Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 69
Liu E: Supreme Confidante

Liu E (968-1033), the empress of Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng, the first regent empress dowager in the Song Dynasty, has made great achievements. The evil of martial arts".Liu E is a woman full of legends. She was originally an actress who made a living by singing, and Zhao Heng would fall in love with her by chance. Moreover, Liu E seized the opportunity to become the queen and embarked on the journey of the Song Dynasty. The political stage had an important impact on the political situation of the Northern Song Dynasty.

At home, Liu E enters the palace

Liu E's ancestral home was Taiyuan, and he was born in the first year of Song Taizu Kaibao (968). His grandfather Liu Yanqing was the general of You Xiaowei in the Later Jin and Later Han of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (the later Jin Gaozu Shi Jingtang raised troops in the south of Taiyuan, and the Later Han established Taiyuan as his capital. ), his father Liu Tong was the commander of Hujiedu during Song Taizu's time, and led the governor of Jiazhou (now Leshan, Sichuan), so the Liu family moved to Huayang, Chengdu.When giving birth to Liu E, her mother, Pang Shi, dreamed that the bright moon was in her bosom, and when she woke up, she gave birth to a daughter, named Liu E.However, not long after Liu E was born, Liu Tong was ordered to go to war, but unexpectedly died on the battlefield. Because Liu Tong had no children and his family was in decline, Pang had to live with his natal family with his infant daughter.

I don't know if the Pang family was poor or Liu Tong didn't collect any property during his lifetime. Although Liu E was the daughter of the governor and could read and write, he learned the skill of making a living by beating a drum with one hand and was good at speaking drum words.

When Liu E was thirteen or fourteen years old, the Pang family married her to a young silversmith, Gong Mei.Liu E married her husband and followed her husband, and came to Kaifeng, the capital city, to make a living with Gong Mei.

Gong Mei is outstanding in craftsmanship, kind-hearted and good at making friends, especially with Zhang Qi, who is an errand in Prince Xiang's mansion.King Xiang is the future Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng. At this time, his name is still Zhao Yuankan, and he has not yet been registered as the prince.

According to the history of the Song Dynasty, Liu E and Zhao Hengchu met at the age of 15 and entered the Xiangwang Mansion. However, Zhao Heng and Liu E were both born in 968. He was granted the title of King Xiang at the age of 17.

In short, Zhao Heng was not yet married at the time, and when he heard that Shu women were both talented and beautiful, he asked his followers to secretly look for one.Liu E followed her husband to make money by making public appearances and making money. She had a good reputation and was known to Zhao Heng's followers. palace.However, regarding this story, there is also a saying that the Liu family’s family has fallen, and Liu E has no relatives. The kind-hearted Gong Mei took her in and asked her to go to Kaifeng with her. The two were called cousins, but they were not husband and wife.Anyway, only Song Zhenzong knew whether it was true or not.

Liu E was born beautiful, smart and smart, and was comparable to Zhao Hengnian in appearance, and soon became gluey.However, Mrs. Qin Guo, Zhao Heng's wet nurse, looked down on Liu E's background, thinking that Liu E had seduced Zhao Heng on an evil path, and persuaded Zhao Heng to drive Liu E away to no avail, so she had to report to Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty. Liu E came out of Beijing and married 17-year-old Zhao Heng.At this time Zhao Heng was conferred the title of King of Han, and his bride was the eighth daughter of Pan Mei, Jiedu of the Zhongwu Army. The 16-year-old Pan was conferred the title of Mrs. Ju.

However, although Zhao Heng was forced to send Liu E out of the palace by the emperor's order, he was unwilling to leave Liu E. He secretly hid Liu E in the house of Zhang Qi, the commander of the prince, and met privately from time to time.In this sneaky way, Liu E passed 15 years.

On Guisi Day in March of the third year of Song Taizong Zhidao, Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi died of illness at the age of 59, and his legacy was passed down to Zhao Heng who had been crowned prince for two years.Zhao Heng inherited the Datong, and no longer had to secretly communicate with Liu E.

Princess Pan, whom Zhao Heng was ordered to marry back then, died six years after their marriage. She was only 22 years old when she died and had no children.Two years after Pan's death, Emperor Taizong bestowed a marriage on Guo, the second daughter of Guo Shouwen, envoy of Xuanhui South Court.At the age of 17, the Guo family was first granted the title of Mrs. Lu, and soon after Jin was granted the title of Mrs. Qin.

