Life in Song Guangzong!

A Brief Introduction of Song Guangzong Zhao Dun

Guangzong Zhao Dun was the third emperor in the Southern Song Dynasty. 17 (1147) was born in Shaoxing on September 4th. He reached the pinnacle at the age of 43, and after only two years, he suffered from mental illness. It is not uncommon for children of the royal family with mental disorders in Song history, such as Zhao Tingmei and Zhao Dezhao, the younger brother of Emperor Taizong, Zhao Yuanzuo, the eldest son of Emperor Taizong, and Zhao Yuanshuo, the sixth son of Emperor Taizong. Their deaths are all related to mental illness. This may be due to some heredity, coupled with the endless infighting within the ruling group, and the personality and psychology of some members of the royal family are inevitably damaged to some extent. Guangzong's morbid psychology stems from his suspicion of his father and his fear of his wife. During his six years in office, his condition deteriorated and he finally had to abdicate at the age of 48. Guangzong's reign was short, but he wrote a very strange stroke in the history of Song Dynasty.

"Filial Piety" Son: From "Filial Piety" in the East Palace to Unfilial King

The filial piety queen Guo has four sons, the eldest son Deng Wang Zhaoyun, the second son Gong Wang (that is, Guangzong), and the fourth son died young. Xiaozong first made Zhao Yun the Crown Prince, but he died soon. According to etiquette, Wang Qing and Gong Wang were the first to leave, while the older Wang Qing was appointed as the prince. However, Xiaozong thinks that the Qing king is too generous and kind, so it is better to be brave as yourself. He decided to give up his elders and raise young children, and in February of the seventh year of Avenue (1 17 1), he made Zhao Gong Town a prince. Interestingly, Xiaozong is humble and kind to Gaozong, who is not his biological father, while Guangzong has always had great doubts and distrust of his biological father Xiaozong. In the East Palace, in order to stabilize Chu Jun's position, Guangzong still respected Xiaozong, but once he ascended the throne, the contradiction between father and son began to stand out and became increasingly acute under the influence of various factors.

The East Palace has always been the vortex center of power struggle. A slight negligence of the prince's words and deeds will not only endanger Chu Jun's position, but also lead to his death. Zhao Dun is well aware of this. Therefore, after he entered the East Palace, he was diligent and eager to learn, strictly observing etiquette in every move and showing filial piety to Xiao Zongke. When filial piety is in a good mood, the prince is also "happy to move in color", on the contrary, "Qi (m ℉ o) naturally worries about color". Filial piety often gives poems to the prince, constantly reminding him to inherit his great wish of rejuvenating the motherland. The prince also praised his father's achievements in peace poems and tried to show his ambition to rejuvenate the country. This kind of harmony between father and son undoubtedly makes Xiaozong feel more gratified, and the prince seems to have indeed inherited his bravery and ambition.

Zhao Dun has been a dutiful son in the Eastern Palace for more than ten years, but he still can't see that Xiaozong has the intention of passing on the throne to him, and finally he is impatient. One day, the prince tried to filial piety: "My beard has begun to turn white. Someone gave me medicine to dye my beard, and I dare not use it. " Xiaozong heard the implication of his son and replied, "It is good to have a white beard, which just shows the world your age. What's the use of beard dyeing medicine! " The prince touched a soft nail and never dared to mention it to Xiaozong again. Instead, he turned to Wu Zetian (Emperor Gaozong). He entertained Empress Dowager Cixi for many times to taste fresh and delicious food, and Empress Dowager Cixi knew it well. On some occasions, she hinted to Xiaozong that she should be transferred to the prince as soon as possible, but the answer was that the prince still needed experience. His father's majesty and unwillingness to delegate power may have cast an ominous shadow on the prince's heart.

