In the feudal era, the selection of the successor to the throne was undoubtedly the most headache for the emperor. The survival of a country is closely related to the choice of the heir to the throne, which can be said to be the cornerstone of the country.
Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen is no exception, his troubles are that "there are jealous women in the family", resulting in him being middle-aged, but unable to determine the heir to the throne. For this reason, he didn't think about tea and dinner, and even sighed when he combed his hair.
However, just when he was most worried, a eunuch told him the shocking news: "You have a son, but you are raised in a cold palace, and you are already six years old!" ”
This news surprised Zhu Jianshen, he didn't know that he had a son, and his son was still abandoned.
When the 6-year-old little prince Zhu Youzhu became Ming Xiaozong, his childhood shadow and Zhu Jianshen's mid-life crisis were all related to one person - Ming Xianzong's favorite concubine Wan Guifei.
Wan Guifei, a palace maid from an insignificant background, is seventeen years older than Zhu Jianshen. However, Zhu Jianshen did not alienate her because of this, but abolished his own queen for her.
So, what is the charm of Concubine Wan that makes Zhu Jianshen fall in love with her so much?
According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", Wan Zhen'er entered the palace at the age of four, and has experienced cold and warm since she was a child, and has developed a keen insight. Later, with her well-behaved and sensible, she came to serve the Empress Dowager Sun; At the age of nineteen, she accepted the arrangement of Empress Dowager Sun to take care of Zhu Jianshen, who was only two years old.
Zhu Jianshen was separated from his mother since he was a child, but he was taken care of by Wan Zhen'er. Because of the lack of maternal love since childhood, he gradually developed special feelings for Wan Zhen'er, which is called the "mother-love complex".
Therefore, after Zhu Jianshen succeeded to the throne, he had planned to make Wan Zhen'er the empress. However, under the strong opposition of his biological mother, Empress Dowager Zhou, Zhu Jianshen had no choice but to take a step back and let Wan Zhen'er become a concubine and Wu became the queen.
Zhu Jianshen's love and dependence on Wan Zhen'er stems from the feelings he has formed since he was a child, how can he easily change it? Therefore, even though the queen has been determined, Zhu Jianshen still cares about Wan Guifei and is indifferent to the queen.
This unwavering emotion angered the Empress Dowager Zhou, causing Concubine Wan to suffer the punishment of cane. The battle between Zhu Jianshen and the Queen Mother not only affected Concubine Wan, but also caused direct harm to Empress Wu.
Witnessing the beating of Concubine Wan, Zhu Jianshen's eyes were full of tears, and he resolutely deposed Empress Wu despite the opposition of many courtiers, and renamed Wang as the empress, that is, the later Empress Xiaozhen.
Seeing that the emperor's determination was so firm, Empress Dowager Zhou no longer dared to interfere with their feelings indiscriminately. So, Zhu Jianshen and Wan Guifei spent decades hand in hand, and their relationship was as deep as glue and inseparable.
Even if Concubine Wan's eldest son died early, it could not shake her position in Zhu Jianshen's heart. Although Zhu Jianshen also doted on other women, his feelings were always the same, and he never disliked Wan Guifei because she was seventeen years older than him, but he spoiled her alone.
A love that spans age seems to be touching, but it also hides trouble. The love story of Zhu Jianshen and Wan Guifei in the Ming Dynasty is like this. Zhu Jianshen once confessed affectionately, but this love has brought irreparable consequences to the country.
Zhu Jianshen's favor for Concubine Wan not only caused him to have no heirs in middle age, but also made it impossible for other concubines in the harem to give birth to Long Zhong. Wan Guifei relied on Zhu Jianshen's favor, arrogant and domineering, and dominated the harem.
She was jealous and did not allow other concubines to take away Zhu Jianshen's favor, so Zhu Jianshen had no heirs in middle age. Zhu Jian loved Concubine Wan deeply, but he also understood the importance of the foundation of the country.
He was conflicted, so he had to express his sorrow in private. However, fate played a joke on him at this time. After asking casually, he actually got a son, and this son was Zhu Youzhu of the Ming Dynasty.
