A Survival Guide to the Qing Harem

Chapter 2
Just like marriage is a besieged city, the Forbidden City is actually a huge besieged city.In this seemingly majestic and majestic royal city, I don't know how many tragedies have been staged, how many unjust cases have occurred, and how many lonely ghosts hover miserably in the middle of the night, unable to return to their hometown.However, this place is enviable at the same time, enjoying endless glory and wealth, dazzling silk and satin, and the supreme power of berating Fang Qiu and killing people invisible...

Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, this place has become the most mysterious place, as well as the most curious and yearning place.Countless women crowded here with different purposes, dreaming of being favored once and enjoying glory for a lifetime.However, when you are really in it, you may find that every day is like walking on thin ice. If you are not careful, you will be decapitated and become another grievance floating in the sky above the Forbidden City.But if the eyes are sharp enough, the heart is bright enough, and the world is tactful enough, it is possible to become a leader in the harem and enjoy all the honor.

Facts have proved that high returns are accompanied by high risks, so "you must be cautious when entering the palace".

Every woman has to be pulled out for a walk | Qualifications

If we rank the Chinese emperors according to "the emperor is very busy", I believe that Emperor Kangxi must be on the list, because our Qing emperor Zuren not only reigned for a long time, but also made a lot of contributions to the country, and he was busy with government affairs all day long. They are open-minded, and they are also very diligent in procreating offspring.When he was in power, there were 55 women with names, surnames and titles alone, not to mention those women who were picked up by him and quickly forgotten.At the end of the count, he has been so busy and has gained a lot. He has given birth to 35 sons and [-] daughters in his life, and he is almost catching up with Song Huizong, a big childbearing family.

Although Kangxi is very busy, the blessing of having children for him is not something that everyone can have. The Forbidden City is wide and the sky is high. It is impossible to get out, and it is not easy to get in.

However, women were lucky to be born in the Qing Dynasty, at least luckier than any previous dynasty.In the past, when they heard that the emperor was going to draft a talent show, the unmarried women in the designated area turned pale with fright, and hurried to find a man to "deal with" themselves, lest they enter the palace and never leave the palace. , Even the taste of happiness must be completely forgotten.In the Qing Dynasty, the rules of the draft system were relatively complete, and they were implemented in an orderly manner, which greatly avoided the trouble of "people being disturbed".

However, this is only for Han women.

If you are "fortunate" to be an Eight Banners woman, then congratulations, you have been destined to participate in this major national event - draft since birth.

Why can't Han people participate in the draft, but bannermen must?
After investigation, this is also related to the social system.

Before the Qing army entered the customs, although they had broken away from the last serfdom, they obviously had not been eradicated. The bannermen of the Eight Banners had a personal relationship with the supreme ruler, and the supreme ruler also sent the bannermen of the Eight Banners It is regarded as his own private property, so the emperor can enjoy his "private property" first, unless the emperor really can't stand it, the woman who is not interested, and has been confirmed to be "cancelled" on the candidate list, has the right to marry others .

This means that as long as you are a woman of the Eight Banners, no matter how sorry your appearance is to the audience, you will always have to pass this test.Of course, those who are too ugly are likely to be eliminated when they go, it’s just a cutscene, but this cutscene must go, otherwise, you and your whole family will be in disaster, what is the disaster specifically, " Qinghuidian Case" will tell you: "Separate

Meeting Office".

Of course, there is also the possibility that a woman from a Han family knows that she is not destined to enter the palace, but her eyes are higher than the top, and the whole world is attracted to a man like the emperor, what should I do if I really want to marry the emperor?

According to formal official channels, two words: no!At least it was not possible before Manchu-Han intermarriage. In front of the Manchus who are the masters of the country, the Han people are simply "subjugated slaves". How can they be qualified to be in charge of the royal family!

But slowly, when the emperors of the Qing Dynasty felt that they moved from the land of white mountains and black waters in a remote corner to the huge Beijing city, and took charge of the land of millions of square kilometers from south to north, there was no such thing as the power of the Han people. Support is out of the question.Therefore, "Man-Han intermarriage" was put on the agenda.But this "Han" is also particular, and must be a member of the Han army banner.

What is the Han army flag?The early Han army banner was composed of Han people who were ruled by Manchuria in Liaodong and other places.Huang Taiji first established the Han Army, and ordered that one out of every ten strong Han men in the Eight Banners of Manchuria to form a Han Army, which was divided into the Western Banners.With the development of the army, the Han army was expanded into the Eight Banners.If the people of the Han Army Banner continue to make meritorious service, they will be able to raise the Man Army Banner.With the improvement of status, the daughter in his family is also qualified to enter the palace for draft.