In the fourteenth year of Xichun (1 187), Gaozong died, and Xiaozong was heartbroken. Xiaozong has always been grateful to Emperor Gaozong for his Zen position. In addition, he is over 60 years old and deeply unable to restore the Central Plains. Therefore, he changed the previous practice of mourning for the first emperor and insisted on mourning for three years, which not only showed his filial piety to Emperor Gaozong, but also took the opportunity to get rid of the complicated government affairs. In February of Xichun 16, Zhao Dun, then 43 years old, finally looked forward to the inner meditation ceremony. Xiao Zongchuan is located behind the prince and retired to the Chinese Palace. He had hoped to spend his old age as leisurely as Emperor Gaozong, but he didn't expect the contradiction and conflict between father and son to suddenly become fierce.

Guangzong, who acceded to the throne, felt it unnecessary to pretend to be a "dutiful son" to please Xiaozong. At the beginning of his reign, he followed the precedent of Xiaozong serving the emperor and appeared in front of the Chinese Palace four times a month, occasionally accompanying Xiaozong for banquets and sightseeing. However, before long, Guangzong began to find excuses to avoid this routine, and the gap between father and son gradually appeared.

At the beginning of Shao Xichu, Guangzong led the concubines in the palace to visit Jujing Garden alone. Ministers talked about this in succession, thinking that when Emperor Gaozong was alive and Xiao Zong traveled, he would respectfully invite Emperor Gaozong to accompany him, while Guangzong only cared about his own development. Seeing such a letter, Guangzong was extremely annoyed, which coincided with Xiaozong sending eunuchs to send Guangzong a jade cup. Guangzong Yunu didn't rest, his hands were unstable, and he accidentally broke the jade cup. The eunuch returned to the Chinese Palace and told the whole story: "The emperor was so angry that he even broke the jade cup when he saw the reward from the emperor." Filial piety is naturally unhappy. On another occasion, Xiao Zong went to the East Garden to play. Originally, Guangzong wanted to serve, but by the time of the family dinner, he still disappeared. The eunuch of the Chinese Palace, who has always been a gossip, deliberately put a group of chickens in the garden, but was ordered to catch them, but could not catch them. He shouted, "You can't catch a chicken today!" At that time, people in Lin 'an called begging for food and drinking "catching chickens", and eunuchs were obviously using sarcastic tone, alluding to Xiaozong's dependence on others. Although Xiaozong pretended not to hear, his inner anger and pain could be imagined. After all, Guangzong is his own son and doesn't even have the least courtesy. As a father, how can he let go?

Various signs have made Xiaozong feel that Guangzong has neglected and neglected himself, but on the issue of establishing a reserve army, the father and son have serious differences of opinion, further intensifying the original contradiction. Li, the queen of Guangzong, was born with only one Jia Wang, Zhao Kuo, and was made a prince. This was a natural thing, but it was stopped by Xiaozong. It may be because Jia Wang is weak by nature, and Xiaozong thinks he is not suitable to inherit the throne. In contrast, Zhao Yi, the son of Wang Kai, was gifted and was deeply loved by Xiao Zong. At first, Guangzong replaced his second brother, Zhao Kai, and became a prince. Now Xiaozong dotes on Zhao Kai's son and refuses to let Jia Wang be Chu Jun, which virtually deepens Guangzong's doubts about the existence of Xiaozong and makes Guangzong feel fear and anxiety all the time. In his view, his father seems to be a great potential threat not only to Jia Wang's status as a prince, but also to his own throne. Under the constant dissension between Hou Li and eunuchs with ulterior motives, this fear gradually became the lingering shadow of Guangzong, and its psychological and mental stress increased day by day, which eventually led to the symptoms of unwarranted suspicion and extreme paranoia. He regards Chinese workers as a timid road, no longer goes to greet them regularly, and avoids filial piety as much as possible. The courtiers are duty-bound to lose the filial piety of the emperor, and these words and deeds of the courtiers caused the stubbornness and suspicion of Guangzong, which eventually triggered a storm that lasted for several years.

