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高祖皇后李氏，晉陽人也。 高祖微時，嘗牧馬於晉陽別墅，因夜入其家，劫而取之。 及高祖領藩鎮，累封魏國夫人。 高祖建義於太原，欲行頒賚於軍士，以公帑不足，議率井邑，助成其事。 後聞而諫曰：「自晉高祖建義，及國家興運，雖出於天意，亦土地人民福力同致耳，未能惠其眾而欲奪其財，非新天子恤隱之理也。 今後宮所積，宜悉以散之，設使不厚，人無怨言。」 高祖改容曰：「敬聞命矣。」 遂停斂貸之議。 後傾內府以助之，中外聞者，無不感悅。 天福十二年，冊為皇后。 隱帝即位，尊為皇太后。 〈（案：以下疑有闕文。 據《通鑒》云：隱帝與李業等謀誅楊邠等，議既定，入白太后，太后曰：「茲事何可輕發，更宜與宰相議之。」 業時在旁曰：「先帝嘗言，朝廷大事不可謀及書生，懦怯誤人。」 太后復以為言，帝忿曰：「國家之事，非閨門所知。」 拂衣而出。 又云：南北軍遇於劉子陂，帝欲自出勞軍，太后曰：「郭威吾家故舊，非死亡切身，何以至此！ 但按兵守城，飛詔諭之，觀其志趣，必有辭理，則君臣之禮尚全，慎勿輕出。」 帝不從。）〉
Empress Li, consort of Later Han Gaozu, came from Jinyang. While Liu Zhiyuan was still a nobody, he tended horses at a Jinyang country house, slipped in one night, and carried her off. Once he held a frontier command she rose step by step to Lady of Wei. At Taiyuan he meant to pay the troops but the state coffers ran dry, so his council weighed a levy on town and countryside to fund the bonuses. She heard and objected: "Heaven raised us, but so did the people's goodwill; to squeeze their purses before you have eased their lot is no way for a new emperor to show mercy. Empty the palace hoards first; even thin gifts will silence grumbling. The emperor colored and said, "Your counsel is taken. He dropped the plan for forced loans. She then opened the privy purse to make up the sum, and word of it gladdened the whole court and camp. In Tianfu 12 she received the empress's seals. When Emperor Yin succeeded she became empress dowager. Editor's note: the passage below is likely corrupt. The 《Zizhi tongjian》 records that Emperor Yin and Li Ye resolved to kill Yang Bin; when they told the dowager she said, "Do not rush this; take it to the chief ministers first. Li Ye at her elbow said, "The late emperor warned never to plot great matters with pedants—they only breed cowardice. She pressed again; the emperor snapped, "State business is no concern of women's quarters. He flung aside his robe and left. The same work adds: at Liuzipo the young ruler meant to ride out to hearten the lines; the dowager cried, "Guo Wei is family to us—would he rebel without mortal cause! Keep the gates shut, send him a clear edict, and read his answer; lord and minister may yet mend their breach—do not rashly ride forth. The young ruler brushed aside her warning. (End of editorial note.)〉
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周太祖入京，凡軍國大事，皆請後發教令以行之。 是歲，議立徐州節度使赟為帝，以迎奉未至，周太祖乃率群臣拜章，請後權臨朝聽政，後於是稱誥焉。 及周太祖為六軍推戴，上章具述其事，且言願事後為慈母。 後下誥答曰：「侍中功烈崇高，德聲昭著，翦除禍亂，安定乾坤，謳歌有歸，歷數攸屬，所以軍民推戴，億兆同歡。 老身未終殘年，屬茲多難，惟以衰朽，托於始終。 載省來箋，如母見待，感念深意，涕泗橫流」云。 仍出戎衣、玉帶以賜周太祖。 周太祖即位，上尊號曰德聖皇太后，居於太平宮。 周顯德元年春薨。 〈（案：隱帝未立皇后，據薛史《張彥成傳》云：隱帝娶彥成女。 《楊邠傳》云：隱帝所愛耿夫人，欲立為後，邠以為太速，夫人卒，隱帝欲以後禮葬，邠又止之。 蓋隱帝在位三年，崩時年二十，故未及冊立皇后也。 又，《五代會要》載：漢高祖長女永寧公主，降宋延渥，天福十二年四月封，至乾祐二年十二月，追封秦國長公主。）〉
After Guo Wei took the capital he still had her issue the orders that ran the realm. That year they planned to enthrone Liu Yun from Xuzhou; before the boy arrived Guo Wei had the whole bureaucracy memorialize the dowager to hold court as regent, and she assented in edict form. When the Six Armies raised Guo Wei, his memorial laid out every step and vowed to honor her as a mother. Her reply praised his feats, his purge of chaos, and the universal acclaim that made the mandate his. I am old and worn, yet live through this storm; I can only lean on you to the end. Your words treat me as a mother might be treated—I weep as I read them. She sent him a field robe and a jade belt as gifts. Once Guo Wei took the throne he styled her the Virtuous and Sagely Empress Dowager and housed her at Taiping Palace. She died in the spring of Zhou Xiande 1. Editor's note: Yin never crowned a queen; the Old History biography of Zhang Yancheng says he wed Zhang Yancheng's daughter. The 《Yang Bin zhuan》 adds that Yin doted on Lady Geng and wanted her as empress; Yang Bin called it premature. When she died Yin demanded an empress's funeral, and Yang Bin blocked that too. He ruled barely three years and died at twenty, so he never crowned a queen. The 《Wudai hui yao》 also notes Gaozu's eldest daughter, Princess Yongning, wed Song Yanwo, was titled in Tianfu 12, and was posthumously raised to princess of Qin in Qianyou 2. (End of editorial note.)〉