Shangguan Wan'er became famous among the outstanding women of the Tang Dynasty, not only because she was the first secretary of Wu Zetian, but also because she participated in a series of major events from Wu Zetian's claim to emperor to Li Longji's coup d'état.
However, in that era of the rise of feminism and bloodshed and cruelty, except for Wu Zetian alone, almost all the women involved in high-level politics did not have a good ending in the end, and Shangguan Wan'er was the same, and the scenery struggled for most of her life, and finally ended up in a different place and died without a place to die. Let's take a look at what kind of life a generation of talented women have gone through.
Born into a famous family, he was suddenly devastated
Shangguan Wan'er was born into a famous family, and her grandfather Shangguan Yi was the prime minister of the Gaozong Dynasty. However, Shangguan yi's political sensitivity was very poor, and when Wu Zetian's power as empress was in full swing, Emperor Gaozong asked Shangguan Yi about shangguan yi, and Shangguan Yi actually said to Emperor Gaozong without hesitation: "The empress is arbitrary, and Hai Nei is disappointed, and should be deposed to conform to the people's hearts." He also volunteered to draft an edict for Emperor Gaozong to abolish the Empress Dowager.
Shangguan Yi
At this time, the palace was full of Wu Zetian's eyes and ears, and the news soon reached Wu Zetian's ears, and when Wu Zetian rushed to gaozong's case with great momentum and took up the edict to question gaozong, gaozong did not hesitate to sell Shangguanyi, claiming that it was Shangguanyi's idea. Of course, Wu Zetian would not show mercy, and directly created an unjust prison to frame Shangguan Yi for rebellion, behead him with his son, and confiscate the family property.
Talent appeared, and he was ordered to enter the palace
At this time, Shangguan Wan'er was still in her infancy, and together with her mother, she was relegated to slavery. And Shangguan Wan'er grew up to perfectly inherit the advantages of her grandfather, extremely talented, and her mother also greatly cultivated her, although she lived in the court, but it did not hinder Shangguan Wan'er's talent, and all this was actually passed on to Wu Zetian's ears.
When Shangguan Wan'er was 14 years old, Wu Zetian summoned her. Shangguan Wan'er's fate was changed at this moment, and during Wu Zetian's on-the-spot investigation, Shangguan Wan'er answered like a stream and behaved decently, which made Wu Zetian Longyan very happy, and immediately ordered that her slave status be removed and she be left by his side. From then on, Shangguan Wan'er became a close confidant of Wu Zetian and was in charge of the palace commandments, that is, drafting and issuing various major announcements for Wu Zetian, which was equivalent to Wu Zetian's first secretary.
Shangguan Wan'er and Wu Zetian
After Wu Zetian became emperor, in his later years, he raised two male favorites, that is, the Zhang brothers, and for Shangguan Wan'er, who was a close confidant, Wu Zetian did not shy away from it, so that Shangguan Wan'er had a big heart and hooked up with Zhang Changzong. Unexpectedly, once he was bumped into by Wu Zetian, emperor Wu, who was knocked over the vinegar jar, pulled out a golden sword, inserted it into Shangguan Wan'er's bun, injured his left forehead, and angrily said: "Ru dare to approach me and forbid me, and the crime should be executed." "It was thanks to Zhang Changzong who knelt down on her behalf and begged for forgiveness."
Because Wan Er had a scar on her forehead, she stabbed a red plum blossom at the scar to cover up, but she did not know that it was more delicate. The palace ladies all thought it was beautiful, and some people secretly used rouge to dot the forehead red to imitate, which is the origin of the Tang Dynasty red plum makeup.
During the reign of Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan'er served him meticulously, gave full play to his melodious and exquisite political talents, won the trust of Emperor Wu, and took advantage of his unique conditions around Emperor Wu to vigorously cultivate his own power. The master-servant relationship between her and Wu Zetian has also been rumored to be a good story in history.
Don't be afraid of danger, and make waves again
After Wu Zetian's death, Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian succeeded to the throne, and Wan'er had had an affair with Emperor Zhongzong before, so it was logical that Emperor Zhongzong was given the title of Zhaorong, still in charge of drafting the edict.
However, Emperor Zhongzong had been suppressed and devalued by Wu Zetian for decades, and had long developed a timid, fearful, weak and incompetent personality, and had been worn countless green hats throughout his life. Shangguan Wan'er saw this in time, so she had an affair with Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi and introduced him to Empress Wei of Emperor Zhongzong.