In the second year of Shao Xi (1 19 1), in November, Li Chengguang left the palace and killed his favorite Huang Guifei. Guangzong was sad to hear the news, but he dared not speak out. He can only bury his pain in his heart. The next day, Guangzong fought hard and presided over the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven. During the ceremony, there was a sudden strong wind and heavy rain, and the lamps and candles on the altar ignited a fire, which forced the sacrifice to be interrupted. Suffering from such great mental stimulation twice in a row, Guangzong's "heart disease" worsened, mental illness broke out completely, and his doubts about Xiaozong became more and more serious. On January 4th, he made an excuse not to go. Sometimes he announced his palace in advance, but he broke his word and changed his mind temporarily. Later, in the name of Xiaozong, an imperial edict was simply issued to exempt him from entering the palace. Such behavior is undoubtedly detrimental to the "holy virtue" of the son of heaven, and ministers have played a way to persuade Guangzong pedestrians. Guangzong occasionally feels something in his heart. From December of the third year of Shao Xi to the first month of the following year, he visited the Chinese Palace three times, but soon his old illness recurred and he didn't go to the palace to greet him for several months. Up and down in the government and in the streets, people are talking about Qin Shihuang's unfilial behavior. Too many students have joined the persuasion. Hundreds of people wrote to ask Guangzong to enter the palace, but Guangzong remained the same, completely ignoring outside public opinion.

In the fifth year of Shao Xi, Xiaozong fell ill, but Guangzong still didn't enter the palace once. When his son neglected himself so much, Xiaozong's heart was filled with disappointment, depression and sadness, and his condition began to deteriorate. In May, Xiaozong was seriously ill. Too many students heard that Guangzong was still having fun in the harem at this time, but they didn't ask the relatives in the palace, so they wrote an article "Eat, drink, and be merry", and two of them said, "The Duke of Zhou bullied me and would like to burn' wine' in Kangqu; Confucius' empty talk, please put the filial piety on the shelf ",satirizing Guangzong as unfilial and immoral.

At the same time, because Guangzong didn't listen to the advice, his ministers sought to be deposed and stay at home for moderate crimes. "If you ask for more happiness, you will be like a mouthful." Guangzong is forbidden. Prime Minister Liu Zheng and other ministers repeatedly urged Guangzong to visit Xiaozong's illness in the palace, but Guangzong refused to listen and brushed away his clothes. Stay to the right and hold on to Guangzong's clothes. After hard persuasion, Guangzong remained unmoved. Since returning to the inner palace, ministers have to leave with tears in their eyes. At this point, the people in Beijing's strong dissatisfaction with Guangzong reached its peak. The anger that was once hidden in their hearts is now "full of anger". In the past, it was only a private discussion, but now it is "spread in the Tao".

In June, Xiaozong died, but Guangzong still ignored the invitation of the officials and refused to preside over the funeral, so he had to be mourned by Empress Wu. In fact, Guangzong is still afraid of filial piety. He didn't believe that filial piety was dead, and thought it was a trap for usurping the throne. He not only lived in the palace, feasted as usual, but also did not mourn for Xiaozong. He was also afraid of being assassinated, and he always wore a sword and bow to defend himself. However, while the unfilial emperor was always wary of his father, he never imagined that the throne had been quietly replaced by his son. In July of the fifth year of Shao Xi, Zhao Haoqi of Jia, with the support of the Empress Dowager, Zhao Ruyu, Han Mao (Tu Bu) and others, extended his throne for the sake of Ningzong.

"Good Wife" Li and His Fate

Guangzong's condition is getting worse and worse, and Li Xinyu has an unshirkable responsibility. She is jealous by nature and has a strong desire for power. On the one hand, she monopolized the harem and did not allow any woman to compete with her. Guangzong can only submit to humiliation and be unhappy; On the other hand, she regarded Xiao Zong and his wife as the biggest threat to her queen status, and tried every means to alienate Xiao Zong and Guangzong's father and son, which greatly aggravated Guangzong's morbid psychology.

