Tang Taizong Li Shimin's talent, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi's empress, Wu Zhou Emperor Wu Zetian, can never be a Mary Sue heroine, she is fierce, her children will become a stepping stone on her political road, and it is precisely because of her cruelty that she is not only a harem woman who controls the government, but also becomes an emperor.
Wu Zetian entered the palace at the age of 14 and became a concubine of Tang Taizong, who lived in the harem for 12 years and was still a talented person, and did not give birth to an heir for Tang Taizong, so after Tang Taizong's death, he went to Chang'an Ganye Temple to become a nun, but by this time Wu Zetian had already fought with Tang Taizong's son Li Zhi.
The reason why Wu Zetian was still able to return to the emperor's harem from The Ganye Temple was related to Li Zhi's friendship with her, in addition, Li Zhi's empress dowager was also a key figure, after all, at this time, Li Zhi also had a favorite concubine, Xiao Shufei.
After Empress Wang learned about Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, she often blew the wind in Li Zhi's ear and asked him to take Wu Zetian back to the palace, and at this time, Wu Zetian was not yet 30 years old, and he could not spend the rest of his life in the temple. Li Zhi was intolerant after all, and Wu Zetian "accidentally" conceived his child, so Wu Zetian was taken back to the palace.
Three daughters in a play, Empress Wang first joined forces with Wu Zetian to overthrow Concubine Xiao Shufei, but unfortunately Empress Wang was not a rival of Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian was not willing to be just a concubine, and started the idea of taking the empress's position. According to the New Book of Tang and the Zizhi Tongjian, Wu Zetian personally killed his daughter who was just one month old, and then took the opportunity to plant the stolen goods to Empress Wang, resulting in Empress Wang's depose.
However, the Old Book of Tang and the Tang Huijiao, written in the Fifth Dynasty, did not record the cause of the princess's death, so this matter has always been controversial, and many people believe that Wu Zetian, as a mother, should not be able to prey on her children.
However, in addition to the controversy over Wu Zetian's killing of his own daughter, in addition, according to the New Book of Tang and the Tang Huijiao, Wu Zetian may have personally killed his own son Li Hong, and the New Book of Tang Gaozong Benji records: "In the second year of the First Yuan Dynasty (675), in April, Tianhou killed the crown prince. ”
Li Hong was the eldest son of Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong, and was made crown prince at the age of 4, at this time Wu Zetian was already an empress, and Li Hong was benevolent since childhood, and Tang Gaozong also liked this child very much. In 671, Emperor Gaozong of Tang traveled to the eastern capital Luoyang and put Li Hong in charge of the state.
At that time, the Guanzhong area was in a drought, and when Li Hong learned of it, he personally inspected the soldiers' grain, and if he found people with elm skin and fluffy hunger, he ordered the domestic servants to distribute rice grain. Therefore, Li Hong's reputation outside is very good, and Li Hong is still very assertive, and he did not obey Wu Zetian's intention in the matter of choosing concubines.
Moreover, after Li Hong learned that Xiao Shufei's two daughters were imprisoned in the palace, and they were too old to marry, they also extended a helping hand and asked Tang Gaozong to let the two sisters marry, and Tang Gaozong also agreed, but this matter annoyed his mother Wu Zetian.
In addition, because Li Hong was already old and could withstand great responsibilities, Tang Gaozong had the meaning of Zen Concession, but once the throne fell into the hands of Li Hong, Li Hong naturally did not want to be controlled by Wu Zetian, and at this time, Wu Zetian could not give up the power in his hands, and the contradictions between her and her son accumulated day by day, to the point of life and death.
At the end of the last century, Shaanxi unearthed an epitaph, which is the "Epitaph of Yan Zhuang", yan Zhuang is the son of Yan Lide, a minister of the early Tang Dynasty, who served as a lieutenant of light vehicles by the side of the prince, and Yan Zhuang died in the second year of Li Hong's death, and the epitaph writes the cause of his death: "The accumulation of brass invaded Russia, entangled in the ant bed and caused disaster; the floating hui was exhausted, and died with the crane version." ”
The "ant bed" refers to the coffin bed of the prince, and it is also implicitly revealed that Yan Zhuang's death is related to the prince, indirectly indicating that the prince did not die normally. Sure enough, on the road to power, any family affection and love can be relinquished.