Cinderella, one of the heroines of Grimm's fairy tales, is a model for the people's daughter to become a queen. In the Grimm fairy tale, Cinderella is rejected by her stepmother and two sisters, doing hard work, tired work, dirty work, and her body is covered with gray dirt, so it is called "Cinderella". Did not enjoy the warmth of the family, but the "crystal shoes" changed Cinderella's fate. After the ball, the prince painstakingly sought a girl in crystal shoes, and then got down on one knee to propose to her, and Cinderella accepted the prince's marriage proposal and lived happily ever after.
The Cinderella in Grimm's fairy tale is familiar to everyone, but did ancient China also have "Cinderella"? Empress Liu E of the Song Dynasty, whose early fate is very similar to that of the fairy tale Cinderella, she has no parents and lives a life under the fence. When he entered Kaifeng to make a living, he was "sold" to the prince by her husband Gong Mei. Who knows, Liu E later counterattacked into the empress and controlled the government for decades, profoundly influencing the historical process of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Liu E, a native of Sichuan, has not had a father and mother since she was a child, she is an orphan and is fostered in her grandmother's house. Children without parents are destined to be treated coldly by others, uncles, aunts, cousins often bully her, Liu E is a typical "Cinderella", the fate is very bumpy. At the age of 14, liu e was married to gong mei, a folk craftsman, as a matchmaker by her uncle. Liu E sings well and her voice is euphemistic and moving; Gong Mei will create silver bracelets. Since then, the couple has been running around for their lives, busy and busy.
In order to make a living, Gong Mei took Liu E into Beijing and set up stalls near the Bian River to sell art and earn living expenses. In the Northern Song Dynasty, when the commodity economy of ancient China reached its peak, The Beijing Division Kaifeng was extremely prosperous and the cost of living was very high. Relying solely on selling art, Gong Mei could not solve the problem of food and clothing, let alone get rich. At this time, Gong Mei planned to "sell" his wife Liu E in exchange for silver two.
Zhang Qi, an attendant official in the han king Zhao Heng's mansion, often came to Gong Mei's house to create silver jewelry, and the relationship between the two was extraordinary. Hearing that Gong Mei was going to "sell" Liu E, her friend Zhang Qi helped her. Liu E sang well, and Zhang Qi introduced her to the Han Dynasty palace as Zhao Heng's concubine. Zhao Heng, the King of Han, was later signed with the Khitan by Emperor Zhenzong of Song.
Fate could not help herself, Liu E tearfully left her husband Gong Mei, she expected that after she entered the palace, she would definitely suffer and become a plaything for the children of the powerful. Sometimes, fate can always bring unexpected surprises, Zhao Heng saw Liu E, was impressed by her beauty, and from then on, "three thousand harem beauties, only love Liu E alone." Since Liu E came to the palace, Emperor Taizong of Song Zhao Guangyi obviously noticed that his son Zhao Heng had become thinner and appeared to be malnourished.
In order to understand the situation, Zhao Guangyi found the nursing mother of the palace and asked her for news, and learned that Zhao Heng was overly fond of Liu E, and the emperor was very angry. How could Liu E, who was selling art, be worthy of Wang Ye? To this end, Zhao Guangyi decreed that Zhao Heng marry the daughter of the founding general Pan Mei and drive Liu E out of the palace and never see each other. Who knows, Zhao Heng actually resisted the will and disrespected him, he hid Liu E in Zhang Qi's home, and often went out to meet, but the emperor did not know.
Zhang Qi is a person who understands, Zhao Heng hid Liu E in his home, and the positive Prince wangye has become extremely infatuated with her. In order to avoid suspicion, Zhang Qi rented a house outside to facilitate Zhao Heng and Liu E's date. Knowing how to be a man, Zhang Qi's later career path was very smooth, the official to the moderation, the title of Duke of Xu, the status is very prominent.
In 997, Zhao Guangyi, the "god of the car" of the Gaoliang River, died, and Zhao Heng, the king of Han, succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhenzong of Song. When Zhao Heng became emperor, he naturally would not treat Liu E badly, and under some operation, Liu E became an empress. At first, the empress was Guo, who was kind and kind, but died prematurely. When the empress became vacant, Emperor Zhenzong of Song wanted to appoint Liu E as his successor, but was opposed by the chancellor Kou Zhun, and Emperor Zhenzong of Song could only give up. Because of this incident, the relationship between Kou Zhun and Liu E deteriorated, and he was later degraded and went to Lingnan to seek a living.
