Chapter 23 Chapter 8 Family Life 1. Multiple wives and multiple children

Yuanzhang's wife, Ma Shi, was originally the adopted daughter of the Red Army Marshal Guo Zixing. Later, Yuanzhang became the governor, general manager, marshal, prime minister, Wu Guogong, and Wu Wang, until he became emperor.However, when Yuanzhang first got married, the situation was the opposite. The husband was more expensive than his wife. After he became a marshal and raised his son-in-law, he was called Mr. Zhu in the army. No one knows the name of Queen Ma's father, Ma Gong.Queen Ma's name is the same.It is recorded in historical documents that she was called Mrs. Ma after her marriage, Empress Ma after her husband became emperor, and was posthumously named Empress Xiaocigao after her death.

The age when the two got married, the man was twenty-five years old, and the woman was twenty-one years old. According to the customs at that time, they were both past the age of marriage. Although Empress Ma did not go to school and was not very good-looking, because she was the adopted daughter of the marshal, she played a lot in Zhu Yuanzhang's early career. Guo Zixing has a violent temper, avoids talents and protects weaknesses, can't tolerate others, and listens to gossip; he hesitates and is less decisive in doing things, Zhu Yuanzhang is meticulous and patient, has courage and responsibility, is decisive in doing things, and has weight in his words. Weng and his son-in-law have different personalities and styles.Zixing and his colleagues and subordinates were all offended and jealous of each other, but Yuanzhang was thoughtful, and everyone praised him, and he was very popular.It is also because of Yuanzhang's popularity that Zixing dislikes him more and more.Someone was playing gossip among them again, Guo Zixing was even more worried about this son-in-law.When the military situation was urgent, Zixing couldn't do anything about it, and Yuanzhang couldn't leave him for a moment. He was closer than his own son.When the situation improved, Zixing's face became elongated again, and his son-in-law became a child bride-in-law, who had to be scolded and angry all day long.Several capable and trusted generals and staff around Yuanzhang were transferred away one by one, and the troops they led were also assigned commanders.Yuanzhang knew that Zixing was suspicious, so he became more cautious, waited on him attentively, and resigned himself to it.Mrs. Ma came up with the idea to curry favor with Mrs. Xiao Zhang, took out the money and silk from her private house as a filial piety, and begged her to break up her husband in front of Zixing and speak good words.One day, Zixing got angry and locked Yuanzhang in an empty room, and he was not allowed to bring tea and food in. Mrs. Ma stole freshly baked cooking cakes for him behind her back, and put them in her bosom, which burned her chest red.Usually I always prepare some dry food and bacon. I would rather starve myself and try to feed my husband.When crossing the river, she led the soldiers' families to stay in Hezhou. The Yangtze River communication line was cut off by the Yuan army, and Hezhou was isolated. She encouraged the soldiers, comforted their families, and stabilized the rear.After laying down Jiqing, I took the women to sew battle clothes and make shoes for the soldiers.Chen Youliang's army was approaching the city. Some of Yingtian's officials and residents were planning to flee, some were busy hoarding gold and treasure, and some were hoarding grain.

In the army, she asked someone to teach her to read whenever she saw a document, and secretly described it as it was.When I became a queen, I asked the female officer to teach me to read every day, and I remembered many stories about famous women in history.Yuanzhang has the habit of writing notes. Every day, anytime, anywhere, even when he is eating, he thinks of what to do and how to do it, and writes down on small pieces of paper so as not to forget. At night, Empress Ma carefully organizes it for him. When they were questioned, they were detected immediately, which saved Yuanzhang a lot of energy.When Yuanzhang tasted it, he told his ministers about the virtues of the queen, and compared the cooking cakes of the year to Wulou bean porridge and Hutuo wheat rice.It is also compared to the eldest grandson empress of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty.After returning to the palace, when she mentioned it as a common saying, she said: How can I compare with the eldest grandson empress.However, it is often heard that it is easy for couples to protect each other, but it is difficult for monarchs and ministers to protect each other.Your Majesty will not forget the days we spent with me when we were poor and humble, and also wish to not forget the difficult days we had with your officials. Always think like this, it is a good thing to have a beginning and an end!