Hou Li was born into the family of a military commander. It is said that when she was born, a Dark Phoenix lived in front of her father's military camp, so she was named "Fengniang". When Li was a teenager, Huang Futan, a Taoist who was good at reading faces, visited the Li family, and Li Dao ordered his daughter to come out to visit. Huangfutan pretended to be frightened and didn't dare to accept it. He said, "Your daughter will be the mother of the world in the future. How dare you be worshipped by her!" Shao Mo summoned Li Yue and strongly recommended him: "I have come to act as a matchmaker for your majesty and find a granddaughter for your majesty." So Li's life story was spread to the sky, and the emperor listened to him and named Li as the princess of Dun.

During his time as a princess, Li was able to keep his position. After King Gong was made a prince, Princess Li began to expose her arrogant and aggressive nature. She kept gossiping between the emperor, Xiao Zong and the prince, complaining about the left and right courtiers that Xiao Zong chose for the prince, and telling the length of the prince in front of Xiao Zong. Gao Zongfang regretted it. In the conversation with Wu Huanghou, he thought that he had been cheated by Huangfutan, and only then did he fix the marriage.

Filial piety is also very disgusted with Li's behavior, and has repeatedly reprimanded her: "You should learn the virtue of concubines after the emperor's father." If you meddle in the affairs of the prince again, I'd rather waste you! " The exhortation of filial piety did not play a deterrent role, but planted the seeds of resentment in Li's heart. At the end of Xichun, Xiaozong summoned Minister Zaizhi to practice Zen, and all the ministers agreed, but knowing that Huang Qia kept his mouth shut about the Privy Council, Xiaozong asked him, "What are your plans?" Huang Qia replied: "The prince can take a big position, but Li is not enough to rule the world. I hope your majesty will think twice. " Although Xiaozong is dissatisfied with the crown princess, he is so outspoken that it is difficult for Xiaozong to accept it. After all, Li is his daughter-in-law. Huang Qia went on to say, "Your Majesty asked me, but I dare not keep silent. Your majesty remembers my words, and I'm afraid it's hard to see me again. " After leaving North Korea, Huang Qia asked to resign. At this time, Xiaozong thought that although Li was unruly and arrogant, he was not above the emperor, but the fact was unfortunately right by Huang Qia.

Guangzong acceded to the throne, and Li became the queen, becoming more and more unscrupulous. Faced with a tough wife, the cowardly Guangzong was both afraid and helpless. On one occasion, when Guangzong washed his hands, he saw ladies-in-waiting holding a basin of washing (ɡɡ? an) with white hands, and he couldn't help beaming, only to be seen by the queen. A few days later, Hou Li sent someone to deliver a food box. Guangzong opened it and found that it was the hand of the maid-in-waiting who carried the basin last time. A maid-in-waiting was favored by Guangzong because of her white hands, but Li still couldn't stand it. For Guangzong's favorite concubine, she is even more eager to get rid of it. When Guangzong was still in the East Palace, the emperor arranged a maid for him, Huang. After Guangzong ascended the throne, he was promoted to the imperial concubine and was greatly favored by Guangzong. Queen Li is naturally jealous. She took advantage of Guangzong's sacrifice in the palace to kill Huang Guifei, and then sent someone to tell Guangzong that Huang Guifei was "suddenly killed". Guangzong knew it was the queen, but he was frightened and sad. He didn't even have the courage to question the queen except crying. This sudden blow and a series of strange things happened during the next day's sacrifice directly led to the complete collapse of Guangzong spirit.

