The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

In ancient times, most women were at the mercy of fate, like a leaf of duckweed on the river of destiny, going wherever the wind blew them.

They cannot predict their future, let alone know how to plan their lives.

In the face of fate, they are as small as a speck of dust, and they do whatever fate tells them to do.

When fate calls for them to enjoy happiness, they enjoy happiness; when fate calls for them to suffer, they suffer.

A phrase they often say is, I accept my fate, this is my destiny.

But Deng Sui was a woman who refused to accept her fate. When others were being strangled by fate, she wanted to strangle fate by the throat.

She did it successfully. This well-intentioned woman's love and career progressed step by step according to the procedures she had designed in advance.

From a palace maid to a queen and then to a queen mother, she finally reached the peak of her dreams.

"Deng Sui was a remarkable woman. When she was only five years old, she knew how to sympathize with others."

"At the age of six, Deng Sui fell in love with reading scriptures and was determined to study classics."

"But in my mother's view, women should take care of household chores instead of studying."

"In order not to disobey her mother, Deng Sui did needlework during the day and read by lamplight at night."

"Deng Sui's extraordinary demeanor attracted the attention of her father, Deng Xun."

"Deng Xun had great ambitions and liked to show kindness to others. He was a close minister to Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang, and most of the scholars and officials followed him."

"In order to train his daughter, Deng Xun often discussed state affairs with her."

“No matter how big or small the matter is, I always discuss it with my daughter.”

"Under her father's teachings, Deng Sui's vision and mind became more broadened."

"In the eighth year of the Yongyuan reign, the sixteen-year-old Deng Sui entered the palace as a noble lady."

"She was seven feet two inches tall, with a beautiful figure and face, and she was so different from others that she immediately won the favor of Emperor He of Han."

"Although Deng Sui's grandfather was Deng Yu, the leader of the 28 generals of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yin family, who occupied the position of Empress He, was not weak either. The two were even related."

"After entering the palace, Deng Sui quickly adapted to the life of a caged bird. She carefully handled her relationship with Empress Yin and even hid her own brilliance."

"Whenever she and Empress Yin were about to appear before Emperor He at the same time, Deng Sui would stand aside."

"When faced with questions from Emperor He, he would hesitate and wait until Empress Yin finished speaking before answering."

"When she left, she bowed her body to show respect to Emperor He and Empress Yin, so Emperor He became more fond of Deng Sui and more distant from Empress Yin."

"The year Deng Sui entered the palace was the same year Yin was crowned empress."

"However, Queen Yin discovered that she had endured for four years before ascending to the throne of Queen."

"She is not as beautiful as Deng Sui, and her moral prestige and reputation are far behind her."

"What's even worse is that because Deng Sui was respectful, solemn, and self-disciplined, she attracted the attention of Emperor He of Han and the entire harem."

"As Emperor He of Han's favor for her gradually waned, Deng Sui's reputation grew day by day."

Li Shimin: Deng Sui, a female politician of the Eastern Han Dynasty, replaced the original wife by selling misery, refused to give up power during her lifetime, and ruined her clan after her death.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xinye Deng family was a very special family.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the Deng family was a large family in Xinye County, Nanyang County, and had considerable influence in the local area.

Later, after the Green Forest and Red Eyebrows Uprising broke out.

The Deng family also organized an army and followed Liu Xiu's eldest brother to start a rebellion.

The reason why the Deng family was willing to take this risk at that time was mainly because Liu Xiu's second sister was married to Deng Chen, a young talent from the Deng family, and the two parties were related by marriage.

And then, when Liu Xiu went north alone to pacify Hebei.

Another young man from the Deng family, Deng Yu, was the first to follow Liu Xiu.

Deng Yu was originally a classmate of Liu Xiu. The two had studied together at the Imperial College in Chang'an and had a very good relationship.

When it came to the stage of conquering the world, Deng Yu became Liu Xiu's right-hand man.

Later, when Liu Xiu unified the world, Deng Yu led his troops alone to capture Shanxi and northern Guanzhong, laying the foundation for the unification of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Therefore, after the Eastern Han Dynasty unified the world, Deng Yu was directly named the leader of the Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai.

