Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

While the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty were arguing over the issue of appointing a crown prince, wars were brewing. In 1592, Xia Ning rebelled. The Ming army besieged the city for six months and conquered it, putting down the rebellion. This was known in history as the Battle of Xia Ning, which was the first of the three major expeditions of Emperor Wanli.

Soon after, news of the invasion of the Japanese army came from Joseon. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had just unified Japan, dreamed of dominating Asia in order to divert domestic conflicts. He used Joseon as a springboard to invade China.

In just one month, the Japanese army captured three cities and eight provinces of the Joseon Dynasty. Yi Sun, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, fled in panic and sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty for help. In line with the principle of protecting vassal states and keeping the enemy out of the country, Wanli sent Li Rusong to lead 4 troops to fight in Korea.

The Ming army achieved a great victory in the Battle of Pyongyang, annihilating tens of thousands of Japanese troops at the cost of less than a thousand casualties. Konishi Yukinaga fled in panic, and the Ming army successfully recaptured several cities in Korea.

After that, they continued their pursuit southwards and encountered the Japanese army at Pyeongcheon, north of Seoul. The two sides fought fiercely for a day, resulting in heavy casualties. Due to insufficient food and grass supply and the spread of plague in Korea, the war reached a stalemate, and China and Japan began peace talks.

While the two sides were negotiating and deceiving each other, a rebellion broke out in Bozhou of the Ming Dynasty. Yang Yinglong started a rebellion. As the Ming army was not well prepared, it was defeated by the rebels.

The negotiations between Japan and the Ming Dynasty also broke down. In the first month of the following year, the Japanese army once again sent 14 troops to invade Korea. The Ming Dynasty once again sent troops to Korea to fight together with the Korean army. At this time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi suddenly died, and the Japanese army had no intention of fighting and just wanted to withdraw to Japan as soon as possible.

The Japanese suffered heavy casualties in the Noryang Sea Battle and fled back to Japan in a hurry. The victory of the Wanli Korean War was the last glory of the Ming Dynasty, and the army returned in April of the following year.

Wanli, who had been too lazy to attend court, also attended the prisoner-taking ceremony, beheaded 61 Japanese prisoners, and issued the "Edict to Suppress the Japanese", which stated that the people of our country were grateful and obedient, and those who were obedient would be killed no matter how strong they were. Two months later, the rebellion of Yang Yinglong in Bozhou was completely quelled, and Wanli's three major expeditions all ended in victory.

However, no one could have imagined that just 20 years later, the Ming army would be so defeated and headed for destruction.

In 1601, after more than 10 years of arguing, Wanli finally issued an edict to appoint his eldest son Zhu Changluo as the crown prince and his third son Zhu Changxun as Prince of Fu. However, this did not calm the debate in the court. Wanli was very partial to Prince of Fu Zhu Changxun, and the civil officials were worried that the emperor would one day depose the eldest son and appoint the youngest son, so they clamored for Zhu Changxun to be enfeoffed as a vassal.

Wanli became even more disgusted with Concubine Wang and her son because of this. After Zhu Changluo was made the crown prince, he moved to Ciqing Palace, and Concubine Wang was kept in the harem from then on, and could no longer see her son until she died.

In 1614, Prince of Fu, Zhu Changxun, was enfeoffed in Luoyang, and Emperor Wanli issued an edict to allocate 4 hectares of farmland in Huguang to Prince of Fu's palace. However, the whole province of Huguang only found a few hectares of land to give to Prince of Fu.

In addition, Wanli also gave Prince Fu a lot of gifts, so many that even carriages and boats could not hold them. In contrast, Zhu Changluo, the crown prince, was not favored by Wanli and lived in fear all day long. However, no one expected that there were only 30 years left before the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

In 1616, Nurhaci established the Later Jin in Hetuala and proclaimed himself the Great Khan. Two years later, he openly rebelled against the Ming Dynasty and sent a large army to suppress it, but suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Sarhu. The Ming Dynasty was no longer able to curb the rise of the Later Jin, and the death knell had already sounded.

In 1620, Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun died of illness at the age of 58. He was posthumously named Shenzong and buried in Dingling.

