In ancient times, due to the low social status of women, they could only rely on climbing men to improve their social status, and the queen was undoubtedly the woman with the highest social status at that time, and becoming the queen was also the ultimate goal of thousands of women.
In order to achieve this goal, many women at that time tried their best, but few were able to become empresses, in stark contrast to Empress Cao during the Song Renzong period.
She was already someone else's wife before she became the queen, and the reason why she chose to leave her husband was because the other party was not interested in women at all, and she never thought that this time she would leave but create a legend in her life.
Cao's, after the famous family
Cao was born in Lingshou County, Hebei Province in 1018, her grandfather was the privy envoy Zhou Wuhui Wang Cao Bin, and her father was Shang Shuyu's member of the Wailang Wu Anxu Wang Cao Xi. In such a family background, Cao has been well educated and nurtured since childhood.
Such a family environment had a profound impact on the formation of Cao's character and talents.
From an early age, she showed extraordinary talent and ingenuity, and developed a keen interest in books such as the Subset of Classics and History, as well as an education in poetry, etiquette, music, and painting.
However, Cao's early years were not all smooth sailing. Her father, Cao Xi, died when she was young, leaving her without fatherly love for a long time.
Despite this, she did not sink because of this, but studied harder and constantly improved her talent and character.
She is well aware of her family background and social status, so she pays special attention to her own cultivation and connotation, and continues to work towards the goal of becoming a famous lady, so that she can become the ideal woman of the people at that time.
As he grew older, Cao also entered the age of marriage. Under the arrangement of the family, the Cao family made a marriage contract with Li Zhi, the son of the famous minister Li Shiheng, another famous family at that time.
Hearing the news, Cao couldn't help but secretly rejoice. Being able to marry into the Li family can be regarded as a good match, and it will not disgrace the face of the family. However, after hearing the news, Li Zhi reacted completely opposite to Cao's.
He showed great disgust with this marriage, and said that he was willing to fight a bachelor for the rest of his life, and he was not willing to marry a wife and have children.
As the saying goes, "there are three unfilial pieties, and no queen is the greatest", this son of his has read poetry and books since he was a child, and he is even more proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but he is so resistant to marrying a wife and having children.
So, Li Shiheng didn't argue too much with Li Zhi, knowing that even if he was full of mouths, he couldn't argue with this son. He bluntly said that if he didn't marry the Cao family, he would crash into the wall and die.
Hearing his father's words, Li Zhi lowered his head, even if he was talented at that time, he was charged with a crime of forcing his father to death, and he would never be able to turn over. In order to save his reputation, he had to swallow his anger and accept the arrangement.
is full of longing and yearning for marriage, while the other is full of resistance and disgust for marriage, Cao and Li Zhi's marriage was destined to be unhappy at the beginning.
Grow through setbacks
After passing the door, Cao Shi wanted to be a qualified wife, and she took meticulous care of her husband's diet and daily life in life, and was an excellent virtuous helper.
When facing her in-laws, she always lowered her eyebrows and was obedient, revealing respect in her words and deeds.
Not only that, but she is also very generous and kind to her subordinates, although she was born in a famous family, she has followed her mother to take care of family affairs since she was a child, and she knows the hardships of her subordinates.
At the same time, because Cao lost her father at a young age, she also had a more compassionate attitude towards the world.
Soon after marrying into the Li family, the Cao family received unanimous praise from the Li family, and every time the in-laws mentioned this daughter-in-law, they couldn't stop laughing. There is only one person who has always been dissatisfied with Cao, and this person is her husband Li Zhi.
Whenever Cao Shi appeared in front of Li Zhi, Li Zhi would show an impatient look, and her frowning brow seemed to remind Cao Shi that she was the most superfluous person in his eyes.
And every time she sees her husband's demeanor, Cao's heart can't help but tighten.
In the initial period, Cao constantly self-reflected, looking for what he did not do well, which made her husband disgusted with him.
However, no matter how she adjusted herself, she could not satisfy her husband, and she could only hide in a corner where no one was there and secretly wept sadly.
What made the Cao family unbearable the most was that Li Zhi never had sex with him after getting married, but lived in separate rooms.
Such an approach is a great insult and hurt to any woman, and whenever night falls, all Cao can do is pray that things will get better tomorrow.
Gradually, Cao no longer has illusions about Li Zhi, and she is also soberly aware that this marriage is just an invisible cage for herself, and if she continues to stay in this marriage, her life will be slowly exhausted.
