Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 21
Tang Xuanzong wanted to marry Yang Yuhuan, the concubine of the Shouwang, which is undoubtedly a scandal in the eyes of today's people.However, it is easy for an emperor who rules the world to possess everything he loves.It's just because the emperor also advertised "benevolence, righteousness and morality", so he had to avoid suspicion to some extent.For example, first he followed the suggestion of his younger sister, Princess Yuzhen, and under the banner of filial piety, ordered her to become a female Taoist priest, saying that she wanted to pray for her mother, Queen Mother Dou, and bestowed the Taoist title "Taizhen" to let Yang Yuhuan move out of the birthday party. Wangfu, live in Taizhenguan.Doing so is also to avoid being caught in the eyes and ears, so that they can have an affair.After five years of hard work, Xuanzong first fulfilled his "father's duty" in a serious manner, marrying Wei Zhaoxun's daughter as concubine for the birthday king Li Mao, and then he couldn't wait to welcome Yang back to the government and formally canonized her as a concubine. For the imperial concubine.After a long time of darkening Chen Cang, people's views on Xuanzong's incest were dispelled, and he married a beautiful woman justifiably.Tang Xuanzong was 56 years old at that time, and Yang Yuhuan was just 22 years old.According to common sense, Tang Xuanzong, who has entered old age, dotes on Concubine Yang Guifei not only for Yang Yuhuan's beauty and sex in bed, but also as a considerate person in life, understanding in everything, and still able to cater to his own preferences. spiritual companion.

Three thousand pets, only in one body

Yang Yuhuan is not only beautiful, good at singing and dancing, but also very smart and considerate, he is simply the emperor's caring "little padded jacket", Xuanzong naturally likes it very much.Soon, Yang Yuhuan favored the empress officials exclusively, making "the six officials have no color." Xuanzong left all the empress officials and other concubines aside, and guarded Concubine Yang every day, inseparable. around.Every time the imperial concubine rides a horse, the eunuch Gao Lishi personally holds the whip.In order to please Concubine Yang, Xuanzong had as many as 700 craftsmen who specially made brocade embroidery for her, and there were even some who competed to present treasures.Zhang Jiuzhang, the history of Lingnan Jinglue, and Wang Yi, the chief history of Guangling, were both promoted because of their extremely exquisite playthings.As a result, hundreds of officials followed suit.In addition, Tang Xuanzong also opened a hot spring bath for her in Huaqing Pool in Lishan.

Concubine Yang Guifei was born in Sichuan and loved Lingnan litchi. In order to please her, Emperor Xuanzong spared no effort to send people from Fuzhou, Sichuan, thousands of miles away, to deliver litchi day and night by post-horse.There is a poem that says, "When a concubine laughs while riding the world of mortals, no one knows that it is a litchi", so litchi is also called "the concubine laughs".

In short, since he got Concubine Yang, all the love in Xuanzong's heart has been taken up by the concubine, just as the "Song of Everlasting Regret" says: "Cheng Huan has no leisure to serve the banquet, spring from the spring outing night; Like spring."

The reason why Xuanzong is so obsessed with the imperial concubine is of course the beauty of the imperial concubine.But more importantly, I'm afraid there is a similarity in interests.Xuanzong is a talented man obsessed with music. He is proficient in temperament and has extremely high attainments. He established the largest singing and dancing troupe in the royal family—the Liyuan. In the Liyuan, he played music and composed many works handed down from generation to generation. dance".The imperial concubine is not only good at singing and dancing, but also has a special talent for understanding music, but it is the one that really amazes Xuanzong.Nothing is better than the dance she arranged in conjunction with "Song of Neon Clothes and Feather Dress".Bai Juyi praised the beauty of this dance and said: "Thousands of songs and dances are countless, but the neon dress dance is my favorite."

