Taking stock of the past dynasties, the Song Dynasty had the most regent queens. Liu E, the empress of Song Zhenzong, Gao Taotao, the empress of Song Yingzong, and Meng Shi, the empress of Song Zhezong. These are all queens of the Northern Song Dynasty, and in this issue, let's talk about the Southern Song Dynasty.
The first emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty was Zhao Gou, so the empress of the Southern Song Dynasty started with Zhao Gou's second wife, Wu. This queen has never been a regent, but she has a profound influence on Zhao Gou and even on the Southern Song Dynasty.
Before meeting the Wu family, Zhao Gou already had a wife, two concubines, and several daughters. But these people were all captured by the Jin army and went north, and there was no one around Zhao Gou to serve.
Although the situation was critical at that time, the emperor could not leave no one to take care of him, so he still enriched the harem. Wu was sent to Zhao Gou when Zhao Gou had already proclaimed himself emperor, but had not yet settled in Hangzhou, and the Southern Song Dynasty had not yet gained a firm foothold.
At that time, although Zhao Gou was called the emperor, he was similar to a lost dog. There is no territory, no troops, and only the identity of the royal bloodline, which is useless. Don't talk about the Jin army, the generals around him who protect him are all anti-willing. In this case, Zhao Gou lived in fear every day.
But the Wu family is different, although she is a woman, her force is not weak. Seeing Zhao Gou scared like that, she wore a military uniform every day, protecting Zhao Gou closely, and at the same time emboldening him.
Once the soldiers mutinied, rushed to Zhao Gou's residence and asked where Zhao Gou had gone? If it were an ordinary woman, she would have been stupid a long time ago, but Wu was very calm. She calmly made up lies to deceive the soldiers, and Zhao Gou escaped the catastrophe. Otherwise, it is likely that there would be no Southern Song Dynasty.
Wu is not only full of force, but also knowledgeable and all-rounder. Once Zhao Gou fled at sea, and a fish flew directly to the boat, and Zhao Gou was startled.
Wu comforted beside him and said that King Wu of Zhou wanted to overthrow the Shang Dynasty, and a white fish jumped onto the boat on the marching road. Now that this fish has jumped up on its own, doesn't that mean we're going to win?
When Zhao Gou heard this, it seemed that this was the reason, and he directly promoted her. I didn't know what the status of the Wu family was before, but after this incident, she was named Mrs. Yijun, and soon she was named Cairen, Wanyi and Guifei. Later, Zhao Gou knew that the original partner had been tortured to death on the territory of the Jin people, and he couldn't wait for anyone. Wu was then named queen.
Wu's life, when he was young, he accompanied Zhao Gou to wander away, and after settling in Hangzhou, life gradually stabilized, and good days followed. It is worth mentioning that both Wu and Zhao Gou lived a long life, Zhao Gou lived to be 81 years old, and Wu lived to be 83 years old. Zhao Gou and Wu have lived together for 55 years. This was extremely rare in ancient times.
They are the only golden wedding emperor couple in history.
Although Wu did not have a regent, she gave another woman the opportunity to be regent.
This woman is Yang Guizhi, the second queen of Song Ningzong and Zhao Kuo.
Don't look at the name is a bit earthy, but this woman is more powerful than Wu Zetian.
Yang Guizhi was from a low background, six years older than the emperor, and his status in the harem was not high at first.
In order to get the emperor's favor, she read history books, learned piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and practiced a good hand. These all make Song Ningzong extremely novel, that woman is like a mystery, and she can have a different experience every time she meets.
In addition to increasing his own hard power, Yang Guizhi is also looking for foreign aid. She recognized Yang Cishan, the minister of the DPRK, as her brother-in-law, and there was information that Yang Guizhi originally didn't know what her surname was, but because she recognized Yang Cishan as her brother-in-law, she followed someone else's surname Yang. In short, Yang Guizhi used this way to find a foreign aid for himself in the previous dynasty.
