due to the sui dynasty in the Tang dynasty, the titles of the four ladies of zhengyipin were in the order of Guishu and Dexian. First, we looked at Wei Guifei. According to the records of the unearthed epitaph, Wei's name was Xuan and the word was Ze. During the Wude period, he was selected as a good family in the Qin Palace, and he paid homage to the Guifei on April 1st of the first year of Zhenguan. However, although the epitaph said that Wei Xuan was selected as a good family in the Qin Palace, in fact, Wei Xuan was not married for the first time. Her first husband was Li Min, the son of Li Zixiong, a general of the Sui Dynasty and a minister of household affairs.
At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Zixiong rebelled with Yang Xuangan. After the defeat, both his father and son were killed, while Wei Shi was a criminal's family and was legally taken into the palace as a palace maid. After Tang gaozu ascended the throne in Chang 'an, Li Shimin became the king of Qin, and it was natural that Webster was assigned to serve in the palace of Qin as a palace maid. Besides, although Li Yuan once granted amnesty to the world after he ascended the throne, it was the criminals who were pardoned by the amnesty, which was different from the release of Imperial Secretary Yeting. It was impossible for Webster to be released from the palace and returned home during the Wude period, so the epitaph said that Webster was elected by a good family, which was obviously a whitewash. As for the statement that Li Shimin, the king of Qin, fell in love with Webster at first sight on the roadside, which is widely circulated in some online articles, it is simply nonsense.
There are even some unreliable online articles, saying that Wei Guifei was in charge of the harem of Emperor Taizong after the death of his eldest grandson. However, in fact, even as a imperial concubine, she has no right to take charge of the harem without the emperor's instructions. Tang Gaozu's Wan Guifei, for example, clearly recorded in the Biography of Li Zhiyun in the Old Tang Dynasty: "My mother called Wan Guifei, and she was obedient in nature, and she was especially honored by her great-grandfather. Everything in the palace is consulted, and the princes and princesses are all respectful. " It shows that Wan Guifei can have the qualification of "consulting" on the harem affairs, and it is "specially given by the emperor's high-impedance relatives". Without the special permission of Tang Gaozu, Wan even as a imperial concubine has no right to take charge of the harem. Look at Guo Guifei of Tang Xianzong again. "The three ministers asked Guo Guifei to be the queen, and Tang Xianzong was jealous of her age, and because the queen was so gorgeous, she was afraid that she would be honored later, so she couldn't be arrogant, so she reported it in the chapter." Although the Guo family only married a high-ranking imperial concubine, it was Tang Xianzong's wife who married before he ascended the throne. Because Tang Xianzong was afraid that his romantic courtship would be restricted, he refused to make her a queen. If you can be in charge of the harem as a imperial concubine, then why should Tang Xianzong reinvent the wheel?
Besides, it is a great honor for the imperial concubine to be in charge of the harem. Even if many concubines manage the harem together, the history books will also record it. Chen Houzhu's Zhang Guifei was in charge of the harem, and it was clearly recorded in the history books that Mrs. Xuanhua and Mrs. Ronghua of Sui Wendi were in charge of the harem at the same time. Liu Jun's biography also took some time to record his mother Pan Shufei (Liu Songshi's Shufei was only a second-rate concubine, not a third-rate concubine) in charge of the harem.
Not only will there be an entry in the history books, but even the epitaph, something that needs to be praised for nothing but something that needs to be praised for something more, will definitely be written in great detail. Even if Wei Guifei doesn't have the authority to take charge of the harem, she just has some participation rights, so it is impossible for her epitaph not to mention anything. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite concubine, Sun Guifei, only assisted Ma Huanghou in managing the harem. This matter is not only recorded in Records of Ming Taizu, but also recorded in unofficial history's Notes on the History of Victory in the Dynasty. Song Lian did not let go of this great glory when writing Sun Guifei's epitaph: "Cheng Muguifei Sun Shi ... assisted the queen with reason, ruled the palace in the interior, and was salty and had no complaints." But Wei Guifei's epitaph has already been unearthed, and there are many grandiose words to her in the annals, but nothing is said about the so-called hosting of the harem. It can be seen that Wei Guifei's taking charge of the harem is a matter of course for modern people.
