Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 34
Fan Ji's sage is famous all over the world, not only widely praised among the temples, but also many beautiful legends about Fan Ji are spread among the people.Fan Ji's personality charm has been praised and recognized by the majority of the people.Near the central and southern walls of Jinan City, the ruins of the capital city of Chu, there is a square mound with a side length of 15 meters and a height of about [-] meters.When King Zhuang of Chu came to the throne, he was greedy for wine and sex, ignored government affairs, drank and had fun all day long, and stayed up all night.Fan Ji tried her best to persuade her repeatedly, but with little effect. King Zhuang of Chu still went his own way.Fan Ji was disheartened, so she stopped dressing up and was unkempt all day long.King Zhuang of Chu felt strange when he noticed it, so he asked Fan Ji why he didn't wear makeup or fancy dress, Fan Ji replied: "You are addicted to wine and sex all day long, neglecting state affairs, and the future of Chu State is bleak. What about it?" King Zhuang of Chu immediately expressed repentance after hearing this.However, the country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change. It didn't take long for King Zhuang of Chu to relapse.So Fan Ji ordered people to build a high platform on the south wall of Jinan City. Every night, she climbed on this platform and dressed herself in front of the moon and stars.King Zhuang of Chu was very surprised when he saw it, so he asked Fan Ji why she was dressing up alone in the field at night.Fan Ji replied: "Your Majesty promised me to stay away from sensual dogs and horses and work hard, but Your Majesty doesn't care about my promise at all, so why should I dress up for people who don't care about me? It's better to let Xingyue appreciate it." Only then did she understand Fan Ji's good intentions, and finally changed her past, concentrated on government affairs, became a blockbuster, fought for hegemony in the Central Plains, and became famous all over the world.To commemorate Fan Ji, later generations kept the earthen platform where she dressed, which is the origin of Fan Ji's dressing table.This statement is mostly a joke, but it can be seen how vivid the impression of Fan Ji's unique personality charm is in people's minds.

In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were many turmoil, and heroes and heroes emerged in large numbers. After you sing, I will appear on the stage, performing a wonderful drama.And Fan Ji used the wisdom and enlightenment of a woman who does not give in to a man, to paint her own unique pink on the stage of men.Just as Zhang Jiuling said in the poem "Tomb of Fan Ji" in praise of Fan Ji's virtuousness: "Chu Zi first expressed his ambition, and Fan Ji tried to present his advice. It can make people choose the soil, not just kill the birds." Star As things changed, the situation cleared away, but Fan Jihui's gentle and gentle heart was still exuding an irreplaceable intoxicating fragrance.

Bo Ji: A woman as elegant as a chrysanthemum
Bo Ji is recorded in "Historical Records A Family of Foreign Relatives".Foreign relatives, that is, concubines.Bo Ji is the concubine of Han Gaozu Liu Bang and the mother of Liu Heng, the fourth son of Liu Bang.After Liu Heng came to the throne, he respected his mother as the Empress Dowager, that is, Empress Dowager Bo.The women who were also Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, also gave birth to princes for Liu Bang, and their wife Lu Zhi finally reached the pinnacle of power, but what she lost was Liu Bang's love. Madam Qi gained love, but lost everything. Bo Ji She got respect and favor, but she didn't get what a woman should get, and she didn't even know who to give her love and hate.The twists and turns of the legendary fate of the three women make people shudder.

Bo Ji had ups and downs in her life, and her personal and married life was even more ups and downs.She doesn't have the political talents of Empress Lu, nor the peerless beauty of Madam Qi, and the first half of her life is not the same at all.However, compared to them, how happy was the rest of her life.Her son, Emperor Hanwen, was an excellent emperor and a filial son.Among the "24 filial piety" in China, it ranks second, second only to Emperor Shun.

If the course of a person's life can be shown in an intuitive curve, Lu Zhi's starting point was very low at the beginning, below the normal value, and it was still zigzagging below the normal value, and then slowly rose in a straight line; Ji was at the normal value at the beginning, and then there was a straight-up stage, but then turned sharply, getting lower and lower, lower than the normal value, until it was even lower than Lu Zhi's starting point.As for Bo Ji, the starting point is slightly lower than the normal value, and the slope rises slowly, then suddenly rises, and then falls back to the normal value, but from this new normal value, she has maintained a steady rise , up, and up again, until the end of life.Anyone, seeing these three curves, would be willing to choose something like Bo Ji's.To Bo Ji, such a heavy life is not actually "thin".

