Wu Zhengqiang
Within the palace confinement, the incident was kept secret, and the historians distorted the writing for various reasons, making it even more difficult for future generations to discover the truth. Recently, I have been reading the books of Northern Song Dynasty Zhenzong and Renzong , recording mixed feelings, providing several possible new perspectives for exploring the "truth", and inviting criticism from teachers and friends.
1. Empress Zhenzong Empress Liu "living abroad"
Historical records of Song Zhenzong Empress Liu's early experience are very vague and suspicious. The main reason may not be that Empress Liu was from a humble background, but that her early experience involved major politics. It is extremely sensitive to the struggle, and official and private documents have deeply covered up relevant historical facts and fabricated baseless stories about it. Zhang Bangwei's "The Person and Events of Empress Liu, Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty" has pointed out the falsification of Empress Liu's family background in " History of the Song Dynasty ". Liu Guangfeng's "Some Research on the Life Experience of Empress Liu, Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty" also noted the time and date of Empress Liu's entry and exit into the palace. The accounts of remarriage are very confusing. In fact, Queen Liu's experience of entering and leaving the palace is not only a time problem, but more importantly, the entire story does not conform to logic and historical circumstances. "History of the Song Dynasty: Biography of Empress Liu" records, "On the fifteenth day of the following year, when he entered Xiang's residence, the king's wet nurse, Mrs. Qin Guo, had a strict nature. Because of Taizong's words, the king ordered the king to leave. The king had no choice but to build a palace and command the Zhang Qi family. Taizong collapsed. , Zhenzong ascended the throne and became a beauty." This record is composed of different versions of the records of Empress Liu's visits to the palace in Volumes 5 and 6 of Sima Guang's "Sushui Jiwen". The narrator of the story in Volume 5, "Gongfu", is Liu Xun, who assisted Sima Guang in compiling "Zizhi Tongjian". Gong Mei, a native of Shu, brought him to Beijing. Mei was engaged in forging silver. At that time, Zhenzong was the crown prince, and Yin Kaifeng found Mei Yin. The prince said to him, "Shu women are talented and intelligent. Please ask for a Shu princess for me." Mei Yin accepted the crown prince. , I was very happy when I saw it, and I favored the special room. The prince's wet nurse hates him. Taizong once asked the wet nurse: "The prince's appearance has been emaciated recently. Who is around?" The wet nurse asked him to go. The prince had no choice but to place him in the home of Zhang Qi, the palace attendant. The elders avoid suspicion and dare not go straight because of it. Not long after, Taizong held a banquet, and the prince assumed the throne and was summoned to the palace again.
The narrator of the story in Volume 6 is the "Le Dao Fu" who was once the "Instigator of Prince Xiang's Palace". According to textual research, it is speculated that he is Wang Ying, the father of Wang Tao:
Gong Mei made a career in forging silver, and she welcomed her neighbors and promoted her wife Liu. As a wife, she is good at sowing seeds. Now that the family is poor, he sells it again. At that time, Zhang Qi was the commander of King Xiang's palace. He spoke to the king and was summoned to the palace, where he was greatly favored. The king's wet nurse, Mrs. Qin Guo, had a strict nature and hated her, so she ordered the king to rebuke her. The king had no choice but to place it in Zhang Qi's house, with silver and five pillars, so that he could build a pavilion and live outside. Xu sent people to invite Mrs. Qin, and Xu was summoned back to the palace. Meiyou had to serve as a general official for Kaifeng Mansion and serve in the royal palace. When the king ascended the throne, the Liu family was a beauty. Since he had no clan, he took Mei as his younger brother and changed his surname to Liu Yun. Le Daofu and Zhang Qi both served as commanders of the Xiang Palace, so they had detailed information.
The plots of the two versions seem to be that Liu was kicked out of the palace because he was favored by Zhenzong. The theme seems to be "quitting sex", but a closer comparison shows that they are fundamentally different. First of all, Liu Zong clearly stated that the Liu family entered the palace when "Zhenzong was the crown prince and Yin Kaifeng", but Zhenzong was established as the crown prince in the first year of Daodao, that is, 995 AD. "" clearly records that the Liu family entered Han (guo) residence in the eighth year of Taiping and Xingguo. The eighth year of Taiping and Xingguo was 983, and there was a 12-year difference between the two times. Secondly, only Liu Tong's version has plots about Zhenzong's greed for beauty, such as "Shu women are talented and intelligent", "seeing her, she is overjoyed and favors the special house", "the prince has become barren recently", etc. None of these plots are found in Wang Ying's version. It appears that the words "big favor" alone cannot directly refer to lustful love. Thirdly, Wang Ying was a minister of Zhenzong's latent residence and an eyewitness of the Liu family entering and leaving the palace. His version has the nature of oral history; Liu Yun was a scholar-bureaucrat historian in the Shenzong Dynasty who had a clear stance on party struggle. His historical narrative is more about the political stance. The color of concept interpretation.