Wei Guifei is not only unloved, but also her family and children are treated badly. According to the Tang system, Wei Guifei, as a princess with one product, her mother could have been awarded the title of the county magistrate with four products, but her mother never got the title of the county magistrate before or after her death. It was not until Wei Guifei was very sad because of his mother's death that he "wailed and cursed, destroying the barren land". Only then did Emperor Taizong symbolically posthumously bestow Wei Yuan, the father of Wei Guifei, as the official title of Xuzhou, and Wei Guifei's mother still failed to get the title of monarch. Wei Yuancheng was already the official of the Sui Dynasty, the official secretary of the Third Division and Chen Zhou, and was the governor of Xuzhou. The status of Wei Yuancheng was far less than that of Wei Yuancheng before his death. It can be seen that the seal of Emperor Taizong was just a perfunctory move.
Not only that, Princess Linchuan, born to Wei Guifei, and Li Shen, the king of Ji Dynasty, were treated poorly among the same concubines of Emperor Taizong. Princess Linchuan was not canonized as a princess until she was 18 years old. The origin of Xu-ma Zhou Daowu was the worst among all the Xu-ma who was still a princess. Princess Linchuan left Beijing with her husband after marriage and went to work in the border area. She is the only known princess who left Chang 'an when Emperor Taizong was alive. Although Li Shen, the only son of Wei Guifei, was very talented, his ability to handle government affairs in Xiangzhou was also excellent, and he was even praised by the local people. However, Emperor Taizong did not pay special attention or reward to Li Shen until Tang Gaozong Li Zhi ascended the throne, which praised him.
As for Li, the daughter of Wei Guifei and her ex-husband, Li Min, she has never entered the palace with her mother, but she is about 2 years old, and her mother Wei Guifei still can't arrange her daughter's marriage independently. It was not until the four years of Zhenguan that the Turks came down. In order to appease many Turkish nobles who came down, Emperor Taizong made Li, who was still a maid-in-waiting, the Lord of Dingxiang County, instead of Li Tang's imperial clan daughter, and married the conference semifinals, who were the last in the aristocratic eyes.
Although some people think that Li's naming Dingxiang county magistrate is a sign that Emperor Taizong recognized her as a stepdaughter, if Emperor Taizong really regards Dingxiang as a stepdaughter, then Dingxiang should be a princess, like Princess Wencheng and Princess Honghua, instead of a county magistrate, and it will not be clearly recorded in the epitaph that Dingxiang is just Li in Bohai Sea, "the grandson of Shangshu in Sui Dynasty and the daughter of Youmin in Qi Dynasty." Instead, it should be like Princess Honghua, just saying that she is "a man of the Western Gansu" and "the daughter of the Emperor Taizong's civil and military sage".
What's more, after Dingxiang county magistrate married Ashina Zhong, Ashina Zhong was sent to the Great Wall by Emperor Taizong. Life beyond the Great Wall was far more difficult than that of the Central Plains. Needless to say, Dingxiang, a native of the Central Plains, couldn't stand it. Even Ashina Zhong himself didn't want to endure the hardships beyond the Great Wall after enjoying the life in the Central Plains. Therefore, when he saw the emissary, he asked him to return to Chang 'an with a runny nose and tears. If Emperor Taizong loved Wei Guifei, how could he let her daughter suffer this?
Of course, some people may wonder why Wei Xuan, as a noble princess, has fallen out of favor. If Emperor Taizong didn't like Wei Xuan, why did he make her a noble princess? In fact, this has something to do with people's long-standing wrong ideas.
First of all, many people take it for granted that a high-ranking imperial concubine is equal to a favorite concubine, and all the concubines who are named high-grade by the emperor are favorite concubines. In fact, the harem is a system since ancient times. Even if there is no favorite concubine, the emperor will not keep the position of the fourth concubine empty. In history, concubines who are in high positions but have no favor can be found everywhere. If nothing else, only the imperial concubines of the emperors in the Tang Dynasty, except Yang Guifei of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Dugu Guifei of Tang Daizong, are not favored, and they can't find any favor deeds.