In this way, in the front and back harem, Yang Guizhi has the strength to compete. The emperor also liked her more and more, and in just a few years, she was promoted from his wife to Jieyu, Wanyi, and concubine. At this time, Song Ningzong's queen fell ill and died, and there was a vacancy in the superior position, and Yang Guizhi, as a concubine, was naturally the first candidate to be promoted to the queen. However, she also has competitors.
In addition to her, the emperor also likes Cao Meiren. And the former courtier, Han Wabi, strongly opposed Yang Guizhi as the queen, he thought that Yang Guizhi was too ambitious, and if he became the queen, he would definitely be his strong opponent.
Han Wabi persuaded the emperor to appoint Cao Meimei as the queen, and also said that Yang Guizhi was a woman, who was well-versed in the past and the present, and was smart and transparent, which was not a good thing. However, Song Ningzong did not take Han Yuxuan's suggestion, and still chose Yang Guizhi as the queen.
At that time, Yang Guizhi was 41 years old, and there were only two people in history who became queens in their 40s, except for Yang Guizhi, who was Liu E who ascended to the throne at the age of 44. Wu Zetian spent many years in Li Shimin's harem, wasted time in Ganye Temple, and fought with Queen Xiao Shufei after returning to the palace. After going through so much, she was only 32 years old when she became queen.
Therefore, Yang Guizhi is a ruthless person. Because being old, especially older than the emperor, means that you are old and decrepit, and you are fading and relaxing. She can fight among a group of young people at the age of 41, and she is definitely a ruthless character.
The ruthless character must be stable and ruthless. After Yang Guizhi became the queen, she faced Han Wabi. Han Wabi also knew that this woman would definitely take revenge on herself, so she decided to go on a northern expedition to the Central Plains to save political capital for herself. Unexpectedly, the Northern Expedition failed, and the adherents quickly drained. Yang Guizhi seized the opportunity, united with the newly promoted minister Shi Miyuan, mobilized the army in front of the palace, and directly killed Han Yuxuan.
Before the incident, Emperor Song Ningzong didn't know about this matter at all, Han Yuxuan had already been arrested, and Song Ningzong knew about it, so he hurriedly wrote a holy decree to release him. Yang Guizhi rushed to cry and said, Han Yuxuan is going to abolish me, and it will also lead to the defeat of the army, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers will die miserably. If you want to let him go, you might as well kill me first.
Song Ningzong had no idea when he heard it, and in the end, Han Yuxuan was killed.
It's just that the queen, not the emperor, dares to kill the ministers. Wu Zetian didn't dare to do such a thing when he was the queen.
Yang Guizhi also did two particularly fierce things.
One is that Emperor Song Ningzong has no successor, not infertility, he gave birth to many children, but none of them were kept, so he selected people from the clan. However, Song Ningzong's reproductive ability is really strong, and concubines are constantly pregnant. In this case, the identity of the adopted son selected from the clan is very embarrassing.
Then, Yang Guizhi did a very fierce thing. When the emperor had two concubines pregnant, she also suggested that the emperor make his adopted son the crown prince. What's even more rare is that the emperor actually agreed.
Although the children born to the two concubines also died, at that time, no one knew that they would die. In other words, the emperor was likely to have his own son, and at the suggestion of Yang Guizhi, he made his adopted son the crown prince. It can be seen how much influence Yang Guizhi has on the emperor!
Later, the prince also died. The emperor chose a junior from the clan to be the prince, this person was called Zhao Hong, and then the emperor himself died. Then, Yang Guizhi did another very fierce thing.
Because Zhao Hong was not filial to himself, Yang Guizhi abolished Zhao Hong after the emperor's death and chose the emperor's nephew Guicheng as the prince. Guicheng changed his name to Zhao Yun, that is, Song Lizong.
When Wu Zetian was the queen, he didn't dare to kill the ministers. After the death of Tang Gaozong, Wu Zetian had to take his time to become the emperor, and he did not dare to directly abolish the successor designated by the emperor. Therefore, Yang Guizhi is fierce in the competition.