Comparatively speaking, the Wang Ying version in Volume 6 should be closer to the truth. Without the elements of greed and eroticism in the Liu Zong version, the content of the Wang Ying version may be reinterpreted: First of all, the Liu family was not Zhenzong who took the initiative to go to Gong Gong. Mei Suo asked, but Zhang Qi recommended him to join the government.Secondly, since there is no such thing as "caihui" or "special room", the reason why Mrs. Liu was so favored and the wet nurse Qin was so "evil" may have nothing to do with eroticism, and Taizong did not intervene in this matter. The third and most critical point is the whereabouts of Liu's temporary departure from the palace. Liu Xun's version is that "it was placed in the home of the palace attendant Zhang Qi". "The senior citizen avoided suspicion and did not dare to do anything for it." This plot is consistent with the theme of abstinence. However, in Wang Ying's version, the Liu family only lived temporarily in Zhang Qi's house, and Zhenzong soon arranged the Liu family in a separate pavilion. "The palace lives outside", so that Liu's departure from the palace would not prevent her from getting together with Zhenzong at all, and even provided more convenient conditions for the two to have a secret meeting.
Wang Ying's version is earlier and more accurate in time, so only trying to replace or cover up Wang Ying's version will be the reason for Liu Tong's version to appear. The difference between the two is the focus of Liu Tong's concealment of historical facts. Based on this reasoning, Liu's visit to the palace before Zhenzong was established as the crown prince was the key to the cover-up, and such a narrative means to rule out the possibility of a connection between Liu's visits to the palace and Zhenzong's establishment as the crown prince. So is there a connection between the two? Since the historical narrative of the Song Dynasty has been completely controlled by the rulers, it has long been impossible to trace the specific plot of the truth. But to sort out the political background of the time when the Liu family was in and out of the palace, Liu entered the palace in the eighth year of the Taiping Xingguo period (983). When she returned to the palace, Gong Mei "was able to introduce officials to Kaifeng Palace and serve in the palace." It was Zhenzong In the fifth year of Chunhua (994), he was established as the crown prince and appointed as the prefect of Kaifeng. These more than ten years were the period when the battle for the throne of Emperor Taizong was intensifying. During this period, the emperor's younger brother Zhao Tingmei was demoted to death, the eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo was deposed due to madness, and the second son Zhao Yuanxi died suddenly due to his status as quasi-crown prince. A series of major palace struggles. Although these events cannot be connected with Liu's, they obviously provide a more realistic political background for understanding Liu's political life.
Song Zhenzong
2. Renzong's "Emperor's Sister, Former Seventh Taoist Princess"
Song Renzong was the only child born to Concubine Li Chen whom Empress Liu pretended to be and Song Zhenzong. There are still doubts about this well-known event recorded in history books, that is, what role did Song Zhenzong play in it and what was his motivation? Empress Liu pretended to recognize Song Renzong, which not only meant that Song Zhenzong was fertile but Liu was not, it was also a prerequisite for Zhenzong to appoint Liu as queen and then listen to politics behind closed doors after the officials objected. Under normal circumstances, Song Zhenzong could have more children with other concubines, and there was no need to make Liu the queen. Compared with Song Zhenzong, it seems that Empress Liu was the super profiteer from Concubine Li Chen's surrogacy incident. Song Zhenzong fully cooperated with Empress Liu's needs but made no profit. This situation is unreasonable, and usually two conditions need to be met to form a reasonable explanation: First, the Liu family has already dominated Song Zhenzong on issues of childbearing and heirloom; second, Concubine Li Chen's surrogacy also made Song Zhenzong a super-winner Benefits. These two conditions of
can be established to a large extent. Zhenzong's peculiar birth record should be understood as the result of Empress Liu's control. "History of the Song Dynasty" records that Zhenzong gave birth to six boys and two girls. In fact, there may be more than this. Except for Renzong, the other four sons may have died shortly after birth. Only Zhao You, the legitimate son of Queen Guo who died in the fourth year of Jingde (1007), "died in the ninth year of his birth". Zhao You died in the sixth year of Xianping in (1003). When he was born in the first year of Daodao (995), Zhenzong had already established him as the prince, so Zhao You had the status of the direct grandson of the emperor as soon as he was born. "History of the Song Dynasty" also records that Zhenzong gave birth to two princesses, among whom Princess Shengguo, the eldest princess, "entered Taoism for the first time", and "The Outline of the Ten Dynasties of the Imperial Song Dynasty" records that her mother was Concubine Du. Concubine Du also entered Daodongzhen Palace during the reign of Zhenzong. It was not until the second year of Mingdao (1033) when Renzong was in charge that she was welcomed back to the palace as a concubine. The posthumous title of princess was part of the etiquette for welcoming back the concubine. "Concubine Du first served in the vassal residence, and later He entered the Dongzhen Palace and became the governor of Fazheng. He was named Master Wuzhen and named Qiongzhen. In November of the second year of Mingdao, he was named Jieyu."Xu Zi Zhi Tong Jian Chang Bian" records that the time of Du's entry into Taoism was Guisi, August 2, the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1009). "Du went to the harem to enter Taoism in Dongzhen Palace, hoping to follow the same example as other princesses." Moreover, Du's entry into Taoism was She is "the niece of Empress Zhaoxian", and the reason for Du's entry into Taoism stated in "The ban on selling gold was very strict, and she was still granted the title