Ancient China has a long history, and in the long years, many famous figures have emerged. However, in the social environment of son preference, most of the famous people who appear are men. Of course, there are many cases of women interfering in politics and even governing the country, such as Empress Xiao of the Liao State, Empress Lü of the Han Dynasty, and even Wu Zetian, who became the emperor, and other female figures. In addition to her, in chinese history, there is actually an excellent woman, she is a well-known figure, with her political acumen during the reign of the Northern Wei Dynasty greatly improved the strength of the state, but also assisted two kings, teach them the way of governing the country. The life of such a powerful person is destined not to be smooth, and today Xiaobian will talk about Empress Feng's life of ups and downs. She changed from a princess to a slave, and from a slave to a queen, and after bereavement at the age of 24, she became the story of the first empress dowager in ancient and modern times.
She was originally a native of Changle Xindu, and was born in a royal family in northern Yan, which can be said to be very noble. There is also a grandfather who was a monarch, which can be said to be a real golden branch and jade leaf. However, she had the status of a princess but did not have this life, and later because of the turmoil of the war, at the time of her birth, Northern Yan had been destroyed for six years, that is, the former imperial prince and nobleman. Later, her father was ordered to be killed by Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei because she was involved in a major case, because she was young, so she was not persecuted, and could only be sent to the imperial palace, from a princess of Northern Yan to a slave of Northern Wei.
As a palace girl with a relatively low status, her life will naturally not be better. But fortunately, Feng Shi had an aunt in the palace who was given the title of Zhaoyi, who took good care of her and could only do very tiring work every day. Such a hard life did not last long, and when Tuoba Mao, who was 13 years old in the second year of Zhengping, ascended the throne, the delicate and agile Feng clan soon attracted the attention of the new emperor and was crowned as a nobleman, at this time Feng was only 12 years old. After getting along Chinese the Cheng Emperor Tuoba Lian became more and more fond of the Feng clan, and the Feng clan was able to accompany the emperor around, and even the Wencheng Emperor, who listened to the political deliberations, did not shy away from her, and personally taught him how to deal with it, which showed how much he loved her, which also laid the foundation for the feng family to manage the government later. Therefore, the relationship between the two people is also very good, and within three years she became the empress, and Feng Shi was only 15 years old at this time.
And Feng's ability to become empress from a slave maid depends not only on her wisdom and beauty, but also on the great intentions and means that exist. She was very good at handling relations with other concubines, even if she was alone, whether in front of others or in front of the emperor, he did not show the arrogant posture of being a single concubine, so the other concubines also got along with her very happily. Also thanks to the Northern Wei rule that concubines must successfully cast gold in order to enter the middle palace, Feng had already learned about this matter since he grew up in the palace.
Not long after Feng ascended the throne, Emperor Wenwu made Tuoba Hong, the son born of Li, crown prince and raised him at the knee of Empress Feng. Tuoba Hong's birth mother was given death according to the rules of the time, and there was a rule in the Northern Wei Dynasty that if the prince was made crown prince, his birth mother would be executed, because in order to prevent the crown prince from becoming emperor, the empress dowager would use her power to rebel. It can be said that the current Feng family is very happy, on the one hand, there is a beloved husband who loves himself, and he is raised by his son as a prince, but it is a pity that the happy life of the Feng couple did not last long and ended.
Emperor Wencheng died young at the age of 25. Probably because the relationship between the former emperor and her was too deep, Feng Shi was so grief-stricken that he rushed into the fire when burning the relics of Emperor Wencheng and wanted to die, but fortunately he was saved in time. After the death of Emperor Wencheng, the 12-year-old crown prince Tuoba Hong ascended the throne, only because the new emperor was too young, Empress Feng had to shoulder the responsibility of assisting Tuoba Hong alone, and listened to the government to handle many state affairs for him, and the heavy responsibility of the family country was placed on the shoulders of this 24-year-old woman.
Tuoba Hong's difficult situation after ascending the throne can be imagined, the powerful minister Yihun was not willing to be subject to the rebellion of the young son and widowed mother soon after, at this time Empress Feng's iron-blooded means and political strategy began to reveal, she decisively quelled the Rebellion of Yihun and quickly took power to stabilize the situation. Two years later, she handed over power to Emperor Xianwen. In the first year of Emperor Xingxing, Tuoba Hong, the eldest son of Emperor Xianwen Tuoba Hong, was born, and Feng Shi took this opportunity to return the government to Emperor Xianwen to take care of his grandson.
However, after taking power, the gap between Emperor Xianwen and Empress Feng gradually arose, and later Emperor Xianwen was forced to take the throne because he had cleaned up many of Empress Feng's favorite vassals, and the young Tuoba Hong succeeded to the throne, but the power struggle between Emperor Xianwen and Empress Feng did not end, and Emperor Xianwen died in the palace in the first year of Chengming, whether this was empress Feng's poisonous hand is unknown. Because Tuoba Hong had just succeeded to the throne at that time, he was not very old and did not have the ability to control the government, but after this, the power returned to the hands of Empress Feng and began his career of listening to the government.
Empress Feng, who had experienced many things, became more calm and courageous, and she was able to rectify the rule of officials, severely punish corrupt officials, promote talented people, and actively promote the reform of Northern Wei in many aspects. In the eyes of outsiders, she has become the empress dowager of great power, but she does not have the intention of usurping power and usurping the throne, and she has also cultivated and taught her own governing philosophy to the emperor wholeheartedly. So when Tuoba Hong became an adult, she returned to the Tuoba clan and finally spent her old age in the imperial palace, no longer interfering in the affairs of the dynasty.