Because the Tang Dynasty was very open, there were female emperors like Wu Zetian, and the ministers of the tang dynasty were not dissatisfied, and they still had the same attitude towards other emperors, as if this had become a matter of course. But in fact, in the Song Dynasty, there was a similar figure, the same woman, the same power to the opposition, as long as he wanted to be the emperor, he could become the Wu Zetian of the Song Dynasty at any time, he was Liu E, the empress of Song Zhenzong.
Liu E and Wu Meiniang have similar origins, Liu E's ancestors were generals in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, although her father was still a thorn history, but when Liu E was very young, her parents both died, and the lonely liu E defected to her grandmother's family, later became a singer, and was forced to marry a local silversmith when she grew up. Later, the silversmith went to Tokyo to develop, and in order to dredge up the way and establish relations with the magnates, he sold Liu E to the men of Zhao Heng, the king of Han, who in turn dedicated Liu E to Zhao Heng.
Later, Zhao Heng became emperor, so Liu E entered the palace and became the emperor's concubine, although Liu Heng was deeply favored by Zhao Heng, and Liu Heng also intended to make Liu E an empress, but considering Liu E's origin, and once married, it was temporarily shelved.
Later, through Liu E's efforts, Zhao Heng finally made up his mind, despite the opposition of the chancellor, to make Liu E an empress, and because of his own health, Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng began to entrust part of the state affairs to Liu E. Liu E, who has suffered from childhood, her calm mind and decisiveness in doing things are by no means comparable to those who were born with a golden key, and after perfectly completing Song Zhenzong's tasks again and again, Liu E's power has become more and more large, and she can already stand alone.
After the death of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, the emperor who succeeded to the throne was Emperor Renzong of Song, and Liu E became empress dowager. Because Song Renzong was still a child at that time, all the power in the dynasty was in the hands of Liu E, and for the Song Dynasty, which was deeply influenced by Confucianism, to let a woman take power, the ministers were of course unwilling to accept it. Among them, Fan Zhongyan was very dissatisfied, and had written to the empress dowager many times, asking the empress dowager not to interfere in state affairs, and although His Majesty was young, he also had to let the emperor personally participate, and you could not decide alone, but our ministers had to discuss it together.
Liu E did not hand over power because some people objected, but handled the government more carefully, and in the few years that Liu E was in power, Liu E appointed sages, reformed the rule of officials, and the strength of the country flourished, which was very famous in history. During Liu E's reign, in fact, some people had already suggested that Liu E be called emperor, but Liu E refused, saying that she only wanted to be a good empress dowager and seek the welfare of the people, and did not want to be Wu Zetian.