In 690, Wu Zetian, the most legendary woman in Chinese history, ascended to the throne and began her 15-year-long imperial career. After ascending the throne, Wu Zetian changed the Tang dynasty to Zhou, and posterity called it "WuZhou Regime". So, today, more than 1,300 years after the founding of the Wuzhou regime, how should we view the influence of Wu Zetian and even the Wuzhou regime on Chinese history? We must see both the contributions of historical figures and their own shortcomings.
Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705)
What were the positive effects of Wu Zetian and the WuZhou regime?
First, Wu Zetian conformed to the trend of historical development, cracked down on the nobles of the scholar clan, supported lower-level intellectuals, and reformed the imperial examination system.
This is Wu Zetian's greatest contribution to the development of China's history. After the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a new class was born in the superstructure of the Chinese dynasty.
The Mongol clan class
。 Although this class was dominated by different families in different dynasties, the politics of the gate valve landlord class had become a major feature of Chinese politics from the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty.
In the era when the Mongol clan held the power of the imperial government, the system of electing officials in the imperial court was the inspection system and the nine-pin Zhongzheng system.
For intellectuals of ordinary civilian origin, the possibility of entering the official arena through the probation system to realize their ideal ambitions is almost zero.
Even after the Wei and Jin dynasties began to implement the Nine Pins Zhongzheng system, because the scholar nobles held the absolute power to select talents, and the selection of talents was based on the origin of the door as an important criterion, the door valve clan simply blocked the passage for folk intellectuals to enter the official field through inspection.
Above_ Wei Jinshi clan
In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination system was fully established. However, the imperial examination system during the reigns of Emperor Gaozu of Tang and Emperor Taizong of Tang still selected officials from aristocratic origins.
The Guanlong nobles, headed by the eldest son Wuji, held the absolute authority of the government. When Emperor Gaozong of Tang made Wu Zetian empress, Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian jointly suppressed the Guanlong nobles, led by the eldest son Wuji. During the joint reign of Wu Zetian and Emperor Gaozong of Tang, the two also compiled a new "Clan Chronicle", which further undermined the status of the gate valve nobles.
After emperor Gaozong's death, Wu Zetian took control of the situation as empress dowager, and then established the Wuzhou regime in 690 and declared himself emperor.
After Wu Zetian took charge of the overall situation of the dynasty and became the empress, this legendary woman's support for lower-class intellectuals was further strengthened.
Wu Zetian selected a large number of talents from among the landlords of the Shu clan and sent them to the capital, and the emperor personally inspected them. It's really eclectic! Wu Zetian also encouraged capable people to introduce themselves so that useful talents would not be left out.
Above_ Wu Zetian and the Maid Mural
In order to support lower-class intellectuals to enter the imperial court, Wu Zetian also reformed the imperial examination system.
Wu Zetian's reform of the imperial examination system has the following aspects:
1, Wu Zetian developed the imperial examination system based on tribute, increased examination subjects, and increased the number of admissions.
2, Wu Zetian created the temple examination system, which is an epoch-making initiative in the history of China's imperial examination system. In 690, after Wu Zetian became emperor in Luoyang, talents from all over the country gathered in Luoyang, and Wu Zetian personally inspected talents at the Ziwei City Completion Hall. The examination was held for several consecutive days, and the establishment of the palace examination system was conducive to the emperor's personal selection of talents, which enhanced the fairness of the imperial examination.
3, Wu Zetian set up a martial arts system, which is conducive to the discovery of military talents. Guo Ziyi, who calmed down the Chaos of An Shi, was a talent that Wu Zetian personally discovered.
Wu Zetian's reform of the imperial examination system influenced not only the Tang Dynasty, but also Chinese history. From this point of view, Wu Zetian is worthy of being an outstanding female politician with a strategic vision.
Above_ Wu Zetian changed the Qianyuan Hall to the Ming Hall
Second, Wu Zetian attached great importance to agricultural development and lightly dispensed with small gifts, laying the foundation for Tang Xuanzong's Kaiyuan prosperity.
As early as the period of joint rule with Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Wu Zetian wrote down the "Twelve Matters of Suggestions" as his own governing strategy. This is an important manifestation of the maturity of Wu Zetian's thinking on governing the country. In the "Twelve Matters of Suggestions", Wu Zetian mentioned persuading Konongsang to lightly dispense with thin endowments.
