introduction
Zhu Houzhao, a controversial emperor in history, was known for his absurd life and extravagant pleasures.
Dying at the age of 30 in the leopard room, what is the charm of this mysterious place that made an emperor indulge in it and eventually die?
In this history, we will explore the origins and functions of the Leopard Room, and how it became a symbol of the absurd life of the Ming Dynasty, revealing why this place terrifies women.
The growth and background of Zhu Houzhao of Ming Wuzong
Born in 1491, Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao was the tenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his father, Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youji, was a famous benevolent and frugal emperor in history.
Ming Xiaozong not only governed the country well, but also treated the family very single-mindedly, and only loved Empress Zhang all his life, in such a family background, Zhu Houzhao was destined to be endlessly pampered and concerned as soon as he was born.
From the age of two, Zhu Houzhao was made the crown prince and began to receive the strictest royal education.
The palace maids served him meticulously, and the eunuchs were even more obedient to him, Ming Xiaozong and Empress Zhang had extremely high expectations for this only son, but at the same time, they also gave him infinite favor and tolerance.
As the little prince in the palace, Zhu Houzhao's life was full of luxury and pleasure, he had the best toys, the most gorgeous clothes, and the most exquisite food.
However, it was this meticulous care that made him lack the discipline and rules he deserved, and even the slightest dissatisfaction could quickly soothe his emotions.
In order to make Zhu Houzhao a Ming monarch, Ming Xiaozong specially invited the most knowledgeable and virtuous officials at that time, such as Xie Qian and Liu Jian, to serve as his teachers.
These teachers were all well-educated people, hoping to cultivate Zhu Houzhao into a virtuous monarch through their own teachings.
However, Zhu Houzhao was not interested in these boring studies, and he preferred to play and frolic in the palace.
Although Xie Qian, Liu Jian and others were knowledgeable, they also felt helpless in the face of this naughty student.
Zhu Houzhao is often naughty and mischievous in class, and even sometimes speaks disrespectfully to the teachers, although the teachers try their best to persuade them, Zhu Houzhao still goes his own way.
He believed that as the future emperor, he could do what he wanted and not have to be bound by traditional rules and etiquette.
The influence of eunuchs and the gradual deterioration
Because Zhu Houzhao has been overly pampered since he was a child, coupled with the busyness of his parents, he has more contact with eunuchs and palace maids in his life.
In order to curry favor with the future emperor, these people did their best to flatter, causing Zhu Houzhao to gradually become more arrogant and self-centered.
The eunuch Liu Jin and others saw Zhu Houzhao's weakness and began to please him by various means, they took Zhu Houzhao to visit every corner of the palace, told all kinds of interesting stories, and even organized some small entertainment activities, which made Zhu Houzhao feel very novel and happy.
Through these methods, Liu Jin and others gradually established their own status in Zhu Houzhao's heart.
At the same time, Zhu Houzhao gradually lost interest in court politics, and he felt that dealing with national affairs was cumbersome and boring, far less interesting than playing in the palace.
In order to further please Zhu Houzhao, the eunuchs began to plan more entertainment activities, and even encouraged him to participate in some improper behavior.
The Leopard House, originally a place to keep leopards, was located in the Beijing Imperial Palace during the Ming Dynasty, and was originally designed to showcase the majesty and luxury of the royal family, reflecting the unique charm of the royal gardens by raising rare animals.
However, with the accession of Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty, the place gradually evolved into a place of extreme luxury and extravagance.
In the second year of Zhengde (1507), under the auspices of the eunuch Liu Jin, the leopard house project was restarted, and large-scale expansion, the whole leopard house covers a vast area, the internal facilities are extremely luxurious, and the construction cost is as high as more than 240,000 taels of silver, equivalent to 140 million yuan today.
Under the careful planning of Liu Jin and others, it gradually turned into a place of entertainment, pleasure and fornication.
The construction scale of the leopard house is large, covering a vast area, the internal facilities are extremely luxurious, in addition to raising rare animals, the leopard house also has a special brothel, and even snatched a lot of women from good families from the people to act as Qinglou women.
The leopard room became the private paradise of Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, where he enjoyed endless pleasures and was completely immersed in his own world.
Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao's love for the leopard room exceeded everyone's expectations, he had to go to the leopard room almost every day to play, and even for the sake of convenience, he simply moved to live in the leopard room.
He sang here every night, indulged in all kinds of pleasures, and completely ignored the government and politics.
Life in the leopard room is a kind of complete relaxation and enjoyment for Zhu Houzhao, where he can unleash his desires to his heart's content, without worrying about any rules and etiquette.
Every day, he immersed himself in the joy of singing and dancing, playing with various women, and even performing some perverted acts.
