Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 288 I’m not against you taking concubines

In the second year of Qianxi's reign, it was the twentieth day of the first lunar month.

After dark, the East Palace Bedroom.

After Prince Zhu Zhanyu and Crown Princess Yuan Ningning went to bed, they did not fall asleep. Instead, they wore thick cotton underwear, leaned on back cushions side by side, sat on the bedside, and chatted with each other. .

"Ning'er, mother told me today that she will give me a room for a concubine next month."

In June last year, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di had a special talk with Zhu Zhanyu, which could be summed up in one sentence - there is a time limit for waiting in the East Palace.

The reason why the emperor and the prince of the Ming Dynasty had to abide by the rules of treating their legitimate sons was to ensure that the eldest son of every emperor was the daughter of the queen.

Zhu Zhanyu is not a stupid person, so he naturally understands the significance of this rule.

Yuan Ningning has been married to Zhu Zhanyu for nearly five years now. Although she gave birth to a daughter in the third year of marriage, she has not given birth to another son or daughter so far.

Seeing Yuan Ningning's silence, Zhu Zhanyu thought that Yuan Ningning was feeling aggrieved, so he comforted him: "Although my father opposed us being together back then, he knew that my relationship with you was special. In fact, in my father's heart, you have always been his A good daughter-in-law."

"Father and mother discussed giving me some concubines, not because they want me to alienate you, but because they hope that Dong Palace will give birth to an heir as soon as possible."

The last time Zhu Gaoxu took advantage of persuading Zhu Zhanyu, he had decided to set a five-year period for the East Palace to be heirs.

If the princess has not given birth to a child five years after her marriage, she must take a concubine for the prince. This can establish rules for future generations and avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Erlang, do you know whose daughter your parents have chosen?"

Yuan Ningning spoke slowly.

Because Zhu Zhanyu ranked second in dental order, Yuan Ningning affectionately called him "Erlang" in private.

When Zhu Zhanyu saw that Yuan Ningning, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After a slight hesitation, he said bluntly: "I respect my brother-in-law Wu Zhilan."

"Wu Zhilan?" Yuan Ningning said in surprise.

Zhu Zhanyu felt strange and asked: "Do you know her?"

"When I was studying at the Peking Women's Library, I was one year ahead of her."

Yuan Ningning recalled: "It seems that we played together when we were children."

Her biological mother is Princess Zhu Yuying of Yong'an. Zhu Yuying is Zhu Di's eldest daughter and the eldest sister born to Zhu Gaoxu's first mother.

According to seniority, she should call Zhu Gaoxu "second uncle".

Therefore, Yuan Ningning, who had played with the daughters of royal relatives or nobles since childhood, naturally knew who Uncle Gongshun was now.

The contemporary Uncle Gongshun is named Wu Kezhong, and he is the eldest son of the first generation of Gongshun Uncle Wu Yuncheng. He ascended the throne in February of the 20th year of Yongle.

As for Wu Yuncheng, the first generation of obedient uncle, he was a Mongolian and Yuan man who was thoroughly Sinicized.

Wu Yuncheng's original name was Timur, the capital, and he was an old minister of the former Yuan Dynasty. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he gradually began to express his desire to surrender. In the first month of the 23rd year of Hongwu, he came to surrender. In the 25th year of Hongwu, he sent envoys to pay tribute.

In July of the seventh year of Yongle, the capital Timur led his troops to formally surrender to the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Di gave him the Chinese name Wu Yuncheng, and granted him the title of Qianshi, the commander-in-chief of the right army, and he lived in Liangzhou.

In February of the [-]th year of Yongle, Wu Yuncheng led the army to conquer the land of Buhasi and was promoted to the right governor for his achievements in capturing prisoners.

In April of the 13th year of Yongle, Wu Yuncheng was promoted to the governor of the left due to his merits. He and his lieutenant Wang An pursued the traitor Datuochi to the Bedao River and returned with the enemy's supplies.