"Song of Neon Clothes and Feather Clothes" has a huge lineup and many musicians. Only ten court ladies are required to accompany and sing the song at the same time. The whole song has eighteen chapters, divided into three parts, each with six songs.It is called "Six Songs of Preface", "Six Songs of Middle Preface" and "Six Songs of Final Preface". "Neon Clothes and Feather Clothes Song" not only has a variety of musical instruments, but also has a rhythm that is scattered first, then slow and then fast, which places extremely high demands on dancers.However, Yang Yuhuan can understand the artistic conception of the song as soon as she listens to it, and she can compose a perfect dance for this magnificent big song at will. She dances according to the rhyme. It expresses a kind of ethereal and magical artistic conception.Xuanzong was so excited by her deep comprehension of the music and her strong expressiveness, he personally accompanied her and introduced her as the first confidant in his life.

Yang Yuhuan's pipa skills are outstanding. When the eunuch Bai Xiuzhen returned to the imperial court as an envoy to Shu County, he presented a losa sandalwood pipa. Concubine Yang Guifei often holds this pipa and plays it in the pear orchard.Yang Yuhuan is also a master at playing chime. When she played, "the sound of chime is calm and fresh, and there is no one like it, even if she is a disciple of Liyuan".Emperor Xuanzong specially asked people to use the green jade from Lantian as a chime, and decorated it with gold and pearls, which is extremely precious.

She also writes good poetry.Once, she traveled with Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty to Xiuling Palace, and ordered her servant Zhang Yunrong to perform a dance. Zhang Yunrong relaxed her sleeves, turned her body gracefully, and danced in neon clothes.Yang Yuhuan was very excited and wrote a poem of Qijue impromptu:
The fragrance of the sleeves is moving, and the red stalks are curling up in the autumn smoke.

The wind is shaking on the Qingyun Ridge, and the water is blowing by the tender willow pond.

This poem compares the woman's dancing posture to the beauty of autumn smoke, which is faintly visible; it is also compared to the wind and cloud on the mountain, which is erratic, and it is even more compared to the willow silk blowing the water, graceful and soft, with the fragrance of the sleeves, which can be described as superb.This poem was later included in "Quan Tang Poetry".

The reason why Xuanzong always took Concubine Yang with him every time he went to banquets and bathed in hot springs was that they had the same literary hobbies and considerable literary attainments. In terms of literature and art, they had a common language, and they could be bosom friends, or they could be said to be in harmony.

Xuanzong has not established a queen since he abolished the king and queen, so Yang Yuhuan is equivalent to a queen, and her status in the queen is unparalleled.It is a veritable "3000 beauties in the harem, and three thousand dotes on one body".Tang Xuanzong's attitude towards her ranged from extremely liking to gradually infatuated with her, and finally couldn't extricate himself.

Harem Controversy: Concubine Yang and Concubine Mei

Although Yang Yuhuan is magnificent, she also encountered an opponent - Jiang Caiping, a famous talented woman in the Tang Dynasty.Jiang Caiping was born in Jiangdong Village, Putian, Fujian Province. She is intelligent and versatile. She is not only good at poetry, but also good at musical instruments, singing and dancing. poetess.

Concubine Mei entered the palace 19 years earlier than Concubine Yang. Xuanzong admired her delicate and elegant style and fell in love with her.Jiang Caiping, who is quiet, elegant, dignified and beautiful, has loved plum blossoms as elegant as her since she was a child. She often recites poems and paints with plum blossoms, and loves her so much that Emperor Xuanzong named her "Concubine Mei". Concubine Mei's talent is recognized as good. He once wrote Fu such as "Xiao Lan", "Pear Garden", "Plum Blossom", "Bagpipe", "Glass Cup", "Scissors" and "Qi Chuang";Proudly, Xuanzong boasted to his brothers that she was "Plum Essence".Xuanzong also planted all kinds of plum trees in the palace where she lived. Whenever the plum blossoms were in full bloom, he would linger under the flowers with Concubine Mei, admiring the flowers and composing poems, having a good time.

