Hello netizens, thank you very much for opening the article of the editor, I will, as always, share some knowledge and views with you openly, if the next content can produce some small happiness for you, the author will be honored!
Princess Taiping, as the only daughter of Wu Zetian, compared with Wu Zetian's remaining two sons, Li Xian and Li Dan, she is more like her mother, not only more courageous and wise than her two brothers, but also very means, so why doesn't Wu Zetian pass it on to Princess Taiping?
In fact, in his later years, Wu Zetian faced three choices in passing on the throne:
1. Male descendants of the surname Wu - Wu Sansi; 2, male descendants of the surname Li - Li Xian, Li Dan; 3, women surnamed Li - Princess Taiping.
Of these three different heirs, the most likely successor at that time was Wu Sansi; secondly, Li Xian or Li Dan; and finally, it was the turn of Princess Taiping.
Why? There are at least three reasons:
First, the first person to consider the succession is Wu Sansi
Wu Zetian worked hard for many years to finally hold the Li Tang Dynasty tightly in her hands, so at first she may have one hundred and twenty people in her heart who were unwilling to easily pass the throne to Li's descendants. Therefore, she had long considered that she wanted to pass on the wu clan descendants, so she constantly promoted the official status of the Wu clan descendants, especially Wu Sansi was her most optimistic successor of the Wu clan.
However, after reaching old age, Wu Zetian used Di Renjie and Zhang Kamzhi very much, especially trusting Di Renjie very much, and often discussed with her who he would pass on the throne after a hundred years, but whenever she said Wu Sansi, Di Renjie would constantly say and persuade: "Although Wu Sansi is very talented, he is also a person with the surname of Wu like you. But in terms of generational relations and common feelings, she is just a nephew of yours, if the true transmission is located in him, then in a hundred years, where will there be an aunt's tablet in the nephew's temple? Li Xian is different, because after all, he is your own son, and after he succeeds to the throne, he will erect the most honorable tablet for you in the Li Clan Temple, so that you can enjoy the thousand autumn offerings. Think about it: is it a son or a nephew? Listening to Di Renjie's words, Wu Zetian had a hundred thoughts toward Wu San, and she was not allowed to seriously consider what would happen to herself a hundred years later.
Second, the transmission of the Taiping is the least likely - there are two identities
Although Princess Taiping was in many ways the most like her of Wu Zetian's children, Wu Zetian's favorite and favorite child was also Princess Taiping. But Wu Zetian's intention to pass on the location of Taiping may not be much, because after Taiping became emperor, who did she pass on to?
1, her in-laws: first surnamed Xue and then surnamed Wu, the son surnamed Xue, the daughter's surname is Wu; in this way, she is passed on to her son, who is a person with the surname of Xue, an outsider (and Xue Shao was killed for opposing Wu Zetian's claim to the title of emperor, and now he will hand the throne to his son, which is something that Wu Zetian will never agree to); pass it on to the daughter, although the surname is also Wu, but the daughter is still an outsider, and in the end she may not know who the dynasty is). Therefore, Wu Zetian would not pass on the location of Taiping.
2. Moreover, although Princess Taiping was very powerful at that time, there was another embarrassment in her identity: because she was the sister of Li Xian and Li Dan, and these two brothers had many sons at that time, under the patriarchal system, Princess Taiping had no possibility of succeeding to the throne.
3. Moreover, although Princess Taiping is very similar to Wu Zetian in some places, she is still much worse in terms of politics, prestige, boldness, seniority, etc., so even if Wu Zetian passes the throne to Princess Taiping, she may not be able to sit on the throne.
Third, the transmission of Li Xian is truly deserved
In fact, although Wu Zetian was a strong woman, she was not a feminist, and her reign was still based on the traditional order. Since the era of his own rule and power in his later years is coming to an end, in the final analysis, it is better to return it to the Li family, after all, it was snatched from the hands of others. Besides, Wu Zetian himself also knew that returning the government to the Li clan was the trend of the times and could not be changed by himself, because in the last few years, Di Renjie and Zhang Kamzhi and others had already cultivated civil and military officials who supported the Li clan, and if she insisted on passing the throne to the Wu clan or Taiping or others, she would definitely be opposed by the courtiers, causing an extremely bad outcome such as a rebellion in the imperial court or national turmoil.
The final facts also proved that passing the throne to the Li family was only considered "the desire of the people" at that time, and That Wu Zetian's crown prince Li Xian was the biological son of himself and Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, with a noble bloodline and support from all the people in the world. Therefore, Wu Zetian chose Li Xian as the best choice to inherit his throne.