Tanuki for the prince Zhang Xianmingsu Empress Liu E is really the culprit?

Mondo History Updated on 2024-02-11

Tanuki for the prince Zhang Xianmingsu Empress Liu E is really the culprit?

Antiquity"Tanuki for prince"The example is difficult enough, involving the life of the emperor and the quarrels of the harem concubines, emphasizing that Bao Zheng must not be afraid of the powerful, so it has been widely circulated since ancient times, and has been adapted into dramas, literature, and modern film and television works. Well, there really is history of it"Tanuki for prince"The story? Zhang Xianming, Queen Su, is Liu E really its mastermind? "Tanuki for prince"Although the story did not happen, Song Renzong's life was actually extraordinary.

The mystery of the beaver is fascinating.

The story of "Musk Cat for Prince" first originated from the Yuan miscellaneous drama "Jinshuiqiao Chen Lin Holding Box Makeup". In the Qing Dynasty, with the popularity of the Ming Dynasty's ** "Bao Gong Case" Volume 7 "Sanglin Town", it was written as "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness", and was adapted into Ping Opera, Henan Opera, Huangmei Opera, Lu Opera, Hunan Opera, Chao Opera and other operas, making this story widely circulated. The story is widely circulated.

While there are multiple versions of the story, the basic content is largely the same. The main theory is that in Song Zhenzong's later years, his two favorite wives, Liu and Li, became pregnant one after another. Because Empress Guo had died at that time, Song Zhenzong was in a dilemma, so he decided to let the person who gave birth to a son be the queen and the child the prince.

In order to let Li Li and Tang Guohuai compete for a position in the palace vertically, someone came up with a plan to replace Li Li's eldest son with a raccoon cat. Later, under the guidance of Liu Yong, the real recorder of Li Li, and with the cooperation of Second Sister You, Li Li's son was replaced by a skinned tanuki, and Li Li was also slandered as a monster.

After the crown prince was deposed, Liu Yong's concubine Kou Zhu strangled the prince to death. Kou Zhu couldn't bear it anymore and handed over the crown prince to the eunuch Chen Lin, who put the prince in a transport box and secretly sent him out of the palace to be raised by the Eight Sages King. Li Guifei, who could have been the queen, was beaten into the cold palace by the angry Song Zhenzong. Soon, Liu Yong gave birth to a son and became the crown prince, and his wife Liu succeeded in becoming the empress.

Six years later, Concubine Liu's son died of illness, and because Song Zhenzong had no heir, his brother's son Baxian Wang (who was replaced by the crown prince that year) entered the palace and succeeded himself as the crown prince. One day, the prince and his biological mother Li met in the cold palace, and the mother and son felt each other, although they did not recognize each other, they felt close. When Liu Yong heard the news, he ordered the palace maid Kou Zhu to be tortured, and Kou Zhu touched the ladder and died.

Although Kou Zhu kept a secret, Empress Liu had already sensed that something was wrong, and she repeatedly spoke disrespectfully in front of Song Zhenzong, and Song Zhenzong ordered Concubine Li to be executed. However, the eunuch Yu Zhong had already prepared for Concubine Li's death, and the eunuch Qin Feng took the opportunity to take Concubine Li out of the palace and send her to Chenzhou to hide, while Qin Feng died in order to prevent the secret from being leaked. Although Concubine Li escaped by luck, she was lonely and could only beg in Chenzhou to survive.

Later, Bao Zheng was ordered to go to Chenzhou to try the food fraud case of Uncle Pang's uncle, but he learned about it unexpectedly"Tanuki for prince"So he returned to Kaifeng with the son of his mother and wife Li. During this period, Song Zhenzong had died, and the son of Zhao Zhen of the Li consortium ascended the throne as Song Renzong. Bao Zheng tried to take Concubine Li to the palace, let Concubine Li and Song Zhenzong Zhao Zhen recognize each other, and told Concubine Li the truth of the past. Subsequently, Bao Zheng conspired to get Guo Huai to confess"Cats are king"The truth of the Empress Dowager Liu knew that the conspiracy was exposed, so she had to commit suicide.

Although in"Cat for prince"There is no mention of the specific name of the concubine Liu in the different versions of the story, but it is certain that in the records of the Song Zhenzong and Song Renzong periods, the Liu concubine along with her surname refers to Liu E, the empress of the Song Zhenzong Zhang Xian Mingsu lineage, who was undoubtedly the culprit in the case.

Although historically not"Cat for prince"story, but Song Renzong's life is unusual.

Although Liu E was born in a famous family, her parents died when she was a child, and she grew up in her mother's house. When she grew up, she married Gong Mei, a silversmith from Shudi, and went to Beijing with her husband to make a living. Due to financial constraints, Gong Mei wanted to sell Liu E, but Du commanded Zhang Jie to recommend Liu E to Zhao Heng, the third son of Song Taizong and later the Han king, who took Liu E into his palace when he ascended the throne.

Because of her humble background, Liu E had no name after entering the palace, and at that time, Song Zhenzong's harem already had concubines such as Queen Guo, but Liu E's status was not high, but Zhao Heng's true love, plus Liu E was not too competitive for favor, so life was stable.

In the fourth year of Jingde (1007), Empress Guo died, and Song Zhenzong wanted to set up Liu E as the queen, but was opposed by Kou Zhun, Li Di, Xiang Minzhong, Wang Dan and other important ministers, on the grounds that Liu E was from a humble background and was not suitable to be the mother of the country. Song Zhenzong originally wanted to wait for Liu E to give birth to a son and take the opportunity to establish a queen, but Liu E's stomach was really not controversial, so Song Zhenzong had no choice but to settle with Liu E"Borrowed belly"The purpose of borrowing the abdomen is to let Liu E return to the palace to serve as Liu E's maid Li.

