Bianjing City, Wende Hall
The Emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Guangyi, was reviewing the memorial with a brush. In addition to the eunuchs standing beside him, there was also a young man about twenty years old, wearing a red robe. He was a little thin, but his face looked pretty rosy.
The young man stood next to Zhao Guangyi, his eyes lowered to the ground, a little uneasy, as if he was waiting for the emperor's reprimand.
After a while, Zhao Guangyi stopped reviewing the memorial, rubbed his sore wrist, took a sip of tea, and said to the young man beside him: "Why did the prince come today? You are also the governor of Kaifeng. , everything is complicated, so don’t slack off!”
This young man is Zhao Heng, the prince and governor of Kaifeng.
Zhao Heng is the third son of Zhao Guangyi. His original name was Zhao Dechang, and he was later renamed Zhao Yuanxiu. After he was established as the prince, he was renamed Zhao Heng by the emperor.
Zhao Heng is the third son of Zhao Guangyi. He was originally not destined to be the crown prince. The succession system of the throne of the Song Dynasty is the eldest son succession system. Although Zhao Guangyi inherited the throne from his elder brother Zhao Kuangyin, the method of succession was far less recognized by Confucian scholars than the eldest son succession system. Zhao Guangyi was criticized because he inherited the throne when his elder brother Zhao Kuangyin had an heir. Although no one dared to raise objections openly within and outside the imperial court, it was still difficult to silence everyone.
Zhao Guangyi had nine sons. After he came to the throne, he successively eliminated the two sons of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang, and his younger brother Zhao Tingmei, who threatened the throne. He successively chose his eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo and his second son Zhao Yuanxi as his successors. However, the eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo went crazy because of the death of his uncle Zhao Tingmei and was imprisoned. The second son Zhao Yuanxi also died suddenly without illness in the third year of Chunhua. Therefore, Zhao Heng, who ranked third among the princes, came into Zhao Guangyi's sight.
In fact, in Zhao Guangyi's heart, the eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo and the second son Zhao Yuanxi are the most suitable successors to the throne in his mind.
The eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo was smart and alert when he was young, and was deeply loved by Zhao Guangyi. At the age of thirteen, Zhao Yuanzuo went hunting with his father and killed a rabbit with one arrow in front of his father and the Liao envoy. His father was naturally very fond of his son for being so brave, and proudly introduced the child to the Liao envoy. Later, during the Song Dynasty's Northern Expedition to the Northern Han Dynasty, Zhao Guangyi deliberately took Zhao Yuanzuo with him, with the implication that he would familiarize Zhao Yuanzuo with the military and prepare for his future succession.
Later, Zhao Yuanzuo was named the King of Chu, the head of the princes, and directly settled in the East Palace. Although he was not named the crown prince at that time, the court officials all knew that Zhao Yuanzuo was the crown prince of the country.
If things continue like this, then the future prince will definitely be Zhao Yuanzuo. But things didn't go as planned, and something happened that changed Zhao Yuanzuo's fate. In the seventh year of Taiping's rejuvenation of the country, in order to consolidate the throne, Zhao Guangyi, after killing his two nephews Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang, began to attack his brother Zhao Tingmei, King of Qin. Zhao Tingmei was framed for treason, deposed as a commoner, and faced the danger of death.
Zhao Yuanzuo had a very close relationship with his fourth uncle Zhao Tingmei. He did not believe that his fourth uncle Zhao Tingmei would rebel. He repeatedly went to his father Zhao Guangyi to intercede, which ended up angering Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Guangyi believes that everyone in the world can disagree with his actions, but you, Zhao Yuanzuo, can't. Because the reason why Zhao Guangyi ruthlessly cut off his nephew and younger brother was to clear the way for Zhao Yuanzuo to succeed to the throne in the future.
Zhao Tingmei, the king of Qin who was slandered for treason, died of depression as expected. The news reached Bianjing City. Zhao Yuanzuo was extremely sad and angry. He felt deeply about the emperor's family's ruthlessness, so he went crazy. He shot everyone with a bow and arrow every day with his hair disheveled.
Zhao Guangyi held a palace banquet on the Double Ninth Festival. Because the eldest brother Zhao Yuanzuo was unwell, he asked the second child Zhao Yuanxi to host the banquet. Zhao Yuanxi told Zhao Guangyi that he had informed his eldest brother, but later Zhao Yuanzuo said that his father had invited all his younger brothers to a banquet, but he was not invited, so he became mad and angry and burned down his Chu Palace.
When Zhao Guangyi heard this, he became furious and reprimanded: "As a prince, you are already extremely wealthy. Why are you so cruel? I dare not forget the laws of the country. The love between father and son is over!" Zhao Yuanzuo was deposed as a commoner and imprisoned in the palace. Garden.
When someone falls, someone rises, and the second eldest son, Zhao Yuanxi, became the first heir. Although Zhao Yuanxi is not as good as his elder brother Zhao Yuanzuo in both civil and military skills, he is far more scheming than his elder brother Zhao Yuanzuo. What happened to Zhao Yuanzuo had a lot to do with his instigation. After he came to power, he was good at making friends with civil and military ministers, and won the favor of all officials and his father. If nothing happens, Zhao Yuanxi will become the crown prince and inherit the throne.
However, destiny is impermanent. After everyone felt that everything was a foregone conclusion, the second child, Zhao Yuanxi, suddenly died suddenly.
Just because Zhao Yuanxi married a concubine, he loved this concubine very much and promised many times to abolish the noble wife and make the concubine his main wife. Therefore, the concubine was arrogant and domineering at home.
Several years passed by, and one year in the first month of the year, Zhao Yuanxi was going to the palace to pay homage to his father. Before entering the palace, sacrifices must be held at home. The concubine took the initiative to bring out the wine pot and wine glass and toasted Zhao Yuanxi and his wife.
In fact, the concubine bribed the craftsman to create a yin and yang wine flask. There is a mechanism on the jug. If you press it, you will get fine wine, and if you press it again, you will get poisonous wine.
She poured fine wine for Zhao Yuanxi and poisonous wine for his wife. She believed that Zhao Yuanxi was unwilling to drive his wife away because of his old relationship, so she took action herself.
She never expected that Zhao Yuanxi would take the initiative to change the wine glass and drink the poisonous wine in the lady's glass in one gulp when he saw his wife's wine glass being full.
The concubine wanted to persuade but it was too late.
Not long after Zhao Yuanxi went to court, he suffered from poisonous alcohol. He immediately asked to go home and see a doctor he trusted. But before he could be carried to the door of his house, he was poisoned and died.
Zhao Guangyi felt that something was a little strange, so he sent someone to investigate and soon found out the truth. The angry Zhao Guangyi beheaded all Zhao Yuanxi's concubines and his family to vent his anger.
In order of eldest son and youngest, the crown prince's position can only be occupied by the third prince Zhao Yuanxiu.
In fact, Zhao Guangyi has always looked down on this son in his heart. The third son does not have the civil and military skills of his eldest brother, nor the scheming and scheming of his second brother. He is also weak-tempered and soft-eared. He is not the master of the world at all, but other princes have He was too young to bear the artifact. As a last resort, Zhao Guangyi had to slowly train the third child.
In order for the third child to get rid of his weakness and lack of opinion, Zhao Guangyi changed the third child's name from Zhao Yuanxiu to Zhao Heng, which meant that he should persevere in everything he did in the future and not give up halfway.
Not only that, Zhao Guangyi also equipped Zhao Heng with the top team of teachers at the time, including Dr. Youjianyi, Li Zhi, the imperial wine minister, and Li Hang, the minister of rites, as guests of the prince, to tutor Zhao Heng.
