In the traditional concept of ancient China, the absence of offspring was considered a sign of disobedience to parents, and coupled with the low productivity at the time, the increase in membership could also reduce the burden on the family.
Therefore, people in ancient times, whether rich or poor, liked to have children. For the emperor, even more so.
But there was an emperor who reigned for 22 years and had 3,000 beauties in the harem, but did not give birth to a child, which has become a mystery in history. Do you know who it is?
This emperor is Ming Chengzu Zhu Di. Zhu Di ascended the throne at the age of 42 and reigned for 22 years, with a total of 4 sons and 5 daughters in his life, and these nine children were born before he ascended the throne.
Why is that?Busy with national affairs and don't have time?Or, as some wild histories say, he suffers from a hidden disease that makes it difficult for people to conceive?
Zhu Di was the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, and during the Zhu Yuanzhang period, he was just a Yan king stationed in northern Xinjiang to defend against Mongolia.
However, due to Emperor Jianwen's reduction of the feudal domain, he was forced to go south and launched the Battle of Jingjing. After four years of fighting, he managed to take control of Nanjing, becoming the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty and became known as the Yongle Emperor.
He made outstanding achievements in governing the world, his superb skills, outstanding martial arts, compiled the "Yongle Grand Canon", expanded his territory, and carried out diplomatic exchanges with Korea and Mongolia, all of which showed his talent and strategy.
However, such a monarch, who was called emperor, did not give birth to children, which is rare in the entire history of feudal dynasties.
The first statement is that Zhu Di has little leisure time. Over the years, Zhu Di has been on expeditions to the south and north for a long time, and even after becoming emperor, he still personally led the army on expeditions.
Zhu Di went deep into the desert five times. It may be said that the perennial conquest made him physically and mentally exhausted, and it was difficult to take care of the moon and the moon with the concubine.
The second theory is that he is in love with Empress Xu. Although Zhu Di has reigned for many years, he only has one wife, Queen Xu. After the two got married, they had a very strong relationship and extraordinary affection.
When Zhu Di was fighting outside, the Xu family managed the mansion in an orderly manner, so as to avoid his worries.
During the Battle of Jingjing, guarding the city gate in person is enough to see her intelligence and bravery. He gave birth to 3 sons and 4 daughters. So after her death, Zhu Di had little interest in other women.
It's just that this statement is obviously not very tenable, because he later pampered a North Korean woman, a powerful concubine.
The powerful concubine is one of the beauties presented to Zhu Di by North Korea, she is not only amazingly beautiful, but also very favored by Zhu Di. However, what she brought was not peace in the harem, but a conspiracy.
The envoy who came with the powerful concubine and her, through a special drug, affected Zhu Di's fertility and manipulated his body, causing him to have nothing to do.
And the reason why she did this was to control the fertility of the Ming Dynasty emperor, once he wanted the antidote, he had to beg for mercy from North Korea, wanting to influence the succession of the Ming Dynasty throne and gain a certain right to speak. But this story is obviously rather absurd.
According to the wild history, it was because Zhu Di suffered from a hidden disease, which damaged his physical functions and made him unable to give birth to more offspring. There are many more conspiracy theories that there are people in the harem who secretly use infertility pills to achieve certain ends. Of course, there is no tangible evidence to prove it.
In addition to the above, according to the palace maid of the Hui Dynasty, Zhu Di may have suffered from physical defects. Although this matter is mentioned in the "Records of the Li Dynasty", there is no relevant record in China.
Of course, if this is true, then there is a reasonable explanation for the mystery of Zhu Di's harem without children.
Whatever the truth, it may only be found in the long river of history. In fact, from another point of view, Zhu Di's focus on national affairs is not necessarily a good thing.
After all, his achievements in governing state affairs are enough to leave a deep mark on his history. The secrets of the harem may just be some legends of the world.
After Zhu Di's death, his son Zhu Gaochi succeeded to the throne, and the Ming Dynasty continued to prosper and glory. Although the mystery of Zhu Di's childlessness is still a secret and has not yet been solved, his achievements and reputation have been widely praised by the world.
We may never know the truth, but perhaps this is the charm of history, and some stories have been sealed in time and left to the imagination of future generations.