The love story between Zhu Jianshen and Wan Guifei is heartwarming, but the price behind it is huge. This love not only changed Zhu Jianshen's life, but also had a profound impact on the entire Ming Dynasty.
The new copy is as follows: Zhu Youzhang's mother, Ji, was originally the daughter of a Tusi in Guangxi. Due to the local rebellion, the young Ji was punished into the palace and had the opportunity to come into contact with Zhu Jianshen.
By chance, the emperor had a relationship with Ji, but it turned out to make him deeply emotional. A few months later, the Ji family gradually became pregnant, and the news quickly reached Wan Guifei's ears.
After learning the news, Concubine Wan immediately sent palace people to check, but Ji's popularity in the palace was very good, and the palace people couldn't bear it, so they helped Ji hide the fact of pregnancy.
However, Wan Guifei still did not let go of the Ji family, not only demoted her to the cold palace, but also sent the door supervisor Zhang Min to monitor her, and drowned the Ji family if she gave birth to a prince.
However, Zhang Min turned against Ji and became Ji's ally, helped her give birth smoothly, and protected her through her childhood for 6 years. In the end, it was this loyal gatekeeper who bravely revealed the truth to the emperor when he lamented that he had no son.
After Zhu Jianshen saw Zhu Youjiao, who was thin due to malnutrition, he was both surprised and sad about what happened to the innocent child. That night, Zhu Youzhu told all the ministers the news, and officially announced the next day that Zhu Youzhu would become the crown prince.
However, when Concubine Wan learned the news, she felt very jealous. Soon after, Zhu Youzhang's biological mother, Ji, died suddenly, and the loyal eunuch who had made great achievements soon committed suicide.
These things all show Wan Guifei's ruthlessness. In order to protect Zhu Youzhang, the Empress Dowager Zhou decided to take him to the Renshou Palace, where he could grow up safely, and eventually inherited the throne and became Ming Xiaozong.
After Zhu Youzhu ascended the throne, he actively governed the government, encouraged the people to express their opinions, advocated a frugal life, and paid attention to people's livelihood issues. Under his leadership, the Ming Dynasty was brought back to life.
During this period, the politics were clear, the private economy recovered rapidly, and the country's strength steadily increased. Later historians therefore hailed this period as "Hongzhi Zhongxing". Even Zeng Guofan ranked him alongside Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty, and Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty.
What's even more admirable is that due to the childhood shadow brought to him by Concubine Wan Guizhu, Zhu Youzhu only married Empress Zhang as an adult, realizing the real "one life and one couple".
It seems that the story of Zeng Guofan has been told. Judging from the records of "History of the Ming Dynasty", the tragedy of Zhu Jianshen and Zhu Youzhang's father and son is largely due to the existence of Wan Guifei; So much so that when later generations talked about this matter, they criticized, abused and blamed her.
Cai Dongfan even compared her with Lu Pheasant and Wu Zetian, calling her a generation of great careerists. But in fact, these people are making preconceived mistakes. Looking back at several contradictions in the "History of the Ming Dynasty", you can find that "Wan Guifei is jealous, causing Zhu Jianshen to have no children" is actually untenable.
Regarding some questions about Wan Guifei, the above are all based on the "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Wan Guifei", in which a record clearly points out: In the harem at that time, as long as a concubine was pregnant with Zhu Jianshen's child, Wan Guifei would order others to have an abortion; And Zhu Youzhang's biological mother, Ji, is even more clearly recorded: she was killed by Wan Guifei.
In addition, when Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youzhu was born, he had no hair on his head, which was also caused by the medicine given to Ji by Wan Guifei back then.
Wan Guifei's methods are vicious, and Ming Xianzong is very fond of her, but Ming Xiaozong's attitude towards her is incomprehensible. According to the Records of Ming Xiaozong, after Zhu Youzhu succeeded to the throne, the ministers demanded that the Wan clan be disposed of, but Emperor Xiaozong forgave them, as long as they admitted their mistakes and returned their property.
