Chapter 8 The Three Flower Drum Girls Became the Queen

Song Zhenzong's weak character has been fully demonstrated in the article "Chanyuan Alliance", which can explain why he was restrained by Queen Liu in his later years.Empress Liu in history is quite legendary. She was originally a flower-drum girl who became a queen by chance. Her life after that was closely connected with the politics of the Song Dynasty, and even had an important impact on the political situation of the Northern Song Dynasty. Liu's real name is Liu E, from Taiyuan.His father, Liu Tong, was the commander of Hujiedu and the governor of Jiazhou. He died halfway while following Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's conquest of Taiyuan. The Liu family has since declined and lived in Shu.When Liu E was still a baby, his mother died of illness.In the beginning, there was my grandfather's family to rely on, but the family of my grandfather's family was weak and sparsely populated, and they had to worry about food every day. For them, Liu E was just a drag.Because she was helpless, Liu E wanted to hang herself several times to leave this miserable life.The taste of being poor as a teenager made this innocent girl have more desires and scheming than ordinary girls.

One day, Liu E accidentally stood in front of the door.A fortune teller happened to pass by and saw Liu E, so he stared blankly at her from top to bottom.Liu E felt a little embarrassed, so she asked the fortune teller, "Why do you just look at me if you don't walk?" The fortune teller said, "I don't have any malicious intentions, just because of your good looks. I have seen many people in my life. , It’s the first time I’ve met your face today.” Liu E suspected that the fortune teller deliberately told such a lie to deceive a few fortune tellers, so she said, “I’m a poor man, and I don’t have fortune tellers for you. Don't tell lies to deceive people." The fortune teller said: "I don't want your fortune, please stretch out your hand and have a look with me, and you can be sure." Liu E was very bored, thinking: Since you don't want fortune It's okay to show him, so he stretched out a pair of slender hands.After looking at it carefully, the fortune teller said repeatedly: "The appearance of the concubine, the appearance of the concubine."

Liu E didn't take it seriously when she heard this, thinking that she was so poor and living in a remote countryside, where did she come from?But when people are in trouble, they need spiritual support.As a woman, it is impossible for Liu E to have the ideal of a man who strives for fame by studying hard, so she used the words of a fortune-teller as a magic weapon to relieve herself. Although she has nowhere to go, she has never committed suicide again. thought. Liu E in the cardamom age was petite, exquisite, slender and charming.She is clever and alert, and has learned a long-lost ancient music——鼗 (sound tao, same Tao) drum.Taigu is a small drum with flexible ears on both sides. It has a handle. When the handle is shaken, the two ears and both sides of the drum will make a sound. It is commonly known as "rattle drum".The tambourine was originally just an ordinary thing, and there was no melody to be heard when it was beaten, but Liu E was talented and intelligent, and could change and use the tambourine according to her own ideas. I was completely intoxicated by her tambourine performance.

When Liu E was a teenager, she was married to Gong Mei, a silversmith, by her grandfather's family.The later official history only said that Gong Mei was Liu E's neighbor, and the two were called brothers and sisters. In fact, it was to cover up the fact that Liu E had already been married.Gong Mei plans to go to the capital to do business.Liu E also wanted to follow her husband to the capital to see the world.Gong Mei wanted to go to the capital to make a living because she was too poor to live on. She was worried that bringing Liu E would be a drag, so she refused to agree.Liu E guessed Gong Mei's careful thinking, and said with a smile: "Don't worry about it, I have the ability to carry around, I can eat everywhere, and I will never drag you down." When it came to this, Gong Mei couldn't refuse, so she had to agree.So, the couple set out on the road together.No one thought that this trip to the capital would directly change the lives of this poor couple.

Liu E made money by playing drums all the way.Others saw that she was as beautiful as a peach blossom, her bead throat was tactile, and her flower drums were played up and down quickly, very rhythmically, so they were given extra money.Even her husband, Gong Mei, was jealous, so she made a small copper gong to cooperate with Liu E's drum, and it turned out to be a Huagu opera performed by men and women.Huagu Opera was a novelty at the time, and the two traveled across states and counties all the way, causing a sensation in many places, so Liu E still had a small savings. After arriving in the capital, Gong Mei continued to work in her old profession as a silversmith, but her business was very bad. When she was desperate, she even wanted to sell Liu E.Liu E had no choice but to go back to his old job and played the drum.Although the capital is prosperous, it has never seen such a thing as Huagu Opera. Liu E became a hit as soon as he appeared on the stage.

