Chapter 992 The Empress Dowager Refuses to Return Power

When Su Mingzhe heard the news that Wang Yuyan had entered the palace, he finished his homework for the day and went to the Imperial Garden, wanting to see the beauty of the fairy sister.

By the way, take a look at this 'Fairy Sister', she is somewhat similar to Zou Yu.

Normally, the young emperor and his concubines could not meet before they got married.

However, the Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager Xiang adopted these daughters of noble families as their adopted daughters in accordance with previous rules.

In this way, these daughters of noble families and the little emperor became one family, and there were no more restrictions or demands.

The popularity of "adopted sons and daughters" during the Song Dynasty was also due to the fact that the Song Dynasty completely abolished "slavery".

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, "national slavery" was abolished.

If the powerful and wealthy families in the Sui and Tang dynasties wanted to own slaves, they could only purchase Silla maids, Kunlun slaves, and Bodhisattva barbarians as slaves.

By the Song Dynasty, slavery was completely abolished, and even Silla maids, Kunlun slaves, and Bodhisattva barbarians were no longer used.

The powerful and wealthy had no choice but to adopt some "adopted sons" and "adopted daughters" to serve them in order to avoid the supervision of the court.

Among them, the most famous one in history is that the queen of Song Renzong particularly liked to find some beautiful and charming women, adopt them as "adopted daughters", and let these adopted daughters serve Song Renzong on her behalf to please the emperor.

This practice in the Song Dynasty continued until the end of the Ming Dynasty.

When the Qing Dynasty came, slavery reappeared, and "adopted sons" and "adopted daughters" gradually disappeared.

Su Mingzhe arrived at the Imperial Garden, and the daughters of the noble families who were playing there came to pay their respects to him.

Although the current Song Dynasty is ruled by the Empress Dowager.

However, the daughters of these noble families all knew that as the Empress Dowager gradually grew older, the world would sooner or later belong to the little emperor in front of them.

However, 'adding icing on the cake' is far less heartwarming than 'providing timely assistance'.

Therefore, when these daughters of noble families learned that the emperor liked to visit the imperial garden, they would often put on makeup and come to have a "tryst" with the little emperor.

Su Mingzhe played with the girls for a while and found that not only was Wang Yuyan missing, but even Li Qingzhao and several other stunning beauties were also missing. He immediately became curious and called the eunuch Liang Weijian beside him and asked:
"Liang Duzhi, go ask why some beauties are not here."

As the confidant of the Empress Dowager, Liang Duzhi was well-informed and reported directly:
"Sir, Madam Gao is seriously ill today, and the Empress Dowager has invited a senior monk to chant sutras and pray for her. The young ladies are all accompanying her in Cisheng Palace."

"is it?"

When Su Mingzhe heard that it was the Empress Dowager's mother who was ill, there was no expression on his face.

When it comes to things like chanting sutras and praying for blessings, can't we just have the late emperor's concubines accompany us?

Why do you want to compete with me for a woman?

Fortunately, Su Mingzhe was very cunning and did not show it on the surface. He turned around and asked:

"Then do you know which daughter of aristocratic family the Grandmother values ​​more?"

Liang Weijian didn't expect that the little emperor would ask such a direct question today. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said:
"I heard that the Empress Dowager asked the 40th generation grandson of the Second Sage to sit with her on one side."

The second sage is Mencius.

"That means that the Grandmother wants Meng to be her queen?"

Su Mingzhe was not surprised by the news.

In history, the 40th generation grandson of this second sage, Meng, became the empress of the young emperor.

However, after the Empress Dowager passed away, Meng had an extremely difficult life because she was not favored by the Emperor.

With the young emperor's conscious or unconscious support, the favorite concubine Liu provoked and humiliated Meng in various ways.

A few years later, the young emperor found out a small mistake made by Meng and deposed her.

Later, during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, she was deposed and reinstated as the "Empress Dowager" twice, which was humiliating to the extreme.

