【The Story Behind History - True Widow's Friend: Later Zhou Taizu Guo Wei】
Guo Wei (nicknamed Guo Que'er), the Later Zhou Taizu of the Fifth Dynasty, was an underrated emperor in history, and he could be called a british lord in both character and governance. Its personal characteristics are also very distinct, called heroes and good men, big, brave and good at war, good at drinking, morality, good at making friends, with tattoos on the body (a flying finch, so named Guo Queer), a glance, is simply the "Joe Gang Leader" of the beggar gang, but the tattooed house finch for the wolf's head.
Guo Wei has a personal charm, and he also has a special feature, that is, the wives and concubines before and after are all widows. Zhao Yi, a historian of the Qing Dynasty, commented that "the four wives before and after the statistics are counted, and they are all women, and they are not understandable", to put it bluntly: this eldest brother married four who were actually widows, and really did not understand why.
Guo Wei's first wife was Chai, who was originally a concubine of Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, Li Cunxun, quite beautiful, and later Emperor Zhuangzong was killed, Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan took the throne, cut off the harem wives, Chai took a severance payment and went home, and later met Guo Wei, who was a junior officer but good wine and gambling, and had no property, at first sight, Guo Wei was also very satisfied with chai, and the two were combined. The Chai clan was a sage and had a major influence on Guo Wei's sublimation of life, and Chai Rong, a nephew of the Chai clan, also became Guo Wei's adopted son because of this relationship, that is, the later Later Zhou Shizong Guo Rong. Later, Chai's illness died, and although Guo Wei was gradually promoted, his fame was not yet apparent. Guo Wei was proclaimed empress dowager, and Chai was posthumously honored as Empress Shengmu, the only empress of Guo Wei, and the several wives he later remarried could not be compared.
After Chai's death, Guo Wei continued to marry Yang. Yang Shi was originally a warlord at that time, an envoy of Chengde Jiedushi, and a concubine of the harem of King Wang Rong of Zhao, and he looked very beautiful. Later, Wang Rong was killed by his subordinates, and Yang also returned home to marry, but her second husband died soon after. After Guo Wei died of Chai's illness, he heard that this Yang clan was good, so he sent someone to propose marriage. The Yang family was originally unwilling, and Yang Tingzhang, the younger brother of the Yang clan, met Guo Wei and thought that this person's future was unlimited, so he matched his sister, and eventually Yang became Guo Wei's successor. Yang also died during the Later Han Dynasty, and Guo Wei declared himself empress dowager and posthumously honored her as a concubine.
Guo Wei's third wife was Zhang. This woman is beautiful and married to Wu, but Wu died early, so she is also a widow. After the death of Guo Wei's wife Yang, Guo Wei married Zhang. After that, Guo Wei was knighted and promoted to a high-ranking official in the imperial court, and Zhang Shi was also given the title of Lady of WuGuo. However, during the reign of Liu Chengyou, the Later Han Emperor, many military generals were suspected by the emperor, and many were exterminated. Guo Wei was also suspected by Emperor Yin, and as a result, Guo Wei and Guo Rong's family members who remained in Kaifeng were all executed by Emperor Yin, including Guo Wei's two sons, Guo Rong's wife and children, and Zhang Shi (this incident also triggered Guo Wei's rebellion against Emperor Yin and eventually seized power). Guo Wei declared himself empress dowager and posthumously honored Zhang as a noble concubine.
Guo Wei also has a concubine, Dong Shi, who is also beautiful, intelligent, and musically talented and versatile. His ex-husband died in the Khitan rebellion, and the Dong clan was a fellow villager with the Yang clan mentioned above, and Guo Wei later remembered the Yang clan, so he took the Dong clan as a concubine, and took it with him, and was not killed like the Zhang clan. Guo Wei declared himself empress dowager and made Dong a concubine.
Although Guo Wei's three wives and one concubine were all widows, they were all extremely beautiful and virtuous. Except for Chai, the other three daughters are about the same age. Guo Wei also did not recruit beauty and young women when he was in power, although he may be a "appearance party", but he can also be called a big husband!
Picture 1 shows a statue of Guo Wei.