At this time, Zhao Heng was fourteen years old and was named King Xiang, but he had not yet been established as a prince.He has not yet married a wife. Because he was young and curious, he heard that the women in Sichuan are both talented and beautiful.After he heard about Liu E, the drum girl, he felt very itchy, so he brought a few servants to watch Liu E's performance in low clothes. Although Liu E is not very old, she is well versed in human affairs and the world. When she sees the prince in person, she will naturally use her skills.When Zhao Heng first saw Liu E's beautiful appearance, he was already dazzled by her beauty.Coupled with Liu E's intentional eyebrow raising and secret teasing, Zhao Hengyi was even more infuriated, and couldn't bear it for a moment.As soon as he returned to the mansion, Zhao Heng immediately ordered someone to buy Liu E from Gong Mei, and took him into the mansion as a maid in the mansion of Prince Xiang.Liu E was born beautiful, smart and quick-witted, which won Zhao Heng's favor very much.The two are about the same age, they are both young at heart, and they are inseparable immediately.

Mrs. Zhao Heng's wet nurse, Mrs. Thailand, was very dissatisfied with Liu E, who had an unknown origin and a humble background, and asked Zhao Heng to expel Liu E.Zhao Heng was just a teenager, and when he met a talented and beautiful woman like Liu E, he fell in love with him, so how could he give up so easily.Seeing that Zhao Heng was disobedient, Zhao Heng's nurse went to Song Taizong to complain.Song Taizong was furious when he heard that his son was addicted to womanizing at a young age, and ordered Zhao Heng to expel Liu E from the Prince Xiang's mansion immediately. The father's order is hard to disobey, and the emperor's order cannot be disobeyed, but Zhao Heng is really reluctant to part with Liu E, so he sent Liu E back to his hometown in Sichuan on the surface, but secretly sent him to the home of Zhang Qi (formerly known as Zhang Min), a trusted aide.Zhang Qi quietly arranged for his family to take good care of Liu E, while he himself slept in the Prince Xiang's mansion every day, obviously to avoid suspicion.

After Liu E left Prince Xiang's Mansion, Zhao Heng was ordered by Song Taizong to marry the eighth daughter of the famous general Pan Mei, who was his first official wife.Although Zhao Heng went to Zhang Qi's house to have a private meeting with Liu E whenever he had a chance, but Liu E's mood can be imagined in this situation.However, compared with ordinary women, Liu E's unique scheming began to manifest at this time.She didn't complain about others or complain about herself. Instead, she read a lot of books at Zhang Qi's house, read history and classics, and studied piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.Such an understanding and intelligent woman will naturally make Zhao Heng look at her with admiration.It can be said that Liu E was the first woman Zhao Heng really fell in love with, and this love was extremely rare to maintain throughout his life.

Liu E has been waiting for the opportunity, and this wait is fifteen years.It was not until Song Taizong passed away and Zhao Heng ascended the throne as Song Zhenzong that Liu E was able to see the sun again.Immediately after she entered the palace, she was named a beauty, and soon became a concubine of virtue.According to the Song Palace system, the concubines and concubines are the main concubines below the empress.There are four grades of concubines: noble concubine, Shu concubine, de concubine and virtuous concubine, and the rank of concubine reaches seventeen ranks, and below that there are first ranks of Jieyu, first rank of beauties, and first ranks of talents and nobles.At that time, Song Zhenzong's first wife Pan was dead, and he continued to marry Guo Shi, the second daughter of Guo Shouwen, the envoy of Xuanhui South Court.After Song Zhenzong came to the throne, he made Guo the queen.Liu E was naturally alert and changeable. She served Empress Guo very attentively, and got along well with other concubines, such as Concubine Yang Shu.Such a beautiful woman, plus Liu E is much older than Empress Guo and Concubine Yang Shu, so she is not so lethal and threatening, so everyone in the palace has good friends with Liu E, and no one does not call her virtuous.