There is also an unofficial way for Han women to participate in the draft. To put it bluntly, it is "fake".This depends on different situations. For example, the Manchu man and the Han woman had a mutual relationship and gave birth to a daughter. If they really want to send this daughter to the palace for more than ten years, they have to make a good plan in advance.The eldest wife of this man's family has to be settled, and she has to be willing to admit this illegitimate daughter, so that the daughter's name can be written in the household registration book, and half of the Han blood can be concealed, so that she can become a member of this family.

There is another situation that is even more dangerous, directly impersonating a mandarin daughter to participate in the draft, using someone else's name, calling someone else's parents as parents, it is best to completely forget who you are and fully enter the role.

Of course, this kind of fraud does not matter the severity, once it is discovered, the crime will be serious. If you are not a woman who is really beautiful and full of infinite desire to "become an emperor's woman", you will not dare to take such a risk.

Come, come, everyone, line up, we are going to pick someone | draft!

So, what are the rules and particularities of this banner draft?
We generally think that the draft is once every three years, but in fact, there are two kinds of drafts in the Qing Dynasty, one is once every three years and the other is once a year.

Once every three years, the selection range is smaller. The daughters of officials in the Eight Banners are between the ages of thirteen and 17. After being screened, they will be brought to the emperor to be personally selected by the supreme ruler. If you like it, take it back to the harem to slowly communicate your feelings and discuss important matters of family succession; if you don't feel it, you can add some benefits to the princes and nobles, such as a marriage or something.

This process is simple to say, but it is still very cumbersome to operate, mainly because this is also a matter of the royal family, so there is no need to be careless.

First of all, the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs will look through various imperial calendars, calculate the heavenly stems and earthly branches with their fingers, etc., and determine a good day suitable for the draft, and then write the text, which is to write an announcement, copy dozens of copies, and send it out. The 24 capitals who go to the Eight Banners, the Eight Banners garrisoned in the Zhili provinces, and the banner members who serve outside.

Officials at all levels who received the notification had to sort out the detailed personal files of their school-age daughters and report them to the higher authorities. , and then aggregated to the household department.As for the household department, it is necessary to choose a good day and write to the banner again. This time, the writing is a notice to tell all the family members that you will bring beautiful girls of appropriate age to the palace to participate in the selection on a certain day of a certain year.

Next, on the designated day, these show girls will pack up their clothes, wear light makeup, and be sent to Shenwumen by Shenling, Zuoling, Xiaoqi school, leader, patriarch, the parents of show girls themselves or the wives of uncles, parents, and brothers. to queue.The time to queue up is very important, it must be in the middle of the night, so if you are afraid that you will not be able to survive then, it is best to sleep more the day before.If you are afraid of being hungry, eat more for dinner.

Maybe you want to ask: "The big girl's house, you let me walk?" Don't worry, the selection of beautiful women in the palace also has to be decent, and each of them is equipped with a mule cart.After arriving at Shenwumen to put you down, your mule cart cannot stop and wait, it must drive away.Moreover, there is a rule in the Forbidden City, "Don't turn back". When you come to Shenwumen, you can't turn back along the original footsteps. You have to go out of Donghuamen from Shenwumen, and go around Chongwenmen Street to Beijieshi. , then reach the back door, and then enter the Shenwumen.The purpose of doing this is firstly to follow the rules of driving, and secondly to wait for you, in case you lose the election, so that you can be dragged back to marry directly.

After you get out of the car, you will definitely see a huge crowd of women, all waiting for the moment to decide their own destiny.This time, we have to wait until the rooster breaks dawn, and then we can see the eunuch in the palace screaming for people, he will let everyone line up, and then lead a group of young women through the door opening of Shenwumen, Arrive at Shunzhen Gate and wait for selection.So we can see the emperor?

Don't be too happy!Think about it, so many beautiful women from all over the country are sent here, and the quality is uneven. You want the emperor to inspect them one by one, how can the old man have such skill!Not to mention the delay in government affairs, if you watch too many flowers, you will get tired of it.Therefore, this step is presided over by the chief eunuch. You and your little sisters will be divided into groups of five, and you will go to the chief eunuch to check each other one by one.

What is the basis for this grouping?From the beginning of the Shunzhi draft, this basis is your ID card: "Manchu first, then Han".There is no way, whoever let the Manchus rule the world, of course their ethnicity should be selected first.