Zhao Heng ascended the throne in March, named Guo as empress in May, and posthumously named Pan as Empress Zhuanghuai in June (later son Song Renzong changed it to Empress Zhanghuai).Although there are three thousand beauties in the post-official, Zhao Heng did not forget his love for Liu E, and soon brought Liu E into the palace.In the first month of the first year of Jingde (1004), Liu E was named a fourth-rank beauty and officially became one of the post-official concubines. He was named a five-grade talent).At this time, Liu E can finally be with Zhenzong in a fair manner.Although Liu E is 36 years old, she is intelligent and gentle, and has always been favored by Zhenzong. She was soon promoted to the second-rank Xiuyi and the first-rank concubine.

At this time, Liu E is no longer the little sister who played the drum in the past. She has lived in seclusion for many years, read a lot of books, studied piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and has already had outstanding talents.Seeing that he had no relatives, Liu E proposed to Zhenzong that he would change his cousin's surname to Liu Mei, be his elder brother, and inherit the incense of the Liu family.In fact, Gong Mei has long followed Zhenzong and has always been loyal to Zhenzong.

When Liu Mei was an official, he was not attached to the powerful ministers, but also cared about his subordinates. When he was in office, his entourage and soldiers were rotated regularly according to the provincial nationality, and he never cultivated his own personal power.

However, in the early years of Jingde, Queen Guo's son Zhao You died at the age of 9; half a month later, another two-month-old prince also died.None of Zhenzong's five princes lived past the age of 10. At this time, Zhenzong was nearly forty years old. Just in case, he raised the sons of the clan in the palace.Empress Guo gave birth to three sons successively, only Zhao You could live to be 9 years old, and unfortunately died prematurely if she didn't want to. She was too sad and collapsed.

On April 31th in the fourth year of Jingde, Queen Guo died of illness at the age of 14, and her posthumous title was Queen Zhuangmu (later changed to Queen Mu).Although Zhenzong wanted to make Liu E the queen, but Liu E had no heirs and came from a humble background. The officials disagreed. Instead, he asked for the appointment of a [-]-year-old talented person, Shen Shi, as the queen.Although Shen Cairen was a talented official in the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu, she was of noble birth and was the granddaughter of Prime Minister Shen Lun.Zhenzong was displeased, so he simply left the post vacant, and did not talk about the matter of establishing a post.

However, although Liu E had been favored for many years, she was unable to conceive.Li Shi, the maid beside her, suddenly dreamed that a fairy descended to become a son one day. Zhenzong and Liu E were overjoyed and came up with a method of "borrowing the abdomen to give birth to a son".On April 1010th in the second year of Dazhong Yangfu (16), Li Shi gave birth to a son, Zhao Yiyi (later Song Renzong Zhao Zhen).Although the prince was born of the Li family, he only recognized Liu E as his mother.Zhenzong announced that Liu E was pregnant as early as three months before the child was born.Although the prince is Liu E's son, Liu E did not raise him himself, but gave Yang Jieyu to raise him.Yang Jieyu is also from Chengdu. She is 40 years younger than Liu E, and they are sisters in love with Liu E.Zhenzong loved both Liu E and the Yang family, so every time Liu E was promoted, Yang's family was indispensable.At that time, Liu E was in her 20s, and she was naturally not as energetic as Yang, who was in her [-]s, so she asked Yang to take over the role of nurturing.

However, Liu E did not kill the prince's real biological mother Li, but made Li the monarch of Chongyang County.Soon, the Li family gave birth to another daughter, who was named a talented person by the Jin Dynasty and officially entered the ranks of concubines.Unfortunately, the little princess died soon.Li believed that his life was poor and blessed, and he never recognized his son throughout his life.

Now that Liu E had "give birth to a son", Zhenzong ordered the ministers to make him the queen.However, many senior officials knew the truth about Liu E's "birth". Zhenzong had no choice but to "establish him" several times, but Liu E had to "resign".In November of the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1012), Zhenzong Jin named Liu E the concubine of virtue, and added officials to hundreds of officials. After the ceremony, the post-sealing imperial edict also avoided the courtiers' public discussion, and only ordered the post-sealing edict to be passed on to the Ministry of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and it was over after an announcement at home.In December Dinghai, the 44-year-old Liu E finally became the queen of the Song Dynasty.