With the passage of time, Liu E is no longer as youthful and beautiful as before, but Song Zhenzong is still obsessed with her, which is probably because of the unforgettable old love.Because of Song Zhenzong's favor, Liu E's status in the palace continued to improve.However, this modest woman on the surface is getting more and more nervous in her heart, because she knows that Israel is the king, and it will not last long, not to mention that she is old and decrepit, and her only hope lies in the royal heir.However, she is nearly forty years old and has already passed the childbearing age of a woman. What should I do?

And Song Zhenzong also had an extremely strong desire for his son at this time.His first wife Pan died young and left no heirs.Although Empress Guo later gave birth to three sons, they all died shortly after giving birth.The same is true of another favored concubine, Concubine Yang Shu, who gave birth to a son.Song Zhenzong was eager to see his son, so he selected Shen Shi, the granddaughter of the former prime minister Shen Yilun, to enter the palace as a talented person.At this time, Shen was only fourteen years old, and she was also a descendant of a famous family, which obviously brought a huge threat to Liu E. In the third year of Jingde (1006), after the death of Empress Guo, Liu E was thirty-seven years old. She was the oldest concubine in the harem, but she also had the highest status in the harem, only one step away from the queen's throne.However, Liu E's humble background became her biggest obstacle to becoming a queen.However, the officials in the court have always favored the establishment of Shen Cairen as the new queen, and Song Zhenzong did not express his opinion on this, obviously because of his preference for Liu E.In order to overwhelm Shen Cairen, Liu E came up with a strategy of embedding flowers and trees, and Li Daitao became stiff, and ordered her maid Li to serve Song Zhenzong. Li was originally from Hangzhou.His father, Li Rende, was the head of the Zuoban Hall when he was King Wuyue, and his mother had passed away long ago.After Wu Yue surrendered to the Song Dynasty, Li Rende fell ill and died on the way to Bianjing.The stepmother remarried with her son, leaving only Mrs. Li alone. Because she could not make a living, she had to cut off her hair and become a nun, begging for a meal in the nunnery.Liu E once went to a nunnery to pay respects to the Buddha. When she saw Li's beautiful appearance and calm demeanor, she guessed that she must be a lady of every family, so she talked with her.Li's response was very decent.After Liu E learned of Li's life experience, she suddenly felt sympathetic, so she took Li out of the nunnery and took her as her maid.Li Shiwen is quiet and taciturn, which won Liu E's trust. Li was young and beautiful, with a gentle temperament. She was sent by Liu E to Song Zhenzong's side. She was the bedroom secretary and was responsible for serving Song Zhenzong to sleep.Sure enough, Song Zhenzong became interested in Li Shi as he wished, and was lucky to visit her.Soon after, Mrs. Li became pregnant, and Song Zhenzong was so crazy about wanting an heir. He was overjoyed when he heard the news, and stayed around. One day, when Mrs. Li followed Song Zhenzong to climb the platform and looked into the distance, a jade hairpin on her head accidentally fell off the platform.Li's heart was not happy, but Song Zhenzong secretly predicted in his heart: "If the jade hairpin falls to the ground and is still intact, the fetus will be regarded as a boy." , excited like a child.Neither Mrs. Li nor the attendants knew why. After that, Li lived up to expectations and gave birth to a boy smoothly.Song Zhenzong was already middle-aged. He thought he would never have a son again, and even adopted the children of the clan by his side in case no son would inherit the throne in the future.Now, this Li family has given birth to a son. Song Zhenzong was overjoyed and named the child Zhao Yiyi, and later changed his name to Zhao Zhen.Song Zhenzong also told Li Shi about building a jade hairpin, thinking that it was God's will to have a son. Liu E was also very happy, and immediately took Li's child as his own, and said to Concubine Yang Shu: "If the lady (the name of the concubine in the Song Palace) raises this child with me, I will never forget my great kindness in the future. "Concubine Yang Shu is easy-going and agrees straight away.After that, Liu E strictly forbade the palace servants to tell the truth to the children.Song Zhenzong doted on Liu E and acquiesced in her adoption of Li's son.Having an heir played a decisive role in Liu E's ability to be named a queen and Zhenzong's ability to listen to politics behind the curtain after his death. This story was later deduced into the unimaginable "civet cat for the