Regarding the history of the Northern Song Dynasty, modern scholars most highly regard the book "Continuation of the Zhizhi Tongjian Long Compilation", which was compiled by Su Shi's compatriot and Southern Song Dynasty historian Li Tao for forty years of painstaking efforts, but the book was too voluminous, and as a result, the circulation was limited, and when the Ming people prepared to revise the Yongle Canon, they could not find enough copies.
The surviving "Continuation of The Zhizhi TongjianChang Compilation" was compiled from the Yongle Canon when the Qing dynasty revised the "Four Libraries of the Whole Book", in which the historical materials of Song Huizong and his father (Shenzong), brother (Zhezong), and son (Qinzong) were all mutilated, especially the two dynasties of Hui and Qin father and son were almost lost, only one volume of the first month of the third year of the Yuan Fu was retained, and on the day of his death in this month, that is, in the early morning of January 12, 1100, Zhezong died of illness, before he was 24 years old, and on the same day, Huizong took the throne.
As for the history of Emperor Huizong's ascension to the throne, there is a detailed record in the "Continuation of the Zizhi Tongjian Long Edition", which may be excerpted as follows:
Before the night leak was over, the zaichen and the ruling huimen went down to the province, and at dawn they went to the inner east gate, and announced that they would enter the huitong gate and go to the Funing Hall. The empress dowager sat in the east of the palace, hanging the curtain, and the courtiers and the rulers came to the curtain, and the empress dowager wept and told the chancellor Zhang Huan and so on, and so on. The empress dowager said, "The state family is unfortunate, the Taihang Emperor has no children, and the affairs of the world must be decided early." He exclaimed, "In the law of etiquette, be the same mother and brother King Jane." The empress dowager said, "Emperor Shenzong's sons, although King Shen is long, he has a disease of the eye. The second is the king of the end." "On the order of the eldest and the youngest, king Shen is the eldest; on the law of etiquette, he is the same mother's brother King Jane." The Empress Dowager said, "Ju is the son of the Divine Sect, so why should there be such a difference?" The king of the second end was established. Emperor Jianxian tasted that the king of Duan had a blessed life, and was benevolent and filial, different from the kings. Therefore, he knew that the Privy Council had said: "Zhang Huan did not consult with the public, and the Empress Dowager's holy words were extremely appropriate." Shang Shu Zuo Cheng Cai Bian Said: "When according to the Holy Will." Zhongshu Waiter Xu also said, "Unity of the Holy Will." Silence. Having accepted the order and retreated to the front of the order, they all knew that Liang Congzheng and other White Summons five kings asked questions. Zhang Wei said, "And summon the five kings to see." The kings went to the Inner East Gate. It was the day when the king of Riduan was on leave, and the empress dowager sent a messenger to summon the king, and abstained from the messenger, and if the king resigned, he would support him from the horse. The king of Russia, summoned alone, lived in the east of the Funing Hall, and ascended to the temple. Waiting for the curtain of the bedchamber, the empress dowager said, "The former emperor has no children, and the duan king should stand." The king said, "King Shen, brother." Fixed words. For a long time, the empress dowager said: "King Shen has a disease, the king is standing, and the king does not need to resign." The king resigned again and again. The empress dowager repeatedly pronounced an edict, and waited for her to enter: "The Mandate of Heaven belongs, and the Great King should be the great plan of the Zongmiao Society, and it is not appropriate to resign." Emperor Huizong was the emperor.
For the above text, I will not explain it for the time being, and will be explained in detail later.
As mentioned above, it is generally believed that it was the empress dowager who initiated and facilitated the ascension of the Duan king Zhao Tuo, that is, the later Song Huizong (Huizong is the temple number after Zhao Tuo's death, but for the convenience of the narrative, hereinafter referred to only as Huizong). Folk even feel that Huizong is very innocent, as if he was forced to be driven to the shelves, but is this really the case?
