Chapter 11 Chapter Three

Song Renzong had no sons, so in order to have a successor to the throne, Zhao Zongshi, the thirteenth son of Pu Anyi King Zhao Yun, was taken into the palace to be raised.Zhao Zongshi was only four years old when he entered the palace, and grew up in the palace afterwards, but he was never established as a prince.Probably because Song Renzong still hopes to have his own children, but this wish has never been realized.In Song Renzong's later years, Wen Yanbo, Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu, Sima Guang and other ministers in power wrote letters, urging the early establishment of the emperor's heir.Bao Zheng was over seventy years old at this time, and he also advised Song Renzong to establish a prince early. He sincerely said to Song Renzong: "The position of prince has been vacant for a long time, and everyone in the world is worried about it. Everything has a The foundation, and the prince is the foundation of the world. If the prince is not established, it will be the biggest hidden danger." Song Renzong was a little unhappy, and deliberately asked Bao Zheng, "Who do you want to be the prince?" Bao Zheng felt that the emperor was jealous He replied: "I ask Your Majesty to establish a prince early, so that there will be successors in the country and successors from generation to generation. Your Majesty asked me who I want to establish. This is because I suspect that I have selfish intentions. I am seventy years old and have no sons. What benefits will be gained for future generations in this matter." Song Renzong was relieved.

In August of the seventh year of Jiayou (1062), Song Renzong ordered Zhao Zongshi, who was 31 years old, to be the crown prince, and Zhao Zongshi bestowed the name Zhao Shu.Zhao Shu resigned from the crown prince on the grounds of being weak and sick, but Song Renzong disagreed.The envoy went back and forth many times, but Zhao Shu refused to enter the palace, and was finally forced into the palace by the envoy, and then he was named the crown prince.In March of the following year, Song Renzong died at the age of fifty-four and reigned for forty-two years. He was the longest reigning emperor in the history of the Song Dynasty.

After Song Renzong's death, Empress Cao ordered the palace gates to be closed tightly for fear of changes, and took all the keys of the palace gates into her hands.After Cao Empress arranged everything properly, she sent someone to summon Prince Zhao Shu into the palace.Zhao Shu didn't want to be the prince before, but now when he heard that he was going to be the emperor, his face turned pale with shock, and he kept shouting: "I dare not do it, I dare not do it." Then he turned and fled.Empress Cao and his ministers stopped Zhao Shu and forcibly changed him into the emperor's clothes, embracing him as the emperor for Song Yingzong.

Song Yingzong was the first emperor in the history of the Song Dynasty to inherit the Datong as a child of the clan. This is his luck.Unfortunately, he has been in office for less than five years, during which disturbances continued, and the harem was also in turmoil. After Song Yingzong came to the throne, he respected his adoptive mother Empress Cao as the empress dowager, and made his concubine Gao Taotao the empress.Not long after, Song Yingzong became seriously ill, unable to speak, not only unable to manage the government, but also did not even know people, and often ran around wildly, inappropriately, as if suffering from what is called mental illness today .The country cannot be without a king for a day. Under such circumstances, the Empress Dowager Cao had no choice but to listen to the government behind the curtain in the small hall of the inner east gate.Empress Dowager Cao has a compassionate and thrifty disposition, and has a lot of experience in classics and history. She handles military and state affairs very well, and the court is relatively safe.It can be said that, as Song Yingzong's adoptive mother, Empress Dowager Cao has fulfilled her responsibilities for the country and the family, but even so, there were irreconcilable conflicts between the mother and son.

Song Yingzong was irritable because of his illness. If he was not happy, he would scold the left and right, and even beat him with sticks.The eunuchs around Song Yingzong couldn't bear it, so they ran to complain to Ren Shouzhong, the insider.Ren Shouzhong ran to the Empress Dowager Cao to complain, saying that the emperor's abnormal behavior was actually a manifestation of dissatisfaction with the Empress Dowager Cao listening to the government behind the curtain.Song Yingzong was not the biological son of Empress Dowager Cao, so Empress Dowager Cao was inevitably suspicious, and she behaved in words and deeds.As a result, Song Yingzong also became suspicious.For a time, the empress dowager and the emperor's two palaces turned from suspicion to resentment, and from resentment to rift, everyone in the harem feared.Discord between the queen mother and the emperor is a major national event.Minister Sima Guang and Zhijianyuan Lu Hui specially wrote a letter, opening Chen Dayi, the purpose of the words is profound, and there are many words that people can't say, but the two palaces still can't let go.

