The most famous emperor in the history of the Song Dynasty was, of course, Emperor Renzong of Song. He reigned for 42 years and was the longest-reigning emperor of the Song Dynasty. During his reign, the country was stable and socio-economically and culturally developed. Moreover, Song Renzong himself was kind and kind, and he was a good person without compromise. Therefore, posterity spoke highly of him and called his era "Renzong Shengzhi".
But it was such an emperor, and his family life was difficult to say happy, because several of his empresses did not let him worry.
The first empress of Emperor Renzong of Song was Empress Guo, the granddaughter of Guo Chong, the emissary of the Beiping Lu Army. This was a real arranged marriage, and under the arrangement of Empress Dowager Liu E, the "mother queen" of Song Renzong, two thirteen or fourteen-year-old children entered the cave room without understanding. In terms of origin, posture and talent, Empress Guo has nothing to criticize. However, she had two shortcomings, the first of which was that Empress Guo had great respect for Taoist culture because of her family's academic relationship, so she made some strange books and nagged all day long; the second shortcoming was that Empress Guo had a bad temper and dared to make trouble with the emperor. Therefore, Song Renzong was not very satisfied with his empress.
Folk couples, bedside quarrels and bedside closes, in fact, Song Renzong is similar. Although he was not satisfied with Empress Guo, there was still a basis for his feelings. But Song Renzong had one biggest problem: childlessness! I don't know why, Song Renzong's harem number is quite large, and there are many children, but there are very few sons, and one is still born and one dies. Seeing that the Great Song Dynasty was going to be extinct, Emperor Renzong of Song could only increase the reserves of the harem. As soon as they came and went, there were two low-status beauties entering the palace, namely Shang Meiren and Yang Meiren. Because of their family relationship, these two beauties did not dare to come out in the harem atmosphere, and they seemed very gentle and euphemistic. And Song Renzong just liked such women, so he was very fond of them. Of course, Empress Guo was not willing to interfere, and she interfered more in ordinary days. Once again, Empress Guo saw Song Renzong and shangmei playing, and her jealousy burned, and she went forward to scold Shangmeiren. Shang Meiren was scolded so anxiously that she returned the mouth. Empress Guo was even more angry, and even slapped her past in spite of a decent slap. Unexpectedly, Song Renzong just came to persuade him and stopped between the two of them, and as a result, Empress Guo's slap just hit Song Renzong's neck, leaving a clear palm print.
Although Song Renzong had not been in power for a long time, he had also been pampered since childhood, and someone there dared to move his finger! The emperor, who had always been generous, hurried to complain to the prime minister, pointed to the palm print on his neck and said, "The empress dares to beat me, you think about what to do!" The chancellor Lü Yijian had always had a conflict with Empress Guo, and at this time he took the opportunity to take revenge and advocate the abolition of Emperor Renzong of Song. Song Renzong was furious and actually agreed. Therefore, Empress Guo was invited into the Taoist Temple on the grounds of "childlessness".
But Song Renzong's heart was still relatively generous. He was really separated from his wife, and he still had some intolerance in his heart. A year later, Song Renzong couldn't bear to miss it, so he had people send a band to Empress Guo. Empress Guo replied to the poem and sang peace, and the two rekindled their old love. Song Renzong originally wanted to secretly take Empress Guo back to the palace, but Empress Guo said that if she wanted to return to the palace, she must have a hundred officials on the book. That is to say, to remarry, Song Renzong must first admit that he was wrong. At this time, Song Renzong was embarrassed, and the matter was put on hold. In the second year of Jingyou (1035 AD), Empress Guo inexplicably fell ill and died. Song Renzong was grieving in his heart, so he posthumously made her empress.
The second empress of Emperor Renzong of Song was Empress Cao, who was chosen and incorporated into the palace after Empress Guo was deposed by Empress Guo's adoptive mother, Empress Yang. If it is said to be prominent, Empress Cao's family is even more prominent than That of Empress Guo. Her grandfather was Cao Bin, the first general during the founding of the Great Song Dynasty. Cao Bin herself was a cautious person, so Empress Cao was taught to be cautious in her words and deeds and to behave in a disciplined manner. At this point, she was more than Empress Guo. Therefore, Song Renzong did not have much affection for her. However, Empress Cao was much stronger than Empress Guo in her jealousy, and never cared how her husband spoiled the other concubines. Therefore, the feelings of the two people can also be regarded as respectful as guests.
How good is Empress Cao's temper? Once, Song Renzong's favorite, Zhang Meiren, was so pampered and proud that he had to travel with the empress's honor guard. Song Renzong was not able to refute it openly, so he asked Zhang Meiren to go to Empress Cao to borrow it himself. Unexpectedly, Empress Cao did not say a word, so she lent yi to Zhang Meiren. In the end, on the contrary, Song Renzong felt that this matter was too uncivilized, and said zhang meiren for a meal, and the matter was put to rest.
However, Empress Cao was not a weak person, and when it was really dangerous, the martial gene in her body would awaken. In the first month of the eighth year of the Qing calendar (1048 AD), Song Renzong went to the palace of Empress Cao to rest, and suddenly someone rebelled in the evening. In the shouts of the thieves, Song Renzong was overwhelmed, but Empress Cao was calm and self-assured, on the one hand, she transferred troops from outside the palace, on the other hand, armed the eunuchs, and quickly put down the rebellion.