The Deng family also became one of the top families in the Eastern Han Dynasty and the leader of many families of Nanyang officials.

Later, the Deng Yu family gradually became the real core of the Deng family.

The most important thing is that Deng Yu himself is younger than Liu Xiu.

So when the Eastern Han Dynasty unified the world, Deng Yu was only 35 years old.

In the following decades, Deng Yu had enough time to teach the younger generations of the Deng family.

At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were actually several large families at the top level.

But later, several top families neglected the education of their younger generations, resulting in the next generation becoming extremely domineering.

Because of this domineering character, many top families later suffered heavy losses.

On the contrary, the Deng family has a particularly good family tradition because Deng Yu lived a long time.

This also laid a foundation for the Deng family's continued prosperity.

One year after Liu Xiu's death, Deng Yu also died.

For more than twenty years thereafter, during the entire Ming and Zhang era.

The second generation brothers and sisters of the Deng family, that is, Deng Yu’s children, have always been cautious in doing things.

Among the second generation descendants of the Deng family, there were almost no domineering second generation rich kids, but instead there were several generals who were good at fighting.

23 years after Deng Yu's death, a girl named Deng Sui was born in the Deng family.

In terms of kinship, Deng Sui is actually Deng Yu's granddaughter.

This is the situation where the granddaughter was born twenty years after the grandfather died.

It is indeed not very common, but there is really nothing to question about the relationship between the two parties.

The main reason was that Deng Yu had many children at that time, so his sixth son Deng Xun was born relatively late.

Then Deng Xun had many children, which ultimately led to Deng Sui being born very late.

When Deng Sui was born, it was already the middle period of Emperor Zhang of Han's reign.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the entire country was peaceful and prosperous.

The Huns in the north had been completely dismembered, and Ban Chao had also dealt with most of the situation in the Western Regions.

At that time, the Deng family, under the management of several second-generation children of the Deng family, was also thriving and showed no signs of decline.

When Deng Sui grew up, although she was a woman, she received a good education.

And the most important thing is that these elders of the Deng family are very open-minded!
At that time, almost everyone felt that way.

Men should study the Four Books and Five Classics, work hard to pass the recommendation system, and become officials in the court. This is the right way.

As for women, everyone thinks that they should learn needlework and learn how to take care of children and family. This is the most important thing.

Therefore, almost all nobles at that time, when educating girls, tended to teach various arts such as music, chess, calligraphy, painting, knitting and needlework.

Almost no girl would learn things like the Four Books and Five Classics when she goes to school at home.

But Deng Sui was an exception. When she was six years old, she could read all the history books.

Moreover, Deng Sui studied not for the purpose of taking exams, but purely out of interest and hobby!
It is actually quite rare for a girl to study history as a hobby.

At that time, there were great differences of opinion within the Deng family about Deng Sui's situation.

Deng Sui's mother believed that girls should learn needlework diligently, and then marry someone of equal status when they grow up.

But on the contrary, Deng Sui's father, Deng Xun, was very supportive of his daughter's studies.

Deng Xun was Deng Yu's sixth son. He was a top-notch person who was both civil and military, and had a good political sense.

So Deng Xun thinks that it is good for girls to read more books, at least it is not a bad thing.

So, since Deng Sui was old enough to understand, she has been receiving two kinds of education.

One is during the day, learning needlework and weaving and making clothes every day.

The other is to read the Four Books and Five Classics and study history every day at night after completing the basic courses during the day.

Objectively speaking, this kind of education played a decisive role in Deng Sui's later development.

"This made Queen Yin, the head of the harem, feel very uncomfortable, so Queen Yin often felt resentful."

"But she was not good at fighting in the harem, so she could only place her hopes on the illusory ghosts and gods."

"However, this curse did not cause Deng Sui to die suddenly. Instead, Emperor He fell ill."

"Then Queen Yin happily said to her subordinates, I am proud that there will be no more descendants of the Deng family!"