of Dongfeng, so Du was obedient to welcome the chariot. When the superior saw this, he was angry and ordered to become a Taoist priest" is very far-fetched. , Li Tao also clearly stated that the official history books do not contain this matter. His material comes from Jiang Xiufu's notes "Jiang Lin Ji Magazine", so the "sale of gold" is probably a pretext. In the second year of Ming Dynasty (1033), Renzong's "The Emperor's Sister, the Seventh Princess of the Taoist Priests Still Granted the Name Qingxu Lingzhao, and the Master Granted the Name of Zifa Zhi Chongzhi" called the princess "Emperor's Sister". Renzong was born in the third year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1010). ) on April 14, the earliest birth time of Renzong's sister was the 15th of the same month in the same year, which was already the ninth month after Du entered the Taoism in August of the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1009). This means that Du was just one month pregnant with the princess when she left the palace. The princess was born in a Taoist temple, and Concubine Du Guifei and Concubine Li Chen were pregnant at almost the same time. Renzong called this imperial sister the "Seventh Princess", which means that Zhenzong's There were more than two daughters recorded in the "History of the Song Dynasty". The seventh princess born in a Taoist temple relatively lived a long life. It can be inferred from this that the reason why Du left the palace was that she was not tolerated by Liu after becoming pregnant, or that Zhenzong, while executing Liu's surrogacy plan, also wanted to preserve Du and her unborn child. After all, Du was the niece of Empress Dowager Du. In this case, assuming that Du gave birth to a boy in a Taoist temple, it would be possible that Du would replace Liu or hide the baby boy among the people, and giving birth to a boy first would become a task that Liu must complete - this is the implementation of Li Chen The specific background of the surrogacy plan.
Therefore, even if the reason for Zhenzong's premature death of a boy is not investigated, the process of Du's birth of the "seven princesses" is enough to show that Empress Liu has the ability to control Zhenzong's fertility situation. Concubine Li Chen's surrogacy is not a tentative and unexpectedly successful plan, but Liu ruled out any other possibility and imposed a cruel political plan that had no conditions but "created" conditions to ensure success. Supporting this situation are also rumors of Song Zhenzong's illegitimate son, including the legend that Zhenzong also had a son with Zhu, who was raised by the eunuch Zhang Jingzong and named Zhang Maoshi. Both Zhenzong and Renzong maintained contact with Zhang Maoshi. Later, Renzong had no children, and Zhang Maoshi was actually one of the candidates for the crown prince. As a result, his nephew Song Yingzong succeeded to the throne. Song Yingzong's original name was Zhao Zongshi . Of course he was very indifferent to Zhang Maoshi. Zhang Maoshi also changed his name to "Zi" to avoid the taboo of "Zong Shi". "Zi" can be connected with "糳", and its original meaning is reproduction.
As for the super benefits of Concubine Li Chen's surrogacy for Song Zhenzong, it mainly involves the political consequences of Zhenzong not implementing the surrogacy plan. Song Zhenzong's fertility is really confusing, but in any case, the objective fact is that after the death of his legitimate son Zhao You in the sixth year of Xianping (1003), Zhenzong once welcomed Zhao Yunrang, the son of the emperor's fourth brother Zhao Yuanfen, into the palace to raise him. Dazhong Xiang After Renzong was born in the third year of Fu (1010), Zhao Yunrang was returned to the palace. Zhao Yun let stay in the palace for several years. In the first year of Jingde (1004), when Zhenzong personally conquered Chanyuan, he forcibly asked Zhao Yuanfen to serve as a guard in Tokyo. As a result, Zhao Yuanfen died of fright. "History of the Song Dynasty·Biography of Wang Dan" actually said that when Zhao Yuanfen was frightened and "severely ill", Zhenzong urgently sent Wang Dan from Chanyuan to stay in Tokyo as his agent. Wang Dan asked "What should I do if there is no good news within ten days?" , Zhenzong was "silent for a long time" and replied "establish a crown prince", but there was no crown prince in the Song Dynasty, only Zhao Yunrang adopted him in the palace. Afterwards, Queen Guo died in the fourth year of Jingde (1007), and Zhenzong Taishan was granted Zen in the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1008). There are many explanations for Zhenzong's motivation for enshrining Zen. In fact, the most important thing is to pray for heirs. The birth of Renzong in the third year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1010) was regarded as the blessing of destiny after being enshrined. Zhao Yunrang also returned to the palace at this time. In short, no matter what the reason, Zhenzong almost lost the possibility of having children other than Renzong, and if Renzong had not been born, Zhenzong would have had to let Zhao Yunrang inherit the throne. In this regard, Zhenzong had the motive to cooperate with Liu in implementing Concubine Li Chen's surrogacy plan.
In addition, the "History of the Song Dynasty" records that before the death of Empress Dowager Liu, Renzong did not know his true life experience. "In the end of the later life of the Empress Dowager, Renzong did not know that he was born by a concubine." However, the truth about Concubine Li Chen's surrogacy cannot be completely kept secret in the palace. It may even be known to everyone. Lu Yijian and Zhao Yuanyan outside the palace are also clear about it. It is completely doubtful whether Renzong has really been kept in the dark. Especially in Zhenzong's later years, Zhou Huaizheng attempted a coup against Empress Liu. It is impossible that Zhou Huaizheng did not know about Song Renzong's life, and he might even use this as a reason to launch a coup. He was also closely related to the young Song Renzong, so Renzong knew about his life through Zhou Huaizheng. may exist in this world. And if this assumption is true, it is not difficult to understand Renzong's long-term forbearance when Empress Dowager Liu listened behind the curtain.
