Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 45 Absurd, helpless and always impermanent (5)
Later, the old King Fan died and was succeeded by Jieli Khan. According to the customs of the Turks, the old King Fan's wives and concubines—Princess Yicheng and Empress Xiao's sister-in-law were taken over by the new King Fan.Although Empress Xiao was older than Princess Yicheng, Jieli Khan fell in love with her more because of her charming charm.

Ten years later, that is, the fourth year of Emperor Taizong Zhenguan, Li Jing, a general of the Tang Dynasty, defeated the Turks and claimed Empress Xiao back.At this time, Empress Xiao was a 10-year-old mistress, while Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, was only 48 years old. With beautiful eyes and eager looks, she is full of demeanor, not at all old-fashioned according to her age, and has a unique charm like a ripe fruit than ordinary girls. Li Shimin, who is so talented, can't help but feel his heart swaying.Coupled with Xiao's pitiful mood bred by the turmoil, it is even more pitiful and sympathetic.

Regardless of age disparity, let alone the criticism of outsiders, Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty felt the charm of a mature woman in Empress Xiao, and even felt a kind of warmth like a sister and a little mother, which made him tired of the heavy state affairs. heart is soothed.In this way, Empress Xiao was named Zhaorong by Tang Taizong and became the concubine of the Emperor of Tang.

After Li Shimin became emperor, in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of Emperor Sui Yang, he worked hard in the palace and advocated frugality.

When Empress Xiao came to the palace, he held a grand banquet to welcome her. Gorgeous palace lanterns were hung everywhere, singing and dancing girls sang and danced, and the table was filled with delicacies from mountains and seas. Tang Taizong thought that this kind of scene was luxurious enough. So I asked Xiao Zhaorong who was beside me: "How do you think the scene in front of you compares with the Sui Palace?"

In fact, the current ostentation is far from the extravagance of the Sui Palace!The Sui palace did not light lamps during the night banquet, but hung 120 luminous pearls with a diameter of several inches under the corridor, and set up dozens of flame mountains in front of the hall, burning sandalwood and spices, which can make the hall shine like daytime and have a strange fragrance around the beams. , If you are in a fairyland, more than 200 cars of sandalwood are burned every night.Regarding this, Xiao Zhaorong was inconvenient to say clearly, but said calmly: "Your Majesty is a king who established a foundation and established a career, why should he compare himself with a king who subjugated the country!"

Tang Taizong immediately understood the meaning of her words, and was deeply impressed by her understanding of things and her appropriate speech, and he respected and loved her even more.

Empress Xiao spent 18 peaceful years in the Tang Palace, and died suddenly at the age of 67.In her life, she enjoyed all the glory and wealth, but she also experienced the vicissitudes of life.Li Shimin buried Empress Xiao in Yang Guangzhi's mausoleum with empress etiquette, posthumously named Empress Min.

Concubine Wan Gui: Mother-child Love in the Harem of the Ming Dynasty
Since ancient times, countless concubines have been favored by concubines, but most of them use their beauty as their capital. Once they grow old, they will be thrown into the cold palace.In the confrontation with the ruthless years, only the concubine Wan Gui of the Ming Dynasty who is truly "three thousand loves in one body" and "unswerving in life and death" - a woman who is 17 years older than Zhu Jianshen, has his lifelong love, really It's puzzling.

Concubine Wan Gui (1431-1487), nicknamed Zhen'er, was born in Zhucheng, Qingzhou, Shandong (now Yizhou, Shandong).Her father was originally a small official in the Zhucheng County Government, but was sent to the frontier because of involvement, and Wan Zhen'er, who was only 4 years old, was also enslaved and entered the palace, and then stepped into the deep Forbidden City .

When the Wan family entered the palace, Xianzong had not yet been born. When Xianzong was born, she had already grown into a slim beauty. Because she was very cute and good at observing words and expressions, Xianzong's grandmother, the Queen Mother Sun, liked her very much. Also trust her very much.

Although Xianzong was established as the prince shortly after he was born, when he was 2 years old, his father Ming Yingzong suffered a civil fort change and was captured in a battle with the Mongolian Wacha tribe. His uncle Zhu Qiyu (Daizong) boarded After losing the throne, it is naturally difficult to preserve his crown prince position.Empress Dowager Sun knew that Zhu Qiyu, who was about to ascend the throne, would not give up. She was not sure when Zhu Qiyu would play tricks like cutting grass and roots. To ensure safety, she made a decision: to send one of her cronies to protect Zhu Jianshen.