Li has always been arrogant and rude to filial couples. On one occasion, the filial piety queen thanked her for her kind words and urged her to pay attention to manners. She became angry from embarrassment and retorted: "I am a husband and wife of the government!" " The implication is that the drugstore in the Song Dynasty ridiculed Xie's "Princess Book" as a palace, and Xiao Zong who was present flew into a rage. In the past, he said that he wanted to collect evidence, just to warn Li and hope that he would restrain himself, but after this incident, he really had this plan. He called Shi Hao, an old minister, to discuss the matter of the abolition in private, but Shi Hao thought that the establishment of Guangzong would cause the world to talk about it, which was not conducive to political stability, and insisted on not chasing it, so he had to give up the matter of the abolition. The warning after abolishing filial piety is always a thorn in Li's side. In order to keep the phoenix crown, she had to firmly control Guangzong, alienate Xiaozong and only trust and rely on herself.

Filial piety collected folk secret recipes, prescriptions and medicines to treat his son. It could have been sent to Guangzong, but I'm afraid Filial piety was blocked by Queen Li, so I was prepared to let Guangzong bring it when he came to meet him at Zhonghua Palace. Li had long heard that Xiaozong did not agree to let his son Jia Wang be a prince, and thought that Xiaozong was taking the opportunity to vent his dissatisfaction with himself. This time, Xiaozong let Guangzong take medicine in the palace, which touched her sensitive nerves. She thought that this was a plot for Xiaozong to poison Guangzong, and her queen status would be greatly threatened, so she tried her best not to let Guangzong see Xiaozong. At a banquet soon after, Li proposed to Xiaozong to appoint Jia as Chu Jun, but Xiaozong hesitated. Li Lian asked, "I was officially hired by your Zhao family, and Jia Wang is my own." Why can't I be appointed prince? " Filial piety was furious and left. After Li returned to the palace, he cried to Guangzong, and once again mentioned taking medicine, saying that Xiaozong had the intention of abolishing Guangzong. Guangzong was deeply worried about Xiaozong's refusal to establish Jia Wang, and Li's embellishment "confirmed" his unwarranted suspicion from the side. After more than a year, he never wanted to go to the Chinese Palace to meet Xiao Zong and his wife.

On the night of Guangzong's sudden illness, Xiaozong personally visited the palace and saw his son talking nonsense and unconscious. He couldn't help being anxious and angry. He called Hou Li and severely reprimanded him, saying, "You didn't take good care of the emperor, which made him sick. If anything happens to the emperor, I will destroy your Li family! " Then tell the prime minister to keep his right position and advise Guangzong to take care of himself. Guangzong wouldn't listen, and he would personally persuade him when he went to meet him at the Chinese Palace. A few days later, Guangzong's condition improved slightly, and Hou Li did the same thing, crying: "The emperor has been ill recently, and the emperor's father is angry with his concubines and intends to destroy them. What is the crime of his concubine? " He also distorted the words that Xiao Zong told him to stay right, saying that when Guangzong crossed the palace, Xiao Zong wanted to keep Guangzong and refused to return to the palace, which made Guangzong even more afraid to go to Zhonghua Palace.

On the issue of entering the palace, some ministers' suggestions to Guangzong are emotional and rational. Guangzong sometimes seems to be moved. At that time, he promised to enter the palace, but once he entered the harem, he would change his mind under the control of Hou Li and finally failed to make it. On one occasion, Guangzong passed the imperial edict under the bitter remonstrance of ministers. When he was about to leave, Hou Li came out from behind the screen and brought him back. China calligrapher Chen Fuliang came out from work, took Guangzong's skirt and followed him to the screen. Li shouted at him, "What is this place? Are you scholars going to cut off the donkey's head? " Chen Fuliang had to burst into tears. Imperial clan Zhao Ruyu is a trusted minister of Guangzong. For his persuasion, Guangzong also "listened to his words, understood his meaning, and then became suspicious." This capricious behavior is of course due to Guangzong's illness, and Hou Li's constant provocation and obstruction around Guangzong undoubtedly aggravated his morbid psychology of avoiding the palace. In this case, Guangzong's mental illness is doomed to be incurable.

