Chapter 15 Empress Wu Yuanyou
Empress Yuanyou is actually the Meng family, the abolished empress of Song Zhezong Zhao Xu.The abolition of the Meng family was actually the result of party struggle, and the Meng family was just a victim of politics.What is amazing is that after the death of Song Zhezong, Song Huizong came to the throne, and the Meng family was welcomed back to the palace again and regained the queen's position. In order to distinguish Song Zhezong's second queen Liu, she was called Queen Yuanyou (because she was in Yuanyou established during the year).But not long after, Meng was expelled from the palace by Song Huizong, which was equivalent to being abolished the queen's throne for the second time, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, which brought great benefits to her personally.All of this must start from Song Zhezong's harem.
Empress Dowager Gao has always been strict with Song Zhezong in life.In order to prevent Song Zhezong from being obsessed with women, Empress Dowager Gao sent twenty elderly concubines to take care of his daily life, and often ordered Song Zhezong to sleep in the attic in front of her bed at night.This is equivalent to restricting the space for the little emperor to move freely.Song Zhezong was still young at that time, and the harem had always been peaceful.But in December of the fourth year of Yuanyou (1089), there were rumors among the people that the palace sent people out to look for the wet nurse.Song Zhezong was only fourteen years old at this time, and the harem was looking for a nurse. People would inevitably think that this was the result of the emperor's indulgence in sensuality.Originally, these were all folk rumors, and they couldn't reach the depths of the harem.Even if it is true, it is the emperor's family business.Minister Liu Anshi wanted to meddle in his own business, and wrote a memorial in a very blunt tone, admonishing Song Zhezong to respect himself.Another minister, Fan Zuyu, went directly to the Empress Dowager Shugao, and his words became more intense.In this regard, Empress Dowager Gao explained: It was the little princesses left by Song Shenzong who were young and needed the care of wet nurses.This is what they said to the outside world, but Empress Dowager Gao didn't know why, so she sent someone to privately call the maids around Song Zhezong to interrogate them one by one.Song Zhezong didn't know it at first, but later he found that all the maids around him had red, swollen eyes, pale faces, and looked very scary.After inquiring, I found out that it was because of Liu Anshi and Fan Zuyu's performance.He felt both anger and fear, because his every move was under the surveillance of Empress Dowager Gao.
After going through this incident, Song Zhezong clearly felt the suffocating atmosphere in the harem, and his rebellious psychology began to stir around the corner.
In the seventh year of Yuanyou (1092), when Song Zhezong was seventeen years old, Meng was established as the queen.The Meng family is the granddaughter of Meng Yuan, Marquis of Yu, the capital of Meizhou's defense envoy. Zhezong of the Song Dynasty was one year old. She was selected into the harem by Empress Dowager Gao since she was a child, and taught female manners.From this time on, the emperor was considered to have a formal wife.Originally this was a good thing, but it led to the contradiction between Empress Dowager Gao and Song Zhezong.
The emperor's wedding is no small matter, and the date chosen by Qin Tianjian is May 16.This is because the royal family in the Song Dynasty was generally superstitious about Taoism, and Taoism regarded May 16 as "heaven, earth and sun".However, there is a taboo among the people on this day. Husbands and wives should separate the beds. If there is a violation, there will be fear of life.Concubine Zhu, the birth mother of Song Zhezong, was worried about her son, and she proposed to change the date of the wedding out of a mentality that she would rather believe what she had or not.Song Zhezong himself also leaned towards his mother.But Empress Dowager Gao firmly disagreed, thinking that the taboo talk was pure nonsense, and insisted on May 16 as the wedding date.