prince", which is actually nothing but a fiction, but it reflects the complicated situation of the harem competing for favor with the son. Although Zhao Zhen was said to be the son of Liu E, everyone in the government and the public knew about it, but no one dared to talk about it publicly.In order to conceal her parentage, Liu E used to go around looking for high-ranking officials surnamed Liu to get close, trying to get close to her family and recognize a noble ancestor, so as to remove the stumbling block for her to become a queen.Liu Ye, a direct scholar of Longtu Pavilion, has been an official for generations from his twelfth generation ancestor Liu Huanjun, the Minister of Zhongshu of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and his family background is prominent, so he was favored by Liu E.Liu E took the initiative to seek marriage with Liu Ye, and said in an obvious tone: "I heard that you are from a famous family. I want to see your family tree. Maybe we are of the same clan." However, Liu Ye was very lofty and refused to cling to the powerful. Shaking her head again and again, she said, "Don't dare, dare not." After hitting a snag, Liu E didn't give up and kept chasing after the family tree.Liu Ye couldn't deal with it, so in a hurry, he pretended to have a stroke and fainted on the ground, and was carried out of the palace, only then did he get rid of Liu E's entanglement.Afterwards, Liu Ye firmly asked to be released as an official, so Liu E had no choice but to give up. Because of Liu E's humble background, Song Zhenzong immediately encountered fierce opposition from the ministers when he proposed to make her a queen.There was a stalemate.Therefore, after the death of Queen Guo, the position of queen was vacant for a long time. In the end, Song Zhenzong couldn't help but love Liu E, and decided to risk the world's dissatisfaction and make Liu E his queen.He first consulted with Zhao Anren, the political adviser, to get support.Originally, the emperor condescended himself, so Zhao Anren should save face.Unexpectedly, Zhao Anren resolutely opposed Liu E's appointment as the empress on the grounds that Liu E came from a humble background.Song Zhenzong hit a big nail at the beginning, so he was naturally very unhappy.This door does not work, so I have to think of another way. The next day, Song Zhenzong consulted with Wang Qinruo again, and told him Zhao Anren's opinion.Wang Qinruo was insidious. He mentioned earlier that Kou Zhun was dismissed because of his slander. He and Zhao Anren had always been at odds, so he wanted to take the opportunity to exclude Zhao Anren, so he told Song Zhenzong: "Your Majesty, why not ask Zhao Anren to see what he thinks should be done?" Who should be the queen?" This sentence was very insidious. At that time, any minister who opposed the establishment of Liu E as the queen would suggest that Shen Shi, the granddaughter of the former prime minister Shen Yilun, should be made the queen. Wang Qinruo's words were a typical trick.But Song Zhenzong didn't see Wang Qinruo's foreshadowing, so he asked Zhao Anren for his opinion.Zhao Anren honestly suggested: "The Shen family is a descendant of Shen Yilun, the former prime minister. He comes from a noble family and can be a queen." Song Zhenzong was very disappointed and told Wang Qinruo Zhao Anren's suggestion.Wang Qinruo immediately said: "Your Majesty, I know that Zhao Anren will say so, because he used to be Shen Yilun's disciple!" Upon hearing this, Song Zhenzong obviously felt that Zhao Anren was doing favoritism, so he dismissed him as an official. , determined to make Liu E the queen. At this time, Prime Minister Wang Dan suddenly complained of illness and stopped going to court.The meaning of this is self-evident, but it is just a different way to express opposition to Liu E as queen.Seeing the fierce opposition forces, Liu E had to pretend to be modest, and "resigned" to Song Zhenzong, saying that she could not be the queen. Song Zhenzong fell in love with Liu E back then. Although he was forced to separate, he secretly disobeyed his father's will and made a big deal of the golden house.This shows his rebellious psychology.Now he is the emperor of the Ninth Five-Year Emperor, the more the officials stop him, the more modest Liu E is, the more angry Song Zhenzong is, and he insists on making his sweetheart the queen.However, in order to quell public opinion, Song Zhenzong greatly rewarded important officials and clans: Wang Dan was added as a minister and Qing Zhaoying palace envoy, Xiang Minzhong was added as a minister of Zhongshu, the king of Chu was added as a grand master, the king of Xiang was added as a grand tutor, and the king of Shu was added as a grand protector.After that, all the etiquette behind the book was simplified, so as not to anger the officials. Even