Yuanzhang's nephew Zhu Wenzheng was offended by suspicion, many of his staff were killed, and more than 50 subordinates followed and acted as chiefs cut off his tendons. Yuanzhang interrogated him face to face and wanted to kill Wenzheng. It should be seen how much credit he has made since crossing the river, taking Taiping, breaking Chen Yexian, and going to Jiqing. It is also thanks to him sticking to Hongdu and blocking Chen Youliang's soldiers. If he made a mistake, he should be considered young and forgive him once.Although Wenzheng was exempted from death imprisonment, he couldn't help complaining, and was accused again, and she persuaded: Wenzheng is just a straight-tempered, indiscreet speech, and he will never rebel.Li Wenzhong guarded Yanzhou, Yang Xian reported his illegal behavior, and Yuan Zhang wanted to recall him immediately.Empress Ma thought that Yanzhou was in contact with the enemy, so she easily changed the guards, which was inconvenient for the military.Besides, Wen Zhong has always been cautious, and Yang Xian's words should not be trusted.Song Shen, the grandson of Song Lian, a bachelor, was accused of being a Hu party, and Song Lian was sentenced to death.She pleaded again and said: "The people's family invites a husband for their children, and treats them with great respect. It's easy to come and go, let alone a royal master?"Moreover, Song Lian has always lived in his hometown, so he must not know it.Yuan Zhang forbids it.When it was time to eat, I found that the queen didn't drink alcohol or eat meat. I was surprised and asked if it was uncomfortable or not in the right taste?He said that he was sad and wanted to make blessings for Mr. Song.Yuanzhang was also sad and put down his chopsticks.The next day, Song Lian was pardoned and resettled in Maozhou without death.Shen Wansan (Xiu), the rich man of Wu Xing, has been doing business overseas for many years. He is the richest household in the country. He is forced to donate his family wealth to help repair one-third of the Nanjing City Wall.He also reluctantly paid money to reward the army, but unexpectedly violated the taboo. Yuan Zhang was furious, thinking that the common people wanted to reward the emperor's army, what's the intention?If such disorderly people are not killed, who else will be killed?After being persuaded by Empress Ma, Shen Wansan was saved from death and exiled to Yunnan, and his family property was lost.Li Xiyan, Zhu Xiaowang's master, has a weird temper and is used to teaching country children. Zhu Xiaowang often punishes those who are naughty and disobedient.One day, he slapped a little Wang on the forehead. Xiao Wang cried and went to his father to complain. Yuanzhang touched the child with his hands, and his face changed. Woolen cloth?Yuan Zhang was relieved and didn't take this matter to heart.

In August of the fifteenth year of Hongwu, Empress Ma died of illness at the age of fifty-one.When I was sick, I was afraid of offending the doctor, so I refused to take medicine.Yuan Zhang wept bitterly and no longer set up a queen. Polygamy was one of the privileges of the feudal ruling class. Yuan Zhang had many concubines, with twenty-six sons and sixteen daughters. Among the concubines were Koreans and Mongolians.The sources include Chen Youliang's concubines, some received from the Yuan Palace, and some selected from the people.Concubine Hu is from Haozhou and is a widow at home. Yuanzhang wanted to marry her, but Concubine Hu's mother refused.After a while, knowing that the Hu family was hiding in Huai'an, Yuan Zhang wrote to Pingzhang Zhao Junyong, asking to send the mother and daughter together.In the first year of Longfeng, he married Concubine Sun, the righteous daughter of Marshal Ma of the Qing Army.Regarding Chen Youliang's concubine, he once confessed in "Da Gao":