Help the emperor with diligence and monopolize the imperial power

As a queen, Liu E is not like other concubines who only know how to compete for favor. She is extremely talented, familiar with ancient and modern books and history, and is familiar with political affairs. Whenever she helps Zhenzong, Zhenzong can't do without her.Every day to review the memorials, Empress Liu will be by her side.

When going out for a tour, you should also bring Liu E with you.

Although Liu Egui is the queen, there are many people in the court who oppose Liu E's power, headed by Kou Zhun and Li Di.Liu E also began to win over his own forces, led by Qian Weiyan and Ding Wei: Qian Weiyan's sister was Liu Mei's wife, and Ding Wei's son married Qian Weiyan's daughter.

What is right and what is wrong, posterity only know the surface, in general later Kou Zhun was defeated and demoted to Xiangzhou Zhizhou (later Daozhou Sima), Ding Wei was also convicted for deceiving Liu E's orphan and widowed mother in order to monopolize power .

In February of the fourth year of Tianxi (1020), Zhenzong fell ill and was unable to support daily political affairs. The government affairs submitted to the emperor were actually handled by Empress Liu E.Later, Zhenzong became seriously ill and issued an edict: "From then on, the crown prince Zhao Zhen will listen to the government in Zishan Hall, and the empress is wise and assisted." This edict recognized Liu E's power to rule on political affairs.

The officials became uneasy. Although Liu E was not the prince's biological mother, she treated him as if she was her own, and fulfilled her duties as a mother.

In Jiayin, the first year of Qianxing (1022) in February, 54-year-old Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng died of illness in Yanqing Hall. The date of the posthumous edict: Prince Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, Empress Liu was the Empress Dowager, and Concubine Yang Shu was the Empress Dowager. Take the right to punish the empress dowager.The little emperor Zhao Zhen was only 11 years old at this time, and Liu E actually handled government affairs.

However, Ding Wei wanted to monopolize the power, deceived others, and thought that Liu E was a woman without knowledge. Although Liu E cultivated him because of his unstable position, he had already found out Ding Wei's illegal actions over the years, and now he was furious and determined. Get rid of him.In June of that year, the eunuch Lei Yungong who colluded with Ding Wei was punished, and Ding Wei was dismissed and relegated.After Ding Wei was demoted, Liu E began to listen to political decisions with Renzong Zhao Zhen, and officially closed the curtain.

Liu E knew that she came from a humble background, and the Song Dynasty respected scholar-bureaucrats, so she vigorously elevated her mother's family and continued to honor her ancestors. Conferred to Mrs. An Guotai; grandfather Liu Yanqing was the Changhua Army Jiedushi and Zhongshu Ling and Xu Guogong, grandmother Yuanshi was granted the title of Mrs. Qi Guotai; father Liu Tong was Kaifu Yitong Sansi Wei Wang, and mother Pang was granted the title of Mrs. Jin Guotai .

Liu E's orders are strict, and rewards and punishments are measured. Although it is inevitable that he is partial to his family, he does not condone their meddling in government affairs.In the face of big right and wrong, she respected the opinions of scholar-bureaucrats more. Wang Zeng, Zhang Zhibai, Lu Yijian, and Lu Zongdao were all used by her, and the Liu family did not do anything that harmed the country.

Liu E is also very simple. When she was a queen, her clothes were simple, and she still did not change her habits when she became a queen mother.The maids in the palace saw the gorgeous dresses of the emperor's maids, and felt that as the empress dowager's maid, how could she be compared?Reported to Liu E, Liu E was unmoved, "That is only available to the emperor's concubines, how can you have such qualifications."

Although Liu E has been in power for a long time and is unwilling to hand over power to Renzong, she is still a loving mother. Renzong was weak and sick when she was young. Liu E was busy with government affairs and let Concubine Yang Shu take care of her. Empress".

As for Renzong's biological mother Li, Liu E also promoted her as Shunrong, moved her to Zhenzong's Yongding Mausoleum, and became one of the concubines of the first emperors guarding the mausoleum.And as early as the reign of Zhenzong, he found Li's family to be appointed officials. After Zhenzong's death, Liu E still continued to use Li's family and did not kill him.

