Speaking of female emperors, the first thing that comes to mind is Wu Zetian, and even many people are convinced that in the history of our country, there is only one female emperor, Wu Zetian. In fact, the real first female emperor in history is not Wu Zetian, there is a person who called the emperor earlier than Wu Zetian, she is the first female emperor in history.
1. Background Introduction
This person's name was Chen Shuozhen, and he was the female leader of the peasant rebellion in eastern Zhejiang in the Tang Dynasty. She grew up with her parents dying, and was adopted by a good person with her sister to survive.
One year there was a flood in their hometown, which displaced many people and filled the streets with starvation. Chen Shuo really couldn't bear to see everyone hungry, so he secretly opened a warehouse to relieve the disaster. As a result, the owner of the granary found that Chen Shuozhen was beaten and bruised. Those villagers who had been favored spontaneously rescued Chen Shuozhen and sent her away.
Since then, Chen Shuozhen has hidden in the mountains, where he recuperates and at the same time began to believe in Taoism.
Second, resolve to revolt
During this time in the mountains, Chen Shuozhen thought every day about what he should do to let the people live a good life. After some thought, she thought that there was only one way to go, that is, to overthrow the imperial court and become emperor herself, so that the people could live a good life.
So Chen Shuozhen came up with a way, she claimed that when she was cultivating in the deep mountains, she had been enlightened by the Taishang Laojun, and now she had become the Nine Heavenly Divine Daughters, and she was also known as the Red Heavenly Virgin, and she had infinite mana. In order to appear in front of everyone, she first lied that she wanted to feather the Immortals, and then planned to appear in a few days, so that everyone would think that she was a real immortal.
Chen Shuozhen also contacted a relative named Zhang Shuyin. The two planned to cooperate inside and outside, spread the news that Chen Shuo was really a god, and find a way to convince Bai Xin.
3. The revolt is called emperor
With the help of Zhang Shuyin, Chen Shuozhen's followers were more and more numerous, and everyone believed that her magic power was boundless and could save people between water and fire. In the fourth year of Yonghui, Chen Shuozhen thought that the time was ripe and officially announced the start of the uprising.
Chen Shuozhen modeled on the system of the Tang Dynasty and established a new regime, and she herself was the emperor of the new regime, calling herself "Emperor Wenjia". She called herself emperor earlier than Wu Zetian, so she was the first female emperor in history.
After Chen Shuozhen became emperor, there were more people who followed her, and everyone thought that her claim to be emperor was the destiny of heaven, so they were willing to follow her in the uprising. In a short period of time, the rebel army grew from a few thousand to tens of thousands.
The strength of this rebel army was also not bad, and with only two thousand men and horses, it could capture a capital and its county. The imperial court was also shocked by the ability of the rebel army and had to quickly send people to suppress it. The two sides were deadlocked for a long time, because the imperial court could not stop the momentum of the rebel army, and the rebel army did not undergo systematic training, and the resistance officers and soldiers were still a bit difficult, so it was difficult to decide the victory or defeat for a while.
Fourth, the Emperor Star fell
During the time when the two armies were still in a stalemate, one day a meteorite landed, and the imperial court created rumors that this was a symbol of the "fall of the imperial star", indicating that Chen Shuozhen's emperor had achieved the head. After that, the imperial court constantly encouraged the rebel army to surrender, saying that those who voluntarily surrendered were not to blame.
At this time, many people began to waver, originally they followed Chen Shuozhen, because they believed that she was a mortal immortal with infinite mana, indicating that these people were very superstitious. Now that the "Emperor Star has fallen", they naturally think that this is Providence, and Providence cannot be violated.
While most people were wavering, the imperial court used internal and external attacks to break through the rebel army. The battle was fought very hard, and in the end the rebel army was almost completely destroyed, and those who did not die were taken prisoner. Emperor Chen Shuozhen was also captured, tortured during this period, and finally heroically rebelled.
In this way, Chen Shuozhen was the first female emperor, so why was it ignored now, and everyone only recognized Wu Zetian as a female emperor?
I think it may be because Chen Shuozhen did not reign long, her rebel army was destroyed by the imperial court, and the regime she established was only a rudimentary form, so it was not recognized by history.
Therefore, her "Emperor Wenjia" was just a title, and compared to Wu Zetian's formal accession ceremony and the announcement that the world had become emperor, Chen Shuozhen's title was too hasty. Like the Dashun regime established by Li Zicheng, it is difficult to be recognized.
(References "Zizhi Tongjian", "New Book of Tang", "Old Book of Tang")