Song Renzong
3. Renzong "after Ming Su surrendered to Neina"
After Renzong came into power, Empress Guo, who was chosen by Empress Dowager Liu, offended Lu Yijian. Lu Yijian and his chamberlain Yan Wenying supported Renzong in deposing Empress Guo. Queen Guo died tragically after being deposed. There are rumors in the literature that Renzong wanted to restore Queen Guo and Yan Wenying and Lu Yijian murdered Queen Guo. No matter how true or false the above historical narrative is, what has been overlooked is that the process of empress Guo's death was synchronized with the establishment of empress Cao, and there is likely to be a political connection between the two.
In December of the second year of Ming Dynasty (1033), when Queen Guo was deposed, she was still living in Changning Palace in Dauchi. In August of the first year of Jingyou (1034), Empress Dowager Yang was dissatisfied with the two beauties Shang and Yang's special favors and was expelled from the palace. Empress Guo also moved out of the palace to live outside the palace. The "Edict of Jingfei and Other Foreign Residences" issued by Renzong is still retained in the "Collection of Great Edicts of the Song Dynasty". The "Xu Zi Zhi Tong Jian Chang Bian" summarizes the four contents of the edict: 1. " Jingfei The Guo family lived in "Outside"; 2. "The beauty Shang is a Taoist priest and lives in the Dongzhen Palace. The Yang family's house is resettled"; 3. "In the past, my mother came to the court, and many officials and relatives came into the house. Now I have sent them back to her home"; 4. "The position of eternal autumn should not be empty for a long time. We should seek virtue and correct internal governance." The "History of Song Dynasty: The Biography of Empress Cao Renzong" records, "In the second year of Ming Dynasty, Empress Guo was deposed and appointed to the palace. In September of the first year of Jingyou, she was registered as empress." The timeline is exactly the same as Empress Guo's deposedness.
On the other hand, the Cao family did not actually have any conditions for being canonized as queen at that time. First of all, "Moji" records that although Cao was from a famous family, he was engaged to Li Zhi. As a result, Li Zhi "went away in fright when marrying Cao because he was a "young man who was interested in morality and was not happy about marriage" and jumped over the wall to avoid him. "Fleeing from marriage." Secondly, the Cao family was not directly appointed as the queen, but was "employed into the palace by imperial edict" after "Quo Hou was deposed", that is, she was just an ordinary concubine when she first entered the palace. When the Guo family "lived abroad", Renzong originally appointed Chen, the daughter of a tea merchant in Shouzhou, as his queen, and had already received the support of Empress Dowager Yang, so he did not consider making Cao his queen at all. However, because the officials of the previous court " Song Shou could not. Wang Zeng, Lu Yijian, and Cai Qi successively discussed admonitions", ("Song History") Renzong had to abandon the Chen family and establish the Cao family. However, not long after the death of Empress Dowager Liu, Renzong's re-establishment of the throne at this time was obviously inconsistent with Confucian ethics. Zhezong Empress Gao later mocked Renzong for this, "Because at that time, after Mingsu had conquered Neina, how could the ministers be willing? Shenzong once asked And, I don’t know why it is like this, even the ministers and common people are not willing to do it.” “That sect knows the emperor and his ministers, and knows the nature of things.” ("Changbian")
Cao's appointment as empress was not Renzong's original intention, but also violated etiquette and law. After deposing Empress Guo, she issued an edict: "The position of Changqiu cannot be vacant for a long time. You should seek virtue and correct internal governance." There is actually a political force behind this rush to enter the palace. Song Shou, Wang Zeng, Lu Yijian, and Cai Qi were the backbone of the opposition to the appointment of Chen as the queen. Another list included the ministers who implemented the etiquette of the appointment of the queen. Following this, Song Shou wrote a volume of articles and included a book treasure." ("Changbian") These people belong to the same palace as Kou Zhun, who opposed Empress Liu in his later years. They made a comeback after the death of Empress Dowager Liu and urgently needed to eliminate Empress Dowager Liu's power.The Cao family is the granddaughter of Cao Bin, and his uncle Cao Wei also belongs to this group. "Prime Minister Ding said that he was chasing the Kou Zhun, and the evil Wei did not follow himself and pointed him to the quasi-party", ("History of the Song Dynasty") ") Moreover, Cao's father, Cao Qi, died young, and Cao Wei is Cao's actual guardian. Therefore, establishing Cao as queen is an important political goal of this group.
