The main reason why Emperor Zhao Xu of Song zhezong ascended the throne was that the empress dowager was actually a child when he ascended the throne, and he could only be listened to by the empress dowager Gao Shi.
Zhao Xu was the sixth son of Song Shenzong, and because his five older brothers died prematurely, he naturally became the boss. But he was not made crown prince very early. It wasn't until Song Shenzong suddenly fell ill and couldn't say anything that the prime minister proposed to appoint a successor.
Zhao Xu also had no rivals, but at that time, Song Shenzong also had two young and powerful younger brothers, Zhao Hao the Yong King, and Zhao Hao the Prince of Cao, and there were many supporters in the DPRK.
However, with the support of the chancellor Wang Jue and gao shi, Zhao Xu was made crown prince and successfully ascended the throne as emperor. However, because Zhao Xu was only 10 years old at the time, Gao Shi began to bow to the government.
Gao was born as a general, his great-grandfather was gao qiong, the famous general of the early Song Dynasty, his grandfather was the famous general Gao Jixun, and his mother was the granddaughter of Cao Bin, the founding father of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Gao shi was a conservative faction, and as early as the Song Shenzong period, she did not agree with the reform of the Shenzong, so after she came to power, she began to reuse the conservative Sima Guang and abolished the changes of Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi. During the eight years that Empress Gao was hanging, the Old Party controlled the entire imperial court. Although many of the old party's policies have been criticized, Gao's ability to govern is still obvious to all.
Gao Shi is known as "Female Middle Yao Shun", which shows that her ability to govern has been recognized, and during her reign, she was diligent and honest, and worked hard to govern. At that time, the politics were relatively clear and the economy was very prosperous.
This period can also be said to be the last stage of economic prosperity and strong national strength of the Northern Song Dynasty.
However, even so, as Song Zhezong grew older, the contradictions between the two gradually became prominent, especially when Zhao Xu reached the age of pro-government, but Gao Shi did not want to give up the power in his hands, and the two sides fought openly and secretly.
In particular, Gao's education of Zhao Xu was very strict, and over time it also made him have a rebellious mentality. This is also why after Song Zhezong's pro-government, Zhao Xu denied all of Gao's policies, resolutely cracked down on the old party that Gao reused, and even pointed out that Empress Gao was "old traitor and abusive of the country".
However, Song Zhezong was not a mediocre emperor, and it is worth mentioning that during his reign, he launched a war against Western Xia, and the Western Xia had almost no strength to fight back, forcing Western Xia to seek peace.
Unfortunately, Song Zhezong Zhao Xu's health has always been bad, he often coughed up blood when he was a child, and unfortunately died young, only twenty-five years old, reigning for fifteen years.