Statue of Song Yingzong

Zhao Shu is the great-grandson of Zhao Guangyi, Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, the grandson of Zhao Yuanfen, the younger brother of Zhao Heng of Song Zhenzong, and the thirteenth son of Zhao Yunrang, King Pu'an Yi, cousin of Song Renzong Zhao Zhen. His mother was the Junren family of Xianyou County. At first, Zhao Yunrang, the envoy of Jiangning Jiedu (the title of "King Pu'an Yi" was later sealed by Renzong), dreamed that two dragons fell with the sun, so he followed them with clothes. On the third day of the first lunar month of the first year of Mingdao (1032), when Zhao Shu was born in Xuanpingfang Mansion, red light shone all over the room, and some people saw Huanglong swimming in the red light.

Song Renzong Zhao Zhen himself had no sons (all three sons died prematurely), so in the second year of Jingyou (1035), the young Zhao Shu was admitted to the palace by Renzong, given the name Zhao Zongshi, and handed over to Empress Cao (later Empress Dowager Cao) to raise.

Zhao Zongshi (later Yingzong Zhao Shu) was extremely filial by nature, liked to read books, did not do things for fun, and wore frugal and simple clothes like a Confucian. He often wore court clothes to meet his teacher and said, "You are my teacher, and I dare not meet you without courtesy." At that time, Wu Chong Jin, a professor in the Wu Palace, presented the "Six Proverbs of the Imperial Family", Renzong handed it to Zongzheng, and Zhao Zong Shi wrote the content on the screen to restrain himself.

In the third year of Jingyou (1036), Zhao Zongshi was granted the title of Deputy Governor of the Left Prison Guard, and later promoted to General of the Right Yulin Army and Governor of Yizhou.

In the second year of Baoyuan (1039), after Renzong's biological son Zhao Xin, King Yu, was born, Zhao Zongshi left the palace to return to his biological father Zhao Yunrang.

In the first month of the third year of the Qingli calendar (1043), Zhao Xin, king of Yu, died early. In the second year of Huangyou (1050), Zhao Zongshi (later Zhao Shu) was promoted to the rank of general of the right guard and envoy of the Yuezhou regiment.

In the third year of Jiayou (1058), after the death of King Pu'an Yi, he distributed the playthings he had worn to his sons. All that Zhao Zongshi got was distributed to the old people of the palace who were going to leave here after burying their father. One of the disciples of the clan borrowed a gold belt but returned it with a copper belt. The person in charge told him about it, and Zhao Zongshi said, "This is really my belt!" He accepted it. He had asked the waiter in front of the hall to sell him the rhinoceros belt. The rhinoceros belt was worth 300,000 yuan and was lost. Zhao Zongshi did not ask.

In June of the third year of Jiayou (1058), Prime Minister Han Qi, Bao Zheng, a direct scholar of Longtuge, and others raised the matter of establishing a crown prince to Renzong. Renzong said that there was another pregnancy in the harem, so we will talk about this matter later. Not long after, the harem did give birth, but it was a girl. At that time, Zhao Zongshi happened to be in mourning due to the death of his father, Zhao Yunrang.

In the sixth year of Jiayou (1061), on October 12 of the lunar calendar, the court intended to appoint Zhao Zongshi as the defense history of Qinzhou and know Zongzheng Temple. Zhao Zongshi refused because the mourning period had not expired. Zhao Zongshi refused four times before the court allowed him to continue his mourning. After the funeral, Zhao Zongshi was awarded to Qinzhou Defense Envoy and Zhizong Temple, and he refused again. In the seventh year of Jiayou (1062), in August of the lunar calendar, the court allowed Zhao Zongshi to dismiss Zongzheng and serve as Yuezhou Tuanlian Envoy.

On the fourth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar in the seventh year of Jiayou (1062), Zhao Zongshi was made prince; on the ninth day of the lunar calendar, he was renamed Zhao Shu.

After Zhao Shu heard the edict's order, he said he was ill, refused to be a prince, and asked Zhou Mengyang, a professor in the Tanwang Palace, to write the poem. Zhou Mengyang gave some advice, and Zhao Shu quickly thanked him. After more than ten times, Renzong did not agree, and issued the edict to judge the major business. Duke An Guogong went from Gu and others to advise him to obey the order, so the ministers went to Zhao Shu's bedroom to help him and sent him to the palace. Zhao Shu only agreed to be a prince, and warned his servant, "Guard my house carefully. When the emperor has an heir, I will come back."

On the 30th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, Zhao Shu appeared in the Qingju Hall. From then on, Zhao Shu worshipped Renzong twice a day, and sometimes went to the palace to serve Renzong. In the ninth month of the lunar calendar, Zhao Shu was granted the title of Qizhou Defense History and Lord of Julu County.

In the eighth year of Jiayou (1063), in the third month of the lunar calendar, Renzong died. On the first day of April in summer, Empress Cao issued a last edict, asking Zhao Shu to inherit the throne of the emperor. The civil and military officials entered the court, crying and mourning. Han Qi read the last edict of Renzong to make orders. Zhao Shu went to the East Hall to receive the civil and military officials. The official ascension was for Song Yingzong. On the second day of April, the world was granted amnesty, and Baiguan Jue was given a first-class reward, and all the armies were rewarded.