When Wu Zetian ascended the throne and became emperor, he would fully implement the "persuasion of Konongsang and the light and thin endowment" in the governance of the country.
Under the impetus of Wu Zetian, the agricultural development of the Tang Dynasty developed by leaps and bounds, and the number of households in the country increased from 3.8 million in 652 AD to 6.15 million households in 705 AD, which was a very high growth rate in ancient China.
Wu Zetian's initiative to develop agriculture is of great significance. It is precisely because of Wu Zetian's efforts in the development of agriculture that the political situation of the Tang Dynasty after Wu Zetian's death was somewhat chaotic, and coups occurred frequently, but the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty was always moving forward.
Li Zhi (21 July 628 – 27 December 683), also known as Emperor Gaozong of Tang
Third, severely crack down on corruption and rectify the administration of officials. Spread the word, from the good as a stream.
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, because Li Zhi was a person of generous character, the overall preference of the Tang Dynasty officials during the Reign of Emperor Gaozong was the same, but the corruption that grew within had quietly arisen. After Wu Zetian ascended the throne, she inherited the national policy of severely punishing corruption during the Zhenguan period and carried out large-scale governance of corruption throughout the imperial court. This point is also affirmed in the Zizhi Tongjian:
"Although the empress dowager has abused her position to win the hearts and minds of the people of the world, those who are incompetent will seek to depose them or impose punishments." The handle of punishment and reward was used to control the world, and the government was out of its own, and it was clear and good to judge, so the heroes and sages at that time also competed for it. "
Wu Zetian also opened up the way of speech, and she set up a special copper pot to encourage the common people to write and talk. Although Wu Zetian had the heart to kill, she attached great importance to outspoken ministers, such as Di Renjie. During the Wu Zetian period, few ministers were convicted of committing outspoken advice. This is in stark contrast to Tang Xuanzong's later period in power, which blocked the way of speech and attacked the courtiers.
From Tang Taizong and Tang Gaozong to Wu Zetian, these three generations of emperors were good at receiving advice, and even listened to and tolerated the sharp criticisms made by their ministers. It was this kind of atmosphere in which the emperor was as good as a stream and the ministers dared to speak out, which led the Tang Dynasty to prosperity step by step.
On the whole, Wu Zetian played a very important transitional role between Tang Gaozong and Tang Xuanzong.
Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (8 September 685 – 3 May 762)
There are positive contributions as well as negative effects
The negative effects of Wu Zetian were mainly cool officials. Wu Zetian's cool officials set a precedent for secret agents to rule the country in Chinese history.
In the Western Han Dynasty, cool officials were able to enforce the law impartially, such as Zhang Tang during the Han Wudi period, who helped the imperial court to crack down on lawless aristocrats, which was conducive to the stability of the country's political situation and social development. However, Wu Zetian's cool officials were different, and Lai Junchen, Zhou Xing, and others fabricated charges and engaged in unjust, false and wrongly decided cases, so that everyone in the imperial court once endangered themselves. Lai Junchen also wrote a "Luo Weaving Sutra" summarizing his "secret of harming people", which had a very negative impact on Chinese history.
In the Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei and Dongchang were able to obey the emperor's will, arrest officials and people on arbitrary charges, engage in unjust, false and wrongly decided cases, and corrupt the atmosphere of the dynasty, while Jinyiwei and Dongchang could find the answer from Wu Zetian's cool officials at the earliest point.
Of course, Wu Zetian was an outstanding politician, and when she felt that the cool officials were doing too much, she killed Lai Junchen and others.
Above_ Qianling Wordless Monument, erected by Wu Zetian, is located in Qianling, 50 kilometers northwest of Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province
All in all, Wu Zetian's Wuzhou regime, as an important part of the history of the Tang Dynasty, pushed the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty to a new height and laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty. Cracking down on aristocratic door valves, reusing lower-level intellectuals, encouraging ordinary people to write letters and talk about things, and reforming the imperial examinations have had great progressive significance for China's historical development. However, she acquiesced in the crime of fabricating crimes by cool officials and committing unjust, false and wrongly decided cases, which also brought a very far-reaching negative impact on the ancient political ecology.