In "The Wind Rises Luoyang", Wu Zetian, played by Yongmei, has quite a personality, does not move, is not angry and arrogant, and renxiao's little disciples rush left and right, jump up and down, sit firmly on the Diaoyutai, and easily resolve one conspiracy after another. However, in real history, Wu Zetian was far from being so easy, she did everything in her power to strictly guard against death for 25 years, and finally lost to Xuanwu Gate and lost Wu Zhou jiangshan.
Why?
(Wu Zetian played by Wang Ji)
First, Wu Zetian defended his authority and strictly guarded it for 21 years
In December 683, Emperor Gaozong of Tang died, and his son Li Xian took the throne; Li Xianwen was weak, so the spring of Wu Zetian came. First of all, he was in charge of the dynasty, holding the authority of the Tang Dynasty in his hands, and soon he was crowned emperor. Chinese history entered the Wuzhou period. Due to the continuous resistance of Li Tang's disciples and many Tang dynasty heroes to Wu Zhou, Wu Zetian was in a state of nervous tension for 21 years from 684 AD to 705 AD, strictly guarding against death, and exhausting his means.
In a nutshell, Wu Zetian mainly used his brain in three aspects:
First of all, with the combination of the whistleblowing system and the cool official system, it is necessary to eliminate the Li Tang Sect's office. In 684, after Wu Zetian quelled Xu Jingye's rebellion, he began to encourage civilian informants across the country to identify potential anti-wu forces. He also asked Zhou Xing and others to establish a system of cool officials, and through frames and severe torture to extort confessions, forced Li's sons such as Li Yuanjia, Li Lingkui, Li Zhuo, Li Rong, and so on to commit suicide or be killed.
(Wu Zetian played by Liu Xiaoqing)
Second, culture creates momentum and fabricates the legitimacy of women as emperors. Wu Zetian called himself "Our Lady", and ordered his nephew Wu Chengsi to chisel the 8 characters of "Our Lady of The Prophet, The Emperor of Yongchang" on the white stone, throw the stone into luoshui, and then ask people to salvage it, creating the illusion that the heavens let her be called emperor. It is also asked some ministers to depict the auspicious scene of "Fengji Shangyang Palace, Red Bird Seeing The Imperial Hall" that does not exist. The so-called "Vientiane Shrine" was also built for the worship of the Buddha, and Xue Huaiyi and other monks were sent to falsify in the Great Cloud Sutra, saying that Wu Zetian's predecessor was Maitreya Buddha of the Celestial Realm.
Third, constantly suppress his own son and prevent his own son from seizing the throne. After the death of his eldest son Li Hong, Wu Zetian ruthlessly forced his second son Li Xian to die, and then closely monitored his third son Li Xian and fourth son Li Dan. So much so that Li Xian was forced to live in the remote Fangzhou for fourteen years, and Li Dan's family was imprisoned for more than ten years.
There are many other means that cannot be exhausted.
(Elderly Wu Zetian)
Second, the spell that cannot be escaped, Wu Zetian suffered the second "Xuanwumen change"
Despite Wu Zetian's painstaking efforts and brains, fifteen years after becoming emperor, she thought that the impregnable throne was still taken away by her own son Li Xian.
In 705, Wu Zetian fell seriously ill in bed, and the major affairs of the imperial court were entrusted to the brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and the two Zhang Feiyang flew and trampled, causing chaos and anger among hundreds of officials. The chancellor Zhang Kamzhi decided to kill Erzhang, forced Wu Zetian to abdicate, and obtained the consent of the then crown prince Li Xian.
On February 20, 705, Zhang Kamzhi and other leaders of the Yulin army, including Li Anti-Wu Ministers, Li Duozuo, and other Yulin army leaders gathered at Xuanwu Gate in the north of Ziwei City, and the crown prince Li Xian also came to Xuanwu Gate. Everyone gathered around Li Xianzhi and approached Wu Zetian's bedside in the Yingxian Palace, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong saw Li Xian and Zhang Kamzhi, the governor had an accident, came out to drink, and was beheaded by Yulin Jun. Wu Zetian got up from the bed and looked around, all the enemies, and had no choice but to give way to Li Xian. Li Xian regained the throne, abolished Wu Zhou, and returned to Li Tang, and history was on the right track again.
