzhao, the son of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, according to many historical sources, Zhu Houzhao was born to Zheng Jinlian and was adopted by Empress Zhang as his own.
In the early years, Empress Dowager Zhou saw that Emperor Xiaozong had no children for several years after marriage, and found two beauties, Zheng and Zhao, to serve him. Although Emperor Xiaozong was cold to the two beauties, under the pressure of Empress Dowager Zhou, he still blessed them. Later, Zheng Jinlian gave birth to Zhu Houzhao, and Emperor Xiaozong of Ming was worried that Empress Zhang would be angry, and Empress Zhou said that it would not be enough to let Empress Zhang adopt.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao's life, Zhengshi will not admit it, after all, the "Ming Shilu" was written by the Zhu family, and the "Ming Shi" was mostly written according to the "Ming Shilu", but it also mentioned Zhu Houzhao's life, because this matter was very noisy at the time, and everyone knew it.
Although the Records of Sin, the Compilation of Wanli Ye, and the Aftermath of the Reign of the World are wild histories, they are still important supplementary materials to the history of the canon and occupy a very important position in the field of historiography.
Some historical records record that Emperor Xiaozong of Ming had five wives, but they were of a very low rank and were not formal wives.
Emperor Xiaozong and Empress Zhang had a deep affection, lived together every day, and had a special room for Empress Zhang, and there should be no time to spoil these people.
In short, Emperor Ming xiaozong only married one wife in his life, mainly because of the many disasters and difficulties in his childhood, and he deeply resented the deceit of the harem and lacked the comfort of family affection. Once he felt the comfort of affection from Empress Zhang, he felt cherished. In addition, Empress Zhang was jealous, and Emperor Xiaozong was very devoted to her and did not want to make her sad. If Emperor Xiaozong had taken concubines, in the second year of Hongzhi, if Xie Qian had not inserted a lever, perhaps he would have accepted them.
Text: Ten Mile Osmanthus (Follow me and tell you more interesting historical stories.) Originality is not easy, unauthorized please do not reprint, violators will be investigated! ）