Kick off the bridge and spell "big gift"
Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houzong's predecessor was Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao, the only son of hongzhi emperor (his younger brother Zhu Houwei died before he was three years old). Emperor Zhengde was dissolute after he ascended the throne. He died in March in the sixteenth year of Zheng De (152 1) at the age of 3 1. Because Emperor Zhengde did not leave any children, and it was a single biography, Zhang Taihou, the mother of Emperor Zhengde, and Yang Tinghe, the cabinet records, inherited the ancestral system according to the throne of "brothers and brothers", and decided that the eldest son Xing (deceased) who was recently supported by the royal family and hongzhi emperor's half-brother would inherit the throne. In the second year, the title was changed to Jiajing. Ministers, led by Zhang Taihou and Yang Tinghe, believed that according to the ancient tradition, Zhu Houzong, Emperor Jiajing, was the collateral heir to the unification, and his imperial father should be Zhu Youtang, hongzhi emperor. His biological parents, Xing Zhuyou Juehe, can only be classified as uncle parents.
But Zhu Houzong, Emperor Jiajing, didn't. Soon after he ascended the throne, with the support of the faction leader Zhang Cong, he honored his parents as queens, accepted his mother as a gift, and presented Princess Jiang to the city palace. In the third year of Jiajing (1524), the protective ceremony became more severe. 160 people were arrested, paid and tortured, and as many as 18 people were killed by sticks. In September of the same year, the imperial edict was officially promulgated, and hongzhi emperor Zhu Youtang and Empress Zhang Taihou were renamed as uncles' parents, while their biological parents were Emperor Gao Gong and Empress Zhang Sheng. In the seventeenth year of Jiajing (1538), Zong Rui was revered as his father, and a sacrifice was attached to the ancestral hall, which stood above Zhu Houzhao, the Emperor of Zhengde. Zhang Taihou, who had decided to make him emperor, was not even allowed to congratulate his courtiers on his birthday, and eventually died of depression. Yang Tinghe, who advised him to be emperor, was given an official title, and his son Yang Shen exiled him for life. Emperor Jiajing is fickle and disloyal, which is evident.
The queen came to no good end.
As the saying goes, husband and wife love each other. However, it is inconceivable that Emperor Jiajing was so mean to the three queens. In the first year of Jiajing, Zhang Taihou chose the daughter of Chen in Yuancheng County of Daming House as Jiajing Emperor and made her the queen. At this time, Chen was twenty or eighty years old, charming but not sad, quiet and not stagnant, and still loved by Emperor Jiajing. However, Emperor Jiajing was naturally romantic and lustful, and he never missed the opportunity to hunt for sex when he was idle. One day in the seventeenth year of Jiajing (1528), Emperor Jiajing and Empress Chen sat together chatting, and the maid-in-waiting Zhang came to offer tea. Emperor Jiajing saw that Zhang Yu's hands were white and tender, and his desire rose. He couldn't help grabbing her hand and stroking it gently. Seeing this jealousy, Empress Chen gave Zhang a hard push and splashed the hot tea in Zhang's hand on Emperor Jiajing's face. Emperor Jiajing suddenly stood up and kicked his feet at Queen Chen's lower abdomen. Queen Chen was shocked and hurt, and immediately fainted. At this time, the queen had been pregnant for six months, and was hit by this blow, bleeding from her lower body and eventually dying. Emperor Jiajing showed no sympathy for the tragic death of Queen Chen and made the funeral very simple. Catalpa coffins were hastily buried in Aoergu on the edge of Tianshou Mountain, and were ordered not to leave the main entrance of the palace, and carried out from the left door like a princess in the palace.