Secondly, the queen is the natural master of the harem and is in charge of the harem affairs. Unless the queen is out of favor to the extreme and the emperor has another concubine who is extremely fond of her, the emperor will not intervene in the harem affairs. Therefore, looking at the harem of the Tang Dynasty, the queen's rights are great. For example, the queen of Tang Gaozong, obviously Xiao Shufei is so popular, with good background and old qualifications and gave birth to a prince and princess, but she is just a Shu princess, and another woman who has no pets and no children has pressed her to be a high-ranking imperial concubine; Tang Xianzong, who is romantic and affectionate, is afraid that his wife will restrain her erotic behavior when she becomes queen, so she resolutely refuses to make the original Guo as the queen-this shows the great power of the Tang Dynasty queen in the harem.
Therefore, the conferment of concubines in the Tang Dynasty's harem depends largely on the empress. If the emperor has no special instructions or requirements, then the empress will arrange the grades of harem women according to her own ideas. As a noble lady, she is a spoiled woman, and the reason is not difficult to understand.
In addition, Emperor Taizong clearly expressed his attitude towards these harem women, that is, women who were born in sin, such as Wei Jue and Yin Shi, were not even qualified to have children for themselves.
The admonition of Duke Zheng of Wei:
Emperor Taizong said to the courtiers, "In the Han Dynasty, it was often the case that children in Luoyang were chosen in August and returned to the harem. This is not a law. However, there are many servants in the palace today, so it is not appropriate for him to give birth to kings. According to this theory, it is reasonable to choose the palace column. " Gong said to him, "Many people are confused, which leads to defeat and chaos. Zhou You was confused and praised, Jin Xian confused Li Ji, indulged in the desire to spoil, abandoned the office and stood upright, so you Wang died and lost his life in the Western Zhou Dynasty; Although the sacrifice of the public body has not been protected, the disaster has been delayed for generations. Between the imperial court and the imperial court, you should be careful. "
Emperor Taizong was born as a nobleman's son, and he naturally despised and discriminated against these women who were born with criminal records-although this does not mean that he should treat these women as class enemies.
In addition, Wei Xuan's Yin family and others were palace maids sent by Emperor Taizong when he was king of Qin, while Li Shimin, as a prince, did not have much freedom to choose the origins of these concubines in the backyard. However, out of the prejudice of the nobility, Emperor Taizong obviously didn't think that these women were of good pedigree, and should not have children for themselves, otherwise it would probably dilute their excellent genes and make future generations not good enough.
It's just that children are the product of desire, and Emperor Taizong didn't practice any magical powers, so he could only let the designated women have children. In history, concubines who gave birth to children for the emperor but were still unloved abound. Therefore, although Wei Jue and Yin Shi gave birth to children to Emperor Taizong, Emperor Taizong still despised them from the bottom of his heart, let alone what feelings he could have for them.
Yang Guifei, the mother of Li Fu, the king of Zhao, whose tomb is unknown, can only be inferred from the "Wang, the birth of Yang Guifei" recorded in the Epitaph of Zhao Wang, the governor of Jingzhou, Sikong. However, during the whole Zhenguan period, Wei Guifei's title has not changed from beginning to end, so Yang's imperial concubine emblem should be posthumously presented. However, Yang Guifei was a first-rate princess before her death, and should have been named as a fourth princess with Wei Guifei, Yin Princess, Yan Xianfei and others as early as the first year of Zhenguan, and it is more likely to be the emblem of Shu Princess, so that she can be posthumously awarded as a noble princess after her death. After all, Yang Guifei did not die of active martyrdom like Xu Hui, and her only son was killed unjustly like Huang Deyi, so she would not be pursued as a fourth princess at will, let alone a imperial concubine.
In the 13th year of Zhenguan, Yang Guifei's only son, Li Fu, was made King of Zhao, and was immediately adopted by Emperor Taizong and given to Li Jiancheng, a reclusive prince. Therefore, in terms of etiquette, Li Fu is no longer the son of Emperor Taizong, but the son of Li Jiancheng, a reclusive prince.
Yin Qi, presumably whose title should have been Shu Fei or De Fei, was reduced to Yin Qi because of her son's rebellion.
