Ancient China was a patriarchal society, and men were the masters of the dynasty, but in special circumstances, there were also cases where the empress dowager bowed to the government. There are many empresses in Chinese history who are known for their wisdom, such as the civilized empress dowager Feng of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and of course, there are also some losers who act recklessly and even ruin the dynasty! Empress Hu of the Northern Wei Dynasty can be called the most defeated empress dowager in history, so what kind of person is she?
This Empress Dowager Hu was from the famous Northern Anding Hu clan, and her father was Hu Guozhen. Empress Dowager Hu's aunt was a nun who often entered the palace to lecture on Buddhism, and she took advantage of this opportunity to suggest that her niece was both talented and beautiful, and when Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei heard about it, he summoned Empress Dowager Hu to the harem. At that time, the Northern Wei Dynasty implemented the system of "the death of the son and the noble mother", and all concubines who gave birth to the prince were to be executed. In 510, Empress Dowager Hu gave birth to a crown prince for Emperor Xuanwu, who was given the name Yuan Xue.
In 512, Yuan Xue was made crown prince, but due to the complexity of the situation at the time, coupled with the protection of eunuchs and courtiers, Empress Hu was not given death. In 515, Emperor Xuanwu fell ill and died, and yuan xuan, who was only five years old, took the throne as Emperor Xiaoming. Empress Dowager Hu, who was the emperor's biological mother, went from the harem to the former dynasty and bowed to the government. At first, Empress Dowager Hu was still a rule, but soon destroyed the system, for example, she called herself Yuan, and when the courtiers wrote to her, they called her Majesty, and the orders she gave were called edicts.
During Empress Dowager Hu's reign, she acted recklessly, wantonly wasted money, and corrupted the atmosphere of the government and the opposition, and Empress Dowager Hu's private life was very chaotic. King Yuanyi of Qinghe was very handsome, "beautiful and beautiful", and was the younger brother of Emperor Xuanwu, that is, Empress Dowager Hu's younger uncle, and as a result, he was favored by Empress Dowager Hu, "When Empress Dowager Shi was wise, she forced the Qinghe King to be lucky, and she was evil to the world." Empress Dowager Hu had many other lovers, and one was even forced to flee to the Liang Dynasty.
Just when Empress Dowager Hu was indulging in "love", the leader Yuan Fork and Changqiu Qing Liu Teng launched a coup d'état and imprisoned Empress Hu. Unexpectedly, a few years later, Empress Dowager Hu made a comeback and came to the court again to listen to the government, but the northern Wei government did not improve, "since the government was slow, Wei En did not stand." Empress Dowager Hu still went her own way, raising many male pets and appointing them to run the government, "proclaiming adultery in the dynasty, being disgusted by the four sides, disintegrating the civil and military forces, rebelling in the place, and rotting the land."
Hu Shengjing was Empress Dowager Hu's uncle, and taking advantage of the gathering of his relatives, he cried and advised Empress Dowager Hu: "Your Majesty's mother Yi Hai Nei, it is better to get rid of this lightly!" Unexpectedly, Empress Dowager Hu was furious and never saw her uncle again. As he grew older, Emperor Xiaoming also began to express dissatisfaction with his mother's behavior, and in order to regain power, he issued a secret edict to his father-in-law Erzhu Rong, asking him to bring troops to the King of Jingqin.
But unexpectedly, the news leaked, and Empress Hu did not stop doing anything, conspiring with her lovers Zheng Yu and Xu Qi to kill her son. In 528, the 18-year-old Xiaoming Emperor Yuan xuan was poisoned and killed. In order to cover up the truth, Empress Dowager Hu made Yuanzhao's daughter emperor, and a few days later, she announced that the 3-year-old Yuanzhao was made emperor. When the news came out, "the world was stunned." After erzhu Rong, who occupied Jinyang, heard the news, he used the excuse of pursuing the cause of Emperor Xiaoming's death and led his troops south.
After Empress Dowager Hu heard the news, she hurriedly led Emperor Xiaoming's concubines to become nuns, perhaps she hoped that the Buddha would bless her! Erzhu Rong sent troops to take Empress Hu and the young lord Yuanzhao to Heyin, and Empress Hu also chattered to Erzhu Rong to explain her behavior, but she did not expect erzhu Rong not to listen at all, and raised her sleeves. In the end, Empress Dowager Hu was thrown into the Yellow River and drowned alive. Later generations commented: "Filial piety rushes to the age of the ruler, the queen of the spirit of the woman is despotic, appoints non-human beings, and rewards and punishes obedient people." So he provoked Uchiha and brought misfortune to Yan Bangki. ”
References: 1. Book of Wei, 2. History of the North, 3. Zizhi Tongjian