Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu fell in love with Yin Lihua when he was down and out. He once swore to heaven that "officials should hold Jin Wu and marry Yin Lihua". When Liu Xiu became emperor, he fulfilled his promise and married Yin Lihua to become his queen. Such a beautiful story was passed down as a much-told story by later generations.
Today I want to tell a story about an infatuated emperor. He is Song Gaozong, the founder of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Song Gaozong has a poor reputation in history books. For Song Gaozong's evaluation, all previous dynasties tend to be the master of fatuity, and he also killed the national hero Yue Fei, which is also a stain on his life. Today, however, let's talk about Song Gaozong's emotional life, regardless of the historical level.
Song Gaozong had two queens in his life, Queen Xing and Queen Wu Huanghou. In addition to the two queens, there are more than a dozen concubines in Song Gaozong's harem. One of them is deeply loved by Song Gaozong, and she is Liu Guifei. According to historical records such as The History of Song Dynasty, Liu Guifei is a typical woman in the south of the Yangtze River. She is gentle, proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, poetry and songs.
When Liu Guifei first entered the palace, she was just a little red maid-in-waiting (fortunately, she was an emperor and had no rank), and later she gradually became a gifted scholar. When she was a talented person, Song Gaozong, who loved calligraphy because she studied calligraphy and painting, asked Liu Guifei to help her manage the calligraphy and painting of celebrities in the palace.
On weekdays, Song Gaozong often creates calligraphy and painting with Liu Guifei, who is responsible for laying paper and grinding ink for Song Gaozong. Song Gaozong is very happy with her. Under the emperor's favor, Liu Guifei rose from talented person to Jieyu, then to graceful and restrained, and was officially made a virtuous princess by Song Gaozong.
Liu Guifei's maiden was also rewarded and sealed by Song Gaozong, and the family status of Liu gradually improved. In this way, Liu Guifei, who was originally afraid, became complacent and began to pursue a luxurious life.
One summer, Liu Guifei decorated the "footstool" with precious crystals (the Xiao Mu stool that the ancients put in front of their seats to rest). The footstool is exquisite, but such a precious crystal is used by Liu Guifei to rest her feet, which is simply extravagant.
At that time, the treasury of the Southern Song Dynasty was not very rich, so it was naturally inappropriate for the imperial concubine to take the lead in extravagance and waste. Song Gaozong was very uncomfortable when he saw his wife's extravagance, but he loved Liu Guifei very much and was reluctant to be angry and criticized. He said to people, "Give me this precious crystal foot as a pillow!"
Liu Guifei immediately understood the implication of the emperor, and quickly let people take off the crystal pedal, and said that they must be diligent and thrifty in the future. Liu Guifei, with both talent and appearance, was quite famous in the Song Dynasty. Even Yan Yanliang, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, had a greedy heart. Yan Yanliang is ambitious, wants to annex the Southern Song Dynasty and unify the whole country, and even wants to win the return of beauty.
Later, Wan Yanliang really sent hundreds of thousands of troops to invade the Southern Song Dynasty. Before marching, Wan Yanliang said to the confidant minister, "The reason why I went south to attack the Song Dynasty is for the sake of the great rivers and mountains of the Song Dynasty, and the other is to get the beautiful Liu Guifei." Wan Yanliang also made a lot of luxurious quilts before sending his troops, and prepared to give them to Liu Guifei after she was captured.
However, Yan Hongliang, like a handyman blacksmith, underestimated the strength of the Song army. His army was defeated by the Song Dynasty generals, and the army also clashed. Yan Hongliang was shot by his rebel, and 8 Jin Army was defeated. This shows that Liu Guifei's appearance is well deserved. Twenty years later, Liu Guifei died of illness, and Song Gaozong was heartbroken and died of missing.