This book.The compilation of "Historical Records" lasted 19 years and exhausted Sima Guang's life's efforts. He once said: "All my energy is consumed on this book." Therefore, he and Sima Qian who wrote "Historical Records" also called "two Sima". One day, Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and other ministers were playing in front of the Empress Dowager Cao's curtain. Suddenly they heard someone sobbing behind the curtain. It turned out that the Empress Dowager Cao was crying sadly.The officials were surprised and asked why.Empress Dowager Cao broke down in tears, telling that Song Yingzong was insane all day long and behaved abnormally.Prime Minister Han Qi quickly persuaded him, saying that the emperor was so sick because of his illness.Ouyang Xiu also persuaded: "The empress dowager was the emperor for decades, and her benevolence and virtue were well known, and the world admired it. In the past, when the emperor was in power, empress Wen Cheng (that is, the beloved concubine Zhang Guifei) was favored, and the empress dowager could treat it calmly (referring to life and death. The matter of the two empresses), why is mother and child incompatible now?" After hearing Ouyang Xiu's words, Empress Dowager Cao felt a lot relieved.

Ouyang Xiu also said: "The first emperor has been in power for a long time, and his virtue is in people, so once he dies, the world will worship Dai Heir, and no one dares to object. Although the queen mother is wise, she is a woman after all. Five or six ministers are all measures. Great Scholar, if it wasn’t for the last emperor’s will, who would be willing to obey it?” There was already something in the words, a warning to the Empress Dowager Cao.Empress Dowager Cao hesitated for a moment and did not answer.At this time, Han Qi said something with a strong tone: "The minister is waiting outside. If the emperor fails to protect himself, the empress dowager must not resign." The subtext of this sentence is that once the emperor has something to do in the harem, only the empress dowager will ask.The servants at the side were all dumbfounded when they heard this.Empress Dowager Cao was really surprised and angry, and said angrily: "How do you say that? I am more concerned about my son's illness!"

A few days later, Prime Minister Han Qi went to the inner court alone to greet Song Yingzong.Song Yingzong immediately complained to Han Qi, saying: "The queen mother treats me with little grace." Han Qi said: "Since ancient times, there have been many holy emperors and Ming kings, but Shun is called Daxiao. Could it be that other emperors are not filial? Parents Kindness and filial piety, this is a common thing, and it is not worthy of praise. Parents are not kind, but children are still filial, this is a rare and precious thing. Shun is like this, so he can be famous through the ages. Your Majesty asked himself how he did? Not to mention the kindness of the Queen Mother, How can there be parents who are not in the world?" Song Yingzong was thoughtful after hearing this.

With the great efforts of the ministers, as Song Yingzong's condition gradually improved, the emperor and the queen mother finally reconciled on the surface, and Song Yingzong also began to take charge of the government.The servant Ren Shouzhong was demoted for the crime of alienation. When Prime Minister Han Qi saw that Empress Dowager Cao did not take the initiative to withdraw and return to power, he was worried about a repeat of the situation in which Empress Dowager Zhang Xian Liu E dominated the government, so he deliberately persuaded Empress Dowager Cao to return to power.One day, Han Qi played to Empress Dowager Cao in front of the curtain and deliberately asked to retire on the grounds of old age.Empress Dowager Cao was very surprised, and said: "Now the court relies on the husband for major affairs, how can he go away! I haven't said that he will retire to the deep palace." Han Qi immediately asked Empress Dowager Cao that she planned to withdraw from the curtain and return to the government.Empress Dowager Cao was very upset, and said: "I don't want to interfere in the government affairs, but I have to be here because the emperor is still ill. If you want to remove the curtain, you can remove it. Why choose a day?" Then she stood up, as if she had already left Into the inner palace.Han Qi immediately shouted: "The Empress Dowager has an order to remove the curtain, so Luan Yisi doesn't hurry to implement it?" So Luan Yisi stepped forward to take off the curtain, but saw the dress of Empress Dowager Cao still flashing behind the imperial screen.It turned out that Empress Dowager Cao was still behind the screen. She was just speaking in anger, but Han Qi immediately took advantage of the situation.In this way, it is obvious that the Empress Dowager Cao did not want to return power to Song Yingzong.

It is precisely because Han Qi tried his best to protect the interests of the emperor, and even offended the Empress Dowager Cao, Song Yingzong trusted Han Qi even more after he came to power.Of course, the emperor also did a good job in etiquette to Empress Dowager Cao. All the guards who came in and out of Empress Dowager Cao were comparable to Empress Dowager Zhang Xian Liu E. It was also from this time that Song Yingzong first tasted the real taste of being an emperor.Because he was not Song Renzong's own son and involved complex issues of lineage and orthodoxy, Prime Minister Han Qi and other ministers proposed that the issue of naming Song Yingzong's biological father Zhao Yunrang be handed over to relevant departments for discussion.Unexpectedly, Song Yingzong instructed to suspend the discussion until after Song Renzong's Daxiang (the ancient twenty-five-month mourning period ended, and a sacrificial ceremony was required, called Daxiang).At that time, Song Renzong had passed away for fourteen months, and Song Yingzong's move was very puzzling.