Logically speaking, Meng should have been disappointed with the Zhao family of the Song Dynasty after being treated so badly by the brothers Song Zhezong and Song Huizong. However, when the Song Dynasty was about to fall, some ministers remembered this "deposed queen mother" and invited her to take charge of the situation.

It was also this "deposed empress dowager" who ordered people to find Zhao Gou and then established the Southern Song Dynasty court.

It can be said that from a historical perspective, Meng completed the task assigned to her by the Empress Dowager very well, allowing the Song Dynasty to continue for more than a hundred years.

"Forget it, forget it. Meng is Meng. Liang Duzhi, go ask the Empress Dowager. Now that the throne has been decided, when will the enthronement ceremony be held?"

Liang Weijian was the confidant of the Empress Dowager, and was now sent to serve the young emperor.

The old people around the little emperor had long been driven out of the palace.

Seeing that Su Mingzhe didn't show any "anger" on his face, Liang Weijian couldn't guess whether the little emperor was satisfied with Meng or not. In the end, he could only say "yes" and retreat.

Watching Liang Weijian leave, Su Mingzhe silently recalled historical materials in his heart.

In the original history, the Empress Dowager kept delaying the ceremony of enthroning the Empress, claiming that she was worried that the Emperor was young and that getting too close to women too early would affect his physical development.

This resulted in that although the position of queen was decided this year, the actual marriage time of the little emperor was delayed by a full three years.

It was not until the Grand Empress Dowager fell seriously ill and knew that she was about to die and could no longer control the little emperor that she hurriedly decided on Meng's position as empress and held a ceremony to enthrone the little emperor.

There was only one reason why the Empress Dowager delayed the wedding.

According to etiquette, when an emperor gets married, it is equivalent to holding a "coming of age ceremony".

Then, the Empress Dowager, who was ruling the country from behind the scenes, should return power to the Emperor.

When people in later generations studied this period of history, they believed that the Empress Dowager delayed the emperor's wedding for three years in order to continue to control the government.

It is no wonder that after the young emperor ascended the throne, he launched a "counterattack" against the Empress Dowager.

The dignified Emperor of the Song Dynasty could only occasionally see some palace maids during the day.

At night, he was surrounded by eunuchs over 40 years old serving him.

No matter who it happens to, no one can stand it.

Liang Weijian was a veteran who had served three dynasties, namely, Emperor Yingzong of Song and Emperor Shenzong of Song. After receiving the young emperor's instructions, he trotted all the way to the Cisheng Palace where the Empress Dowager lived and relayed the young emperor's words.

When the Empress Dowager heard this, she knew that the little emperor was not asking about the wedding, but when she would return power, and her face immediately fell.

When Emperor Shenzong of Song died, he did not decide on the position of crown prince. As the empress dowager at that time, she had two choices:

1. Inherit the fine tradition of the Song Dynasty, and let his beloved youngest son inherit the throne.

Second, he gritted his teeth and let his young grandson succeed to the throne.

At that time in the court, all eyes were on her.

In the end, the Empress Dowager chose her young grandson instead of her youngest son who was well-known for his virtue.

Outsiders don't know the reason.

Only she knows.

The little emperor now wanted her to return power, which made her angry:
"I'm almost sixty years old, and I'm still working hard to help the Zhao family maintain the government. Is it easy for me?"

"It took me five or six years, with the help of Sima Gong and others, to restore order, purge the treacherous party, and expel Wang Anshi's followers from the court."

"I have only had a few days of good life now, but this little emperor has no sympathy for the hardship of ruling the country from behind the scenes as a grandmother. Instead, he wants me to return the power!"

"Isn't this a typical case of crossing a river and destroying the bridge?"

The Empress Dowager became angrier and angrier as she thought about it, and she replied coldly:
"Liang Duzhi, you go and tell the emperor that he is still young and it is too early to talk about marriage. Just let him wait patiently."

(End of this chapter)