And Wei Hou suffered with Zhongzong for decades, and at this moment, when Zhongzong was weak, he dreamed of being an empress. The addition of Shangguan Wan'er and Wu Sansi greatly increased Wei Hou's strength, and under Wu Sansi's planning, all five Li Tang ministers who supported Emperor Zhongzong's succession were executed, while Wu Sansi and Shangguan Wan'er were in power.
Later, the crown prince Li Chongjun felt that his position was seriously threatened, so he launched a coup d'état and rushed into Wu Sansi Mansion to kill his entire family, and then went straight to the palace in an attempt to kill Wei Hou and Shangguan Wan'er. This was perhaps the most dangerous moment in Shangguan Wan'er's life, and when faced with the rebels, Wan'er ran to Emperor Zhongzong and shouted to Emperor Zhongzong: "The intention of Prince Guan is to kill Shangguan Wan'er first, and then hunt down the Empress and Her Majesty in turn." ”
Originally, the crown prince just wanted to kill Wu Sansiwei's party and did not mean to rebel, but at this moment, it was impossible to say how, under the order of the emperor, the rebels hesitated, and finally the prince was defeated and killed. Shangguan Wan'er escaped the disaster.
Political speculation, bamboo baskets fetch water
After Wu Sansi's death, Shangguan Wan'er's biggest patron was naturally Wei Hou, but Wan'er saw that Wei Hou was only thin and shallow, and it was extremely risky to follow her, so she prepared to step on two boats and lean on the most powerful Princess Taiping at that time.
Shangguan Wan'er stills
Sure enough, Empress Wei designed to poison Emperor Zhongzong and prepare to make the young Li Chongmao crown prince, and she took sole power and waited for the opportunity to become emperor, and when drafting Emperor Zhongzong's will, Shangguan Wan'er reached a tacit understanding with Princess Taiping in time, adding the phrase "Let Empress Wei know the government affairs, and Li Dan the Prince of Xiang participate in the decision on government affairs", and Xiang Wang was the later Ruizong, the father of Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji. In this way, Wan Er expressed her loyalty to Li Tangzong, hoping to win her own life-saving amulet in the coming power struggle.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Empress Wei, with the support of Princess Anle and a bunch of other die-hard parties, prepared to learn from Wu Zetian as emperor, but she forgot that Wu Zetian had worked hard for thirty years to claim the emperor, from the imperial situation to the chancellor, all under his control, and finally decided to return to the Li Tang family in his later years.
However, Wei Hou only took advantage of Emperor Zhongzong's weakness and a group of lackeys to fight dissidents, and temporarily gained power in the imperial court, and at this time, the Li Tang family was a rising star, and Li Longji, the king of Linzi, had secretly cultivated his own forces, especially the senior generals of the Forbidden Army were not only extremely disgusted with Wei Hou's party, but also defected to Li Longji.
Don Long coup
Therefore, when Li Longji and Princess Taiping jointly launched the Tanglong coup, Wei Hou and Princess Anle's party had no power to fight back, and the Spring and Autumn Dream was shattered overnight, and finally fell to the ground, and Xiang Yuyu died.
And Shangguan Wan'er, who had thought that by virtue of the edict of Emperor Zhongzong that was drafted together with Princess Taiping in favor of the Li Tang family, especially Li Dan, the King of Xiang, she could retreat in this coup and even enter the core circle of Li Tangzong's room. But unfortunately, he met Li Longji, the later ming emperor.
"How can this adulterous and molested the palace be forgiven?" Today, if you don't blame it, you won't regret it. This was Li Longji's final decision on Shangguan Wan'er, a generation of talented women, a female official shangguan Wan'er who had fallen to the ground.
Later, Princess Taiping built a mausoleum for her for her merits, but later Princess Taiping was murdered for rebellion, and Shangguan Wan'er, as her former party, was also liquidated again, and the bones were most likely dragged out and burned, leaving only an empty tomb.
Throughout Shangguan Wan'er's life, talent and political acumen have always accompanied the success and ups and downs of her short life, as a slave, she was able to achieve temporary power in the Tang Dynasty, which was full of talents, especially in the side of Wu Zetian for more than ten years, which shows her profound political skills.
However, Shangguan Wan'er, as a dangerous woman in the era of feudal patriarchy, when Li Longji decided to end the decades of history of women's politics in the Tang Dynasty and re-establish the background of the Li Tang family's male martial power, whether Wan'er contributed to the Li Tang family or not was no longer important, and eradicating the hidden danger of women taking power since Wu Zetian became something that Li Longji had to do, and later the fate of Princess Taiping meant the end of the era of women in power in the Tang Dynasty. It was also very common for Shangguan Wan'er to become a ghost under Li Longji's sword.