Cai Jian was The Prince of Huizong's reign, Cai Jingjizi, and Cai Jing's most trusted son in his later years, while Cai Jing and his brother Cai Bian were witnesses to Emperor Huizong's ascension to the throne, and Cai Yun recorded another face of Emperor Huizong in his book "Discussion on the Tiewei Mountain":
When the Emperor Taishang was in his residence, he had many signs, and his heart was alone. One day, the governor of the province called it: "Ru yu Da Xiang Guo Temple, when the temple was opened late, he took my order eight characters to go, that is, the various gua wanton, and asked all over the place to come with auspiciousness, and the first word Ru fate, do not call me also." "As the provincial officials said, they have asked for misfortune and happiness all the time, and they have talked about it most often, and they are not compatible. At the end of the day, a man, poor and blue, sat behind the throne. Trial visit, "Zhejiang Chen Yanye." The governor laughed, and Mian Mian gave another new year's order to show Yan. Yan Yue: "It will not be the fate of Ru, but the fate of this Son of Heaven." "The provincial magistrate was horrified, and he walked away and did not dare to vent. The next day, the White End King was also returned. Wang Silently, because he abstained from food again, "Ru Chi opened the temple, it is advisable to see you again." In the first word, I don't have to be more hidden. "So the governor of the province is fumihiko, and he is yan. Yan Fu consulted Jiuzhi, that is, through the words Gu Zhi Province official: "Ru Gui Ke Bai King: King, The Son of Heaven destiny also." May self-love. "In the same year, emperor Taishang ascended the throne, and Yan also suffered, and the posthumous official was envoy to Jiedushi.
This account of Cai Yun reveals another fact, that is, Emperor Huizong has been coveting the throne for a long time, and even undisguised, but the question is when did this incident recorded by Cai Yun happen? The answer to this question may be related to the secrecy behind Emperor Huizong's ascension to the throne.
According to the historical records, Emperor Huizong was born in October of the fifth year of Yuanfeng, that is, on October 10, 1082 AD, his father Shenzong died in March 5, 1085, that is, on March 5, 1085, on the same day, his brother Zhao Xu took the throne, that is, the later Zhezong, from then on, The title of Emperor Huizong and his brother's vassals has been determined, not to mention that Emperor Zhezong was only 24 years old even when he died, just in his prime, Emperor Huizong could not have predicted the early death of his brother, so during this period, Emperor Huizong probably did not dare to do this "non-divisional thought". target.
Later, in March 21, 1096, Emperor Huizong was crowned Duan Wang, and the events that Cai Yun remembered occurred when Emperor Huizong was still in the "Duan Residence", that is, the period of nearly four years between when he was crowned Duan Wang and before he ascended the throne, but when exactly?
Considering that in the Northern Song Dynasty, the emperor's imprisonment and precautions against the clan and the prince were very harsh, and moreover, the Zhezong dynasty, because his uncle Zhao Hao always looked at the imperial throne, Zhao Hao's vigilance could be described as unremitting, for this reason, he continued the "pawn" set by his father Shenzong, that is, the secret agent, closely spying on his subordinates, which can be seen from the "Records of Zeng Gong", the daily life and whereabouts of the chancellors are under the absolute supervision of the emperor, according to common sense, Zhezong's surveillance of Duan Wang is only excessive.
Under such circumstances, the so-called "first word I am destined, there is no need to be more hidden" situation, can be described as a blatant risk of the world, so unscrupulous, the only occasion that may appear is when Zhezong is critically ill, or even dying, there is no time to take care of the special situation, just like a person who has already made a bet, but before betting, he still needs to find a little excuse to strengthen his confidence.
Then, the next question is, Zhezong's condition is a top-secret level of national intelligence, how did Huizong know?
Song Zhezong
In fact, the short-lived Zhezong may be the most tragic young emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, but he is also the emperor who is most associated with the word "laughter", and the achievements of Zhezong's life will also be left for detail later discussion.
According to the records of Zhezong's illness in the "Records of Zeng Gong", the earliest appeared on the day of Gengshen in the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, that is, on May 18, 1099, and at the beginning, the former dynasty, in principle, only Zhang Huan, Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, and Xu General had the situation, and the harem, except for Emperor Zhezong's biological mother, Princess Zhu, and his favorite concubine Liu Shi and his personal attendants, such as Liang Congzheng in the above, even the concubines of Emperor Zhezong and Emperor Huizong, that is, the "empress dowager" in the first paragraph, were always kept in the dark.
We know that in the Northern Song Dynasty, the crown prince generally had to leave the cabinet very early, that is, to forcibly move out of the imperial palace and live in the mansion specially built for him by the imperial court, which was in fact equivalent to being confined to a specific area and could not hand over his subordinates, so under normal circumstances, Huizong could not know about Zhezong's illness, which meant that the situation in the second paragraph of the quotation could not occur, unless Huizong had foreseen that Zhezong was in danger, and Huizong was looking at the tiger and needed to take precautions.
So, who and where did Emperor Huizong learn the news of Zhezong's critical illness? What did he do to seize the throne? Or, what might he have done? In addition, what kind of person is the short-lived Tetsuzong?
(Re-reading Huizong, to be continued)