Meng, a native of Yongnian, Handan, Hebei Province, was born in 1073 from a family of eunuchs. At the age of 16, she was elected to the palace with the daughters of more than a hundred officials and eunuchs, and because of her graceful appearance and lack of arrogance, she was deeply liked by Empress Gao. When Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty ascended the throne, he was only 10 years old, and his grandmother was high and obedient. Gao Taotao was the empress of the Yingzong Dynasty, the empress dowager of the Shenzong Dynasty, and the empress dowager of the Zhezong Dynasty, with old qualifications, high reputation, and frightening power, so that Song Zhezong could become an empress whoever became an empress. The Meng clan was dignified and virtuous, intelligent and thoughtful, and very popular with Himo, so he was chosen as the empress of Zhezong and called "Empress Yuanyou".
The mother of a country becomes a Taoist aunt
A year later, Empress Meng gave birth to her daughter, Princess Fuqing. But Song Zhezong did not like her and favored Liu Qingjing. The beautiful and talented Liu Qingjing was pampered and arrogant, she did not abide by the etiquette of the palace, and was sloppy and rude to Empress Meng, and the palace people were indignant, while the gentle Empress Meng never fought with her, but only repeatedly endured.
Empress Meng
In 1096, Princess Fuqing became seriously ill and the medicine stone was ineffective. Empress Meng's sister tried to save the princess with Taoist rune water. After the princess died of illness, Liu Qingjing, who was jealous of Empress Meng, manipulated right and wrong, falsely accusing her of cursing Zhezong and plotting against her. The Zhe Sect sent people to investigate in detail, and the Imperial City Division tortured the palace women and eunuchs around the empress to extract confessions, and dozens of people were severely tortured and beaten to the point of exhaustion, and even those who had their tongues cut off and their limbs were not a few. Because they did not want to slander Empress Meng, in the end, the Imperial City Division forged a confession and made a wrongful imprisonment.
Emperor Zhezong then used the excuse of "confusing heretics and evil words from the side, and after the edict was abolished", the Meng clan was placed in the Yaohua Palace to become a monk, with the titles of "Huayang Sect Master", "Jade Qing Miao Jing Immortal Master", and the legal name "Chong Zhen". Empress Meng went from being the mother of a glorious country to a Daogu in an instant, when she was only 23 years old.
Ups and downs are then abolished
The so-called "Yaohua Palace" is actually just a small courtyard located in the fenjing neighborhood, with only a few dilapidated houses. Meng Shi is in such a "cold palace", day by day through the years of clearing the lights and bitter candles.
News from the palace came one after another: Liu Qingjing was enthroned as a concubine, and soon gave birth to a son, then she became the new empress, and then the new empress's son died. So after another four years, even more amazing news came, and Zhezong died! Suddenly, one day, a gorgeous calf car stopped in front of the Yaohua Palace to pick up Meng Shi and return to the palace. It turned out that Emperor Huizong Zhao, who had just ascended the throne, wanted to restore Meng's position as empress. At that time, Liu Qingjing had already become an empress and was honored as Empress Yuanfu, and Empress Meng had to be honored as Empress Yuanyou. A year later, Empress Liu colluded with Cai Jing and others to depose the Meng clan again, and she was reassigned back to Yaohua Palace, giving her the title of "Xi Weiyuan Notice and Miao Jing Immortal Master".
Song Zhezong
After experiencing two stands and two wastes, and turning around, Meng Shi changed into a Daoist robe and returned to the dilapidated and claustrophobic Yaohua Palace. This time, she stayed in Yaohua Palace for more than twenty years. In the long claustrophobic years, every year and month is like a day, there is almost no change, but in the red dust, it is a thing that is not human: Empress Yuanfu has already committed suicide, the mountains and rivers have changed dramatically, the Jurchen Jin kingdom has risen, and the Great Song dynasty is in danger.
Blessed by misfortune the Lord's reign
In 1126, the Yaohua Palace caught fire, and Meng Hou was moved to another cold palace, Yanning Palace, which caught fire again. At that time, the Jin soldiers were already in the city, and it was difficult for the imperial family to protect themselves, so Meng Hou had to make a living for herself and lived in her mother's house in front of the Xiangguo Temple.
In the first month of 1127, the Jin army attacked Beijing, captured the Second Emperor Hui Qin, more than 470 imperial family members, and more than 2,000 civil and military officials, and the Jin state escorted them all north in an attempt to completely destroy the Song Dynasty. Because the Meng clan had been reduced to a folk commoner and was not on the royal roster, the "Difficulty of Jing Kang" was instead blessed by misfortune and was spared the misfortune of being enslaved in the north. The world is paradoxical, and the Jin Dynasty certainly would not have thought that only because of this missed Daogu, the Song Dynasty did not completely perish.