[Understand the Empresses of the Ming Dynasty in one go: Historical Empresses of the Ming Dynasty]

As we all know, most of the empresses of the past dynasties were born in prominent families, but many of them were known for their loyalty, harmony, and warmth, and some were even compared to the models of Yao and Shun among women. So why did the Ming Dynasty have so many virtuous empresses, and why were the emperors of the Ming Dynasty the only ones who were not picky about the empresses' backgrounds? In this video, let's take stock of the empresses of the Ming Dynasty.

The first one: Empress Xiaocigao Ma Xiuying was born in 1332. Because her parents died early, she was adopted by Bozhou Marshal Guo Zixing. At the age of 21, Guo Zixing arranged for her to marry Zhu Yuanzhang.

At that time, warlords had the habit of adopting daughters for marriage. Guo Zixing wanted to use marriage to make Zhu Yuanzhang work for him, but he soon found that Zhu Yuanzhang was not an easy man to deal with, so he began to suppress him.

Ma Xiuying persuaded Guo Zixing's wife to help Zhu Yuanzhang escape danger. During Zhu Yuanzhang's fight for the throne, Ma Xiuying comforted the families of the soldiers and stabilized the rear, and even made clothes and shoes herself and sent them to the front line.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang made Ma Xiuying the empress. Empress Ma was frugal by nature, well versed in classics and history, and often advised Zhu Yuanzhang not to massacre ministers. In 1382, Empress Ma died at the age of and was posthumously named Empress Xiaoci.

Second: Empress Renxiaowen, the eldest daughter of Xu Da, the first meritorious official of the founding of the country, was gifted and intelligent. She was well-read in classics and history since childhood and was known as a female scholar. At the age of 15, she married Prince Yan Zhu Di as his principal wife. The couple loved each other very much and had three sons and four daughters.

After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Emperor Jianwen launched a massive campaign to reduce the power of the feudal lords, and Prince of Yan Zhu Di decided to start a rebellion. Xu fully supported her husband. During the four years of the Jingnan Campaign, Xu and the Crown Prince stayed at the BJ base camp, allowing Zhu Di to fight on the front line with peace of mind.

However, Xu's younger brother, Duke of Wei, Xu Huizu, firmly stood on the side of the court. In addition, Xu's other younger brother, Xu Zengshou, firmly stood on the side of Zhu Di.

When Zhu Di was about to win, Xu Zengshou was dragged to Zuoshunmen by Emperor Jianwen and executed. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he made Xu the empress, but Xu Huizu was imprisoned at home.

Xu Zengshou's son Xu Jingchang was granted the title of Duke of Dingguo, and from then on the Xu family was divided into two major branches: Duke of Wei and Duke of Dingguo. In 1407, Empress Xu died in confinement at the age of 46. She was posthumously named Empress Renxiao and buried in the Ming Changling Mausoleum in Beijing.

The third: Empress Chengxiaozhao Zhang was from Yongcheng, Henan Province. She was the first empress of commoner origin in the Ming Dynasty. Her father Zhang Qi was appointed as the deputy commander of the army because his daughter was chosen as the prince consort of Yan Wang.

After Zhu Yuanzhang passed away, the newly enthroned Emperor Jianwen and Prince of Yan Zhu Di were at loggerheads. Zhang, the consort of the Prince of Yan, gave birth to a son, Zhu Zhanji. Zhu Di was extremely happy to see his eldest grandson born, which made him more determined to rebel. After Zhu Di entered Nanjing and ascended the throne, although he did not like the obese Zhu Gaochi very much, he liked Zhu Zhanji very much.

Out of love for his grandson, Zhu Di still appointed Zhu Gaochi as the crown prince, and Zhang became the crown princess. However, Zhu Di was very dissatisfied with the crown prince because of the instigation of the King of Han. Fortunately, Zhang, the daughter-in-law, brought her son to improve her husband's favor in front of her parents-in-law, otherwise the crown prince might have been deposed one day.

In 1424, Zhu Di died on his way back from the Northern Expedition, and Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne and made Zhang his empress. Ten months later, Zhu Gaochi died suddenly, and Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne and honored his mother as the empress dowager. All military and national affairs had to be decided by the empress dowager. However, Empress Dowager Zhang died young at the age of 10, leaving behind only her 38-year-old son Zhu Qizhen. Empress Dowager Zhang became the first grand empress dowager of the Ming Dynasty.