"After hearing that Emperor He was seriously ill and Empress Yin's remarks that a villain was gaining power, Deng Sui was willing to die to show her feelings for Emperor He."

"After Emperor He recovered, he learned about the two women's completely different behaviors, and he became more inclined to Deng Sui."

"In the 14th year of the Yongyuan reign, Emperor He ordered a thorough investigation of Empress Yin's witchcraft case and deposed her from the position of empress for her treason and curse."

"Yin's clan relatives and brothers were dismissed from office and sent back to their hometowns, and Deng Sui was made queen instead."

"Emperor He wiped out a large family with swift means, while Deng Sui ascended the throne of empress without a single drop of blood."

"But before Deng Sui and Emperor He could enjoy their lives for many years, this wise emperor died of illness from overwork, leaving behind Deng Sui, who was less than 30 years old, and her youngest son Liu Long, who had just turned 100."

"Such a large empire cannot be without a ruler for a day. With the support of Deng Sui, Liu Long became the fifth emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty."

"Deng Sui was honored as the Empress Dowager and presided over the government."

"However, Liu Sheng did not thrive under Deng Sui's earnest expectations, but died before he was one year old."

"He was not only the youngest emperor to ascend the throne in Chinese history, but also the emperor with the shortest life span."

"After consulting with her brother, General Deng Zhi, Empress Dowager Deng established Liu Hu, son of Liu Qing, the Xiao King of Qinghe, as the emperor, who was named Emperor An."

"At that time, Emperor He's eldest son Liu Sheng was still alive, but Liu Qing and the eunuch Zheng Zhong made great contributions in helping Emperor He eliminate powerful officials."

"In order to maintain her own power, Queen Mother Deng chose to win over the two by enthroning Liu Hu."

"Combining the bitter experience of Emperor He's seizure of power, Empress Dowager Deng tried to tie the imperial relatives together with the eunuchs and the royal family to achieve a peaceful situation. However, she was optimistic and underestimated the ambitions of the coveters."

Wu Zetian: She saved the Liu family’s empire from being on the verge of collapse, but Deng Sui’s evaluation of her was mixed.

Just like that, when Deng Sui was fifteen years old.

The Deng family smoothed the way for her and sent her to the palace to become a good girl.

They have the opportunity to become concubines or even queens in the future, but for the time being they will not marry the emperor.

It was at this time that Deng Sui met a key person.

For many years to come, this person will accompany her through decades of ups and downs.

This person is not Deng Sui’s husband, Emperor He of Han, but the talented woman of her time, Ban Zhao!
Within the Ban family, Ban Zhao was actually quite young, probably about seventeen or eighteen years younger than her two brothers.

Moreover, Ban Zhao's father, Ban Biao, died relatively early, when Ban Zhao was six years old.

So when Ban Zhao was a child, she was actually raised by her two older brothers.

As a result, when Ban Zhao was young, she was naturally deeply influenced by her elder brother Ban Gu.

When Ban Zhao was young, Ban Gu stayed in his hometown all day, thinking about how to write the Book of Han.

Therefore, the young Ban Zhao read a lot of history books at that time and was particularly knowledgeable.

Later, when Ban Zhao was about fourteen years old, a major event happened in the Ban family.

At that time, someone reported Ban Gu, saying that he was compiling the national history privately, and then Ban Gu was arrested.

Later, Ban Gu was released thanks to the rescue of Ban Chao, the second son of the Ban family, and was granted an official position by Emperor Ming of Han.

But this incident itself still had a great impact on the Ban family.

So, it was probably in this year that the fourteen-year-old Ban Zhao married Cao Shishu, a fellow villager from the same county.

But later on, Ban Zhao's luck was not very good.

Her husband died a few years later.

For many years thereafter, Ban Zhao always observed etiquette.

She did not choose to remarry, but instead stayed in the Cao family and began to study.

In this way, when Ban Zhao was about 44 years old, her elder brother Ban Gu passed away.

The cause of Ban Gu's death was rather special; he was wrongly killed in prison.

