It is not uncommon in history for the empress dowager to listen to the government, from the earliest Warring States period when Empress Xuan of qin ruled as empress dowager, to empress dowager Cixi in the Qing Dynasty, the empress dowager listening to the government has always been an episode that is likely to occur in the process of imperial succession. This is often accompanied by problems such as the monopoly of foreign relations, which also makes the harem interference in politics once regarded as a "cancer". However, in the Song Dynasty, the empress dowager who bowed to the government often received high praise, and the Song Dynasty used the empress dowager to listen to the government several times to stabilize the situation and ensure the smooth inheritance of the imperial throne. However, there are also three empresses who bow down to the government, and although they have also received high praise in history, they all turn against the little emperor and make a very unpleasant quarrel.
Empress Liu was the first empress dowager of the Song Dynasty to be called empress dowager, and she was highly valued in history, saying that she "had the talent of Lü Wu and the evil of Lü Wu". In the first year of Qianxing (1022), Emperor Zhenzong of Song died, leaving behind a testament that "the empress dowager is honored as the empress dowager, and the power of military affairs is disposed of by the empress dowager." Empress Liu was ordered by Emperor Zhenzong to listen to the government for 11 years, and it was not until after her death that the twenty-four-year-old Zhao Zhen began to pro-government. When it comes to the relationship between Empress Liu and Emperor Renzong of Song, these two people are not mother and son, Zhao Zhen was born to Empress Liu's maid, because Empress Liu did not give birth to a prince, and Zhao Heng of Song Zhenzong claimed that Zhao Zhen was born to Liu. The History of Song records that it was not until after Empress Liu's death that Zhao Zhen learned that his birth mother was Concubine Li Chen under the guidance of the eighth prince Zhao Yuanyu, and posthumously named her empress dowager.
Not only that, Empress Liu's curtain was not without opposition at that time, in the third year of tianxi (1019), when Emperor Zhenzong of Song was ill, and Liu E, who was still empress at the time, gradually began to act as an agent of the government, Song Zhenzong had "conspired" with the chancellor Kou Zhun to let the crown prince Zhao Zhen supervise the country. Without thinking that the matter would be revealed, under the impetus of Empress Liu and Ding Zhi and others, the prime minister Kou Zhun was deposed. Subsequently, Zhou Huaizheng and others under Kou Zhun were not willing to fail, and also staged a mutiny, and the spearhead was directed at Empress Liu E. It is worth noting that the ultimate goal of these plots was to make the crown prince Zhao Zhen ascend the throne, and after the defeat, Kou Zhun was degraded three times without Zong Zhenzong's knowledge, and Empress Liu also won the victory of this party struggle, and after the death of Zhao Heng of Song Zhenzong, she listened to the government until her death.
If it is said that Empress Liu did not tear her face with the little emperor Zhao Zhen during the period when she was hanging the curtain and listening to the government, then the following Empress Cao and the little emperor had a complete conflict. Empress Cao was the second empress of Emperor Renzong of Song, who was very fond of the Cao clan, and deposed her first empress, Empress Guo, as soon as she took over the government, and established Cao Shi as empress. And in the absence of his own crown prince, he entrusted his adopted son Zhao Shu to be raised by the Cao clan, and the relationship between Zhao Shu and the Cao clan at this time was very close. As the adopted son of Zhao Zhen, Zhao Shu was able to ascend the throne smoothly after Zhao Zhen's death, which had a lot to do with the Cao clan.
After Zhao Zhen's sudden death, in order to stabilize the situation, Cao Shi ordered someone to deliver food to Zhao Zhen's room as usual, and took care of all the doctors who knew about it. It was not until the next day that Zhao Zhen was announced in front of the chancellor that he had died and summoned Zhao Shu to the palace to take the throne. At the beginning of Zhao Shu's reign, due to the onset of illness, he had to let Empress Cao bow to the government. During this period, Empress Cao's curtain listening to the government not only played a good role in stabilizing the political situation, but also received high praise.
However, as Zhao Shu's illness worsened, because Zhao Shu's ascension to the throne itself had many objections, it was even more that some people tried their best to alienate Empress Cao and Zhao Shu. The "History of Song" records that before Qi and Ouyang Xiu played the curtain, the empress dowager whimpered and drooled. Qi Yue: "This disease is solid, the disease is already there, it must not be." Child disease, mother can not tolerate? Xiu Yi composed a speech, and the empress dowager meant a little peace, and over time. A few days later, Qi Du saw Shang, and said: "The empress dowager treats me with no grace." It can be seen that at that time, the discord between the two palaces was getting worse and worse, and with the gradual gap between Empress Cao and Zhao Shu, when Zhao Shu's condition improved slightly and she wanted to be pro-government, Empress Cao still listened to the government and refused to return the government to Zhao Shu. It was not until Han Qi forced Empress Cao to resign his post that Empress Cao decided to withdraw the curtain.
The third empress dowager to bow to the government was Empress Gao, who indirectly participated in the government during the Shenzong period and listened to the government during the Zhezong period. Similarly, empress Gao, as empress dowager of the Northern Song Dynasty, still played a great role in the succession to the throne, and although Emperor Zhao Xu of Song zhezong was the eldest son of Emperor Shenzong, there were still people who advocated that Emperor Shenzong's younger brother Zhao Hao the Prince of Yong or Zhao Fu the Prince of Cao be crown princes when Emperor Shenzong was critically ill. Although Zhao Xu eventually became the crown prince, he was not without opposition, and at the time of Emperor Shenzong's death, Empress Gao decisively ordered someone to make the yellow robe. As soon as Emperor Shenzong died, Zhao Xu appeared in front of the group of courtiers wearing yellow robes and stabilized the throne.
What made Zhao Xu dissatisfied was that during the nine years that Empress Gao was hanging down and listening to the government, the young Zhao Xu did not have the slightest say in the government, and all major military and state affairs were handled by Empress Gao. Even when the ministers were playing to the empress, because Empress Gao and Zhao Xu's positions were opposite, these ministers only faced Empress Gao and left their backs and hips to the emperor. At the same time, Empress Gao was also too strict with Zhao Xu's birth mother, and Empress Gao, as empress dowager in the Zhezong Dynasty, always suppressed the emperor's birth mother Zhu Shi and only gave the title of a concubine.
When Zhao Xu was slightly older, Empress Gao did not rush to return the government to Zhao Xu, and it was not until his death that Zhao Xu was able to personally govern. After Zhao Xu took over the government, he once wanted to posthumously depose the deceased Empress Gao as a shuren, although he did not succeed in the end, but it can also show that during the period when Empress Gao was listening to the government, the empress dowager had a lot of grievances.
In summary, the nine empresses of the Song Dynasty listened to the government several times, although some of the empresses who listened to the government had friction with the little emperor, but the empresses of the Song Dynasty who listened to the government received high praise. Unlike other empresses who used improper means to control the government, the empress dowager of the Song Dynasty reluctantly agreed to the government at the request of ministers or emperors. At the same time, their obedience to the government did not bring harm to the Song Dynasty, but ensured the smooth inheritance of the throne and stabilized the political situation.