On April 9th ​​of the second year of Zhiping, Han Qi and others raised this issue again, and Song Yingzong issued an edict to send the proposal to the Taichang Liyuan for discussion by officials above the two systems.The officials of the two systems headed by Wang Gui believed that Song Yingzong had adopted Song Renzong as his adopted son before succeeding to the throne. In terms of seniority, Pu Anyi Wang Zhao Yunrang (Song Yingzong's biological father) was Song Renzong's cousin, so he could only be called Zhao Yunrang was the emperor.However, the ministers headed by Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu catered to Song Yingzong's wishes and used the "Li" as evidence to believe that Song Yingzong should call Zhao Yunrang the imperial examination.When the emperor referred to his deceased father (that is, the first emperor), he called it "Huang Kao". Song Yingzong naturally agreed with the imperial examination, but in order to show his impartiality, he submitted the two plans to the officials for discussion.Song Yingzong, Han Qi and others originally thought that most ministers would definitely cater to the emperor's intentions and agreed to be called the emperor.Unexpectedly, the situation was exactly the opposite. Hundreds of officials reacted extremely strongly to this, and most of them agreed with the Huangbo proposal of officials from the two systems. Among them, the Huangbo faction was led by Sima Guang and Cheng Yi. Cheng Yi is a famous Confucianist. At the age of thirty-two, he wrote "Shangyingzong Emperor on Puwang's Relationships" for Peng Siyong, the prime minister of Zhongcheng, to the effect that: the latter should not care about private relatives, so Song Yingzong should be regarded as Song Renzong. As a father, the relationship with the original father should be changed to uncle and nephew, thinking that this is "the righteousness of heaven and earth, and the great harmony of people", "if you mess with the great morals, human principles will be destroyed."Cheng Yi also believed that if Song Yingzong insisted on respecting his own parents, it was just selfish filial piety, which was unreasonable.As the king of a country, the country must be the most important thing. All of a sudden, there was a lot of discussion between the government and the opposition, and the names of Huang Kao and Huang Bo became a major event that attracted the attention of the whole country, and this triggered a controversy that lasted for eighteen months. This was the famous "Pu Yi" in the history of the Song Dynasty.Obviously, "Pu Discussion" was not an isolated incident, it was not just a simple dispute over etiquette and law, but also involved partisan disputes between the ministers of the court and China, and even the dispute between the Empress Dowager Cao and Song Yingzong. When the court was arguing endlessly, Empress Dowager Cao couldn't bear it and stood up.She personally drafted the imperial edict and severely criticized Prime Minister Han Qi and others, thinking that Pu Anyi Wang Zhao Yunrang could not be called the imperial examination.As the adoptive mother of Song Yingzong, Empress Dowager Cao's attitude played a decisive role, and the Huangbo faction had the upper hand for a while.Song Yingzong was inconvenient to openly confront his adoptive mother. He felt that the development of the situation was not good for him, so he had to decide to suspend the discussion of the matter. After a long period of debate and delay, Song Yingzong, Han Qi and others gradually realized that only with the support of the Empress Dowager Cao could they finally win the "Pu Yi" debate.But obviously, it is impossible for Empress Dowager Cao to stand on Song Yingzong's side.When the means of persuasion fail, drama ensues. In the third year of Zhiping (1066), the prime ministers discussed affairs in the Chuigong Hall.Because Han Qi sacrificed at home, he did not participate in political affairs at the Zhongshu Political Hall that day.But not long after, Song Yingzong suddenly sent someone to call Han Qi into the palace to discuss the imperial examination.Obviously, this is a turning point in the harem that is beneficial to Song Yingzong.After Han Qi rushed to the Political Affairs Hall, he immediately agreed that King Pu Anyi, Zhao Yun, would let the emperor take the exam. Ouyang Xiu wrote the imperial edict and handed it over to Song Yingzong.Song Yingzong entered the inner palace with the edict, while Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and others continued to wait in the Zhongshu Zhengshitang. At noon, the eunuch next to Empress Dowager Cao sent a sealed document to the Zhengshitang.Han Qi opened the document, looked at Ouyang Xiu and smiled.This document is exactly the imperial edict written by Ouyang Xiu himself, but now it has been signed by Empress Dowager Cao.This shows that Empress Dowager Cao has formally agreed to respect Song Yingzong's biological father as Huang Kao. This crucial edict immediately reversed the situation, and the title of Huang Kao was determined accordingly. Empress Dowager Cao has always been at odds with Song Yingzong, and