Moreover, when he died, some content of "Han Shu" was still not completed.

So, after this, Emperor He of Han ordered the people from the Ban family to come and help continue writing.

At that time, Ban Chao was still alive in the Ban family, but he was in the Western Regions and could not get away.

There is no record of Ban Gu's son in history books, and it is estimated that he was not capable of completing this task. So in the end, this task fell on the head of Ban Zhao.

In this way, Emperor He of Han ordered Ban Zhao to enter the palace and continue writing "Book of Han" for her brother.

At the same time, Emperor He of Han also ordered Ban Zhao to teach the concubines in the harem as a female teacher.

Although this story of Ban Zhao seems to have little to do with Deng Sui, it actually had an impact on Deng Sui's life.

At the same time, it also directly affected the subsequent development of Han Dynasty history.

On the surface, Ban Zhao entered the palace to write "Han Shu", which was indeed the most important purpose.

But apart from this, Emperor He of Han had a deeper intention of asking her to help educate his concubines in the harem.

Because under the system of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the power of external relatives was almost indispensable.

But the problem is that when the external relatives come to power, the ability of the queen or queen mother in power will directly determine the development of the country!

On this issue, the Eastern Han Dynasty suffered a major setback under the Dou family.

Back then, Empress Dowager Dou had limited ability and only knew how to gain benefits for the Dou family without considering the country, which resulted in a lot of trouble.

Finally, Emperor He of Han, who was only fourteen years old at the time, was forced to launch a coup to get rid of the Dou family.

This incident left a particularly deep impression on Emperor He of Han.

Therefore, after Emperor He of Han came to power, he always wanted to find someone to train his concubines, including the empress.

Emperor He of Han very much hoped that a female politician would emerge among these concubines in the future.

If I die early, this person can help me handle state affairs.

As a result, Emperor He of Han needed a very knowledgeable female teacher to teach in the palace.

Then, Ban Zhao entered the palace.

About two years after Ban Zhao entered the palace, Deng Sui also entered the palace.

Moreover, it was not only Ban Zhao who was like this. The other women in Emperor He of Han's harem, including the empress, were basically of similar age.

To Ban Zhao, these little girls were actually no different from her own daughters.

Therefore, after Ban Zhao entered the palace, in addition to writing "Han Shu", she also worked hard in class.

Ban Zhao really wanted to be good to these women in the harem and wanted to teach them more knowledge.

But the problem was that in this small classroom in the harem, almost all the concubines had no interest in attending class.

Ban Zhao talked about history, the Four Books and Five Classics, and various strategies for governing the country!
It is normal that most women, especially those aged 17 or 18, are basically not interested in these things.

It was not until Deng Sui entered the palace that Ban Zhao met a good student for the first time.

Unlike other concubines in the harem, Deng Sui has been interested in history and the Four Books and Five Classics since she was a child.

So, when Ban Zhao started to teach her, the two of them soon felt like close friends regardless of age difference.

From then on, Ban Zhao and Deng Sui became both teacher and friend, and became the closest friends.

Moreover, in Ban Zhao's eyes, she probably treated Deng Sui as her own daughter.

In the following years, Ban Zhao began to speak well of Deng Sui with all her might.

This directly led to Deng Sui quickly standing out in the palace and gaining the favor of Emperor He of Han.

In this way, in the next few years, Deng Sui began to take off.

Although she was only in her teens, Deng Sui's intelligence had already surpassed that of all other concubines, including the then Queen Yin.

As for other women, at best they are still at the level of palace fighting.

However, Deng Sui had already begun to quietly surpass this level and directly entered the stage of political struggle.

For example, when there was a banquet in the palace, other concubines in the harem would dress themselves up very beautifully in the hope of winning the favor of Emperor He of Han.

Only Deng Sui always wore plain clothes to show that she lived a simple life.

Moreover, every time the color of her clothes coincided with that of Queen Yin, she would change her clothes immediately.

For another example, whenever Deng Sui was beside the queen, she would lower her head and listen obediently, expressing her absolute submission, and she never dared to overstep the line.