This mutiny was called the "Second Xuanwumen Revolution." Why? Because it has a lot to do with XuanwuMen.
79 years ago, Li Shimin launched a mutiny at Xuanwu Gate in Chang'an City, changing the direction of history. The Xuanwu Gate attracted attention, and later emperors paid attention to sending his henchmen to guard the Xuanwu Gate. Wu Zetian also attached great importance to the guards of the north gate of Ziwei City, that is, the Xuanwu Gate, and arranged his henchmen at the Xuanwu Gate and sent heavy troops to guard it, but unexpectedly there was a second mutiny at the Xuanwu Gate. It's just that the city has changed, from Chang'an City to Luoyang City.
Why did Xuanwumen always mutiny, and even a shrewd person like Wu Zetian was not spared? First, due to the traditional architectural habit of sitting north and facing south in ancient times, the emperor's dormitory is next to the north gate of miyagi (the north gate is generally called Xuanwu Gate), and it is most convenient to attack the emperor's palace from the north, so the palace change often starts from the north city gate. Both, Wu Zetian became seriously ill in 705, and most of the cells of her shrewd brain were sleeping. The chancellor Zhang Kam's plot against Li Duozuo, one of the leaders of the Forbidden Army, li Duozuo also plotted against the guards of Xuanwu Gate, including the janitor, who she did not know. Therefore, xuanwu gate is self-defeating, and the transformation of the divine dragon is easily successful. What a providence!
Third, the deep-seated reasons for Wu Zetian's failure
So, was Wu Zetian's failure accidental? No, it is inevitable.
The main reason is that Li Tangjiangshan has a very good mass base. Since the establishment of Li Yuan, the Tang Dynasty has been unified, and the world has begun to show its glory; Li Shimin has succeeded him, the four realms have submitted, the eight parties have come to the dynasty, the politics is clear, the economy is economical, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, showing a grand situation of zhenguan; although Li Zhi of Tang Gaozong is slightly weak, he has made further progress in the martial arts of Wenzhi. At that time, the people had a high sense of identification with Datang, and most of them were proud of themselves as Tang people. This is a rare mass base for Li Tangjiangshan. Therefore, after Wu Zetian "used the Zhou Dynasty to tang", many people did not think that a new dynasty had begun, but regarded "Zhou" as a continuation of "Tang" and Regarded Wu Zetian as Tang's daughter-in-law, and they all thought that Tang was not dead.
There is a story in the Zizhi Tongjian. Li Xian, the third son of Wu Zetian, although very weak, was very appealing in the folk. When Wu Zetian recruited troops to fight the Turks, Wu Sansi came forward, and few people responded, "recruiting less than a thousand people in a month"; while Li Xian's conscription was gathered, reaching 50,000 in a few days. It can be seen that people regard Li Xian as the embodiment of the Tang Dynasty, a powerful popular force that Wu Zetian had to consider.
The same was true from the perspective of the ministers around Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian trusted Di Renjie, but Di Renjie resolutely supported Li Tang and asked Wu Zetian to return the government to Li Tang. Di Renjie recommended Zhang Kamzhi to be Wu Zetian's chancellor, and Zhang Kamzhi also firmly supported Li Tang. That's why the "Dragon Change" took place in 705 AD.
The second reason for Wu Zetian's failure was the lack of an heir like Wu Zetian among Wu Zetian's sons. Of course, Wu Zetian could insist on passing the throne to the sons of the Wu clan, but what about after passing the throne? Can the children of the Wu clan keep the Wu Zhou Jiangshan? Hard!
After Wu Zetian, Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi were the best of the Wu clan's sons, but their minds, temperament, and personal ability were far from enough. Wu Zetian could make such capable ministers as Di Renjie and Zhang Kamzhi "cherish Li Tang" but seriously do things for the Wu Zhou Dynasty. If Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi were in charge of the world, they might have one word for Di Renjie, Zhang Kamzhi and others: kill. In the end, of course, you kill me, I kill you, and we're doomed together!