she agrees that Huang Kaofang is completely out of court etiquette, so there are various rumors.One theory is that Song Yingzong had premeditated and sent the edict while Empress Dowager Cao was drunk that day, and Empress Dowager Cao signed it by mistake after drinking.Later, Empress Dowager Cao knew the content of the edict after she sobered up, but it was irreparable.Another theory is that Prime Minister Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and others have been secretly making friends with the eunuchs around the Empress Dowager Cao, and through the eunuchs, they finally obtained the Empress Dowager's signature.Regardless of the origin of Empress Dowager Cao's edict, Song Yingzong won a big victory because of it, which is called "examination" decision. However, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were in an uproar about the result, and the censors came forward one after another. Song Yingzong also had to be scruples, so he had to call the prime ministers to discuss countermeasures.Han Qi was actually very worried that Song Yingzong would use himself as a scapegoat, so he said rather insidiously: "Your Majesty knows whether the ministers are traitors or evil." Proposals for the emperor's examination are actually helping the emperor.After Han Qi finished speaking, he dropped his hands and said nothing.But Ouyang Xiu's attitude was much clearer. He asked Song Yingzong to choose between the prime minister and the censor.Song Yingzong considered again and again, and finally, according to Ouyang Xiu's opinion, three censors, Lu Huo, Lu Dafang, and Fan Chunren (Fan Zhongyanzi), were demoted from the capital. Song Yingzong punished the three censors from the capital without fault, which aroused the anger of the courtiers, and all the admonishing officials including Sima Guang asked themselves to be demoted.In desperation, Song Yingzong had no choice but to bend the emperor's honor to win over Wang Gui, the main figure in the opposition, and promised to hold an important position in power.It can be said that Song Yingzong racked his brains and exhausted all means for the sake of his biological father's status after his death. This farce of "Pu Yi" that lasted for a year and a half was finally over.Although he was victorious in the end, his own life also came to an end. In November of the third year of Zhiping (1066), Song Yingzong fell ill suddenly and was bedridden. After taking medicine for more than a month, he still didn't get better.Liu Xiang, the supervisory censor, suggested that Song Yingzong establish a prince early. Song Yingzong was very disgusted, probably because he felt that Liu Xiang was secretly cursing himself.Seeing this situation, Prime Minister Han Qi did not dare to openly invite the crown prince, so he warned Song Yingzong's eldest son Yingwang Zhao Xu (xu sound xu, the same beard, Zhao Xu's original name was Zhao Zhongzhen) to stay close to Song Yingzong to prevent the situation from changing. Later, Song Yingzong's condition suddenly worsened.One day, after prime ministers Han Qi, Wen Yanbo and others respectfully invited Sheng'an, Han Qi said to Song Yingzong: "Your Majesty has not listened to the government for a long time, and the whole government and the people are in panic. A prince should be established as soon as possible to stabilize the turbulent political situation." Yingzong reluctantly agreed to this suggestion, and wrote down the words "make the king the crown prince" (the Song Dynasty called the prince the king, and the king was the eldest son of the emperor).Han Qi pointed out that it should be clear who the "big king" refers to. Song Yingzong had no choice but to write "Ying Wangxu" after it. Fearing that there would be a change, Han Qi immediately summoned the eunuch Gao Jujian and handed over the writings written by Song Yingzong's imperial pen to the Hanlin scholar, so the Hanlin scholar ordered Zhang Fangping to go to Song Yingzong's bedside to listen to the imperial edict.After Zhang Fangping got Song Yingzong's imperial pen, he drafted an imperial edict, setting Ying Wang Zhao Xu as the crown prince, and this was later Song Shenzong.The prince immediately stood up, Song Yingzong felt something, and couldn't help crying.Wen Yanbo said to Han Qi afterwards: "See whether the emperor (emperor) is handsome or not. Life is so far, even father and son can't be emotional." The following year, Song Yingzong Zhao Shu died of illness. He reigned for four years and was only 36 years old.In his mediocre life, the most prominent political event was the "Pu Yi", which can be regarded as a precedent for the "Great Ritual Discussion" in the Jiajing Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty.In addition, according to the research of the Qing people, there are a total of forty-four examples of the adoption of the throne in Chinese history.But among them, Song Yingzong of the Song Dynasty and Ming Shizong (Emperor Jiajing) of the Ming Dynasty were the most disturbing ones. Both of them had the experience of turning into famous political events because of the posthumous birth father's title.