After the death of Empress Chen, Zhang Gongnv, who was favored by Emperor Jiajing, was named Shunfei. A month later, Emperor Jiajing made Shun the queen. In view of the lesson of blood, Empress Zhang was obedient to Emperor Jiajing, did not dare to be arrogant, and was very cautious in her words and deeds. At this time, Emperor Jiajing admired Taoism, especially Taoist Shao. In order to further invite pets, Shao made great efforts to write a book, The Training of Saints, and gave a speech to the concubines of the Queen every few days. Empress Zhang was annoyed and was reprimanded by Emperor Jiajing. What Emperor Jiajing can't tolerate most is that Queen Zhang often refuses to wear her own fancy clothes to participate in various escort activities. In the 13th year of Jiajing (1534), during the Spring Festival of the first month, Queen Zhang waited on Emperor Jiajing's dinner to celebrate. When Emperor Jiajing was happy, she made some suggestions. I don't want to. Emperor Jiajing flew into a rage after hearing this, and ordered him to wear the queen's crown and whip dozens of times. The next day, Queen Zhang was abandoned in another palace. After the abolition, Zhang was imprisoned in the cold palace for two years and finally died in despair and loneliness. Emperor Jiajing, having no feeling of mourning, ordered the burial according to his concubine's funeral. After his death, there was no posthumous title.
A few days after Empress Zhang was abolished, the German princess ascended the throne very ceremoniously, becoming the third empress of Jiajing Emperor. According to the patriarchal clan system of the Ming Dynasty, when the empress ascended the throne, she only visited the inner hall, not the ancestral temple. However, Emperor Jiajing did not listen to the repeated exhortations of the courtiers. Instead, he led Fang to visit the ancestral temple and the world temple, told the world by imperial edict, and ordered the ladies-in-waiting to appear before the queen in the palace. The ceremony was grand and complicated, which was incomparable to the previous two queens.
However, a few years later, Emperor Jiajing doted on Cao Shi and gradually neglected Fang Empress, which made Fang Empress hate her guts. In October of the 21st year of Jiajing (1542), Emperor Jiajing almost strangled his maid-in-waiting. When Emperor Jiajing was still in shock, Queen Fang put the blame on and ordered him to be executed according to this heinous example. Emperor Jiajing heard that his beautiful Duan Fei Cao Shi had been chopped to pieces, and other queens had great resentment. Five years later, a fire broke out in Kunning Palace, and Emperor Jiajing actually prevented eunuchs from saving Fang Empress and let Fang Empress burn alive.
Be a fairy and refuse to see the prince
Since Emperor Xuande of the Ming Dynasty, Taoist reality has been favored. Later, Emperor Chenghua and hongzhi emperor, who successively succeeded to the throne, all had this hobby. However, if you only worship Taoist priests, Emperor Jiajing is the most obsessed. In order to live a long life, he did not hesitate to change the solemn palace into a Taoist temple. Do not hesitate to spend amazing money to build temples and fast everywhere; In order to refine the elixir (aphrodisiac * * *) and "collect yin and replenish yang", he did not hesitate to torture and destroy Qian Qian's ten thousand virgins; A large number of ministers who advised him to stay away from Xiandao did not hesitate to interrogate, kill with sticks, imprison and station troops.
It is said that "tiger poison does not eat children", and licking calves is human nature. Among the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Jiajing had the most concubines, and now there are more than 60 queens with titles in history books. In addition, there are all kinds of ladies-in-waiting to enjoy at any time. However, about 10 years after he ascended the throne, he happily gave birth to his eldest son Zhu Zaiji, but unfortunately he died in February. From ten to twenty-one years of Jiajing, he had eight children with imperial concubines such as Yan, Wang Shi, Fei Shi, Lu, Jiang,, and others.
Only three of them grew up (the second son, Zhu Zaiyu, was made a prince in the eighteenth year of Jiajing and died at the age of 20; The third son, Zhu Zaihou, was crowned Yu and later succeeded to the throne as emperor; The fourth son, Zhu Zaizhen, King Jing, died in Jiajing forty-five years). So much investment, but so little gain. In principle, we should cherish and pamper in every way. Then, Emperor Jiajing listened to the fallacy that Taoist Tao and Fang Shi used "two dragons are not in harmony". Identify yourself as the real dragon emperor and dragon; The Crown Prince is Chu Jun, a country with a little dragon. Two dragons are alive at the same time. There must be a wound. For the sake of safety, two dragons can't meet each other or be princes. Therefore, Emperor Jiajing never conferred the title of Prince again until his death, nor did he receive his two sons. He has been isolated for a long time, and the love between father and son has nothing, even the basic human touch.
In short, during the reign of Emperor Jiajing, there was no distinction between respect and inferiority, and there was almost no affection between the monarch and the minister, between husband and wife, between father and son, and between the monarch and the people, which was rare in history.
Author: Chen Fengyou's Literature and History (2009) 12.