In the first month of the 14th year of Yongle, Zhu Di granted Wu Yuncheng the title of Gong Shun Bo based on his merits. In June of the same year, Wu Ping'er, Wu Yuncheng's daughter, was selected into the East Palace to serve as the crown prince's attendant, which was Zhu Gaoxu's concubine.In the 16th year of Yongle, Wu Yuncheng followed Zhu Di to the north and returned to Liangzhou.

In June of the same year, Wu Ping'er gave birth to a son for Zhu Gaoxu. Three years later, she gave birth to a son for Zhu Gaoxu again.

In the 19th year of Yongle, Wu Yuncheng passed away. Zhu Di deeply mourned and gave him the posthumous title Zhongzhuang. In February of the following year, Wu Yuncheng's eldest son Wu Kezhong ascended the throne.

In other words, Concubine Hui Wu Ping'er, who gave birth to two sons for Zhu Gaoxu, the current Emperor Qianxi of the Ming Dynasty, was Wu Zhilan's biological aunt.

Yuan Ningning thought of this and couldn't help asking in a low voice: "Has Erlang seen Zhilan?"

Zhu Zhanyu shook his head and said, "No."

Yuan Ningning added: "Don't get me wrong, Erlang. I'm not against you taking concubines, and it's not out of jealousy. I'm just curious and asked casually."

She had studied at the Peking Women's Library, and of course she knew that there were seven reasons for divorce (divorcing a wife).

Among these seven reasons, there is one called "jealousy", which is specifically reflected in the fact that husbands are not allowed to take concubines.

Before the Zhou Dynasty, the word "chen" refers to a male slave, and "concubine" refers to a female slave.

But later "concubine" gradually evolved into a special term, specifically referring to a side room, a side room, and a little wife.

Therefore, as of today in the Ming Dynasty, the status of concubines still has a certain slave nature.

Later generations often think that ancient China was a system of polygamy. In fact, this understanding is wrong. To be precise, it should be monogamy, and a few men can enjoy polygamy and polygamy.

Whether it is the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties before the Qin and Han Dynasties, or the Ming Dynasty after the Qin and Han Dynasties, the rules of all dynasties are the same, that is, a man can only have one legal wife.

The so-called main wife refers to a person who is married from the front door through the formal procedure of three letters and six rites (letter of appointment, letter of gift, letter of welcome, acceptance, asking for name, acceptance, acceptance, request for date, and personal welcome). This is called a clear matchmaking marriage.

As for concubines, they were bought home as slaves, and they could only be taken in through the back door or the side door.

From the phrase "take a wife and take a concubine", we can see that the nature of the two is completely different.

From a legal perspective, a wife is a man's official spouse, that is, she is the same as her husband and has the identity and status of the head of the family.

If the husband dies, the legal wife should take charge of the household.

The concubine was bought, just like an object. She was not at the same level as the wife who had the identity of the owner, nor was she on the same level.

In other words, even if Zhu Zhanyu takes Wu Zhilan as his concubine, it will not shake the status of Princess Yuan Ningning.

Yuan Ningning is not only the official wife of Zhu Zhanyu, the Ming matchmaker, but also the imperial grandson concubine conferred by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Di, and the crown prince concubine conferred by Emperor Qianxi of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Gaoxu.

Even if Yuan Ningning still does not give birth to an heir for Zhu Zhanyu in the future, as long as she does not make a big mistake and Zhu Zhanyu succeeds to the throne and becomes the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, she will inevitably become the fourth empress of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, there are still variables in this matter, the biggest of which is the current Emperor Qianxi of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaoxu.

Because before Crown Prince Zhu Zhanyu succeeds to the throne, as long as the current emperor Zhu Gaoxu finds a reason to abolish Yuan Ningning's crown princess position, it will be difficult for Yuan Ningning to regain her position as crown princess even if she gives birth to an heir for Zhu Zhanyu in the future.

After all, there can only be one Crown Princess, just like the Queen.

Someone comes up, and someone has to step down.

　I can’t finish the second update, so I’ll try to make up for it tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)