In ancient times, on the road to imperial power, it was inevitable to kill flesh and blood. In the face of the emperor's throne coveted by the world, the competitors who come forward are like carp crossing the river, but those who rise to the top are often rare, after all, there is only 1 imperial throne.
Then, if you want to stand out from the cruel competition, you can't do it without some extraordinary means. For example, the first emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Zhi, thought of a very strange method to choose the crown prince.
Because Emperor Gaozong of Song lost his fertility and had no heirs, he had to choose an heir from among the royal clansmen. He sent 10 beautiful girls to the candidates Zhao Yang (shèn) and Zhao Xuan (qú) respectively, and recalled all the beautiful girls in half a month.
Zhao Zhi
One: Elect the crown prince in the Taizu lineage
In 1127 AD, the Jin Dynasty went south to capture Tokyo, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, abducted the two emperors of Song Huizong and Song Qinzong, and captured more than 3,000 people such as the clan family, ministers, and harem concubines, which is the famous "Jingkang Change" in history, and the Northern Song Dynasty thus went to extinction.
However, Zhao Shu, the king of Kang at that time, escaped by luck and ascended the throne as emperor in present-day Shangqiu, Henan, establishing the Southern Song Dynasty and becoming the first emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty.
After Zhao Zhi took the throne, he took his only son, Crown Prince Zhao Min (fū), all the way from Shangqiu to Jiankang, and later to Yangzhou, and lived a few days of stability.
Who knows, in 1128 AD, Jin soldiers chased after the victory and chased after the city of Yangzhou, where Zhao Zhi was located, and seemed to be about to kill them all. The local Zhao Zhizheng and a concubine Wen Cun were shocked to hear the news that Jin Bing was chasing, and I don't know why, in short, he lost his fertility.
The house leak coincided with overnight rain. In 1129, the Miao-Liu Mutiny occurred in the Southern Song Dynasty, and in July of the same year, Zhao Wei's only son, Zhao Min, fell ill with malaria and died.
Seeing that the only incense was lost, Zhao Zhi was overwhelmed with grief. In other words, the descendants of Emperor Taizong of Song and Zhao Guangyi were all killed by the Jin people. In order not to let the Zhao family fall into the hands of foreigners after his death, Zhao Zhi, as the 6th grandson of Emperor Taizong of Song, had to find a new successor to the throne among the descendants of the "Taizu lineage".
But there are more than 1,000 descendants of the Taizu lineage, and it is not easy to pick a suitable successor. Finally, after a long period of selection, two children, Zhao Yang (shèn) and Zhao Xuan (qú), one fat and one thin, were finally selected as candidates.
But which one should be chosen as the prince?
Empress Dowager Wei
On this issue, Emperor Gaozong of Song and his mother Empress Dowager Wei had a disagreement. Empress Dowager Wei liked the fatter Zhao Xuan very much, while Zhao Shu preferred the thinner Zhao Yang.
Because Zhao Xuan grew up in the palace, he was deeply loved by Empress Dowager Wei and wanted Zhao to make him crown prince. This made Zhao Shu very embarrassed, and just when he was about to make Zhao Xuan the crown prince, a seemingly subtle but not simple thing happened, which made the incident turn around.
One day, Zhao Zhi called the two children together for questioning, when a cat suddenly ran in. Zhao Yang had been listening carefully to Emperor Gaozong's speech, and the cat did not even blink his eyelids when he came in, and he was never distracted. But the fat boy looked flustered, and kicked the cat fiercely with anger on his face, his movements were rude, and his mind was not online the whole time, which made Zhao Shu smack.
As the saying goes, a gentleman is not happy or angry. Zhao Xuan's rude action of kicking the cat made Emperor Gaozong's affection for him suddenly disappear, and he also passed by the imperial throne. It's so philosophical that the devil is in the details.
For this reason, Emperor Gaozong found an excuse and sent Zhao Xuan out of the palace, leaving Zhao Yang to raise in the palace.
Zhao Yang
Two: The strange "beauty test"
It is said that Zhao Zhi painstakingly selected a qualified heir, and the throne was none other than Zhao Yang. But the strange thing is that Zhao Yang has been in the palace for nearly 20 years, and Zhao Zhi has always had a prejudice against him, why is that?
First of all, this is caused by Zhao Shu's selfishness. After all, Zhao Yang is not his biological son, how can the throne coveted by the world be easily handed over? Zhao Zhi has always longed for a miracle in fertility and can let his own son inherit the throne, although he has not given up for many years.