There are always more ways than difficulties, and Song Zhenzong still has a way to make Liu E an empress, as long as the time is ripe. In 1010, Emperor Zhenzong of Song favored Liu E's maid Li Shi and became pregnant, giving birth to a son, Zhao Zhen (宋仁宗). Three months before Li's arrival, Song Zhenzong suddenly announced that Liu E was pregnant and was ready to give birth. As a result, everyone knows that after Li Gave birth to a son, he was immediately taken away by Liu. However, Liu Did Not Raise Himself, but entrusted Zhao Zhen to Concubine Yang, who was the same sister as him, to raise him.
Liu E gave birth to a son, and Song Zhenzong had a reason, and he once again announced that he would be crowned empress. For the truth of the "prince", the Qunchen naturally knew, but no one dared to break through this layer of paper. In 1012, Liu E became empress, changed from "Cinderella" to empress, and became more and more favored by the emperor, and lived a very happy life.
Liu E is an orphan daughter with no mother's family, and it is indeed not easy to become an empress at this time. However, Liu E is not a narrow-minded person, she did not hate her ex-husband Gong Mei who "sold" herself, but thanked him and thanked Gong Mei for "unwanted grace" and gave herself the opportunity to become an empress. Liu E was very interesting, she changed her name to her ex-husband Gong Mei as her brother, let him change his surname to "Liu", as his own mother's family, Song Zhenzong also agreed. Later, Gong Meiguan was promoted to the forbidden army Ma Shuai, and he and his descendants could be described as winners.
For the maid Li Shi, Liu E also took good care of her and did not persecute her. In 1032, Li Shi became seriously ill, and Liu E personally took care of it. Soon after, Li Shi died of illness, and Liu E ordered her to be buried as an empress. In 1033, Liu E's illness worsened and she summoned Emperor Renzong of Song to her side. At this time, Liu E had been pulling at her own clothes with her hands, and Song Renzong did not understand the meaning. The chancellor informed Emperor Renzong that the empress dowager did not want to be buried in imperial costumes and hoped that you would change the imperial costume to an empress costume, otherwise she would not be able to meet Emperor Zhenzong.
In 1033, Liu E died of illness, and Emperor Renzong of Song was able to personally govern and seize the power of the imperial government. At this time, zhao yuanyu, the "eight sages king", informed Zhao Zhen of his "life", saying that Concubine Li was your biological mother. Hearing the truth, Renzong cried bitterly, he had never seen his mother, and her mother had died. Then, Song Renzong personally inspected Li Fei's coffin and saw that Li Fei's face had not changed and she was buried wearing the empress's clothes, not rumored to have been poisoned by Liu E. In this way, Zhao Zhen ordered Liu E to change into empress costumes and be buried.
Originally a folk orphan girl, Liu E had a rough fate in her early years and was sold to the palace by her husband Gong Mei. Who knows, Zhao Heng fell in love with Liu E at first sight, and Liu E changed her fate from "Cinderella" to an empress. In the later period of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Zhao Heng was unwell, so he often let Liu E participate in the government and approved the recitals, and Liu E gradually grasped the administrative power of the Northern Song Dynasty. The chancellors Kou Zhun, Ding Wei, Cao Yu, and others were all driven away by her; zhao Yuanyu, the "Eight Sages King", was afraid of Liu E, and could only pretend to be crazy and stupid.
After seizing power, Liu E often wore imperial costumes and personally handled government affairs. Every time she went to the court, Liu E presided over the affairs of the dynasty as an empress dowager and met with the ministers, and Song Renzong could only watch from the sidelines, without any real power. Jiaozi, the first paper money in ancient China, was issued by Liu E's order, and it was issued by the people and changed to the state, which was very beneficial to the development of the commodity economy.
He was in a position of power and also wore a dragon robe, but Liu E repeatedly rejected the minister's suggestion to "claim the title of emperor". Later generations commented: "There is the power of Lü Wu, but there is no evil of Lü Wu." This means that Liu E holds great power, but she is not as vicious as Lü Yan and Wu Zetian. Unfortunately, Liu E was portrayed black in the rendition, and she became the protagonist of "Tanuki for Prince".
Bibliography: History of the Song Dynasty