When I was undecided, I attacked the city and seized the land, and drove together with the heroes for more than ten or four years. I have never taken a woman or a woman in the army.However, when he went to Wuchang personally, he was angry with Chen Youliang for entering the country with soldiers. After breaking Wuchang, a concubine came back.I suddenly doubted myself, so what I did was fruitful?Huge?Those who know will supervise it. This disgraceful incident later became a story.It is said that shortly after Chen Youliang's wife Jia entered the palace, she gave birth to the posthumous son Tan Wang.When he became an adult and went to the country, Jia cried and told: "My son's father is Chen Youliang. My son's father was killed, the country was destroyed, and I was captured and humiliated. I endured death until my son came of age."In the future, the son will avenge his father and avenge the shame of his mother.Later, the king of Tan really rebelled. Yuan Zhang sent the son of Xu Da to lead the army to conquer.Throwing it outside the city, the whole palace set fire to self-immolation, holding the youngest son and throwing himself into the chasm to die.In fact, this story is fabricated, because the first king of Tan was born to Concubine Da Ding, a compatriot with King Qi, and his biological mother was not from the Jia family; the second Chen Youliang died in the ninth year of Longfeng, and King Tan was born in the second year of Hongwu, six years apart , the king of the third pool was killed because his concubine Yu Xian climbed into the Hu party, and entered the court under the imperial edict, suspected of committing suicide, which had nothing to do with Chen Youliang.Another story about Dai Wang's birth mother said that Dai Wang's mother was from Pi. Yuanzhang was defeated in a battle and fled to a folk house to hide. The woman in this family asked: Are you someone from Zhu?People say you want to be the emperor!Stayed for one night.When I left the next day, I said: What if I have children in the future?Yuanzhang left an old comb as a voucher, and she also gave away jewelry.After Yuanzhang became emperor, this woman brought her grown-up child and a wooden comb to recognize her husband and father. Yuanzhang asked the Ministry of Industry to build a wooden house for her to live in, and she was not allowed to enter the palace.After the acting king came out, he went to the country with his biological mother.This story is also false, because Dai Wang's biological mother was Guo Zixing's daughter Guo Huifei, and Dai Wang was born in the seventh year of Hongwu. At this time, Yuan Zhang had been emperor for seven years. How did he escape from defeat?

Among the concubines, both the Mongolian concubine and the Gaoli concubine had children, and it is said that Ming Chengzu was born to the Mongolian concubine.There is no problem with Mongolian and Korean blood among the descendants of Yuanzhang. Yuanzhang deeply hated that he didn't have the opportunity to go to school when he was young, so he paid special attention to the education of the masters.The main hall was specially built in the palace to store ancient and modern books, recruit famous Confucianists from all over the world to educate princes and kings, give lectures in shifts, and select talented young people to accompany them.I often give banquets and write poems, talk about the past and the present, and discuss writing.The most famous person among the masters is Song Lian, who was responsible for educating the crown prince for more than ten years.Every word and every action is persuaded by feudal etiquette. When talking about politics and religion and the rise and fall of previous generations, he clasps his hands and explains in detail, pointing out that something should be done this way and should not be done like that.Dr. Kong Keren was ordered to teach scriptures for the kings, and the children of meritorious officials were also ordered to enroll.Yuanzhang specifically pointed out to Confucian ministers the education policy for the princes: If you have a piece of fine gold, you must find a master craftsman to make it; if you have a piece of fine jade, you must have a good jade craftsman to make it.If someone has good children and doesn't seek a wise teacher, isn't it true that loving children is worse than loving gold and jade?A good teacher must set a good example, teach students in accordance with their aptitude, and cultivate talents.My children will govern the country in the future, and the children of the heroes will also be officials.The most important thing in the method of teaching is to have a straight mind. Once the mind is upright, everything can be done.Every time you want to teach with practical knowledge, you don't need to learn from ordinary scribes, just memorizing dictionaries is of no benefit.