After careful consideration, Cao told his in-laws that her husband had no interest in her, and it would be no good for her to stay in the Li family any longer, hoping to get the understanding of the second elder and break the marriage contract with Li Zhi.
Since the Cao family married into the Li family, Li Shiheng has seen everything she has done, and he is also very aware of the Cao family's hardships.
As the daughter-in-law of Cao, there is nothing wrong with Cao, but it is his son who hurts Cao's heart, although Li Shiheng is reluctant, he still chooses to respect Cao's wishes.
Eventually become the mother of a nation
Not long after Cao and Li Zhi broke off their marriage, an incident happened that completely changed her fate. This incident was the abolition of Song Renzong's empress Guo.
In ancient times, foreign relatives have always been a force that cannot be ignored, and Guo's family relied on the status of imperial relatives to oppress the people, control the government and even form private party members, which not only caused dissatisfaction among the ministers, but also felt threatened by Song Renzong.
At the suggestion of the ministers, Song Renzong deposed the status of Empress Guo, and the Guo family was no longer a relative of the emperor, and the crisis ceased to exist.
The position of the mother of a country cannot be vacant, after all, the harem also needs a person in charge, and the selection of the new queen has become a problem that needs to be solved urgently.
In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Guo family, the minister Lu Yijian proposed a plan to select the daughter of a declining famous family as a candidate for the queen.
Only in this way can we find a queen who can be the mother of the world, and there is no need to worry that her family's power is too strong and poses a new threat to the imperial court.
Song Renzong strongly agreed with this proposal, and under the careful selection of Lu Yijian, the Cao family was selected into the palace as a concubine.
Regarding Cao's experience, Lu Yijian has inquired very clearly, and judging from what she has done before, she is the most suitable person to serve as the queen.
For the emperor, it was undoubtedly a humiliation to accept a woman who had been married, so Lü Yijian chose to hide this experience from the Cao family. Although Cao's first marriage was not as grand as the royal wedding, many ministers were also present in person.
So when she appeared in front of everyone, she immediately caused a burst of exclamations, and the experience of being married naturally did not hide from Song Renzong. Upon learning of this, Song Renzong was furious and immediately reprimanded Lu Yijian for not only doing things badly, but also committing the crime of defrauding the king.
Buckling such a charge, killing the head is already a basic operation, and it is not impossible to even the nine clans, in the face of the emperor's accusation, Lu Yijian's face did not have the slightest panic, but said:
"Cao Shi did marry someone, but she had a god and Buddha body, and after marrying Li Zhi, Li Zhi didn't dare to touch her at all, so she is still a virgin. If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, just ask someone to check it. ”
Hearing this, Song Renzong immediately asked someone to check the suspicion, and the result was exactly what Lu Yijian said, which made Song Renzong overjoyed, thinking that the Cao family was really blessed by gods and Buddhas, and this marriage was also given by God.
Song Renzong was kind, diligent and thrifty, and loved the people, and always believed that governing the country should hide the wealth from the people, and refused to be extravagant and wasteful. After the Cao family became the queen, she took care of the harem wholeheartedly, took care of the affairs of the palace in an orderly manner, and was gentle and virtuous, diligent and thrifty, which made Song Renzong extremely satisfied with her.
Although the first marriage did not bring any happiness to the Cao family, it was fully exercised in this marriage, and the Cao family has long been handy with large and small affairs in life, even if there are many trivial things in the palace, all of them are well organized.
The most important thing is that she once served Li Zhi carefully, and this process gave her a fuller understanding of men, and any small movement of Song Renzong, Cao was able to read Song Renzong's needs from it, and then gave herself the greatest care.
The Cao family has always supported Song Renzong silently behind him, and all kinds of actions have made Song Renzong very satisfied, and everyone else thinks that only through intrigue can they climb to the top of power.
She used practical actions to tell people that success does not necessarily have to step on others, as long as you do what you should do.
Judging from Cao's experience, people will inevitably encounter difficulties in their lives, and how to deal with them when difficulties come is a problem that everyone needs to think about.
In the face of an unhappy marriage, Cao did not feel sorry for himself, nor did he get by, but took the initiative to make changes and turn the situation around through his own efforts.
Her experience confirms the famous saying: what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Cao's heart is both gentle and strong, and it is this combination of strength and softness that makes her usher in her own spring.
What do you think differently about this?