In the thirty-second year of Shaoxing (1162 AD), the 55-year-old Emperor Gaozong of Song gave the throne to the crown prince Zhao Xuan on the grounds of "tired diligence", and he was finally at ease to be a "worldly" Taishang Emperor, and he had been sitting in the position of Emperor Taishang for twenty-five years. Moreover, the crown prince Zhao Xuan was not Zhao Shuo's biological son, but a descendant of Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty. Then, why did Zhao Shuo choose to pass the throne to his adopted son, who was almost unrelated to himself? According to the General Theory of National History, it may include the following possibilities:
This situation must be known to everyone - although Emperor Gaozong of Song had a long life, he had only given birth to one son in his lifetime, that is, Zhao Xu, the Prince of Yuanyi. Zhao Xu was once supported by rebel generals in the famous "Miao-Liu Mutiny" and became emperor for a month, but it was not long before he died, when he was only two years old. Emperor Gaozong of Song, who had lost his fertility for various reasons, was considered an empress dowager from then on. Therefore, he could only adopt a righteous son to serve as the heir to the throne of the Southern Song Dynasty.
According to normal circumstances, Zhao Shuo's selection of adopted sons is definitely the first choice for those who are closest to his own blood relations, but as we all know, after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, most of the royal relatives of the Song Dynasty were captured by the Jin Dynasty and went north, only Zhao Shuo escaped from all the sons of Emperor Huizong of Song, all the sons of Song Qinzong were captured, and the rest who survived were basically very distant from Zhao Cuo (such as Zhao Yunrang, the King of Sipu).
In the Northern Song Dynasty, there was an incident in which the emperor himself had no children and passed the throne to his adopted son, that is, Song Renzong passed the throne to his adopted son Zhao Shu (later Song Yingzong). In his edict announcing that he was going to adopt Yizi, Zhao Shuo once mentioned: "If you do not want To be lawless Renzong, for the sake of the world, how can you comfort the spirit of heaven", but his words that he wanted "Fa Renzong" were against his will, because after Song Yingzong ascended the throne, there was a far-reaching "Pu Discussion Incident" - Song Yingzong's biological father was Zhao Yunrang, the king of Pu'an Yi, and not Zhao Zhen of Song Renzong, so Song Yingzong insisted on posthumously crowning his father as emperor, but this really angered the ministers and the imperial family who paid attention to etiquette, because they (Wang Jue, Sima Guang et al.) believed that since the current emperor was the adopted son of the former emperor and had been given the throne by the former emperor, the former emperor was naturally his natural father, and Zhao Yunrang could only be his "imperial uncle". The incident continued for eighteen months, and finally the ministers made a compromise by allowing Zhao Yun to be posthumously honored as the "Imperial Examination".
Of course, Zhao Zhuo did not want the Pu discussion incident to be staged again--the external troubles could not be lifted, so how could he increase the internal troubles? Therefore, the fundamental way to solve this problem is to choose a clan that lacks roots from the people as an adopted son. There are two benefits to doing so:
1. The rise to power of the imperial family from the fall of the imperial family has already made the adopted son grateful to the emperor and will not put forward other excessive needs.
2. The fallen royal family will not have an entangled network of forces, and it will not pose a threat to the southern Song Dynasty royal family.
The throne of Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, passed to his younger brother Zhao Guangyi of Song Taizong (the reason why Zhao Kuangyin did not pass on his son was a questionable case throughout the ages, which is not discussed here), and since then the throne of the Song Dynasty has been passed down in the vein of Zhao Guangyi, but the Song Dynasty and the public know that this is unfair to Taizu, so the call for the return of the throne is getting louder and louder at this time. Li Hui, a member of the Privy Council, and other ministers once wrote to him, "Yizu does not take the throne to private his son, but sends his heart to sincerity." His Majesty is far-sighted for the world, and he can show the Destiny of Heaven in accordance with Yizu", zhang Shouze, the governor of the government, said: "The sons of Yizu do not hear of losing morality, but pass on the throne to Emperor Taizong, pass yao and Shun far away", and the most impressive thing to Zhao Zhuo was Shangyu Yu Lou Yinliang, who said: "After Changling, there is no one to hear, only with the people." Yizu is on top, Moken Guxin, this golden man so he did not repent of the disaster also. The ministers' letter expressed three meanings:
1. Taizu used the throne as a public heirloom to Emperor Taizong, and now he should return the throne to Taizu Yimu in order to "Zhaoge Mandate of Heaven".
2. His Majesty can now pass the throne to the descendants of Taizu, and his merit is comparable to that of Taizu and even Yao Shun.
3. Before, the Song family was too sorry for the descendants of Taizu - they should have been treated preferentially, but in fact they were "only with the people", which angered the spirit of Emperor Taizu in heaven, and he no longer blessed the Great Song, which was also an important reason for the outbreak of the "Jingkang Difficulty".
The "History of Song" records that Zhao Zhuo "sighed greatly" after reading Lou Yinliang's book, and immediately issued an edict: "Taizu fixed the world with divine martial arts, and his descendants could not enjoy it. If you are not a lawless renzong, for the sake of the world, how can you comfort the spirit of heaven! It was also announced that the heir to the imperial throne would be selected from the "Bo" character of Taizu's descendants (Taizu VII's grandson), and eventually Zhao Boqun and Zhao Bojiu were elected to the palace.
Because of his obedient personality and erudition, Zhao Boqun was made crown prince in Shaoxing in the thirty-second year and changed his name to Zhao Xuan, and soon after, Zhao Zhuo, who reigned for thirty-six years, declared himself the prince of Zen and proclaimed himself Emperor Taishang. And later history also proved that Zhao Zhuo's choice this time was correct - Song Xiaozong Zhao Xuan became the most effective emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty recognized by historians.