However, this counter-insurgency became the fuse for the couple to break up. According to the investigation, empress Cao had a palace maid involved in the case, and she deserved to die for the crime. The palace maid interceded through other concubines, and Song Renzong was soft-hearted and wanted to fall from the light. However, Empress Cao disagreed and insisted on executing the man. She stood in front of the emperor and said, "If you don't kill this person, you won't be able to clean up the court!" In the end, Emperor Renzong of Song, at the insistence of Empress Cao, executed the palace maid.
These two events made Song Renzong see the shadow of Empress Dowager Liu E from Empress Cao's body. He has lived in the shadow of Liu E for half his life, and he hates and fears this type of woman. Now that the pillow man is like this, where does he dare to continue to be close? So after this counter-insurgency, the relationship between husband and wife has dropped to a freezing point. But Empress Cao herself did not do anything wrong, so the two of them still had to make up their lives.
In his later years, Song Renzong's nerves became more and more fragile, and he would go crazy intermittently. This was a genetic disease of the Song Dynasty royal family, and he was not spared. One day, Song Renzong suddenly approached the prime minister in disheveled clothes and said, "The empress and the eunuch Zhang Mao are plotting a great rebellion." Of course, the prime minister would not take it seriously, and could only say to the outside world that the emperor was ill again. But what is intriguing is that the eunuch Zhang Mao could not bear the pressure and committed suicide, which made this rebellion a historical mystery. However, Empress Cao sat firmly on the empress's throne until Emperor Renzong's death. After that, she assisted two generations of emperors, Song Yingzong and Song Shenzong, and controlled the Song Dynasty for more than twenty years.
The third empress of Emperor Renzong of Song was Empress Wencheng of the Zhang clan, the same Zhang Meiren who had borrowed honors with Empress Cao. This person can be regarded as the love of Song Renzong's life. Her lineage is far worse than that of empresses Guo and Cao. Her great-grandfather Zhang Mei, although also a hero of the early Song Dynasty, was far worse than Guo Chong and Cao Bin. Her grandparents and fathers were only jinshi and the first, but their official positions were not large. Therefore, Zhang Meiren was raised as a singer from a young age in the palace of Empress Zhanghui, that is, Empress Yang, the adoptive mother of Song Renzong. At a banquet, she was favored by Song Renzong and soon gained great favor.
The Zhang clan in this period was very well-behaved and gentle. In addition, the appearance is exquisite, so it is very loved by the emperor. When Emperor Renzong of Song first chose empress, he actually wanted Zhang Shi to be the empress. However, due to the obstruction of Empress Dowager Liu E, Empress Guo was chosen. However, this did not affect the emperor's favor for the Zhang clan. Within a few years, Zhang gave birth to three princesses in succession to Song Renzong. Comparing the two childless empresses, we can see the weight of the Zhang clan in the heart of Song Renzong.
However, Zhang Shi is not as tender as water as it seems on the surface. In fact, she had already thoroughly explored Song Renzong's thoughts, and she was waiting for an opportunity to let her carp jump the dragon gate. When Empress Guo was there, she could still suppress her. Later, she was replaced by Empress Cao, who was "indisputable from the world", and Zhang's ambitions were completely exposed, and she often found fault with the empress. The aforementioned incident of borrowing honor is the epitome of Zhang Guifei at this time. In addition, she also engaged in politics, and served the emperor's favor as an official for her uncle Zhang Yaozuo, and as a result, she was put back by Bao Zheng. Therefore, in the future, Zhang's reputation is not good.
Zhang's position in the palace was also not stable. In the third year of the Qing calendar, she was originally a talented person, but as a result, her daughter Baohe and the princess died prematurely, and Song Renzong also fell seriously ill. Many people said that the princess died because zhang shi did not take good care of her. Zhang Shi then retreated to advance, and asked himself to be reduced to a beauty. Since then, although Song Renzong still loves her, he has not promoted her status. After the rebellion in the palace in the eighth year of the Qing calendar, Song Renzong suddenly said that Zhang Shi had merit and promoted her to a noble concubine. However, 6 years later, Zhang Suddenly fell ill and died soon after.
Grief-stricken by the death of his lover, Song Renzong immediately ordered him to quit the dynasty for seven days and forbid singing and dancing in the capital for a month. At the same time, he also did not care about Empress Cao's feelings, and sent Zhang Guifei with the courtesy of empress, and gave her the title of "Empress Wencheng". Zhang Guifei's lifelong wish was finally fulfilled after her death. However, most of the ministers of the Song Dynasty did not recognize this fact and still called her Zhang Guifei.
Although Song Renzong's historical reputation is very good, his era was not peaceful, several foreign wars were almost all defeats, and the country's court was also full of factions and did not give in to each other. Song Renzong couldn't do anything about it. Maybe the harem that didn't bother him had already exhausted his mental strength. Therefore, as long as the family is harmonious, doing other things can do more with less.