In the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627 AD), the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian, took the throne, with the era name Chongzhen.
There is a theory that the Chongzhen Emperor encountered a once-in-1,500-year climate that became colder, natural disasters continued, agricultural production was seriously affected, grain production was greatly reduced, and from the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the nationwide famine continued until Zhu Youjian hanged himself on the coal mountain.
Although the Chongzhen Emperor was the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he was not absurd and lustful, on the contrary, he had a good relationship with his original Empress Zhou, and the couple had a deep affection, while Empress Zhou was a vegetarian, making herself a female red, saving expenses, much like Empress Ma, but the ending was lamentable.
Empress Zhou has been trying her best to be a good helper, not a red face disaster, and on the day the city was destroyed, Empress Zhou martyred herself at the age of thirty-three.
What kind of life story does this tragic queen have?
Empress Zhou was the same age as Zhu Youjian, her father Zhou Kui was from Suzhou, and later moved to Daxing, making a living as a fortune teller, her family was poor, she was a sensible child, she learned to do housework from an early age, and helped her parents reduce their burdens.
Zhu Youjian lost his father at an early age, and when Zhu Changluo died, he was only nine years old, and when he was eleven years old, he was crowned king of letters by his elder brother Zhu Youxiao.
Later, the imperial court chose a concubine for King Xin, and Empress Zhang Yan was worried that the Zhou clan was too weak, while Princess Xuanyi, who was in charge of the empress dowager's seal, felt that it was possible, so the Zhou clan was crowned as the princess of Xin.
After Zhu Youguan ascended the throne, Princess Xin of the Zhou clan was made empress, and Empress Zhou did not live up to the expectations of Princess Xuanyi, and she took on the heavy responsibility of managing the harem with her thin body.
When Zhu Youxiao was seriously ill and dying, Empress Zhang Yan strongly advocated the transmission of the throne to Zhu Youjian, the Prince of Xin, and Zhu Youjian had great trust and respect for the emperor's sister-in-law, and gave her the honorific title of Empress Yi'an.
When Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, the eunuch Wei Zhongxian had been in power for many years and his power was deeply rooted, and although Zhu Youjian was determined to punish Wei Zhongxian, he also had to temporarily make a false deal with him.
Empress Yi'an secretly reminded Zhu Youjian not to eat food in the palace. In order to guard against Wei Zhongxian's poisoning, Zhu Youjian's three meals a day were all made by Empress Zhou herself.
Husband and wife worked together to finally eliminate Wei Zhongxian's forces.
Empress Zhou was lenient and strict, and managed the harem in an orderly manner.
Deep affection for her husband, Empress Zhou sometimes inevitably jealousy, once, Yuan Guifei provoked Empress Zhou to be angry, and that night, Zhu Youjian just let Yuan Guifei sleep, Empress Zhou soon learned, the next day after seeing Zhu Youjian, asked him where he lived last night, Zhu Youjian did not want to make Empress Zhou sad, swallowed and vomited for a long time, before saying a "Yuan" word, Empress Zhou pretended to smile after hearing it, and Zhu Youjian saw that his wife was unhappy and silent.
However, Empress Zhou did not take this matter to heart, and Concubine Yuan Guifei became increasingly humble and cautious, and the two got along well.
In contrast, Concubine Tian Guifei, who bore four sons to Zhu You, was somewhat pampered, and Empress Zhou punished her with etiquette.
On the first day of the first lunar month of this year, the weather was very cold, Tian Guifei came to congratulate the empress, Empress Zhou intended to let her wait outside the palace, until Yuan Guifei, who arrived later than her, left the ceremony, and then summoned Tian Guifei into the palace to pay tribute, Empress Zhou did not talk as much as she did with Yuan Guifei, and Tian Guifei let her retire after the ceremony.
Tian Guifei was treated coldly and ran to cry to Zhu Youjian, who was very angry when she heard about it, went to find Empress Zhou's theory, and in the dispute, pushed Empress Zhou to the ground, Empress Zhou has always been cautious and self-sustaining, she has never suffered such humiliation, she was bedridden for several days and refused to eat.
Zhu Youjian soon regretted it, sent someone to give the mink mattress to Empress Zhou, and asked Empress Zhou about her life and living with concern, and Empress Zhou also began to eat.
Soon, Zhu Youjian ordered Tian Guifei to leave the Qixiang Palace, and did not meet for three consecutive months, once, Zhu Youjian and the empress dowager enjoyed the flowers together, and Empress Zhou, despite Zhu Youguan's objections, sent a car to pick up Tian Guifei, and from then on the two of them were released from their previous suspicions and reconciled as before.
Empress Zhou was solemn and cautious, simple in nature, she advocated economy, after entering the palace, she began to cut expenses, supported her husband with practical actions, she wore old clothes, personally washed and cooked, she personally spun yarn and weaving, personally made female red, and placed twenty-four spinning wheels in the harem to teach the palace people to spin yarn. Under the leadership of Empress Zhou, the frugality of the harem became the norm.
In the seventeen years since Empress Zhou entered the harem, she only invited two opera classes to sing operas, once for chongzhen for five years and once for chongzhen for fourteen years, and the repertoire of performances was "The Record of the West Chamber" and "The Record of the Jade Hairpin".
Empress Zhou was dignified and beautiful, her skin was smooth as jade, Zhu Youjian regarded her as a confidant with a red face, Empress Zhou had six children, three sons and three daughters, and Zhu Youjian's first three sons were all born to Empress Zhou.
Later, Li Zicheng led a rebel army to capture Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown of Fengyang, Zhu Youjian heard that the Fengyang Imperial Tomb had been destroyed, could not swallow, determined not to eat meat, and shared happiness and suffering with the soldiers, seeing that her husband was getting thinner and thinner, Empress Zhou personally made some meaty food, but was severely rejected, and later under the pretext of Zhu Youjian's birth mother Tomeng to persuade Zhu Youjian to persuade zhu Youjian to reluctantly agree to eat, he picked up chopsticks, came from it, and looked at Empress Zhou and wept.
Although Empress Zhou had a deep affection for her husband, Zhu Youjian strictly forbade the harem to interfere in politics. One day, Empress Zhou told Zhu Youjian that the chancellor Zhou Yanru was not of good character, and Zhu Youjian asked with a calm face after listening, "How do you know?" "
Empress Zhou naturally understood her husband's meaning, and she replied truthfully that she had listened to the emperor's sister-in-law, Empress Yiquan.
Later, Li Zicheng led the rebel army to attack fiercely, and Empress Zhou euphemistically said to Zhu Youjian: "My family has a mansion in the south", she probably wanted to suggest that her husband move south, but she could not say it directly, angering Long Yan.
After Zhu Youjian proposed the idea of moving south, he was opposed by Qunchen and Empress Yiquan.
Despite Zhu You's painstaking efforts and Empress Zhou's efforts, the rebel army led by Li Zicheng still invaded the Beijing Division.
Zhu You, seeing that the general situation had gone, could not escape, had no choice but to return to the palace and demanded that Empress Zhou commit suicide.
Empress Zhou knelt down and wept bitterly, and then martyred herself.
Having tried her best, but still unable to change the ending, Empress Zhou's life can be described as tragic and poignant.