As a representative of the famous feminist peak figure in history, Wu Zetian is well known to everyone, her history has been repeatedly adapted to film and television dramas, and she is also the ancestor of the palace concubine Gongdou, and her history of ascension to the throne is full of legends.
I remember when I was a child, I watched Pan Yingzi's "A Generation of Empresses" and Liu Xiaoqing's "Wu Zetian", when these two aunt-level famous actors, with their excellent acting skills, did not distinguish between Zhongbo. From the perfect girly outfit that makes everyone stunned, to the old age costume makes people feel majestic. Compare the previous figure:
Pan Yingzi's maiden Wu Zetian
Liu Xiaoqing's maiden Wu Zetian
Here's the transition diagram:
Pan Yingzi, who has just ascended to the throne
Liu Xiaoqing, who first ascended to the throne
Comparison chart of the elderly:
The image of Pan Yingzi is a nightmare of childhood!
Liu Xiaoqing's elderly Wu Zetian
Well, dear who do you like?
From a naïve and romantic girl, all the way to upgrade and fight monsters, evolving into a mighty empress, this extraordinary woman driven by fate, what kind of twists and turns in life has she experienced?
Let's take a look at the legendary life of Empress Wu Zetian, a generation of empresses who did not let her eyebrows be shaved!
Wu Zetian was born in Wenshui Prefecture (present-day Wenshui County, Shanxi Province) and was the only orthodox female emperor recorded in Chinese history. Her life can be described as a palace fight drama, full of legends.
In the first year of Yonghui (650), Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shufei competed for favors with each other, and Emperor Gaozong was embarrassed on both sides. Emperor Gaozong simply left the two of them behind and went to chang'an Anyefang Ganye Temple to find the old friend. It turned out that Emperor Taizong had a little ji before his death, born feminine and gorgeous, and entered the official at the age of fourteen, and was named a talented person. She is the famous Wu Zetian. When Emperor Gaozong was crown prince, he took the opportunity of serving Emperor Taizong and stole an affair with her. When Emperor Taizong died, Wucai and many concubines were placed as nuns in the Ganye Temple.
Emperor Gaozong entered the temple and looked up, only to see that although the martial artists were clothed and plain-faced, their peach blossoms were as old as before, and their faces were beautiful. After burning the incense, Emperor Gaozong took the Wu clan into the room to reminisce about the past, and reunited for a long time to complain about the pain of lovesickness.
When Empress Wang found out, instead of blaming her, she wanted to use her as a tool to suppress Concubine Xiao shu and persuade Emperor Gaozong to bring the martial talents back to the palace. She was twenty-six years old at the time. The Wu clan was very well-behaved, and tried his best to seduce the queen and coax the queen to like it endlessly. Soon, Emperor Gaozong enfeoffed the Wu clan as Zhaoyi.
Since then, Both Concubine Xiao Shufei and Empress Wang have increasingly fallen out of favor. Empress Wang, seeing that she had become self-defeating, was very remorseful, so she joined forces with Consort Xiao shufei to compete with Wu Zhaoyi for favors. Wu Zhao only saw that his name had been fixed, and he was becoming more and more favored by Emperor Gaozong, so he began a conspiracy to frame Empress Wang and compete for the throne.
Wu Zhaoyi did everything possible to recruit maids and female officials, and often rewarded them. These people have always complained because of Empress Wang's temper, and now when they see Wu Zhaoyi's incestuous friendship, they are willing to use it for her and secretly spy on Empress Wang. However, Emperor Gaozong had no intention of deposing the empress. Wu Zhaoyi had no choice but to think of another plan.
The opportunity finally came. In October of the fifth year of Yonghui (654), Wu Zhaoyi gave birth to a girl, and Empress Wang visited Zhaoyi Palace, and after Wu Zhaoyi and other empresses left, they brutally strangled their daughter. When Emperor Gaozong came, Wu Zhaoyi smiled happily, pretended to suddenly find a dead baby, cried, and said, "The empress has just come." Emperor Gaozong was furious. Wu Zhaoyi took the opportunity to make a rumor, so Emperor Gaozong decided to depose Empress Wang.
