The Heyin Coup: Empress Dowager Ling's Sixteen-Year Thirst for Power

Name: The Heyin Coup: Empress Dowager Ling's Sixteen-Year Thirst for Power
Author: Yue Fan Who Loves Barroth

河阴之变一灵太后的十六年权欲

by Yue Fan Who Loves Barroth (喜欢土砂龙的月帆)

Status: Completed
Length: 112k Words
Genre: Historical
Subgenre: Historical & Ancient
Updated: 25d ago
Source: Fanqie

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Synopsis

Hu of the Northern Wei, the Empress Dowager Ling, was born into the Hu clan of Anding. Because her aunt was a Buddhist nun, she was able to enter the palace as a child. At the time, the Northern Wei's harsh old rule dictated that a mother must die when her son became crown prince. She insisted on giving birth to Yuan Xu anyway, and won that gamble with death. On the night Emperor Xuanwu died suddenly, she evaded an assassination attempt by the Gao clan with the protection of Yu Zhong and Cui Guang. Yuan Xu ascended the throne as Emperor Xiaoming, and she was first named Imperial Consort Dowager before being elevated to Empress Dowager. At first, Yu Zhong held power, and mother and son were placed under house arrest. She later allied with others to overthrow Yu Zhong and took the reins of government for the first time. During this period, she appointed capable officials and reduced taxes, bringing a measure of stability to the government. But then came the Xuan Guang Coup, and her brother-in-law Yuan Cha kept her confined for years. While Yuan Cha was in power, he accepted surrendered Rouran forces and stood by as they grew stronger, sowing the seeds of the Six Garrisons Rebellion. When she took power again, Hebei had already been devastated. She put down Mo Zhensheng's uprising in Guanzhong, but then mistakenly trusted the treacherous Xu Ge and Zheng Yan, plunging the court into even greater turmoil. When Emperor Xiaoming came of age, he resented his mother's monopoly on power and secretly summoned Erzhurong to the capital. After the plot was exposed, she poisoned her own son, Yuan Xu, and installed a child emperor in his place. This ultimately led to the Heyin Massacre: Erzhurong marched into the capital and drowned her and the child emperor in the Yellow River. She ruled as regent for sixteen years. Talented at governing in her early years, she later went to extremes out of a selfish desire for power. A pivotal figure in the Northern Wei's decline, she was also one of history's most controversial female rulers.

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