Again, the biggest reason why the Ming Dynasty’s harem did not have a specific and detailed set of regulations was that there were few people!
It is said that there are three thousand beauties in the harem, but in fact, let alone three thousand, there are not even thirty.
In addition to the fact that the palace concubine was buried, part of the reason was that the emperor would only hold a large-scale draft during the wedding.
As for the sporadic concubines who entered the palace, there would only be one every few years, so naturally there was no need to formulate a code.
Therefore, since Zhu Qiyu wants to abolish the system of burying palace concubines, then the draft system must also be changed.
After thinking about it, Zhu Qiyu said.
"Yes, in the past, because concubines had to be buried, most private women were reluctant to enter the palace, and the court did not conduct regular drafts. However, as a result, the harem is not sufficient, which will inevitably affect the continuity of the emperor's heirs."
Wu frowned, somewhat surprised, and said.
"Regular draft?"
Zhu Qiyu nodded and said.
"Yes, I will discuss the harem ceremony with the Ministry of Rites later."
"The preliminary plan is to imitate the imperial concubine system of foreign dynasties. Under the queen, there will be the first imperial concubine, the second imperial concubine, the fourth concubine, and the ninth concubine. Their ranks correspond to the crown princess, prince concubine, royal concubine, and county princess."
"Under the concubine's position, there is another noble person, promised, talented person, no rank, no position."
"The palace selects women from the private sector for a period of six years. Counting from the first wedding selection, there are a total of five selections."
"In the wedding draft, there is no limit to the selection of one queen, one concubine, two concubines, four concubines, nobles, and so on. For the rest of the draft, five to eight people will be entered at each time. The rest who are not selected will be released by the bank or given to the minister of marriage.
Family, if the emperor reaches the age of forty and has more than five sons, the draft will be stopped."
"If a low-ranking concubine has a royal heir, she can be promoted to a concubine or a concubine according to the circumstances. Except for the wedding draft, the fourth concubine and above cannot be promoted unless they have a prince."
After all, the ultimate goal of the draft is to prolong the succession of the emperor.
In his previous life, Zhu Qiyu saw so many of his descendants sitting on the throne. His biggest feeling was that the inheritance of the throne was too bumpy.
Xiaozong favored only one person and had only one son. Wuzong had been married for six years and had no heirs at all.
In the end, it is ridiculous to count two generations up and adopt someone from the side. I have to say.
After listening to Zhu Qiyu's words, Mrs. Wu realized that her son clearly had a complete set of cases.
At the same time, she was also a little surprised and asked.
"so much?"
If what Zhu Qiyu said is true, including the empress, there would be seventeen persons of rank in the palace, and there would be no limit to the number of lower-ranking concubines below.
But having said that, there are seventeen high-level people, and the low-level nobles, if you agree, you have to double or triple the number no matter what.
Calculating this, wouldn't it be necessary to have more than thirty concubines in the harem?
Her lips moved, and Wu's brows furrowed even more tightly, but she did not continue to speak.
After taking two steps back and forth, Zhu Qiyu continued.
"In addition, if the emperor favors one person, it will also cause difficulties for the emperor's heirs. Therefore, the first ceremony I want to make this time is to abolish the sacrifice and bury it. The second one is to appoint the concubine and draft the draft. The third one is,
I just want to set some rules for future emperors."
There were many love affairs among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
Dedicated love is not a problem, but as the emperor, he has the responsibility to continue the imperial heir for the country.
Although it seems a bit disrespectful to say this, Zhu Qiyu still wants to say that this is all because of his late father who made a good start.
To say that he is the concubine of his father is not a bad thing.
When he became the grandson, Emperor Taizong selected a beautiful girl once, and when he became the prince, Emperor Renzong selected her again.
Adding up the two times, there are more than a dozen people who have been granted the title of concubine.
But among so many concubines, the only ones who have any achievements are the deposed queen Hu, Sun and Wu.
Although Wu didn't want to say more about what happened between him and Wu, Zhu Qiyu could guess that it was probably just an accident.
As for Hu, she was the royal concubine after all. Emperor Renzong was still there at that time, and his father did not dare to go too far.
But as soon as Emperor Renzong left, he immediately stopped hiding his doting on the Sun family.
Before the Sun family, concubines had no treasures, but as soon as his father ascended the throne, he made an exception and gave the Sun family a golden book and treasures.
From then on, except for staying with the deposed Queen Hu for a few days to save face, I stayed in Sun's palace almost every day.
No matter how many concubines there are in the palace, without his efforts as the emperor, how can they continue the imperial heir?
With him as a doting bad guy, Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Youtang, and Zhu Yijun would follow his example and act unscrupulously.
Thinking of these descendants, Zhu Qiyu became angry, snorted softly, and spoke.
"The imperial heir is the foundation of prosperity, the inheritance of the royal bloodline, the responsibility of the emperor, and the foundation of the country. From now on, for two days out of every five days, the palace concubines are not allowed to be summoned, and they stay in the Kunning Palace every ten days.
During the rest of the day, you don’t have to stay anywhere, but you are not allowed to call the same concubine in succession, and you will be favored and have no heirs."
Mrs. Wu is no longer surprised by her son's reaction of being suddenly angry and sad sometimes.
Her thoughts were all focused on the restructuring he mentioned.
"It can be seen that you have thought carefully about this matter. The abolition of burials, regular drafts, and the rotation of palace concubines are all connected with each other. If you can do it, you can indeed protect the royal family and the heirs to the greatest extent. Naturally, the Ai family is
Agreed."
After hesitating for a moment, Wu finally spoke.
"But, isn't it too early for you to do this now?"
Wu really didn't expect that she just wanted to organize a draft to select three or five concubines to enter the palace when she saw that Wang and Hang were both physically inconvenient to serve.
Unexpectedly, it aroused the emperor's thoughts.
Seeing that Zhu Qiyu was serious about it, Wu had no choice but to become serious and said in deep thought.
"This matter seems to be a harem matter, but the implications are not small."
"Let's not talk about anything else for the moment. A large amount of money is spent on abolition of burials, determination of grades, and drafting of women. There are so many concubines in the palace all of a sudden, even if they are mostly low-level, the money spent is not enough.
At least double it.”
Fiddled with the beads in her hand, Wu frowned and said.
"If the Ai family remembers correctly, you said before that the national treasury is not rich now, and the palace concubine's expenses can only come from the internal transportation warehouse."
"But the draft involves various places, and the money for it has to come from the Ministry of Rites. Now that you have just ascended the throne and the harem is empty, you can just organize a draft. The court will bite the bullet and you can always get some money."
"But if you want to make it custom-made and choose it every five years, it will cost a lot of money. The foreign side will definitely object!"
"Although you have gained some prestige in the court now, the Ai family has seen those censors turning their backs and disowning others. If you do this, they will label you as lustful and immoral!"
Zhu Qiyu sat down, picked up the hot tea that Qingzhu had just brought, took a sip to moisten his throat, hummed softly, and said.
"Mother and concubine don't have to worry about the money matter. If this matter is to be done, the one who should take the lead in opposing it is the Ministry of Rites. However, the Ministry of Rites cannot make any waves for the time being."
"As for the impeachment of the censor..."
Shaking his head slightly, Zhu Qiyu had a smile on his face and said.
"They can impeach them if they want. Do you really think I'm afraid of them?"
