What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
If you ask you how many emperors there have been in Chinese history, you may not necessarily know. But if you were asked who the only female emperor in Chinese history was, you would blurt out her name, Wu Zetian.
People relished some of her stories, but few people cared about the fate of the legendary female emperor, except that Wu Zetian lost power in his later years and had to return to his son Li Xian.
In everyone's imagination, after Wu Zetian abdicated, it must be a tree falling and scattered, after all, the cruelty of the power struggle is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Not to mention that Wu Zetian himself was also fierce when he was in power, and he had wantonly slaughtered Li Tangzong's chambers, and as many as ninety people were clearly recorded in the history books, and there were countless people implicated, and there should be no less li tang clans who hated Wu Zetian.
However, to everyone's surprise, Wu Zetian was still highly respected after his abdication and enjoyed the treatment of an emperor.
Spoil the two: people are afraid
To explain clearly why Wu Zetian still enjoyed honor after the coup d'état lost power, we must also start from why the coup was launched. When Wu Zetian officially ascended the throne, she was already 67 years old, and she was also the oldest emperor in Chinese history.
After successfully grasping the greatest authority in the world, Wu Zetian was momentarily satisfied, and the teeth were re-grown in the old age, which showed the nourishment of power on her.
However, the fact that she has the art of staying in the face does not mean that she is not old, and as she grows older, a very real problem is placed in front of her and the courtiers. That is, after a hundred years of Wu Zetian, who will be the heir of this huge empire.
Wu Zetian had two choices, the first was to pass on his own children, and the second was to make the Wu family, her nephew, the heir. Needless to say, the reasons for passing on the throne to one's own children are all natural and natural.
However, in order to consolidate his throne, Wu Zetian not only promoted his mother's family to cultivate his own power, but also called the Zhou Dynasty with ingenuity. It is good to pass it on to his children, but after all, his son's surname is Li, and once he returns to Li Tang, he is afraid that his years of hard work will be destroyed.
Just when Wu Zetian hesitated, the words of the old man Di Renjie finally made her make up her mind to make her son Li Xian the crown prince, that is, Tang Zhongzong.
What Di Renjie said is that you always have to think about the aftermath, since ancient times, only children have worshipped their parents' ancestors, and they have never seen nephews worship their aunts.
After establishing the heir, Wu Zetian also put down a big stone in his heart. But at the same time, like the emperors of the past, she was addicted to pleasure in her later years. Wu Zetian had many male favorites in his life, but the most favored were the Zhang brothers, Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi.
The Zhang brothers were born in the city and flew high as soon as they gained power. The New Book of Tang records that "Changzong is not prosperous, and your world is shaking." "The absurd behavior of the Zhang brothers has made the government and the public look sideways.
Li Chongrun, the eldest son of Crown Prince Li Xian, and his sister Yongtai Commandery (永泰郡) and brother-in-law Wu Yanji (武延基) the Prince of Wei privately discussed the Zhang brothers' control of the imperial government. With the honor of the emperor and grandson as the lord of the county, after the news was leaked, he actually ended up with a staff, which shows the arrogance of the Zhang brothers.
Later, as Wu Zetian became seriously ill and the Zhang brothers further controlled chao gang, a question in the hearts of the people became more and more serious. After the leaflets of the Zhang brothers' rebellion spread throughout the streets and alleys of Luoyang, this question reached its peak, that is, could the crown prince Li Xian really succeed to the throne smoothly?
The End of the Female Emperor: The Divine Dragon Coup
In the first year of Shenlong, the 82-year-old Wu Zetian was getting more and more ill, and he rarely saw the ministers, and the major affairs of the government were conveyed by the Zhang brothers. A cadre of important ministers, led by the chancellor Zhang Kamzhi, broke into the palace to kill the Zhang brothers and demanded that Wu Zetian return the government to the crown prince, known in history as the Shenlong Revolution.
Yes, the Shenlong coup was aimed at the Zhang brothers, never Wu Zetian himself. Moreover, judging from the results, Wu Zetian was originally going to pass the throne to the crown prince, and the coup only advanced this result.
