Emperor Zhu Qizhen in the history of the Ming Dynasty has always been criticized by historians. His erroneous decision led to the tragic defeat of the elite army of the Ming Dynasty in the Battle of Tumubao, thus interrupting the upward momentum of the Ming Dynasty after the Yongle and Renxuan dynasties, and began to go downhill.
This seemingly weak king was not worthless. Before his death, he abolished the thousand-year-old harem burial system, which was strictly observed in the previous Ming Dynasty, and even Zhu Gaochi, who was known as the Prince of Benevolence, did not violate it.
From a modern point of view, the system was clearly cruel and unreasonable, but this decision was a rare highlight of his life.
Old version of the copy: All the emperor's concubines before Zhu Qizhen abolished the funeral system, no matter how glorious they were during their lifetime, they must follow this system and be martyred for the emperor after death.
There are only three exceptions. New version of the copy: Before Zhu Qizhen abolished the funeral system, all the emperor's concubines, regardless of their status during their lifetime, must be martyred for the emperor in accordance with the system after death.
There are only three exceptions. Among them, the queen is undoubtedly the first choice among these three types of people.
In the ancient harem system, the status of the queen was supreme. Even if the emperor died, no one dared to let the empress be martyred, and there was only one reason, that is, her status was not high enough.
In the funeral system of the Ming Dynasty, only the rank of noble concubine and above could enjoy this treatment. For the hierarchy of the harem, it is as strict as the ** system of the imperial court, and it is not inferior at all.
The grade of the concubine is at least the first grade, while the grade of the imperial concubine and the queen is even higher, equivalent to the level of the six books, and even the ministers who enter the cabinet as ministers!
1.Being in a high position, it is naturally not easy to bury the first emperor. 2.If, in addition to being high enough, you can also give birth to a child for the emperor, then you can avoid the fate of martyrdom.
In ancient times, if you can give birth to an heir for the emperor, you will undoubtedly rise in the harem. This is true for both men and women. In ancient times, people pursued more children and more blessings, and this concept was more prominent in the royal family.
If the emperor had relatively weak fertility and fewer heirs, then the concubine would have been more fortunate. If she gave birth to a son for the emperor, she might be immediately promoted to concubine.
If lucky enough, her son could even become the crown prince. When the emperor dies, she may become the empress dowager who leans towards the government and the opposition. Of course, this method may not have been an easy task for the previous emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
In the royal harem, there are often a large number of women, and many women may not even receive the emperor's favor in their lives after entering the harem, but simply become the emperor's wife and concubine.
This is the reason why the two concubines from abroad in the TV series "Daming Fenghua" were so nervous after their sister was favored by Zhu Di. You know, it's a matter of life and death for them.
As an emperor, for many unfamiliar concubines, he may only be pampered once in his life. But if you are lucky enough to give birth to a child for the emperor, then you will not have to be martyred in the future, and the status of the harem will be greatly improved.
In the court of the Ming Dynasty, if you can give birth to a son for the emperor, even if you can't become the emperor, as long as you don't violate the ban on rebellion, you will have the opportunity to be crowned a prince in the future. After the death of the old emperor, the concubine can go to the fiefdom with her son to retire for the rest of his life, which is already quite a good ending.
However, for many harem women, such luck is obviously not common. In the case of several emperors in the early Ming Dynasty, the number of children under their knees is enough to illustrate the problem.
Most of the harem women were never blessed by the emperor in their lifetimes. In addition to this, there is an even smaller possibility, and that is to be pardoned by the new emperor. Although the emperor was a man of high power, the influence of the new emperor was undoubtedly more important after the death of the old emperor.
As long as the new emperor is willing, the amnesty will naturally be able to live.
Among several emperors in the early Ming Dynasty, the only concubine in history who was exempted from burial was Zhu Gaochi's Zhang. This is because Zhang's grandfather, Zhang Yu, the first general of Jingnan, has great authority and strong power in his mother's family.
As the new emperor, Zhu Zhanji, in order to maintain the prestige of the Zhang family, decided to exempt the Zhang family from martyrdom. Although this is extremely rare, it is not entirely impossible, as long as the new emperor is kind to you or your mother's family is strong enough, it is possible to avoid martyrdom.
For the concubines in the harem who are kind to the new emperor, it is a little tricky to solve this problem. You must know that in the ancient harem, even if it was his own son, the emperor would not allow them to move around the harem at will, and if they were a little older, they would be sent out of the palace and build a mansion alone.
This may also be done to avoid the recurrence of the Tang Dynasty Wu Meiniang and Li Zhi. Since they had not had the opportunity to meet the new emperor before, they certainly did not have the opportunity to show favor to the new emperor.
After the new emperor ascended the throne, in order to show filial piety, he would try his best to improve the etiquette. For the burial of those concubines who are not important to him, if it is not necessary, the new emperor will definitely not deliberately pardon them, otherwise it seems that he is coveting the concubines of the old emperor.
In addition to these three situations, the remaining concubines are basically a dead end. The only thing they could do was to hope that the old emperor would live a few more days and let himself be buried a few days later.
From this point of view, Zhu Qizhen's abolition of this cruel burial system is also a good move. Compared with his incompetent life, the countless souls who died in the Tumubao Incident can barely be regarded as the only good thing he has done.