Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 301 The Emperor’s Harem Hierarchy

"The imperial concubine can only be promoted from a noble concubine, and the canonization ceremony must be more grand than the concubine ceremony."

Zhu Gaoxu thought: "According to my wishes, those who want to be crowned emperor's noble concubines must first offer sacrifices to the Xian Palace, and the emperor will personally control the imperial palace to pass down the ceremony. Then, he will select military ministers and civil servants of the third rank or above to serve as the first and second envoys, and hold the ceremony to confer the title. , and there is a formal canonization of the imperial concubine. In addition, when performing various court etiquette, the imperial concubine is also listed before the concubines and concubines."

Historically, the etiquette of concubine registration in the Ming Dynasty has actually been changing.

Since the third year of Hongwu's reign, the Sun family has been designated as a noble concubine, and the emperor has not been in charge of the palace. The official in charge of the concubine announced the system and said: "The concubine of a certain family is specially named a certain concubine, and the ministers and others are ordered to observe the etiquette and salute."

At this time, it is just a title, no treasures, and the rest is just like the palace ceremony.

In the seventh year of Yongle's reign, the concubine's ceremony was decided. Emperor Pi Bian served in the Royal Huagai Palace and passed down the system.

It was not until Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty named Sun Guifei that he began to confer royal concubines, and when Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty named Wan Guifei, the title of imperial concubine began.

"In order to prevent the imperial concubine from overpowering the queen, the imperial concubine can only have books and no treasures, even those made of brass. No future king will violate this rule I have set. The queen thinks that how?"

Seeing that Li Yao's face looked a little unhappy, Zhu Gaoxu immediately added.

"So good."

After hearing Zhu Gaoxu's above supplementary words, Li Yao's expression changed, she nodded and said, "In this way, I don't have to worry about Yu'er doing anything random in the future."

Her words were on the surface because she was worried that the prince Zhu Zhanyu would pamper his concubines excessively and neglect his wife Yuan Ningning after he inherited the throne in the future, which would lead to the situation of "the imperial concubine overpowering the empress".

On the other hand, Zhu Gaoxu, who is also "connotative", canonized two concubines last month, and is a little bit cold towards her, a queen who comes from a "good family".

Zhu Gaoxu knew that Li Yao's words were a pun, but he didn't point it out.

He was silent for a moment, and then continued: "The imperial concubine is the same as the imperial concubine, and is not often kept. The number of concubines also has an upper limit, and a maximum of two can exist at the same time."

"As for the registration ceremony, clothing, food, etc. of the imperial concubines and imperial concubines, the rules are still the same. However, the number of imperial concubines is similar to that of imperial concubines and imperial concubines. There is also a quota, with a maximum of four people."

In other words, the concubines and concubines continued to assist the queen in managing the Sixth Palace and participate in sacrificial activities as in the past.

Later kings can appoint concubines according to their preferences, but there is an upper limit on the number of concubines. That is, there can only be two imperial concubines, a maximum of two concubines, and a maximum of four concubines. A total of eight concubines can exist at the same time.

If there are already eight concubines, then you cannot register a new concubine, and you must wait until the original concubine position becomes vacant.

For those who are officially registered as concubines, in addition to the grand ceremony of concubine registration and the award of a gold book, each concubine will also have a title that is different from other concubines, such as Concubine Shu, Concubine Ning, Concubine Xian, etc.

Generally speaking, the title is exclusive, and no two concubines with the same title can appear at the same time.

Considering that concubines may die or be deposed, new concubines need to be added.

Since the number of concubines in most dynasties is not limited to one time, Zhu Gaoxu did not intend to limit the number of concubines for future generations.

After all, the continuation of the royal line was vital.

"The fifth-class concubines are no longer subdivided. They are the third-class concubines. The number of concubines has a quota, that is, a maximum of nine people can exist at the same time."

Zhu Gaoxu continued: "The quasi-concubine wears a Jiuzhai crown and a large chrysanthemum robe. The concubine is conferred with jade grain inscriptions and a gold-coated book. The etiquette is one-fifth lower than that of the queen. Six maids are allowed to serve. "

"Unless there are special circumstances, the concubine will retain her original title after becoming a concubine. If there are concubines and concubines in the palace who use the same title, then the concubine must use another title after becoming a concubine."

"There is also an upper limit on the number of concubines, and up to nine can coexist at the same time. If future kings want to register new concubines, they must wait for the concubine position to be vacant. The promotion of concubines and above is entirely dependent on the emperor's decision, but those who have no children can Cannot be promoted to the rank of concubine or above."

"No matter how beautiful and coquettish a woman is, if she cannot give birth to an heir for the emperor, she will be a noble person below the concubine because of her favor."

Li Yao listened to Zhu Gaoxu's introduction to the concubines, thought about it carefully, and felt that there was nothing wrong with it, especially the last one, which got to the root.