Although the wedding ceremony was grand and extraordinary, Song Zhezong was always shrouded in the shadow of his grandmother and was forced to get married on the taboo day, so he was inevitably resentful.From this point of view, it is impossible for him to have a special affection for Empress Meng, whom Empress Dowager Gao chose.Empress Dowager Gao has the ability to choose the woman she likes for her grandson to be the queen, but which woman her grandson likes and dotes on in the harem is beyond the reach of Empress Dowager Gao.Song Zhezong liked Liu Jieyu, who was glamorous and glamorous. Liu Jieyu doted on the harem, and began to be proud of her favor.When Empress Dowager Gao was alive, she was restrained. After Empress Dowager Gao passed away, the conflict between her and Empress Meng became increasingly apparent.
Once, Empress Meng led the harem concubines to Jingling Palace to pay homage to the portraits of the emperors and empresses of previous dynasties.After the ceremony, Empress Meng sat down to rest, while the other concubines stood by.Only Liu Jieyu stood alone under the curtain with her back to Empress Meng.This is obviously a public contempt for Empress Meng.There was a maid named Chen Ying'er beside Empress Meng, who couldn't help but stepped forward and scolded Liu Jieyu.Liu Jieyu ignored it.The palace people around Empress Meng were all angry.But Song Zhezong favored Liu Jieyu, and Empress Meng had no choice.
On the day of the winter solstice, the concubine will go to Longyou Palace to meet the Queen Mother as usual.At that time, the queen mother had not yet got up, and all the concubines were sitting on the right side of the hall waiting.According to the regulations, only the queen can sit on the chair decorated with vermilion lacquer and gold.When Liu Jieyu saw Empress Meng sitting down, she stood aside alone, unwilling to sit on an ordinary chair.The eunuch Hao Sui next to Liu Jieyu knew what Liu Jieyu was thinking, so he replaced her with a chair decorated with red lacquer and gold, which was the same as Empress Meng's, and Liu Jieyu was satisfied.Unexpectedly, the maid beside Empress Meng was angered, so she decided to punish Liu Jieyu.
Just as Liu Jieyu sat down, someone suddenly shouted: "The empress dowager is here!" When the empress dowager arrived, everyone stood up to greet her, and Liu Jieyu also stood up.Unexpectedly, after waiting for a while, the queen mother was not seen, so the concubines sat down again.When Liu Jieyu was about to sit down, Empress Meng's maid moved the chair away, and she sat on the ground and fell to the ground.It turned out that someone deliberately lied about the Queen Mother's arrival just now, in order to trick Liu Jieyu into getting up.
After being teased by this, Liu Jieyu was filled with shock and anger, and she didn't care about meeting the Queen Mother, and ran to Song Zhezong to cry.Although Song Zhezong didn't like Empress Meng, Empress Meng was always cautious, and he didn't believe Liu Jieyu's gossip, he just comforted Liu Jieyu to settle the matter.Liu Jieyu had no choice but to cry to vent her anger.The eunuch Hao Sui comforted and said: "Jieyu don't need to be angry. If she can give birth to an official family early, this seat (referring to the queen's position) is rightfully owned by Jieyu."
Hao Sui was just an eunuch, but he dared to say such a thing while Empress Meng was still alive. Obviously, there was an unusual power behind him, and this power was Prime Minister Zhang Dun.After that, Prime Minister Zhang Dun got in touch with Liu Jieyu through Hao Sui.Liu Jieyu colluded with Zhang Dun only because she wanted to be a queen, and she needed someone to help her remove the thorn in Empress Meng's side.But Zhang Dun wanted to use the most favored Liu Jieyu to find out the secrets of Song Zhezong, and it happened that Empress Meng was also his target.Zhang Dun wanted to abolish Empress Meng not because he had any enmity with Empress Meng, but because Empress Meng was established by Empress Dowager Gao.At that time, the conservatives in the court were dead and demoted, and Zhang Dun was already able to do whatever he wanted, so he pointed the target of the attack at the harem.However, because Empress Meng is dignified and elegant, with a gentle temperament, she is very fond of the Empress Dowager, and Song Zhezong has always respected Empress Meng, so she had to find a favorable opportunity, but the opportunity came soon.
