The time of the invention of aphrodisiacs is no longer known, but it can be seen from historical sources that there have been examples of emperors taking aphrodisiacs in successive dynasties. Emperor Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo was an emperor who was addicted to aphrodisiacs.
When Zhu Changluo was crown prince, Concubine Zheng repeatedly poisoned Zhu Changluo without success, and finally stopped confronting Zhu Changluo and started a conspiracy. Zhu Changluo did not leak anything, so Zheng Guifei could only start from his weaknesses. Concubine Zheng Guifei first greeted him with a song, constantly sending Zhu Changluo gold and silver treasures, and also gave Zhu Changluo the eight most beautiful palace girls around her as gifts.
Young people are inevitably lustful, and Zhu Changluo is no exception. Zhu Changluo's body is very thin, his physique is weak and cold, and he cannot absorb the grace of beauty. The arrival of eight beauties made Zhu Changluo immersed in the gentle countryside all day and could not extricate himself, and his body collapsed. When the Wanli Emperor died, Zhu Changluo's body also reached the critical point of collapse.
On August 1, 1620, Zhu Changluoqiang propped himself up, sat on the dragon chair, and completed the enthronement ceremony. At the beginning of his reign, Zhu Changluo was still able to govern, but after ten days, Zhu Changluo's body had serious problems and he could not ascend to the court.
On this night, the attendant was Zhu Changluo's favorite concubine Wu Zan. Zhu Changluo, who was lying in bed, took out a small red pill from his arms, and after swallowing this pill, Zhu Changluo suddenly felt that he had come to strength and became extremely excited. Although the well-behaved Wu Zan repeatedly advised Zhu Changluo to exercise restraint, Zhu Changluo still stayed up all night and could not stop at all.
Until the next morning, Zhu Changluo was still excited and laughing wildly. Wu Zan saw the situation and had to run to the imperial doctor for help. On that day, the Tai Hospital was served by the imperial doctor Cui Wensheng, heard that the emperor's spiritual head was not right, did not know that this was a manifestation of yin deficiency and kidney failure, and thought that Zhu Changluo had an evil fire, so he wrote down a prescription with a pen and prescribed a dose of laxative medicine.
Who knew that after Zhu Changluo took the medicine, he immediately "poured out a thousand miles", vomited up and down in just one day, and squatted on the toilet more than forty times. When the ministers heard about this, they were all shocked. The chancellor Yang Lian immediately went to the table and blamed all the sins on the tai doctor Cui Wensheng, believing that the emperor was weak and should actively supplement instead of taking laxatives.
Cui Wensheng immediately shirked for himself, saying: The cause of the holy is mostly the small red pill, and his own medicine can effectively drain the poison. Cui Wensheng's statement immediately caused an uproar, and the Donglin Party members immediately stood up and attacked Cui Wensheng, saying that "it is beneficial to the disease of the Holy Bow and damage to the name of the Holy Bow." The meaning of this sentence is that Dr. Cui Taiyi did not rule the emperor's illness well, but also shook out the ugly matter of the red pill, which ruined the reputation of the royal family.
The foreign court quarreled fiercely, but Zhu Changluo's condition did not improve in the slightest. After a few days, Zhu Changluo had already begun to summon the auxiliary chancellor and the crown prince, and he had a great intention of arranging the aftermath. Everyone came to Zhu Changluo's sickbed, and on the occasion of this, Zhu Changluo suddenly asked, "I heard that Li Kezhuo of Hongxu Temple offered Dan Medicine, where are the others?" Shousuke replied truthfully, "Li Kezhuo said that he had a panacea that could cure Shengshang, but his subordinates did not dare to believe it." ”
However, at this time, Zhu Changluo's life was in danger, he had reached the point of "being sick and rushing to the doctor", even if this elixir was poison, he had to swallow it, anyway, not eating this elixir was also a death, why not try it? Immediately, Zhu Changluo summoned Li Kezhao and asked him to quickly prepare the elixir. What Li Kezhao brought was still a small red pill. Was this little pill an aphrodisiac that Saint Shang had eaten before, or was it some other elixir? The ministers did not dare to say, nor did they dare to ask, so they could only let Li Kezhuo deliver the dan medicine to the emperor.
After the little eunuch served Zhu Changluo to take the medicine, Zhu Changluo's breathing really calmed down. It seems that this red pill has an effect. Zhu Changluo was overjoyed, and praised Li Kezhuo as a loyal minister and let people reward Li Kezhuo heavily. That night, Zhu Changluo was bedridden, and the ministers stood outside the Dongnuan Pavilion. In the middle of the night, the little eunuch suddenly ran out of the DongNuan Pavilion, and Xuan Li Kezhuo offered another elixir. After Zhu Changluo took the second Dan medicine, his state became better.
Who knows, that night, Zhu Changluo's body actually went wrong again, only to see Zhu Changluo turn over from the dragon bed, stretch his legs and stare, toss a few times and then fall. This time, he never stood up again.
The two red pills took Zhu Changluo's life in this way.
This incident set off a new round of uproar in the DPRK and China. What exactly is this little red pill? Li Kezhuo was not an imperial doctor, so what qualifications did he have to offer medicine when the emperor's life was in danger? The party struggle triggered by the "Red Pill Case" broke out, and the two factions of the DPRK and China once again engaged in a secret struggle.
The author consulted some information, the so-called red pill is actually "red lead Jindan", also known as "Sanyuan Dan", taking the menstrual blood of the virgin menarche, called "congenital red lead", plus the first drop of dew and wumei and other drugs in the middle of the night, boiled seven times, turned into a syrup, and then added red lead, autumn stone, human milk, Tatsu sand (cinnabar produced in Chenzhou, Hunan), pine resin and other drugs concocted.
To be fair, it didn't matter what kind of conspiracy there was in this Red Pill case, Zhu Changluo's life was entirely self-inflicted. The red pill was originally a fang Chinese medicine refined by the alchemist, how many emperors have died because of this small pill since ancient times? Zhu Changluo did not believe in evil and still dared to try the medicine with his own body. As for Li Kezhuo, he just wanted to rely on the opportunist to ascend to the throne by offering medicine, but Li Kezhao had bad luck and poisoned Banzai Ye, and the fate waiting for him could be imagined.
Resources:
【History of the Ming Dynasty", "The Red Pill Case"】