The confidant she sent was the court lady Wan Zhen'er. From then on, Wan began to take care of the young boy Zhu Jianshen meticulously.That year, she was 19 years old and he was 2 years old.

From then on, the only person who could bring comfort to Zhu Jianshen was Aunt Wan.No matter how indifferent the people around him are to him, no matter how people reject him and don't play with him, this Aunt Wan always accompanies him, comforts him, and takes care of his life, although his mother Zhou Guifei often Come to visit him, but Zhu Qiyu's eyes and ears are everywhere in the palace, in order not to cause trouble, they always come and go in a hurry every time.In his young heart, this person who is by his side day and night is his reliable support.Over time, Zhu Jianshen couldn't help but develop a special feeling for Wan Zhen'er.

Only one year after Daizong came to the throne, Yingzong was released and returned to the court.In order to protect the throne, Daizong imprisoned Yingzong, and then abolished Xianzong's crown prince.

A few years later, Daizong fell ill, and the courtiers rescued Yingzong. After Yingzong was restored, Daizong was abolished, and Xianzong was re-established as the prince.In the name of Empress Dowager Sun, Wan often went to take care of the prince, and the relationship between the two became deeper.After Empress Dowager Sun died of illness, Emperor Xianzong took this opportunity to ask Wan Shi to come to his palace to be his personal maid.At this time, even though Wan Shi was already in her mid-mature, her beauty had not diminished. Under Wan Shi's teasing, the prince, who had just begun to love her, soon had a love affair with her, and the two were inseparable.

Ming Yingzong Tianshun eight years (1464) July [-]th, Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen got married.The so-called big marriage refers to the emperor's marriage.The Wu family that Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen married at that time was chosen by his father Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen.

It is said that there were three women selected by Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen to be raised in the other palace, namely Wu's, Wang's and Bai's.In fact, Xianzong originally wanted to make Wan the queen, but Wan was born in a humble family and was more than ten years older than the emperor. Under the opposition of the queen mother and other ministers, Xianzheng had no choice but to give Wan the title of a small concubine.After the big wedding, the emperor's groom was not greedy for Empress Wu's youthful beauty, but often stayed in the concubine Wan's Palace, which made Empress Wu angry and ashamed.She didn't understand, how could she not be as good as Wan Fei, a young lady, regardless of her beauty, talent, education or family background?What she didn't understand even more was, what method did Concubine Wan, who was ten years older than the emperor, use to tie the emperor's heart to death?

Unexpectedly.In less than a month, Empress Wu was deposed.It was replaced by the Wang family, who later became Empress Xiaozhen.The reason behind Wu's abolition has always been suspected by people.The general opinion is that Empress Wu offended Wan Shi, who was favored by the emperor.

When Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen succeeded to the throne, he was only 18 years old, and the Wan family was 35 years old. He was very good at catering to the emperor's wishes.It is said that every time the emperor travels, the Wan family always rides a horse as the front, or stands around with a sword, which naturally gives Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen a sense of freshness.Perhaps, this is the key to Wan's invitation to favor Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen.However, when Empress Wu first came to power, Wan always kept a stern face every time she visited Empress Wu, which made Empress Wu very angry.At first, Empress Wu held back because of the embarrassment of Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, but later she couldn't bear it anymore and inevitably reprimanded Wan for being unreasonable.But Concubine Wan not only didn't know how to restrain herself, but sneered at Empress Wu with bad words.Once, Empress Wu became angry, and ordered the palace servants to drag Wan Shi to the ground, and took a staff to beat her several times.

This is terrible, Concubine Wan found Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, crying endlessly.Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, was furious, and swore: "If I don't get rid of such a savage, I swear I won't be a human being!"

Early the next morning, Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, went to see the empress dowagers of the two officials, saying that Empress Wu acted frivolously, did not abide by etiquette, and was unbearable to be the head of the six officials, so she must be abolished.The Empress Dowager Zhou dissuaded: "It will be abolished only one month after the registration, isn't it a joke?"

Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen insisted on abolishing the empress, and the Empress Dowager Zhou doted on her son, so she had to let Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen.Therefore, an imperial edict was issued, ordering the Wu family to retreat to another palace, and punishing Niu Yu, the supervisor of ceremonies, to grow vegetables in Xiaoling.

Concubine Wan coveted the throne, and asked Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, to speak to the Queen Mother on her behalf, but the Queen Mother Zhou refused to agree because she thought she was old and came from a humble background.