That night, Emperor Gaozong took Wu Zhaoyi with him, and the imperial driver came to the palace of the chancellor, Sun Wujie. Emperor Gaozong was drinking in the hall, and Emperor Gaozong suddenly made his eldest grandson Wuji's three sons the Great Master of Chaoshan. At this time, Emperor Gaozong said that the empress was childless and jealous of others. The eldest grandson knew Emperor Gaozong's intentions, but he looked around at him. When Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zhaoyi saw that the eldest son Wujie deliberately avoided it, they were displeased in their hearts and resigned.
The following year, Wu Zhaoyi gave birth to another son, named Li Hong. She ordered her confidant palace maid to prepare a puppet with Emperor Gaozong's name and Nian Geng's eight characters written on it, and quietly buried it in the palace of the empress dowager. Then he took the opportunity to tell Emperor Gaozong, who ordered his servants to dig up, and sure enough, he got a puppet and cursed Empress Wang.
At that time, Li Zhi wanted to "abolish the king and establish the martial arts", in fact, it was also to resist the power of the elder ministers and restore the imperial power. Therefore, Wu Zetian also became Li Zhi's "political partner". It was not until the sixth year of Yonghui (655) that Li Zhi was supported by his ministers, and Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shufei were deposed as Shuren. Wu Zetian was made empress and has since entered the political arena.
Emperor Taizong had a horse named Lion Horse, which was fierce in temperament and no one could subdue it. The martial artist said, "I only need three things to subdue it." Emperor Taizong asked, "Which three things?" The martial man said, "An iron whip." A hammer, a. Dagger". If the horse disobeys, I will whip it with an iron whip, and if I disobey, I will hammer it with an iron hammer; If he didn't obey, he stabbed it to death with a dagger. Emperor Taizong saw that her heart was fierce and her face was displeased.
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, political affairs were mostly discussed with Empress Wu. Empress Wu was very politically ambitious and politically talented, and often fought with Emperor Gaozong for power. Emperor Gaozong then remembered the benefits of the deposed Wang clan and the deposed concubine Xiao clan. Emperor Gaozong then found an opportunity to visit Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu. Empress Wang cried and begged Emperor Gaozong to let them see the light of day again.
Who knew that the news was leaking, and Wu Hou knew that he was furious and thought of a cruel and cruel method. He sent someone to give Wang and Xiao a hundred staffs each, and then cut off the hands and siblings of the two people, called "Ren Yan", stuffed them into the wine altar and soaked them for several days, and the two died.
Emperor Gaozong had a weak personality, fainted and incompetent, and most of the political affairs were decided by Wu Zetian, and he reused Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu, who were close confidants of Empress Wu. Immediately after Empress Wang was killed, Xu Jingzong immediately went to the court and said that the crown prince Li Zhong was from Shu and should be deposed. That is, to change the son of Empress Wu to the crown prince. From then on, Empress Wu had no worries about the harem, and concentrated her thoughts on dealing with the elders of the imperial court who opposed her with the help of Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu.
Empress Wu instructed Xu Jingzong to frame the eldest son Wujie, and Xu Jingzong falsely accused the eldest son Wuji of colluding with the party and waiting for an opportunity to rebel. Changsun Wuji was Emperor Gaozong's uncle and the elder of the previous king, and Emperor Gaozong did not check with him, so he ordered that changsun Wujie be stripped of his official position. Soon, he sent people to Qianzhou to force the eldest son to commit suicide. The Tang Dynasty's generation of courtiers ended up in a dead and broken end.
The murder of The Prime Minister Sun Wujie cleared the way for Wu Zetian to interfere in the affairs of the dynasty, and who dared to disobey Empress Xu's will? Therefore, Wu Hou was unscrupulous and seized power and exercised authority. In October of the fifth year of Xianqing (660), Emperor Gaozong suffered a minor stroke, suffered a headache, could not see, and had to entrust Wu Hou with approval. Empress Wu was intelligent and sharp, and her mind was intelligent, and the things she handled could conform to Emperor Gaozong's wishes. So the regime gradually moved back to Wu Hou. Emperor Gaozong was called Emperor, Empress Wu was called Queen of Heaven, and was called "Second Saint".