Empress Meng has no children, only one daughter, Princess Fuqing.Princess Fuqing fell ill suddenly. Empress Meng's elder sister knew medical skills and once cured Empress Meng. Therefore, the empress' elder sister often went to and from the palace to serve Empress Meng herself.After she heard the news, she specially entered the palace to treat the little princess.Because the medicine was ineffective, Empress Meng's sister brought the folk Taoist talisman water to treat the princess.The most taboo things in the palace, such as talisman water, was shocked when Empress Meng saw it, and quickly banned it, saying: "Sister, don't you know the prohibition in the palace, is it different from the outside world? If an adulterer makes fun of it, this disaster will not happen." It’s too small!” quickly sealed up the talisman.When Song Zhezong arrived, Empress Meng took out the amulet and truthfully explained the whole story.Song Zhezong didn't blame him, but said: "This is also human nature."
Not long after this incident, rumors spread in the palace that Empress Meng had colluded with her natal family to engage in spells and evil spirits in the palace.Empress Meng was very nervous and worried, restless day and night.Her adoptive mother Yan, nun Faduan, and priest Wang Jian prayed for Empress Meng and the recently deceased Princess Fuqing out of good intentions, but it happened to be true.Song Zhezong also became suspicious when he heard about it, and ordered Liang Congzheng and others to try the case in the Imperial City Division (in charge of guarding the palace).With the support of the prime ministers Zhang Dun and Liu Jieyu, the Imperial City Department arrested more than 30 eunuchs, maids and eunuchs around Empress Meng.These people were tortured until they were shattered.Under the threat of torture, Queen Meng's "crime" was confessed.
Because the Imperial City Division had no judicial power, Song Zhezong sent his servant Shi Dong Dunyi to review the case.Dong Dunyi went to the scene and saw that the so-called "sinners" had lost their human form and were dying, and none of them could make a sound.Dong Dunyi felt hesitant to record.Hao Suisheng was afraid that he would reverse the case, so he immediately threatened him.Dong Dunyi was timid and afraid of disaster, so he had to copy the confession obtained by the Huangcheng Division, and closed the case in a daze.
Since Empress Meng is "guilty", she can no longer be the mother of the world.But Song Zhezong couldn't make up his mind to abolish the empress because of his love for his wife.At this time, someone dug up the old account of "Heaven, Earth and Sun" on May 16th, saying that if Empress Meng is not abolished, the emperor will be in danger of life.Therefore, Song Zhezong issued an edict to abolish the Queen Meng's position on the grounds that Empress Meng "confuses evil words and coerces evil ways", and Meng's family lives in Yaohua Palace. ", the legal name is "Chongzhen".At this time, Meng Shi was less than twenty years old.
On the day when the abolished imperial edict was issued, the weather was unusually cloudy.Shi Yushi Dong Dunyi felt ashamed, thinking that this was a strange omen from heaven, so he said in a memorial: "The abolition of the central palace has reasons and can be observed. On the day when the imperial edict is issued, the sky is clouded, and it is the heaven that does not want to." Abolish the empress; people shed tears for it, because people do not want to abolish the empress. May your majesty temporarily reap the fate, and order good officials to review the prison, and then settle the case. If there is any grievance, it is better to condemn the minister to clear the wrong than to falsely accuse the empress. It will be ridiculed." He also said: "I am afraid that I will offend future generations by recording the prison affairs." Song Zhezong was furious after reading the memorial, and said to the officials: "Dong Dunyi is capricious, so don't talk about it." He planned to reprimand Dong Dunyi.The privy envoy Zeng Bu said: "Your Majesty thought that the prison case was not credible by his close ministers, so he ordered Dun Yi to record the question. Now that the major case has just been decided, he has been demoted to record the questioner. How can he win the trust of the Chinese and foreign?" The Imperial City Division did not have judicial power, so Dong Dunyi was sent to review the case. If the officials who were reviewed were berated for this, they would not be able to win the trust of the world.Song Zhezong let Dong Dunyi go.
