She was a street showgirl, but also an empress who snatched people's sons, she had outstanding political achievements, she was the first regent empress of the Song Dynasty, she was often compared with Lü Yan and Wu Zetian, known as "there is the talent of Lü Wu, there is no evil of Lü Wu", she is the empress of Song Zhenzong - Liu E.
The real prototype of the tanuki for the prince
There is a widely spread legend in Chinese folklore- the tanuki cat for the prince, which takes place during the song zhenzong period. Two of Zhenzong's concubines, Li Chenfei and Liu Defei, were pregnant at the same time, and Liu Defei feared that Li Chenfei would be made empress before she gave birth to her son, so she agreed with guo Huai, the head of the palace, to bribe the midwife Youshi to let Youshi take advantage of Li Chenfei's unconsciousness after giving birth to a child, and exchange a fur-stripped tanuki cat for the newly born prince. Emperor Zhenzong thought that Concubine Li Chen had given birth to a youkai and relegated her to the Cold Palace. The crown prince was secretly taken by the eunuch Chen Lin to the Southern Qing Palace to raise him.
Soon, Princess Liu gave birth to a son and became Empress Liu as she wished. However, the child died when he was 6 years old. When Empress Liu learned that the son born to Concubine Li Chen was not dead, she adopted her, and the child became the crown prince. One day, the crown prince saw Concubine Li Chen in the cold palace, and both of them shed tears. When Empress Liu learned of this, she made a rumor in front of Zhenzong, who ordered that Concubine Li Chen be killed. With the help of the eunuchs Yu Zhong and Qin Feng, Concubine Li fled from the imperial palace to Chen Prefecture and lived in a broken cave and begged for a living. Later, the chancellor Bao Zheng went to Chen Prefecture to relieve the disaster and release grain, and Concubine Li Chen stopped the car and cried out. After Bao Zheng learned the truth, he and Concubine Li Chen pretended to be mother and son and brought them back to Kaifeng.
At this time, Zhenzong had long since passed away, and Li Chenfei's son was the emperor, known in history as Emperor Renzong of Song. Bao Zheng took advantage of Empress Renzong's birthday to bring Concubine Li Chenfei to the palace, and then designed for Chen Lin to confess the truth of the matter, and Concubine Li Chenfei was able to recognize her son. Empress Liu, who had already made empress dowager, was defeated in her plot and died of convulsions.
In fact, in history, there is indeed a matter of Renzong recognizing his mother, but this matter has nothing to do with Bao Zheng, when Renzong recognized his mother, Bao Zheng had not yet entered the army. However, part of the story is still true, and Liu Shi, who is called empress dowager by Emperor Renzong, is indeed not Emperor Renzong's birth mother.
Empress Liu's real name was Liu E, after the shogun, shortly after her birth, her father died in battle, and the family fell in the middle of the road, and her mother had to take her to live in her grandfather's house. Liu E has been clever and clever since she was a child, in addition to reading and reading, she also learned the livelihood skills of one-handed shrew fighting, and is good at speaking drum words.
At the age of 14, Liu E married a young silversmith named Gong Mei, and soon after marriage, she went to the capital city of Kaifeng with her husband to make a living. Gong Mei liked to make friends, and when he arrived in Kaifeng, he became good friends with Zhang Qi, who was on an errand in the Xiang Dynasty, who was zhao Heng, who would later be known as Emperor Zhenzong.
Liu E was born with a beautiful face, and often followed Gong Mei to fight outside to earn money, so her reputation was far and wide, and even the people in the palace knew that she was a beauty. Zhang Qi told Gong Mei about Zhao Heng, the King of Xiang, who was choosing a concubine, and implied that Liu E was a suitable candidate.
When Gong Mei heard Zhang Qi say this, she went back to consult with Liu E and sent her to the palace under the guise of being a brother and sister. After Liu E listened, she did not object. In this way, Liu E entered the Xiang King's Mansion.
After Liu E entered the Xiang King's mansion, she was soon favored by Zhao Heng, so the people under her also respected her, except for Zhao Heng's nursing mother Lady Qin. She believed that Liu E, who came from a humble background, was using charms to seduce Zhao Heng, so she tried everything to drive her out of the palace. However, Zhao Heng said that he was reluctant to let Liu E go, and Lady Qin Guo was angry and stabbed the matter in front of Zhao Heng's father, Emperor Taizong.
Emperor Taizong was furious when he found out, and immediately ordered Zhao Heng to drive Liu E out of the capital, and chose Pan Mei's eighth daughter as his wife. Forced by emperor Taizong's majesty, Zhao Heng had to send Liu E out of the palace, but instead of sending her out of the capital, he secretly hid her in Zhang Qi's home and went to private meetings from time to time.
Six years later, Pan died, and Emperor Taizong ordered Zhao Heng to marry Guo Shouwen, the second daughter of Guo Shouwen, the envoy of Xuanhui Nanyuan. After Emperor Taizong's death, Zhao Heng took the throne as the full name of the real "Makeup Box", "Jinshuiqiao Chen Lin Hugging Makeup Box", a meta-drama. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, there was no crown prince, and it was fortunate that Li Meiren had a son. Empress Liu ordered the palace maid Kou Chengyu to discard the crown prince. Kou Chengyu and the eunuch Chen Lin sent the crown prince to The Eighth King, Zhao Defang. Ten years later, Emperor Zhenzong died, and Defangzi took the throne as Emperor Renzong, knowing his origins, and made Li Meiren empress.
Zong, Guo Shi was made empress, Liu E was also taken back to the palace, and was named Sipin Beauty, and Zhenzong still loved her very much.
