In 651, Empress Wang, who had been made empress for more than a year, had no children after marrying Li Zhi, and Consort Xiao had several children at the same time, and was gradually snubbed by Li Zhi.
Empress Wang's confused plan
The empress, who was not willing to be beaten into the cold palace, got a message. Emperor Li Zhi and Emperor Taizong's talentEdu Wu shimei when they entered the incense last year, and when they heard the news, Empress Wang did not get angry, but was overjoyed, and she felt that her dark life suddenly saw a glimmer of hope, because she saw in her consciousness that she had a magic weapon against Xiao Shufei.
The following year, not long after Li Zhi's filial piety expired, Empress Wang secretly took the Wu clan into the palace and gave it to Li Zhi as a gift, and Empress Wang naively thought that she hoped that the Wu clan could take away some of Xiao Shufei's favors. This decision proved to be very successful, but like a double-edged sword, one of the most confusing moves.
Li Zhi, who had received the Wu clan, was overjoyed and succeeded Li Zhongguo, the son of the palace official Liu Shi, to Empress Wang and made her crown prince, and Empress Wang's plot was initially successful, in this year, 652. For this reason, the overjoyed Empress Wang boasted of the Wu clan in front of Li Zhi, and the words were picked up, and the Wu clan also knew her situation and was obedient to the empress wang.
The two spent three years of sweet years, if they also succeeded in suppressing Xiao Shufei's arrogance. However, with the coldness of Xiao Shufei, the increasingly favored Wu clan soon became empress Wang's heart disease, and by this time, she may have regretted it, but she understood in vain that the Wu clan would not only take away Xiao Shufei's favor, but also take her back seat.
Emperor Gaozong's small abacus
The Sui and Tang dynasties were an era when the shi clan was still very powerful, although it had been declining, but in the early Tang Dynasty, the shi clan since the Six Dynasties plus the Guan Long upstart still had a lot of power, on the one hand, they vigorously co-opted the shi clan, and according to their talents, they granted official positions, on the other hand, they suppressed the law, and Li Zhi specially issued a special edict for not allowing Cui Lu and other families to marry privately. The delicate relationship between the emperor and the warriors can be seen.
However, after hundreds of years of habit, the warriors were not very interested in Huangquan. In particular, the new upstarts of Guan Long, who grasped real power, headed by the eldest grandson Wujie, and the shi clan, led by Chu Suiliang and others, were all vigorously defending their own interests. Li Zhi, who is the son of heaven, is actually restricted everywhere.
Li Zhi, who was not willing to be known, had only one way to go and gradually cultivate his own foundation, but unfortunately, although the imperial examination system had developed by leaps and bounds at that time, there was still no way to confront the family.
At this time, Li Zhi found that only this Wu clan could have a heart with him, because the Wu clan was born in a humble place, unlike Xiao Shufei and Empress Wang, who were all family clans, on the one hand, the Wu clan did not have such family conditions, naturally there was no way of thinking of the clan, on the other hand, the Wu clan was good at drilling camps, observing subtle things everywhere, and could understand Li Zhi's thoughts.
In this context, the Wu clan not only became Li Zhi's pillow person, but also his only ally at that time, they could think of going together, so the Wu clan became heavier and heavier in Li Zhi's heart, and in the end, Li Zhi decided to depose Empress Wang in order to curb the eldest son Wujie and attack the Shi clan.
Wu Zetian's chance
Wu Zetian had many opportunities, but the most important opportunity was that she gave birth to a daughter, who died not long after birth, and she was scheming in order to take advantage of the opportunity to marry the empress dowager and kill the enemy in one move.
Under the creation of the Wu clan, The Empress Wang, who had just gone to visit the Little Princess, unexpectedly became the person who murdered the Little Princess, thinking of the arrogance of the Shi clan and the fact that The Queen Wang had no children, which made Li Zhi suddenly hate Empress Wang, and there was no room for maneuver.
The Wu clan, who is good at acting, at this time, actually talked about love to the Queen Wang, and the result was tantamount to lifting oil to fight the fire. Li Zhi believed that the Wu clan was afraid of the threat of Empress Wang, and the pain of losing her daughter, coupled with his pity for the Wu clan, finally made Li Zhi make up his mind to abolish the empress. Changed to Wu Zetian.
The struggle between the royal family and the warrior clan
The abolition of the empress is not only a household affair, but also a major matter for a country. Li Zhi understood this and carefully told the chancellor, Sun Wuji, and others, and the result was unanimously opposed, either she was from a lowly background or she was a member of the Taizong Palace.
This group of old ministers did not oppose the abolition of the empress, because the empress was childless, and the reasons for opposition were not very sufficient, but against the Liwu clan, Chu Suiliang said very clearly, and the deposed empress should also be selected from the family clan. This made Li Zhi very disgusted.
He just wanted to get rid of the constraints of the warrior clan to think of this, and as a result, he walked to the garden in the field, still the same old way, so what else to play? However, the Xiangquan was too big, and they were all Taizong's old ministers, and there was no way to end it for a while.
At this time, Wu Shi ran out to intercede and asked Li Zhi to make her a concubine, without mentioning the matter after Li. Li Zhi obeyed one by one, and after becoming a concubine, he soon became empress. Because he held a grudge against Changsun Wujie's opposition, Wu Zetian then instructed Xu Jingzong and others to falsely accuse Changsun Wujie, Chu Suiliang, and others of rebellion.
Li Zhi then deposed the two men and died in exile. Subsequently, a large number of Guanlong's new nobles and members of the family clan were purged, and Li Zhi completed the concentration of imperial power by deposing the empress.
summary
Many people in later generations criticized Li Zhi for marrying Wu Shi, believing that he was extremely confused, but it was precisely because of Wu Shi that Li Zhi quickly withdrew his power from the hands of Changsun Wuji and others, and it has to be said that this move is very clever.