Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 295 It’s all the fault of concubinage

Capital.

Hall of Martial Arts.

Zhu Gaoxu stood in front of the huge globe with his hands behind his back.

He looked at the location of the Peacock Peninsula on the globe and asked, "Do you know why your uncle would rather stir up public resentment than choose a concubine for your cousin Zhanji?"

Because the time traveler Zhu Gaoxu changed history, Zhu Gaochi's fate changed dramatically, so that Zhu Zhanji was born four years later than in history and one year younger than Zhu Zhanyu.

Next to him, Prince Zhu Zhanyu pondered: "Dad, my son thinks it's probably because cousin Zhanji hasn't had any children since his wedding."

"Yes, your uncle chose concubines for your cousin Zhanji with great fanfare. Although there are advantages and disadvantages, the advantages always outweigh the disadvantages. By acting like this, while selecting a group of outstanding concubines for your cousin Zhanji, There are two other big benefits.”

Zhu Gaoxu intended to teach Zhu Zhanyu and analyzed carefully: "First, the officials responsible for this matter have gained experience and their ability to communicate with the people under their rule has been improved."

"Secondly, the imperial court has never set an election fee for selecting concubines, but your uncle acted in a high-profile manner and later ordered his officials to refund the election fees of those who were not selected. This move is similar to that of Shang Yang's Yuanmen. It’s to win the trust of the people.”

When he said this, he turned sideways and looked at Zhu Zhanyu and said: "If those in power want to win the trust of the people and make them obey, in addition to relying on power, they must also learn to use specific things to establish prestige."

Zhu Zhanyu listened carefully and thoughtfully.

"Prince Jingjiang has a good personal relationship with your uncle, and it was because of his influence that he decided to choose a concubine."

Zhu Gaoxu added: "Although the White Lotus Sect has done a lot of harm to the people, the tragic experiences of Meng Xiaowen's family all started because King Jingjiang followed the King of Han's example in selecting concubines."

King Jingjiang did not accept the election fee to choose his concubine, so Meng Zhongyi would not be framed by Mrs. Liu and others for embezzling the election fee, and naturally he would not be expelled from the palace and become a street rat that anyone could step on.

"Dad, my son is thinking, will the uncle's choice of concubines for cousin Zhanji and the nephew of King Jingjiang's choice of concubines bring bad folk customs?"

After Zhu Zhanyu hesitated for a moment, he finally expressed his worries.

Every dynasty was built on the ruins of war. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the survival rate of women, children, the elderly and the weak was low, and the remainder were mostly young and strong men.

Therefore, whether it was the Qin and Han Dynasties, or the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the population sex ratio in all dynasties was generally more men than women.

In this way, it is absolutely impossible for everyone to take concubines.

However, after decades of stability in the world, there will be more and more wealthy people, and it is still possible for them to compete for concubines.

"Your concerns are not unreasonable."

Zhu Gaoxu said in a deep voice: "Since the beginning of the Zong Dynasty, keeping concubines has only been a privilege for a few people, and ordinary people are not qualified to keep concubines."

The enfeoffment system of the Western Zhou Dynasty was like a pyramid model. The king of Zhou was at the end of the pyramid, followed by the princes, followed by the ministers and officials, then the scholars, and at the bottom were the common people and the people of the country.

According to the Zhou system, in addition to the queen, the king of Zhou could also have 120 concubines. The princes had one wife and nine concubines, the officials had one wife and two concubines, the scholars had one wife and one concubine, and the common people could only have one wife and no concubines.

Even so, there are still class differences among the few people who have the privilege of taking concubines.

During the Western Jin Dynasty, princes could have eight concubines, county princes could have six concubines, first- and second-rank officials could have four concubines, third- and fourth-rank officials could have three concubines, and fifth- and sixth-rank officials could have two concubines. , the seventh and eighth grades can only have one concubine.

In the Tang Dynasty, princes could have twelve concubines, county princes and ten first-rank officials, eight second-rank officials, six third-rank officials, four fourth-rank officials, three fifth-rank officials, and so on.

All concubines taken within the scope of the laws and regulations are recognized by the imperial court, and enjoy certain status, titles, and certain privileges in accordance with the law.

"In our Ming Dynasty, according to the rules set by Emperor Taizu, a prince can have ten concubines. If the prince is childless at the age of 25, he can have two concubines. If he is still childless at the age of 30, he can have another concubine. Two people, that is, the prince can have up to four concubines."

"In addition, the generals of Zhenguo and the lieutenants of Fuguo can have up to three concubines, and the lieutenants of Fengguo can have up to two concubines."

