When it comes to the struggle for the throne, the nine sons of the Qing Dynasty are often the first to be thought of, and in the end, Yongzheng successfully won, and the other eight princes except for the fourteenth elder brother who supported him, all suffered different treatment, either imprisoned or died mysteriously, after all, they are all potential opponents, if left unchecked, it will inevitably lead to various unstable factors.
And Zhu Changluo has also experienced the struggle for the throne, and his opponent is Zheng Guifei.
Zheng Guifei was born in a peasant family in Daxing, and the peasants of ancient times are very different from the peasants of today. Although the ancient peasants worked hard, they could not guarantee sufficient food and clothing, because they had almost no way out of farming, and even had few opportunities to do business.
Moreover, their life is very fast-paced, and they have no extra time to do anything else. For example, Zhu Zhanji once talked to a farmer and asked him why he worked so hard.
The farmers replied that they needed to sow in the spring, plow in the summer, and harvest in the fall. If they are lazy during these seasons, they will have problems with their rations and clothing throughout the year.
Even in winter, they could not rest, because they had to complete the conscription prescribed by the state. Therefore, although the life of the ancient peasants was hard, it was not as easy as people imagined.
They need to work hard in the fields, all year round, to make ends meet.
In traditional societies, peasants are relatively weak in their ability to resist attacks, and in the event of a disaster, they often have to sell their property, including their daughters, and thus become the object of trade.
Zheng Guifei's father once sold her to a filial piety as a concubine, but Xiaolian was moved by Zheng Guifei's affectionate farewell when she separated from her father, and chose to let her go and did not ask for a return of the bride price.
Xiaolian may not know that his good deed has brought him unexpected wealth.
Fifteen-year-old Zheng Guifei stood out in the election for nine concubines and became a concubine, and four years later she became an imperial concubine, second only to the queen. And for the filial piety that was kind to her, she also got an important position - salt transportation envoy.
Although the grade of the salt transportation envoy is not high, the salt in charge of the country is rich in oil and water, and it cannot be underestimated.
Many people struggle all their lives and cannot win the favor of the emperor in the harem, but Zheng Guifei was successfully promoted to the imperial concubine by virtue of Wanli's favor. However, among the three thousand beauties in the harem, how can she stand out?
In addition to the emperor's favor, but also because she was born as a peasant, she is informal, has a distinct personality, dares to love and hate, and is never afraid of struggle. From the tenth year of Wanli to the forty-eighth year of Wanli, she has always been favored, all of which stems from her unique personality and tenacious spirit.
If we try to think from Wanli's point of view, then his pampering behavior may no longer be difficult to understand. Wanli spent almost all of his life in the palace, and the entertainment facilities available in the palace were extremely limited, and the only option was the harem.
Maybe in the first year or two, this life can bring him some happiness, but over time, this life will become monotonous. And Zheng Guifei's pungency can just add some color to his life and pass this boring time.
Zheng Guifei's son Zhu Changxun is the third son of the emperor, and according to the traditional rule of "there is a grandson, there is no grandson", the heir to the throne can only be chosen among the son-in-law and the eldest son.
However, Zheng Guifei was not reconciled, her character determined that she would not give up easily, and the facts have proved this. At the same time, Zhu Changluo, as the eldest son, was not favored, and his treatment was much simpler than that of other princes.
His eunuchs were all eliminated from the palace, and the teacher was also an ordinary figure. It is said that his teacher in a private school can get a salary of more than 50 taels a year and a certain social status, while when he is a teacher in Zhu Changluo, he only has a salary of 30 taels a year, and even has to pay for food out of his own pocket.
The most surprising thing is that his teacher has to get up before five o'clock every day. Liu Yuening once joked: "The old Xiucai is not as good as the little Xiucai." This is also normal, after all, Wanli didn't even have the intention of acknowledging Zhu Changluo at the beginning, because Zhu Changluo's birth was an accident.
In the tenth year of Wanli, Emperor Wanli went to the palace of the Empress Dowager Li to ask for peace, and on the spur of the moment, he pampered the maid of the Empress Dowager Li. This kind of thing usually leads to the emperor being promoted to concubine, because the mother is more expensive than the child.
However, Wanli took a very special action. He lifted his pants, and his attitude towards the maid changed abruptly. The maid's belly was getting bigger and bigger, but Wanli didn't have any responsible attitude, even if Empress Dowager Li found him and asked him to be responsible, he didn't care, and sat there without saying a word, as if asking what else could she do?