But at the same time, Deng Sui has always worked very hard in her studies.

"The scholars who were dissatisfied with a woman riding on their heads shouted that the government should be returned to the emperor, but in fact they were jealous of Empress Dowager Deng and others who could manipulate the young Emperor An."

"What made Empress Dowager Deng even more exhausted were the natural and man-made disasters outside the palace, the rebellion of the Qiang people, the rebellion of the Western Regions, and the floods and droughts that lasted for ten years."

"In order to fight against the earthquake and provide disaster relief, Empress Dowager Deng personally reduced expenses to support the people."

"At the same time, Empress Dowager Deng was extremely strict with her own family and the children of the royal family, in order to prevent these children of the nobles from going astray."

"For sixteen years, Empress Dowager Deng worked hard to maintain the superficial prosperity of the Eastern Han Dynasty."

"Empress Dowager Deng's contribution was that she helped the Eastern Han Dynasty to withstand ten years of drought and floods, but her controversial position was her mediocre governance methods."

"First, he became alienated from the ministers in the court."

"Empress Dowager Deng did not trust the three dukes and nine ministers and continued Emperor He's policy of trusting eunuchs, making eunuchs a cancer that was difficult to remove in the Eastern Han Dynasty."

“Second, failure in foreign policy.”

"Empress Dowager Deng's retreat allowed the Western Regions to be retaken by the Northern Xiongnu, who once again threatened the border."

"Deng Zhi's failure to suppress the Qiang uprising led to the latter's misfortune for eleven years."

"Third, it set a precedent for selling official positions and titles."

"Fourthly, she was obsessed with power and controlled the government for her entire life, unwilling to hand it over to Emperor An. This is the point that Empress Dowager Deng was most criticized for."

"The emperor's premature death made the Eastern Han regime extremely unstable. Empress Dowager Deng was a witness and participant in the Eastern Han Dynasty's decline."

"She tried her best to avoid becoming the second Empress Lü, but it was difficult to avoid being corrupted by power."

"She tried hard to support the East Han Dynasty's progress, but because she had no experience in governing, she took many wrong paths."

"Knowing that she was doomed to die, Empress Dowager Deng was still concerned about the newly-emerged dynasty before her death. Her ruthless heart was evident to all."

Li Longji: Retreat to advance, the most tolerant and perfect queen Deng Sui in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

At that time, Emperor He of Han never cared about the beauty of the concubines in the harem.

What he values ​​most has always been talent.

He hoped to have a virtuous wife who could help assist the next generation of emperor after his death.

Therefore, when Emperor He of Han had nothing to do, he would often chat about state affairs with the women in the harem and listen to their opinions.

But the result was that almost all women, including the queen, had very shallow views on state affairs.

There was no way around it, after all, the women in the harem were all relatively young at the time.

Even Queen Yin herself was only in her early twenties at that time and had no political awareness at all.

Only Deng Sui, because she had studied history and researched the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood.

His understanding of state affairs was in no way inferior to those of the aristocratic ministers.

In addition, she had the female teacher Ban Zhao behind her to give her advice.

Deng Sui herself might not have had such a high level of understanding of politics at the time.

But it was different for Ban Zhao. Although she was only fifty years old at that time, she already had a very profound understanding of state affairs!
Therefore, whenever other concubines talked about state affairs, it was difficult for them to gain the appreciation of Emperor He of Han.

Only Deng Sui could speak clearly and logically, which made Emperor He of Han very satisfied.

After a long time, Emperor He of Han became more and more fond of Deng Sui and paid more and more attention to her!
This change soon aroused the jealousy of Queen Yin.

In fact, in terms of relationship, Deng Sui and Empress Yin were actually real relatives.

Deng Sui’s grandfather was Deng Yu, and Queen Yin’s maternal grandfather was one of Deng Yu’s sons, but not Deng Sui’s father.

Therefore, in terms of kinship, Empress Yin actually had to take care of Deng Sui and call her a distant cousin.