As a result, Empress Wu became more and more arrogant, no longer following Gao's will, and gradually did not take Emperor Gaozong in his eyes. Emperor Gaozong was subject to empress dowager force and could not do anything himself. He secretly summoned Shangguan Yi, a waiter from Xitai, to discuss countermeasures. Shangguan Yi said: "The empress is arbitrary, and no one in the world approves of her, so she is deposed." Emperor Gaozong thought it was good, so he ordered Shangguan Yi to draft an edict to abolish the empress.
The palace has long been full of Wuhou's henchmen, rushing to warn Wuhou. Empress Wu hurriedly arrived, frightening Emperor Gaozong into fear, and did not dare to issue an edict, saying, "I didn't have this heart at first, and shangguan yi taught me." Therefore, Empress Wu immediately instigated Xu Jingzong to falsely accuse Shangguan Yiyi, saying that he had colluded with the deposed crown prince Li Zhong and plotted rebellion. As a result, Li Zhongshi died and Shangguan Yi was executed.
From then on, Emperor Gaozong came to the court, and Empress Wu bowed to the government. No matter how big or small the political affairs are, whether officials want to rise or fall, whether they want to be cut or killed, it is up to her to decide. The power of the world belongs to the Middle Palace, and Emperor Gaozong is just a general decoration, and the Empress Wu is officially in power.
Empress Wu had four sons, the eldest son Li Hong, the second son Li Xian, the third son Li Zhe, and the fourth son Li Dan. Crown Prince Li Hong had very different temperaments from his mother, and he was kind and humble, and he saluted the minister, which was quite popular. He repeatedly played the request, contrary to the will of the empress dowager. Princess Xiao Shufei, two princesses, Yiyang and Xuancheng, were imprisoned by Empress Wu for a long time and had not yet married when they were over thirty years old. Once, Li Hong met the second princess by chance, and was shocked and pitiful, and immediately asked Emperor Gaozong to let them marry. Emperor Gaozong agreed. When Takego learned of this, she held a grudge in her heart.
At that time, Emperor Gaozong was seriously ill, and a group of courtiers proposed to make Empress Wu regent. But Emperor Gaozong wanted to let the crown prince oversee the country. In this way, Li Hong became an obstacle to her, and she could no longer tolerate this parent.
In April of the second year of the First Yuan Dynasty (675), Empress Wu killed Li Hong at hebi Palace. Emperor Gaozong was very sad and ordered Li Hong to be the emperor of filial piety.
In June, he made his second son Li Xian crown prince, and then ordered him to oversee the country. Unexpectedly, Li Xian also disagreed with Empress Wu. Empress Wu's favored courtiers fabricated the prince's rebellion to "destroy his relatives in righteousness" and execute Li Xian. Emperor Gaozong interceded on behalf of his son and deposed him as a commoner. The next day, Li Zhe, the King of England, was made crown prince.
In November of the following year (681), Li Xian was exiled to Bazhou (bazhou, in present-day Chongqing, Sichuan). Li Xian was depressed and wrote a poem "Huangtai Melon Words": "Planting melons under the yellow platform, the melons are ripe and departed." One pick makes the melon good, then picks the melon thin, three picks are still possible, and four picks hold the vine. Later, someone copied the word to Empress Wu. Wu Hou felt that this was a satire on himself, so he secretly sent Zuo Jinwu's general Qiu Shenxun to sneak to Bazhou and force Li Xian to commit suicide and die, only thirty-two years old when he died. Li Xian is very talented in handling things clearly. He once gathered many scholars to collectively annotate Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han Dynasty, which is of great value in the history of historiography and can be regarded as a scholar with a little fame.
After Li Xian's depose, Emperor Gaozong became increasingly ill. In December of the first year of Hongdao (683), he collapsed in the Zhenguan Temple, at the age of fifty-six. Seven days later, Li Zhe ascended the throne as Emperor Zhongzong. Emperor Zhongzong honored Tianhou as empress dowager, and political affairs were decided by her. He also made Liu Renluo the right servant of Shangshu and Pei Yan the Zhongshu Ling.
Emperor Zhongzong was cowardly by nature, and Empress Dowager Liwei became empress. He wanted to grant his father-in-law Xuanzhen the title of servant. Pei Yan dissuaded, and Emperor Zhongzong was furious, saying, "I have nothing to give the world to Wei Xuanzhen, but do I still stingy with a servant?" Pei Yan reported this to Empress Wu, and the emperor set up a plan to depose Emperor Zhongzong.