She warned her grandson not to trust the eunuchs around him, and to use upright and talented people like the "Three Yangs". However, judging from the final result, Zhu Qizhen completely ignored his grandmother's teachings. In 1442, the Empress Dowager Zhang died and was posthumously named Empress Chengxiaozhao.

Fourth: Empress Gongrang Hu Shanxiang was from Jining, Shandong Province. She was the daughter of Guangluqing Hu Rong. At the age of 16, she was selected as the Crown Prince's Consort and married to the Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji. However, soon after the marriage, Zhu Zhanji turned to favor his concubine Sun. After the death of Emperors Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi, the 27-year-old Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne.

Hu Shanxiang was also made empress, and his favorite concubine Sun became a noble concubine. Soon after, Zhu Zhanji made an exception and gave Sun a golden treasure. Sun gave birth to the eldest son Zhu Qizhen, and Zhu Zhanji was very happy. He made Zhu Qizhen the crown prince and forced Hu Shanxiang to resign as empress and made Sun the empress, making Zhu Qizhen the legitimate eldest son.

After Hu Shanxiang retired to Chang'an Palace, Empress Dowager Zhang was quite dissatisfied with her son's dethronement and often lived in Qingming Palace. Sometimes, the Empress Dowager would let Hu Shanxiang sit in front of Empress Sun at night in the palace. Zhu Zhanji also began to regret his impulse to dethrone the empress. In 1435, Zhu Zhanji died and the 8-year-old crown prince Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne. Seven years later, not long after the death of the Empress Dowager, Hu Shanxiang also passed away, and Empress Dowager Sun finally became the master of the harem. However, Emperor Zhu Qizhen became more and more fond of eunuch Wang Zhen and allowed Wang Zhen to mess up the government.

In 1449, Zhu Qizhen, instigated by Wang Zhen, led an expedition in person, but his entire army was annihilated in Tumubao, and Zhu Qizhen was captured by the Oirat. When the news reached BJ, Empress Dowager Sun was horrified and quickly organized the harem to raise money to send to the Oirat, but it was of no use.

Yesen and his envoy Zhu Qizhen came straight to Beijing. The Ming Dynasty was in danger, but Empress Dowager Sun appointed the 3-year-old eldest son Zhu Jianshen as the crown prince. Yu Qian and other ministers wrote to support the new king Zhu Qiyu as the new emperor. Therefore, in the critical situation, Empress Dowager Sun agreed to let Zhu Qiyu ascend the throne and respect Zhu Qizhen as the emperor. After Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne, he immediately reused Yu Qian to be responsible for defending Beijing and repelling Yesen's attack.

However, Zhu Qizhen was also taken back to Mobei by Yesen. Empress Dowager Sun missed her son very much. Every time the envoys went to Wala for negotiations, Empress Dowager Sun would ask him to burn some warm clothes for the emperor.

A year later, Zhu Qizhen was finally sent back to the Ming Dynasty. However, upon arrival, he and his concubines were placed under house arrest in the Southern Palace. Although Empress Dowager Sun was the Empress Dowager, she could only watch her grandson Zhu Jianshen being deposed from the crown prince to the king. In 1457, Zhu Qiyu was seriously ill. Empress Dowager Sun sent Shi Heng, Xu Youzhen and others to launch the coup d'état, and supported Zhu Qizhen to restore the throne. Six years later, Empress Dowager Sun died at the age of 6.

Fifth: Empress Qian of Suzhong, Zhu Qizhen’s first wife. After Zhu Qizhen was captured, the former empress was frightened and cried every day. Not only did she damage her eyes from crying, but she also had problems with the corners of her mouth.

After Zhu Qizhen returned, Empress Qian's situation was not much better. She was imprisoned in Nangong and lived in poverty, but she had to comfort the depressed Zhu Qizhen and show her embroidery with the female relatives every day to supplement the family income. In 1457, Zhu Qizhen was restored to the throne and the former empress became empress again, but the prince's mother, Concubine Zhou, wanted to replace the former empress.

Although she was unwilling to abandon her first wife, after Zhu Qizhen's death, Concubine Zhou asked her son to honor her as the empress dowager. This triggered strong opposition from the civil officials, and the turmoil was finally ended by honoring both empresses. Four years later, Empress Dowager Qian died at the age of 4.

