During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Wu Zetian was not favored, so that he was always a small talent, and he had no heirs with Tang Taizong. However, Li Shimin's son Li Zhi had a deep affection for Wu Zetian, and when Tang Taizong was seriously ill, the two got along. When Emperor Taizong of Tang died, according to the ceremonial system, Wu Zetian was to go to ganye temple with other heirless concubines to become a monk.
After Wu Zetian left home, Li Zhi thought about her day and night, and insisted on taking her back to the palace despite the opposition of his courtiers. This time back at the palace, Wu Zetian opened the road to becoming emperor, and the first step to be taken was to get rid of Empress Wang and the previous favorite concubine Xiao Shufei.
Empress Wang was not very favored originally, and after wu zetian, Concubine Xiao Shufei became less important, so she only needed a little trick to get rid of them. Unexpectedly, Wu Zetian actually sacrificed his own daughter to frame Empress Wang. At this time, Emperor Gaozong of Tang would be deposed no matter what.
(Stills of The Queen Of Kings)
After Emperor Gaozong of Tang deposed, the reason was that "the sin is greater than the heir, the empress is childless, and now she wants to establish Zhaoyi." But as soon as this sentence was uttered, it was immediately opposed by the courtiers. In particular, the eldest grandson Wuji and Chu Suiliang, Chu Suiliang also said 4 reasons to oppose the establishment of the Wu clan as the queen.
First, the queen is not too big. Empress Wang was born into a famous family, received a good education from an early age, and since marrying Li Zhi, she has kept the way of women and is a model for women in the world. The fact that there are no heirs now does not mean that there will be no heirs in the future, and the emperor cannot hastily abolish the queen because of this.
Second, the Wu clan is not worthy of the honorable status of empress. Chu Suiliang believed that even if Emperor Gaozong of Tang wanted to re-establish himself, he should also choose the daughter of an aristocrat. The Wu clan was not of high birth, and she was still a concubine of Tang Taizong before, saying that she was not worthy of the noble status of the mother of a country.
(Empress Wang and Emperor Gaozong of Tang stills)
Third, the Wu clan served Emperor Taizong of Tang. This point has something in common with the second article, Wu Zetian was originally a talented person of Tang Taizong, and according to the generations, he was considered to be the mother of Tang Gaozong. He took his mother-in-law back and accepted her as a concubine, which was no longer reasonable, and now that he wanted to take his mother-in-law as the queen, I was afraid that he would be ridiculed by the people of the world.
Fourth, Empress Wang was hand-picked by Emperor Taizong of Tang. Empress Wang was the wife chosen by Emperor Taizong of Tang for her son, and her status was extremely honorable, and if she chose to depose, it would be equivalent to disobeying the former emperor. Chu Suiliang was promoted by the former emperor to have his current position, and he never dared to disobey the wishes of the former emperor. Even more, we must not watch Tang Gaozong do disloyalty and filial piety.
These four reasons were reasonable and made Tang Gaozong dumbfounded. However, he was already determined to abolish the queen, no matter how much Chu Suiliang was reasonable, Tang Gaozong could not listen to it. In a fit of rage, Tang Gaozong had Chu Suiliang blasted out, and at this moment a woman's voice came from behind, saying, "Why don't you kill this beast!" ”
(Stills of Consort Xiao and Empress Wang)
It was Wu Zetian who said this. Seeing that the situation was not good, the eldest son had no choice but to quickly stand up and plead, saying that Chu Suiliang had been entrusted by the former emperor and had the responsibility of taking care of his life, so Tang Gaozong spared his life and demoted Chu Suiliang to a remote place.
Although all the courtiers opposed it, Tang Gaozong's heart was already determined after his abolition, and finally Li Ji stood up and said: "This is Your Majesty's family affair, and it is not suitable for asking outsiders." For Emperor Gaozong of Tang to solve this problem, Wu Zetian also became the empress as he wished.
Since all the courtiers were opposed to this matter, and Chu Suiliang was also justified, why did Emperor Gaozong of Tang insist on deposing the honorable Empress Wang and setting up the controversial Wu clan as the queen?
(Wu Zetian stills)
First, Tang Gaozong's love for Wu Zetian. There was no doubt about this, Tang Gaozong believed in Wu Zetian 100 percent, and he absolutely could not have imagined that Wu Zetian would kill his daughter with his own hands and thus marry Empress Wang. It can be said that Li Zhi's love for Wu Zetian has reached the point of blindness.
In fact, from the reasons for Li Zhi's abolition, it is clear that he is abolished for the sake of abolishing the queen, not that Empress Wang is really deficient in virtue, but that he wants to establish a beloved person as the queen. Even if people all over the world were opposed, Tang Gaozong would not be able to listen to it.
Second, Emperor Gaozong of Tang wanted to establish his power in front of a hundred officials. In my opinion, this is the most important reason. Tang Gaozong loved Wu Zetian, which was beyond doubt, but what made him even more angry was that the Qunchen always used his father to suppress himself.
Just like Chu Suiliang's four reasons for not deposing the empress, three of them are related to Tang Taizong, and it is directly pointed out that Empress Wang was hand-picked by the former emperor, and if the emperor wanted to abolish the queen, he was disrespectful to the former emperor. This mouthful of a former emperor seems to not take himself as an emperor in his eyes at all.
Since Emperor Gaozong of Tang ascended the throne, everyone has compared him to his father, and his exploits are naturally inferior to those of Tang Taizong. But as an emperor, he always didn't like anyone who was better than himself, including his own father. Moreover, others always come out and say that this will only make Tang Gaozong think that no one has put him in his eyes, and the only person in the hearts of the people is his father Li Shimin.
He insisted on abolishing the queen and re-establishing the posthumous post, just to tell the courtiers that he was the emperor and that no one could oppose what he wanted to do. In the end, he did succeed, which gave Tang Gaozong a lot of self-confidence, and no one dared to oppose him anymore. Of course, everyone knows that opposition is useless, and with Wu Zetian's means, all those who oppose it will not end up well in the end.
(Stills of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian)
Therefore, in the author's opinion, Tang Gaozong insisted on establishing the Wu clan as the queen, and after success, it was a double eagle with one stone, not only making his beloved an empress, but also establishing a prestige in front of the courtiers. The reason why the author says that Li Zhi's love for Wu Zetian is blind is because his connivance with Wu Zetian has indeed reached the extreme.
On the surface, Tang Gaozong established his power in front of the group of courtiers, but the biggest beneficiary of this matter was undoubtedly Wu Zetian's right. Wu Zetian was able to ascend to the throne step by step, and finally became the only female emperor in the history of our country, and I really have to thank such a good husband who loved her.
(References "New Book of Tang", "Old Book of Tang", "Zizhi Tongjian")