Now most of us know that Wu Zetian is the only female emperor in Chinese history, although there are many women in history who have listened to the government as empresses, not emperors, better than emperors, but the only female emperor who is really righteous and righteous is the only female emperor in Chinese history. However, history is not like this, 37 years before Wu Zetian became emperor, there was a woman who became the first female emperor in Chinese history, and her experience is even more legendary than Wu Zetian.
This woman is Chen Shuozhen, she was born in 620 AD, she was born two years ago, the Tang Dynasty was only established in 618 AD, the Tang Dynasty at this time can be said to be poor and weak, no longer the rich scene of the Sui Wen Emperor period, and even worse than the Sui Emperor in some aspects. In order to seek temporary peace, the Tang Dynasty even claimed to others. At the same time, in order to cope with the huge threat from the north, the Tang Dynasty had to levy high taxes on the common people.
Chen Shuozhen was born in the Hangzhou city of Zhejiang Province, her parents died early when she was a child, and she and a younger sister depended on each other, and it was the villagers who raised them together. The area of Hangzhou, Zhejiang, was originally a place with very rich products, but it was precisely because of this that the imperial court paid particularly much tax here. When Chen Shuozhen grew up, there was a major flood one year, but the taxes of the imperial court did not decrease, resulting in many local farmers being unable to survive.
Chen Shuo really relied on the farmers in the village to grow up, and she was very sad to see all this. At this time, she was working in a large family, and she knew that there was a lot of food in the owner's warehouse, and the keys were in her hands. So Chen Shuozhen secretly used the owner's grain to help the peasants who could not survive, so that they could not survive, so that they could avoid death. However, this matter was discovered by others, and she was eventually arrested by the government and beaten and tortured in her cell.
The villagers have always had a very good relationship with Chen Shuozhen, plus this time they did not starve to death, all because Chen Shuozhen risked a lawsuit to secretly give everyone relief, so when they learned that Chen Shuozhen was arrested, they were indignant, and finally they secretly rescued Chen Shuozhen from the cell. At this time, Chen Shuozhen was covered in scales, and the government was hunting her again, so she fled to the area of Shipwreck Mountain to recuperate and reflect on why everyone suffered hunger and suffering.
After repeated reflection, Chen Shuozhen came to a conclusion, that is, only by overthrowing the rule of the Tang Dynasty at that time could we get rid of the heavy oppression of the common people and let all the poor people live a happy life. After thinking about this problem again, she combined Taoism and Manichaeism at that time to develop a set of ideas based on the belief in overthrowing the rule of the Tang Dynasty, which was somewhat similar to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in later generations.
Due to the combined effect of natural and man-made disasters, the local people really cannot survive. Now Chen Shuo's words seemed to be a thunderbolt, and at once the door in people's hearts was opened, and everyone felt that overthrowing the oppression of the government was the key to solving the problem, so under the guidance of Chen Shuozhen, they broke out a peasant uprising, attacked the city and plundered the land all the way, and occupied the nearby states and counties at that time, with great momentum.
At this time, in order to give his subordinates greater confidence, Chen Shuozhen called himself "Emperor Wenjia" and formed his own leadership team to imitate the system of the Tang Dynasty, officially calling himself emperor. However, due to the lack of training and weak combat effectiveness of the peasant army, and there was no large-scale peasant uprising in other places at that time, Chen Shuozhen's uprising failed in 653 AD, and Chen Shuozhen was heroic and righteous. But this uprising profoundly affected the concept of women at that time, before everyone only knew that men were emperors, and now there are women who have become emperors, giving many women unlimited reverie.
As a woman of almost the same era as Wu Zetian, Chen Shuozhen also profoundly influenced Wu Zetian. It is said that Wu Zetian became a nun at the Ganye Temple after Li Shimin's death, and Chen Shuozhen also came to the temple to become a nun in order to find out information. Wu Zetian's appearance at that time was extraordinary, and he was disturbed by many stupid disciples, and the young Wu Zetian was overwhelmed. However, Chen Shuozhen was full of vicissitudes and skill, and a stick knocked those stupid children to the ground.
Therefore, the two became close friends, often referred to as sisters, Chen Shuozhen and Wu Zetian when talking about their views on society found that this little girl was often able to say something that surprised them, so he told her her true identity, and after the appointment she started an incident in the south, Wu Zetian echoed in the north.
By the time Chen Shuozhen started an incident, Wu Zetian was already favored by Li Zhi and had a lot of power. However, the young but calculating Wu Zetian did not respond, and Chen Shuozhen, who was harmed, failed to revolt and was killed, and before he died, he directly called out "righteous sister injustice". Whether this story was true or not, Chen Shuo's real title of emperor must have given Wu Zetian great inspiration. Chen Shuozhen was also the first female emperor in Chinese history, and the only person in Chinese history who combined female emperors and leaders of the peasant army uprising.