Liu E, a legendary woman from a singer to an emperor, the hidden boss in Menghualu

The recent popular drama Menghualu is very popular. There is a character in it who has never appeared but appears throughout the whole drama - the queen, who is the empress Liu E of Song Zhenzong in history.

Tragic Childhood

First of all, let’s talk about the name Liu E. Maybe Liu E herself didn’t know that she had the name Liu E. How did this name come about? Because her life was so legendary, novelists especially liked to compile gossip about her, so they gradually gave her the name Liu E. E is one of the many names for beautiful women in ancient times. This name is equivalent to Liu Damei.

Liu E was born into a very good family. Her ancestors were originally from Taiyuan, Shanxi, and later migrated to Huayang, Sichuan. Her grandfather's name was Liu Yanqing. During the Later Jin and Later Han dynasties of the Five Dynasties, he had a very high official position and became the General of You Xiaowei. Her father Liu Tong also did a very good job as an official in the early Song Dynasty. He served successively as the commander of Hujie Capital and the governor of Jiazhou. Later, he died in battle with Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi when he went to Taiyuan. Liu E can also be regarded as the orphan of a martyr. Liu E She is the second daughter of the Liu family.

The house leaked and it rained all night. Not long after his father, his mother also passed away, and the infant Liu E became an orphan. He has been fostered in his mother Pang's natal family since he was a child. There is a very interesting phenomenon in ancient China. Generally, orphan boys are taken care of by their father's family, but when girls become orphans, they are usually taken care of by their grandmother's family. Lin Daiyu in Dream of Red Mansions was also fostered in her grandmother's family.

But Liu E’s grandma’s family didn’t train Liu E to be a lady of a great family or a beautiful lady of a small family. Instead, they trained her to be a singer. In ancient times, singers were not the big stars they are today. In ancient times, they were There is also a title called "actor". This is not a glorious profession. Normal families will not let their daughters take this path. One can imagine how miserable Liu E's childhood life was. Liu E was very talented in music and could sing very well. She soon became a popular singer in the local area.

Liu E married a silversmith named Gong Mei when she was about twelve or thirteen years old. It can be said that Liu E was exposed to the ups and downs of the world at an early age. At an age when other children were innocent and innocent, She has been working hard to manage the family's livelihood and has developed a sophisticated sense of worldliness early on. Gong Mei felt that life in Sichuan was unsatisfactory, so she moved her family to Kaifeng, the capital, and the young couple began to live a "Kaipiao" life. After arriving in Kaifeng, the beautiful life did not come as expected, but instead became more difficult, so Liu E'e's scumbag husband Gong Mei had bad intentions and sold his beautiful wife for money. At the age of fifteen, Liu E experienced an emotional betrayal early. She didn't know how many times she changed hands, and was finally commanded by Prince Han's Mansion. Zhang Qi bought it as a gift to his eldest brother, King Zhao Heng of Han, who later became Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, it was a fashion for nobles and scholar-bureaucrats to send concubines to each other, but this shameless life was depicted with incomparable elegance by their pens. More than ten years ago, there was a high school teacher who talked eloquently about the history of the Song Dynasty at Baijia Forum. He said that he wanted to go back to the Song Dynasty through time travel and how beautiful the Song Dynasty was. I had a malicious suspicion that what he envied was the shamelessness of the scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty. And a life without limits and without shame.

The Development of a Queen

Liu E’s second husband was Zhao Heng, who had been named Zhao Dechang, Zhao Yuanxiu and Zhao Yuankan. He was the third son of Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi and the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty. Except for Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the country, they are all from the Zhao Guangyi lineage. Zhao Guangyi's lineage is very good at doing literature and art, but generally they are timid, and the most timid one is Zhao Heng. After this guy became the emperor, the Liao Kingdom took the opportunity to go south. When he came down to fight the Song Dynasty, Zhao Heng's first reaction was to flee and prepare to move the capital to Nanjing. He did not intend to take the territory north of the Yangtze River. It's really hard to see how the third monarch who founded the country was so cowardly. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Kou Zhun, the ministers pressured Zhao Heng to lead the expedition in person. When the soldiers on the frontier saw that the emperor came to the front to accompany them to fight for their lives, their morale was inspired, and they fought bravely and killed the Liao general Xiao Talin. The two sides were evenly matched in Chanyuan, and no one could do anything to the other, so they began to hold peace talks. Unexpectedly, the coward Zhao Heng told Song Dynasty negotiator Cao Lili, "As long as the peace talks can be reached, even millions of dollars will be fine." He was really frightened, but Kou Zhun became angry and pointed at Cao Using his nose, he threatened, "The bottom line is 300,000 yuan. If it exceeds one penny, I will kill you. It's up to you." As a result, Song Fang paid 300,000 yuan in compensation.

