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In his lifetime, Song Renzong married 16 wives and gave birth to 16 children, with an average of one per wife. It seems that fertility is still good, but in fact, of the 16 children, 13 are daughters and only three sons. Moreover, all the sons died prematurely.
The eldest son, Zhao Fang, died just after birth. The second son, Zhao Xin, lived until he died at the age of 4. The third son, Zhao Xi, died at the age of 2.
(Statue of Song Renzong)
When Emperor Renzong of Song's eldest son died prematurely, and he could not wait for the arrival of his second son, he was a little anxious, and in the second year of Jingyou (1035), he passed on Zhao Zongshi, the thirteenth son of Zhao Yunrang, the Prince of Pu, and handed him over to Empress Cao to raise, when Zhao Zongshi was only 3 years old.
Although Zhao Zongshi was young, he was relatively early and wise, and he understood that being admitted to the palace was to be trained to become an emperor in the future, so he studied seriously and never played greedily. And very frugal and simple, often dressed like a Confucian student who reads hard in the cold window. He was also very polite to people, and every time he went to see his teacher, he wore court clothes as a sign of respect.
The reason why Zhao Zongshi did this was because he knew that this was simply a big pie that fell from the sky. Originally, his father Zhao Yunrang had a total of 22 sons (before and after), and in the year he entered the palace, his father also had at least more than 10, and his father was the grandson of Song Taizong, although he was also an imperial relative, in fact, he was already far away, and he had not yet been crowned king at that time. Waiting to inherit his father's title is basically unlikely. When the emperor was divided, he didn't know that it would be the Year of the Monkey and the Month of Ma. And now that he was suddenly taken into the palace and prepared to inherit the throne in the future, how could the early-wise Zhao Zongshi not seize this opportunity?
However, even if Zhao Zongshi tried so hard, it was in vain. In the second year of Baoyuan (1039), Zhao Xin, the second son of Emperor Renzong of Song, was born, and the 7-year-old Zhao Zongshi was immediately sent back by Emperor Renzong of Song to his father Zhao Yunrang. Zhao Zongshi's dream of being an emperor was shattered.
In those years, Song Renzong's luck was not bad, he not only had a second son Zhao Xin in the second year of Baoyuan (1039), but also a third son Zhao Xi in the first year of the Qing calendar (1041).
Emperor Renzong of Song had two sons, and Zhao Zongshi had little hope.
(Statue of Song Yingzong)
However, in the third year of the Qing calendar (1043), the two sons of Emperor Renzong of Song died one after another.
His sons had all died prematurely, and Song Renzong had to consider the issue of succession, at this time, Song Renzong successively gave Zhao Zongshi the title of official and appointed a teacher. Although he was not re-admitted to the palace, it was actually the meaning of continuing to cultivate him as a successor.
However, cultivation is cultivation, but it does not mention the matter of appointing him as heir.
It was not until the third year of Jiayou (1058) that the chancellor Han Qi and the Scholar Bao Zheng of Longtuge both suggested to Song Renzong the matter of making an emperor, that is, to make Zhao Zongshi the crown prince. At this time, Zhao Zongshi was already 26 years old, and Song Renzong was already 48 years old. But Song Renzong said, don't worry, I have a concubine who is pregnant, wait.
Think about it, when Zhao Zongshi heard this, how big was the shadow area in his heart!
But Song Renzong's luck was really bad, and the concubine gave birth to another daughter.
In this way, Song Renzong had to consider Zhao Zongshi again, and he successively promoted Zhao Zongshi to the post of Defense Envoy of Qin Prefecture and Zhizong Zheng temple. However, Zhao Zongshi was probably angry in his heart, and at that time, his biological father Zhao Yunrang also happened to die, so he resigned four times in a row in the name of filial piety to his father.
(Portrait of Han Qi)
It was not until the seventh year of Jiayou (1062) that Song Renzong saw that all the concubines' stomachs were flattened, and he was already 52 years old, so he had to make up his mind to change the name of Zhao Zongshi to Zhao Shu.
But by this time, Zhao Zongshi had already learned his lesson, saying that he was ill and could not be qualified for this important position. He asked someone to write a resignation, and the song was played more than a dozen times, but Song Renzong did not agree, and also sent someone to persuade him. He couldn't push it anymore before he set off. But when he left, he said to the servants of the house, "You must take care of my bunk, and I will come back later."
As a result, in the second year after becoming crown prince (1063), Song Renzong died, so his position as crown prince was firmly established, and he became emperor smoothly.