Knowledge is important, and virtue is especially important.In the education of the crown prince, in addition to Confucian scholars and classics teachers, a group of upright scholars with feudal virtues were selected to be the prince's guests and prince's instructions. , The matter of folk farming is talked about day and night. When the crown prince became an adult, he was gentle and refined, as if he was a Confucian scholar.Then the third step of education is political practice.In the tenth year of Hongwu's decree, since the current political affairs, he was punished by the prince, and then heard.Face-to-face to the prince: The monarch who started a business from ancient times has experienced hardships, understands human feelings, understands the world, and handles things naturally and properly.A well-established monarch grows up in wealth and honor, and is well-clothed and meat-eating. If he is not learned and skilled at ordinary times, how can he not make mistakes in his work?That's why I want you to meet with the officials every day, listen to and review the reports of various yamen, and learn how to handle affairs. Will be confused by traitors; one is diligence, only by being diligent and conscientious can you not indulge in ease;The use of these four words depends on one mind.Since I became emperor, I have never been lazy. I am afraid that I will not handle everything properly and fail to entrust God.You get up before dawn and don't rest until midnight. This is what you see every day.If you can learn from me and follow suit, you can keep the world.In order not to establish a prince in the early Yuan Dynasty, which caused many coups in the court, Yuan Zhang established the eldest son as the eldest son in the era of King Wu, that is, the crown prince after the emperor.In order for the former prince's East Palace officials to form their own system, and the court ministers were prone to disputes and even confrontations with the court, the important court officials were concurrently appointed as the East Palace officials.With one heart and one mind, we will try our best to train an ideal successor, a capable second-generation emperor, and maintain and consolidate the unified regime.

In April of the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, Prince Biao died of illness.In September, Yun Wen, the prince's son-in-law, was established as the grandson of the emperor.The education of grandsons is still the old way, with equal emphasis on knowledge and virtue, reviewing chapters, resolving political affairs, and learning how to be an emperor. Among the sons, except for the eldest son who was established as the prince, the ninth son and the twenty-sixth son died early, and the other twenty-three sons were named Wang Jianguo.Due to paying attention to family education, all the sons are very capable and able to do things after they grow up.Twenty-six years after Hongwu, all the founding fathers and generals had been killed, and the military mission against Mongolia in the north had to be commanded by the second son, King Qin, the third son, King Jin, and the fourth son, King Yan.The other little kings who were sealed in the frontier also led troops to follow their elder brother to patrol and hunt the desert.Those who have made achievements in learning, such as the fifth son of Zhou Wang, who loves to learn Ci Fu, wrote a hundred chapters of "Yuan Gong Ci", and studied grasses. The book "Materia Medica for Rescuing Famines" has contributed to botany.The seventeenth son, King Ning, wrote dozens of works such as "Tong Jian Bo Lun", "Secret History of the Han and Tang Dynasties", "Shi Duan", "Wen Pu", "Shi Pu" and so on, and was also very interested in music and opera.Eight sons of Tan, ten sons of Lu, eleven sons of Shu, and sixteen sons of Qing were all studious and interested in literature.Twelve sons of the King of Hunan, all-round talent in literature and military affairs, often read until midnight, with extraordinary physical strength, good at bowing, saber and lance, galloping like flying horses; in Fan Kaijing Yuan Pavilion, recruited scholars, collated books, and brought a large number of books to read when marching, and went to the mountains and rivers Winners often linger all day long; I like Taoism, and I call myself Zixuzi, with a demeanor and a heart, just like a celebrity.There are also two who do not live up to expectations, one is the thirteenth son of the king, who did many stupid things in the early years, needless to say, at the age of gray hair, with a few shackles, narrow clothes and bald hats, marching in the city, killing people with hammers and axes, Do some illegal and unreasonable activities: the last son Yi Wang was sealed in Luoyang, he likes to use sticks and knives.He also likes to strip civilians and men and women naked, and laugh at their embarrassment.