Many shameless scholars in later generations used various calculations to say how insignificant these three hundred thousand were, and how much money the Song Dynasty had stolen from the Liao Kingdom through various currency wars, and so on.

Brother, first of all, the money is not much, it is compensation, and this nature cannot be changed no matter how much money is washed. Through this incident, the cowardly nature of the Song Dynasty was clearly seen by the surrounding neighbors, and the Song Dynasty no longer had dignity in their eyes. So they began to make desperate efforts, resulting in greater passivity. The Northern Song Dynasty had to fight on multiple fronts. High military expenditures have always been the Song Dynasty's heaviest financial burden. There is also a trade war that Zhao Heng did not fight and will not be launched here. Please stop washing it, disgusting.

After the Chanyuan Alliance, Zhao Heng did something even more limitless. He also knew that the Chanyuan Alliance had made a fool of himself. In order to restore his image, he ordered others to forge the so-called "Heavenly Book". The Heavenly Book It says that God recognizes that Zhao Heng is a good emperor and can hold a Zen ceremony. Well, isn't this the emperor's new clothes? An even more bizarre thing happened. The ministers swarmed up and played a farce with him. I would like to ask those who claim that the scholar-bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty had integrity, how can they explain the behavior of the scholar-bureaucrats in the Manchu Dynasty who did not stand up to stop this farce? An emperor like Li Shimin, who was a civilized and martial artist, wanted to be granted Zen status several times, but failed several times. At least he still wanted to lose face. How dare you laugh at Li Tang Zang? Since Zhao Heng, no emperor has ever demonstrated his greatness by conferring Zen status. They were afraid of having anything to do with Zhao Heng, and they really couldn't afford to embarrass that person.

Quoting later generations’ comments on this matter:

Tuotuo, the Prime Minister of the Yuan Dynasty: “We formed an alliance with Chanzhou and established the Zen deeds. It was auspicious and auspicious. The Book of Heaven was repeatedly sent down. To greet the emperor, it's strange that the king and ministers of the country are so sick and crazy. "Explain what Tuotuo means. The Chanyuan Alliance has been signed, but you still dare to get the Zen title and make so many auspicious things. You are deceiving yourself and others. Regarding the so-called Heavenly Book, the emperors and ministers of the Song Dynasty were so heartbroken and crazy, ah~, I don’t even know what to say, it’s really strange.

Li Zhi of the Ming Dynasty said: "The dignified monarchs and ministers of a country are doing such evil things. Ridiculous! How deplorable!" Translation: The dignified monarchs and ministers of a country are doing such evil things. You are fooling me. Who? ridiculous! What a shame!

Having said so much, I just want to talk about who Liu E’s second husband Zhao Heng is. This person is quite artistic, he knows all kinds of poems, lyrics, and songs, and he can do all kinds of playing, playing, and singing, but he is a coward at heart, and he lacks a basic sense of honor. Of course, most emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty were like this.

Back to the main story, let’s continue talking about Liu E. The sixteen-year-old King Zhao Heng of Han got the fifteen-year-old Liu E. He really liked her. This young lady is beautiful and sings well. , two people are tired of being together day and night. How tired are they? When Zhao Guangyi summoned his son Zhao Heng one day, he suddenly found that his son was haggard and listless. So he went to Zhao Heng's nanny and asked the old lady if his son was sick. The nanny said, "What kind of disease is it? There's a goblin in the house. He won't sleep at night. It's so troublesome." Zhao Guangyi was furious. This is not bad. Ask Zhao Heng to drive Liu E away quickly, and then immediately arranged a well-matched marriage for Zhao Heng. The young lady from General Pan Mei's family was dignified and elegant. How can I say the relationship between the two? There is no record in the history books, so it is probably just average. Six Queen Pan died later in 989 at the age of twenty-two, and they had no children.

