A Survival Guide to the Qing Harem

Chapter 9 From now on, you will share a man with many women (4)
As early as the "Chunqiu Zhuan" in the Han Dynasty, it was recorded that the emperor's harem women's entry and imperial system.At that time, there were a total of 120 famous women in the harem, and there were countless court ladies who served people.Of course, all the women in the world belong to the emperor, and he can choose any woman to have sex with according to his own preferences, but he is also obliged to have regular sex with these 120 famous women.

Of course, it is impossible for these 120 women to go to bed at the same time, so they were allocated according to their positions.Among them, the imperial wives accounted for the largest number and the lowest rank, with a total of 81. They can share the emperor's time for nine days every month. According to the principle of equal distribution, nine women have the opportunity to spend with the emperor every night. Maybe some emperors are more powerful and able to visit nine together. There is really no such detailed record in the secrets of the inner palace.Above the royal wives, there are 27 world wives, and the time they can share with the emperor is only three nights a month, with an average of nine people per night.There are nine concubines above the world's wife, sharing one night.There are three wives above the concubine, and they also share one night, but the probability of being divided into the emperor is obviously much higher.

There is also a rule here, except for the queen and wife, women of other positions cannot enter the imperial court after they are over 50 years old.Now that you have lost your reproductive function, you should stop "occupying the latrine and not shitting".

Of course, I believe that no emperor will love a woman until she is 50 years old. If there is one, he will probably find a way to make her a queen and wife, and will never let the other party struggle in a position of neither high nor low.But this is a digression, let's talk about it outside the topic.

These 120 women were separated according to their positions. Counting on your fingers, you must have discovered it. This round of [-] days, that is, half a month.In ancient times, this time was very particular, it was based on the waxing and waning of the moon.The so-called "the obscurity perishes, and the hopeful strives for light", on the two special days of the first and fifteenth day of the lunar new year, the emperor should not be able to visit his concubines, because women belong to yin, and the moon also belongs to yin, and the yin is too heavy on the moon. Dragon body is useless.

As for the regulations, it has been stipulated since a long time ago.But the maker of this rule is also the executor, and no one can restrain him. Therefore, in the past dynasties, many emperors completely ignored the existence of this rule. I really don't know how many women's lives have been delayed.

In the Ming Dynasty, this imperial system became standardized from the previous "random".In the following Qing Dynasty, many things were "Qing Cheng Ming system", including the imperial system, which became stricter and more standardized.

I believe you still remember what we said about the draft, because the Qing Dynasty was a bit ethnically discriminatory, so the women in the harem were all children of the Eight Banners, and Han people were rarely seen, especially in the early Qing Dynasty.But our Qing Dynasty is special again, that is, our Manchus fought from outside the pass to inside the pass, and seized the world of the Han people.The former Ming Dynasty had a wide jurisdiction and many Han people.But we Manchus are different. We live in a nomadic way on the grasslands, the environment is harsh, and the population is simply not comparable to that of the Han people.Under such multiple limitations, the number of women in the harem of the Qing Dynasty was less than that of any previous dynasty.

It is easy to manage with fewer people, and as long as they are not particularly ugly or suffering from infectious diseases, these harem women can still meet the emperor more or less, and they will not stay in the palace all their lives in misery, and they have never even seen what the emperor looks like good.Fewer people is also a good thing for the emperor. Although the succession of the family is the top priority in the royal family, I believe you also know that there are too many women in the harem, which is really not enough.

In fact, as long as the emperor is energetic, healthy, and able to change concubines to move around, it is actually very easy to have such a child. After all, a man only needs to provide something. If you are pregnant in October, it is a woman task.Why is it a good thing for the emperor?Once there are fewer people, it will be easier for the emperor to restrain himself to handle affairs in accordance with the imperial system.On the other hand, the emperor wouldn't get lost among the flowers and only think about this romantic affair all day long, not to mention delaying the government affairs, which would also hurt his health.

Therefore, we still have to keep the rules in our eyes, and even if we don't follow them completely, we still have to pretend to follow them from time to time.Then, according to the rules in the palace, the matter of the emperor's lucky concubine is managed by a special organization, which is called the respect room.Do you feel familiar when you hear the name Respect Room?That's right, that's where the green-headed sign is hung, and the eunuch who kneels in front of the emperor every day with a tray full of green-headed signs to ask for the sign to be turned over is the senior staff member of the respect room.In addition to asking the emperor to turn over the cards, he is also responsible for recording the emperor's sex life, which must be detailed to the date, date, and time, as a basis for future conception.

Let's talk about the green-headed sign again. You don't need to introduce it. You are already familiar with it. Anyway, it is a wooden sign with the names of many concubines, except of course, except for the empress.

Every day, when the emperor is eating dinner, the eunuch in the respect room will come to the emperor with a silver plate. If the emperor is not in the mood that night, just ask the eunuch to retire; Just turn over the name tag of the woman you want to meet.

In a short while, the news will be handed down layer by layer.If the emperor turned over your sign, first the little eunuch from the respect room trotted to your palace to inform you that he was going to bed tonight.

Then, (usually at this time, your palace will be full of joy) your servants will be busy, those who prepare the bath water prepare the bath water, those who prepare the clothes prepare the clothes, those who comb their hair comb their hair, those who touch up their makeup, those who are in charge People are different and methodical.It usually takes a while to do these things, because you have to be clean and tidy before you can serve the emperor.