The phrase "Being the Son of Heaven" caused trouble
Bo Ji is a native of Suzhou. Her father, Bo Sheng, had a close relationship with Wei Yu, the daughter of the former Wei clan's clan during the Qin Dynasty, and she was born unmarried.

Wei Wei is pulling a pair of sons and daughters, struggling to survive in the troubled times.Soon, the Qin Dynasty fell into troubled times.In this chaos, the vassal clans of the former Warring States Period separated their regimes one after another, wanting to take advantage of this chaotic situation to fish in troubled waters, and restore their old home state if they don't want to make an emperor.At this time, Wei Bao, the patriarchal family of Wei State, declared himself king.

At this time, Bo Ji had grown into a graceful young girl. Wei Wei had her homeland in her heart, and seeing Wei Bao's renaming as Wei State, she sent her beloved daughter to Wei Bao's royal official, and Bo Ji became Wei Bao's concubine.At that time, there was a very famous astrologer and fortune teller named Xu Negative, Wei Wei invited him to meet his daughter Bo Ji, to see if she could be successful in Wei Palace.Who knew that when Xu Neg saw Bo Ji, his face turned pale with shock, and he said, "It's not just so common to be famous in the little palace? She will give birth to the emperor in the future and become the number one lady in the world!"

Mr. Xu Negative's physiognomy is as precise as a god, and is widely respected by the world.As soon as these words came out, Wei Wei was really elated.And when Wei Bao heard that Bo Ji had such a great future, he was even more delighted, and his abacus was quickly struck: Bo Ji's son will be the emperor, and she is my Wei Bao's concubine. give birth to my son.

Then, if my son is the Son of Heaven, shouldn't I also be the Son of Heaven?Or at least you can give it a go and lay down a future for your son, right?Wei Bao did what he said, and immediately abandoned the covenant he made with Liu Bang, the king of Han, to attack Chu, and instead stood up between Chu and Han.Wei Bao's idea is good or bad, but the problem is that it is too good to be true. It never occurred to him that although Bo Ji is the "Mother of the Son of Heaven", he himself does not have the status of "Father of the Son of Heaven".

Wei Bao broke the contract, which made Liu Bang furious. This time he was so angry that even Xiang Yu put aside first, and hurriedly sent his trusted general Cao Shen to lead the army, vowing to destroy the double-faced Wei Bao first.How can the strength of the Wei State be the opponent of the Han army?So the army was defeated like a mountain. In March of the second year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, the dream of the emperor Wei Bao had not come true, and the "Wei State" he had worked so hard to conquer became a county of Liu Bang, the king of Han.

Wei Bao hated the "inaccurate" Xu negative, so he had to surrender.Liu Bang was quite polite, and he was granted the title of Doctor Censor and asked him to guard the city.But soon the city was besieged by the Chu army. Zhou Ke and Cong, who defended the city together with Wei Bao, believed that Wei Bao had been the king of this place and was an unreliable guy.As a result, Wei Bao had no choice but to die.After Wei Bao was defeated, all the women in the Wei Palace were captured.Because they are "sinful women", Bo Ji and others are not qualified to be Liu Bang's concubines, but can only be servants in official service, so they are all sent to the "weaving room".

When the matter came to this point, Bo Ji could only lament her fate. The phrase "be born the emperor" actually brought her to such a situation and became the most despicable servant in the palace. Where could she be born the emperor?However, there are always surprises in the world.

After Wei Bao's death, Liu Bang thought of Wei Guan's concubines by chance, so he went to see the weaving room where they were imprisoned.After seeing this, Liu Bang was immediately relaxed and happy.Among the officials who found Wei Bao, the dead ghost, there was no lack of beauty.So he was so lustful that he selected a group of outstanding female slaves and sent them to his harem.Bo Ji was among these women.

For a moment, Bo Ji thought that her fortune was about to change, and she couldn't help but think of Xu negative's prophecy of "giving birth to the Son of Heaven", and she was very happy.Who knew, God threw her into the abyss again.Liu Bang has a fierce wife, Lu Zhi, who confuses the wives outside, not to mention Bo Ji's beauty is not outstanding among the female family members of the Wei Palace, so Liu Bang never paid attention to this concubine at all.

More than a year passed, and Bo Ji couldn't even see Liu Bang's face again.Seeing the passing of youth, she can only sigh her own suffering.At this time, God once again showed a miracle.Back then in the Wei Palace, the young Bo Ji had two best girlfriends, one named Mrs. Guan and the other named Zhao Zi'er.Bo Ji regarded the two as sisters, caring and caring, and made an oath with them: "If one of the three gets rich first, he will never forget the other two. We must share wealth and opportunities." Back then, Bo Ji When Ji was in the Wei Palace, she fulfilled her oath to the letter, but when they arrived in the Han Palace, Mrs. Guan and Zhao Zier took Bo Ji's oath as a joke.Maybe it's because they are still jealous of Bo Ji's status in the Wei Palace that surpassed their actual status in the past, or maybe they just regard this sister as a passing cloud at all.