Zhao Heng couldn't bear to let Liu E go, so he put Liu E in the home of his subordinate Zhang Qi. When they had nothing to do, they would have a date or something. How dare Zhang Qi do anything to please his boss. He refused, but from then on Zhang Qi did not dare to go home to live, for fear of not being able to explain clearly, so he bought another house to live in, and his own home became Zhao Heng's foreign residence.

The two spent 14 years secretly like this. In 997, Zhao Heng's father, Zhao Guangyi, died of illness. No one could care about Zhao Heng anymore, so Zhao Heng took Liu E into the palace. Don't get me wrong, there is no drama here about lovers finally getting married and Liu E doting on the Sixth Palace alone. Zhao Heng has never been idle in these years. Not only did he marry a rich wife, Queen Guo, but he also married a large number of concubines. Moreover, Zhao Heng summoned Liu E into the palace without giving her any status. It is estimated that Liu E's treatment at that time was a little better than that of ordinary palace maids. It should be said that Liu E's difficulty at this time was hellish, but she did not give up. After many operations, she became good friends with Zhenzong Zhao Heng's beloved concubine Yang, and the two established an offensive and defensive relationship in the treacherous harem. Alliance, this friendship lasted until Liu E's death.

After 10 years of life without fame or status, in 1004 AD, the 35-year-old Liu E was named a fourth-grade beauty, and soon after she was named Xiuyi and Defei.

If nothing unexpected happens, Liu E's struggle in the harem is considered to be at its peak, and her life is considered complete. Liu E did something that seems very confusing today. Since Liu E has no blood relatives in the world, So she recognized her ex-husband Gong Mei as her godbrother. Gong Mei took the opportunity to change her surname to Liu, and from then on her ex-husband's family became her maiden family. I have to say that Gong Mei is a wife worth marrying.

In fact, every time I see this, I have a question: Why did Liu E, who had been anonymous for 10 years, suddenly become favored? Is it her beauty? Is it her melodious singing voice? My personal guess is that it was at this time that Zhao Heng discovered Liu E's ability to handle government affairs. Zhao Heng, who was low on energy, could not handle the mountain of official affairs. Liu E should have assumed many of Zhao Heng's government affairs by this time. , otherwise there is no way to explain that Liu E, who had not been favored for 10 years, suddenly became favored and was quickly promoted to the status of concubine.

In 1007 AD, Empress Guo, the second eldest wife of Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng, died of illness, so Zhao Heng wanted to make Liu E his queen. However, important ministers Kou Zhun, Li Di, Xiang Minzhong, Wang Dan and others firmly opposed it on the grounds that "Liu E was of humble origin and could not be the mother of a country" and recommended their favorite "Shen Cairen" as the new queen. It has to be said that regardless of the Song Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, this group of literati interfered in the emperor's harem in the spirit of being generous and strict with themselves when it came to women. They never cared about how many concubines they had at home, but they made desperate demands. The emperor cannot be lustful, otherwise they will criticize him verbally and in writing. There are too many examples of this, so I won’t go into detail.

Zhao Heng is so disgusted, can I not even take charge of my own harem? So Zhao Anren, who took the lead in recommending Shen Cai as the queen, was assigned to be a local official. The ministers knew that the consequences of the blind comparison would be serious, so they kept their mouths shut. The matter of establishing a queen was shelved.

In 1010 AD, when Zhao Zhen went to see Liu E, he favored Liu E's maid Li. Unexpectedly, he gave birth to a son, who was later Song Renzong Zhao Zhen. Zhao Heng's only son. So the emperor Zhao Heng, Liu E, the maid Li, and the beloved concubine Yang reached an agreement, saying that the son was born to Liu E, and then he would be fostered by Yang. This was definitely a win-win plan.