Soon after, Li became pregnant, and three years later (1010) gave birth to a son in Dazhong Chengfu. Song Zhenzong called this son born to the Liu family and named Zhao Yingli (that is, Song Renzong Zhao Zhen), and the Li family was directly appointed as the commander of Chongyang County, but Song Zhenzong took the opportunity to promote Liu E to Concubine De. Although Zhao Zhen was born to the Li family, he did not actually grow up for a day, he was raised by Liu E and Yang Shufei, another favorite concubine of Song Zhenzong, who was canonized as empress in the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1012).

Song Zhenzong was in poor health in his later years, and Liu E gradually began to enter the court, Kou Zhun, Zhou Huizheng, Li Di and others were very dissatisfied with this and secretly planned it"Control the Prince"incident, the two sides had a dispute, history said"Tianxi party fight"。This incident led to the defeat of Kou Zhong**, and Liu E began to control the government.

In the first year of Song Renzong's Ganxing (1022), Song Zhenzong died, and the crown prince Zhao Zhen succeeded him as Song Renzong. Because Song Zhenzong had stayed"The Queen Mother is the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother has the right to dispose of major military affairs"and Zhao Zhen was only twelve years old at the time, and Liu E was able to listen to politics behind the scenes. Perhaps in order to replace Song Renzong's biological mother Li, Liu E was later promoted to Shunrong, but in order to avoid accidents, during Song Renzong's visit to relatives, Liu E was transferred to the Yongding Mausoleum of Emperor Zhenzong, and Brother Li was supplemented by a three-rank official position.

The case erupted after the death of Liu E's biological mother, and although the truth was revealed, it shocked the court.

Although Liu E remained the head of the imperial court and followed Wu Zetian's example and ascended to the throne at the suggestion of his important minister Fang Zhonggong, he eventually curbed his ambitions, of course, because of the opposition of his important ministers. But in general, Liu E's contribution to ending Prime Minister Ding's usurpation of power and maintaining the stability and operation of imperial power is undeniable.

There is nothing wrong with Liu E, why is she here"Tanuki for prince"Defamed in the case? In fact, this case is not groundless, but originated from Liu E and Zhao Yuanyan, the eighth son of Song Taizong ("The Eight Wise Kings"of the prototype).

Zhao Yuanyan has liked Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi since he was a child, so there is"Taizong especially loved it"said, and this Zhao Yuanyan actually wanted to usurp the throne. It can be said that when Song Zhenzong was seriously ill, the situation in the palace was changing rapidly, Zhao Yuanyan seemed to have no intention of visiting the hospital, and left the palace on the grounds that he wanted to live in the palace in the future, we should know that in the Song Dynasty palace, it was strictly forbidden for cabinet ministers to stay in the palace, Zhao Yuanyan's move was obviously to compete for the throne, you know, it was precisely because of the escape that Zhao Guangyi came to the palace in time and was able to inherit the throne.

Although Zhao Yuanyu eventually withdrew from the palace, after Song Renzong's performance, Zhao Zhen was worried that Liu E would not want to see her, so he did not take it lightly"Impotence"The guise of reappearance. But it can be said that Zhao Yuanyan is afraid of Liu E and hates Liu E. It's just that because Liu E is in power, Zhao Yuanyan doesn't dare to show it.

In the first year of Ming Dao (1032), Li Shunrong was seriously ill, Liu E promoted Concubine Li Chen, and on the day Concubine Chen ascended the throne, Li died at the age of forty-six. In March of the following year, Liu E died, and Zhao Zhen cited the grace of Yang Shufei:'Empress Dowager Liu is not his biological mother, his biological mother is someone else', this unspeakable hidden told him, Zhao Yuanyan'Disease'Suddenly, he also ran to tell Song Renzong:'His Majesty is Concubine Li Chen, and Concubine Li Chen is Concubine Li Chen'""Your Majesty, Concubine Li Chen is born, and the concubine is not born"。

Song Renzong Zhao Zhen heard that he had not been in the court for a few days and was grieving, so he issued an edict to reproach and posthumously honored Concubine Li Chen as the queen's widow, called Zhuang Yi. He went to Hongfuyuan to visit Song Renzong and Concubine Li Chen, changed the coffin in person, cried to see his mother ascend the throne, and saw Concubine Li Chen's body soaked in mercury, alive and vigorous, beautifully dressed, and there was no trace of victimization, so he sighed:"How can a man's word be trusted? "Later, Emperor Renzong burned incense in front of Liu E's coffin and sighed"From now on, the eldest mother will be innocent for life! "

But Zhao Renzong is still self-aware, with the death of Liu E, Prime Minister Lu Yijian, Privy Envoy Zhang Jie, Privy Envoy Xia Zhu and others are about to take power, he took the opportunity to dismiss the governor Chen Yaozuo, the Ministry of Rites Lang Yanshu and other imperial court appointed by the Empress Dowager Liu during her reign, all brought in from the capital, not stayed, and reappointed a group of Empress Dowager Liu who were unpopular during her reign, and the court was almost completely reorganized. The imperial court was almost completely reorganized.

At the same time, Song Renzong apologized to his mother, Concubine Li Chen, and took care of the Li family, including Concubine Li's nephew Li Wei; Li Wei can write poetry and likes Song Renzong very much. In the second year of Jiayou (1057), Princess Fukang was promoted to the princess of Yanzhou, and was married to Li Wei.

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