For Renzong, establishing the Cao family as queen was almost a process that he was forced to accept. Later, Renzong wanted to welcome the deposed Guo family and the tragic death of the deposed Guo family therefore presented a more complicated political background. After the death of Empress Guo, Renzong disliked Empress Cao extremely, favored the Zhang family and deliberately alienated Empress Cao. As a result, Cao and Zhang launched a fierce court struggle. As a result, Zhang died in the first year of Zhihe (1054). Renzong, despite his opposition, named Zhang Empress Wencheng, and once planned to depose Empress Cao. Oppose and give up. Empress Cao should have known that she was disliked and had no hope of having a son, so she adopted four-year-old Zhao Zongshi into the palace the second year after she was appointed queen, that is, the second year of Jingyou (1035). The strange thing is that Renzong was not infertile, but his fertility record did not appear until the fourth year of Jingyou (1037) after the dismissal of Wang Zeng, Song Shou, Cai Qi and other ministers who supported the establishment of the Cao family, including the beauty Yu family soon After giving birth to the emperor's eldest son, Zhao Fang, he died young soon. Then, from the first year of Baoyuan (1038) to the third year of Qingli (1043), he gave birth to eight imperial daughters and two princes. Renzong was able to have children, but most of his children died in infancy. This phenomenon is difficult to avoid being related to the phenomenon that Renzong was worried about: "I live in the palace, and the queen's party is on my left, right, front and back" (" Shaw's Hearing and Seeing Record ") phenomenon and Empress Cao prematurely adopted Zhao Zongshi.
4. The palace change in the eighth year of Qingli "Pray for the Concubine"
What really threatened the status of Queen Cao was the Zhang family who gave birth to three princesses for Renzong during this period, namely Queen Wencheng. Zhang's origins, special favors, political involvement, and court struggle with Empress Cao are widely recorded in history books. Empress Cao's obscure plan to use her adopted daughters Fan Guanyin and Gao Taotao to have children is also revealed in a special article, (see Peng Kangshuo's "The Extra-Staff Harem: Adopted Daughters in the Northern Song Dynasty Palace") The most intense duel between Cao and Zhang occurred in the eighth year of Qingli (1048) The true nature of the palace turmoil has yet to be clarified.
"Xuzhi Tongjian Changbian" records that in the eighth year of Qingli (1048), the day and night of Xinyou in the first leap month of the Qing Dynasty:
Chongzheng Hall's personal subordinates Guan Yanxiu, Guo Kui, Wang Sheng, Sun Li and other four people conspired for change. , killed the military academy, robbed the troops, climbed into the Yanhe Palace House, entered the forbidden area, burned the palace curtains, and wounded the arms of the wife. The three of them were killed by the guards. Wang Sheng hid in the north tower of the palace city. After a few days, he found them. The captors immediately branched out, and the soldiers did not know their original plan.
Chongzheng Hall is the place where the emperor handles daily government affairs. The officials in Chongzheng Hall should be people who are relatively close to the emperor. That night, four people from the Chongzheng Palace, including officials Yanxiu, Guo Kui, Wang Sheng and Sun Li, climbed over the roof of the Yanhe Palace and entered the inner palace. They "burned the palace curtains and cut the arms of the palace maids", and then three of them The men were killed immediately. Wang Sheng escaped and was arrested, but he was also executed immediately. The suspicion here is very obvious. Could it be that the rebellion by the guards of the palace where the emperor handled daily government affairs was aimed at the emperor himself? During the public pursuit, some people were captured alive and executed immediately so that "the soldiers did not know their original plan." This was obviously murder and silence, and it seemed that the instigator could not be ruled out as the emperor himself.
Regarding the controversy over how to deal with this matter next, Renzong's performance became even more suspicious. "Xuzhi Tongjian Changbian" records that first of all, Xia Song came out and advocated a secret investigation of the matter, "asking the censor and the eunuchs to immediately ban Zhong Ji's matter, and not to let it spread and make the rebels uneasy." He was fiercely opposed by Dingdu . He said, "There is a change in Suwei, and it is related to the country. This can be tolerated, but which one cannot be tolerated." Then he had a fierce argument with Xia Song, "I insist on paying the foreign government to govern the party, and I will do it myself." "It's time to fight for food", but Renzong supported Xia Song's opinion and "the superior soldiers followed Song's discussion". After investigation, the Song court punished Yang Jingzong, Deng Baoji, Yang Huaimin, Liu Yongnian, Zhao Congyue and others who were responsible for the palace coup. Moreover, under Xia Song's protection, the eunuch Yang Huaimin "remained in charge of his duties as before". This caused strong dissatisfaction among Taiwanese admonishers.
At this time, Renzong also proposed that the Zhang family "had the power of fighting" in the palace rebellion. Privy Councilor Xia Song immediately agreed, "that is to say, it is advisable to pay attention to the etiquette of respecting differences." However, the prime minister Chen Zhizhong did not know what he meant, and Hanlin bachelor Zhang Fangping He clearly opposed it, saying, "Feng Jieyu of the Han Dynasty was like a ferocious beast, and she didn't hear any difference in respect. Moreover, when the queen is here, she respects a beautiful woman. This is not the etiquette in ancient times. If she does it, the world will slander her, and she will be punished for the rest of her life." Snow." However, Renzong still completely ignored the opposition, and Chen Zhizhong was dismissed from the prime minister because of this. The situation is very clear now. At least Renzong, Xia Song, Zhang Meiren, Yang Jingzong, and Yang Huaimin belong to the same camp. Among them, Yang Jingzong, the emperor of the city, is the younger brother of Empress Dowager Yang, and Zhang was the adopted daughter of Empress Dowager Yang when she entered the palace.
