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In ancient China, every emperor went through a very rigorous process of consideration when choosing his heir. However, it is worth noting that in the history of China, reigning kings have also been unable to pass on their thrones to their heirs for various reasons.
For example, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, was like this. After a hundred years, he did not choose to pass the throne to his son, but to his brother, all of which also stemmed from Zhao Kuangyin's mother listening to the advice of a Taoist priest during the turmoil.
The same was true of Song Renzong, who did not give birth to his own eldest son during his reign, so in desperation, he chose a man from the clan and passed it on to him as his adopted son, and then passed the throne to him.
But what puzzled future generations was that in the vein of Zhao Guangyi, Emperor Taizong of Song, there were a large number of men in the Zong clan. If Emperor Renzong of Song wanted to choose a particularly favorite son of the Zong clan to inherit the throne, he would also face many choices.
But surprisingly, Song Renzong finally chose Zhao Shu and asked him to take over his throne. And the reason for all this is also closely related to Song Renzong's father.
1. Emperor Zhenzong of Song established the crown prince
In the history of the Song Dynasty, Song Zhenzong was a particularly politically gifted monarch. During his reign, he vigorously developed the economy of the Northern Song Dynasty, which also made the economic level of the Northern Song Dynasty develop to the point of reaching the peak.
Although he signed a covenant with the Liao state during his reign, the signing of this contract still ushered in a series of benefits for the Northern Song Dynasty. To some extent, although the military strength of the Song Dynasty was very weak, the great dream of recovering Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures had always been out of reach.
However, Song Zhenzong adopted the way of curving the country to save the country, and obtained the other two regions of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, in other words, this was also a great leap. The series of contributions made during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song also laid a solid foundation for Song Renzong to create a prosperous and prosperous world.
But when Song Zhenzong was old, he also had to face an important topic, that is, who should he choose to inherit his throne? Although Song Zhenzong had three thousand harem beauties, he frequently suffered the pain of losing his son.
In just a few years, all 5 sons of Song Zhenzong died for various reasons. At the time of the death of his fifth son, Song Renzong was actually only in his 30s, but at that time he was already vulnerable because of several three-fold blows.
Suddenly, Manchu Wenwu was also anxious because Song Zhenzong had lost his sons one after another. In order to stabilize the country, the ministers of the DPRK and China jointly wrote letters, hoping that Song Zhenzong would come out of his grief and choose an outstanding son among the descendants of the clan to inherit the throne.
In desperation, Song Zhenzong agreed to the proposal of the chancellor. After much thought, Song Zhenzong decided to let Zhao Yunjian, who was only 8 years old at the time, pass on to his knees, and in this way, Zhao Yunrang became one of the candidates for the throne.
However, at that time, Song Zhenzong was young and strong, and it was the best time to give birth. Therefore, in the 7 years of cultivating Zhao Yunrang, Song Zhenzong carefully taught Zhao Yunrang while working hard with his concubines to create people. So in this case, Song Zhenzong's own son was born.
To some extent, this meant that Zhao Yunrang rubbed shoulders with the throne, and Song Zhenzong was equally guilty, so he ordered Zhao Yunrang to do the Wei Zhou Assassination History. Zhao Yunrang was very happy, so he began to travel in the mountains and rivers, indulging in sound and color, and he and his wife and concubine gave birth to several children in one go, and Zhao Shu was Zhao Yunrang's 13th son.
2. The heirs of Emperor Renzong of Song withered away
After the death of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Emperor Renzong of Song ascended to the throne under the expectations of everyone. The same as his father is Su Renzong, although there are thousands of harem beauties, but the heirs under the knee are very withered.
During Song Renzong's lifetime, he had 3 sons and 13 daughters, but only 4 daughters survived. Song Renzong had no choice but to look for a prince among the imperial heirs of the clan like a father, and let him become his own son and take over the throne instead of himself.
During the whole process of investigation, Song Renzong also remembered his father's guilt for Zhao Yunrang before he was born. This was to be able to make up for Zhao Yunrang, and Song Renzong decided to choose a male from his descendants to bring to the palace, and raise him personally to be the heir of the Song Dynasty.
As a result, Zhao Shu, who was only three years old, was sent to the palace and raised by Song Renzong himself. The difference between Song Renzong and Song Zhenzong was that he really wanted Zhao Shu to be the crown prince. Moreover, Zhao Shu is also very intelligent, not only studying hard but also very filial piety.
To some extent, Zhao Shu's series of moves made Song Renzong very satisfied. Moreover, Song Renzong himself is a person with an extremely restrained personality, and he is very generous to anyone he faces. Therefore, under the careful cultivation of Song Renzong, the tricks became more and more excellent.
In fact, the main reason why Song Renzong chose Zhao Shu in the first place was because he was still young. Being young means that Zhao Shu's feelings for his biological father are not deep, and if he is cultivated for a long time in the palace, it will more or less alleviate his long-cherished feelings for his parents.
In this way, nothing would happen outside of Song Renzong's control. In addition, Zhao Shu is indeed very clever, but his succession time is very short, but it does play an important role in the history of the Song Dynasty, and also lays the groundwork for the prosperity of the Song Dynasty.
In a person's life, there will be a series of coincidences to a greater or lesser extent. At that time, Song Zhenzong chose to let Zhao Yunrang be his successor. In the end, for various reasons, he passed the throne to his son. And Song Renzong faced the same problem after succeeding to the throne, more or less a kind of indebtedness, or perhaps a joke given by heaven.
Reference: History of the Song Dynasty