What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
In the first year of Shengong (697), Di Renjie paid his second visit. During the second visit, Di Renjie advised Wu Zetian to "restore the Li Tang artifact", that is, to pass the throne to his son. Di Renjie's persuasion played a key role in Wu Zetian's decision to pass the throne to his son, known as "recreating the Tang Dynasty".
In many people's minds, Di Renjie persuaded Wu Zetian to pass the throne to his son because what he said made sense, mainly because the relationship between aunt and nephew was certainly not as good as the relationship between mother and son, and the aunt would not be sacrificed after death. So did Di Renjie really just rely on reason to persuade Wu Zetian to "restore the Li Tang Artifact"?
The truth that Di Renjie said was not something difficult to discover, and another prime minister, Li Zhaode, had said something similar to Wu Zetian many years ago, especially that the relationship between aunt and nephew was not as good as that between mother and son. And when Li Zhaode and Wu Zetian talked about these truths, Di Renjie had not yet entered the pilgrimage!
However, Li Zhaode's statement that "the relationship between aunt and nephew is not as good as the relationship between mother and son" did not convince Wu Zetian, and Li Zhaode could later sadly die with Lai Junchen. It can be seen from this that reason alone cannot convince Wu Zetian at all, and di Renjie must have other important reasons for being able to persuade Wu Zetian.
Although it is not as powerful as the TV series, the political influence of Di Renjie after the second visit can be called one person below and above ten thousand people. In particular, Di Renjie is good at discovering, educating and promoting talents, known as "the world's peach and plum, all in the public gate", and the hidden forces can rival Wu Zetian.
In addition, one of the main reasons why Wu Zetian ascended to the peak of power was that she defeated the gate valve and cleared the last obstacle to the rise of the Shu landlord. And Di Renjie, who was born as a landlord of the Shu clan, was the representative of the basic disk of Wu Zetian's rule, which was also one of the main reasons why Wu Zetian trusted Di Renjie.
Because of this, Di Renjie's persuasion of Wu Zetian to pass the throne to his son is not only reasonable, but also shows that the attitude of the mainstream elite and the basic plate of Wu Zetian's rule is "fu Li Tang artifact". The attitude of the mainstream elite and the basic system of domination must be respected, which is the fundamental reason why Wu Zetian was persuaded.