Empress Dowager Li Fengniang of Song Guangzong, who bullied three generations of emperors
Li Fengniang (1144–1200), a native of Anyang (present-day Anyang, Henan). His father, Li Dao, was an envoy of the Guanqingyuan Army. She was the mother of Zhao Kuo, the fourth emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Ningzong, and one of the famous empresses of the Two Song Dynasties and even in Chinese history.
Li Shi was born during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Song, with a gorgeous posture and a noble face, and once a Taoist emperor fu tan looked at her face and said in surprise: "This woman is the mother of the world." Her beauty reached the ears of Emperor Gaozong of Song, who immediately ordered his grandson Zhao Wei (later Emperor Guangzong of Song) to appoint Li Fengniang as a concubine, to be made Lady Rongguo, to be renamed Lady Dingguo, and to have a son Zhao Kuo in the fourth year of Qiandao (1168).
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Song, there was a scholar named Emperor Futan, who cured Empress Wei's eye disease and thus gained Emperor Gaozong's trust. Once, Emperor Futan came to the home of Li Dao, the envoy of Qingyuan Jiedu, and Li Dao knew that Emperor Futan was a famous xiangshi, so he asked Emperor Futan to meet his three daughters.
Li Dao's eldest daughter and third daughter were not very special, but when the second daughter Fengniang came out to meet her, Emperor Futan said that this woman was quite expensive, so she did not dare to be worshipped. Speaking of this Li Fengniang, her name also has a little origin! However, it was said that before Mrs. Li Dao gave birth to a daughter, a group of black phoenixes flew in front of the military camp and wandered away. So Li Dao named his daughter Fengniang, who was born soon after.
Since Emperor Futan met Fengniang at Li Dao's house, he rushed back to Jingshi overnight to ask for a meeting with Emperor Gaozong, who was already emperor Taishang, saying that he had found a good granddaughter-in-law for him, and proposed that Li Fengniang, who had a noble face, be made the concubine of Emperor Xiaozong's third son, Prince Gong of Zhao. Emperor Gaozong had always believed in Emperor Futan, so he made the lord and let King Gong marry Fengniang. Later, the crown prince fell ill and died, and Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Xiaozong decided to make Zhao Huan, the third ranked crown prince, and Princess Gong Li Fengniang immediately became a crown princess. Later, Emperor Xiaozong ascended the throne as crown prince, and Zhao Huan took the throne as empress dowager for Emperor Guangzong, with his wife Li Fengniang as empress.
However, Li Fengniang was jealous by nature, and although she was already the head of the Six Palaces and had given birth to her son Zhao Kuo in the fourth year of Emperor Xiaozong's gandao (1168 AD), she was still not satisfied. Once, when Guangzong was washing his hands in the palace, he happened to notice a pair of white slippery hands of the palace people who were holding a basin waiting on the side, so he naturally praised them twice. However, this small matter was learned by Empress Li, and as a result, on the afternoon of the same day, Empress Li sent someone to send a food box to Guangzong, who opened it to see that it was a pair of hands of the palace man that day, and Guangzong was so frightened that he could not speak, and he fell ill for several days.
It was so cruel to the palace people that Guangzong occasionally met, it was not difficult to imagine how Li Fengniang would treat Guangzong's concubines. At that time, in addition to the empress, there were also concubines such as Huang Guifei, Zhang Guifei, and Fu Jieyu in the harem of Guangzong. Huang Guifei was originally the maid of Emperor Xiaozong's Concubine Xie Guifei (later empress), and when Emperor Guangzong was first crown prince, Emperor Xiaozong gave him the Huang clan because he saw that he lacked concubines to serve. Emperor Guangzong was also very fond of the Huang clan, and after he ascended the throne, he was made a noble concubine. However, Empress Li really could not tolerate Huang Guifei's favor, so she sent someone to murder Huang Guifei when Guangzong left the palace to sacrifice. At that time, Shi Zong was bedridden due to rain, and at the same time heard the news of Huang Guifei's violent death, so he became even more seriously ill. Zhang Guifei and Fu Jieyu were also ordered to remarry civilians because of the empress's jealousy, and compared to the tragic death of Huang Guifei, they were much happier.
Of course, What Li Fengniang had done had already been noticed by Emperor Xiaozong of Taishang and Empress Xie of Taishang. When Xie Shi was empress, she was very courteous to Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu, and was very respectful; but now Li Fengniang was not only rude to her husband Guangzong, but also confronted Emperor Taishang and Empress Taishang everywhere, and when Empress Taishang was kind and persuaded, she said with a sentence: "I am married to the emperor, and my name is right, so why can't I?" In response, he satirized empress Dowager Xie for not being a concubine of Emperor Xiaozong. Emperor Xiaozong and Empress Xie were very angry and planned to depose Li Fengniang, but because The Taishi Shi Hao thought that the abolition of the empress dowager soon after the establishment was too hasty and resolutely opposed it, the abolition of the empress dowager was not resolved.