In the fourth year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang came to Chenggao Lingtai in Henan.The concubines who accompanied him at this time were Mrs. Guan and Zhao Zi'er.The two women were very favored for a while, and they were extremely proud. When chatting, they mentioned the vows they made with Bo Ji. They thought Bo Ji was very ridiculous, so they couldn't stop laughing.Liu Bang overheard a bit of Huatou, and seeing that the two were laughing for a reason, he asked.Mrs. Guan and Zhao Zi'er had no choice but to tell the whole story.Liu Bang was very disgusted with these two unconscionable women, and felt desolate in his heart, and sympathized with the simple Bo Ji.Because of her friend's betrayal, Bo Ji got the chance to be summoned by Liu Bang instead, which is really an unpredictable fate.

Just the night before, Bo Ji had a strange dream. In the dream, a dragon flew over her body.

After waking up from the dream, he was surprised, but suddenly got the opportunity to serve Liu Bang, so he told Liu Bang about the dream.When Liu Bang heard this, he was very happy. He thought it was a destiny, and said to Bo Ji, "This is a sign that you will be rich."

However, Liu Bang didn't like Bo Ji at all. When he called her to sleep with her, it was almost like "doing a good deed every day", so he quickly threw her out of the sky, especially after she was pregnant and gave birth, she didn't even meet her. Did not see her once.Although Bo Ji gave birth to a son for Liu Bang, she still stayed alone for many years, purely a widow.

For eight years, the lonely Bo Ji raised Liu Heng in a corner of Ye Ting in obscurity.Because she was extremely unfavored, she gave birth to a son who was jealous of all the favored concubines. One can imagine Bo Ji's situation.Gradually, she developed an attitude of being cautious and tolerant in everything, and she dared not even offend the maids sent to serve her according to the system.In Liu Bang's harem, Bo Ji's mother and son have almost become synonymous with "easy to bully".

Such a situation is of course distressing, but the world is so turbulent and unpredictable.When Liu Heng was eight years old, it was the 12th year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. On Jiachen in April, his father Liu Bang, who was so high and hardly looked at him, passed away.Although the queen mother Lv Zhi, who holds the power alone, took cruel revenge on Qi Yi, her attitude towards Bo Ji was very fair.This is of course because Bo Ji is cautious and cautious, but also because Bo Ji, like her, has not received the kind treatment that her husband Liu Bang should give. Except for the slight difference in life experience and status and title, Lu Zhi feels that she is not the same as her husband in terms of being indifferent. Bo Ji felt somewhat sympathetic to each other.Because of this, Bo Ji unexpectedly got a special favor from Lu Zhi: Bo Ji was sent to the fiefdom of his son Liu Heng by Lu Zhi, which not only reunited her mother and son, but also gave her the title of "The Empress Dowager", making her a big man The dynasty is second only to Lu Zhi's noble lady.

Along with Bo Ji, her younger brother Bo Zhao and her mother Wei Wei came to Daiguo.

Jinyang is a city with beautiful scenery and mountains and rivers. Bo Ji has been a widow for many years, and she has long been used to the life without a husband. Although she is still a widow, all family members can finally reunite, and with her son's Bo Ji was overjoyed to enjoy the wealth and honor in Fengguo.Liu Heng was young, and Bo Ji, as the empress dowager, actually became the ruler of the country. Needless to say, everyone in the palace flattered her.She just takes care of her son's diet and daily life every day, traveling in the mountains and rivers in the kingdom, which is extremely comfortable.

While Bo Ji was enjoying her life in Daiguo, the paradise, the other queens, mothers and sons of the Liu family were suffering in dire straits.

Due to Lu's pheasant killing and persecuting the descendants of the Liu family, only Liu Bang's sons remained, Liu Heng, the acting king, and Liu Chang, the king of Huainan.Although Qi Wang Liu Xiang's family made the first contribution in eradicating the Lu family, they are grandchildren after all, and they also have an extremely fierce uncle - no one wants to serve another vicious relative family.The relatives of Liu Chang's mother's family are not much better than Liu Xiang's family, only the Bo family, the mother of Dai Wang Liu Heng, has always been famous for self-denial and prudence.In contrast, the ministers immediately made up their minds.