After Empress Meng was abolished, the people around her were also punished accordingly. The adoptive mother Yan, the nun Faduan, and the priest Wang Jian were all executed.However, Empress Meng was framed innocently, but it aroused widespread sympathy among the people. A story is recorded in "Chicken Rib Collection": The Yaohua Palace where Empress Meng lived is a Taoist temple, located in the northwest of Kaifeng, just beside the Jinshui River.The place is bustling, with many small businesses and hawkers, and it is very lively.At that time, the hawkers who sold cooked food in the capital had to work hard on shouting, "must use strange and expressive language", so as to attract attention and prosper business.There is only one man who sells sanzi (san sound san, the same umbrella. Sanzi is a kind of fried food, which was shaped like a ring in ancient times, but now it is as thin as noodles and in the shape of a grid), who goes to Yaohua Palace every day , let go of the burden, neither yelling what he sells, nor saying that the sanzi is delicious, but just sighed: "I will lose it!" It means, let me suffer if I suffer a loss.These words are fine in other places, but "Taixi big talk" at the gate of Yaohua Palace makes people feel that they are blatantly complaining about Empress Meng being deposed.When Kaifeng Mansion heard about it, they sent someone to arrest the peddler, beat him with a hundred sticks, and warned him not to yell like that again.So, the seller changed his yell to: "Wait for me to put down and rest!" He became a celebrity, and his business was booming.
After Zhang Dun achieved his goal of abolishing Empress Meng, he took this opportunity to speak to Song Zhezong, saying that Empress Dowager Gao had thought of abolishing Song Zhezong and establishing another emperor when she was in power, because Liu Anshi and Fan Zuyu had written a letter to Gao Empress Dowager Gao saying that the little emperor had passed away. Close to female sex early.Liu Anshi and Fan Zuyu were expelled for "constructing slander".
Zhang Dun didn't give up. In order to prove that Empress Dowager Gao had the idea of abolishing Song Zhezong, he arrested Zhang Shiliang, the eunuch who was next to Empress Dowager Gao, and handed it to Cai Jing for interrogation.Cai Jing put all kinds of eerie instruments of torture in front of Zhang Shiliang, forcing him to slander Empress Dowager Gao.Zhang Shiliang cried and said: "The empress dowager can be framed, but the gods of heaven and earth cannot be bullied." Then he asked for his death.Cai Jing was helpless.Zhang Dun simply didn't do anything, drafted an edict himself, sent it to the palace overnight, and asked Song Zhezong to agree to issue it.
The content of this edict turned out to be to ask Song Zhezong to pursue and abolish his grandmother, Empress Dowager Gao, as a commoner.Empress Dowager Xiang had already fallen asleep at that time, and when she heard the news, she rushed to Song Zhezong's place and severely intervened in the matter.Song Zhezong had no choice but to burn the imperial edict on a candle.Hao Sui told Zhang Dun about the situation in the palace overnight.
When they went to court the next day, Zhang Dun and Cai Bian mentioned the matter of chasing and abolishing the Empress Dowager Gao.Song Zhezong was very upset, and snapped: "Qing and others do this because you don't want me to see Emperor Yingzong after my death?" Zhang Dun dared not mention the matter of abolishing the Empress Dowager anymore.
Not long after the incident, Song Zhezong also gradually realized that Queen Meng's "spells and charms are disgusting", and often sighed alone: "Zhang Dun ruined my reputation!" Liu Jieyu was only made a virtuous concubine by the Jin Dynasty.Concubine Liu was very anxious about this, and sent eunuch Hao Sui to mobilize Prime Minister Zhang Dun to beg both internally and externally, but Song Zhezong still had no intention of becoming an empress.Until Concubine Liu gave birth to a son in the second year of Yuanfu (1099), this was Song Zhezong's first son, and he had been looking forward to it for many years. He was overjoyed and finally agreed to make Concubine Liu the queen.
