Lü Hou and Wu Zetian were both very skilled female politicians, and after they gained power, they both wantonly divided their families. But after the death of these two women, their family's experience was completely different. Lü Hou's family was fully liquidated, and all the lü clan members were executed, even the descendants of Lü Hou's son Liu Ying were not spared; but Wu Zetian was different, even after his death, the Wu family was still safe and sound, and could still be reused in the dynasty.
So why are they all strong women, their families have such a big difference after the demise of power, I think the most critical reason is the problem of power possession.
The Lü clan is greater than everything
During the reign of Emperor Liu Ying of Han, Lü Yan had already begun to use his posthumous power to suppress the imperial power, and Emperor Hui of Han was a kind-hearted man who did not like to fight. Therefore, it didn't take long for Lü Yan to already control the situation. In 188 BC, after the death of Emperor Hui of Han, Lü Yan made Liu Ying's eldest son Liu Gong emperor, and at the same time, she announced to her ministers that she would listen to the government and issue decrees in place of the young emperor.
Lu Yan film and television image
From then on, no matter how big or small the Western Han Dynasty was, it had to pass through the hands of Empress Dowager Lü Yan. After gaining supreme power, Lü Yan began to do two things: first, he began to increase his efforts to suppress Liu's clan relatives; second, he constantly promoted the status of the Lü family and at the same time constantly promoted his own cronies so that he could better control the situation.
In response to Lü Yan's series of actions, many ministers and Relatives of the Liu clan opposed it, but Lü Yan completely ignored it, not only that, he also willfully posthumously posthumously posthumously crowned his two brothers as kings. Everyone should know that since ancient times, only the emperor has the right to give the minister the title of king, and even if Lü Yan exercises his rights in place of the young Liu Gong, it should be the Liu family, not the Lü family.
In doing so, Lü Yan was already usurping Liu's Jiangshan, so from 187 BC onwards, Lü Yan almost crowned all the men of the Lü family as kings. Not only that, after making all the men kings, she was still not satisfied, and began to make the women of the Lü family hou. It can be said that the Western Han Dynasty at that time was no longer surnamed Liu, but surnamed Lü. And the Lü family also began to do a lot of things that hurt nature and reason with the support of Lü Yan.
In July 180 BC, Lü Yan, who had been in charge of the government for many years, died. The descendants of the Lü family began to fear the revenge of the Liu family, so in September of the same year, Zhu Lü plotted a rebellion in the home of Lü Yan's nephew, and they wanted to take Liu's Jiangshan in one fell swoop. However, what he did not expect was that this matter was actually known to Liu Xiang, the King of Qi, and in order to defend Liu's Jiangshan, Liu Xiang raised an army to attack Zhu Lü, and in the end, the rebellion conspired by the Lü family was completely quelled, and Zhu Lü was eradicated.
The love between mother and son is greater than the love of aunt and nephew
When Wu Zetian first boarded the plane, he also wantonly divided the Wu clan people, so the wu clan people who were becoming more and more powerful had other thoughts. In particular, when Wu Zetian reached the end of his life, her two nephews Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi actively sought to become crown princes. At this time, Di Renjie stood up and was moved by Wu Zetian's understanding, and he told Wu Zetian: "The relationship between mother and son is much deeper than the relationship between aunt and nephew, and if your son inherits the throne, then you can still enter the imperial ancestral hall, but once the nephew inherits the throne, then you may not be able to enjoy such treatment." ”
Wu Zetian film and television image
Since Di Renjie's advice, Wu Zetian had no intention of passing the throne to the Wu clan, and secretly took Li Xian back to Luoyang, plus Wu Zetian's ministers, including Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, who he greatly favored in his later years, all advised him to make Li Xian crown prince. Later, in another recruitment ceremony, Wu Zetian once again felt the strong appeal of Li Tang, knowing that Li Tang jiangshan had long been a matter of people's hearts, so he finally strengthened his determination to establish Li Xian as the crown prince.
After arranging for Li Xian to be the crown prince, Wu Zetian arranged the posthumous affairs, and she began to indulge in pleasures, overhauling the palace and other matters, and completely handed over the government to her trusted two brothers, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and over time, the two brothers began to use their power to frame Zhongliang. Eventually, the group of courtiers rebelled. Under the leadership of the chancellor Zhang Kamzhi, all the ministers of the DPRK and the Central Korean Army launched a coup d'état on the grounds of Erzhang's rebellion, and the group of ministers directly killed Erzhang, and then surrounded Wu Zetian's main hall and demanded that she abdicate immediately, which was the "Shenlong Coup" that occurred in Wu Zetian's later years.
After beating Wu Zetian into the "Cold Palace", there was no one around him to rely on. But after all, the blood is connected, Li Xian, after boarding the plane, often pay attention to Wu Zetian's living and body, once when Li Xian went to see Wu Zetian before handling government affairs, he was surprised to find that Wu Zetian, who was originally solemnly dressed, no longer dressed up since he was forced to give way, and his face became more and more haggard. When Wu Zetian saw Li Xian, he wept and said, "I transferred you back to Luoyang from afar, originally planning to hand over all the rivers and mountains to you, but you robbed me here." And when Li Xian listened to Wu Zetian's words, he also felt sorry for his mother, and immediately knelt on the ground to thank him for the death penalty. This conversation between Wu Zetian and Li Xian is recorded in historical records, and we can also see from it that Li Xian really felt guilty about Wu Zetian. Because of this, some people speculate that the Wu clan can still be reused after losing power in Wu Zetian because Li Xian feels guilty about Wu Zetian.
Therefore, in summary, the Lü family was eradicated all because they made a wrong decision, perhaps if they can support the Liu clan descendants to claim the emperor, maybe they can still enjoy the glory and wealth; and if the Wu clan people want to seize the power of Li Tang like the Lü clan, then their fate will definitely be the same as the Lü clan.
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