Twenty-three years after Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong of Tang died, and before his death, he appointed Changsun Wuji as an auxiliary chancellor, passed the throne to the crown prince Li Zhi, and taught the eldest son Wuji to have a good life to assist the new jun, Li Zhi had an empress Wang Clan, the Wang clan was in a famous family, the family was an official for generations, influenced by the family atmosphere, Empress Wang knew dali, Gentle and tolerant, should have become a model of maternal etiquette, but fate made her meet Wu Zetian, and her life underwent earth-shaking changes.
The story of Wu Zetian has been heard by everyone, can achieve the dignity of the nine-five in the society where men are in power, itself is not a simple woman, Wu Zetian's boldness and ambitions can not be compared with ordinary men, Wu Zetian entered the palace as Zhaoyi, in front of the empress is still a small person who is not in the flow, but people like her will not be subservient, the first goal is the empress who is high above, the harem is a battlefield without smoke, after a battle of deception and deception, the queen of the king is incense and jade, Wu Zetian finally realized his dream of becoming an empress.
It is well known that although Li Zhi was an emperor, he acted weakly, and after Wu Zetian became empress, he often pointed out and interfered in the government affairs of the dynasty, and the wise Wu Zetian knew that his greatest enemy was not the emperor, but the ministers and princes who strictly abided by the law of human morality.
For thousands of years, the throne has been inherited by the crown prince, if so Wu Zetian is at most a curtain to listen to the government, which obviously can not satisfy her ambitions, Wu Zetian is to live in the patriarchal society to live an emperor addiction, but also to be an upright, young history left a name for the female emperor.
For this reason, Wu Zetian began to liquidate the crown prince, Li Zhi had a total of eight sons, four of whom were born to Wu Zetian, some of whom died prematurely, some of whom were falsely accused and degraded by Wu Zetian, and even framed the prince for rebellion, and was given death by the emperor, none of the four princes were spared, and by this time Wu Zetian had been blinded by power, in order to ascend to that position, Wu Zetian actually disregarded his family affection and attacked his own son.
In the first year of Xianqing, Li Hong, the eldest son of Empress Wu, was made crown prince, and also Li Xian, mentioned above, Li Xian was made the governor of Yangzhou, Li Xian was outstanding in appearance, elegant in demeanor and royal style, Li Zhi liked this son very much, in 675 AD, the crown prince Li Hong was poisoned by Wu Zetian, died violently, the successor of the imperial power was vacant again, Li Xian was made crown prince, in the same year Emperor Gaozong appointed Li Xian to oversee the country and handle the affairs of the imperial court, Li Xian was very diligent during his reign, caring for the people, lightly reducing punishments, and praised Li Xian from top to bottom. Many people believed that Li Xian would definitely be able to take over the throne in the future, so they all said good things to Li Xian.
However, Li Xian had a tense relationship with Empress Wu, and at that time, a warlock who was close to Empress Wu once said to the emperor and Empress Wu that "the crown prince is not inherited, and the king of England (the third son of Empress Wu) looks like Emperor Taizong", and also said that "King Xiang (the youngest son of Empress Wu) is the most expensive", saying that Li Xian could not be entrusted with a heavy responsibility, and that empress Dowager Wu's young son had the appearance of a nobleman, and there were rumors in the harem that Li Xian was not born to Empress Wu, but the son of a Korean lady, and the rumors intensified, and Li Xian panicked and felt uneasy.
In 679, the courtier Ming Chongyu was killed, and the murderer was not caught for a long time, so Empress Wu suspected that Li Xian was responsible, and soon after someone framed him in the palace to search for hundreds of pairs of armor, Wuhou concluded that the prince was plotting rebellion, Emperor Gaozong had always loved Li Xian, and could not bear to do it, but Empress Wu said that she had a rebellious heart and must kill her relatives in righteousness, so Li Xian was relegated to the forbidden palace of the Shuren, and many ministers who befriended the prince were sent to the frontier, which was not the end, after several years of confinement, Li Xian was exiled to Bazhou, and when he left, he did not even have a cotton coat.
Li Xian, who had been reduced to a prisoner of the order, knew that his life was short, so he wrote the miserable verse mentioned above, and in just over 30 words, he exhausted the suffering of the world, alluding to Wu Zetian for the sake of power, and sure enough, after Li Xian arrived in the place of exile, he was forced to commit suicide by Wu Hou's henchmen.
After the death of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Xian succeeded to the throne, and not long after he was deposed by Empress Wu, Empress Wu began to monopolize the government, Shenlong restored Li Xian's title in the early years, posthumously awarded the title of "Zhang Huai", "Zhang Huai" The life of the prince was very miserable, both younger brothers were emperors, and the younger sister was still the powerful Princess Taiping, born in such a family, doomed to Li Xian's miserable life.
Li Xian was talented and learned among many princes, and in his twenties he commanded hundreds of officials to annotate the Book of Later Han, and as a prince, Li Xian oversaw the country three times, and was unanimously praised by Emperor Gaozong and many courtiers, many of whom identified Li Xian as the successor of the empire, but in front of his mother Wu Hou, anyone who stood in his way of taking power must die, even if this person was his son.
"Plant melon yellow under the stage, melon ripe seeds away." One pick makes the melon good, and then picks the melon thin. Three plucks are still acceptable, four plucks hug Man Gui", this poem is from the Tang Dynasty prince Li Xian's hand, no one expected this to become his masterpiece. This poem also expresses the sadness of being born in the imperial family, and also reveals the biggest secret of Wu Zetian - let future generations see how fierce a woman can go. If compared with Lü Yan, Wu Zetian is definitely better, the tiger poison does not eat children, Lü Yan at least will not strangle his daughter.
Thousands of years have passed, there has been no conclusion about Li Xian's death, but in the two Tang Dynasty books it is implied that Wu Hou framed him to death, but some people think that it is the prime minister who seized power to death, in any case, Li Xian's death and power struggle can not be separated from the relationship, for the throne that is high above, father and son cannibalism, brothers against each other, such a thing not only happened in the Tang Dynasty, all the dynasties have a bloody reality, I think this is also the reality of feudal rule society.