Concubine Liu's establishment of the empress, there are still objections in the court.Youzhengyan Zou Hao remonstrated and said: "How can you be careless when you set up a queen to match the emperor? During Renzong's reign, Guo Hou competed with the beauties, and Renzong abolished the queens and denounced the beauties, so it is fair and can be used as an example for future generations. Your Majesty abolished Meng." Empress, no different from Empress Guo, there is no doubt in the world that a virtuous concubine should be established as the empress. All empresses must be crowned with virtue in the harem, and cannot be promoted from concubines, but should be chosen from among the virtuous clan; Be the queen." Song Zhezong was furious, and he dismissed Zou Hao from his post and demoted him to Xinzhou.The matter of standing up depends on this.
Mrs. Liu finally became a queen, and she felt elated for a while.But the good times didn't last long, and her son Zhao Maocai died unfortunately in two months.Empress Liu was overwhelmed with grief, and Song Zhezong was also hit hard. He was bedridden and died a year later at the age of twenty-five.
Song Zhezong's life was very unhappy.He grew up in the shadow of his grandmother, Empress Dowager Gao, and he never got out of his adolescent rebellion after taking office—everything that Empress Dowager Gao admired, he would oppose.Empress Dowager Gao changed mother to son, abolished Song Shenzong's new law, and credited conservatives, so he restored the new law promoted by his father and vigorously used reformists.But deep down in his heart, he may not be happy, otherwise he would not become depressed and sick at a young age, and even die young.Song Zhezong's death was far more than the death of the emperor. His death also directly led to the ruin of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Because Song Zhezong had no children, he summoned the ministers in power to the Queen Mother, crying and said: "The country is unfortunate, Emperor Zhezong has no children, and the affairs of the world must be settled early." The new emperor can only be selected among Song Zhezong's brothers.Song Shenzong had fourteen sons in total, and five of them were still alive at that time.According to the etiquette of concubine and concubine, Song Zhezong's brother Jian Wang Zhao seemed to be the natural candidate.Unexpectedly, Queen Mother Xiang resolutely opposed it, and said very unhappy: "Since I have no heirs, all the kings are the concubine sons of Emperor Shenzong." Empress Dowager Xiang didn't like Song Zhezong.Zhang Dun said again: "In this case, in order of elder and younger, the elder Shen Wang Zhao Bi (sound bi, the same must) should be established as emperor." The Queen Mother objected again: "Shen Wang is weak and sick, I am afraid that he should not be established. Zhang Dun wanted to say more, knowing that the Privy Council member Zeng Bu knew that the Queen Mother had already made up his mind, so he yelled: "Zhang Dun, listen to the Queen Mother's punishment!" Zhang Dun had no choice but to stop expressing his opinion.He proposed to the Queen Mother that Zhao Ji, the eleventh son of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, be established.Zhang Dun immediately objected, saying: "King Duan is frivolous and cannot rule the world." The tactful Zeng Bu immediately echoed and said to the Queen Mother: "Zhang Dun never discussed with his ministers, just like the Queen Mother's imperial edict." Shangshu Zuocheng Cai Bian and Xu Jiang, the servants of Zhongshumen, also agreed with the proposal to the Queen Mother.Zhang Dun was alone and weak, so he had no choice but to stop arguing.Therefore, Zhao Ji ascended the throne as Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty.
If Song Zhezong did not die, the throne would not be passed to Zhao Ji anyway.As we all know, the Northern Song Dynasty actually died at the hands of Song Huizong.This famous faint king in history was pushed onto the stage of history by such a coincidence.It seems understandable that Queen Mother Xiang did not choose Jian Wang Zhao. She belongs to the politically conservative faction and opposes the new law. See Song Zhezong's younger brother became the emperor.But why the Queen Mother must choose Zhao Ji instead of others, there is no historical data to test.Inferred, it should be due to personal emotional factors.However, this woman's emotional factors directly led to the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.