Two years later, in 1012 AD, Liu E, with the blessing of her son, was canonized as queen. No one dared to openly object anymore. Liu E was 43 years old this year. Liu E not only kept the harem in order, but also accompanied Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng to work overtime to handle official affairs until midnight every day. Liu E is a very smart person with a high level of understanding, and is well-read, especially proficient in history books, and has a very good memory. No matter what government affairs she encounters, she can remember the ins and outs of the government affairs related to it. Watertight.

Later, Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng's health became worse and worse, and the government affairs of the Song Dynasty were slowly handled by Liu E.

Although Liu E was particularly capable and handled both the harem and the government affairs very carefully, this greatly choked the civil servants' lungs, so they began to spread various rumors, saying that Liu E was preparing to rebel. Especially in 1019, the Taibai Star appeared in broad daylight, so they spread rumors that this was a sign that a woman was going to rebel. After hearing too many rumors, Zhao Heng began to waver, so he mentioned it when chatting with his confidant Zhou Huaizheng. After Kou Zhun heard about the possibility of the crown prince supervising the country, he immediately secretly entered the palace to meet Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng. It must be said that Kou Zhun was a man who did big things. The whole process completely avoided Liu E's eyes and ears, and he summoned his cronies when he returned home. He drafted an edict for the prince to supervise the country, but someone among his confidants revealed this to Liu E. Liu E immediately ran to Song Zhenzong to confront him. Song Zhenzong and Tang Gaozong Li Zhi had the same reaction, "I don't I know, I didn’t say it, I didn’t do it, it was all Kou Zhun’s doing.” It must be said that it is a tragedy for a hero to fall in love with the wrong boss, so Liu E dismissed Kou Zhun as the reason for his correction and used his confidant Ding. It is said that Kou Zhun became the new prime minister instead of Kou Zhun.

The confidant Zhou Huaizheng of Zhao Heng mentioned earlier knew that he was going to die, so he prepared to launch a coup. The slogan was to kill Liu E and Ding Wei, welcome Kou Zhun as prime minister, and establish the crown prince as emperor. Please Zhao Heng became the Supreme Emperor. The plan was good, but he was soon betrayed by his subordinates. Liu E and Ding Wei sent people to arrest Zhou Huaizheng and all his party members. Zhou Huaizheng himself was killed, and Kou Zhun was demoted again and again until he was finally demoted to Leizhou Sihu to join the army. , and finally died of illness in Leizhou, which is now Leizhou in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province. At that time, it was a barbaric land in the south of Lingnan.

After this incident, Liu E asked the 9-year-old prince Zhao Zhen to go to Zishan Hall every day to discuss government affairs with ministers, and began to learn to be a prince. Liu E reviewed memorials in the harem, while her husband Zhao Heng Lived in retirement.

Being proclaimed before the dynasty

In 1022 AD, Song Zhenzong, who had been sick for a long time, ended his unspeakable life and returned to the west. The 12-year-old Zhao Zhen was proclaimed emperor. , that is, Song Renzong, the most benevolent emperor throughout the ages.

Prime Minister Ding Wei saw that the emperor was young. If Liu E was left out at this time, he could dominate the government. Power is always attractive, so he began to plan to let the 12-year-old Song Renzong rule personally. How could this little trick escape the eyes of Liu E, who is good at maneuvering. So Liu E summoned the officials in the Chengming Palace and presented a lot of evidence that Ding Wei had been corrupt, perverted the law, and colluded with the eunuch Lei Yungong of the inner court. Ding Wei was beaten in public and was at a loss. Liu E took the opportunity to kill him. Ding Wei was persuaded by the officials, saying that the dynasty had a policy of not killing scholar-bureaucrats, so Liu E reluctantly demoted Ding Wei to Yazhou on Hainan Island, which was even more remote than Kou Zhun. But Ding said that this man had a very good mentality. He had lived in Yazhou for more than three years, in Leizhou for more than five years, in Daozhou for nearly four years, and in Guangzhou for about three years. He had been living in exile for fifteen years and had no gray hair on his temples. Its quantity. In the end, he died behind Liu E. Are you convinced?

After experiencing Ding Wei's incident, Liu E realized how dangerous it was to relax her power, so the 54-year-old Liu E used Song Zhenzong's will to "respect the queen as the empress dowager, and the power of military and national affairs shall be handled by the empress dowager" In the nominal court system, Liu E handles government affairs in the name of the Empress Dowager. Every five days, Liu E and Zhao Zhen go to court in the Chengming Palace. The emperor sits on the left, Liu E sits on the right, and a curtain is placed in front of the Queen Mother. That is to say, listening to politics behind the curtain.

