Emperor Duzong of Song

宋度宗皇帝

> "*This minister served as the Great Ceremonial Messenger, but His Majesty's actions are unpredictable; I would ask to resign from politics.*
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> 臣為大禮使，陛下舉動不得預聞，乞罷政。*"*
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> ― Jia Sidao
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> "*I hear that Xiangyang had been besieged by the Yuan troops for several years. Is this true? A palace maid told me this. (襄阳之围三年矣！适有女嫔言之。)*"
> ― Zhao Qi, before Jia Sidao denied the reports.
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**Emperor Duzong** (May 2, 1205 - August 12, 1264), personal name **Zhao Qi**, was the 15th Emperor of the Song dynasty, unless you wanna say the 6th Emperor if you ignore the Northern Song Dynasty.

His birth name was Zhao Mengqi, but he changed it into Zhao Zi upon being notified as a possible heir apparent in 1251 and finally, he changed his name to **Zhao Qi (趙禥)** when being confirmed as the heir of the childless Emperor Lizong in 1253.

## Biography

Zhao Qi's stepmother was very jealous of any concubines her husband Zhao Yurui had, and when he discovered one of the concubines were pregnant, she forced her to take abortion pills. They were ultimately too weak to abort the child completely, and the child was born anyway, who would be Zhao Qi.

By the time Zhao Qi was born in 1240 at Shaoxing, Zhejiang, he was the closest male relative of Emperor Lizong. It's said that the abortion had an effect on his life, such as, his extremities were soft, his gait was odd, and his intelligence was lower than an average person, speaking when he was seven. Early on, Zhao Qi was spoiled by his father Zhao Yurui since he was his only child. Emperor Lizong recognized his importance, and Zhao Qi entered the palace on October 1246. Emperor Lizong ordered Zhao Qi to be protected at all times, and hired a talented teacher to mentor Zhao Qi with a strict Confucian education, but ultimately, it failed. Eventually, one of the ministers (Wu Qian) wanted to find another heir in 1260, as he believed Zhao Qi was unsuitable and would lead the Empire into chaos, but another minister Jia Sidao (whom Zhao Qi called 'teacher') silenced him by demoting him (and may have poisoned him), and Zhao Qi remained the aging Emperor's heir; from now on, no one questioned his position. Even if Wu Qian got past Jia Sidao, it would have not mattered anyway since Emperor Lizong thought Zhao Qi was clever for some reason. In 1253, Qi was officially adopted by Emperor Lizong. Emperor Lizong died in 1264.

## Reign

One of Qi's first action as Emperor was perform a very expensive and extravagant ceremony of Earth and Heaven and told the ministers to tell him the issues of the Empire and be straightforward, but it was an act and Qi completely ignored politics, rather, he was focused on finding more women; he picked four certain women to govern the Song during the seasons, and while they were beautiful, they could care less about politics. He ignored his duties and preferred drinking and being with women. It's said that Qi had sex with thirty women one night, who all paid their respects to him the next morning (in ancient times, any woman who had sex with the Emperor had to thank him). Qi let Jia Sidao stay in the affairs of the government. When the Mongols were threatening the Song, Qi completely ignored the situation. Jia Sidao was extremely trusted by Qi, who one time begged him to remain in politics prostrating himself towards Jia (which showed Jia Sidao was superior to the Emperor), that he was allowed to take the army for himself. In Xiangyang, Lü Wenhuan managed to get a message towards Qi requesting immediate aid, and also told them about the Mongols' siege machines. Qi was fear-stricken about these siege machines and decided not to send any aid. The defeat was kept hidden by Jia Sidao, who did something stupid. He kept it hidden from Zhao Qi which he probably didn't even care if he knew. He died soon after in 1274 (probably from alcohol poisoning) and leaving many sons. Three of them would be future emperors.

## Personality & Traits

Zhao Qi was often sad, and he had many physical and mental defects. Qi was a coward at heart, feasting, gambling, drinking, playing during the Mongol invasions. His appetite for women (not the type that you eat, but something really different) distracted him from the affairs of the state. His mental disability often frustrated Emperor Lizong.

## Overall Evaluation

Zhao Qi is one of the worst and incompetent Emperors of China, having living extravagantly at the expense of the common folk, and appointing favorites to official positions, which further destabilized the Empire.