"Even according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, ordinary people can only take concubines when they are 40 years old and have no children." Zhu Gaoxu said with some helplessness: "But in fact, whether it is the ancestral precepts formulated by Taizu or the court laws of the past dynasties, It’s just provisions that remain on paper.”

"After the world is at peace for a long time, those high-ranking officials and dignitaries will definitely compete to take concubines."

"For example, the famous general Tao Kan of the Jin Dynasty had dozens of concubines and thousands of children, which obviously exceeded the number stipulated by the laws of the Jin Dynasty. Another example is that the powerful official Li Linfu of the Tang Dynasty had dozens of concubines, which was more than the number of princes stipulated by the laws of the Tang Dynasty. The number of concubines you can accept is still large."

When he said this, he couldn't help but think of Zhao Hui, the consort of the Ming Dynasty in history: "The family history is very luxurious, and there are more than a hundred concubines."

Zhao Hui's real wife is Zhu Di's youngest sister, Princess Baoqing.

Although most of Zhao Hui's concubines were taken after the death of Princess Baoqing, this also reflects that the concubinage rules set by the court had limited binding force on high-ranking officials and dignitaries.

In other words, the concubinage of dignitaries in the past dynasties was not restricted by legal provisions, which resulted in the number of concubines becoming a symbol of status and wealth.

"However, there are also certain disadvantages to keeping concubines, which can make the family restless at the least, or even cause the family to be destroyed."

Zhu Gaoxu turned around and walked towards the imperial table while saying slowly: "For example, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Yan Tingzhi, the assistant minister of the Zhongshu, took a concubine named Xuanying. He was estranged because he liked Xuanying very much. His wife."

"Yan's wife gave birth to a son named Yan Wu. Yan Wu, who was eight years old at the time, saw that his father Yan Tingzhi had neglected his mother because he liked his concubine Xuan Ying, so he actually killed Xuan Ying late one night."

"What is surprising is that Yan Tingzhi not only did not pursue Yan Wu, but instead praised Yan Wu for his courage and thought that this son will definitely achieve great things in the future."

"Indeed, as Yan Tingzhi said, Yan Wu later became a military governor and was a famous general in the mid-Tang Dynasty."

Zhu Gaoxu walked around the imperial table, sat down firmly, and continued: "In the story of Yan Tingzhi's concubine, it was the concubine Xuanying who died. However, a few years ago, a tragedy occurred in Shandong , but it was the concubine herself who died."

Then, he told Zhu Zhanyu a brief story.

It is said that Bo Wanglong, the lord of Zhangqiu County, originally had a wife, but later he took a concubine named Xuelian.

Wang Long was henpecked and did not dare to take Xue Lian home, so he specially built a courtyard outside for Xue Lian to live in.

Because he really liked Xue Lian, Wang Long did not go home after leaving work. He lived in Xue Lian's villa. After that, he successively bought a lot of gold and silver jewelry for Xue Lian.

Later, Wang Long, who liked the new and disliked the old, took another concubine named Xiaowan, and also bought a separate courtyard for Xiaowan to live in.

After that, Wang Long began to run to Xiaowan, neglecting Xuelian, and even took away the gold and silver jewelry that he had given to Xuelian and gave it to Xiaowan.

Xue Lian held a grudge and even colluded with her brother to poison Wang Long to death.

The magistrate of Zhangqiu County discovered that Wang Long had not been at work at the county government office for several days, so he hurriedly sent someone to look for him.

Knowing that Wang Long had two concubines, he identified the suspect Xuelian that day and quickly arrested the brother and sister.

"In this story, Wang Long ended up with his family ruined in order to satisfy his selfish desires of taking concubines. It would not be unfair to say that he brought it upon himself. But in the final analysis, it was all the fault of taking concubines."

Zhu Gaoxu concluded: "Because of the low status of concubines, they are like objects that can be bought and sold, and are essentially the same as domestic slaves. This has left many families with concubines with the possibility that the head of the family will spoil his concubine and destroy his wife, or the wife and concubine will be restless. The bane.”

"In addition, the existence of the concubine system has caused many young women to become concubines of the elderly, wasting their youth in vain, and has also led to many powerless civilian men to have no wives for their entire lives."

In the words of later generations, it was the imperfection of the concubinage system that caused serious social contradictions and conflicts, which was not conducive to the stability of the entire society.

Having said this, Zhu Gaoxu looked up at Zhu Zhanyu who was following him, and changed the subject: "In view of this, I decided to innovate the system of taking concubines, improve the system of taking wives and taking concubines, and promulgated the "Order on Taking Concubines" "!"

PS: Since there is no update for NO.19 this month, I will add an update to this chapter.

(End of this chapter)