In this way, the emperor's dragon robe, like a big pie, was thrown on the head of Liu Heng, the undisputed king in Jinyang far away.

In the ninth month of leap in 189 BC, the envoy who welcomed Liu Heng to Beijing as emperor came to Dai Kingdom.At this time, Liu Heng had been the prince for 17 years and was 24 years old.He couldn't believe that there was such a good thing in the world. He and his subordinates (except one named Song Chang) thought it was a conspiracy and absolutely couldn't believe it.

However, his mother Bo Ji thought it was God's will.To be on the safe side, Bo Ji asked Liu Heng to use the divination technique she deeply believed in, and make decisions based on divination and astrology.The result of divination is good fortune.So Liu Heng half-heartedly let his uncle Bo Zhao go to Beijing with the envoy, and he didn't go to Chang'an until he got an affirmative answer from his uncle.

At this time, Liu Heng's heart had not been completely relieved. When he arrived fifty miles outside Chang'an City, he sent someone to inquire about the news again. After he was sure, he went to Weiqiao to meet the welcoming ministers.When the crowd rushed him into the Weiyang Palace, he became the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty.

After Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he made his mother Bo Ji the Empress Dowager.

It is said that the child raised by a woman can best reflect the brilliance of this woman's life. Emperor Hanwen, the first and most admirable emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, was smart, benevolent, filial, generous, upright, studious, and advocating Thrifty and caring for the people, his filial deeds were included in the "Hundred Filial Piety Picture", which has impressed the world.For a woman who has experienced vicissitudes, what could be happier than raising such a good son who is capable and caring for the governor?
The only regret is that his son Liu Hengjing died earlier than his mother. When Wendi Liu Heng was dying, it is said that he deeply regretted his "unfilial piety" by letting his mother "give a white-haired person to a black-haired person". In order to make up for this shortcoming, Liu Heng It is required that his mausoleum be arranged in the way of "respecting his wife and carrying his mother".Its mausoleum is called "Nanling".

Two years later, Bo Ji passed away. It is said that on the day of Empress Dowager Bo’s death, colorful auspicious clouds came to bid farewell. Instead, he buried her far away from the enemy couple, let her be with his son, and let their mother and son wait for the old country with long cars and colorful clouds in the ancient wind of green pines and cypresses. Hero, wait for him to take them, and go to the happy afterlife together where there will be no more swords and swords.

Yin Lihua and Guo Shengtong: Two Empresses of Emperor Guangwu
Both Yin Lihua and Guo Shengtong were the queens of Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty. One was Yin Lihua, his first love who accompanied him through the turbulent years and passed through many crises; the other was married to Liu Xiu because of a political marriage. Guo Shengtong played a pivotal role.The majestic Han Palace witnessed a contest between two women for love and power, consciously or unconsciously.Although these two women stand up and down, they are the luckiest people among Chinese concubines.Even Guo Shengtong, who was abolished and divorced, was no exception: among the concubines who were also divorced, she was the only one who was not imprisoned in the cold palace, did not lose both mother and child, and lived the most free life.

Marry a wife like Yin Lihua

Liu Xiu lived in the social turmoil at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. He is the ninth descendant of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, and the descendant of King Ding of Changsha.His ancestors were descended from princes and kings to lieutenants, and his father Liu Qin's generation could only be a county magistrate in Jiyang.In 6 BC, the Liu family had a bumper rice harvest, and there was even a phenomenon of nine ears per stalk in the field.In this year, Liu Xiu was born.Liu Qin and his wife were very happy that their youngest son was born in such a good year, and specially named him "Xiu", which means good ears from the crops.When Liu Xiu was 9 years old, his father Liu Qin passed away. As a last resort, Liu Xiu, his brothers Liu Ji and Liu Zhong lived in the home of his uncle Liu Liang.

However, the social situation at this time is already politically decadent, economically depressed, the people are in dire straits, and crises are everywhere.Wang Mang, a foreign relative, took advantage of this situation and played tricks to seize power in AD 9 and establish a new dynasty.Liu Xiu is content with her current life, guarding her own one-acre three-point land, working at sunrise and resting at sunset, reading books in her spare time, or dreaming of being a wife, child, and hot kang.

But Liu Xiu's elder brother Liu Ji is different from him.Liu Ji is tall and fit, with a generous and unrestrained personality, brave and resolute, and likes to make friends with knights from all over the world.There is a restless factor in Liu Ji's blood. He is a natural leader. His dream is to make a difference in troubled times like his ancestor Liu Bang, to make meritorious deeds, and to do something earth-shattering.

(End of this chapter)