However, when Concubine Yang Guifei, who was plump, charming and coquettish, appeared, Xuanzong began to be dazzled.Concubine Yang and Concubine Mei became two wonderful flowers standing side by side in Xuanzong's harem.Concubine Mei is like a plum blossom, elegant and pure; Yang Yuhuan is like a peony, plump and delicate.These two people are thin and fat, elegant and charming, quiet and moving, forming a stark contrast. At this time, Tang Xuanzong, who has passed his sixtieth year, has already distinguished Yang Yuhuan and Mei Fei in his mind.For more than ten years, he has faced the self-admired, elegant and noble Concubine Mei, and now he is tired of aesthetics, and he can't help feeling a little less interested.Concubine Yang Guifei, who suddenly appeared, not only has a plump figure full of sex appeal, but also her charming expression and lively character, like a blazing fire stirring up Tang Xuanzong, who is almost twilight and unwilling to age.

In this way, Concubine Yang and Concubine Mei naturally fought openly and secretly.One wants to defend the "position" and the other wants to occupy the "position". The battle is extremely fierce.As for their battles, what began to appear was a poem written with emotion.Let’s look at a poem written by Concubine Mei first:

Leaving aside Chu Yun under Wushan Mountain, Nanguan Yulou Spring overnight;

Who can resemble the appearance of a moon with icy muscles, Jinxiu Jiang Tianban is the king.

In this poem, Yang Guifei’s beauty is praised on the surface, but she is actually satirizing her as the daughter-in-law of Tang Xuanzong, who disregarded human relations and transferred from Shouwang’s mansion to the palace. She even got into the father-in-law’s bed and confused the emperor. Delay the government, and ridicule her fat like a moon.In fact, what Concubine Mei said at the time was true.

Concubine Yang Guifei finished reading and immediately counterattacked:

Beauty has never diminished spring, and plum blossoms have diminished halal in the snow;
The chief teacher borrows the spring breeze and grass, and does not compete with ordinary flowers.

The meaning in the poem is that Concubine Mei is too thin and too spoiled, how can she compete with the flowers of the New Year!Tang Xuanzong did not applaud Mei Fei's poems, but applauded Yang Guifei's poems.The beauty of Concubine Yang is a different kind of style, which fascinated Tang Xuanzong. He transferred all his thoughts to Concubine Yang, and gradually left Concubine Mei in the cold.Concubine Mei's love has also been in trouble since then.While being left out in the cold, he also had to bear the scolding and false accusations of Yang Guifei in front of Xuanzong from time to time.Later, Concubine Mei was finally forced to move into the Shangyang East Palace, where she lived the same miserable life as Leng Guan.At this time, Xuanzong only cared about having fun with Yang Yuhuan, and had long forgotten about Concubine Mei of Shangyang East Palace.

However, after all, Concubine Yang and Concubine Mei have different styles and tastes, one is "meat" and the other is "vegetarian".

After Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was overly fragrant, he couldn't help but miss the elegance.After a period of time, Tang Xuanzong never met Concubine Mei, and from time to time he thought of Concubine Mei and her appearance.In a season when plum blossoms are in full bloom, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty strolled in the plum garden, seeing the flowers and thinking of others, a wave of tenderness and deep lovesickness appeared in his heart, a sense of sadness, guilt, and a desire to meet Concubine Mei.One night, Tang Xuanzong was afraid that Concubine Yang would know about it, so he excused himself from being unwell, so he didn't go to Concubine Yang's palace, and stayed alone in Cuihua West Pavilion.

Although Concubine Mei felt useless in her heart, she couldn't bear to keep Xuanzong waiting for a long time, so she rode a horse to Cuihua West Pavilion.A pair of old-fashioned mandarin ducks embrace each other again, the endless lingering, endless sadness.

This matter was still known by Concubine Yang Gui.Concubine Yang Gui didn't wait to be summoned, she went to Cuihua West Pavilion, opened the door and entered, and asked Xuanzong, "Where do you hide the plum essence?" Repudiating the bill, he changed the subject and said, "Why don't you come here, let's go to Lishan Hot Spring to have fun together!"

Xuanzong faltered and hesitated, at a loss.Concubine Yang pretended to be serious and said: "It's a mess here. There are women's golden hairpins under the bed, and there are lingering fragrances on the pillow. Who is serving Your Majesty to sleep this night? Why do you sleep until sunrise and not go to court? Your Majesty can Go to meet the officials?" She actually said that the concubine would stay here until Emperor Xuanzong came back from court.