Liu E's title system is still very unique. She made herself a male emperor's dragon robe, that is, a gun suit. She had to ride in a large chariot when going out, and the honor guard's appearance was the same as that of a male emperor, not The Empress Dowager's ostentation was to demonstrate her authority in a masculine way. This is a bit like the Empress Dowager Cixi's intention of asking Guangxu to call her her biological father. Two years later, in 1024, she accepted the title given to her by Emperor Zhao Zhen: "The Queen Mother who Yingtian Qisheng shows meritorious service, worships virtue, is compassionate and protects longevity".

Liu E's eleven-year reign left Renzong with a country with clear politics and abundant treasury, laying a solid foundation for the Northern Song Dynasty's national power to reach its peak during the Song Renzong period. She was rated by history books as "the Queen Mother is the ruler. Although she is out of the palace, her orders are strict and her kindness is the best in the world."

This article includes several interesting stories from Liu E’s reign.

The first thing is that after the death of her husband Zhao Heng, Liu E buried the so-called Heavenly Book with Zhao Heng, ending the most ridiculous face-saving project of the Zhenzong Dynasty.

The second incident was that one day when Liu E was discussing government affairs with the ministers, she suddenly burst into tears. The ministers were very puzzled and asked, "What's wrong with you, Queen Mother?" Liu E said. : "The country is in such trouble, but we, orphans and widowed mothers, are able to sit firmly in the world. It is all thanks to you, a group of civil servants. Whenever I think of this, I, an old woman, am very moved. How can I thank you?" The civil servants hurriedly said. Modesty: "Queen Mother, these are what we should do." Liu E quickly said: "Let's do this. The descendants of the emperor's relatives have all received favors. You should also report all your descendants and relatives. I will give them to you when I have the opportunity." The descendants and relatives of the civil servants were very excited after hearing this, so they reported their relatives to Liu E one after another. In this way, Liu E clarified the kinship relationship of the civil servants and wrote the relationship diagram on it. On the wall, every time there is a memorial report of a reward, Liu E will carefully consider multiple checks and balances based on this picture to prevent a certain faction of civil servants from gaining too much power. This is a good guarantee that there will be no cronies during Liu E's reign. dispute.

The third thing is to issue Jiaozi and promote paper currency. China has been a country poor in precious metals since ancient times. Liu E changed the paper currency "Jiaozi" invented by Sichuan merchants into an official one and established it in Chengdu. In the "Yizhou Jiaozi Wu", officials from the Beijing Dynasty served as supervisors, presided over the issuance of Jiaozi, and "set up a papermaking institute to eliminate the disadvantages of forgery" and strictly enforced the printing process. The first Jiaozi issued 1,256,340 Guan, with a reserve capital of 360,000 Guan (based on Sichuan iron coins). The Song Dynasty officially issued the world's first paper currency - Jiaozi, also known as "Guanjiaozi", which was more than 600 years earlier than the Western banknotes issued by the Swedish Bank in Europe in 1661. The issuance of Jiaozi greatly promoted the rapid development of commerce in the Song Dynasty, which was also one of the important reasons for the prosperity of the Song Dynasty.

The paper currency system was also learned and inherited by the Liao, Jin and later Yuan in the north. It was not until Zhu Yuanzhang was ruined that it was replaced by Zhang Juzheng with silver.

At the same time, Liu E also tried her best to cultivate Renzong Zhao Zhen. In order to help Renzong become a talent, Liu E was too strict and often restrained him with etiquette. However, Renzong's other adoptive mother, Concubine Yang, was very pampered towards Renzong. Renzong was afraid of Liu E and close to Concubine Yang since he was a child. But Song Renzong knew that Liu E was always kind to him. Until Liu E's death, Song Renzong served Liu E with utmost care. As the saying goes, "The Queen Mother did her best to protect the emperor, and Renzong was also very prepared to serve the Queen Mother."