However, Renzong's unwillingness to investigate the matter in depth was not as simple as shielding Yang Jingzong. In October of that year, Renzong "made Zhang a noble concubine" on the grounds that Zhang had "extremely good military skills" in the palace rebellion. At that time, Wang Zhi, an admonisher, slandered her. The behind-the-scenes instigator of these palace changes was Empress Cao, "because the thieves have been in front of the Queen's Pavilion, please investigate them." Although Wang Zhi's words were baseless, they revealed that behind the palace upheaval was actually the fierce conflict between Empress Cao and Zhang Meiren. Wang Zhi was accused of "the conspiracy of this traitor" because he "wanted to shake the middle palace and secretly used it as a place for beauty". . However, "Xu Zi Zhi Tong Jian Chang Bian" recounted the reasons for "advancing the Zhang family as a noble concubine" and traced the specific circumstances of the night of the palace change: At the beginning of the
, the emperor wanted to light up the lanterns again during the ban, but later tried to dissuade him. end. In the next three days, several guards crossed the house and went to the palace to serve the emperor. Hearing about the change in the middle of the night, the emperor suddenly wanted to leave. The thieves arrived at His Royal Highness Funing, and the people in the palace were cutting their arms, and the sound was heard throughout the emperor's house. Why did the eunuch use it to worry about the emperor being frightened? He told the palace people to beat the little girl. Later, he scolded the emperor and said: "The thief is killing someone, Your Majesty, and the emperor wants to come out, so he dares to speak evil!" Later, he knew that the thief would set fire to it, so he sent an eunuch to chase the thief with water, and the thief burned the curtain with a candle, and the water destroyed him. The eunuch sent that evening had his hair cut to show his knowledge, and he was told: "Thieves will be rewarded even more, and your hair will be used as proof." Therefore, the eunuch fought to the death with all his strength, and the thieves were like birds, and they were dealt with hastily. Later. If any of the maids in the back pavilion interfered with the soldiers in yellow clothes, they felt that they should be executed. They begged the emperor for mercy. The emperor wanted to pardon her. When she came to see the emperor in full robes, she firmly requested that she be executed. The emperor said: "The painful rod is enough to punish him." The emperor refused, saying: "It is impossible to clear the forbidden court." The emperor ordered him to sit back, and the emperor immediately asked him to move for two minutes. The emperor agreed and executed him in the East Garden.
Similar descriptions also appear in "History of the Song Dynasty: Biography of Empress Cao":
In the first leap month of the eighth year of Qingli, the emperor will light up the lanterns again at night, and then stop admonishing. On the next three days, several guards made trouble and went over the house at night to knock on the door. The emperor served in the rear and heard that changes had occurred suddenly. The emperor wanted to leave, but the queen closed in and supported him. He called everyone to know that Wang Shouzhong envoy led the troops in. The thief injured the concubine of the palace, and the sound was heard throughout the emperor's house. The eunuch used the nurse to play the tune, and later scolded him and said: "The thief is killing people nearby, how dare you speak nonsense!" Later, the thief will set fire to it, and the underworld will send people to pull out the water by the heel. Afterwards, Guo raised a torch to burn the curtain, and the water was destroyed. That evening, all the eunuchs and attendants were sent to personally cut their hair, and said: "I will give you a reward tomorrow, and use this to test it." So they fought to the death, and the thief was killed. The concubine and the soldiers in the pavilion should be killed. I pray that Ji is lucky, and the Emperor Ji Yan will lend her death. When the emperor saw him in his clothes, he asked him to comment on the law and said, "It's not as good as this. There's no way to restrain and restrain him." The emperor ordered him to sit down, but not to come back. Concubine Zhang's parents favored the tyrant and wanted to travel under the false cover of her husband. The emperor's envoy came to invite him, and then followed him, without any emotion. The concubine was happy and returned her displeasure. The emperor said: "The national cultural relics and rituals are in order from top to bottom. You can go out with them, but you can't keep them in the outer court." The concubine was not happy and stopped. The information here at
is very rich, but it has not been carefully and fully interpreted for a long time or there have been obvious deviations in the interpretation. First of all, there is no way of knowing whether Empress Cao’s admonition to ban the display of lanterns three days ago is related to the palace incident. However, everywhere places this matter before the palace incident narrative, which seems to imply that the display of lanterns may hinder Empress Cao. Secondly, the timing and location of the palace incident were very special. "The thieves came to His Royal Highness Funing". Funing Palace was the emperor's palace. Renzong hated Empress Cao very much, so it should be very rare for "the emperor to serve the emperor from time to time". It seems to be carried out deliberately for "the queen serves the emperor".After the palace change occurred, "the emperor heard about the change in the middle of the night, and the emperor suddenly wanted to leave, but the queen closed the cabinet to hold on." This situation is generally understood to mean that the emperor was impulsive and Empress Cao calmly protected Renzong, but this may not be the only explanation. Third, the actions of the eunuchs in the palace were inconsistent. Everyone knew that Wang Shouzhong seemed to be ordered by the queen to "sent troops into the defense." However, Wang Shouzhong was not at the scene at the beginning. He needed to "send officials to summon him." Who was the eunuch at the scene? Cheng Ying's attempt to cover up the matter aroused the wrath of Empress Cao, showing that the eunuchs under the control of the emperor and empress acted inconsistently. Fourth, after Empress Cao "closed the cabinet and held the position", the rebellious guards "burned the curtains with candles", but Empress Cao had the foreknowledge and successfully "destroyed them with water". The problem is that the purpose of "burning the curtain with candles" can be to harm the people inside the house or to force the people inside to break the door and leave.