Two months later, the Empress Dowager Zhou decreed that Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, should make the Wang family, who had been conferred the title of virtuous concubine together with the Bai family, as the queen.Queen Wang is weak and timid by nature, she is always humble and forbearing, just be a puppet queen.The successor Wang and Empress naturally learned a lesson from the abolition of Empress Wu, and had a more friendly attitude towards the Wan family, ignoring Wan's rampant behavior.Queen Wang's prudent and self-protecting attitude, as well as Emperor Zhu Jianshen's favor for Wan's family, made Wan's real master of the harem of the Chenghua Dynasty.

In the second year of Chenghua, Concubine Wan gave birth to the eldest son of the emperor. Emperor Xianzong was overjoyed, and immediately made her a noble concubine, and sent envoys to pray to the gods of mountains and rivers.Unexpectedly, the heavens did not follow people's wishes, and the dragon son died before the full moon, and the concubine Wan Gui was no longer pregnant.But the ambition to seize the queen's position has not given up, so she is very jealous of the concubines who have children. If she knows which concubine is pregnant, she will do everything possible to force her to drink medicine to abort.Due to the power of Concubine Wan Gui in the palace, the concubines could only obey with tears in their eyes.

Although Wan Shi could not conceive, Emperor Zhu Jianshen still liked her very much.As the saying goes, the emperor is not in a hurry and the eunuchs are in a hurry.The emperor has not had a son for many years, which made the ministers of the outer court anxious.The ministers may have heard that it was Concubine Wan Gui who was making trouble, so they asked the emperor to "Pu Enze", that is, to ask the emperor to favor the other concubines in the palace more.

A few years have passed, and Xianzong has no heirs.Inside and outside the palace, the ruling and opposition parties are worried about it.The ministers repeatedly asked the emperor to extend his favor, and Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen was also worried about it.In the fifth year of Chenghua of Emperor Xianzong of Ming Dynasty (1469), Concubine Bai Xian gave birth to a prince. Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of Ming Dynasty was very happy, congratulated him greatly and immediately made him the crown prince.In February of the following year, the crown prince suddenly fell ill, and the illness became so severe that the imperial doctors were helpless, and died after a day and a night.Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Jianshen, was crying to death. The eunuchs in the palace felt that the prince was very sick, so they secretly investigated and found that it was Concubine Wan Gui who poisoned the prince to death.However, no one dared to report.

The reserve position of the Chenghua Dynasty was established in the 11th year of Ming Xianzong Chenghua (1475).In November of this year, Zhu Youtang, who was only 6 years old, was established as the prince.In June before, the prince's biological mother Ji had passed away.Whether Ji's surname is Ji is also doubtful.According to Tan Qian's "Guoyan", the Ji family is "a native of He County, Guangxi, and the daughter of Fubin, the governor of the Chinese army... In the early days of Hongzhi, the inner court speech was originally from the Li family, but it was mistakenly called Ji when she entered the palace, so it was called Ji family".According to this statement, Ji's real surname is Li, and his father's name is Li Fubin.However, these are just the statements of Hongzhi's early years.Zhu Youtang, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, once looked around for members of the Ji family out of the memory of his biological mother.Where the benefits lie, the public tends to, so rumors are everywhere.

The Ji family became an official when he was very young. It is said that in the third year of Chenghua (1467) of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, the Tu people in the southwest rebelled, and the imperial court sent generals to conquer them.Among them was a daughter of the Ji family, who was originally the daughter of a non-commissioned officer in He County. She was beautiful and alert, and was sent to the court.Seeing that Ji's temperament is virtuous and fluent in writing, the queen mother in the palace was promoted to female history.Soon, Empress Wang took a fancy to the Ji family and ordered her to manage the treasury of the inner government.

One day, Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, came to the treasury of the Neifu by chance and asked how many gold and silver banknotes there were in the treasury of the Neifu.Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, saw that Ji Shi was born with bright eyes and white teeth, charming and charming, so he summoned her to Ji's residence.After a few months, Ji became pregnant.

This matter was known by Concubine Wan Gui, and she was very jealous, so she sent a court lady to the treasury of the inner mansion to find out the truth.The court lady was a kind person, she couldn't bear to have the emperor's heirs tortured again, so she went back and reported to the noble concubine that the Ji family was just suffering from a bloating disease.

Concubine Wan Gui was dubious and not at ease, so she ordered Ji to withdraw from the treasury of the inner government and move to An Le Tang, which was close to her residence, so as to supervise her from time to time.

(End of this chapter)