Zhao Kuangyin's death is a historical suspense case, whether he was killed by his brother Zhao Kuangyi, or died of illness, there are still many doubts and controversies, but it is certain that this pair of brothers who were once close and fought side by side did have conflicts because of power, and Zhao Kuangyi also had a motive to kill Zhao Kuangyin.
Zhao Kuangyin was originally a subordinate of Chai Rong of Zhou Shizong, and before his death, chai Rong, in order to balance the guards ma Budu commanded li Chongjin, promoted Zhao Kuangyin to be the inspector of the school, and let him command the forbidden army, hoping that Zhao Kuangyin could contain Li Chongjin and prevent Li Chongjin from rebelling after his death, but who would have thought that this arrangement before Chai Rong's death would let his son Chai Zongxun lose the emperor.
After Chai Rong's death, Zhao Kuangyin, relying on his good connections in the Forbidden Army, planned the Chen Qiao Mutiny and seized Chai Zongxun's throne without bloodshed. This was an unfortunate thing for Chai Rong, but it was a great fortune for the world, because Zhao Kuangyin completed Chai Rong's unfinished business, and he successively destroyed the former Shu, Later Shu, Southern Tang, Southern Han and other separatist regimes, ending the most chaotic five generations and ten kingdoms in China.
After Zhao Kuangyin seized the throne, the first thing to do was to consolidate his throne, in order to avoid the recurrence of the Chen Qiao Mutiny, Zhao Kuangyin directed himself to perform a cup of wine to release the military power, seized the military power of the military generals, and also laid the tradition of the Song Dynasty to emphasize literature and light weapons. Although Zhao Kuangyin guarded against the military generals and eliminated their threat, his younger brother Zhao Kuangyi's power continued to grow, posing a threat to Zhao Kuangyin's throne.
In order to weaken Zhao Kuangyi's power and allow his son to successfully inherit the throne, Zhao Kuangyin planned to weaken Zhao Kuangyin's power by moving the capital, but because the relocation of the capital was laborious and the people were hurting money, they were opposed by the Qunchen, and Zhao Kuangyin was forced to temporarily terminate the plan to move the capital. However, because of this incident, he and Zhao Kuangyi gradually had a gap, which also made people feel that Zhao Kuangyin's death was caused by Zhao Kuangyi. After Zhao Kuangyin's death, the throne was seized by his younger brother Zhao Kuangyi.
After Zhao Kuangyin's death, his empress Dowager Song wanted to influence the situation, and after she learned of Zhao Kuangyin's death, she did not rush to the emperor, but first asked people to invite Zhao Kuangyin's son Zhao Defang into the palace, wanting to support Zhao Defang as emperor. However, the eunuch Wang Ji'en betrayed Empress Song, and he informed Zhao Kuangyi of Zhao Kuangyin's death, allowing Zhao Kuangyi to enter the palace first and ascend the throne. It can be said that without Wang Ji'en's ventilated message, the 24-year-old imperial sister-in-law Empress Song may have ruined Zhao Kuangyi's good deeds and made his ascension to the throne reign again.
Empress Song was the third empress of Zhao Kuangyin, her father was Song Wei, the grandson of Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, and her mother was Princess Yongning, the daughter of Liu Zhiyuan of the Later Han Dynasty, who was properly born into a noble family. Thanks to her noble birth and good upbringing, Empress Song was not only stunning, but also graceful and luxurious, gentle and delicate. She was only 17 years old when she married Zhao Kuangyin, and Zhao Kuangyin was 42 years old, but the age did not affect their feelings, Empress Song took good care of Zhao Kuangyin, and Zhao Kuangyin also loved Empress Song incomparably, and the two had a deep affection.
After Empress Song married Zhao Kuangyin, although the two were incomparably affectionate, Empress Song did not give birth to an heir for Zhao Kuangyin, but she loved Zhao Kuangyin's children very much, because Zhao Kuangyin's eldest son Zhao Dezhao was older than Empress Song, in order to avoid suspicion, Empress Song and Zhao Defang intended to keep a distance, but Zhao Defang was a child of several years old, and there was no concern, so Empress Song especially loved Zhao Defang. After hearing the news of Zhao Kuangyin's death, Empress Song immediately thought of letting Zhao Defang inherit the throne.
But Zhao Kuangyi preemptively became emperor, Empress Song was also a wise person, she saw Zhao Kuangyi become emperor, in order to protect her and Zhao Defang, quickly recognized Zhao Kuangyi's status as emperor, and said that after that, their mother and son would all rely on Zhao Kuangyi. At that time, in order to appease Empress Song and ensure that his ascension to the throne would not be out of the ordinary, Zhao Kuangyi promised to protect Empress Song and Zhao Defang's mother and son.
But the existence of Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang was a threat to Zhao Kuangyi in itself, how could he let them go? When Zhao Kuangyi first ascended the throne as emperor, in order to consolidate the imperial throne and appease the needs of the world, he was particularly kind to Zhao Kuangyin's two sons, but after the throne was secured, they both suffered misfortune. Zhao Dezhao was reprimanded by Zhao Kuangyi for fear of committing suicide, and Zhao Defang also died inexplicably after becoming an adult.
As soon as Zhao Defang died, Empress Song's spiritual sustenance and patrons were gone, and the only thing facing her was the endless desolation and loneliness in the palace. And Zhao Kuangyi did not give her the treatment she deserved, he not only ignored Empress Song, but also did not honor her as empress dowager according to etiquette. After Zhao Defang's death, Empress Song lived miserably in the harem for another twenty years. In the first year of the Dao, Empress Song completed her unfortunate life at the age of 44. After Empress Song's death, Zhao Kuangyi not only did not bury her with the ceremony of empress, but also did not allow Empress Song to enter the Taimiao Temple and bury her with Zhao Kuangyin, which can be said to have a rather tragic ending. It was not until the time of Emperor Shenzong of Song that he put Empress Song into the Taimiao Temple and gave Empress Song the treatment she deserved.