Tang Xuanzong became furious, furious, and his face was ashen, but he didn't yell, and resisted by covering his head and sleeping.After all, Concubine Yang Gui is smart, and she is also afraid that things will become stagnant and unable to clean up.She took out her housekeeping skills, pretended to be crazy and coquettish, cried a lot, then left angrily, and went back to her mother's house.

Not long after Concubine Yang returned to her natal family, Tang Xuanzong couldn't bear to miss him, he didn't think about tea, he didn't want to eat, and he was worried all day long.Gao Lishi saw through Xuanzong's mind, so he asked for imperial meals and imperial concubines as an apology.When the imperial concubine saw Gao Lishi coming, she sadly cut off a lock of black silk and asked Gao Lishi to present it as a token of "loyalty".Xuanzong thought of love when he saw things, so the two reunited again.From then on, the love between Xuanzong and the imperial concubine became more and more inseparable.According to legend, one year in the Hall of Longevity of Huaqing officials, it was the Qiqiao Festival on July [-]th. Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei avoided the crowd and looked up at the two stars of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Live forever, be husband and wife forever! After this life, there will be an afterlife!" The poet Bai Juyi wrote the eternal poem for the agreement between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang Guifei:
"I wish to be lovebirds in the sky, and Lian Lizhi in the earth." Indeed, this kind of relationship between Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei is rare among emperors and empresses of all dynasties.

One person wins the way, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven
Any marriage of a feudal emperor must bear the brand of feudal politics.As Yang Yuhuan became favored, her family became very prosperous.Yang Yuhuan's cousin, Yang Zhao, was promoted to the post of imperial doctor and Jing Zhaoyin, and was given the name "Guozhong".Yang Yuhuan's three sisters were named "Mrs. South Korea", "Mrs. Guo Guo" and "Mrs. Qin Guo". These three ladies received an extra 752 yuan a month for their makeup.Especially with the death of Li Linfu in [-], Yang Guozhong's position as right minister fell to Yang Guozhong.

In addition to the right prime minister and the three wives of the country, Yang Yuhuan's father, Yang Xuanyan, was forced to be named Taiwei and Duke of Qi; ; the cousin Yang Kai was the censor, and married Princess Taihua, the youngest daughter of Concubine Wu Hui (ranked 26 among the daughters); the cousin Yang Jian was the secretary and the young supervisor, and married the princess Chengrong; Qing, Minister of the Household Department, married Princess Yanhe; Yang Guozhong's youngest son, Yang Canhong Luqing, married Princess Wanchun, the No. 20 fifth daughter born to Xuanzong Du Meiren; Li Yu, the eldest son of Li Yu (future Concubine Cui), Mrs. Guo Guo's son, Pei Hui, became the son-in-law of Prince Li Heng, and his wife was named Princess Yanguang; Li Xian's son; Mrs. Qin's eldest grandson, Liu Jun, married the head of Changqing County, while his younger grandson, Liu Tan, became Li Heng's son-in-law like his cousin Pei Hui, and his wife was named Princess Hezheng.

The Yang family has become the real royal relatives of the Li family.The three wives of South Korea, Guo State, and Qin State are connected with the five houses of Yang Yu and Yang Zhu, which are called "Yang's Five Houses".

Xuanzong was lucky to visit Huaqing Pool. He took the five families of the Yang family as his retinues. Each family had a team and wore the same color clothes.Jewelry dropped everywhere along the way, sparkling and shining, its extravagance cannot be added.The Yang family married two princesses and two princesses, and Xuanzong personally wrote the family temple stele for the Yang family.During a five-family night outing, there was a dispute with Princess Guangping's cavalry when they were leaving the Xishi Gate. Yang's slaves brandished their horses and whipped the princess's clothes, and the princess fell off the horse.Afterwards, the princess went to Xuanzong and complained sobbingly that although Xuanzong killed Yang's family slave, the son-in-law was also dismissed from office.Because of the prosperity and wealth of the Yang family, there is an enviable saying among the folks that "sisters and brothers are all out of the country, and the poor and glorious family. This makes the parents of the world feel that they will not regenerate a boy but a daughter".