Horror life in the leopard's room
The Leopard Room, as a place of lewd pleasure for the Ming Wu Sect, is kept strictly secret from the outside world, and what happens inside is rarely recorded, however, the women who enter the Leopard Room feel fear and despair without exception.
Most of these women were women of good families who had been forcibly taken into the palace, and they were treated extremely cruelly in the leopard room.
Wu Zong subjected these women to various abuses and tortures, causing them to be physically and mentally devastated, and they lived in endless fear.
In the leopard room, the women's lives are extremely difficult, and they are forced to act as Qinglou women, ready to cater to the perverted needs of Wu Zong and his favored courtiers.
In order to please Wu Zong, these women had to endure all kinds of humiliation and torture, and life in the leopard room was tantamount to hell on earth for them.
In addition to women, the leopard room also collected a lot of boys from the people, and became Wu Zong's male favorites.
For the boys he favored, Wuzong would also title them "righteous sons" and give them the surname Zhu, these boys not only enjoyed glory and wealth, but were also granted various privileges, and could even participate in court politics.
This way of life made Zhu Houzhao gradually alienate himself from the government, and he no longer cared about national affairs and no longer listened to the advice of ministers.
Whenever the ministers tried to persuade him to get back on track, Zhu Houzhao always used various excuses to shirk and continued to indulge in the pleasures of the leopard room.
In the face of Ming Wuzong's absurd behavior, the ministers led by Xie Qian, Liu Jian, and Li Dongyang were heartbroken.
They wrote many times to advise Zhu Houzhao to restrain his behavior, stay away from those eunuchs who were neither male nor female, and return to the right path, however, Zhu Houzhao turned a deaf ear to these words and did not take them to heart at all.
Although Xie Qian and the others were in high positions, they looked powerless in front of Zhu Houzhao, and they saw the emperor gradually fall into the quagmire of pleasure, but they were powerless to pull him back.
In desperation, they can only continue to perform their duties in the court, hoping that one day the emperor will change his mind.
The power game of the eunuchs
Liu Jin not only fanned the flames around the emperor, but also gradually grasped the power of the court by installing cronies and suppressing dissidents.
Liu Jin even became the head of the celebrant and mastered the drafting and distribution of central documents, further consolidating his position.
The expansion of the leopard room exacerbated this corruption, and in order to curry favor with Zhu Houzhao, Liu Jin and others did not hesitate to spend huge sums of money to build the leopard room into an extremely luxurious place.
There are not only rare animals and luxurious buildings, but also countless delicious food and wine and singing performances, and the life in the leopard room is extremely luxurious, and Zhu Houzhao is addicted to it and can't extricate himself.
After Liu Jin and other eunuchs grasped the power of the court, they carried out corruption on a large scale, and the government became a miasma, and if the civil and military officials wanted to be promoted, they had to pay bribes to Liu Jin in exchange for his protection.
Liu Jin not only installed cronies in the DPRK, but also consolidated his power by suppressing dissidents and eliminating dissidents.
The unscrupulous behavior of the eunuchs made the government corrupt and the country fell into a deep crisis, Ming Wuzong turned a blind eye to this situation, and even expressed support and protection for the actions of Liu Jin and others, this absurd behavior led to the intensification of contradictions within the court and social turmoil.
The absurd life of Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty and the manipulation of the eunuchs eventually led to serious consequences, and in 1519, Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ning, rebelled in Nanchang and challenged the imperial power.
Ming Wuzong personally led his troops to suppress it, but he did not take this military operation seriously and continued to indulge in pleasure.
On the way back to Beijing, Wu Zong had a whim to experience the life of a fisherman, but accidentally fell into the water and caught a cold and contracted pneumonia.
The accident caused Wuzong's physical condition to deteriorate dramatically, and despite the best efforts of the imperial physicians in the palace, he eventually died of serious illness and died in the leopard's room in 1521 at the age of 30.
The death of Ming Wuzong ended his short and absurd life, and also left a profound lesson for the Ming Dynasty.
epilogue
Ming Wuzong's life in the leopard room not only shows his absurd personal behavior, but also reflects the corruption and depravity within a dynasty.
The Leopard Room, which was originally just a royal zoo, became a notorious symbol of the emperor's extravagance.
The horror and humiliation experienced by the women here has become the darkest page in this history.
Through the exploration of the leopard house, we see how the extravagant life of an emperor can lead to national turmoil and personal tragedy.
The lessons of history tell us that only by restraining desires and paying attention to people's livelihood can we truly achieve long-term peace and stability in our country.
Reference: Ming Wuzong and Leopard House - CNKI (cnki.net)
Ming Wuzong and his "Leopard House Gongdi" (Part I) - CNKI (cnki.net)
Ming Wuzong and his "Leopard Fang Gongxuan" (II) - CNKI (cnki.net)