If you don't become an emperor, your empress will die

In February of the first year of Ming Dao (1032), Mrs. Li was seriously ill. Liu E hurriedly sent an imperial doctor to treat her, and promoted her as Concubine Chen.However, Li's life was poor, and on the day she was named concubine, she fell ill and died at the age of 46.At first, Liu E only wanted to bury Concubine Li as an ordinary concubine. However, after listening to the persuasion of Prime Minister Lu Yijian, Liu E buried Concubine Li with first-class etiquette. .Concubine Li's father was granted posthumous title, and her brother Li Yonghe was also promoted again.

Although Liu E was unwilling to return power to Renzong, he never thought about self-reliance.Cheng Lin presented the picture "The Picture of Empress Wu's Advent", Liu E threw it on the ground and said, "I will never do such a thing!"

After Liu E made his statement, the officials were relieved, and Renzong was also grateful, respectful, filial and cautious, and issued an edict in September of the seventh year of Tiansheng (1029), upgrading the etiquette of the Empress Dowager's birthday Changning Festival to the same as that of the emperor's birthday Qianyuan Festival Degree.

In February of the second year of Mingdao (1033), the imperial court was about to hold a grand ceremony to sacrifice to the Taimiao. Liu E felt that his destiny had not been long, and wanted to wear the emperor's crown once before his death, so he proposed that he wanted to wear the crown to sacrifice to the Taimiao.The ministers were in an uproar, but they had to reduce the ornaments on the emperor's clothes a little and presented them.

On the day of Yisi in February, Empress Dowager Liu E, wearing the clothes of the emperor and the crown of Yitian, walked into the Taimiao Temple under the guidance of her attendants to perform the first offering ceremony.In order to make this ceremony complete, the second donator is the Empress Dowager Yang, and the final donator is the Empress Guo of Renzong.After the ceremony, Liu E accepted the honorary title bestowed on her by the officials in the Wende Hall of the Taimiao Temple: Empress Dowager Yingtian Qisheng Xiangong Chongde Compassionate Benevolence Baoshou.Since then, he has completely returned power to his son Renzong.

In March, Liu E was seriously ill. Renzong amnesty the world and recruited famous doctors everywhere, but he couldn't save Liu E's life. A few days later, Liu E died of illness in Baoci Hall at the age of 65.

On the second day, Renzong summoned his officials in the Hall of Emperor's Proclamation, and cried: "The queen mother pulled her clothes several times before she died, but what wish has not been fulfilled?" The emperor's clothes are buried." Renzong suddenly realized, and ordered Liu E to be replaced with the queen's crown.

Renzong was saddened by himself, but all the ministers discussed that Liu E was not his biological mother, but that his biological mother was Concubine Li Chen, and King Yan even said that Concubine Li Chen was poisoned to death by the Queen Mother.Shocked, Renzong sent someone to summon Li Yonghe and asked him to check Concubine Li Chen's coffin in person.Seeing that Concubine Li Chen was buried like a first-class lady, even wearing a queen's dress, Renzong regretted it and sighed: "How can people's words be trusted?" He came to Liu E's tablet to thank him and blamed himself: "From now on, the life of the eldest lady can be innocent. It’s clear.” At the time of the posthumous title, Liu E’s posthumous posthumous name was four characters: Zhuangxian Empress Mingsu (the chapter was changed later to present the Empress Mingsu), while ordinary queens only had two characters; Empress Yi).

In September, Emperor Renzong issued an edict to relocate Liu E and Concubine Li to Yongding Mausoleum at the same time.On the day when the coffin was driven up, Renzong first led Liu E, not only performing the ceremony of filial piety, but also personally carrying out the ceremony of the coffin (the rope pulling the coffin) despite the dissuasion of the prime ministers, and sent him out of the Hall of Imperial Rites on foot.Afterwards, he went to the Hongfuyuan where Concubine Li Chen was buried to wake up the spirit for his biological mother. He lay down on the coffin and cried bitterly, "How can I repay the kindness of hard work in my life!"

After Liu E's death, the Liu family was revered even more than before.Liu E once had a will, ordering Renzong to respect his adoptive mother Concubine Yang as the empress dowager.Renzong complied with his will and honored Yang as the Empress Dowager of Baoqing. Although Empress Yang did not listen to the government behind the curtain, Renzong did his best to support her with filial piety.Three years later, Empress Dowager Yang also died at the age of 56. She was posthumously named Empress Zhuanghui (later changed to Empress Zhanghui).