Li Fengniang not only had a very pleasant relationship with Emperor Taishang, she also broke up the feelings between Emperor Xiaozong and Guangzong's father and son several times. When Emperor Guangzong first ascended the throne, zhao kuo, the eldest son of Emperor Wu, was made crown prince, which made Li Fengniang uneasy. Once, when Guangzong, who had just recovered from illness, was drunk at a banquet, she asked Emperor Guangzong to make Zhao Kuo, who had already been crowned king of Jia, as crown prince to help Guangzong handle government affairs. Emperor Guangzong also felt quite reasonable, but he insisted on asking his father, Emperor Xiaozong, to make another record. However, Feng Niang did not listen, and went away in anger, and did not allow Xiaozong and others to meet Guangzong. A few days later, Emperor Xiaozong was unable to see his son, so he summoned Li Fengniang to inquire about the emperor's condition, and Li Fengniang used the word Guangzong to be ill and asked Zhao Kuo, the prince of Lijia, to be the crown prince to assist the government. However, Emperor Xiaozong believed that Emperor Guangzong had only recently ascended the throne and was not even familiar with political affairs, but entrusted all government affairs to his son, which was really unreasonable, so he rejected the proposal to establish a prince prematurely. Li Fengniang felt that Emperor Xiaozong was targeting her at every turn, so she went back to the palace to cry to Emperor Guangzong that Emperor Xiaozong did not want to make a prince, and Emperor Guangzong was kept in the dark, thinking that Emperor Xiaozong had ulterior motives, so he was so angry that he would not see Emperor Xiaozong again. His decision to break the Emperor Taishang caused an uproar in the whole dynasty.
After more than a year, Guangzong's health improved slightly, and he attached great importance to the government of the Upper Dynasty, and the Wenwu Hundred Officials took the opportunity to request Guangzong to see emperor Taishang, and Guangzong was forced to go once, and the relationship was improved. However, several times in succession, Empress Li obstructed it, causing the relationship between father and son to be good and bad. Later, when Emperor Xiaozong died, the hundred officials asked Emperor Guangzong to preside over the funeral, but Emperor Guangzong kept delaying and did not want to go, and as a result, the still-alive Empress Dowager Wu draped the curtain on his behalf. Later, the chancellor saw that Emperor Guangzong was ignoring political affairs and asked Emperor Guangzong to make King Jia the crown prince. However, Guangzong, who was constrained everywhere, did not even want to be the emperor, and as a result, the disheartened Guangzong gave way to King Jia and retired to the throne of Taishang. And Li Fengniang thus became empress Taishang.
In the sixth year of the Qingyuan Dynasty (1200 AD), some people who calculated that Li Fengniang would have disasters, so Li Fengniang put on a Taoist robe and prayed to the Buddha. It's just that she can't escape this fate. In June of the same year, Li Fengniang fell ill and died at the age of fifty-six.
Looking at the concubines of the Southern and Northern Song Dynasties, it is not uncommon to be able to influence the government, but an empress like Li Fengniang who conquered three generations of emperors with a woman's body is unique in the history of the Two Song Dynasties. In fact, throughout Li Fengniang's life, there was nothing special about it, and gaozong accepted her as Princess Gong only by the words of a jianghu warlock. What is even more bizarre is that none of the three generations of emperors that Li Fengniang met finally abdicated and became the Emperor Taishang. Although this strange phenomenon, which is rare in Chinese history, is related to Li Fengniang, it can never be said that It was caused by Li Fengniang as a woman. Although Li Shi was gorgeous, his surname was Xi Xi, and when she was the crown princess, she had already made Song Gaozong and others resentful of her. After becoming empress, Emperor Guangzong was cowardly by nature and neglected the government, and everything depended on her, and her power was gradually manipulated by the arrogant and fierce Li Fengniang.
Once, when Emperor Guangzong saw that the hand of the palace maid who brought him water was born white, he casually said, "Good! ”。 The next day, Li Hou brought a box of snacks to Guangzong, and when he opened the lid, he saw that it contained the two hands of the palace maid, which frightened Guangzong into a heart attack. Later, one of Guangzong's favorite concubines was killed by Li Hou, and Guangzong was greatly stimulated to develop illness and his spirit was not normal. When his father, Emperor Xiaozong, heard about it, he sent the pills, but Li Hou spread rumors that it was poison, which divided the relationship between Guangzong and Emperor Xiaozong.
Emperor Guangzong was not only controlled by Empress Li, but even her actions were interfered with. When Emperor Xiaozong died of illness and wanted to see Emperor Guangzong and his daughter-in-law for the last time, the cowardly Emperor Guangzong did not dare to visit his father without Empress Li's consent, and many ministers wrote to ask Emperor Guangzong to visit Emperor Xiaozong, but Emperor Guangzong also ignored it, and the two of them also ignored it until the day of Emperor Xiaozong's funeral. Emperor Guangzong's unkind and filial piety provoked the indignation of the government and the public, and the Great Funeral made Zhao Kuo emperor on the same day. Emperor Guangzong and Li Fengniang became Emperor Taishang and Empress Taishang.
In the sixth year of Qingyuan (1200), Li Fengniang fell ill and died at the age of fifty-six.