Men have the right to rule, stand at the peak of power, and are respected and worshipped, but once women are as powerful as men and dominate the world, they are likely to be accused by the world of cruel and inhuman female demons.
It can be seen that the status of women in ancient Chinese history has never been fair.
But the woman I am talking about today, in the court, she is the ruler, but when she returns to the harem, she is a gentle, virtuous and generous wife and mother.
This woman was Empress Feng of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the favorite woman of Emperor Tuoba Mao's life.
Born in 440 AD, Tuoba Mao, who received the grace, was very intelligent from an early age and was deeply loved by his father.
Unfortunately, his father was killed by a close eunuch around him, and Tuoba Mao, who had just turned 12, killed this eunuch and succeeded him as emperor with the support of Shangshu Yuanhe.
Don't look at his young age, but after he ascended the throne, he made many important and big decisions, such as quelling civil unrest, enabling the country to be stable, and promulgating a truce policy to avoid war as much as possible, so that the people can rest and recuperate, and reserve strength.
In addition, he rehabilitated Buddhism, restored the legal status of Buddhism, and made up for his father's wrong decision to exterminate Buddhism and kill monks.
It can be seen that Tuoba Mao is a rare good emperor, but behind this is inseparable from the support and assistance of the Feng family.
Empress Feng of the rich family was originally a princess of Northern Yan, but a few years before she was born, tuoba tao unified the north. Because of her father's involvement, she was submerged into the harem and became a slave girl who poured night incense.
However, the identity of the slave girl could not hide her natural beauty, coupled with her own aristocratic blood, she was soon favored by the emperor Tuoba Mao, and became the emperor's nobleman from a slave girl.
Tuoba Hao was very fond of Feng Guiren, and in 456 AD, Feng Guiren, who had just passed the age of Zhen, was made empress of the main palace by Tuoba Hao.
The reason why Empress Feng was able to win the favor of Tuoba Mao was entirely because of her own personal charm.
When she was the empress of Tuoba Mao, she knew very well how to regulate the relationship between husband and wife. Whenever Emperor Wencheng returned from a expedition, Empress Feng would sing and celebrate for the emperor, and comfort the emperor's hardships with all kinds of tenderness, it can be said that the love life of Empress Feng and Emperor Wencheng was very happy.
Unfortunately, Feng Shi had been empress for less than ten years, and Tuoba Mao, who was very inspirational, died of illness at the age of only 25, and the future of Northern Wei was in danger.
After that, Empress Feng fully assisted her son Tuoba Hong, who was only 12 years old at that time, had no experience in governing the country, and the government was controlled by Yihun.
Empress Feng was unusually calm, and she contacted Jia Xiu and other loyal ministers, and then raided The Yihun Mansion and executed him. Regain power in the imperial court.
In 467, when her grandson Tuoba Yuanhong was born, Empress Feng officially returned to power with Tuoba Hong and began to devote herself to the work of raising the crown prince.
However, the early death of the Northern Wei Emperor seemed to have become fate, and the son, like her husband, died at the age of 23.
At this time, Empress Feng was only 30 years old, and she had already become the empress dowager.
For the next 20 years, Empress Feng assisted her grandson Tuoba Hong, teaching him to handle major state affairs, and with her assistance, Sun Tzu reformed the official system and implemented the "Feng Lu system", effectively rectifying the phenomenon of corruption and bribery of officials.
Later, the "equalized land system" was introduced, and all men and women over the age of 15 could receive the corresponding land. Agricultural production developed rapidly because the cultivators had their own fields.
In the 34 years from 456 to 490, she assisted three emperors for the Northern Wei.
Summarizing Empress Feng's political talents is comparable to That of Wu Zetian and Cixi, but she has not been ridiculed by the world as a female demon who covets power.
Wu Zetian was too attached to power and seized the Jiangshan surnamed Li, which was a point that she had always been criticized by posterity.
Cixi did not blatantly seize Jiangshan like Wu Zetian, but she was in charge of Jiangshan and profligate, which she was not as good as Wu Zetian.
Empress Feng just understood that it was more difficult to defend the Jiangshan than to fight the Jiangshan, and it was her unshirkable responsibility to protect the Jiangshan for her lover and for her children and grandchildren.
At the same time, she also understood that the imperial power was always the Tuoba family's, not something she could covet.
References: Book of Wei, History of Northern Wei