Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

To be honest, she did have some resentment towards her royal grandfather back then.

One was that she thought it was the imperial grandfather who issued the order for foot binding.

The other is the poor women in the palace.

When the emperor's grandfather died, a group of people were buried alive with him. When his father-in-law died, a group of people were buried alive with him. Later, Zhu Gaochi, his own son -

Batches of lively women were hung under the tall beams, struggling and crying until they died.

Then the palace welcomed a new master and the beauty pageant began again, and this continued generation after generation.

It is clear that in the past amazing dynasties, such as the Tang Dynasty or the Song Dynasty, there was no such thing as burying people alive with the dead.

My great-grandfather did not learn from the Tang Dynasty or the Song Dynasty, but instead learned the filth from the Yuan Dynasty.

The harem of the former Yuan Dynasty and the harem of the Ming Dynasty were fundamentally different.

The empresses and concubines of the former Yuan Dynasty all came from families with considerable power, and some of the powerful empresses and concubines even suppressed the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty.

Some of them served as regent in the name of the queen, while others served as regent directly with the young emperor in their arms.

The struggles in the harem of the former Yuan Dynasty could almost be put on the table and described as one party taking the stage after another, and the fighting was very brutal.

The entire Yuan Dynasty lasted for ninety-seven years and had eleven emperors.

This means that one president is replaced every less than ten years. The pace of change is so fast that it is hard to keep up. Before we get used to calling the previous one, the next one has already ascended the throne.

The maternal families of the empress and concubines in the harem contributed a lot.

The emperor's grandfather learned from other people's lessons. Except for a few princes in the early days, all the princes and grandchildren married women from the common people as their wives.

Even the concubines in my grandfather’s harem were selected from the common people or tribute from small countries.

None of them have any family power or background.

The children born to them have no possibility of getting any help from their mother's family.

The issue of external relatives was completely eradicated during the Ming Dynasty.

But the emperor's grandfather thought that this was not enough, and revived the system of burying people alive with the dead from the previous Yuan Dynasty, requiring all concubines to be buried alive with him before his death.

So many masters needed people to serve them when they went downstairs, so a large number of palace maids died voluntarily or by force.

Zhang Xin remembered that the only one who survived was Concubine Zhang, the biological mother of Princess Baoqing.

Princess Baoqing was very young at that time, only three years old.

I don't know what a dying person is.

Thinking that his great grandfather was just sick, he hugged his grandfather who could no longer get up and comforted him, saying that they would fly a kite together after his father got better.

The emperor's grandfather finally crossed out Concubine Zhang from the list of people to be buried alive.

Princess Baoqing was later raised by her mother-in-law. Later, when her mother-in-law passed away, she was the one who raised her.

Princess Baoqing watched as other people living in the same palace with her mother were kidnapped by eunuchs, and the palace was filled with deafening cries.

Even when Baoqing was an adult, he would still tell Zhang Xin that he often had nightmares about that day.

Not to mention Baoqing, even Zhang Xin, at this moment, felt the same chill when she thought of those old things.

But, is there something she didn't understand?

For example, she had misunderstood the issue of foot binding for decades.

But the royal grandfather did not order foot binding, but he also did not order a ban. Zhang Xin always felt that someone like the royal grandmother who knew the sufferings of the world well would not turn a blind eye to this matter.

"Gong Wu, didn't the Empress Dowager ever think of issuing an order to ban foot binding?"

Zhang Xin thought about this for a long time, and only asked about it when Wu Shanggong was the only one around before going to bed at night.

Wu Shanggong was not prepared for Zhang Xin's sudden question. She was stunned for a moment before she smiled bitterly and said:

"Alas, it's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't.

In the pre-Yuan Dynasty, not all women had their feet bound. Initially, it was mostly girls from wealthy families.

Over the next hundred years, the custom became that feet were bound smaller and smaller. Some feet were so small that they couldn't even walk and had to be carried in and out by a nanny every day.