Zhang Bangchang
After the Jin army retreated, Kaifeng City left a puppet government, headed by Zhang Bangchang, who was established by the Jin people as Emperor Chu. At that time, the people's hearts were toward the Song, and the only survivor of the Song royal family was the Meng family, so Zhang Bangchang welcomed the Meng family into the Yanfu Palace, accepted the worship of hundreds of officials, named her "Empress Song", restored the honorific title of "Empress Yuanyou" of the Meng family, and asked her to bow to the curtain and preside over the government.
The change does not frighten the Great Song
Most of his life's injuries and grievances came from the Zhao and Song court, but the Meng clan, who had spent nearly thirty years in cold silence, did not remember the abolition of Emperor Zhezong and Emperor Huizong, and was bent on thinking about the King of Zhao and Song. She said that the country was in danger, and as the daughter-in-law of the Great Song Dynasty, I did not dare to stand idly by. She personally wrote an edict to lament the difficulties of the country and encourage everyone to tide over the difficulties together.
In order to preserve the Song Dynasty and the Zhao family, the Meng clan perfunctorily looked for the orphan of the Song dynasty in Jeju, that is, zhao shuo, the ninth son of Emperor Huizong of Song. She sent someone with a secret letter to persuade Zhao to claim the title of emperor in the hope of recovery. With Empress Meng's edict, the 21-year-old Zhao Shuo ascended the throne at Yingtianfu (present-day Nanjing) as Emperor Gaozong of Song, the founding emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, and since then the Song dynasty has been continued.
Emperor Gaozong of Song zhao
On the day zhao zhao ascended the throne, Meng Hou withdrew the curtain and returned to the government, and he retired after his achievements. Zhao Zhao honored her as Empress Yuanyou, and later changed her to Empress Dowager Longyou. Less than two years later, the rebel generals Miao and Liu led an army to rebel, besieged Emperor Gaozong's palace, coerced Emperor Gaozong to abdicate, forced him to give way to the 3-year-old crown prince, and asked Empress Meng to hang the curtain again. Empress Meng, who was not alarmed, ostensibly agreed to the request of the rebel general, and privately immediately sent someone to send an edict out of the city to secretly contact the Qin Wang's divisions in various places. Soon, Han Shizhong led a large army to quell the "Miao-Liu Rebellion", Emperor Gaozong was restored, and then Meng Hou immediately withdrew and returned to power.
As soon as the civil unrest subsided, Jin Bing went south in a big way, hoping to capture Song Gaozong and Meng Hou alive and completely destroy Song. Empress Meng went into exile in Jiangxi, and her entourage fled, and finally had to find farmers to carry the car. After a few bumps, Meng Hou was welcomed back to Hangzhou by Emperor Gaozong.
Andu's later life is famous
Empress Meng was respectful in temperament, never allowed the emperor to seek an official position for his relatives, and his life was also very frugal, and he could only take a small amount of living expenses every month to get by. She likes to drink, Zhao Zhuo thinks that the more sour and bitter the wine, it is not good to drink, so he ordered someone to buy sweet wine for her, and Meng Shi must send someone to pay the bill, never forcibly taking and not paying for the wine.
The benevolent Empress Meng asked the imperial court to reduce taxes for the places where she was in exile; to take in the concubines of the Zhezong dynasty in the imperial palace and take care of their lives; and even for Liu Qingjing's daughter, Empress Meng complained with virtue and gave her many kinds of care.
Emperor Gaozong of Song was not related to the Meng clan by blood, but without Meng Hou, Zhao Zhuo could not have become emperor and it would be difficult to survive the crisis. Deeply feeling the kindness of Empress Meng, Zhao Zhuo respected her as a biological mother, respected and respected her, and everything was taken care of personally, and when there was fresh fruit, she must first offer the empress dowager, and then she was willing to taste it herself. Meng Hou was seriously ill, and Zhao Zhaoyi inexplicably took care of him in front of the bed.
In 1131, Empress Meng died at the age of 58. Emperor Gaozong of Song was so grief-stricken that he did not go to the court for several days, and later buried Meng hou in Shanghuang Village, Shaoxing. Meng Hou's spiritual tablets were not only placed in the ancestral chamber of Emperor Zhezong of Song, but also ranked above Empress Liu, empress Dowager Zhaoci, and two years later, Zhao Zhuo felt that this title was not enough to show the merits of Empress Meng, and changed it to "Empress Zhaoci Shengxian".
As a woman, Meng's marriage did not meet a good fate, her husband was ruthless and widowed, and her only daughter died prematurely; although she was an empress, she not only did not get the emperor's favor, but was innocently deposed, and spent nearly thirty years of miserable Spring and Autumn in the shadow of the green lantern. Although life has gone through ups and downs several times, Meng Shi has followed the waves, and beyond personal love and hatred, with his own wisdom and heart, broadening a broader pattern and realm. Because of her existence, the Southern Song Dynasty existed in Chinese history, and the Great Song Dynasty lasted for more than 153 years.