During the Northern Song Dynasty, most of the empresses were born from famous and prestigious families, and the important ministers of the imperial court all believed that the empress should be born noble, and that the emperor and the imperial court were decent. Empress Cao, who has been rumored by word of mouth in history, is the second empress of Song Renzong, and it is not surprising that she is also prominent. Empress Cao was born into the "Zhending Cao Clan" family, and her grandfather Cao Bin was the founding general who fought with Zhao Kuangyin, and as the daughter of the general, she also assumed the name of a generation of empresses.
Empress Cao of Cishengguang, also known as Cao Danshu, played by Jiang Shuying in "Qing Ping Le", and Cao Ru played by Gu Yuhan in "The Words of the Great Song Palace". Empress Cao was a contemporary historical figure with Wang Anshi and Su Shi, who were highly accomplished in poetry, and Su Shi and Wang Anshi, as important politicians of the Song Dynasty, also intersected with Empress Cao. In the legend of "eight immortals crossing the sea" as we know it, one of the eight immortals, Cao Guo's uncle, is his younger brother.
One. Mediocre appearance is not pampered
As an empress of noble birth and through three dynasties, she did not receive the real favor of the emperor in her life, mainly because of her mediocre appearance and failure to continue the incense for the emperor.
Until now, Empress Cao is still known as "kind and thrifty", and has not described her appearance too much. Not only in the harem, but also in daily life, appearance is the first factor that determines the impression score, so in the ambitious harem, appearance has become a fatal weakness, resulting in Emperor Renzong always being respectful of it.
Empress Cao, who had not had children all her life, usually took other Children of Qi Qin or the children of important officials in the palace for raising, as an adopted son and daughter, and Empress Cao was no exception, and she adopted her sister's daughter Gao Taotao.
The daughter who was raised by Empress Cao by example and by example was also tall and beautiful under his influence, with both moral integrity and ability. Gao Taotao, who was raised in the palace since he was a child, studied with Zhao Zongshi, grew up together, and was green plum and bamboo horses, and later naturally Gao Girl and Zhao Zongshi became relatives, and the beautiful talk of "the son of heaven marrying a daughter-in-law, and the queen marrying a daughter" in history is derived from this.
Second, he has lived in the palace for three generations
Although she did not have children and did not receive the real favor of the emperor, Empress Cao still lived in the palace for 28 years, assisting three kings. As the daughter of the shogun, Empress Cao has the quality of deep understanding of righteousness and focusing on the overall situation in her bones.
She is not like an ordinary woman who lingers on the affairs of her children, but is a woman who is stoic and persevering, adheres to principles, is frugal in nature, and keeps a low profile, which is undoubtedly a good thing for a country, but it becomes incomprehensible to the emperor.
As a queen, as a benchmark, she shoulders the responsibility of guiding the good. Empress Cao personally raised silkworm reeling silk and cultivated land for planting, which undoubtedly set a model in the feudal society where farming was the mainstay, and its diligence and simplicity were all outstanding.
In the harem of the intrigue, Empress Cao did not compete for favors, and Zhang Guifei, who was deeply loved by the emperor and arrogant, wanted to use the empress's honor guard beyond the etiquette, but Empress Cao did not hinder or secretly make a bad decision, but instead tolerated Zhang Guifei, which showed her generosity; Later Renzong was not involved with Empress Guo in the Cold Palace, and Empress Cao did not investigate deeply.
In the deep palace, Empress Cao mostly treated threats from all directions with a tolerant, generous, and non-calculating attitude, and treated various small actions with an unchanging strategy.
There was a rebellion in the palace, and the emperor's harem was invaded. Renzong's body was weak and flustered. On the other hand, Empress Cao was not in danger, showing her courage to open the door, commanding the guards to lock the door and set up cards and prepare buckets to prevent the rebels from setting fire to the palace, and sure enough, the fire was prevented in time, and the incident was quelled.
What surprised people was that after the matter calmed down, it was Zhang Meiren who was appreciated, and Song Renzong wanted to let his favorite woman sit in the position of empress with the remark that "Zhang Meiren ventured to come", and also speculated that it was a rebellion arranged by Empress Cao, but there was no evidence and it was stopped by the court's important ministers, and it was not resolved.
Emperor Renzong died in the spring of the eighth year of Jiayou, and was subsequently succeeded by Emperor Yingzong. However, as soon as Emperor Yingzong became the new emperor, he was too ill to take on the heavy responsibility of governance. Therefore, Cao Shi conscientiously served on the throne of the empress for more than ten years, and naturally had some political cognition and understanding, and it was reasonable to assume the heavy responsibility of listening to the government.
However, Empress Cao always reminded her to recognize her position, so Empress Cao did not go to the main hall and scrupulously fulfilled her duties. Emperor Houyingzong died at the age of 36 due to his physical weakness, and Later Emperor Shenzong took the throne.
After the ascension to the throne, the Shinjong remained conservative. Wang Anshi's possession of the radical faction led to the isolation of the Shen sect. Emperor Shenzong was greatly displeased, so he desperately deposed many ministers, including Ouyang Xiu. At this time, the famous writer and politician Su Shi held anti-reform remarks and faced impeachment, which triggered the famous "Wutai Poetry Case".
At that time, Su Shi had already been arrested, and even he himself felt that he would definitely die and had no choice, and several times he tried to commit suicide on the way to the capital. At that time, Empress Cao was already seriously ill and dying, and called Shenzong to Empress Cao's bedside, telling him that Su Shi was a person with the talent of the prime minister, and the problem of poetry was only a small problem, and it may only be disgusted and slandered by people with bad intentions.
It was also Empress Cao's words that awakened the Divine Sect and enabled Su Shi to be saved.
Therefore, it can be seen that Empress Cao has her own views on politics and state affairs. From the empress, to the empress, to the empress dowager, whether in the government or in the harem, all of them were warm and pure all their lives, Empress Cao failed to become the favorite of Emperor Renzong, but she has always been a qualified sage, whether in the governance of the harem, to establish a correct guidance for the women of the world, or politically, the thinking of the governance of the country, all proved that Empress Cao was an almost perfect empress of moral integrity.
Cao Shi became the empress of the Great Song Dynasty for 28 years, from empress, empress, to empress dowager, through three dynasties. Becoming an empress depends on her own reading of poetry and a prominent family lineage; the empress dowager who becomes a curtain-to-listen to the government can die well, relying on a sober mind and extraordinary courage; becoming a respected empress dowager can advise the gods, relying on a lifetime of warmth, purity, tolerance and wisdom.
3. Summary
Empress Cao was not like his grandfather who fought bravely on the battlefield, nor was she like an ordinary woman or a concubine in the deep palace, who was a virtuous assistant with both ability and moral integrity in the Northern Song Dynasty, sober, independent, and gentle and virtuous.
Empress Cao's sober thinking and firm principles, not only relying on the family side of the world, maintaining warmth, purity, diligence and frugal independence, is undoubtedly a woman in the new era worth learning and learning from in work and life. Appearance is never the most important criterion for measuring a woman, and both ability and moral integrity can also bloom their own colors.