The next day, the fourth son, Li Dan, was made emperor and appointed emperor for Emperor Ruizong. Empress Wu placed Emperor Ruizong in the other halls, and all state affairs, which were not allowed to be asked, were decided by the empress.
Empress Wu controlled the government and did not spare the surname Li, even if she was her own son. Soon, she drove Li Zhe, the king of Luling, out of the capital. At the same time, Dafeng Wu's surname, nephew Wu Chengsi as Taichangqing, Wu Sansi as the General of the Right Guard, and Wu Youji, Wu Youning, Wu Yougui, Wu Youwang, etc., were all promoted to additional ranks. It also established the ancestral hall of the five generations of the Wu clan, and the late ancestor of the Wu clan was also sealed. She made all the preparations for replacing the Li surname of the Tang Dynasty and establishing the Wu dynasty. This year, the historical year is called the first year of the Light House of Zetian.
Just as Wu Zetian approached the throne step by step, the British Duke Xu Jingye rebelled against Wu in Jiangnan.
King Luo Bin drafted the "Discussion of Wu Shuo". Wu Zetian's crimes of "moving the Spring Palace" and "mutilating Zhongliang" reveal her ambition to "spy on the artifact".
This is a famous text from ancient times, wonderful and vivid, full of charm. Wu Zetian smiled as he read it, and when he read "The soil of a piece of soil has not dried", he couldn't help but marvel and asked the attendant, "Who wrote this?" The attendant replied, "It's King Luobin." Wu Zetian said: "It is really the fault of the prime minister to let such talents wander outside." Wu Zetian summoned Pei Yan to ask for advice, saying: "If the empress dowager returns to the government to the emperor, the rebels will not be able to seek peace with themselves."
Wu Zetian was very unhappy to hear this, and after Pei Yan left, he summoned Wu Chengsi to consult. Wu Chengsi thought that the rebels were all rabble-rousers, and Wu Chengsi said: "Pei Yan's nephew Xue Zhongzhang joined the rebel party, which is why he said this." Wu Zetian immediately summoned Cui Cha for interrogation. Cui Cha had already received Wu Chengsi's secret advice, adding oil and vinegar to say that if Pei Yan did not rebel, why did the empress dowager return to politics. Wu Zetian was convinced, and soon after, he beheaded Pei Yan.
After Xu Jingye raised his army, he made a directional error and was won time by Wu Zetian, but failed in more than 50 days.
Wu Zetian took advantage of the harsh punishment of cool officials, killed the ring, and deployed the cutting of Li Tangzong's chambers, preparing to finally ascend to the throne. Wu Chengsi secretly instructed people to chisel the eight words "Our Lady of The Prophet, Forever for the Emperor" on the white stone, saying that it was obtained in Luoshui. Wu Zetian was overjoyed.
Wu Zetian promoted Wu Chengsi to Wenchang Zuoxiang, and the road to the throne had been paved. A Wu dynasty is about to come out. In August, he killed tang zongfu again, not even two of his own grandsons, killed hundreds of their pro-party families, killed almost all of the clans, and exiled young and weak to Lingnan.
At the same time, Wu Zetian organized the government and the opposition to create public opinion for her ascension to the throne. The monk Fa Ming and others compiled a "Great Cloud Sutra", declaring that the empress dowager was the descendant of Maitreya Buddha and should replace the Tang Dynasty as a human master. Wu Zetian ordered all states in the country to establish the Dayun Temple, to hide a copy of the "Dayun Sutra", and the senior monks preached to the people to create public opinion for her to seize the throne. The meaning of the empress dowager is well known to passers-by. More than 60,000 people, including civil and military officials, people near and far, monks, and Taoist monks, wrote according to the content of Fu Youyi's petition. The momentum was so great that even Emperor Li Dan could not bear the pressure and asked himself to give the surname Wu.
On September 9, Wu Zetian ascended the Heavenly Tower, announced a general amnesty for the world, changed the name of the country to Zhou, changed the Yuan Tianzhi, and proclaimed himself the Holy Spirit Emperor, becoming the first female emperor in Chinese history.