Only when Empress Dowager Li took out the "Inner Living Note" that specifically recorded his private life, could this account be recovered.
Fight for the country": The process of Wanli canonizing Zhu Changluo as the crown prince is full of twists and turns and drama. The birth of this event is enough to prove its important position in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Changluo was born in the tenth year of Wanli, and was not made the crown prince until the twenty-ninth year, which is extremely rare in the history of the Ming Dynasty. One might wonder what if the queen suddenly gave birth to a son.
The question is not complicated. Because Wanli's mother, Empress Dowager Li, was just a concubine back then, but Longqing made Wanli the crown prince when he was less than ten years old, and the queen was still alive at that time.
If the queen gives birth to a son again, then the original crown prince will be abolished.
The core reason why Emperor Wanli has been under pressure from his ministers for a long time, changed five first assistants in five years, and suppressed countless ministers is the intervention of Concubine Zheng. If it weren't for Concubine Zheng Guifei's stubborn fighting, insisting that Wanli write a promise and keep it, Zhu Changluo would not have waited until he was 19 years old to be made the crown prince.
However, why did Wanli finally go against Concubine Zheng Guifei's opinion and resolutely make Zhu Changluo the crown prince? Because he knew that Zheng Guifei's wishful thinking could not be realized at all.
In the face of the pressure of the ministers, he had no way out, and it was even more hopeless to count on the death of Queen Wang and the promotion of Concubine Zheng to the position of queen. After all, Empress Wang reigned for 42 years, making her the longest-reigning empress in the history of the Ming Dynasty and even the entire feudal society.
The Wanli Emperor was supposed to be able to ordain the crown prince by simply issuing an order, but in practice there was a problem. Because if the Ministry of Rites that executes the order does not carry out the emperor's order, this decree will become a piece of waste paper.
However, the Ministry of Rites was reluctant to enforce the law because they were afraid of offending them by making enemies of the officials. As a result, the Ministry of Rites had no choice but to turn a blind eye, complicating the succession to the throne.
Zhu Changluo has become the crown prince, but Zheng Guifei was not satisfied with this, she continued to work hard, triggering the "Demon Book Case" and the "Assault Case". This "demon book case" refers to the appearance of a leaflet, the content of which is extremely reactionary, suggesting that Wanli may change the crown prince, which was unacceptable at the time.
Because this is tantamount to deceiving the ministers, how can the emperor change his decision at will?
In the flyer, one name appears very frequently, and that is "Zheng Fucheng". The origin of the name is interesting"Zheng"**Yu Zheng Guifei,"Blessed"From Fuwang Zhu Changxun.
While"into"The meaning is obvious, that is, success. This case involved members of the royal family and has become the first case of Tianzi in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the staff in charge of the investigation was not an ordinary yamen, but the two largest secret services of the Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei and Dongchang.
However, the results of their investigation were unexpected, because after their investigation, the real culprit of the Demon Book Case turned out to be a Xiucai named Yu Shengguang.
You may ask, how can a showman grasp the inside story of the imperial court? The answer lies in the fact that he once blackmailed Zheng Guotai, and Zheng Guotai is the younger brother of Zheng Guifei. As the uncle of the country, Zheng Guotai is something that no one dares to provoke, but this showman dares to attack him.
This man's name is Shengguang, and his job is to write documents and extort money from them. Due to the low level of education at that time, most people were illiterate, and their daily life was inseparable from paperwork, so talents like Zhu Shengguang came into being.
Although people of Zheng Guotai's status generally don't ask him to write papers, they can't stand those who want to give gifts from asking him for help.
This is clearly a dark political scene, but most people choose to remain silent because the bigger the incident, the more likely it is that innocent people will be involved. This is why the three major judicial departments of the Ming Dynasty, the Criminal Department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Dali Temple, would ask Yu Shengguang to admit his mistakes and avoid more trouble.
However, it was too unwise for him to say that he would not involve anyone else, but he ended up pushing himself to the brink of danger.
Assault case: Zhang Cha held a big stick in his hand, broke into the palace with a clear goal, and went straight to Zhu Changluo's East Palace. However, before he arrived at Zhu Changluo's residence, the guards in the palace had already discovered him and sent him **.
This incident happened at the gate of the East Palace, and if it was not discovered in time, Zhu Changluo's life would have been threatened. After interrogation, it was learned that Zhang Cha was brought into the palace by Zheng Guifei's personal eunuchs Pang Bao and Liu Cheng.
