There is a Song Dynasty, whether it is the Northern Song Dynasty or the Southern Song Dynasty, there is a strange phenomenon, that is, the fertility of the empress is generally not strong. Xiao Jue introduced the story of the harem of the Northern Song Dynasty before this, counting the empresses, except for Gao Taotao, who gave birth to four men and four women, the rest of the empresses had problems with their fertility. In fact, the Southern Song Dynasty was similar, and among the ten empresses, five of them gave birth to children. Among them, the most fertile was Empress Chengmuguo, the original wife of Emperor Xiaozong of Song.
Song Xiaozong only had four sons and four daughters in total, and Empress Guo gave birth to a total of four sons and a daughter, taking over all the males, and the limelight was also close to that of Empress Gao. However, the queen's life and favor were not as good as we thought. On the contrary, she is really a tragic figure.
Guo's origin was not low, her Guo Yu official to Zhaoqing Juncheng envoy, and her mother Zhao Shi was also the daughter of the Song Dynasty' clan. Particularly prominent is that her sixth ancestor was Guo Shouwen of the Northern Song Dynasty, the father of Empress Zhang Muguo, the successor of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. From the above relationship, it can be seen that the Guo family is very close to the royal family, and the Guo family itself even flows with the blood of the Zhao family.
It seems that Guo's road is also smooth, just in the twelfth year of Shaoxing, Song Gaozong ordered a wedding ceremony for Zhao Yao, the king of Pu'an County, and the bride was Guo. At that time, Guo Shi was only 16 years old, and he was named the Lady of Xianning County, which was extremely glorious.
After the marriage, the Guo family is also very lucky, she is a princess in the palace, and there is no one else to compete with her, it is necessary to talk about the reasons at that time. Emperor Gaozong of Song had no heirs, and Zhao Yu was his adopted son, in order to inherit the throne in the future. However, Zhao Xuan was not the only adopted son, and Emperor Gaozong of Song had another adopted son, Zhao Xuan. The two competed with each other and were each other's spare tires. In order to perform well, Zhao Yu followed the rules, studied hard, did not approach women, and established a good image of being positive and self-motivated.
Of course, Guo Himself was also very angry, and after entering the palace, he desperately gave birth to children for the royal family. In those years, she was either pregnant or preparing for pregnancy, and five children were born one after another, especially the birth of four boys, which greatly alleviated the crisis of the Southern Song Dynasty and added a heavy weight to Zhao Zhen's competition for the empress.
Because, Song Gaozong was childless, it was already very embarrassing, if the next emperor is still childless, it is bound to cause criticism, and the people will wonder whether the Song Dynasty is really exhausted. In any case, the two alternate heirs were not biological sons, and Emperor Gaozong of Song was determined not to pass the throne to the one who had no heirs. Zhao Xuan is better than his rival Zhao Xuan everywhere, but if he loses to Zhao Xuan here, wouldn't he be too wronged.
Song Xiaozong himself was not very fertile, so the credit for Guo's ability to give birth to four sons and a daughter in one breath was too great. By the way, Zhao Xuan also gave birth to four sons, but not by a mother, and Guo Shi equalized the score with his own strength.
Logically, Guo Shi should be very happy. However, fate is so playful that Zhao Yan and Guo Shi always live in the shadows. This is because although Zhao Yu is an adopted son, it is difficult to gain the unconditional trust of Song Gaozong, who himself is also waiting for the birth of a miracle. In addition, the existence of Zhao Xuan is a huge threat to Zhao Xuan. For example, Empress Wei, the birth mother of Emperor Gaozong of Song, preferred Zhao Xuan, and even persuaded Emperor Gaozong of Song to make Zhao Xuan crown prince many times.
Therefore, although Zhao Yu and Guo Shi have noble status and respected status, they are always worried, afraid of not paying attention, and all the glory, wealth and even life will be like a mirror flower and water moon. Probably because of this heavy pressure, coupled with the blow to the body by continuous production, Guo Shi actually died fourteen years after marrying into the palace, that is, shaoxing twenty-six years.
It was, of course, a tragic fate, that her children had not yet reached adulthood, and that her husband had ascended the throne six years later. Therefore, Guo's life is worry-free, in fact, he has not lived much comfortable life, and he has not enjoyed the treatment of the most honorable woman. She was only posthumously honored as empress after Emperor Xiaozong of Song ascended the throne.
The Song Dynasty learned the lessons of the Han Dynasty and did not allow foreign relatives to sit on the big matter. However, Empress Guo's relatives were treated so badly that they should have been given the title of Jin. In particular, her younger brothers Guo Shiyu and Guo Shiyuan, during the song xiaozong period, the official position was no more than that of Zheng Sipin's envoy.
Is this Song Xiaozong's unselfish affection? Obviously not either, because his second empress Xia's relatives were greatly rewarded, and Song Xiaozong even awarded eleven of Empress Xia's relatives at the same time. Among them, Empress Xia's younger brother Xia Zhizhong even managed to make him a position from Erpin's Fengguo Army. It was not until Empress Guo's son and grandson became emperor that the Guo family caught up with the status of the Xia family after repeated promotions.
This can probably be seen from the side, although the birth of a child has merit, although the earliest entry into the door, despite the honorable status, in fact, Song Xiaozong does not love her.