This makes people wonder, why would Zhu Youzhu be so tolerant of his mother's killer's clansmen? Secondly, on the issue of Zhu Jianshen's heirs, although Zhu Youzhu is Zhu Jianshen's third son, he also has a second prince, Zhu Youji.
Although Wan Guifei forcibly aborted all the pregnant concubines, how was Zhu Youji born? This begs the question.
New version of copywriting: According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", Ming Xianzong had ten sons, and in addition to Zhu Youji, there were other princes. We need to think deeply about this.
In addition, the conversation between the eunuch and Zhu Jianshen is equally confusing. Although Zhu Jianshen lamented that he had no children, his second prince Zhu Youji had already been born and was made the crown prince.
Although the eunuch knew that the emperor had a son, he kept saying that His Majesty had no son. This paradoxical phenomenon is thought-provoking. To sum up, we cannot fully trust all the records in the "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Wan Guifei", because there may be inaccuracies.
In addition, the historical data of the History of the Ming Dynasty is also worth questioning. It is said that when Mao Qiling, the compiler of "History of the Ming Dynasty and the Biography of the Concubine", wrote the book, in order to save trouble, he moved the content of his work "The History of Shengchaotong" into the "History of the Ming Dynasty".
This raises questions about the authenticity and accuracy of the History of the Ming Dynasty. We need to conduct in-depth research on these doubts in order to better understand historical events and figures.
Mao Qiling recorded the story of Wan Guifei in "The History of Sheng Chaotong", but these records originated from Yu Shenxing's "Gushan Bilu". Mao Qiling did not refer to authoritative sources, but directly quoted part of the content of "Gushan Bilu", and finally these records entered the "History of the Ming Dynasty".
Although the history books may not be credible, Mao Qiling made two mistakes. Without going through research, he revised the main content and reproduced it into his own work, which is undoubtedly a "manuscript wash".
Secondly, Mao Qiling omitted a sentence at the end of Yu Shenxing's book, which was told to Yu Shenxing by an old eunuch in the Wanli period about Wan Guifei. Yu Shenxing wrote this sentence to remind the reader: The record about Wan Guifei came from his hearsay, and the reader decides for himself whether to believe it or not.
However, when Mao Qiling quoted this account, he completely ignored this sentence, which led to the damage to the image of Wan Guifei and became the "adulterous concubine" that everyone shouted at.
Although the records of "Ming Xianzong Record", "Ming Xiaozong Record" and "History of the Ming Dynasty" show that Wan Guifei was a little wronged in the matter of "Wan Guifei was jealous, causing Zhu Jianshen to have no children", she was not innocent.
For example, Why did Zhu Youji only live to be three years old? In addition, judging from Wan Guifei's resume, her motives were very impure from the beginning. If she is really a generous person, why does Ming Xianzong spoil her alone?
Moreover, judging from Zhu Jianshen's lack of heirs in his early years, Wan Guifei was indeed suspected of murdering the imperial heir. The most direct evidence is that she had colluded with many traitors in the current dynasty.
According to historical records, Qian Neng, Wang Zhi, Liang Fang and other traitorous villains had close contacts with Wan Guifei, and in order to please her, they wantonly looted wealth, and even "extorted people's wealth and exhausted the treasury".
Even Wan An, the richest man in the cabinet at the time, wanted to tie up Wan Guifei and call himself her son and nephew. In this case, how good can the court officials and ordinary people have a good impression of Wan Guifei?
Of course, it is not only the ** and the people of the court who are dissatisfied and accused, but also the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace. Although Concubine Wan had supreme power in the harem, after her death, some people may unfairly accuse and slander her because of jealousy, resentment and other factors.
And Wan Guifei's past is not innocent, and these groundless accusations and rumors have made her more credible. Yu Shenxing heard through the mouth of the old eunuch that the half-truths and half-truths of the "Biography of Wan Guifei" were produced under this circumstance.
Therefore, Wan Guifei's jealous and vicious image was inevitably strengthened.