The Jiangshan Sheji in the Tang Dynasty has become the paradise of the Yang family.This caused the political corruption in the Tang Dynasty, which led to the disaster of foreign relatives and the tragic ending of Concubine Yang.

In November of the 14th year of Tianbao (755), An Lushan, the governor of the border town, and Shi Siming, the step general, led 15 horses.In the name of crusade against Yang Guozhong, he went straight to Chang'an, and the "Anshi Rebellion" finally broke out.When the news came, Tang Xuanzong was terrified, so he and Yang Guozhong took the concubines and sisters, some princes, grandsons, attendants and ministers quietly opened the North Palace Gate, and went west to Shujun (now Sichuan).When they arrived at Ximawei post in Xingping, Shaanxi, the imperial guards accompanying them suddenly mutinied.They first killed Yang Guozhong, who was very angry with the people, and then surrounded the posthouse where Tang Xuanzong lived, and asked Xuanzong to kill Yang Guifei.At this time, Tang Xuanzong, who had no master, remembered the love between him and the noble concubine for more than ten years, and made a life-and-death vow of eternal love. How could he be willing to execute Yang Guifei who was with him day and night!However, these unsheathed soldiers believed that Concubine Yang Guifei was a troublesome beauty and the source of chaos in the country. If she was not killed, it would not be enough to calm the army. Xuanzong knew that the general situation was over and he could not save his beloved concubine.However, he couldn't bear to let the noble concubine be brutally tortured by the scholars.

After weeping bitterly with the imperial concubine, he gave the imperial concubine three feet of white silk and asked Gao Lishi to take her away and hang her to death on a pear tree in front of a Buddhist hall.At that time, the imperial concubine was only 38 years old, a generation of beauty, and the fragrance disappeared.

Tang Xuanzong returned to the palace after the "Anshi Rebellion" was put down. He once sent someone to find Yang Yuhuan's body, but he never found it. If Yang Yuhuan died, where did her body go? If Yang Yuhuan did not die, So where did she go?As a result, there have been many rumors about Yang Yuhuan's whereabouts among the people.

First, it is true that Yang Yuhuan did not die in the Mawei Incident. After she was rescued by the palace servants, she had been in exile. Later, she established contact with Xuanzong. However, because the world was too angry with Yang Yuhuan and Yang Jiamin, their contacts were always In a state of secrecy, Tang Xuanzong also insisted that Yang Yuhuan was dead.

Second, it was a maid of Yang Yuhuan who was hanged to death in Mawei Station.Yang Yuhuan was escorted by the cronies of Chen Xuanli, the general of the imperial army, to flee south, and finally went east to Japan, where he spent his entire life.There are still two tombs of noble concubines in Japan.

Third, Tang Xuanzong and Yang Yuhuan had secret contacts in overseas fairy mountains, where they made a pledge of eachother "willing to be a lovebird in the sky and Lian Lizhi in the earth".This plot is very similar to the saying in "Song of Everlasting Regret" by the poet Bai Juyi.

The above guesses on Yang Yuhuan's whereabouts all have a striking similarity, that is, Yang Yuhuan was not hanged to death in Maweipo, but survived in another way.Perhaps in people's minds, Yang Yuhuan is not a real beauty, she is just a simple woman.The death of Yang Yuhuan was not only self-blaming, but also a victim.Therefore, people imagined that Yang Yuhuan, who was really dead, could be resurrected, and sent them infinite memories.

People's imagination is beautiful, but Tang Xuanzong was lonely in his later years.For the death of the noble concubine, Tang Xuanzong was extremely sad, "The king can't save his face, but when he looks back, blood and tears flow like tears."Since then, whether on the way to escape or in Chengdu for more than a year, Tang Xuanzong was depressed all day long and missed his concubine Yang Yuhuan affectionately.

(End of this chapter)