Emperor Renzong of Song, the longest reigning emperor of the Song Dynasty, lasted for forty-two years. His lineage is more interesting than the achievements of his reign, and since ancient times there has been a widely spread saying about his origin: "Tanuki cat for prince".
The story of "Tanuki Cat for Prince" first appeared in the "Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses" written by Shi Yukun in the Qing Dynasty, and there is also a story in the "History of Song" and the "Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian" written by Bi Yuan.
According to some folk rumors, Song Zhenzong's favorite concubine was Liu Defei, and after the death of Empress Zhenzong of song in the Northern Song Dynasty, Liu Defei and Li Chenfei were pregnant, and it is obvious that whoever gave birth to a son may be made empress. Princess Liu Was often jealous, and she was very worried that Princess Li Chen would be made empress if she gave birth to a son.
Therefore, he and the palace chief dutang Guo Huai designed, in the case of Li Chenfei's birth due to blood halo and did not wake up, and with the help of the midwife Youshi, a stripped-off, slippery, bloody tanuki cat was replaced with the newborn prince. Concubine Liu De ordered the palace maid Kou Zhu to strangle the prince, and Kou Zhu could not bear it, and secretly handed the prince over to the eunuch Chen Lin, who sent the prince in a suitcase to the Eight Sages King to raise him.
Moreover, Song Zhenzong saw the furless tanuki cat and thought that Concubine Li had given birth to an indescribable demon, so he beat it into the cold palace. Not long after, Liu Defei gave birth to a son, and her son was smoothly established as the crown prince, and Liu Defei was also made empress.
However, what was surprising was that six years later, Liu Hou's son died of illness. Since Emperor Zhenzong of Song was childless, he had no choice but to adopt the son of his brother King Eight Sages (that is, the prince who had been replaced that year) as a righteous son and made a prince.
Later, the crown prince met with his birth mother, Concubine Li Chen, in the cold palace, and the mother and son met again after a long absence, and neither of them felt tears blurring their vision. When Liu Hou learned of this, he began to torture Kou Zhu, and Kou Zhu finally touched the stairs and died. Therefore, Liu Hou continued to offer rumors in front of Song Zhenzong, and Song Zhenzong ordered Li Chenfei to die.
The young eunuch Yu Zhong voluntarily martyred Li Chenfei and released Li Chenfei privately. Another eunuch, Qin Feng, took Concubine Li out and sent her to Chen Prefecture, where Qin Feng finally chose to set himself on fire and die. Li Chenfei could not make a living in Chenzhou, and could only live in a broken kiln and live by begging for food. Fortunately, Bao Zheng opened a warehouse in Chenzhou to provide grain, and after learning of the situation, he and Li Chenfei pretended to be mother and son and brought Li Chenfei back to Kaifeng. At this time, Emperor Zhenzong of Song had also died, and Concubine Li's son had successfully become emperor, known as Emperor Renzong of Song. Bao Zheng took advantage of entering the palace to congratulate Empress Dowager Song Renzongdi and brought Concubine Li Chen into the palace, and Li Chenfei was able to meet again with her own son Song Renzong, and she also told the truth of the matter. Subsequently, Bao Zheng asked Guo Huai to confess the truth of the matter, and Liu Shi, who was then the empress dowager, panicked and died after learning that the conspiracy at that time had been exposed. Because bao Zheng made great contributions in this case, he was appointed as prime minister by Emperor Renzong.
Although the story of the tanuki cat changing the prince is very exciting, it is more different from the historical facts-
First of all, It was unlikely that Concubine Li would compete with Concubine Liu for empress. Historically, Li Shi, the biological mother of Zhao Zhen of Song Renzong, was not a concubine at that time, but a maid of Concubine Liu, and her status was low. Second, Concubine Liu did not need to use a tanuki cat to steal it. In the third year of the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Renzong was adopted by Concubine Liu as soon as he was born, and Zhao Heng, the True Emperor of Song, knew and agreed with this matter. Third, Concubine Liu is not a sinister and vicious person. Concubine Liu, later Empress Liu, was not bad to Emperor Renzong's biological mother Li Shi, and promoted her from maid to concubine, and was buried according to the empress's specifications after her death. Fourth, the case was not tried by Bao Zheng. In the third year of the Northern Song Dynasty, that is, in 1036, Bao Zheng was the first official to serve as Zhi County, and by this time Empress Liu and Concubine Li Chen had been dead for four or five years.
The starting point of the ancients was good, using the story of "tanuki cat for prince" to explain that "money has two gos, hurting the character of ancient and modern people", "the power is the fox demon ghost, confusing the hearts of the world." In the palace, there are often intrigues and quarrels; inside the red wall, Su Huai'er deceives me.
Although power is very tempting, it is ultimately temporary, as if it were fleeting and fleeting. That is to say, it is only briefly possessed, and eventually it will be taken away by more powerful people.
Xiaosheng thinks that everyone in this world is born extraordinary, but we should try to do the most authentic self, the most suitable self can be, today's society is full of flowers, temptations are too much, there is no need to excessively covet those external things, keep the original intention, to always.
