Author: Our guest author Canghai Mingyuesheng There was a custom in the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty: every year during the New Year's ancestor worship ceremony, the emperor would lead his ministers to eat a kind of white water pork.

The preparation of this kind of meat is extremely simple. Large pieces of pork are cooked directly in boiling water, sliced ??and eaten immediately. There is no sauce, vinegar or even salt.

For princes and ministers who are accustomed to eating delicacies, such meat is naturally difficult to swallow.

But for many officials, being able to eat such meat is a lifelong pursuit: only officials with a first-grade or above can enjoy the treatment of white water pork.

What is unbelievable is that such a pious behavior is neither a memory of the ancestors who raised armies in the white mountains and black waters, nor a warning to future generations not to covet comfort, but a thank you to a Ming Dynasty empress dowager - the biological mother of Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun.

Xiaoding Empress Dowager Li.

Why did the Queen Mother of the Ming Dynasty receive enshrinement from the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty?

There is an unknown secret behind this.

1. The poor queen mother During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a poor family in Miao County, a suburb of Beijing. Because the family was poor, they sent Li Caifeng to the palace as a maid. By chance, she was married to the third son of Emperor Jiajing, Prince Yu Zhu Zai.

In 1563 AD, 19-year-old Li Caifeng gave birth to a son, Zhu Yijun, for King Yu.

Zhu Zaihe had no chance of being crowned emperor. It was just a twist of fate. Emperor Jiajing had eight sons. Only Zhu Zaihe was alive when he died, so he became the only candidate for the new emperor.

In 1567 AD, Zhu Zaihe came to the throne and his reign was Longqing.

At the same time, Li Caifeng, whose mother is more noble than her son, was also promoted to the imperial concubine.

Although her status was still inferior to that of Empress Chen at this time, Empress Chen had been ill for a long time and had no heirs. She had been out of favor for many years, and the so-called queen was just a title.

As a result, Li Caifeng, who was born as a maid, became the actual person in charge of the harem.

After Zhu Zaihe came to the throne, he handed over the government affairs to the courtiers and played in the harem all day long. However, even with such laissez-faire, he actually achieved outstanding innovation results.

It’s just that it’s not a holiday, Emperor Longqing died of illness in the sixth year of his reign. These six years were called the “Longqing New Deal” by later generations, and were also regarded as the last sign of the Ming Dynasty. In 1572 AD, earlier this year

Zhu Yijun, who was established as the crown prince, inherited the throne at the age of ten and was named Wanli. Because the emperor was young, the 28-year-old Li Caifeng was honored as the empress dowager together with Empress Chen, and they jointly managed the affairs of the court.

She attached great importance to her son's education. Not only did she invite the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng, to serve as the emperor's tutor, she was also very strict with her son's education. Every day before dawn, the little emperor was ordered to get up to study. If he was not careful, he would be punished by kneeling down.

It is said that once the young emperor lost his temper when he was drunk and cut off the hair of two eunuchs with a knife. After learning about it, Queen Mother Li severely reprimanded him and prayed to her ancestors, preparing to make her youngest son King Lu the emperor.

After the Wanli Emperor came of age, Empress Dowager Li stopped interfering in government affairs and devoted herself to the Buddha. She was revered as the "Nine Lian Bodhisattva" by the courtiers. In the following decades, the Wanli Emperor continued to be indifferent.

The government's excessive taxation has aroused public resentment. Moreover, according to the ancestral system, Empress Dowager Li no longer has the right to participate in politics. However, just when she was placing her love on the ancient Buddha of Qingdeng, she accidentally saved a person.

And thus changed the fate of the two dynasties. 2. Return of the Tiger to the Mountains In 1583 AD, Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty, led tens of thousands to attack Ataitu, the chief of the Manchu tribe. Jue Shi'an, another chieftain who had a feud with Ataitu.

The father and son of Takshi volunteered to serve as guides for the Ming army, but they were accidentally killed by the Ming army during the war. When the bad news came, Nurhaci, the 25-year-old son of Takshi, was furious and determined to launch an army to avenge his father.

The Ming Dynasty had millions of troops, and Nurhaci thought he was no match for the Ming army. In desperation, he pointed the finger at the "Manchu City Lord" Nikan Wailan. In Nurhaci's view, Nikan Wailan won the trust of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the Ming army allowed the Ming army to kill Jue Shi'an and Takeshi and his son, and no remedial measures were found afterwards, which was obviously unfair. Therefore, he asked the commander-in-chief Li Chengliang to severely punish Nikan Wailan. Li Chengliang considered this request to be unreasonable and ignored it.

However, Nikan Wailan took the opportunity to lead an army to conquer. After a battle, the weak Nurhaci became a prisoner. This made Li Chengliang feel quite troubled if he killed him.

His father was accidentally killed while serving the Ming army. This move was obviously unpopular. If he was released, he would not be able to explain it to Nikan Wailan. Therefore, Li Chengliang was in a dilemma and wrote to the court, requesting that Nurhachi be handed over to Wanli.

After the emperor took office, although he was slack in government affairs for a long time, he still abided by his filial piety to his mother, Queen Mother Li, and never delayed in greeting her every day. One day, when he and the Queen Mother accidentally chatted, they talked about Li Chengliang's request to the court to deal with Nurhachi. Queen Mother Li thought.

Since Nurhaci’s grandfather and father both died for the Ming Dynasty, it was a sign of gratitude to the Ming Dynasty. If the court did not reward him, it would be difficult to convince the public, so how could they kill him? So Emperor Wanli sent a decree to Li Chengliang: The Ming Dynasty pardoned Nurhaci.

He also returned the body of Nurha Chi's ancestor and father, and gave him "30 imperial edicts, thirty horses, the title of General Dragon and Tiger, and the imperial edict to the governor".

What Empress Dowager Li, who had lived in the palace for a long time, could not predict was that after the young man she accidentally rescued escaped from death, he used the original capital given to him by the court to quickly form a powerful cavalry, and in the subsequent war

which gradually shook the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.