Zhao Shu wanted to mourn for Renzong for three years, and ordered Han Qi to act as an agent for military and political affairs. The prime minister and ministers refused to agree, so Zhao Shu withdrew his order. On the fourth day of April, Zhao Shu fell ill. Han Zhi and others were sent to report to the Qidan that Yingzong was the emperor. On the fifth day of April, Empress Cao was honored as Empress Dowager. On the eighth day of April, an edict was issued to request the Empress Dowager to jointly handle important military affairs. On April 14th, the Empress Dowager went to the small hall to listen to the government, and the chief minister went to the small hall to play state affairs in front of the curtain. On April 14th, the production of the ordered treasure seal. On April 16th, the eldest son of the emperor, Zhao Xu, was appointed as an observer

At the beginning of Zhao Shu's accession to the throne, due to illness, Cao Dowager came to the curtain to listen to the government. Some eunuchs kept saying bad things about Zhao Shu to Empress Dowager Cao, which caused a rift between the two palaces and caused a rather tense relationship.

In order to mediate the conflict between the two palaces, Han Qi and Ouyang Xiuxian said to Empress Dowager Cao: "You have served the late Emperor Renzong for so many years. Who in the world does not know that you are a virtuous, generous, kind, and knowledgeable person? Why are you having trouble with your son now? He is a patient, you shouldn't lower yourself to his level. Do you want others to talk about you like they talk about other stepmothers in the world?¡»

They also said to Zhao Shu: "Since ancient times, there have been countless wise emperors in the world. Why do people only praise Shun as a filial son? Aren't others filial? Of course not. It is common for parents to be kind and children to be filial. If the parents do not do well but the children are still filial, that is worthy of praise. Don't you know what kind of person the Empress Dowager was like in the past? Just do your filial piety as a son, and I believe that the Empress Dowager will not treat you badly. "With everyone's persuasion, the conflict between the two palaces was gradually eased.

In the first year of Zhiping (1064), in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, Zhao Shu's illness recovered, and Empress Dowager Cao withdrew the curtain and returned to power. Zhao Shu was only half a month into power, and Prime Minister Han Qi and others proposed to him to ask the relevant departments to discuss the name of Zhao Shu's biological father. At that time, it had been 14 months since Renzong's death, and Zhao Shu instructed him to wait until Renzong Daxiang (one of the funeral ceremonies of the ancient Han nationality in China, held on the second anniversary (that is, the 25th month) of the funeral of the father and mother).

In the first year of Zhiping (1064), Jingji, Song, Bo, Chen, Xu, Ru, Cai, Tang, Ying, Cao, Pu, Ji, Shan, Hao, Si, Lu, Shou, Chu, Hang, Xuan, Hong, Hubei, Shi, Yu and other prefectures, the Guanghua Army and the Gaoyou Army suffered a major flood, and Zhao Shu sent envoys to inspect, soothe the river, provide relief to the victims, and exempt the victims from taxation.

In the same year, the son of Xifan, who was blind, returned to the Song Dynasty.

On the ninth day of the fourth lunar month in the second year of Zhiping (1065), Han Qi and others once again raised the issue of Zhao Shu's biological father's status. Therefore, Zhao Shu issued an edict to send the bill to the Taichang Liyuan for discussion by officials above the two systems. This triggered a controversy that lasted for 18 months, which was the "Pu Yi" incident in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty.

In the third year of Zhiping (1066), the minister of Chinese scripture jointly discussed in the Dictus Hall. At that time, Han Qi was offering sacrifices at home, and Zhao Shu specially called him to discuss. At that time, it was agreed that (Zhao Shu's biological father) King Pu called the imperial examination, and Ouyang Xiu wrote two imperial edicts by himself and handed them to Zhao Shu. At noon, the empress dowager sent a eunuch to send a sealed document to Zhongshu Province. Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and others opened the document and smiled at each other. This document was the edict drafted by Ouyang Xiu, and there was more than the empress dowager's signature.

Zhao Shu immediately issued an edict to stop the discussion. At the same time, he called in the prime minister and the governors to discuss how to calm the emotions of all officials and stabilize the current situation. Zhao Shu finally agreed with Ouyang Xiu and others and demoted Lu Hui and other three censors from the capital. [7]

On the eighth day of November in the third year of Zhiping (1066), Zhao Shu fell ill again. In December of the same year, at the suggestion of Prime Minister Han Qi, his eldest son Zhao Xu was appointed as the Crown Prince.

One day, Zhao Shu said to Zhao Xu, "According to the old system of the country, the sons of scholars and officials would marry the daughter of the emperor, and the princesses would avoid the senior status of their in-laws because of their high status. This is unreasonable. I always think about this matter, and I feel uneasy about it when I wake up and sleep. How can I violate the general order of the elders and children because of wealth? You can issue an edict to the relevant departments to change this rule." When he fell ill, Zhao Shu did not realize this wish.

On Ding Si (January 25, 1067), on the 8th day of the first month of the fourth year of Zhiping, Zhao Shu died in Funing Hall due to illness. He was 36 years old. He was buried on the west steps of the hall. The temple was named Yingzong. The ministers gave the posthumous title of Emperor Xianwen Su Wuxuan Xiao. On August 27, Zhao Shu was buried in Yonghou Mausoleum (now Xiaoyi Fort in Gongyi, Henan).