Guangzong's illness is good and bad, and he can't handle the state affairs normally, which is exactly what Li wants. From the third year, "political matters are mostly decided later", and power fell into Li's hands. However, she has neither the interest nor the ability to participate in the important affairs of the court. For her, the biggest role of power is to reap huge benefits for her family. She made her virgin king for three generations, and her nephews Xiaoyou and Xiao Chun paid tribute to our officials. She returned to her temple and paid tribute to 26 relatives. 172 people were appointed envoys, all of whom were supplemented by officials. Li's abuse of the kindness and prestige of his consorts has never happened since the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty. The Li family ancestral hall also blatantly overstepped the rules and regulations, with more guards than the ancestral hall. There is no doubt that Li Houmen's outstanding power and huge wealth are all given by her seriously ill husband Guangzong. With the deterioration of Guangzong's illness, the political situation began to turmoil, and ministers could no longer tolerate this crazy emperor. In the fifth year of Shao Xi (1 194), in July, Zhao Ruyu, Han Tuozhou and others made Jia Wang reign as Ningzong; Li Ziran was abandoned, and no matter how fierce he was, it would not help.

At this time, the Song Dynasty's wine bottle Guangzong was still in the dark about the transfer of power. After he found out, he refused to accept Ning Zong's audience for a long time, still lived in the palace, and refused to move to the bedroom for the Emperor's father. His fear of losing the throne finally came true, and his condition deteriorated. Li, who has lost power and influence, is uncharacteristic. He is no longer as aggressive to Guangzong as before, but is in the same boat. For fear of touching Guangzong's fragile nerves, she often used the things in the cup to relieve Guangzong's depression, and repeatedly told the chamberlain and maid-in-waiting not to mention sensitive words such as "Tai shang huang" and "Neichan" in front of Guangzong.

At the beginning, Huangfutan's mysterious words made Li Muyi the world. From then on, she believed the warlock's words. Once she becomes a loser in the court struggle, it will be difficult for her fate to be in her own hands, and she needs all kinds of magicians to "point out the maze" to relieve her pain and obtain "peace". She heard the fortune teller say that she was going to get into trouble, so she opened an exquisite room in a secluded place in ouchi, lived alone, dressed herself as a Buddha, and hoped that the gods would bless her to tide over the difficulties safely. However, the evil queen did not feel at ease because of this, but suffered greater mental torture. In the sixth year of Qingyuan (1200), Li was ill in the sperm room, but no one came to take care of him. In July, the fierce and calculating queen died alone. After Li's death, the imperial secretary went to the palace to pick up his dress. The person in charge of the key complained that he was always fierce and refused to open the door of the palace. As a result, the imperial secretary didn't get the dress, so she had to wrap the body with a mat and prepare to carry it back to the palace for the funeral. On the way, someone suddenly shouted, "The mad emperor is coming!" Palace people have always been afraid of seeing Kuang Guangzong. When they heard the shouts, they left their bodies and hurried away. After a long time, they realized that it was someone else who deliberately called them back to find Li's body, which smelled pungent in the July sun. At the funeral, the imperial secretary would mix abalone and light dozens of lotus cakes to cover up the unpleasant smell. It is also the result of many wrong actions that a generation of proud children ended up like this.

Throughout the Song Dynasty empresses, their influence on court officials is not uncommon. However, such a queen as Li, who completely controlled her husband, lavished rewards on her consorts and deliberately created a confrontation between father and son, was unique in the history of the Song Dynasty. She has neither the talent to assist the government nor the virtue of a queen. The emperor chose her as a palace princess only by the warlock's nonsense, which buried the consequences in the future. Xiaozong did not listen to Huang Qia's exhortation at first, then indulged Shi Hao's resistance, failed after the abolition, and lost the opportunity to remedy; Guangzong is weak by nature, and he can't limit her actions except for being afraid of this fierce queen; It was not until the new monarch Ningzong ascended the throne that she lost her former arrogance with the fall of her husband Guangzong. Li's life is closely related to the four emperors around the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty. From her experience, it is not difficult to find many strange phenomena of political changes in the early Southern Song Dynasty.