If a girl has natural feet, even her parents and brothers would be embarrassed to go out and see people.

When the Ming Dynasty was founded, if women had natural feet, it was either because their families were too poor or they had no upbringing.

When the Empress was alive, another incident occurred in which the Emperor issued an order prohibiting beggar women from binding their feet.

This is different from the Empress's idea of ​​banning foot binding. The Empress does not want to quarrel with the Emperor over this."

"Ah, aren't they all prohibited? They're the same!" Zhang Xin blurted out, then reacted, "Beggars? Lowly?"

"Yes, the Crown Princess is smart. This old servant has told me about this matter. Is it okay for the Crown Princess to listen to it?"

At this age, Concubine Wu is indifferent to life and death, and because she was close to Empress Ma back then, she dares to say a few words when something happens.

"Okay. Keep it in your heart."

Zhang Xin readily agreed.

"The emperor was young at the time and didn't do things very carefully. Later he told the empress that he regretted issuing this order.

It was extremely difficult to defeat Zhang Shicheng back then. When the emperor finally won, he was very angry, so he organized Zhang Shicheng's former subordinates into beggars and drove them to eastern Zhejiang.

Beggars are also called lazy (fallen) people, the common people, the lowest class among the lowly.

The emperor also issued an order to beggars: men were not allowed to study, women were not allowed to bind their feet, and they were required to marry each other and not to marry ordinary people.

So many people were driven there, and the local people had no choice but to accept them.

But he is not a beggar; you can’t tell from his appearance.

The soldiers are immoral and there are many who marry people by deception.

Later, all the good people in the neighborhood had their daughters' feet bound. When deciding on marriage, they would first look at the size of the daughter's feet. If she had big feet, they would not marry her to avoid a mismatch.

This matter was spread by word of mouth, and foot binding became the first hurdle for a woman to get married, and it was the emperor who ordered women to have their feet bound.

In the pre-Yuan Dynasty, only wealthy families would bind their daughters’ feet, and also only women who worked in entertainment places would bind their feet.

In our Ming Dynasty, even ordinary poor families had to grit their teeth and tie their daughters together, for fear of being treated as pariahs and having difficulty marrying their daughters.

Finally, all the women in our palace were allowed to unbind their feet.

Foot binding has become a trend. The emperor can control the people in the palace, but he cannot control the people of the world."

There wasn't much ups and downs in Wu Shanggong's tone of voice, but Zhang Xin could hear a lot of helplessness in her voice.

Sometimes an unintentional action by a superior can really affect many things.

Zhang Xin already had a deep understanding of this, and now she has a deeper understanding:

"There are so many female officials and maids in the palace. They were originally supposed to be able to return home after five or ten years. Is it because of this reason that they have not been released from the palace?"

"No wonder the Crown Prince likes the Crown Princess and is willing to talk to her," Wu Shang Gong nodded with a smile, "It's about the same. They both have big feet and are old. It's not easy to get married, and they may not be happy to stay at home with their brothers and sisters-in-law. The Queen asked about it at that time, but no one was willing to answer. Later it became a rule."

"What about now? Has Wu Shanggong's original intention not changed?"

Zhang Xin asked again.

"I think I can still serve you for a few more years."

Wu Shanggong bowed in response.

"Ok?"

Zhang Xin heard the hidden meaning in the words.

"This old slave still has a younger brother. It's time for the Crown Prince's Consort to rest."

Wu Shanggong smiled and ended the conversation between master and servant in an irrefutable tone.

"Oh, okay, tomorrow Wu Shanggong will tell me about your brother again."

Zhang Xin didn't bother either.

Today I learned a lot of things that I didn’t know before, and it felt very fulfilling.

She closed her eyes, and within dozens of breaths, she fell into a sweet dream.

Wu Shanggong stood by and made sure she heard Zhang Xin's even breathing. After putting the bed curtains in place, she tiptoed out and put on the rolled-up sleeves at the door to come in and keep watch.