Liu E has been in power for 11 years, hasn’t she ever considered proclaiming herself emperor

Liu E was the first empress dowager to be appointed during the Northern Song Dynasty. Her power was extremely great, and in history, she was on par with Empress Wu Zetian and Empress Lv. At that time, her power had already surpassed that of Emperor Renzong of Song and could have been abolished and replaced, but she never became a female emperor like Empress Wu Zetian. Does she not want to? Or is she afraid? Interested readers and history encyclopedia editors, let’s take a look together!
Liu E’s proclamation as emperor is meaningless
Liu E doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to be emperor or she doesn’t dare to be emperor, but she has no meaning after being emperor.
First, look at Liu E’s family background. Liu E’s family background is very low. In her early years, both her parents died, so she can be said to be an orphan girl. She has no brothers and sisters. It is said that she once married Gong Mei, a silversmith, when she was 12 or 13 years old. Later, Gong Mei was poor and sold her to Zhao Heng, the Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty who was still a prince at that time. Since then, Liu E has climbed to the high branch and become a phoenix.
After Liu E rose to fame, in order to repay Gong Mei, she recognized Gong Mei as her elder brother, and Gong Mei changed her name to Liu Mei, becoming Liu E’s only family member. Liu Mei was mediocre and had little ability. After Liu E developed, Liu Mei only held some virtual positions due to her ability. Therefore, unlike Wu Zetian and Empress Lv, Liu E did not have strong family support.
And assuming that after Liu E declared herself emperor, who would she pass on the throne to? Are they descendants of Liu Mei? That courtier definitely won’t do it, and it’s meaningless. If we still have to pass on the throne to our adopted son, Song Renzong Zhao Zhen, then why do we have to be such a villain and carry a bad reputation? Song Renzong was young, and all the political power in the court was in the hands of Liu E. Although she didn’t have the title of emperor, she did have the status of emperor, so there was no need to carry a bad reputation.
This is something Liu E had long understood, so she never proclaimed herself emperor throughout her life and left a relatively high evaluation for herself in later history. History praised her as having the talent of Lv Wu, but not the evil of Lv Wu, which is already a very high evaluation.
Liu E thought about proclaiming herself emperor
Liu E initially had the intention of proclaiming herself emperor. It was not easy for Liu E to wield great power in the Northern Song Dynasty. During this process, she successively defeated two prime ministers and one prince.
In fact, Liu E had already started to help Song Zhenzong, who suffered from mental illness, handle political affairs and gain power in the late period of Song Zhenzong’s reign. However, Kou Zhun, the Ming prime minister during Song Zhenzong’s reign, strongly opposed Liu E. He was worried that Liu E would be the second Empress Wu Zetian and threaten imperial power, so he repeatedly tried to persuade Song Zhenzong to depose Liu E’s position as empress.
As a result, Liu E quickly found allies in politics. She used treacherous officials such as Ding Wei, Cao Cao, and Wang Qinruo to defeat a generation of famous ministers, Kou Zhun, and demoted him to the position of Leizhou. In the end, Kou Zhun died as a guest in Leizhou.
In the later period, Emperor Zhenzong of Song also discovered that Liu E had a strong desire for power and ambition. Therefore, before his death, he entrusted Emperor Renzong Zhao Zhen to Liu E, allowing her to reign in court. However, he was worried that Liu E would become Empress Wu Zetian. Therefore, he wanted to give another decree to his younger brother Zhao Yuanyan, who together with Liu E would assist the young Emperor Renzong of Song. Zhao Yuanyan was the legendary Eight Wise Kings.
Zhao Yuanyan was actually quite ambitious. He wanted to take advantage of Emperor Renzong’s young age to monopolize power, but Liu E was also worried that he wanted to do so. Therefore, before Emperor Zhenzong’s death, Liu E deliberately scared Zhao Yuanyan away with a plan, making him think that someone in the palace wanted to harm him, and he dared not enter the palace to see his brother Song Zhenzong for the last time. In the end, Emperor Zhenzong died before his brother arrived and did not give him any instructions in person.
After Emperor Renzong of Song succeeded to the throne, Liu E continued to use political means to suppress the faction of Zhao Yuanyan, ultimately forcing him to close his doors and become a leisurely and wealthy prince.
