The emperor is called the emperor, but he is not a deity. He is still a mortal who needs to eat, drink, and sleep, with a career and family, but the royal family is often different from ordinary families. Interested readers and history encyclopedia editors, let’s take a look together!
The family life of ordinary people is relatively rough, with firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, everything revolving around the theme of “survival”, plain with a touch of warmth; The family life of the emperor is indifferent, regardless of whether they are father and son brothers. Whenever it comes to dividing power, they do not recognize each other, and we cannot see the warmth of family affection. It is not an exaggeration to say that the emperor’s family is the most abnormal family, and it is the feudal society based on power that has created all of this.
Zhu Di was the most fatherly among the many princes of Zhu Yuanzhang. When he was a feudal lord, his father planned his next life for him – guarding the important territory of Yanjing for the Zhu family. In order to squeeze out Zhu Di’s political value, Zhu Yuanzhang even selected a queen for him.
This marriage is a perfect match, with the other party being the daughter of the founding hero Xu Da’s family. Xu is understanding and rational, enjoys reading, and has a gentle personality. Zhu Di heard that this girl has a good character, so he said to Xu Da, “Those who have reached an agreement between ancient monarchs and ministers should be married. If you have a daughter, I will match her with my son Zhu Di
In fact, even if Zhu Yuanzhang’s words were not tactful, Xu Da would not dare to disobey, after all, the emperor’s order cannot be violated. In 1367 AD, Zhu Di married the Xu family. He was only seventeen years old this year.
The victory in the Battle of Jingnan was largely due to this Empress Xu. Zhu Di led his main army to attack the military stronghold of Daning. During this period, Li Jinglong led his troops to launch a surprise attack on Yanjing. The one who stayed in the city was the Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi. Zhu Gaochi was skilled in internal affairs and not particularly skilled in warfare, so Empress Xu took the initiative to shoulder the heavy responsibility of defending the city and began planning the defense of Yanjing.
At that time, the military forces in the city were relatively scarce. In order to gather enough troops to resist the officers and soldiers, Empress Xu came to the front of the people and encouraged the wives and daughters of the city’s defenders to participate in the war as the Princess of Yan. Xu Fei formed a team of women and worked together with the entire city’s military and civilians to finally defend Yanjing. If the capital city of Yan was captured, Zhu Di would face a situation of being attacked from both sides. At that time, other feudal lords who maintained a wait-and-see attitude are unlikely to continue supporting Zhu Di, and the outcome of the Jingnan Campaign will definitely be rewritten.
So, Xu Fei’s contributions are indelible.
Zhu Di overthrew the dynasty of Yun Wen and proclaimed himself orthodox. Xu Fei, who accompanied him through the turbulent years, naturally became Empress Xu. Empress Xu and her mother-in-law, Empress Ma, had similar styles. She knew that Zhu Di’s personality was very similar to Zhu Yuanzhang’s, and there were signs of military aggression, so she advised her husband and the people to rest. Zhu Di had more trust in his early Yanjing comrades, so the empress advised him not to discriminate and to treat everyone equally.
During the Jingnan War, Empress Xu’s younger brother Xu Zengshou served as a spy in Nanjing and reported Zhu Yunwen’s orders to Zhu Di in advance, giving the King of Yan a great advantage. Later, the matter was leaked and Zhu Yunwen, who was furious, killed Xu Zengshou. After the King of Yan succeeded, he wanted to posthumously honor this unlucky nephew, but was opposed by Empress Xu. However, Xu Zengshou showed great kindness to Zhu Di, and Zhu Di dared not fail to repay him. He still insisted on posthumously conferring upon him the title of Duke of Dingguo and allowing his son to inherit the title.
Empress Xu was well aware of the hidden dangers of relatives interfering in politics, and also paid attention to the cleanliness of her own wings. Therefore, she told Zhu Di that this was not her intention and would not thank him. In the fifth year of Yongle, Empress Xu passed away. Before his death, Zhu Di grabbed her hand and refused to let go. In the final moments of her life, Empress Xu never forgot to advise her husband to cherish the people and recruit talented individuals. Moreover, Empress Xu specifically instructed Zhu Di not to indulge her relatives.
The marriage between Zhu Di and Empress Xu was ordered by their parents, not a free love. But in the years of raising eyebrows in unison, Zhu Di had developed a sense of dependence on her. The death of Empress Xu deeply saddened Zhu Di. Zhu Di went to Linggu Temple and Tianxi Temple for fasting, and the courtiers spontaneously came to offer condolences. After the completion of Zhu Di’s imperial tomb, the first empress to live in was Empress Xu. After the death of Empress Xu, Zhu Di never had another empress enthroned in his lifetime.
To be fair, Empress Xu’s status in the field of history is still somewhat low.
After all, according to feudal rules, Zhu Di’s reign came from an improper source, so Empress Xu’s reputation was more or less affected. If not for this, with the character of Empress Xu, she would definitely become a timeless queen on par with Empress Changsun and Empress Ma.
Although Empress Xu passed away, Zhu Di’s love did not end. In Zhu Di’s harem, there were two women who satisfied him quite well, namely the Noble Consort Wang and the Wise Consort Quan.
Wang Guifei’s character is equally outstanding, and her relationship with Empress Xu is also good. After the death of Empress Xu, Wang Guifei replaced her role as the mediator between Zhu Di and the courtiers. Zhu Di’s temper is fiery, and in his later years he exposed his brutal and bloodthirsty nature. If it were not for the reconciliation of Wang Guifei, I’m afraid Zhu Di would kill like his father.
