After Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty became emperor, it had a profound impact on future generations. There are always some women who want to emulate Wu Zetian and show their ambitions. Among these people, the following one has to be said, because she is wu Zetian's daughter-in-law.
In 683, Emperor Gaozong of Tang's last will and testament: Li Xian, the crown prince (the third son of Wu Zetian), would succeed to the throne, and if the military affairs of the imperial government could not be adjudicated, it would be decided by the empress (then known as the Queen of Heaven) Wu Zetian. Four days later, Li Xian succeeded to the throne, known as Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and honored Wu Zetian as empress dowager.
The crown prince ascended the throne and honored the queen as empress dowager
In fact, at this time, Wu Zetian was already at the forefront of the government.
Wu Zetian stills
Li Xian, who ascended the throne and succeeded to the throne, made Crown Princess Wei shi empress.
This queen Merriam-Webster has her own legend. People who want to elevate themselves often use birth legends to increase their value.
Legend has it that Empress Wei, called Wei Xiang'er, was really named Wei Lian'er. His father, Wei Xuanzhen, was just an ordinary little official, and he didn't even have the opportunity to climb the ladder of power.
Wei Xiang'er was not willing to live such a mediocre life, and she wanted to calculate whether her fate was so bad (in the feudal era, she could only comfort herself with fortune telling), so she went around to find the Dao Chief. Sure enough, she found a Taoist leader, and took advantage of her, saying: "You will have an extraordinary fate in the future", and gave her a prescription, telling her to use it according to the way the prescription is used, and it will definitely change her fate in the future.
Back at home, Wei Xiang'er used it according to the method on the prescription, and sure enough, within half a year, her body emitted a strange fragrance, and her skin became white and tender, and the whole person became beautiful and reborn.
Empress Wei stills
This prescription is really magical, if it is put into the current proper is the Internet celebrity explosion, it is a pity that it has not been passed down.
The fate-changing moment has finally arrived. Li Xian, who was still the prince at the time, passed in front of Wei Xiang'er's house on the way to hunt, because Wei Xiang'er was standing in the courtyard at that time, Li Xian found that there was a faint aroma in the air, he looked for the aroma to find the Wei family, just saw the beautiful Wei Xiang'er standing in the courtyard with its own aroma, a good aroma beauty, fell in love at first sight.
Li Xian took Wei Xiang'er back to the palace and asked Wu Zetian to marry her. At that time, Wu Zetian also liked Wei Xiang'er very much, so he crowned Wei Xiang'er as a crown princess.
Surprised, not surprised? Like the Chinese version of Cinderella and the Crystal Shoes, it is true: if you bloom, the butterflies will come.
However, the sky has unpredictable storms, and people have bad luck.
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang wanted to promote his father-in-law Wei Xuanzhen's position, but was opposed by other ministers, when Li Xian casually said: "Even if I give the world to Wei Xuanzhen, I have nothing, and I still care about a small position." As a result, because of this unintentional remark, Wu Zetian demoted Li Xian to the title of King of Luling.
Therefore, everything is done with twice, never impulsive, and speak without going through the brain. There are often some consequences that you can't afford. In the current workplace, it is even more prudent to speak.
Li Xian, who was demoted to the title of King of Luling, was terrified and fearful all day long, and even thought of committing suicide.
In the period from heaven to hell, Wei Xiang'er has been with her husband Li Xian, encouraging him to support him and asking him not to give up. It was Wei Xiang'er's inseparability that made Li Xian very moved, and he promised Wei Xiang'er: If there is a day when you turn over, you can do whatever you want. This was a disguised promise to give Wei Xiang'er the right to do anything.
Shangyu and Hou privately vowed: "At a different time, I am fortunate to see the day again, and when I do what I want, I will not be forbidden." ”
It's a casual promise. This promise took root in Wei Xiang'er's heart, so much so that Wei Xiang'er's future actions were based on this promise.
In 698, Wu Zetian again made Li Xian the crown prince.
In 705, Li Xian, together with Zhang Zhizhi and other ministers, sent troops to force Wu Zetian to abdicate, and Li Xian regained his title as empress dowager, and immediately made Wei Xiang'er empress.
At this point, it seems that it should be a perfect ending, and Li Tangdu has returned to the normal track. Li Xian and Wei Xiang'er were already standing at the peak of their lives.
But the truth is not absolute, it is precisely because of the situation at the time of the fall, Li Xian's promise and Wu Zetian's model, the desire to take power gradually expanded in Wei Xiang'er's heart, and finally put into action:
1. Every time Li Xian came to the court, Wei Xiang'er had to "bow the curtain and listen to the government", which caused the dissatisfaction of many old ministers, because they did not want the state power they had worked hard to regain and repeat the mistakes of Wu Zetian, so they repeatedly expressed their feelings to Li Xian.
2. Because Li Xian felt that he owed Wei Xiang'er, plus he had given her a promise, he did not take the minister's opinion to heart, making Wei Xiang'er even more unscrupulous.
What is even more exaggerated is that Wei Xiang'er reused wu sansi recommended by Shangguan Wan'er, and often discussed politics with wu sansi. Even play games together. According to records, Wei Xiang'er and Wu Sansi once sat together on the dragon bed and played a game called Shuanglu, and Li Xian was still counting chips for them.
The envoy Wei Hou and the two sides of the land, while self-appointed to the side of the point of preparation
It is a little strange to think about this picture, and it is also strange to be able to do this in the feudal era.
3. Wei Xiang'er not only wants power but also money. Because the power is in the hands of the people, it is easy to make profits, so they are full of their own pockets and sell their official titles. Wei Xiang'er also allowed the people around him to do illegal things, and only those who could get 300,000 yuan could get the emperor's appointment no matter what position they wanted.
In this way, the useless people occupying high positions is undoubtedly speeding up the pace of corruption in the government.
4. In the end, Wei Xiang'er was ready to emulate Wu Zetian as emperor and deliberately sat on the world. As a result, Wei Xiang'er was not allowed, and Li Longji, the king of Linzi at the time, and Princess Taiping decisively raised an army to launch the "TangLong Rebellion", and Li Longji beheaded, arrested, and detained the rebels with overwhelming momentum.
5. Wei Xiang'er wanted to escape through the flying camp, but in the end, he was also beheaded by Li Longji's henchmen. People die without even a title, and are eventually reduced to commoners.
Li Xian, who loved Wei Xiang'er, gave her a promise, but unexpectedly it was this promise that ultimately harmed Wei Xiang'er. Without this commitment, they may be happy. But there is no if if you can start again.
Throughout Wei Xiang'er's life, she was wrong in not correctly estimating her abilities and practices, she did not have Wu Zetian's courage and vision, nor did she have the talent and ability to match it.
It can be seen from this that to be a person, you must make a promise, but don't make a promise easily, and you must not harm someone who has already been harmed.
Resources:
Zizhi Tongjian
Old Book of Tang
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