The royal family has always attached great importance to heirs. For those who have no heirs, it is a blessing to be able to become a noble person.

"The sixth-level noble position is also not divided into subdivisions. It is the fifth rank and is allowed to be served by four maids. The nobles are promoted from Cai Nu."

Zhu Gaoxu saw Li Yao's reaction in his eyes and continued: "The positions of Cai Nu are not divided into subdivisions. They are all in the seventh rank. Three famous palace maids are allowed to serve. Cai Nu is promoted from the maid."

"The maids below Cai Nu are divided into beautiful maids and talented maids. There are no grades. The system of maids is still the same." Li Yao knew that the so-called old system meant that after being selected into the palace as a show maiden, all of them were maids. .

The maids are different from ordinary maids. They are all young and beautiful. They specialize in serving the concubines and are qualified to stay with the emperor overnight. They are equivalent to the emperor's concubine reserve staff.

According to what Zhu Gaoxu just said, in most cases, a maid can get the status of a maid after sleeping with her.

As usual, promotion of maids is either nominated by their master or the emperor and reported to the queen for approval, or they can be nominated by the queen and reported to the emperor for approval.

"May I ask Your Majesty, where should the concubines and concubines live?"

Li Yao raised an extremely critical question.

Zhu Gaoxu thought: "The two imperial concubines live in Wan'an Palace (Yikun Palace) and Yongning Palace (Chengqian Palace) respectively, and the two imperial concubines live in Shouchang Palace (Chuxiu Palace) and Xianyang Palace (Zhongcui Palace) respectively. As for the other four concubines, they each live in one palace."

After hearing this, Li Yao was thoughtful.

Generally speaking, the twelve east and west palaces in the inner court are centered on the east, the central axis close to the Forbidden City, and the Qianqing Palace.

Therefore, Wan'an Palace is the first of the six west palaces, followed by Shouchang Palace, Yongning Palace is the first of the six east palaces, followed by Xianyang Palace.

Zhu Gaoxu arranged the residences of the imperial concubines and concubines in this way, obviously hoping that these four concubines could assist the queen in managing the Sixth Palace.

Historically, Wan'an Palace, Shouchang Palace, and Xianyang Palace were renamed Yikun Palace, Chuxiu Palace, and Zhongcui Palace by Emperor Jiajing, and Yongning Palace was renamed Chengqian Palace by Emperor Chongzhen.

Li Yao asked again: "Where do you intend to place the ninth concubine?"

"I plan to renovate the remaining four palaces of the twelve east and west palaces, leaving an open space in the middle of each palace for use as a garden, and building an independent courtyard on each of the three original east, west, and north walls."

Zhu Gaoxu said unhurriedly: "Then, one palace will be selected from the four palaces as the 'Palace of Confinement', and the remaining three palaces and nine courtyards will be placed for the nine concubines to live in. Each concubine will have one courtyard, and the three concubines will live in the same courtyard. palace."

Hearing this, Li Yao stopped talking.

Zhu Gaoxu smiled slightly and said: "The queen wants to ask me how to arrange the 27 nobles and 36 girls?"

Li Yao refilled Zhu Gaoxu's tea and said softly: "Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from His Majesty's discernment."

"It's simple. Naturally, I won't let them live in a dormitory."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Besides the six east and west palaces, we will build a palace with many small courtyards inside. The nobles and the ladies will each have an independent courtyard, and will be served by the maids. What does the queen think?"

Wopu is equivalent to the collective dormitory in later generations.

There are thousands of eunuchs and maids in the palace, and it is impossible for them all to live in the palace.

Most of them usually live outside the Forbidden City and within the Imperial City.

The eunuchs and maidens who are on duty in the morning enter the palace, and before the palace door is locked in the evening, everyone except those on duty must leave the palace.

Even high-ranking eunuchs or female officials were no exception. Great eunuchs such as Zheng He and Wang Jinghong also had to live in the imperial city outside the palace.

Only those eunuchs and female officials who are specifically responsible for serving each palace can live in the annex or wing of the palace on duty, so that they can be summoned at any time and be responsible for cleaning, attending to appointments, and other affairs of their own place.

The residence of the eunuchs and palace maids on the lower floor was called "Xiafang". Most of them had several people living in one room, with a bunk and a shelf nailed to the wall to store some personal items or small boxes. The living conditions were also very simple.

If eunuchs and maids work in the same palace, the eunuchs usually live in the annex in the front yard, while the maids live in the side rooms or annexes in the backyard.

"I'm really afraid that Your Majesty will let them sleep in bunks like the palace maids, without even having their own rooms."

Li Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

PS: The latest updates are not good, mainly because my spare time is limited and I often work late nights.Special thanks to all the veterans who have been following along!Special thanks to!

(End of this chapter)