In 1033 AD, Liu E was seriously ill. Liu E, who had been in power for eleven years, knew that she could not escape this time, so she pardoned the ministers who had been demoted since she took power, including Kou Zhun and Cao. He used Liu E's political opponents to restore his old official position and moved Ding Wei inland from the distant place where he was demoted.

Innocent after death

That month, Liu E died of illness, so Renzong summoned the ministers in the Huangyi Palace to announce Liu E's death. Then he asked a question: "When the Queen Mother was dying, I have pulled my clothes many times and I can't figure it out." The purpose of Renzong's question is very obvious. Anyone who knows what's going on will quickly tell Huang what he thinks. Xue Kui, the political advisor, said: "This It's the Queen Mother who doesn't want to be buried in a dragon robe." Renzong immediately realized that he had Liu E put on the Queen Mother's dress.

Then another very disgusting thing happened. Zhao Yuanyan (the prototype of the Eight Wise Kings), the most prestigious member of the Zhao family, stood up and told a big gossip, "Your Majesty, I will tell you Let me tell you a secret, you are not Liu E's son, you are born to Li. Liu E killed your mother and took you away."

Song Renzong was furious. He blamed himself for not being able to recognize his biological mother, and was also resentful of Liu E's cruelty, so he had people surround the mansion of Liu E's relatives. He personally went to Hongfuyuan where Concubine Li's coffin was located to check, and found that Concubine Li Chen was buried with ceremonial ceremony. Under the care of mercury, her complexion looked as if she were alive. Only then did Song Renzong understand that his biological mother, Concubine Li, died of natural causes and received the highest standards. Liu E had never treated Concubine Li badly. Renzong recalled Liu E's kindness to him and sighed: "People say It's so believable!" Later, Renzong learned that Renzong's mother, Concubine Li, was from a humble background and had no relatives around her. Liu E once sent Liu Mei (Liu E's ex-husband) and Zhang Huaide to look for Concubine Li's relatives among the people, but they only found Li Concubine. The concubine's younger brother Li Yonghe was appointed as a minor official in the third class. < /p>

The sad thing is that the political opponents who pardoned Liu E before his death saw that Liu E was dead and knew that Liu E was not Renzong's biological mother, so they began to slander Liu E crazily. They not only wrote memorials to slander her, but also After the people wrote about it through various literary works, Song Renzong was very angry after hearing about it and said: "You are talking about nothing!" So he decreed that neither the court nor the people were allowed to slander Liu E.

However, Renzong still overestimated the integrity of the Song Dynasty literati. They wrote the eternal masterpiece "The Civet Cat for the Prince", describing Liu E as a heinous villain and themselves as a loyal minister who supported the emperor. , has been sung to this day. How vicious it is to control public opinion and confuse right and wrong.

At the beginning of Renzong's accession to the throne, the ministers of the Song Dynasty, led by Fu Bi, said to Renzong: "Your Majesty, do you know that when Liu E took control, your Majesty, you were completely under Liu E's control?" Yes, it was only with the protection of loyal ministers that Liu E could control her desires and not usurp the throne like Wu Zetian. Now that you are the emperor, you have to reward us loyal ministers! "I don't deny that Fu Bi is a loyal minister and is a loyal minister! Neng Chen, but is it okay to eat steamed buns with human blood like this? The old lady has enjoyed everything the emperor has to offer, so what is the meaning of being an emperor for her. Liu E's own relatives are all dead, and she has only two relatives in the world, one is her ex-husband's godbrother, and the other is her raised son Zhao Zhen. Did she usurp the throne because she wanted to pass the throne to her ex-husband and godbrother? They are bullying the old lady and she cannot talk back!

This is the integrity of the scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty! ! ! ! ! !

The following is an excerpt of later generations' evaluation of Liu E:

Sima Guang: Empress Dowager Zhang Xianmingsu protected Sheng Gong, disciplined all parties, promoted virtuous people and retreated from traitors, pacified China and foreign countries, and established the foundation of the Zhao family. Have great merit. ("The Emperor and the Empress Dowager Shu")

Su Shi: During the seventy years since the Song Dynasty flourished, the people did not know how to fight, but when they were rich, they taught them how to be holy and holy. (Su Shi's "Six One Lay Collection")