Again, the biggest reason why the Ming Dynasty's harem did not have a specific and detailed set of regulations was that there were few people!
It is said that there are three thousand beauties in the harem, but in fact, let alone three thousand, there are not even thirty.
In addition to the fact that the palace concubine was buried, part of the reason was that the emperor would only hold a large-scale draft during the wedding.
As for the sporadic concubines who entered the palace, there was only one in a few years, so naturally there was no need to formulate a code.
Therefore, since Zhu Qiyu wants to abolish the system of burying palace concubines, the draft system must also be changed.
After thinking about it, Zhu Qiyu said.
"Yes, in the past, because concubines had to be buried, most private women were reluctant to enter the palace, and the court did not conduct regular drafts. However, as a result, the harem is not sufficient, which will inevitably affect the continuity of the emperor's heirs."
Wu frowned, somewhat surprised, and said.
"Regular draft?"
Zhu Qiyu nodded and said.
"Yes, I will discuss the harem ceremony with the Ministry of Rites later."
"The preliminary plan is to imitate the imperial concubine system of foreign dynasties. Under the queen, there will be the first imperial concubine, the second imperial concubine, the fourth concubine, and the ninth concubine. Their ranks correspond to the crown princess, prince concubine, prince concubine, and county princess."
"Under the concubine's position, there will be another noble person, promised, talented person, no rank, no position."
"The palace will select women from among the people for a period of five years. Starting from the first wedding, there will be a total of six selections. Each time, 500 people will be selected from various places to the capital."
"In the wedding draft, there will be one queen, one concubine, two concubines, four concubines, nobles, etc. There is no limit to the promise. For the rest of the draft, ten to twenty people will be entered at each time. The emperor will not be confused. If the number of heirs exceeds five, then stop Draft.”
"If a low-ranking concubine has a royal heir, she can be promoted to a concubine or a concubine according to the circumstances. Except for the wedding draft, the fourth concubine and above cannot be promoted unless they have a prince."
After all, the ultimate goal of the draft is to prolong the imperial heir.
In his previous life, Zhu Qiyu saw so many of his descendants sitting on the throne. His biggest feeling was that the inheritance of the throne was too bumpy.
Xiaozong favored only one person and had only one son. Wuzong had been married for six years and had no heirs at all.
In the end, it has to be said that it is ridiculous to count two generations up and adopt someone from the side.
After listening to Zhu Qiyu's words, Mrs. Wu realized that her son clearly had a complete set of cases.
At the same time, she was also a little surprised and asked.
"so much?"
If Zhu Qiyu said what he said, including the queen, there would be seventeen people of rank in the palace, and there would be no limit to the number of low-ranking concubines below.
But having said that, there are seventeen high-level people, and the low-level nobles, if you agree, you have to double or triple the number no matter what.
Calculating this, wouldn't it be necessary to have forty or fifty concubines in the harem?
Her lips moved, and Wu's brows furrowed even more tightly, but she did not continue to speak.
After taking two steps back and forth, Zhu Qiyu continued.
"In addition, if the emperor favors one person, it will also cause difficulties for the emperor's heirs. Therefore, the first one I want to make this time is to abolish the sacrifice and bury it. The second one is to appoint the concubine and draft the draft. The third one is, It’s just to set some rules for future emperors.”
There were many love affairs among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
Dedicated love is not a problem, but as the emperor, he bears the responsibility of continuing the emperor's heir for the country.
Although it seems a bit disrespectful to say this, Zhu Qiyu still wants to say that this is all because of his late father who made a good start.
To say that he is his father's concubine is not a bad thing.
When he became the grandson, Emperor Taizong selected a beautiful girl once, and when he became the prince, Emperor Renzong selected her again.
Adding up the two times, there are more than a dozen people who have been granted the title of concubine.
But among so many concubines, the only ones who had any achievements were the deposed queen Hu, Sun and Wu.
Although Wu didn't want to say more about what happened between him and Wu, Zhu Qiyu could guess that it was probably just an accident.
As for Hu, she was the royal concubine after all. Emperor Renzong was still there at that time, and his father did not dare to go too far.
But once Emperor Renzong left, he immediately stopped covering up his doting on the Sun family.
Before the Sun family, concubines had no treasures, but as soon as his father ascended the throne, he made an exception and gave the Sun family a golden book and treasures.
From then on, except for staying with the deposed Queen Hu for a few days to save face, he stayed in Sun's palace almost every day.
No matter how many concubines there are in the palace, without his efforts as the emperor, how can they continue the imperial heir?
With him as a doting bad guy, Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Youtang, and Zhu Yijun would follow his example and act unscrupulously.
Thinking of these descendants, Zhu Qiyu became angry, snorted softly, and said.
"The imperial heir is the foundation of prosperity. It is the inheritance of the royal bloodline. It is also the responsibility of the emperor and the foundation of the country."
"After that, out of every five days, the palace concubines are not allowed to be summoned for two days, and they stay in Kunning Palace every ten days."
"In addition, the same concubine must not be summoned for more than five days every month to prevent favoring one person."
Mrs. Wu is no longer surprised by her son's reaction of being suddenly angry and sad sometimes.
Her thoughts were focused on the restructuring he mentioned.
"It can be seen that you have thought carefully about this matter. The abolition of burials, regular drafts, and the rotation of palace concubines are all connected with each other. If you can do it, you can indeed maximize the prosperity of the royal family and the heirs. Naturally, the Ai family is Agreed."
After hesitating for a moment, Wu finally spoke.
"But, isn't it too early for you to do this now?"
Wu really didn't expect that she just wanted to organize a draft to select three or five concubines to enter the palace when she saw that Wang and Hang were both physically inconvenient to serve.
Unexpectedly, it aroused the emperor's thoughts.
Seeing that Zhu Qiyu was serious about it, Wu had no choice but to become serious and said in deep thought.
"This matter seems to be a harem matter, but the implications are not small."
"Let's not talk about anything else for the moment. A large amount of money is spent on abolition of burials, determination of grades, and selection of women. There are so many concubines in the palace all of a sudden, even if they are mostly low-level, the money spent is not enough. At least double it.”
Fiddled with the beads in her hand, Wu frowned and said.
"If the Ai family remembers correctly, you said before that the national treasury is not rich now, and the palace concubine's expenses can only be paid from the internal transportation warehouse."
"But the draft involves various places, and the money for it must come from the Ministry of Rites. Now that you have just ascended the throne and the harem is empty, it is just a matter of organizing a draft. The court will bite the bullet and always get some money."
"But if you want to make it custom-made and choose it every five years, it will cost a lot of money. The foreign side will definitely object!"
"Although you have gained some prestige in the court now, the Ai family has seen those censors turning their backs and disowning others. If you do this, they will label you as lustful and immoral!"
Zhu Qiyu sat down, picked up the hot tea that Qingzhu had just brought, took a sip to moisten his throat, hummed softly, and said.
"Mother and concubine don't have to worry about the money matter. If this matter is to be done, the one who should take the lead in opposing it is the Ministry of Rites. However, the Ministry of Rites cannot make any waves for the time being."
"As for the impeachment of the censor..."
Shaking his head slightly, Zhu Qiyu said with a smile on his face.
"If they want to impeach me, do I really think I'm afraid of them?"
