Yang Guifei is one of the few noble concubines in history who is more famous than empresses, and is also regarded as one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient times. However, Yang Guifei’s biggest regret in her life may be not being able to become the empress. Tang Xuanzong liked Yang Guifei very much, why couldn’t he let her become the empress? In fact, the problem in between is not that simple. The emperor’s harem may be even more intense than the battlefield, and everyone is competing for favor with each other. The legitimate empress is usually ruthless, which is also forced out to some extent. And Tang Xuanzong also had many concerns in his heart.
Bai Juyi once wrote a poem about the love story between Yang Guifei and Tang Xuanzong. The name of this poem, which I believe everyone is familiar with, is’ Song of Everlasting Regret ‘. Their love story, if placed today, would definitely be a perfect portrayal of a domineering CEO.
Even though Yang Guifei was favored by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, she remained a noble consort from beginning to end and never became an empress. The topic of why she did not ascend to the position of empress has always been highly controversial. The first point is the identity of Yang Guifei. We all know that before Yang Guifei became the consort of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, she was actually the son of Emperor Xuanzong, the consort of Prince Shou Li Mao.
Later, Emperor Xuanzong fell in love with her. In his eyes, there was no such thing as a father son relationship, so he openly snatched Yang Guifei from his son’s hands. However, Tang Xuanzong was also an emperor and his son was a prince. It was not an easy task to obtain Yang Guifei, so Tang Xuanzong played some tricks in this matter. He first asked Yang Yuhuan to become a Taoist.
Why become a Taoist? Because once she does it, it means that the relationship between her and her son Li Mao will be severed. In the future, if she gets Yang Guifei again, even if others have the intention to gossip, they will not be able to find any appropriate reasons. Otherwise, Yang Guifei would have been the daughter-in-law of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
Even if the Tang Dynasty were to reopen, marrying a daughter-in-law directly into the door would not only violate human ethics, but also attract gossip and gossip around Emperor Xuanzong. Moreover, the law does not punish the public. Even if he had the intention to kill those who spread rumors, such a thing would have caused widespread outrage. Therefore, if it were not for such means, Tang Xuanzong would not have lived in peace even if he had obtained Yang Guifei.
And there is also the example of Empress Wu Zetian earlier, which means that the stepmother married her son. Although everyone can accept it, Yang Guifei is still not qualified for the position of empress. What are the queen’s requirements? The first one is to uphold the dignity of the world, and Yang Guifei still falls short in this regard.
According to historical records, she was also expelled from the palace by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang twice. The reason for the two times was that Princess Yang competed for favor, so we can see that she was no different from ordinary women, not to mention that she was not suitable for the position of empress with such breadth of mind. Even if the emperor loved her most, it would not be the emperor’s decision if he wanted to become a queen.
The second point is that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was also afraid that his son would be hurt again due to the matter of being enfeoffed. He was already frustrated when his wife was robbed by his father, but now his wife has become his mother in the blink of an eye. How can he accept this? So Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was also afraid that Prince Shou would hold a grudge against him, and had no intention of making Yang Guifei the empress. Although it is said that Concubine Yang is only an imperial concubine, she is always called an empress in the imperial palace, and her treatment is the same as that of the empress. Therefore, she is just an empress without the name of an empress.
