In the history of the Western Han Dynasty, there were two empress dowagers who were very famous, one was the Empress Dowager Lu and the other was the Empress Dowager Dou. Empress Dowager Dou is the empress of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng. Although Empress Dowager Dou's political popularity is much lower than that of Empress Lu, a film and television drama "Beauty Scheming" also made her famous.
And in a sense, she is still stronger than Empress Lü, because after Empress Lü's death, Lü's relatives were also liquidated, but the Dou family was active in the court until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
1. The chosen "lucky one" Dou Yi room
Empress Dowager Dou was the empress of Emperor Liu Heng of the Han Dynasty, born in Guanjin, Qinghe (now Hengshui, Hebei). There is still no conclusion in the history books about her name, some say that her name is Yi or Yi, and some say that Yi Fang or Yi Fang, but the following will call her "Dou Yi Fang".
Dou Yifang was born poor, and her father lived in seclusion in Guanjin to avoid the war and liked fishing. Once, while fishing, he accidentally fell into the river and died.
Because the Han Palace ordered the selection of young and beautiful women from all over the country, Dou Yifang was sent to the Han Palace as a "good family". Thus began her legendary life.
The turning point in her fate occurred after the death of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han dynasty. Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty Liu Ying was weak and incompetent, and the government was controlled by Empress Lu. Later, in order to control the princes and kings, Empress Lu married the daughters of the Lu family to them as queens, and there were several maids.
After the palace maids heard about it, they all tried their best to get the palace people in charge to assign them to the vassal states close to their hometowns, and Dou Yifang also told the palace people that they were good or bad, and got their promise that they would assign her to the land of Zhao. But in the end, due to a mistake, Dou Yifang was sent to Daiguo.
Daiguo was the fief of Liu Heng, the later Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. Unexpectedly, Liu Heng fell in love with Dou Yifang as soon as he saw her. Soon, Dou Yifang gave birth to two sons and a daughter to the acting king: Liu Qi, Liu Wu, and Liu Xuan.
In the happiest days of the acting king and Dou Yifang's family, a lot of things happened in the Han Palace. Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ying, was dissatisfied with Empress Lu and resented that his ambitions were difficult to realize, so he indulged in wine all day long and ignored the government and politics.
In 188 BC, Liu Ying died. Subsequently, Lü Pheasant supported Liu Ying's son to ascend to the throne, that is, the "former young emperor", but the decrees of the court and the central government were all in her hands. But God didn't give her much time, and in 180 BC, Empress Lu fell ill and died.
After the ministers of the court and the central government swept away the remnants of the Lu group, Liu Heng, the acting king, was welcomed back to Chang'an and ascended the throne as emperor.
Due to the death of the former queen and her four sons one after another, Dou Yifang's eldest son Liu Qi was made the crown prince, and Dou Yifang was also "more expensive than the son" and was made the queen.
Dou Yifang became the queen, still virtuous and virtuous, living a simple and frugal life, and the harem was also orderly under her management.
Dou Yifang lost contact with his younger brother after entering the palace, but after she became the queen, Liu Heng found them and gave them a home.
Although Liu Heng became the emperor, his exclusive favor for Dou Yifang was not there, and the favorite concubines around him came and went, but he never wavered in the position of Empress Dou Yifang.
Second, began to seize power and assisted three generations of emperors
After Liu Heng's death, the crown prince Liu Qi succeeded to the throne, and Dou Yifang was also promoted to the queen mother.
Empress Dowager Dou doesn't like her Liu Qi, and loves her youngest son Liu Wu the most, so she has always persuaded Liu Qi not to establish a prince, which means that she will pass the throne to her younger brother in the future.
It stands to reason that no one can bear it in the face of such an eccentric mother, but at least on the surface, Emperor Han Jing endured it. Fortunately, because of the opposition of the ministers of the DPRK and China, the idea of Dou Yifang was dispelled.
After Liu Qi's death, he was succeeded by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che. But at the beginning, the Empress Dowager Dou didn't take this grandson in her eyes at all, because her nephew Dou Ying had been deeply involved in the court for many years, and it was far from being something that Liu Che, who had just come to power, could shake.
In addition to the Dou family's power, the relatives of Liu Che's biological mother, Queen Wang, are also entrenched in the court. Therefore, Liu Che at this time was walking on thin ice, and basically had no say in the court.
Another point is that Empress Dowager Dou personally prefers Huang Laozhi's learning and advocates the rule of inaction, but the young and vigorous Liu Qi is more inclined to Confucianism, and the conceptual contradiction between the two is getting deeper and deeper.
However, there was no major conflict, and this situation was not broken until the death of Empress Dowager Dou.
Dou Yifang's "textbook" life, half of it comes from her luck, but the other half comes from her step-by-step operation, she understands what she wants, and she can recognize the environment she is in, so that every step of her journey is extremely exciting.
Resources:
Historical Records