At the beginning of Song Huizong's accession to the throne, he was grateful to the Queen Mother, and please listen to the government behind the curtain.Song Zhezong, who became a female Taoist priest, abolished the Empress Meng, because the Empress Dowager Xiang had always liked her very much, and the time came again.Under the auspices of Empress Dowager Xiang, Empress Meng, who had been abolished by Song Zhezong, was re-established as Empress Yuanyou, ranking above Empress Liu (Empress Yuanfu).
After Empress Meng returned to live in the palace, she found that things had changed, and she couldn't help feeling very emotional.She has a very good relationship with Queen Huizong of Song Dynasty Wang, and she is cited as a confidant in her boudoir.It's just that Meng's second-time queen didn't last long.On the first day of July in the third year of Yuanfu (1110), an imperial edict was issued to the Queen Mother to stop the administration.Half a year later, Empress Dowager Xiang died of illness, and Song Huizong formally took charge of the government.Cai Jing and others, who were reused by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, colluded with the Empress Liu of the Yuanfu, causing the Meng family to be abolished again. They were given the title "Xiwei Yuanyin and Miaojing Immortal Master" and lived in Yaohua Palace again.It is said that when Meng left the palace, Song Huizong Empress Wang felt very sorry, but Meng said with a smile: "Finally, I can leave this place again." .Even when Song Huizong talked about the Meng family with Queen Wang, he couldn't help saying with emotion: "Queen Yuanyou is really respectable."
After the Empress Liu of Yuanfu drove away the Meng family as she wished, she vainly attempted to interfere in political affairs, and her behavior was imprudent, which aroused Song Huizong's dissatisfaction.The eunuch Hao Sui, the confidant of Empress Liu, was very frightened when he heard about it, because the abolished empress always pursued the people around the empress together.In fact, Empress Liu's intervention in politics was indeed instigated by Hao Sui.In order to protect himself, Hao Sui had to sacrifice Empress Liu, insulting her in every possible way, and forcing her to commit suicide by stabbing her throat with a curtain hook.Liu Hou was only thirty-five years old when he died.
Not long after Meng returned to Yaohua Palace, Yaohua Palace caught fire, and she had to move to Yanning Palace, which was destroyed by fire soon after.The imperial court did not arrange for a new Taoist temple to live in, because she was homeless, so she had to live in the home of her younger brother Meng Zhonghou.However, there are many coincidences in fate, and just like this, the Meng family escaped a catastrophe.
In the second year of Jingkang (1127), Bianjing (Kaifeng) was captured by Jin soldiers. Since Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong of Song Dynasty, more than 3,000 concubines, princes, princesses and close relatives of the clan were all captured by Jin soldiers to the North Kingdom.The Northern Song Dynasty perished.Because the Meng family lived in a residence outside the palace, they were miraculously preserved and survived.Due to the special status of the Meng family, in April of the same year, she was respected again by Song officials as Queen Yuanyou, and she listened to politics behind a curtain.After the Meng family took charge of the government, they immediately sent someone to take back Zhao Gou, the only son of Song Huizong who survived the death, and asked him to be the emperor.Zhao Gou was grateful for his aunt's care. Later, Zhao Gou ascended the throne in Nanjing (Shangqiu, Henan Province) as Song Gaozong, known as the Southern Song Dynasty in history, and respected Meng as "Queen Yuanyou".In order to avoid the taboo of his grandfather Meng Yuan, he was renamed "Empress Longyou".
In March of the third year of Jianyan (1129), Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan launched a coup d'état, forcing Song Gaozong to abdicate to the three-year-old crown prince Zhao Yan (pronounced fu, same as Fu), in an attempt to let the Queen Mother Meng take charge of the government, but the Queen Mother Meng reject.Soon, Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun and others quelled the mutiny.
In the spring of the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135), Empress Dowager Meng suffered from wind disease and died in Yuezhou Palace at the age of fifty-nine. She was nicknamed "Empress Dowager Zhaoci Shengxian".Song Huizong Zhao Ji, the king of subjugation, also died in this year, but he died in the Five Kingdoms City of the Jinren, and his body was refined into lamp oil after his death.