Next, "Any maid in the back cabinet who messes with the soldiers in yellow must be punished." "Chaos" has long been interpreted as a maid of Queen Cao having an affair with a guard, such as the Qing Dynasty Yu Zhengxie "Guisi Manuscript" "It is said that "beautiful appearance covers adultery, so it is kept secret in the end". However, the word "chaos" does not necessarily refer to adultery, and fornication is a matter of confidentiality. It is absolutely impossible to commit adultery by killing someone and setting fire to it. It is also impossible for an adultery to be discovered during a palace incident, so it is "chaotic with the yellow clothes." It is more likely that the maid cooperated with the guards who caused trouble that night. The most important thing is that the "maid in the back cabinet" actually begged for mercy at this time to spare her death, but she was neither begging for mercy from the queen nor the emperor, but "begging for mercy from the emperor" or "praying for mercy for the concubine", and Renzong actually planned to pardon her. This maid. Empress Cao firmly disagreed and demanded that the maid be killed on the grounds that "it is impossible to clear the forbidden court". This formed a duel between Empress Cao and "Xing Ji". Under Empress Cao's insistence of "please immediately move for two seconds", Renzong finally had to agree to kill the maid.
As for this "lucky concubine", not only can it logically be Zhang Meiren who was "extremely favored" by Renzong, but the "History of Song Dynasty: The Biography of Empress Cao" directly inserts at this point in the narrative "Zhang Fei's parents doted on her, and she wanted to travel under the false cover." ", which is tantamount to explicitly referring to Xing Ji as Concubine Zhang. At this point, the guards and maids who participated in the palace incident were related to Concubine Zhang, and then to Renzong himself. Afterwards, Renzong commended the Zhang family for her "huqi merits", made Zhang a noble concubine, and promoted Concubine Zhang's clan father Zhang Yaozuo to the rank of Third Secretary Envoy, Xuanhui envoy. The Zhang family was related to the rebellion of the maids and were hostile to Empress Cao, but Renzong confirmed that Zhang family had the "Ku Chi Gong", which means that Renzong believed that Empress Cao was the perpetrator of the palace rebellion, and Zhang family and even the rebel guards were the rescuers. . From this, we can re-understand the actions of this palace change, and we will find that a confrontation between Renzong and Empress Cao was formed between "the emperor suddenly wants to come out", "burning the curtain with candles" and "holding in the closed cabinet" and "the water will destroy it" , it cannot be ruled out that the purpose of the palace change operation is to get Renzong out of the palace.
Empress Cao
5. Renzong called "the queen and Zhang Mao Ze plotted a great rebellion"
Shortly after Concubine Zhang died and Renzong failed to depose Empress Cao, in the first month of the first year of Jiayou (1056), Renzong suddenly became seriously ill. At first, when he went to court, he was "dazzled by the sudden wind and his crown leaned to his side", and then Renzong became incoherent. After Renzong returned to the palace, Wen Yanbo and others asked the eunuchs Shi Zhicong, Deng Baoji and others about the emperor's condition. Shi Zhicong refused in confidence. Wen Yanbo angrily said, "My lord is suddenly ill because of the safety of the clan. Only the emperor can enter and leave the forbidden gate. How can it be so?" If the prime minister is not informed about the emperor's daily life, what will he do? From now on, if the disease is increasing or decreasing, it will be obvious one by one."
However, the next day, Wen Yanbo and other ministers "went to the small hall at the east gate to inquire about daily life", and suddenly encountered Renzong, who "screamed out from the restraint, saying: 'The Queen and Zhang Mao are plotting a big rebellion.'" Yuji Wrong." Why did Renzong accuse Empress Cao and Zhang Maoze of "conspiring to commit great treason", followed by "extremely wrong words"? The literal meaning actually means that Renzong still had many amazing words that were not recorded at that time, but Zhang Mao "hanged himself after hearing the above words, and rescued people left and right, but he did not die." Wen Yanbo persuaded him, "The emperor is sick and delirium, why are you so sudden?" So! If you die, how will the palace be ashamed?"In this way, Renzong's accusation of "conspiracy of treason" against Empress Cao and others was explained by Wen Yanbo as "delirium" during the illness, and the relationship between Renzong and Empress Cao was completely broken. "The empress did not dare to come forward." , As a result, Renzong, who was ill, had no one to take care of him. "The people who serve him are only people from the Ten Pavilions Palace."
The question here is, is Renzong's sentence "The Queen and Zhang Mao are plotting a great rebellion" really just "delirium" due to illness? If there are true accusations, how will Empress Cao "plot great rebellion"? It seems that no one has ever seriously investigated this issue. Of course, there is no way to investigate the actions of Empress Cao and Zhang Maoze on that day. However, looking at the situation in the court at that time, it is not difficult to understand what Renzong meant by " plotting a great rebellion." thing.