Yin Shi, the father of Yin Fei, was executed by Li Yuan for his loyalty to the Sui Dynasty. Yin Hongzhi, the son of Yin Shi Shi, and others were saved from death because of their youth, and Yin Shi was buried in the court as a maid. Perhaps it is because Yin Shishi and Tang gaozu have a considerable enmity, and Yin Shi has become Li Shimin's concubine, so many people like to imagine that there is a sadistic affection between Li Shimin and Yin Shi, which is hated by their enemies across the country. However, as far as historical facts are concerned, such a statement is obviously unfounded. After all, there are not a few women in the harem who are guilty of crimes. Shangguan Waner was buried in the court because of her grandfather Shangguan Yi. As a maid-in-waiting, there are more than a few who are lucky to be the master. The Queen Wu of Zhangjing got Tang Suzong's luck after sinking into the court, thus giving birth to Tang Daizong.
Moreover, if he had a grudge against Yin, the daughter of the so-called enemy, Li Yuan would not have canonized Li You, the son of Yin, as the king of Yiyang County in the eighth year of Wude, and Li Jiancheng and others, who have always had bad blood with Li Shimin, would also take this opportunity to denounce him. Therefore, the so-called love between Li Shimin and Yin's family, which is hated by enemies across the country, is just the YY of future generations. Needless to say, after Yin's only sentence in the history books was "Yin Fei gave birth to Shu Ren You", there was no record of a word. Even from the point of view of his son Li You's rebellion, it is clear that Yin's weight in Li Shimin's heart can be somewhat weighed.
It's also a rebellion. Li You's final result is that he was condemned and abolished as Shu Ren, and his biological mother was even surrendered. Later, Emperor Taizong posthumously awarded Luo Shi, a citizen of Qizhou who dared to criticize Li You's crimes and tried to kill him, as the secretariat of Bozhou, while Gao Junxiang, who denounced Li You, was named the magistrate of Yushe County, and Du Xingmin, who arrested Li You, was suddenly promoted from a soldier to a secretariat of Bazhou, and other people who helped Du Xingmin catch Li You were also richly rewarded. On the other hand, after Li Chenggan's rebellion, Emperor Taizong tried his best to save his life, so he got the attention of Emperor Taizong for speaking for Li Chenggan, and his official position was constantly promoted. Soon he was promoted to be a foreign minister, and the following year he was promoted to write the Book of Jin with Linghu Defen and others.
This gap clearly shows whether Yin and Li You have been favored by Li Shimin. If Yin really had a vigorous love with Li Shimin, then Li You will never end up dead. After all, Yin's only son is Li You, so executing him is equivalent to ruining Yin's dependence for the rest of his life. If Li Shimin has feelings for him, it is better to impose a heavy penalty on Li You than to execute him.
Yin lost her only son overnight, so she was either demoted to a concubine and died lonely and depressed all her life. Or was abandoned as Shu Ren with his son and finally buried with a gift, all unknown. But even if Yin Fei can save her life, she would be dead from now on.
according to her epitaph, Yan defai was elected to the palace of Qin dynasty in the fourth year of Wude, paid homage to the virtuous princess in the first year of Zhenguan, and moved to Fengde Princess in the eighteenth year of Zhenguan. Considering the rebellion of Li You in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the birth mother Yin was even seated, and the position of the fourth princess was vacant, so Yan should be promoted. Similarly, this Yanshi didn't enter the palace out of any touching love. The phrase "Wude was hired into the backyard of the king of Qin for four years" made it very clear, but it was a concubine chosen by Tang Gaozu Tang gaozu for his son.
Yan's grandfather was Yan Rong, a famous cruel official in Sui Dynasty. He was greedy and violent, and was given death by Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty. It is precisely because of his grandfather Yan Rong's "drug abuse" that Yan was strictly taught by his mother Yang since childhood to learn to be courteous and humble, so as to form a noble family.
Yan Wude became Li Shimin's concubine for four years, but it was not until seven years later that she gave birth to her first son, Li Zhen, and she never gave birth after giving birth to her second son, Li Tao. Li Tao died young, and Li Zhen can be said to be one of the more talented princes of Emperor Taizong. However, Emperor Taizong did not have any preference for this son, neither did he refuse to be a vassal when he was old, nor did he pay special attention to Li Zhen because of his outstanding talent.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that Yan Fei's mother and Wu Zetian's mother are cousins. Therefore, after Wu Zetian became the queen of Tang Gaozong, the old and frail Yan insisted on mourning for Wu Hou's mother, Mrs. Rong Guo, in order to please Wu Zetian. As a result, she unfortunately fell ill on the way and died in a post station after half a year. Wu Hou had to do this.