Yuanzhang had great expectations of the masters, strict discipline, and never tolerated.The second son, the king of Qin, made many mistakes and was reprimanded many times. The crown prince rescued him in many ways, so he was not deposed.After his death, he personally determined his posthumous posthumous title as Min, and the posthumous posthumous text said: The one who mourns is the love of father and son, and the one who pursues posthumous posthumous title is the father of the world.My feudal sons, because you are old, were first entrusted to Qin, and they are expected to be in the throne forever, so as to screen the emperor's family.Why is the husband so bad in virtue that he died unexpectedly, and his posthumous posthumous name is Min.The tenth son of King Lu took gold and stone medicine to seek longevity, and the poison hurt his eyes. Yuan Zhang didn't like it very much.After his death, he pursued his posthumous posthumous title as Huang.

The royal family's salaries are all paid by the imperial court.In the ninth year of Hongwu, the annual salaries of the princes and princesses were determined: 50,000 shi for the prince's rice, 25,000 guan banknotes, 40 pieces of brocade, 300 pieces of silk, 100 pieces of gauze each, 500 pieces of silk, 1,000 pieces each of winter and summer cloth, and cotton. Two thousand taels, two hundred yin of salt, one thousand catties of tea, fifty horses and grasses per month; Six thousand stones, the princess meter thousand stones, and the following will be reduced proportionally.When the eldest son of the prince is ten years old, he is established as the prince's son, and the eldest grandson is established as the grandson, which is inherited from generation to generation; The emperor's daughter is a princess, the prince's daughter is a princess, and the county prince's daughter is a county lord.The son-in-law of the princess is named consort, and the son-in-law of the princess and county is named Yibin.Those who were born in the royal family were named by the Ministry of Rites. After they became adults, they were married by the royal family. The whole life to the funeral after death was borne by the court.In the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, the population of the royal family was increasing day by day, and the original salary was too large. If it was paid according to the number, the court could not afford it, so it was changed to the prince's annual salary of 10,000 shi, the county king's 2,000 shi, and the town's general 1,000 shi. 2,000 shi for the princess and consort; 800 shi for the princess and Yibin, descending in descending order.Although the salary of the royal family has been reduced several times, the breeding population of the royal family has increased by hundreds of thousands of times. After more than a hundred years, the population of the royal family has reached more than 50,000. Years) The royal family has nearly 100,000 people. According to statistics in the 41st year of Jiajing, the country supplies 4 million shi of grain to the capital every year, and 8.53 million shi to the palaces of princes, which is more than double the supply to the capital.Taking the figure of the year when the harvest of grain and rice was the largest in the late Hongwu period as the base, the Lumi of the princes' mansions accounted for more than a quarter of the country's income.Take Shanxi as an example, the local food reserves are 1.52 million shi, but the local royal family’s Lumi costs 2.12 million shi, and the Henan province only has 843,000 shi. 1.92 million shi, even if all the food stored in the local area is used to feed the royal family, it is still short of half, so it has to be discounted and owed.Those above the king of the county have a large base and can still live, but those below the king of the county will inevitably cry of hunger and cold.Even so, the imperial court's finances were still unable to cope, and they were reduced to the original amount, making it even more difficult for the estranged royal family to live.According to the law, this large group of royal families can neither take imperial examinations nor be an official, nor is it allowed to do farming, business, or work.Most of the high-ranking princes and county kings did evil in the local area, not only abusing the common people, but also tyrannizing the officials.Moreover, there were too many people, and the imperial court couldn't take care of them. The Ministry of Rites was afraid of repeating the naming, so they used gold, wood, water, fire, and earth as radicals, and randomly added some strange characters as a given name, which made people laugh and cry.If the royal family has no money to bribe the officials of the Ministry of Rites, not only will they have no names for the rest of their lives, they will not even be able to marry when their hair turns gray.It was not until the end of the Ming Dynasty that this was not the solution, and the political and imperial examinations were opened, so that the royal family could take the exam and be an official.However, the Zhu Ming regime was overthrown soon.