After the palace coup in the eighth year of Qingli Dynasty (1048), although Zhang was promoted to a noble concubine with her "Hu Chi Gong", she never had any children again and died in the first year of Zhihe (1054). Empress Dowager Yang was responsible for the palace revolution. His younger brother Yang Jingzong also died in the same year. However, Empress Cao still controlled the power of the harem after Renzong's plan to abolish the empress failed, and she was "the queen's party on the left, right, and front." After Renzong buried Concubine Zhang lavishly and posthumously named her Empress Wencheng, as there was still no male heir, calls for an heir began to appear in the court. Dr. Taitang Zhang stated "Seven Shangshu before and after" and said that Renzong "Spring and Autumn Forty-Four" But "there is no guarantee for the succession of the ancestral temple and the country" is simply "unfilial", and it is considered an urgent matter to establish an heir. There was a very strange background for the call for heir. After Zhang gave birth to the eighth daughter of the emperor in the third year of Qingli (1043), Renzong suddenly stopped having children for a long time. However, after a 16-year interruption, Renzong came again in the fourth year of Jiayou. In the sixth year (1059-1061), she gave birth to five royal daughters in succession with Zhou and Dong. In fact, after Zhang's death, Renzong's bedchamber was that of the first year of Jiayou's reign. "The only people who served him were those from the Ten Pavilions Palace." The Zhou family, the Dong family, and Wen Cheng's sister are all with Yan." (the above records are all from "Changbian")
It is now known that the specific people in Shige include the Zhou family, Dong family who gave birth to the emperor's daughter for Renzong, and Zhang Guifei's sister, as well as "Liu family and Huang family, in Shige family Among them, there are especially those who are arrogant and wanton.” Among them, the Zhou family was the adopted daughter of Concubine Zhang. "When she was four years old, she entered the palace from her aunt, and Concubine Zhang raised her as a daughter. When she got older, she served Renzong and gave birth to two princesses." ("History of the Song Dynasty") If the age of sixteen is regarded as the normal age for childbearing, Zhou entered the palace at the age of four in the seventh year of Qingli (1047) when Fan Guanyin and Gao Taotao left the palace. "History of the Song Dynasty" did not give a biography to the Dong family who gave birth to three princesses for Renzong at the same time, but the "Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian" left "this is the true biography", that is, the material of the national history of the Song Dynasty, saying that "the Dong family was born in Kaifeng He entered the palace at the age of four and became a royal attendant a little later." He had a "kind-hearted" temperament, "liked to read the history of the country, could tell the allusions of the dynasty, and it was not wrong to serve the emperor, so he was granted the title of King of Wenxi County by the emperor's blessing." Dong may also be Zhang Guifei's adopted daughter. Based on this, it is speculated that after Zhang Guifei had no more children, Renzong stopped having children for a long time. It is not ruled out that he was waiting for Zhang Guifei's adopted daughter to grow up. "Xuzhi Tongjian Changbian" also records that Renzong was once "in a trance due to illness" and "held the sword to himself at night". At that time, "Dong was at his side and rushed forward to fight for it, almost cutting off his fingers." Li Tao also It is speculated that "the sword is directed towards itself. According to the official story, I don't know when it was the beginning of Jiayou." ("Changbian") states that in the first year of Jiayou, Renzong pointed out that Empress Cao "plotted great rebellion" and "violated the victory" "Illness" Renzong has shown serious suicidal tendencies.
Therefore, the background of Renzong's accusation that Empress Cao was "plotting a great rebellion" was that when Concubine Zhang died and Shige was still young, Renzong seemed to refuse to have children with other concubines while Empress Cao was eager to establish an heir. When Renzong "suddenly fell ill", Wen Yanbo was very worried and asked Shi Zhicong to truthfully report the emperor's condition and stay in the palace in the name of Zhaijiao. "Sushui Jiwen" also records that Wu Jilong, the deputy of Zuoban, the chamberlain, ordered Si Tianguan and Si Tianguan to "ask the queen to listen to the government together" in the name of celestial phenomena. Shi Zhicong and others said that "their behavior is in vain". Wen Yanbo was angry and warned Si Tianguan: "The astronomical changes have changed. You are responsible for your duties. How can you interfere with national affairs? You are guilty of your clan." ("Changbian") Therefore, Renzong shouted that "the queen and Zhang Mao are plotting a great rebellion" or that he was forced to establish an heir when he was looking forward to the birth of "Shige" and Empress Cao was plotting to "listen to the government together".
In addition to the above five issues, traditional historical narratives also cover up the false accusations of Xuanren and the fact that he listened to the Queen Mother. Modern commentators mostly follow the Song Dynasty's "There are no troubles from the Han Wang family outside, and there are no troubles from Tang Wu and Wei inside" ("History of the Song Dynasty") The concept of is rarely questioned. In fact, the "Xu Zi Zhi Tong Jian Chang Bian", "Song History" and "Zeng Bu's Diary" have quite detailed and concentrated descriptions of relevant historical facts, and it is not difficult to re-form understanding through systematic interpretation.
editor in charge: Zhong Yuan
proofreader: Xu Yijia
