History live broadcast: the beginning is Qin Shihuang's live broadcast of the subjugation of th

"Queen Xu served Zhu Di respectfully in the harem, working tirelessly day and night, educating the crown prince and the kings to be filial to their relatives and the people, and educating the concubines to be respectful and harmonious. She also placed many restrictions on relatives, educating them to abide by laws and rules, and to listen to relatives when they say something. If there is indulgence, they will be summoned to the palace to be punished, and I heard that there are relatives who are humble and prudent, and they will be summoned from time to time to give rewards as encouragement."

"In terms of human behavior, happiness and anger are invisible. If the servants make mistakes, they will be taught to correct them, and there is no one who is not in awe and admiration; Zhu Di is diligent in politics and loves the people, and advocates frugality. The same is true for Empress Xu. She doesn't like gorgeous decorations. Thrifty, a frugal style has formed in the harem."

"In addition, Empress Xu also advised Zhu Di that "Emperors and Yao all started benevolence from their relatives." On her deathbed, she told Zhu Di to treat the clan with kindness. In her posthumous title, there was also the sentence "Nine tribes are inherited from kindness." , all embodying her benevolence towards her relatives.”

"In addition to assisting the king, Empress Xu also kept writing, writing books, describing the teachings of Empress Ma and expanding them into twenty chapters of "Internal Training" to teach the concubines in the palace, and to compile the good words and deeds of the ancients. Write a "Book of Encouragement" and publish it throughout the world."

"Because of his Buddhist beliefs and the political need to maintain Zhu Di's orthodoxy, he compiled the Sutra of the First Rare Merit and Virtue of the Dream of the Buddha", "The Sutra of 53 Great Causes of the Buddha Said by the Buddha", and "The Sutra of All Buddhas, World Venerables, Tathagatas, Bodhisattvas, Venerables, and Monks". In addition, the "Qianqingtang Bibliography" also included a volume of "Empress Renxiao Poems", but due to historical reasons, it has been lost."

"At this time, Xu Miaoyun's health was worsening day by day. When he was young, he traveled around with Zhu Di, and gave birth to three sons and four daughters for him. When he launched the Jingnan Campaign, he ignored his health and worked everywhere. Failure to cultivate well, not to mention that having so many children is not good for the body, and she still works hard after giving birth. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, she took on the responsibility of taking care of the harem and caring about the lives of the people. Her body has long been exhausted. The lights are dry."

"After Zhu Di learned that Xu Miaoyun was ill, batch after batch of imperial physicians in the imperial palace were sent to the Queen's bedroom, and they were recruiting doctors from the people to treat her illness, but the water-like tonic did not make Empress Xu's body healthy. restored."

"When Empress Xu was dying, she did not forget to hold her husband's hand tightly, "I can't continue to be with you. As the king of a country, you must remember to be sympathetic to the people. Only by returning people's lives to normal as soon as possible can the country prosper. "

"Zhu Di burst into tears after hearing this. He never thought that at this time his wife was thinking of himself and the whole of Daming. On the fourth day of July in the fifth year of Yongle, Empress Xu died of illness at the age of 46."

"How deep the relationship is, how painful it is to lose your beloved wife. On the day Empress Xu passed away, Zhu Di stayed by her side and cried bitterly. The maids and eunuchs serving around her did not dare to come forward to dissuade her."

"In Zhu Di's eyes, there is no other woman in the world who can match Xu Miaoyun, so he vowed that he would never have a queen in the future, and he would have only one wife. After the news of the death of the mother of a country spread throughout the Ming Dynasty, all the people of the Ming Dynasty cried bitterly along the streets."

"After the death of Empress Xu, Zhu Di's temperament changed drastically due to the loss of his beloved wife and virtuous queen. He became more willful in the palace and was often irritable and restless."

"It was even a full year after his death that Zhu Di wore plain clothes and left the court to mourn his wife who had been with him for half his life. The ministers in the court did not dare to make a big deal about happy events at home."

"Zhu Di didn't bury his wife right away, but let Xu Miaoyun's coffin stay in the palace for six full years. It seemed that by doing so, he didn't have to admit that Empress Xu had left him."

"It took six years for Xu Miaoyun's coffin to be buried in the Changling Underground Palace. Everyone in the world lamented the deep bond between Zhu Di and Empress Xu."

"Speaking of this, I have to mention the matter of women giving birth. This matter should be a question raised in the ranking of the last queen."

"Everyone should know that the age of marriage for women in ancient times was very low. Many women would be betrothed by their parents to others when they were thirteen or fourteen years old, and then they would start their own lives as wives."

"If a woman marries a good man, then the woman's life span may be much longer, but if they marry a non-human being, then the life span may be lower. Those under 40 are the majority."

"What do you want to say?"

"A woman giving birth is equivalent to walking through the gate of hell." This is because the medical conditions in ancient times were very poor. Women gave birth to children at a young age, suffered from blood collapse and postpartum hemorrhage, and almost did not even do "confinement". It is said that after two days of raising a child, they began to work in the fields, which caused serious damage to the health of many women, and this kind of damage was an "internal injury", which was difficult to make up for. "

"The saying that you can marry at the age of [-] or [-] is completely feudal thinking. At this time, women are not fully developed and have to have children. Can they be healthy? It is not beneficial at all, and it also allows women to have children. Not to mention that some even once a year, each dynasty can completely count how many women were wasted and collapsed because of childbirth. It can be seen that the life expectancy of ancient women was very short. Being too young is inextricably linked.”

"Why did I mention the Great Han Dynasty in this matter? During the Western Han Dynasty, in order to restore the population as soon as possible, the relevant regulations on early marriage of women were specially formulated. If a woman does not marry before the prescribed age, it is very likely that she will be forcibly arranged. If they don’t want to get married, their families will have to pay the corresponding “single tax.”

"During the Western Han Dynasty, there were constant wars. The population went from 3000 million at the beginning to 1000 million. It began to decline very quickly, resulting in a situation where there were more women than men."

"So, in order to increase the population, Liu Bang ordered that 15-year-old unmarried women have to pay single tax of 120 yuan a year. When Liu Ying succeeded to the throne, it was directly doubled by 5 times and 600 yuan, which is equivalent to a man's annual tax. Rations. Because of this policy, the men of the Han Dynasty became popular. No matter how ugly they were and their moral character was terrible, they were still called men."

"There are more boys than girls, a large number of girls are reduced to concubines, and a large number of parents desperately dislike their daughters. The status of women is lowered and humbled again and again."

"But in just a few decades, the population increased from 1500 million to 6000 million, which almost coincided with the increase in the single tax. Women were completely controlled by other people's lives and were reduced to props. Although, this policy brought great changes to the development of the Han Dynasty. A solid foundation has been laid, but there is nothing humane about it.”

Qin Shihuang: What a wonderful policy!
(End of this chapter)