Interestingly, on the day of the coup, Wu Zetian woke up from his sleep and was not surprised to see the people who broke in, but was very puzzled when he found that one of these people was Cui Xuanwei, who had been pulled up by his own hand.
The female emperor asked the once loyal ministers: "Everyone else is recommended by others, and it is enough to stand here today, you are the prime minister with me, how can you oppose me with them?" Cui Xuanwei's answer is also worth reading, he said: "I am also repaying Your Majesty in my own way." ”
Cui Xuanwei's words were easy to understand, and he thought that what he was doing was the Side of the Qing Dynasty. In his view, Wu Zetian was wise and divine, and it was wrong to favor only the Zhang brothers and cause chaos in the government. "Those who are indomitable, so are the straight subjects; those who fear the power and obey the will, the servants are also."
Of course, he was very grateful to the empress for her promotion, but he was also repaying this kindness in his own way. In fact, Cui Xuanwei's words also reflected the ideas of many ministers involved in the coup. There are also many loyal people among them, if it is not for a common ideal, how can they come together?
Throughout his life, Wu Zetian respected Geng Jie's men, and knew that people were quite famous for making good use of meritocracy. However, in the end, it was also these people she trusted and promoted, and even forced her to abdicate, which was really regrettable.
Honor before death, mourn after death
After Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian officially succeeded to the throne, Wu Zetian moved to Shangyang Palace and died of illness in the same year. How tragic the emperor who was seized power by the coup d'état is, I believe everyone has heard about it. However, in the last period of Wu Zetian's life, he still enjoyed the honor of the emperor.
Although her Wuzhou Dynasty was destroyed by Li Xian, at the same time Li Xian also added the honorific title of "Zetian Dasheng Emperor" to his mother. Before Wu Zetian's death, the Tang Dynasty actually had the spectacle of having two masters of the state.
Moreover, Li Xian's respect for his mother was not just verbal, he also ordered his subjects to visit Wu Zetian once every ten days with him at Shangyang Palace. Such a treatment, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, who was also forced to abdicate, knew that he was afraid that he could cry bitterly on the spot.
In November of the same year, the legendary female emperor died of illness in the Shangyang Palace. Before dying, Wu Zetian left a will, and she asked to go to Zetian Dasheng Emperor and return to Zetian Empress, and asked to be buried with her husband Li Zhi.
The death of his mother made Li Xian greatly sad, and he not only complied with his mother's words, but also resisted the pressure of his courtiers, dug up the Qianling tomb of his father Li Zhi, and buried his parents together.
In the author's opinion, there are many reasons why Wu Zetian still maintained his honor after the Shenlong coup, but they can be attributed to three major reasons. The first is that she has an outstanding political vision, and this wisdom not only makes her laugh to the end many times in the ever-changing court, but also makes the courtiers' hearts break with her great talent. Even after Wu Zetian stepped down, the Qunchen were still happy and sincere with her, and no one was willing to fall into the well.
The second is because the Shenlong coup was aimed at the Zhang brothers, not Wu Zetian himself. Youdao was a courtier, but after Li Xian succeeded to the throne, the Wu family was still heavily used, Wu Zetian's cronies were not damaged, and she herself still had the right to speak.
The third is to talk about Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian's complicated feelings for his mother, Li Xian ascended the throne twice in his life, and he also fell to the bottom of the valley, and his life and death honor and disgrace were between the thoughts of his mother Wu Zetian for a long time, which made him respect and fear his mother. This feeling made him still very filial to Wu Zetian after he became the son of heaven.
However, no matter how much Wu Zetian was respected before her death, the era that belonged to her finally came to an end. As the chancellor Cui Rong wrote in the "Elegy of the Empress Zetian": "The front hall is about to end, and the Changling Tomb is buried together." The mountains and rivers are not to be seen, and the cultural relics are all wrong. ”
Thousands of years have passed slowly, things are not people, and the legendary life of a generation of empresses has finally become a joke in the pen.