However, despite the investigation, it was still impossible to find out who was behind it, and finally Pang Bao and Liu Cheng were identified as scapegoats in this case and executed. But considering that there were only two eunuchs, it was hard to imagine that they had such a powerful influence.
Although the two cases are not directly related to Zheng Guifei, there seems to be a subtle connection between the two. Because the target of these two cases is the crown prince, and Zheng Guifei is obviously the biggest beneficiary.
Regardless of whether the demon book case was related to her younger brother, and the assault case was related to her eunuch, if she had nothing to do with these two cases, I'm afraid no one would believe it. Therefore, even if Zhu Changluo has become the crown prince, he must always be vigilant and avoid going out as much as possible.
After all, no one can guarantee what will happen tomorrow, in case it becomes a key piece of evidence because of a one-time outing. After all, Concubine Zheng once framed Zhu Changluo for having a relationship with the palace maid when he was thirteen years old.
If Zhu Changluo's mother, Concubine Wang Gong, did not live with him, he would probably not be able to wash himself by jumping into the Yellow River. It is recorded in "The First Dial of the Beginning": "The eldest son of the emperor is good at playing with the palace people, and he is no longer a child. ”
After all, in the palace, palace maids who are willing to be the first bird abound. It was years of repression that led to the occurrence of the "Red Pill Case".
In the forty-eighth year of Wanli, Zhu Changluo finally came out and became the emperor, but Zheng Guifei was uneasy in her heart, afraid that he would liquidate herself. In order to alleviate her fear, she sent eight beauties to Zhu Changluo.
However, these beauties brought bad luck to Zhu Changluo. He overworked his body for these beauties, and in just a few days, he lost a frightening amount of weight, and even showed visible emaciation.
For the sake of his health, he began to take medicine, but the medicine prescribed by the doctor made him miserable. It turned out that this doctor was Cui Wensheng, Zheng Guifei's personal eunuch, and he was also the person in charge of the imperial pharmacy.
The reason why Zhu Changluo asked him to prescribe medicine was because he was not only a eunuch, but also the person in charge of the imperial pharmacy.
Some people may have questions about medications and worry that they will have a bad effect on them. But in reality, it's not the drug's fault, it's the user not using it correctly.
For example, Zhu Changluo once overused drugs, causing his body to catch fire, and laxatives happened to be able to clear the fire, but he used too much. Before that, he could move freely, but after using the drug, he couldn't even get out of bed, and no matter what medicine he drank, it had no effect.
It wasn't until Li Kezhuo, the Cheng of Honglu Temple, offered him a decoction called "Red Pill" that his condition improved. However, it was only effective when the first dose was used, and unfortunately passed away when the second dose was used.
There seems to be some kind of connection between the eight beauties, laxatives, and red pills, but no substantial evidence has been found at this time. Therefore, the "Red Pill Case" became one of the doubtful cases in the Ming Dynasty, and Cui Wensheng and Li Kezhuo were also punished by exile and expulsion.
Zheng Guifei is the bane of Zhu Changluo's death, and she is also involved in the "Demon Book Case" and the "Assault Case". However, because she was the imperial concubine of Wanli, no one in the emperor's harem could intervene.
Therefore, she also wisely realized that she had lost power, no longer arrogant, but became a person of rules. In the first year of the Apocalypse, Zhu Youxiao held a big wedding, and according to the regulations, the most prominent woman in the harem was required to preside.
At that time, Concubine Zheng was the most prominent in the harem, because her identity was the imperial concubine. However, due to her experience, the candidates to officiate at the big wedding were changed to Concubine Li Gong and Concubine Liu Cheng, who were of lower status.
In the third year of Chongzhen, Zheng Guifei died in the harem and was buried in Yinquan Mountain, although she and Wanli fell in love all their lives, but could not be buried together. However, her mausoleum is the largest concubine mausoleum in the Ming Tombs, which shows that the ministers did not hold a grudge against her, after all, her identity was there.
Although Concubine Zheng Guifei had a good death, her son Zhu Changxun was not so lucky. Although Zhu Changxun had the idea of seizing the heir, he did not take action, and his mother Zheng Guifei has been manipulating behind his back.
Why, then, did he not get a good death in the end? You must know that Zhu Changluo is open to him because of his special identity. The reason why he did not die well was because he lived at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and although he did not die at the hands of his own people, he died at the hands of the rebels.