In ancient China, there were many wise monarchs who worked hard to expand their territory, and the good name left behind was not to mention, but one of the emperors was not praised by later generations because of his merits, but because the countless sages around him were highly affirmed by future generations, which was Song Renzong, who not only had Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi and other famous ministers around him, but even the empress was extremely virtuous.
During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, Empress Cao was always a powerful sage and a model representative of the perfect woman, she was not only intelligent and gentle, but also commanded the palace guards to resist foreign invasions, counter-rebellion and thieves, and had the style of a general. Even so, Song Renzong's attitude towards this empress has always been very flat, and how much truth does their political marriage have?
Although the military strength of the Song Dynasty was weak, the economic and cultural development of the Song Dynasty was the most prosperous moment of ancient society. Economically, the earliest paper money exchanges appeared, and culturally there were a number of sages such as Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi, Su Shi, Sima Guang, and even three of the four major inventions were completed in the Song Dynasty, and the key is that such brilliant achievements are concentrated in one period, that is, the reign of Song Renzong.
Song Renzong was the fourth emperor of the Song Dynasty, and during his reign, the economy and culture were highly developed, and he was also the longest-reigning emperor, although Song Renzong himself did not have any great achievements. However, during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, a large number of able officials were appointed, which ushered in a highly developed prosperous period of peace during his reign, also known as "Renzong Shengzhi".
Not only was this the case in the previous dynasty, but even his harem was well-governed, although the harems of successive emperors were all fighting and fighting for the wind, and they earned your life and death for their sons to sit in the position of prince. However, there was no such situation in Song Renzong's harem. This is all due to Empress Cao's effective management.
The emperor's marriage was usually a political marriage, and in order to consolidate his country, he usually chose the relatives of the powerful ministers in the imperial court to be elected to the palace. Song Renzong is no exception, so most of these political marriages are not decided by themselves, nor can they be women they truly love.
Song Renzong's later exclusive favor of Zhang Meiren was also an act of rebellion under the shackles of political marriage. Soon after Emperor Renzong of Song deposed Empress Guo, Empress Yang chose the daughter of the Cao family for Emperor Renzong of Song, the main reason being that the ancestor of the Cao family was "the first good general of the Song Dynasty, Cao Bin", after the heavy subjects, and had a very high social status, the Cao family's power was strong, and there were many generals to follow, and they could become the emperor's right-hand men.
Marriage with the Cao family is equivalent to controlling most of the ministers in the court, which has a very important help for the emperor to govern the country, in addition, the Cao family also has a good family style, and the daughter of the Cao family is even more knowledgeable and gentle. Therefore, Empress Yang was very satisfied with this marriage, but Song Renzong was a hundred unwilling for this political marriage.
Although the emperor is the son of heaven, his marriage cannot be caused by his own nature, which is equivalent to an invisible kidnapping for Song Renzong, and Song Renzong also had a woman he liked at that time, but he could not become an empress, and his heart was very dissatisfied, and these dissatisfactions continued to deepen with Cao's entry into the palace.
Cao Shi was only seventeen years old when he entered the palace, and after a year of training, he became the main mother of the main palace after the next year. Began to take care of everything in an orderly manner. Although Empress Cao came from everyone's boudoir, she was not an ignorant girl raised in a deep boudoir and did not experience the world, and she was already familiar with the female workers of Nongsang. At the same time, she is also a calm woman who does not like to be ostentatious.
After Empress Cao entered the palace, Song Renzong was always cold to him and rarely talked to her. Empress Cao never complained, every time she saw Song Renzong, she was very concerned and considerate, and she did not mention her situation to her family, and gradually Song Renzong also began to have a new understanding of this Empress Cao, and the relationship between the two gradually eased up. Emperor Renzong of Song's attitude toward Empress Cao changed.
However, not long after the two of them got better, Song Renzong fell in love with Zhang Meiren, Zhang Meiren was exclusively favored, and he was pampered and arrogant, and his attitude towards others was extremely arrogant, and many times he did not put Empress Cao in his eyes, nor did he behave when he saw Empress Cao, song Renzong did not punish him after he knew it, and Empress Cao did not move in her eyes.
Later, Zhang Meiren lost power, many people fell into the well, Empress Cao was still humble and calm, tolerant of each other, Song Renzong felt that Empress Cao was different, the two reconciled, but the good times were not long, the feelings of the two experienced a storm again, and this incident made the two completely estranged.
This incident should also start from Song Renzong's support for Wang Anshi's reform of the law, when the Song Dynasty was weak, many policies were problematic, Wang Anshi's reform and change of law was too radical, resulting in the failure of the change of law, not only did not solve the problem, but intensified the contradictions in society, when the hungry people were everywhere, and riots were likely to erupt at any time.
Later, Emperor Renzong of Song adopted Fan Zhongyan's policy and implemented the New Deal for celebrating the calendar. However, there was still a riot, when some of the officers took advantage of the rebellion and killed the palace, Song Renzong heard the news, notified the harem concubines to flee with things, at this time suddenly a person raised an objection, this is Empress Cao.
Empress Cao led the palace eunuchs to take up arms to form a self-defense force, and also ordered some people to prepare buckets in case the enemy set fire to the palace, and as expected, the soldiers really planned to burn the palace after their meritorious deeds, fortunately, they responded in advance, and the fire did not burn. Another part of the Self-Defense Forces also desperately defended the city and finally won the victory.
Empress Cao's general Wind is also the inheritance of the family wind, she stood up in time when the palace was threatened, and led everyone to fight against the rebellious tyrant, and the credit was unbeatable. In the case, Song Renzong should be happy, but since then, the relationship between the two has gradually become estranged, returning to the moment when Empress Cao was in and out of the court.
How much truth did Song Renzong have for Empress Cao? When entering and leaving the palace, Song Renzong did not like the empress, after all, the two were still politically married, which was a kind of bondage for the emperor, and at that time, Song Renzong had a favorite candidate, and later Empress Cao's tight and orderly management made Song Renzong's attitude towards her change.
Moreover, Empress Cao has always been tolerant and generous, what is even more rare is that he is industrious and simple, has always been frugal and maintains the family, and is Song Renzong's right-hand man, but after defending the palace, Song Renzong once again alienated Empress Cao, mainly because he was jealous that the cao family's forces would interfere in the imperial court, and at the same time, he did not seem calm enough, losing face, how could Song Zhenzong like to be stronger than his own Empress Cao?