In 690, Wu Zetian experienced a brutal court struggle and finally obtained the coveted throne. But the strange thing is that after 15 years, Wu Zetian actually decided to return the throne to the Li family, why didn't she choose to continue Wu Zhou? In fact, Wu Zetian had her helplessness.
Wu Zetian was not recognized
After Wu Zetian became emperor, some local forces were very dissatisfied, and even broke out uprisings, although these riots were eventually suppressed, but it also showed that the female emperor was not tolerated by the people at that time. The fact that a woman could become emperor really challenged the perceptions of people at that time.
Wu Zetian knew that although he could suppress people's public opinion and riots during his lifetime, after his death, he was likely to leave a name for eternity, and his family would also be liquidated and washed in blood. Therefore, before his death, Wu Zetian deposed the imperial title and passed the throne to his son to reduce the resentment of the people at that time.
The Wu family was useless
Although Wu Zetian had also considered letting the Wu family inherit the unification, she knew in her heart that the people of her own family were overwhelmed, and Wu Sansi and others were superficially obedient to themselves, but in fact they only wanted to seize the power of the empire.
Moreover, his own reputation after his death was also a big problem, Wu Zetian once asked Di Renjie about the heir, Di Renjie strongly persuaded Wu Zetian to make a son as an heir, and said that no nephew would be willing to serve his aunt, Wu Zetian woke up and decided to make Li Xian the crown prince.
Li Tang is the desire of the people
Although Wu Zetian did not have too many objections at the beginning of his succession, over time, the people still thought of the Li Tang Dynasty in their hearts and did not approve of Wu Zhou. One thing illustrates this:
Once, when the Turks invaded the empire's borders, Wu Zetian decided to let Wu Sansi lead his troops to quell the war. So Wu Sansi recruited troops and horses in Luoyang, but after a month, only a few hundred soldiers were recruited, which was not enough at all.
In desperation, Wu Zetian could only let his son Li Xian recruit troops, who knew that tens of thousands of soldiers would soon be recruited. It can be seen from this that Li Tang is the desire of the people, and after his death, Li Tang will definitely restore the country, and Wu Zetian can only silently accept this fact.
In his later years, Wu Zetian was unable to control the government, so Zhang Kamzhi took the opportunity to launch a coup d'état, seizing Wu Zetian's power and Li Xian, and allowing Emperor Zhongzong of Tang to succeed him.
Before his death, Wu Zetian also decided to return power to Li Tang, choosing to bury Qianling with Emperor Gaozong of Tang as empress. Since then, Li Tang has taken over the world again.