Of course, the time for this draft is not just gathered in one day, everyone will be tired, even if the eunuchs come to see people, they can't stand it, so there is a rule to choose two flags every day.As for the order, it is not strictly according to the order of the Eight Banners, but according to the number of beautiful girls sent by each banner, and the average match.For example, if you choose the beautiful women of the Zhenghuang Banner and the Xianghuang Banner, then the Manchu, Mongolian and Han people under the Zhenghuang banner are divided into three groups, and each group is arranged in order according to age and selected one by one.

In fact, there is hidden knowledge here. The chief eunuch who is in charge of inspecting beautiful women is not an ordinary person. It's completely up to you, even if you are a beautiful woman with a beautiful country, a bright future, and a lotus in the water, you can't be too arrogant because of it. If you look down on that old eunuch, hey, I'm sorry, your court career will be because of it And stopped.What, you say it's not fair?Miss, this Forbidden City is the most unfair place in the world, isn't it?
Also, you're missing the point at all.Based on the theory that "everything is evil and adultery is the first", the basic basis for drafting is not appearance, but "character" and "family status". Think about it, this is to marry into the royal family.Even if the status is slightly lower, how can we do without family status?Accompanying the emperor in the palace, "competing and jealous" with so many sisters, how can I do without the virtue of not being angry or fighting?
You are upset again, "Aren't those dark palace fights in the harem caused by these women who claim to be of high moral character?" Don't worry, people will always change because of the environment, right?Think back to when you were thirteen or fourteen years old, wasn't it pure like a blank sheet of paper?

So what I want to say is that if you behaved "no morality" during the preliminary inspection by the chief eunuch and offended the other party, then you will die.No matter how you look like a fish, a wild goose, a moon and a shameful flower, the physiognomist can say that you have a fierce or Kefu look on your face, and the result is not difficult to guess. You just wait to pack up and go home to marry, maybe because of this "Kefu look" In conclusion, it might even make it difficult to get married.

After looking at the facial features, you need to look at your figure. This is just a preliminary inspection. It mainly depends on whether you are wearing clothes normally, whether you are hunched over, whether you are too tall or too short, and whether you are in tune with the emperor.If the emperor is only a small man with a height of 1.6 meters, I believe no staff member would dare to choose a beautiful girl who is 1.8 meters tall for the emperor.

After passing the first link, it is necessary to enter the second link: physical examination.There are two main points of work in this link: first, to see if the woman is a virgin; second, to see if there are any defects in the woman's body.This link is to go into battle naked, so no matter how reserved you are, you still have to stand naked and endure nuns using various measuring tools to compare and draw on your body, measurements, neck length, arm length, leg length... Those who make you Your proud advantages or unknown shortcomings are all transformed into groups of cold data records for the reference of the internal prisoner.

After passing this link, it proves that you have passed the primary election, so that you are eligible to stand in front of the emperor, empress and queen mother for the second election.

So a lot of tedious work, in fact, boils down to two parts. The first is to inform the subjects of the whole country that all people of the right age and status who are suitable for draft families can prepare for their daughters.The second is to build up Xiunu's personal files and send them to the palace for storage, which can be regarded as a recognition and proof of identity.If there is really no "achievement" on the day of the draft, go back to the mule cart waiting for you, go home and get married by yourself.

It may also happen that it coincides with the draft time, but you are sick and it is not suitable to go out to spread the virus, what should you do?Don't worry, someone will help you complete the formalities, and wait until three years later to send you for election again.In short, if you are only in the eyes of the emperor, you don't want to make other plans!Of course, there are exceptions. If you have a very weak physique, you will be seriously ill when it comes to the draft, you have survived two drafts, and you are over 17 years old, you can automatically abstain from voting.

There is another situation, you may be born with such a disability that you are not suitable to enter the palace to accompany the emperor, this may make Long Yan unhappy, and secondly, the genetics are not good.what to do?Don't think that nothing will happen. If you want to get "preferential treatment" from the state because of disability, you must have a certificate anyway.

So, quickly report to the patriarch, and then need the patriarch, leader, Xiaoqi school, Zuoling and other officials to file and report, and finally submit it to the heads of all banners, explain the reasons, and then report to the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Households To the emperor, until the emperor swipes his pen, your "disability certificate" will be confirmed, and you don't need to participate in the draft.

There are endless talent shows on various TV stations, and the inspiration probably also benefits from the ancient system of talent show. Since it is a "selection", it cannot be done at one time, and there are always primary and secondary selections.

(End of this chapter)