Sixth: Empress Xiaozhenchun Zhu Qizhen chose Xiuwang as the Crown Princess for his son before his death, but she died before Zhu Qizhen could enthrone her.

After Zhu Jianshen ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Zhou believed Yue Jianshen's words and made another beautiful woman, Wu, the queen. However, Queen Wu was impatient and beat the maid Wan Zhen'er with a stick. This Wan Zhen'er was the famous Concubine Wan, who was 17 years older than Zhu Jianshen and was Zhu Jianshen's favorite woman.

When Zhu Jianshen saw Wan Zhen'er being beaten, he was very angry and immediately dismissed Wu and made Wang the queen instead. Although Queen Wang was not favored, she served as queen for 23 years. She was the empress dowager for 18 years and the grand empress dowager for 13 years. She died in 1518 and was posthumously named Empress Xiaozhenchun.

Seventh: Empress Xiaokangzhang can be said to be the happiest empress in history. Her husband should be Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youtang, who only married one woman in his life. The couple ate and lived together, just like an ordinary couple.

However, Empress Xiaokangzhang's brothers Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling were extremely domineering. They oppressed the people everywhere, causing public resentment, but the emperor just turned a blind eye.

The indulgence of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty also led to the tragic fate of the Zhang family in the future. After Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty passed away, Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houzhao, ascended the throne. Although he was very disgusted with his two uncles, he could not impose substantial punishments because of his mother's face. Every time the censor impeached, it ended in nothing. When Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houcong, ascended the throne, the good days of the Zhang family were over.

The Empress Dowager's brother Zhang Yanling was accused of plotting against the government, and Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty took advantage of the situation to put Zhang Yanling in prison and sentenced him to death. Empress Dowager Zhang pleaded for mercy, but Emperor Shizong was determined to execute the Zhang brothers.

Due to strong opposition from the court officials, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty had no choice but to keep Zhang Yanling in prison. A few years later, Zhang Heling was also confiscated and imprisoned, and eventually died in prison. In 1541, Empress Dowager Zhang died of illness at the age of 71. Five years later, Zhang Yanling was beheaded.

Eighth: Empress Xiaojiesu Zhu Houzhao's original wife Chen was punished by Zhu Houzhao to kneel down when she was pregnant and died of miscarriage. Later, Zhang Qijie was also banished to the cold palace because she was entrusted by Empress Dowager Zhang to plead for Zhang Yanling.

The third empress Fang's ending was slightly better than the previous two. She saved Zhu Houzhao during the Renyin Palace Coup. However, she ordered the lingchi execution of Concubine Cao Duan and Concubine Wang Ning. After Zhu Houzhao woke up, he was very grateful to the empress for saving his life, but he regretted it after learning that Concubine Cao Duan and Concubine Wang Ning were wrongly killed.

In 1547, Empress Fang died at the age of 30. There were rumors that Empress Fang was burned to death by fire and the emperor did nothing about it. However, according to historical records, Empress Fang should have died of natural causes.

Ninth: Empress Xiaoai After Emperor Xizong Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne, Zhang Yan, then 5000 years old, stood out from 1621 beauties through multiple rounds of selection and was made empress in .

It was the darkest moment in politics. The eunuch Wei Zhongxian controlled the government and persecuted loyal and good people. Even Zhu Youxiao's concubines had to swallow their anger towards Wei Zhongxian, otherwise they would be framed.

As the queen, Zhang Yan was also made difficult at every turn and was even framed to the point of having a miscarriage. In 1627, when Zhu Youxiao was critically ill, Zhang Yan asked someone to bring Prince Xin Zhu Youjian into the palace to persuade Zhu Youxiao to pass the throne to his younger brother.

After Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he made his wife Zhou the empress and his sister-in-law Zhang Yan the Empress Yi'an. Their daily food and expenses were the same as those of Empress Zhou. In 1644, Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, and Empress Zhou and Empress Yi'an committed suicide.

——"Most of the empresses in the Ming Dynasty were good. Especially Empress Ma at the beginning and Empress Zhou at the end, they were both first-rate empresses."

——"Zhu Di's wife is also very virtuous."