The Book of the Later Han Dynasty once said: "Sweep the world and eliminate the troubles." "In the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and Wang Mang seized power and usurped the throne, establishing a new dynasty to rule. In such a chaotic world, Liu Xiu raised an army to resist the rule of the new dynasty, and with years of hard work, he finally restored the glory of the Han Dynasty and reunified the Central Plains.
Unlike modern society, in ancient societies, wars often broke out, and many people's lives changed drastically under the influence of wars.
For a woman in ancient society, if her husband was called to war, it meant that she was likely to live a lonely life from then on. But in real history, not all women will end up in a tragic end after their husbands go to war.
Once, three months after a woman married her husband, her husband left home to lead a soldier to fight, and two years later, when the woman was summoned to the harem, she found that her husband had actually become emperor. So, who is this woman? Which emperor was her husband?
The woman who became the emperor's favorite concubine was named Yin Lihua, and her husband was None other than Liu Xiu, the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
As the ninth generation descendant of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, although Liu Xiu had the status of an imperial relative, in the society at that time, the Western Han imperial family had gradually declined, and Liu Xiu's father was only a small local official.
Although Liu Xiu's growth environment was relatively depressed compared to the previous royal life, based on his father's official status, Liu Xiu's childhood was still worry-free. However, when Liu Xiu was only nine years old, his father died, and in desperation, he could only rely on his mother and live a poor life of the low-level people.
When he grew up, Liu Xiu was able to get the opportunity to enter Taixue for further study, and during this time, Liu Xiu also recognized his future wife, Yin Lihua.
As a woman from a rich family, Yin Lihua can be described as a veritable golden noblewoman. Although Yin Lihua's status at that time was much more noble than Liu Xiu's, she did not dislike Liu Xiu. During this time, the two were in love, and Liu Xiu also made up his mind that he must marry this woman into the family.
After that, in order to achieve the great cause in his heart, Liu Xiu decided to join his brother Liu Xiu in the army. With their outstanding performances on the battlefield, Liu Xiu and Liu Xiu's sphere of influence continued to expand. After that, due to the continuous expansion of Liu Xuan's power, Liu Xuan became jealous of him, and at the most popular, Liu Xuan killed Liu Xuan.
In the face of such a situation, Liu Xiu did not have any dissatisfaction with Liu Xuan's behavior, but was very calm. Not only that, in order to dispel the doubts in Liu Xuan's heart, at that time, he even returned to Nanyang to propose to Yin Lihua's father.
Although in the social background at that time, Liu Xiu did not successfully achieve a great deed, when Yin Lihua's father heard about Liu Xiu's various deeds, he also admired the young man in front of him. Subsequently, he agreed to Liu Xiu's proposal, and at this point, Yin Lihua and Liu Xiu were successfully married.
However, just three months after their new marriage, Liu Xiu was sent by Liu Xuan to Hebei to suppress the unrest. Although during this stage, Liu Xuan did not allocate the appropriate soldiers and horses for Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu successfully won the war with his outstanding ability.
After this war, Liu Xiu made up his mind to overthrow Liu Xuan, and finally, after two years of hard work, Liu Xiu finally got the opportunity to dominate the world.
When Liu Xiu successfully sat on the emperor's throne, he sent someone back to his hometown to bring Yin Lihua into the palace. At this point, Yin Lihua realized that her husband, who had been away from home for two years, had actually become the emperor.
Although according to Yin Lihua's identity, she should have sat on the throne of the empress, but in the process of Liu Xiu's seizure of power, she once married Liu Yang's niece Guo Shengtong as a wife in order to win over the forces of other famous and prestigious families, so in order to ensure the consolidation of her dominance, Liu Xiu could only give up the empress's position to Guo Shengtong.
In the face of such a situation, although Yin Lihua had some grievances in her heart, she was willing to make compromises for the sake of her husband's great cause of rule. Based on Yin Lihua's generosity and tolerance, Liu Xiu's ruling position became more and more stable, and with the help of Yin Lihua, the later Liu Xiu became a generation of Ming emperors, and left a thousand histories, becoming the object of emulation and learning of future kings.
epilogue
In the process of modern people's understanding of the ancient harem, it is generally believed that there are various disputes in the ancient harem, and the contradictions between women have never stopped. It can be seen from Yin Lihua's behavior that not all harem women will fight endlessly for the fame and fortune in front of them, and Yin Lihua's behavior has also set an example for many concubines in later generations to learn.
Although in the eyes of many people, Liu Xiu's behavior is a failure to live up to Yin Lihua, it can also be seen from his attitude towards Yin Lihua that the feelings between the two have not been disputed by the issue of belonging to the posthumous position.
From this story, it can be felt that even in ancient society, the emperor had supreme power and status, and could be affected by the external political environment, and they were likely to make many sacrifices that ordinary people could not accept.
Reference: Book of the Later Han Dynasty