After the emperor has finished his dinner, maybe he will approve the papers for a while, and you have finished tidying up here, and it's time for bedtime!At this time, eunuchs will come to pick you up, and you will have to lie naked on the bed, waiting for the eunuchs to wrap you up in the high-grade woolen blankets they prepared earlier, and carry you directly to the emperor's bedroom.In fact, when you reach this point, you will find that it is useless to prepare a lot of things in front of you. It is just a formality, and you can only complete the task naked in the end.

You may find it strange, why don't you just go to the bedchamber, dress up and go in a carriage?Anyway, when we arrive in front of the emperor, there is plenty of time to take off our clothes, so why do we have to be so "monkey anxious" and just go there naked?It doesn't even have any basic sentiment.

That is to say, but you were born in the Qing Dynasty after all. If it was before the Ming Dynasty, there is no need to go to the bedside, because during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a palace scandal in the harem where the bedside woman carried a weapon and assassinated the emperor. , The emperor changed the sleeping system.Don't you want to bring a murder weapon to assassinate?I'll just let you come in naked, there's no place to hide anything, and I'll give up the idea of ​​murdering your husband!
The incident of entering the palace naked is not outrageous, and there are even more bizarre things to come.It is clearly stipulated in the Jinyu system that concubines are not allowed to stay overnight when they enter the Hall of Mental Cultivation, that is to say, you have to leave after finishing your work!

"What kind of rules is this! This relationship between husband and wife can't be cultivated and continued simply by having a good time together. You have to sleep together, sleep together! Let's bid farewell to the night and welcome the dawn together..." Well, first Put aside your romantic thoughts, let's talk about something more unpleasant.

When you were carried to the emperor's dragon bed, the couple's life had actually already begun. Let's not gossip about whether there was any flirting.The point is, this eunuch is standing guard outside, through the thin curtain, do you think he can't hear the movement inside?But his task is to stand there and listen to the movement!Not only to listen to the movement, but also to count the time!

Although I can't find out how long the timer will last after searching the classics, but I can know that when the specified time is up, the eunuch will shout "It's time" in his high-pitched voice. A shock, probably also affected the mood at that time.If the emperor ignores this reminder, a few minutes later, he will hear a second repetition, just like a set alarm clock, until the emperor is a little embarrassed and calls for someone to carry you back.Then, the eunuch in the respect room will record what happened tonight in the emperor's "sex life diary" stroke by stroke.

Let's talk about the love between men and women. It's a good thing to make people feel physically and mentally happy, but in this harem, how can it become so awkward?It seems that it is completely for the sake of inheriting the family, without considering the feelings of the parties at all.You just appeared in front of the emperor naked like this, and he still needs to have desire for you immediately, even if all these conditions are met, but when you are in a state of confusion, suddenly hearing a shout from outside is really disappointing.Coming here in a hurry, and sending them off in a hurry, the two of them didn't even have time to talk, so how to cultivate their relationship?

However, a smart woman must know how to explore unlimited possibilities within this limited time, so that the emperor will think of you more, cannot leave you, and is willing to pamper you, then you will find the biggest backer.We will discuss these strategies later.

Although this is stipulated in the Jinyu system, in fact, not every emperor will abide by it. We can understand that it is recorded in the record. It is for verification and to ensure the purity of the royal blood.But waking up in the middle of the night and carrying it back makes people feel a little uncomfortable. Therefore, in many cases, as long as the emperor is willing to ignore this rule, you don't have to worry too much.

So what about this "sex life diary" about the emperor.Don’t you feel particularly embarrassed, this boudoir taste was originally a very private thing, but now it’s all right, not only are there eunuchs “listening to the bottom of the wall”, but it’s even recorded on the record, so should it be circulated widely?
You can rest assured about the last point. Except for the eunuch who respects the affairs of the room, the emperor himself can read these records. Among the women in the harem, only the queen mother and empress have the right to look them up. His diary will also be burned accordingly.

After talking about the obvious imperial system, let's talk about the invisible rules.Although the imperial system of the Qing Dynasty has tended to be perfected, especially after Emperor Qianlong made some changes, there must be loopholes in the system, and the loopholes here are the queens and eunuchs.

This means that if you offend the queen, your life will be difficult.And if you offend the eunuch in the respect room, then you will die.There is a saying that "a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake". The eunuch in the respect room is the one who sorts out the green-headed plaques every day and puts them on a silver plate.Think back to the Qing palace movies you have seen. Have you ever seen four or five eunuchs lining up with silver plates to ask the emperor to turn over the cards?No!Generally, only one person will do this with a plate of limited capacity.

Therefore, which people's green-headed brands are put on the plate belongs to the category of unspoken rules.If you don't believe me, just try to offend once. If one day the eunuch in charge of the respect room walks into the office with his hands behind his back, walks up and down to inspect, then stops in front of your sign, and says in a vague way: "So-and-so Master, this green card is old, so make a new one tomorrow and replace it." I can guarantee that your brand will never appear on that silver plate that afternoon, and in the days or even weeks after that, you will never be able to see your card. months, it will not appear.This time limit depends on the degree of your offense and the degree of your awakening.

If your IQ is high enough, you should know that sometimes people who seem to be of low status are actually very important.Quickly search for those treasures you have hidden, and find some good things that are not very big but valuable, and come out. Remember, money can make ghosts go round!

(End of this chapter)