Because of this kinship relationship, Deng Sui did not encounter any difficulties when she first entered the palace. Instead, Empress Yin was willing to take better care of her.

But after Deng Sui became favored, Empress Yin gradually became jealous and felt more and more that Deng Sui was blocking her way.

Faced with the Queen's jealousy, Deng Sui behaved very magnanimously at this time.

She just continued to study hard and research politics, and never played any palace games with Queen Yin.

And this result undoubtedly made Emperor He of Han even more satisfied!

For an emperor, he actually never likes internal strife in the harem every day.

The emperor actually prefers harmony in the harem, and his queen and concubines can help him with his work.

The Queen Yin at that time obviously did not meet this standard.

On the contrary, it was Deng Sui who made Emperor He of Han feel more at ease.

Therefore, after a long time, Emperor He of Han gradually began to think about deposing the empress.

He wanted to depose Queen Yin and make Deng Sui the queen instead.

From beginning to end, Deng Sui actually did not play any conspiracy or trickery.

She has been using upright strategies, studying hard and making progress every day.

But this method is more effective than those palace fighting tactics.

But Queen Yin herself didn't quite understand the ins and outs of this.

So after a long time, although Queen Yin realized that something was wrong, she didn't know where she went wrong.

She simply thought that it was Deng Sui who pretended to be pitiful and melancholy and seduced Emperor He of Han, which was why Emperor He of Han wanted to depose the empress.

In fact, she doesn't need to play any tricks. She just needs to study hard and work hard to solve the problems of Emperor He of Han, and she can easily defeat all opponents.

As for Queen Yin, from beginning to end, she didn't know what Emperor He of Han really wanted.

She simply thought that this situation was simply a fight for favor.

So next, Queen Yin made a bad move.

She chose to practice witchcraft in the harem.

Things like witchcraft have never been useful against enemies, they will only bring harm to oneself.

The same is naturally true for Queen Yin.

So later, not long after, the fact that Queen Yin was practicing witchcraft was exposed.

Emperor He of Han originally wanted to depose the empress, and this time, he found a perfect reason.

So Emperor He of Han officially deposed Queen Yin, and then in the winter of that year, Emperor He of Han officially made Deng Sui the Queen.

From beginning to end, Deng Sui did not play any tricks.

She only did one thing well, which was to study hard and make progress every day.

In this way, in the next few years, Deng Sui began to become a senior adviser to Emperor He of Han in the capacity of empress.

Although Deng Sui was very young at that time, years of study had given her a very mature political vision.

In addition, Deng Sui had the extraordinary talent Ban Zhao behind her to give her advice.

Therefore, Emperor He of Han could only become more and more satisfied with Deng Sui.

Apart from helping to analyze state affairs and occasionally offering advice, the only thing Deng Sui did was to help Emperor He of Han suppress his external relatives.

After other queens came to power, they would often lavishly give power and money to their own families in order to improve the status of their own families.

But when it comes to Deng Sui, it is exactly the opposite.

Not only did she not take the initiative to ask for anything, but when Emperor He of Han offered something to her, she directly refused.

This behavior made his presence felt in front of Emperor He of Han.

It is hard to say whether there was love between Emperor He of Han and Deng Sui.

But obviously, for Emperor He of Han, Deng Sui was definitely a very wise queen, worthy of being entrusted with his affairs after his death.

In this way, after being the queen for three years, Deng Sui's efforts were finally more than rewarded.

Emperor He of Han suddenly fell seriously ill and passed away.

After that, Deng Sui, as the empress dowager, supported Emperor He of Han's youngest son Liu Long as emperor.

However, Liu Long was only a hundred days old at the time and was just a child.

So after that, Deng Sui took the throne as the empress dowager and called herself the female monarch!
In this way, from this year on, the Eastern Han Dynasty entered the era of Deng Sui.

Looking at Deng Sui's history of rising to power, she actually went from an ordinary concubine to a female monarch with the highest power.

Deng Sui did not do anything on her own initiative. The only thing she did was to study hard.

But it was this simple hard work that made her the most important female politician in the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty. (End of this chapter)