In 705 AD, Wu Zetian, who was recuperating in Yingxian Palace, was awakened by a loud noise, and his intuition told Wu Zetian that something big must happen outside the palace, so she immediately ordered Zhang Yizhi's brothers to go out of the palace to check, and as a result, the two brothers were in different places as soon as they left the palace.
It turned out that five people led by Prime Minister Zhang Kamzhi colluded with the generals of the forbidden army to launch a "Shenlong coup", forcibly forced Wu Zetian to abdicate the throne, and passed the throne to the crown prince Li Xian, in fact, at this time, Wu Zetian was 82 years old and was already bedridden due to serious illness, and in the face of the persecution of Zhang Kamzhi and others, Wu Zetian had no ability to struggle.
As a result, Wu Zetian passed the throne to the crown prince Li Xian in advance, and he was moved to live in Shangyang Palace, and when Wu Zetian abdicated, the ministers cheered and rejoiced, celebrating that the world's social affairs had finally returned to Li's hands.
But at this moment, a minister could not suppress his sadness and wept, in the midst of laughter, this cry seemed so abrupt, this minister who spoiled the scenery was Yao Chong, the famous "Prime Minister of Time Salvation" of the Great Tang.
Wu Zetian's difficult choice of heir
In 698, the 75-year-old Wu Zetian was troubled by the choice of an heir, and although there were many choices before her, such as nephew Wu Sansi, daughter Princess Taiping, and sons Li Xian and Li Dan, she never made up her mind who to make the crown prince, and the court argued about it.
In fact, Wu Zetian knew very well in her heart that since she became empress, most of the courtiers in the court were dissatisfied with her woman's usurpation of the throne of Li Tang, although she repeatedly killed the forces that supported Li, but with little effect, she understood that Li Tang's rule was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and killing could not be killed.
Now that Wu Zetian is 75 years old, she thinks more about her own affairs, such as the issue of incense sacrifice. Originally, Wu Zetian still wanted to establish Wu Sansi as the prince, but Di Renjie's fluttering words dispelled Wu Zetian's idea, and Di Renjie said this: "I have never heard of a nephew who will match his aunt to the sect temple. ”
Di Renjie's words awakened Wu Zetian, and coupled with pressure from the court supporting Li Tang's forces, Wu Zetian finally decided to return the throne to the Li family, and then made Li Xian crown prince.
After solving the problem of heirs, Wu Zetian completely let go of himself and began to enjoy life freely. According to historical records, Wu Zetian spent all day in the harem drinking and feasting with Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong's brothers, and even "showed obscenity and shame", and later Wu Zetian in order to cover up the scandal, also ordered people to publicize Zhang Yizhi's brothers to write articles in the palace.
Because they were extremely favored by Wu Zetian, the Zhang brothers became the object of courtiers' contention, and even the Wu clan people had to put on a smiling face and lead the horse to hand over the whip when they saw them, and the princes Li Xian and Li Dan also took the initiative to ask Wu Zetian to appoint Zhang Changzong as king, which shows how powerful the Zhang brothers were at this time.
Wu Zetian abdicated, and Yao Chong cried for Emperor Wu
In 705, the 82-year-old Wu Zetian was already bedridden, and the Zhang brothers served left and right not to let anyone approach, and the courtiers were very worried because they could not see Wu Zetian, in this situation, Prime Minister Zhang Xiangzhi and five others secretly plotted to eradicate the Zhang brothers and force Wu Zetian to pass the throne to the crown prince Li Xian.
This action of Zhang Xiangzhi and others is the famous "Shenlong coup", in this operation, although the Zhang brothers were eradicated and Wu Zetian passed the throne to Li Xian, it also left a hidden danger, that is, the grass was not cut and the roots were not removed, and the Wu family was completely eliminated.
As we all know, when Zhou Bo and Chen Pingren of the Western Han Dynasty put down the "Rebellion of Zhulu", they eradicated the Lü family completely, and all the Lü family was executed regardless of men, women, and children, while Zhang Xiangzhi and others did not cut the roots of the Wu clan after the success of the operation, which directly led to their tragic end in the future.