After Zhao Yuanyan was defeated, it was Liu E’s former political ally Ding Wei’s turn. After dismissing Kou Zhun from his position, Ding Wei succeeded Kou Zhun as prime minister. Emperor Renzong of Song ascended the throne at the age of thirteen and was still young. Ding Wei believed that the emperor was young and Liu E was of a female generation, so he wanted to monopolize power and sideline Liu E.
The result was that Ding Wei underestimated Liu E, a female talent. Liu E quickly realized Ding Wei’s ambition and used thunderous tactics to dismiss her from her position, demoting her to the position of Hainan Yazhou. In the end, Ding Wei also died as a guest in Yazhou.
At this point, Liu E completely controlled the highest power of the Northern Song Dynasty. Many ministers who were good at flattery, such as Cheng Lin, advised Liu E to emulate Wu Zetian and declare himself emperor, but Liu E vetoed it.
Although Liu E refused the proposal to emulate Wu Zetian and declare herself emperor, she also committed many acts of usurpation, which was also a source of dissatisfaction towards her in later generations. Although Liu E did not declare herself emperor, she always wore a dragon robe, which is the emperor’s clothing, to attend ceremonies or major events in the Northern Song Dynasty. This indicates that Liu E had ambitions to declare herself emperor.
Liu E is not afraid to call herself emperor
But the reason why Liu E did not declare herself emperor was because both subjective and objective conditions did not allow it, and more importantly, it was the supervisory conditions. It was not that she dared not declare herself emperor. Judging from Liu E’s methods of rectifying Kou Zhun and Ding Yu, her political tactics were still very clever. Therefore, if she wanted to declare herself emperor, the literati of the Northern Song Dynasty really couldn’t stop her.
As mentioned above, Liu E’s family was basically empty, and she never had any children in her life. Her only child, Song Renzong Zhao Zhen, was her adopted son, not her biological child. Therefore, Liu E’s claim to be emperor could only be for her own temporary status and pleasure, and she would also be condemned by future generations.
Liu E once asked her courtiers what kind of person Wu Zetian was. At that time, the famous advisor Lu Zongdao directly retorted to Liu E, saying that Wu Zetian was a sinner of the Tang Dynasty. Liu E remained silent after listening, and the situation was very awkward.
From this, it can be seen that Liu E considered the reputation that Empress Wu Zetian would bear in later generations. If she were to declare herself emperor, besides having the title of emperor, it would not benefit her much. If she did not declare herself emperor, the highest power in the Northern Song Dynasty would also be in her hands, so there was not much difference.
If Liu E took a risk to claim the throne for her family and replace the Zhao family with the Liu family, it would still be worth bearing the eternal reputation. However, Liu E’s family had basically no one, and even if she claimed the throne, it would still have to be returned to her adopted son Zhao Zhen. Moreover, she still had to bear the reputation in history, so the cost-effectiveness of claiming the throne was too low. Liu E was a very shrewd and capable woman, and she had already cleared up this account. Therefore, Liu E ultimately refused to claim the throne.
In conclusion
Liu E ultimately did not replace Emperor Renzong of Song and proclaimed herself emperor, leaving her with a virtuous reputation in history. Moreover, Liu E strongly urged Emperor Renzong of Song to replace her dragon robe after her death and bury her in the future, indicating that Liu E ultimately chose to prioritize her own reputation.
Liu E actually had a strong desire for power, and she refused to return power to Emperor Renzong of Song until her death, indicating that she had a very strong desire for power. In the later period of Liu E’s reign, Emperor Renzong was already nearly twenty years old, and many courtiers petitioned Liu E to return power to Emperor Renzong of Song, so that Emperor Renzong could take charge. However, Liu E always refused and demoted and suppressed all officials who suggested returning power.
So no matter how you look at Liu E, she still has ambitions to become emperor and a strong desire for power.
However, Liu E was still very capable in handling court affairs. She laid the foundation for the prosperous governance of Emperor Renzong, and what she left to Emperor Renzong of Song was the relatively prosperous and deeply rooted Northern Song dynasty.
Moreover, Liu E ultimately did not declare herself emperor and insisted on being buried with Emperor Zhenzong Zhao Heng in the future, indicating that she was loyal to her husband Zhao Heng. Therefore, Liu E has a relatively good reputation in history and can be considered a virtuous queen.