As for the virtuous consort Quan Shi, her identity is quite unique.
Long ago, Goryeo had become a vassal of the Central Plains dynasty. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Goryeo royal family has presented beautiful women to the Central Plains every year. The Ming Dynasty completed the transition of dynasties and replaced the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, but in the eyes of the Goryeo people, there is no difference between the Ming Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, both of which are heavenly kingdoms that cannot afford to be punished. So, the tradition of presenting beautiful women has been preserved.
During the Hongwu period, many beauties from Goryeo appeared in Zhu Yuanzhang’s harem, and Zhu Di’s mother was a Goryeo imperial concubine. Perhaps due to his mixed race, Zhu Di liked both Chinese and Korean beauties. Every year, Zhu Di would issue an edict urging Korea (renamed Korea during the reign of Emperor Jianwen) to send their beautiful daughters to the Central Plains.
In the sixth year of Yongle, Huang Yan, the imperial envoy of the Ming Dynasty, was ordered to go to Korea. On this trip, Huang Yan brought 1000 taels of silver, 50 pieces of silk, 50 pieces of plain silk, and 100 pieces of ripe silk; These things were all gifts given by Zhu Di to the King of Korea. After all, the King of Korea (who was then a prince) had donated 3000 BMW to the King of Yan to support Zhu Di’s cause, so Zhu Di should take responsibility for it.
At that time, the two princes had a chance encounter in Beiping, and their situations and fates were astonishingly similar – they were both princes without inheritance rights and had seized power through usurpation. In Zhu Di’s heart, he may have regarded this Korean king as a friend. For friends, Zhu Di naturally didn’t have any politeness.
Before Huang Yan left, Zhu Di instructed him, “Go tell that kid, if there are beautiful women in Korea, choose a few to give to me.” Judging from the performance of the King of Korea, he still valued Zhu Di very much. The King of Korea ordered the suspension of civil marriage activities and invited the unmarried Huanghua daughters from the people to be chosen by the envoy Huang Yan.
However, Huang Yan has a high opinion and is quite dissatisfied with North Korea’s lack of capable beauties. There’s no other way, the King of Korea can only announce to various places:
“The former is not careful to push and brush, and there are many people who fail to report. It is more suitable for large and small order keepers, quality officials, township officials, daily duty keepers, township schools, students, and common people. If there is beauty, they all choose it. If there is concealment or acupuncture and moxibustion, hair breaking, and drug pasting, it is like the law.”
A more detailed selection process has begun, and every beautiful woman must go through Huang Yan’s sieve like selection. In the end, Huang Yan finally picked out five beauties from all over North Korea that he found pleasing, including the later Empress Dowager.
From this incident, it seems that Huang Yan is indeed somewhat impolite. Why is diplomacy between countries so oppressive? Do we have to turn North Korea upside down and choose the five most beautiful girls before we can give up? In the historical records of North Korea, it is written as follows: “Nine fold thoughts are graceful, ten thousand miles choose beauty. It is difficult to say goodbye to relatives, but holding back tears can wipe away everything. Where melancholy separates, the mountains enter a dream green
What does this describe?
It is these five beauties and their families who shed tears of sorrow and grief.
After the beauty was sent to the court, Zhu Di was overjoyed and couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Among the five daughters, Zhu Di’s favorite was Consort Quan. Consort Quan was known for her exquisite beauty and was skilled in playing the flute. When Zhu Di first met her, he watched a solo performance.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of the jade flute outside the sky, and I heard it walking alone under the flowers.
The autumn in the Thirty Six Palaces is one color, and I don’t know where the moon is shining.
The squid window is cold and the night is far away, with the sea and clouds flying and the moon far away.
The palace leak has sunk into the reflection, and the beauty is still learning to play the flute. ”
With this wonderful performance, the status of the Empress Dowager has surpassed that of the other concubines. Out of a love for the house and the people, Zhu Di conferred the title of Guanglu Temple Minister on the elder brother of the imperial concubine. This Guanglu Temple official is different from other Guanglu Temple officials in history, just a meaningless title, but he can enjoy the highest level of welfare benefits in the Ming Dynasty.
Interestingly, the elder brother of Consort Quan lived in Korea, so his salary was distributed by the King of Korea – after all, the Ming Dynasty was too far away, so it could only be distributed by the highest official of Korea. How high was the treatment of the Guanglu Temple official in the Ming Dynasty? So the salary of the Crown Princess’s elder brother once became a financial problem for North Korea.
As the saying goes, when one person achieves enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. From Empress Xu’s instructions in the previous text, we can see that Zhu Di easily made the same mistakes as Li Longji. When Li Longji fell in love with his daughter-in-law Yang Yuhuan, a similar situation also occurred. Yang Guozhong, the elder brother of Yang Guifei, was gradually promoted by Li Longji and became a powerful figure in the court and the cause of the An Lushan Rebellion.
Fortunately, Zhu Di was not Emperor Ming of Tang, and he still had virtuous women like Empress Xu and Consort Wang by his side.
Although Zhu Di favored the imperial concubine, the fate of this beautiful woman was not very good. In the tenth year of the Yongle reign, during Zhu Di’s expedition to Mongolia, the imperial concubine who accompanied her husband on the expedition died in Lincheng due to the long journey. Zhu Di was deeply saddened and buried the imperial concubine with great care. At this point, the two women Zhu Di loved the most in his life both left him.