Interestingly, when Wu Zetian chose to abdicate the throne and give the throne to Li Xian, and everyone cheered and celebrated, Yao Chong cried and wiped his tears alone, and Prime Minister Zhang Cambodiazhi was greatly puzzled when he saw Yao Chong's move, and he said to Yao Chong: "How can you cry today!" You're about to go into disaster. ”
Yao Chong said while crying in front of the group of ministers: "I participated in the actions of Zhang Xiangzhi and others, it is my duty to kill and rebel for the country, and today's crying is Gu Nian and the Wuhuang monarch, this is the temperance that a human courtier should have, even if I am convicted for this, I am willing." ”
At first glance, Yao Chong's words seem a little unscrupulous, but there is a deep meaning in them, on the one hand, Yao Chong is showing good to the new emperor Li, showing that he is a loyal courtier with integrity; On the other hand, it is to send a message to Wu Sansi, I, Yao Chong, just want to eradicate the Zhang brothers, pull your aunt Wu Zetian from the throne, and cut off your dream of being an emperor.
Yao Chong's doing this was actually related to Zhang Kamzhi and others not eradicating Wu Sansi and other Wu clansmen, and some people suggested that Zhang Kamzhi eliminate evil, but Zhang Cambodiazhi thought that Li Xian needed to establish power when he ascended the throne, and it was just right for Li Xian to give the heavy responsibility of killing the children of the martial family to Li Xian.
The tragic end of Zhang Kamzhi and other "five kings"
Zhang Xiangzhi's idea was very good, but Li Xian did not follow the script he designed.
Li Xian's throne was obtained with the help of Zhang Kamzhi and others, and in order to reward their support, Li Xian crowned Zhang Xiangzhi, Cui Xuanwei, Yuan Shuji, Jinghui, Huan Yanfan and other five ministers as kings, that is, the "Five Kings".
In order to balance these heroes, and because of his in-laws with Wu Sansi, Li Xian began to reuse Wu Sansi, which also foreshadowed the bankruptcy of Zhang Xiangzhi's plan to eliminate Wu Xian. Another trick of Li Xian was to let Empress Wei interfere in the imperial government, causing Wu and Wei to form a powerful force to control the court.
One year after Wu Zetian's abdication, none of the "Five Kings" who had helped Li Xian ascend to the throne were spared the ostracism of Wu Sansi and Empress Wei, and were later falsely accused and sentenced to exile, among which Zhang Xiangzhi died of angry in exile, Cui Xuanwei died of illness during exile, Yuan Shuji was tortured to death, Jinghui was brutally killed by Ling Chi, and Huan Yanfan was killed with a rod.
And Yao Chong escaped because of his luck in being released, and I have to say that Yao Chong's ability to become a generation of famous ministers naturally has his reasons, and when Empress Wu abdicated, Yao Chong's crying avoided possible retaliation for him in the future, because his tears clearly told Wu Zetian, Li Xian, and even Wu Sansi and others that his participation in the "Shenlong coup" was forced by the situation.
Later, Tang Ruizong came to the throne, Yao Chong was entrusted with important tasks, first as the secretary of the army, and then as the secretary of the Zhongshu Ling, and during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Yao Chong also won the trust of the emperor, with the support of Li Longji, Yao Chong vigorously promoted his own ideas of governing the country, rectified the rule of officials, restored production..., and made great contributions to the creation of the Kaiyuan prosperous era.
In 721, after five dynasties, Yao Chong, who had served as prime minister in Wu Zetian, Emperor Ruizong of Tang and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, died of illness in Chang'an.
epilogue
Yao Chong is a veritable "official tumbler", he can see farther than Zhang Cambodiazhi, think carefully, and have a deeper understanding of human nature, he has long realized that Zhang Cambodiazhi has not done the elimination of evil, sooner or later it will harm himself, so he staged a drama of crying and sending leaders when Wu Zetian abdicated, this way of self-preservation is impressive.
(Image from the Internet, invasion and deletion)