In 1612, there was a foul smell in the palace of the Ming Emperor, and the palace maids who passed by covered their mouths one after another, and some palace maids couldn't help but secretly discuss: "Don't talk too much, hurry up." ”
The smell came from Concubine Wang Gong's coffin, which has been placed here for ten months, so why has Concubine Wang Gong's coffin been here for so long?It wasn't until 344 years later that the truth was reopened.
In 1581, Mingshenzong Zhu Yijun greeted his mother, Empress Dowager Li, as usual, and he found a new beautiful woman in the palace of Empress Dowager Li. On a whim, Zhu Yijun asked the little palace maid to help him beat his back, and then he couldn't help it, so he was fortunate to her. I didn't expect the little palace maid to hit it once.
This little palace maid is the Wang family, and the Wang family thinks that she is pregnant, and her status has changed.
She found Zhu Yijun and told him that she was pregnant. Unexpectedly, Zhu Yijun didn't admit it.
The Wang family had no choice but to hide it secretly, but his belly grew day by day, and he would eventually be unable to hide it.
Soon, the Empress Dowager Li learned about this and questioned the Wang family, and the Wang family told the truth to the Empress Dowager Li.
Empress Dowager Li was very angry when she heard this, so she sent someone to find the emperor. What Empress Dowager Li didn't expect was that Zhu Yijun didn't admit it.
Empress Dowager Li naturally knew what kind of person her son was, so he asked the eunuch to bring the "Living Note". The "Living Notes" is similar to the diary of today. recorded the emperor's every move, there is "Living Note", Zhu Yijun couldn't deny it if he wanted to, so he had to admit it.
Empress Dowager Li hugged Sun heartily, and Zhu Yijun had no children at this time. When she saw that Wang was pregnant, she naturally tried everything she could to save it. Under the auspices of Empress Dowager Li, Zhu Yijun finally named Wang Concubine Gong.
A few months later, the Wang family gave birth to Zhu Yijun's eldest son, Zhu Changluo, who later became Mingguangzong.
Although the Wang family was named a concubine and gave birth to a prince, Zhu Yijun didn't like her, and naturally didn't like Zhu Changluo, and never looked at their mother and son. The other concubines and even the minions saw the wind and bullied the mother and son.
Zhu Changluo is the eldest son and should have been made the crown prince, but Zhu Yijun didn't like him and the Wang family, so he didn't stand for a long time, plus at this time Zhu Yijun's favorite concubine Zheng Guifei also gave birth to a son Zhu Changxun, Zhu Yijun wanted to make Zheng Guifei's son the prince, but he was opposed by the minister and the queen mother.
The ministers adhere to the principle of having a grandson and establishing a long-term heir, and now the queen has no children, and Zhu Changluo is the eldest son and should be made the crown prince.
But Zhu Yijun still refused to stand up. In order to establish the crown prince, the two sides fought for 15 years, during which they forced away four capitals, more than 10 people, and more than 300 people. ”
After this struggle, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years was shaken, and the Empress Dowager Li looked at the national crisis, found Zhu Yijun, and asked: "The ministers all advocate making Zhu Changluo the crown prince, why don't you agree?"”
Zhu Yijun said: "He is a palace girl." After hearing this, Empress Dowager Li was furious and said, "You are also a palace girl." Zhu Yijun knew that he had said the wrong thing, and immediately knelt down for Empress Dowager Li.
Empress Dowager Li is also a palace maid, and she gave birth to Zhu Yijun after being favored by the emperor. Moreover, Empress Dowager Li's father was a mason, which was lower than Wang's background.
Zhu Yijun was no match for the Queen Mother and the ministers, so he had to make Zhu Changluo the crown prince and Wang as the concubine. But the situation of the Wang family did not get better because of Concubine Feng, but worsened.
She was imprisoned in Jingyang Palace by Zhu Yijun, and what was even more cruel was that she did not let their mother and son meet for ten years.
Concubine Zheng Guifei's son did not become the crown prince, so he took out his anger at the Wang family and often framed her. Poor Wang had no way to ask for it, so he could only endure it.
Later, Zhu Changluo gave birth to a son, Zhu Youzhen, and the Wang family was named the imperial concubine, ironically continuing to be imprisoned in the palace.
In 1611, Wang was critically ill, and when Zhu Changluo learned about it, he knelt in front of Zhu Yijun and asked to see his mother, and the ministers also exerted pressure, and Zhu Yijun had to agree.
Zhu Changluo immediately rushed to Jingyang Palace, but he didn't expect the door to be locked, Zhu Changluo found a eunuch and smashed the lock directly, and the mother and son finally met.
Zhu Changluo was heartbroken when he saw his mother being tortured like this. At this time, the Wang family had not seen his son for many years, and his eyes were already blind from crying.
Wang took his son's hand and touched his son's face, and the mother and son cried bitterly.
When Wang saw his son, his wish was fulfilled, and he died on the same day.
After Wang's death, the ministers thought that they should be buried according to the etiquette of the imperial concubine, but Zhu Yijun refused. Because Zhu Yijun did not give a reply for a long time, Wang's body could only be placed in the Ming harem until it rotted and stinked, and Zhu Yijun arranged for a hasty burial. There were no funerary goods either.
In 1956, the archaeological excavation of the tomb of Concubine Wang Gong, only a silver kettle was found in the coffin, without any decoration, and the inscription "Ming Wanli Rennian (1582) year," this pot was used for 30 years. There is also a gilded silver plate with holes and notches. It can be seen that Concubine Wang Gong's life back then was not as good as that of ordinary people.
Zhu Changluo was also angry about what happened to his mother, and the first thing he did after he succeeded to the throne was to propose to posthumously crown his mother as the queen, but unfortunately he died of illness before it was implemented.
After his grandson Zhu Youzhen succeeded to the throne, he posthumously crowned his grandmother "Empress Dowager Xiaojing." At the same time, he moved to Dingling and was buried with Zhu Yijun.
Looking back at Wang's life, the degree of tragedy is self-evident.
As soon as he entered the Hou Gate, it was as deep as the sea, and the Wang family thought that he was fortunate to be honored by the emperor, even if he did not have glory and wealth, at least it was better than being a palace maid. What I didn't expect was that being a concubine was not as good as the life of a palace maid. As a palace maid, at least she can move freely, but she has been confined until she dies.
This is the fate of the harem women in that period, either flying on the branches and becoming a phoenix, or just like Concubine Wang Gong, life is worse than death, sad and lamentable.