For the ruler, the power of the clan has always been a link that cannot be ignored inside and outside the court, and the close relationship of the family has always been the best policy for the imperial power to balance the civil and military generals, so the kings of all dynasties are actively multiplying, one to continue the throne, and the other to maintain the royal family.
Although most dynasties that lasted for two or three hundred years would have produced a large number of clans, the Song dynasty was an exception. During the three hundred years of the Two Song Dynasty, a total of eighteen emperors were produced, and theoretically the scale of the clan should be very large.
However, history has jokingly allowed only four of the eighteen emperors to have a queen, and the rest have all lost their heirs, which raises questions about whether the Song royal family suffered a curse.
Although Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, had only four princes and two died young, his descendants continued to multiply during the Song and Song dynasties. Among them, Zhao Dezhao, the king of Yan, and Zhao Defang, the king of Qin, made significant contributions to the continuation of this family.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, the descendants of Zhao Kuangyin's lineage even ascended the throne, which can be called one of the four emperors with descendants in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Both the Eight Sages and Zhao Guangyi of the Song Dynasty were known for their many sons. Zhao Guangyi gave birth to a total of nine princes, eight of whom lived to adulthood and became the main ** of the Northern Song dynasty.
Perhaps it was because their two emperors had experienced the baptism of the battlefield and had excellent physical fitness, so their children could live to adulthood. However, starting from Song Zhenzong, the Northern Song Dynasty royal family entered a strange circle of untimely death.
Song Zhenzong gave birth to six sons, five of whom died young, and only Song Renzong survived. However, Song Renzong's three sons all died young, and the throne passed to the line of King Pu of Song Taizong, and Song Zhenzong's branch became extinct.
In contrast, although Song Yingzong did not have many children, only four, all three of them lived to adulthood, including Song Shenzong. Under the rule of Song Shenzong, the Northern Song Dynasty royal family ushered in the stage of frequent births of princes, giving birth to a total of fourteen princes, but the premature death rate was also very high, and only six princes survived to adulthood, including the future Song Zhezong and Song Huizong.
It can be said that the strength of the two Song clans mainly came from the four emperors of Song Taizu, Song Taizong, Song Yingzong and Song Shenzong. They were also the only emperors of the Two Song Dynasty who did not have an heir.
However, starting from the emperors after Song Shenzong, almost all of them encountered the dilemma of being an heir.
Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi first have to talk about Song Zhezong, although he gave birth to a prince, but unfortunately his early death and his short life made this vein no one inherit.
In contrast, Huizong of the Song Dynasty was the fertility king of the two Song dynasties, giving birth to thirty-two princes before he was captured, and although a few died young, most of them survived to adulthood.
However, the Jingkang Revolution changed all this, except for Zhao Gou, who fled, the rest of the heirs were all taken away by the Jin State, and even gave birth to six sons in the Jin State, but in the Jin State, their fate was basically miserable, and they did not leave much record, and they could almost be said to be the heirs.
Song Qinzong was also the same as Song Huizong, his three sons were also captured to the Jin State, and in addition to the two descendants of Song Huizong and Song Qinzong, the clans of the four emperors such as Song Taizu were also arrested a lot during the Jingkang period.
The shame of Jingkang made the Northern Song Dynasty clan have a lot of **. The Southern Song Dynasty was even more miserable, and all the emperors had no heirs. Song Gaozong Zhao Gou only had a two-year-old son, Zhao Yang, but he was scared to death, and Song Gaozong himself could not have children.
The throne eventually passed to Zhao Hao, the seventh grandson of Song Taizu, also known as Song Xiaozong. Song Xiaozong's situation was no better than that of Song Gaozong, and his four princes all died early and had no heirs. The eldest son, Zhao Ting, died in the ninth year of the road, leaving his only son, Zhao Ting, who was not spared; The second son, Zhao Kai, the king of Wei, had two sons, the eldest son died young, and the second son Zhao Lu had only one son, Zhao Kai, who also died early.
The fourth son, Zhao Ke, did not live to adulthood, and only Song Guangzong survived. Song Guangzong gave birth to two sons, the eldest son Zhao died young, and the second son was Song Ningzong. By the time of Song Ningzong, the Southern Song Dynasty royal family briefly ushered in a period of frequent birth of princes, but all princes died young.
In the end, the throne passed to the folk clan Song Lizong Zhao Yun.
The lineage of the Southern Song royal family was severed during the reign of Song Xiaozong and Song Lizong, and although Song Duzong gave birth to seven sons, four of them unfortunately died young. The three emperors of the late Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Zhao Gong, Zhao Yu of Song Duanzong, and Zhao Yu, Emperor of the late Song Dynasty, also died one after another, and had no heirs.
Although Emperor Song Gong had a son, Zhao Wanpu, he also lost the possibility of the throne because he was a monk since he was a child. All the emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty failed to leave heirs, which can be said to be a historical tragedy.
Wen Tianxiang raised the last banner of the Southern Song Dynasty, although the Southern Song Dynasty was slightly inferior to the Northern Song Dynasty, but at least four emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty left descendants. For more than 300 years, so many emperors have no heirs, which is rare in other dynasties.
Some people believe that this is because Song Taizu and Song Taizu were cursed for bullying orphans and widows, and some people say that the Great Song Dynasty Palace is poisonous, and it is said that a large amount of mercury, dansha and lead paint were used in the construction of the palace, although it can make the palace bright and prevent insects, but obviously, so many toxic materials have a great impact on the growth of the prince, perhaps the reason why the death rate of the two Song Dynasty princes is so high.
However, Song Huizong was an exception, he was clearly the only emperor who had any hope of breaking the curse, but he suffered a setback in the Jingkang Disaster, which seemed to be providential.