Empress Dowager Cixi: Listening to politics behind the curtain, subverting the country
This is a woman who almost became an emperor, but she has been exercising the power of emperor for a long time, and the two young emperors live a nightmarish life in her shadow.She has been in power for 48 years. A dynasty that was once prosperous for a while has come to its final decline in her hands. She has had an immeasurable influence on the modern history of China.She is Empress Dowager Cixi.

Empress Dowager Cixi, surnamed Yehenala, was born in Beijing. She was born in Manchuria with a blue banner, and later carried a banner with a yellow banner. Her ancestors belonged to the Yehe tribe.His father, Huizheng, was a Taoist member of Guangtai Taoist priest in Huiningchi, Anhui Province, and his mother was Fucha.Concubine of Emperor Wenzong Xianfeng of Qing Dynasty.The birth mother of Emperor Muzong Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty, she was the empress dowager who either listened to the government behind the curtain or was called the imperial court.Was the de facto ruler from 1861 to 1908.The duration is second only to Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong.During his lifetime, he had titles such as "Empress Dowager Cixi", "Empress Dowager Mother", "Empress Dowager Nala" and "Empress Dowager West". You Kangyi Zhaoyu Zhuang Chengshou respectfully presents Chongxi and Empress Tianxing Shengxian".

In the second year of Xianfeng Emperor Wenzong of Qing Dynasty (1852), Empress Dowager Cixi was selected as a show girl.According to the practice of the Qing Dynasty, once a beautiful woman is selected, the emperor will determine her name and title and give her a title; in February of the second year of Emperor Wenzong Xianfeng (1852), Empress Dowager Cixi was named Languiren by virtue of her beautiful appearance. into the palace.This was a turning point in the Empress Dowager Cixi's life. Since then, this ordinary official lady has completely changed her destiny and life path, and stepped into the life circle of the supreme ruler.

The Empress Dowager Cixi was always well-dressed, and after becoming an official, she became more and more beautifully dressed.Because of the complicated political affairs of Emperor Xianfeng, Empress Dowager Cixi had no chance to win the favor of heaven.Until one day in the fourth year of Xianfeng Emperor Wenzong of the Qing Dynasty, Xianfeng retired from the court as an official, just as the queen was called by the queen mother to go to Cining official.The ladies of the court greeted the queen and waited for the queen. When they saw Xianfeng coming, they all came forward to say hello.The Empress Dowager Cixi was also among them. Xianfeng saw that she was slender, eloquent, with black hair all over her head, and her eyebrows and eyes were charming. He immediately ordered the officials and women to return to their posts, leaving only the orchid nobles.Since then, Empress Dowager Cixi has been interested in flattering Xianfeng, she knows how to please the emperor, and gradually gained Xianfeng's favor.On the other hand, she flattered the favored eunuch around Xianfeng; on the other hand, she flattered the empress dowager and won her favor.In the fourth year of Xianfeng, she was promoted from nobleman to concubine Yi.

Two years later, on April 1856, 27, Cixi gave birth to the prince Zaichun.This child is the eldest son of Emperor Xianfeng and his only son.Emperor Xianfeng was so excited that he wrote down the poem "Shu Wei lived in the sky for six years, and Gengqin led the Tu Wansi people".Emperor Xianfeng was very happy, and even rewarded those who made great contributions.First of all, Cixi's mother was rewarded with the official house No. 26 on the north of Ertiao Hutong Road, Xinjiekou, Neixinjiekou, Xizhimen; secondly, Cixi's status changed drastically.Because the [-]-year-old Emperor Xianfeng, concubines and other people in the palace gave birth to girls.Only Nalashi gave birth to a son, so naturally he will be favored.Cixi was promoted to Concubine Yi.The noble concubine is the second person in the palace after the queen, but because she is favored and has given birth to a prince, her actual status is already higher than that of the queen.Emperor Xianfeng expressed his love and sensuality, eagerly looking forward to having a son: Cixi has both sensuality and beauty, and she gave birth to a son, and she won even more favors. Empress Dowager Cixi, who had a great desire for power, began to use her special status to participate in government affairs and usurp power for the future Lay the groundwork.

(End of this chapter)