Secondly, it was caused by the selfish intentions of her mother, Empress Dowager Wei. Empress Dowager Wei was blunt to Zhao Shu and asked her to make Liu Xuan crown prince. This made Zhao Shu, who was already wavering, even more undecided, and did not know how to choose.
Zhao Zhi could not offend his mother, and second, he wanted to choose an heir, so he thought of a method that not only convinced his mother, but also tested who Zhao Yang and Zhao Xuan were the talents of the emperor.
Therefore, the Gaozong sent people to select 20 peerlessly beautiful girls, sent 10 to Zhao Yang and Zhao Xuan respectively, and then recalled all the beauties to the palace for inspection half a month later, and whoever had more complete bodies would win.
Song Gaozong's method is actually to test the character and determination of the two, although it looks a little absurd, it is also very practical and the effect is obvious.
Half a month later, when Emperor Gaozong recalled these 20 beauties, the result was unexpected: he found that the 10 beauties sent to Zhao Yang were all complete bodies, but the 10 beauties sent to Zhao Xuan were no longer virgins.
Through this beauty test, Zhao Yang was made a prince. It seems that whoever controls himself will have the last laugh and become a winner in life!
In fact, it is not that Zhao Yang is really determined, but because he has a good teacher. Zhao Nan's teacher was Shi Hao, a strategist who knew the heart of the emperor, and he thought that Emperor Gaozong would have a deep intention in sending these 10 beauties, so he warned Zhao Yang not to touch them.
When Zhao Yang heard this, he naturally did not dare to act rashly, so he successfully passed the test of Emperor Gaozong of Song and was made a prince.
Zhao Yang
Three: The most accomplished emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty
In 1161 AD, the Jin State invaded the south again, and the Southern Song army and people rose up to resist, at this time his policy of seeking peace was unanimously opposed by the army and people, and under many pressures, he had to give up the throne, so Zhao Yang officially ascended the emperor's throne, known as Emperor Xiaozong of Song.
Emperor Gaozong of Song Zhao Zhi's actions in his life, although he has been criticized by many people in the world, he was still praised by many people for choosing a prince, saying that he was the most fair to choose a prince.
In fact, this is also a matter of opinion.
First, there is a precedent for Song Taizu.
The second is that Emperor Gaozong of Song himself had no son. Therefore, the reason why Emperor Gaozong let his brother Zhao Kuangyin's 7th grandson Zhao Yang inherit his throne was just that he didn't want the Zhao family to be taken away by people with foreign surnames, and he even tried hard to have his own son to inherit the throne, and only gave up after his efforts were fruitless, so passing the throne to Zhao Yang was just his helpless move.
But in fact, Zhao Yang, who was painstakingly selected by Emperor Gaozong, has since performed very well in the process of governing the country, which fully proves the uniqueness of Emperor Gaozong's vision. Later generations generally believed that Emperor Xiaozong of Song Zhao Yang was the most accomplished emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Zhao Yang, whose real name is Bo Jun, was the 7th grandson of Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, and the second emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, Song Xiaozong, who ascended the throne at the age of 36.
After Zhao Yang took the throne, he quickly used a large number of capable officials, reused the main war faction, actively prepared for war, and was bent on recovering the lost territory in the Central Plains, and was wronged by Yue Feiping, a national hero who suffered injustice, etc., very much like the style of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, so he was loved by the people!
However, at that time, the Southern Song Dynasty had no one in the dynasty, and several conquests failed one after another.
Zhao Yang had to give up the idea of recovering the lost territory, and in terms of internal affairs, he exerted himself to make every effort to govern, carried out a series of reforms in the agricultural, military, and economic fields, rectified the rule of officials, laid off redundant personnel, attached importance to agricultural production, and persuaded peasants to live and work in peace, so that the government was clear and clear, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and a prosperous scene appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty, which was called "the rule of clean and pure in history."
Zhao Yang is not only diligent, but also very frugal. When Zhao Yang first took the throne, he refused to use pleasure, spent very little on his daily life, often led by example, wore old clothes, and did not build much construction.
There are many anecdotes about Zhao Yang, and the most enjoyable is the legendary story of him passing the test of Emperor Gaozong of Song and sitting on the emperor's throne: he inherited the throne as a non-biological son, and successfully passed the 10 beauties issue.
This is really intriguing.
Also, we can see from it that human nature is still selfish. Zhao Yang entered the palace for nearly 20 years before he was accepted by Emperor Gaozong, mainly because Emperor Gaozong wanted to have a fertility miracle in these 20 years, so as to make his own son crown prince.
But in the end, people are still not as good as heavenly calculations!
(The pictures in the article come from the Internet, if invaded, they will be deleted)