Speaking of female emperors, the first thing that everyone thinks of is definitely Wu Zetian. However, the female emperor was not an invention of Wu Zetian. The first woman in China to claim herself as emperor was not Wu Zetian. When this woman claimed the title of emperor and sacrificed herself to save the people of Li, Wu Meiniang was still busy fighting with empress Wang's palace.
The first woman to claim the title of emperor was "Emperor Wenjia", Chen Shuozhen. Although she went from being proclaimed emperor to being caught and killed by the government, it was only a little more than a month. But her actions shocked the whole world, and what amazing news was that a woman dared to claim to be emperor and attacked the state capital with a bunch of mud legs.
Chen Shuozhen was a native of Qingxi County, Zhejiang, which is near the current city of Quanzhou. Her parents died when she was young, and she and her sister depended on each other for their lives. By working for large families, they can barely survive.
That year, there was a major flood in Qingxi County, and the grain harvest failed. However, the government not only did not provide relief, but also collected all kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes. The common people were miserable, selling their children and daughters, and starving to death. Looking at the tragic situation of the villagers, Chen Shuozhen resolutely decided to go out and save the big guys.
Chen Shuozhen and his sister grew up with the help of various families. She really couldn't bear the starvation of the villagers, so she secretly opened the granary of the master's house and released grain to relieve the victims. As a result, the owner grabbed her and beat her to the skin.
It was not against the law for the master to kill the next person, and Chen Shuozhen was definitely dead this time. Taking advantage of the darkness, the villagers rushed into the house and rescued her. Chen Shuozhen fled to the deep mountains and old forests, disguised as Daogu, and evaded the arrest of the government.
During his recuperation and hiding, Chen Shuozhen learned some of the spells of Taoism and began to secretly develop his followers. She was slowly deified, more and more people followed her, and the number of followers grew to tens of thousands. Due to the traitor's whistle-blowing, Chen Shuozhen was caught by the government, and the believers raised money to redeem her. Chen Shuozhen felt that the government had already paid attention to itself, and it would be too late to launch it again.
Thus, in early October 653, Chen Shuo really revolted, established a political power, and called himself "Emperor Wenjia". After the incident, she only led 2,000 men and horses to capture Muzhou, with countless responders, and the rebel army quickly grew to tens of thousands, shaking the government and the opposition.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty still had a strong military strength, and when the official government reacted and mobilized a large army to attack, the weakness of the rebel army was exposed. They have no formal military training, and they fight with all their blood, and in the face of the regular army, they appear to be insufficient in combat effectiveness.
In addition, on the night of the battle between the two sides, a meteorite fell in Chen Shuozhen's camp. The Tang army took the opportunity to say that Chen Shuo really fell the star, and the morale of both sides was suddenly reversed, and the rebel army was defeated. Chen Shuozhen was captured, and finally heroically rebelled.
Local folklore has always been rumored that Chen Shuozhen did not die, but feathered into a fairy. There is even a legend of the interaction between Chen Shuozhen and Wu Zetian, the two empresses. After all, they are in a very close era, and they are all called emperors, and it is difficult not to arouse people's reverie.
However, the legend is only a legend, and it is difficult for the folk empress who is far away in Zhejiang to have any intersection with the future empress in Chang'an City.
In the year that Chen Shuozhen claimed the title of emperor and died, Wu Meiniang had just been given the title of Erpin Zhaoyi and was trying to find a way to dodge Empress Wang's open guns and dark arrows, trying to curry favor with Emperor Li Zhi. The harem's intrigue made her feel helpless and tired.
Chen Shuozhen's affairs must have also spread to the harem, and when the palace ladies talked about the overseas strange talk, talking about this folk woman who called herself the female emperor, perhaps just planted a seed in the depths of Wu Meiniang, who was in a state of bitterness.
Forty-seven years later, the seed finally blossomed, and Wu Zetian took over the dragon robe and jade seal from his son, becoming the first orthodox female emperor of China. Chen Shuozhen did not complete the cause, Wu Zetian did it.
References: Zizhi Tongjian, New Book of Tang, Old Book of Tang