so, there were still turmoil after Li Li.Song Zhenzong wanted Yang Yi, a Hanlin scholar, to draft an imperial edict to become the queen, and sent Ding Wei to convey the will.Yang Yi has a straightforward personality, does not attach himself to powerful people, does not support the establishment of Liu E as queen, and is resolutely unwilling to obey the order.Ding Wei persuaded: "You can barely draft it, so you don't have to worry about being rich and powerful!" Yang Yi was a man of integrity, and immediately replied, "It's not what I want to seek wealth like this!" Ding Wei didn't The only way is to report truthfully.Song Zhenzong had to ask other scholars to draft the imperial edict. On December 24th in the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1012), Liu E was finally canonized as queen. Liu E became the queen of a country from the wife of a silversmith, not just because of her beauty.At this time, Liu E was already forty-three years old, she had already passed her prime, and had lost the charm of a woman, so what really attracted Song Zhenzong was her intelligence and talent.She not only handled the affairs of the harem in an orderly manner, but also helped Song Zhenzong in terms of government affairs.Liu E has studied hard in Zhang Qi's mansion for fifteen years, and he is no longer what he used to be. Not only is he well versed in books and history, he is also quite insightful about state affairs.When Song Zhenzong reviewed the memorials, Liu E often accompanied him.Whenever there is a problem, she can always cite previous cases and systems to answer correctly, and provide appropriate suggestions. Therefore, Song Zhenzong highly valued her and gradually relied on her as his arm.This is what is recorded in the history books: "Have a vigilant awareness of the later nature, know the history of books, hear about the court affairs, and be able to remember the facts, which is deeply important to the true sect". Song Zhenzong has a weak personality, while Liu E is shrewd and capable, and the two complement each other somewhat.Song Zhenzong not only trusted this pillow person who had been with him for many years, but even relied on her very much.As the saying goes, "young couples come to accompany each other when they grow old", it is rarely reflected in this pair of emperors and queens.When Song Zhenzong's physical condition was deteriorating day by day, Liu E naturally helped her husband handle the daily government affairs of the court, adjudicated major military and state affairs, and "was gradually involved in foreign affairs."This is also the first case of the harem intervening in politics since the founding of the Song Dynasty. Finally, I would like to mention Zhang Qi who helped Song Zhenzong hide his beauty in the golden house that day.After Song Zhenzong came to the throne, Zhang Qi naturally had a prosperous career as an official, and his career rose all the way.In the later period of Song Zhenzong, Zhang Qi served as the commander of the horse army. He mishandled the selection of soldiers and gave too strict orders. The soldiers were afraid and almost caused a mutiny.The ruling and opposition parties were agitated, and they all demanded that Zhang Qi be punished.Prime Minister Wang Dan believed that if Zhang Qi was punished, the commander-in-chief would not be able to govern his subordinates in the future; if the soldiers were arrested, it would disturb the soldiers, and it was even more unfeasible.In addition, he knew that Zhang Qi had been kind to Song Zhenzong and Empress Liu E before, and he was afraid of embarrassing the emperor. It has never been experienced. If you are promoted to use an envoy today, and the military handle is released, the planner will be at ease." Therefore, "Nai Jinqi is the deputy envoy of the Privy Council" (Wang Su's "Wenzheng Prince's Legacy").On the surface, Zhang Qi was promoted to save his face, but in fact he was relieved of his military power, and the soldiers who planned to change naturally settled down.After Song Renzong came to the throne, Liu E became the empress dowager and actually took charge of the power. In order to repay the kindness of taking care of her back then, Zhang Qi was placed in an important position as a privy envoy.It's just that Zhang Qi is mediocre, he has no military exploits, and no strategy in his mind, so he can only be used as a display to enjoy a good salary.Zhang Qi is quite interesting, he is a wealthy man, but he is extremely stingy, he even set up a shop in his home, and he buys all the department stores he needs at home from his own shop.He also saw a doctor for his family and sold medicinal materials. "If you want money, you can't pay it." It was so ridiculous that it was passed as a joke at the time.See "History of the Song Dynasty Volume 29 Biography of Zhang Qi".