In April of the fourth year of Jingde (1007), Empress Guo died of illness, and Emperor Zhenzong wanted to appoint Liu E as his successor, but the ministers believed that Liu E was of humble origin, did not give birth to a prince, and was not qualified to be empress. The ministers suggested that the granddaughter of Chancellor Shen Lun, the 14-year-old Shen Cairen, should be appointed as the queen. Emperor Zhenzong was very dissatisfied with the attitude of the ministers, so he simply did not talk about the matter of the posthumous, and kept the post vacant.
She gave birth to a son by belly and became an empress
Although Liu E was favored by Zhenzong, she never got pregnant. As she grew older, she realized that she was becoming less and less likely to become pregnant, so she came up with a trick to give birth to a child through her belly. Liu E had a maid surnamed Li by her side, who was beautiful in appearance and solemn and taciturn, so Liu E asked her to serve Zhenzong. After Li Shi became pregnant, Zhenzong claimed to the outside world that Liu E was pregnant, that is to say, the farce of giving birth to a child was also involved.
It is said that during Li's pregnancy, one day he climbed the platform with Zhenzong, and the jade on his bun accidentally fell. Zhenzong secretly prayed in his heart that if the jade was intact, Li Shi would be pregnant with a boy. The orderer picked up the jade noodle and looked at it, the jade was really intact, and Zhenzong was very happy. Soon after, Li Shidu gave birth to a son, and this child was the later Emperor Renzong Zhao Zhen. After giving birth to a prince, Li Shi was given the title of Chongyang County Jun, and later gave birth to a princess, who was promoted to the title of Talented Man. Emperor Zhenzong did not attach importance to the concubine who gave birth to the crown prince, and pity her for giving birth to a prince, but she could only die alone.
After Liu E "gave birth to a child", she handed the child over to Yang Jieyu, who had always been good friends with her, to raise. The Yang clan was extremely obedient to Liu E, and Liu E also trusted her very much, so Zhenzong also took good care of her, and every time he was promoted to Liu E, the Yang clan would also be able to be promoted.
Since Liu E had already "given birth to a son", Emperor Zhenzong again mentioned the matter of Lihou, but most of the officials in the court knew the truth and still disagreed. Emperor Zhenzong had no choice but to first promote Liu E to concubine, and then a month later to empress. In order to avoid the opposition of the courtiers again, everything was simple, there was no sealing ceremony, no official entering the congratulations, just announcing it in the palace, and then passing the edict to the Zhongshu provinces.
After Liu E became empress, she often went in and out with Zhenzong, and when Zhenzong read the recital every day, she would definitely accompany her. She knew a lot about the political affairs of the DPRK and China, and was often able to give Zhenzong some good advice, and Zhenzong was even more inseparable from her. In addition, Liu E was never pampered and proud, and never competed with other concubines for jealousy, so Zhenzong liked her more, even if he went out to patrol, he would inevitably take her with him.
Thick burial of Lee's
In February of the fourth year of the Tianxi Dynasty (1020), Emperor Zhenzong fell seriously ill and was unable to approve the recital, and most of the political affairs were handled by Liu E. Emperor Zhenzong had great trust in Liu E, and when he found that his illness was getting worse and worse, he issued an edict saying: "After that, crown prince Zhao Zhen will listen to the government at Zishan Hall, and Empress Xianming will assist from the side." As soon as the edict came out, Liu E was able to administer the government in a justifiable manner, which made many ministers uneasy.
In the first year of Qianxing (1022), Emperor Zhenzong died of illness, and the crown prince Zhao Zhen took the throne, known as Emperor Renzong of Song, and Liu E was honored as empress dowager. At this time, Zhao Zhen was only 11 years old, so the major affairs in the dynasty were decided by Liu E.
After Liu E came to power, she quickly removed the exclusive forces in the DPRK and began to bow to the government, shaking hands with the great power of the DPRK and the CPC. During this time, the politics of the Song court was still relatively clear, and Liu E's orders were strict, rewards and punishments were measured, and she did not condone her cronies. On major issues, we do not insist on going our own way, but humbly listen to the opinions of our ministers.
Although Liu E did not make Emperor Renzong and her birth mother Li Shi recognize her, she made her Shunrong after Zhenzong's death. When Emperor Zhenzong was alive, Liu E had already asked li's family brothers to visit them and make them officials in the court. Later, Li Shi became seriously ill, and Liu E sent a doctor to diagnose and treat her, and personally issued an edict to make her a concubine. Li Died on the night of receiving the edict, and Liu E ordered li to be buried according to the etiquette of the palace people, and moved the coffin outside the palace to prepare for the funeral from Jane. This matter was known to the chancellor Lü Yijian, who said to Liu E: "How does Niangniang disregard the Liu family? The subject did not dare to say much, but if he wanted to make Liu Shi long-term peace, it would be difficult for Concubine Li Chen's funeral to be light. Listening to Lü Yijian's words, Liu E immediately understood the stakes, so she buried Li with the courtesy of empress, and posthumously crowned Li's father, promoting her brother Li Yonghe to an official position.
In March of the second year of the Ming Dynasty (1033), Liu E died of illness, and Zhao Yuanyu, the King of Yan, told Emperor Renzong the truth, saying that Li Shi was poisoned by Liu E. Emperor Renzong was shocked to learn of his origins and asked Li Yonghe to personally open the coffin for an autopsy. After the coffin was opened, I saw that Li Shi was wearing the queen's dress, soaked in mercury, and the body did not decay at all, and the color was like life, lying peacefully in the coffin. Emperor Renzong sighed, "How can people believe what they say?" Therefore, before Liu E's tablet, he knelt down to apologize for his sins, and gave the Liu clan a promotion, and said: "From now on, the life of the Great Niangniang (Renzong called Liu E the Great Niangniang, and the Yang Clan as the Little Niangniang) can be innocent and clear. ”