The reason why Li Zhi was able to get rid of Changsun Wuji's control, simply put, was that he promoted a large number of cold officials and fought with the old ministers led by Changsun Wuji.
To be more precise, in fact, through the establishment of Wu Zetian as empress, a large number of cold officials were promoted, and the power of many old ministers was divided, so that they could finally take power smoothly.
Li Zhi's getting rid of Changsun Wuji actually has to start with the death of Emperor Taizong of Tang before.
In 649 BC, Li Shimin, a generation of heroes, finally came to the end of his life. There has been great controversy about Li Shimin's death in history. Some people said that he was sick, and others said that he died by taking pills. Anyway, this year, Li Shimin gradually stopped working, so he began to explain the aftermath.
As a generation of heroes, Li Shimin's thinking is still very clear when arranging his own affairs.
First of all, after Li Shimin's death, the throne was succeeded by the crown prince Li Zhi, which is no doubt.
Secondly, in order to ensure that Li Zhi can sit on the throne, Li Shimin must first do a good balance of power, not let one party dominate the family, and ensure that Li Zhi can sit on the throne.
It was based on these two conditions that Li Shimin began a series of arrangements.
Li Shimin's arrangement is also quite complicated to say, and it involves a lot of old events during the Zhenguan period. Simply put, Li Zhi, as the prince, is not Li Shimin's eldest son. Before Li Zhi, Li Shimin had made his eldest son Li Chenggan crown prince, but later Li Chenggan rebelled, so in the end, Li Shimin had to depose Li Chenggan and install Li Zhi as crown prince.
This led to the fact that for a long time, the cultivation program that Li Zhi accepted was not the direction of the emperor, but the direction of an ordinary king.
In addition, when Li Shimin died, Li Zhi was not very old, his qualifications were relatively shallow, and he had not been a prince for a few years. In this state, after Li Zhi ascended the throne, it was actually very difficult to suppress those old ministers below, especially many old ministers who followed Li Shimin to open the country and fight the world.
So next, before Li Shimin died, he began to use his imperial wrist to engage in a balancing strategy.
Under Li Shimin's arrangement, after Li Zhi ascended the throne in the future, the high-level of the Tang Dynasty could be divided into three factions. These three major factions were: the old ministers of Guanlong led by Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, the relatives of the Li family headed by Li Daozong and others, and the military headed by Li Wei.
These three factions check and balance each other. But if Li Zhi has a little ability, it will definitely not be a problem to play some balance and sit on the throne. The most important thing is that the bosses of these three factions are basically old ministers who fought the world with Li Shimin back then, and their loyalty must be trustworthy.
Moreover, in order to win over the military, Li Shimin deliberately demoted Li Wei to the field before he died. Only after Li Zhi ascended the throne did he reactivate him, so that he could gain Li Zhi's loyalty.
In this way, after arranging these things, Li Shimin died. Then Li Zhi successfully took over, and history entered the era of Emperor Gaozong of Tang.
This year, Li Zhi was just 22 years old.
Li Zhi, who has just ascended the throne, although he is relatively young, his personal qualifications will definitely not be able to suppress these old ministers below. But with the back hand left by Li Shimin before, the throne must still sit firmly. Moreover, the leader of the Lao Chen faction among the three factions, Changsun Wuji, is still Li Zhi's own uncle. Changsun Wuji himself is also the first hero under Li Shimin, and his prestige and qualifications are enough.
With him doing his best to assist Li Zhi, Li Zhi's succession process will definitely be smooth.
But then, as Li Zhi gradually sat on the throne, Li Zhi gradually discovered a very embarrassing thing: as the emperor, Li Zhi's own orders were sometimes not very good. Moreover, because the team left by Li Shimin is too efficient. Even if there is no emperor like him, the ministers below can actually make the court function normally.
This matter is actually related to Li Shimin. When Li Shimin was alive, because Li Shimin was too wise, he was always afraid of making mistakes. Therefore, when Li Shimin came to power, he thoroughly perfected the three-province six-ministry system. According to this system designed by Li Shimin, the top level of the Tang Dynasty government was divided into three departments: Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province.
In this system, the province of Zhongshu is responsible for issuing plans, and the province is responsible for correcting them, and all those plans that they feel are problematic are sent back and redone. As for Shangshu Province, it is responsible for implementation.
During Li Shimin's reign before, the bosses of the three provinces were the top cattle. The boss of Zhongshu Province is the famous Xiangfang Xuanling all year round. And the department responsible for criticism in Menxia Province, the boss is the famous bar elite Wei Zheng. As for Shangshu Province, this department responsible for implementation, the boss in the early stage was Du Ruxian who was on a par with Fang Xuanling.
However, Du Ruxian died earlier. And after Du Ruxian died, the boss of Menxia Province was basically Changsun Wuji.
Therefore, the normal process during Li Shimin's reign is generally Fang Xuanling's idea, Li Shimin clapping in the general direction, and then Wei Zheng raising the bar in the details. Wait until the plan is revised to Wei Zheng and find no mistakes, and then hand it over to Menxia Province for implementation.
In Li Shimin's era, this system could ensure that Li Shimin did not make mistakes to the greatest extent.
But after Li Zhi took over, this system became something that restricted Li Zhi in turn. Because after Li Zhi ascended the throne, Changsun Wuji, as a founding minister, basically all three provinces bought his account! Changsun Wuji can completely come up with his own ideas, then make his own decisions, modify them himself, and finally hand them over to himself to execute!
In this way, Li Zhi's power was naturally constrained.
Of course, before Li Shimin died, he actually didn't think about it. That's why he left the Li family clan and the military headed by Li Wei to balance Changsun Wuji. At the same time, this system can also ensure that when Li Zhi first ascended the throne, he would not mess up the country with ideas.
The above is basically the basic situation of the high-level of the Tang Dynasty when Li Zhi first ascended the throne.
And next, with Li Zhi's accession to the throne, Li Zhi, as the emperor, naturally wanted more power. Although Changsun Wuji is his own uncle, power is often not shared by outsiders.
So after this, Li Zhi came up with a good way.
He wanted to promote a fourth faction and split power from the three that already existed. And the fourth faction that Li Zhi wants to promote is the so-called foreign qi faction.
To put it simply, Li Zhi wants to promote his daughter-in-law's mother's family and then fight for power for himself.
Objectively speaking, Li Zhi's trick is actually quite clever. Because the same thing has happened many times in history. Although this kind of thing is a big foreign power, all dynasties and dynasties have a headache. But we also have to admit that there are many good foreign relatives in history. For example, Wei Qinghuo of the Han Dynasty went to sick, which belongs to that kind of good foreign relative.
But the problem is that Li Zhi did not spread such a good foreign relative. To be precise, Li Zhi did not have a good daughter-in-law.
When Li Zhi first ascended the throne, the official empress was surnamed Wang. This queen has great political wisdom. But this can't blame her, because when she was chosen, everyone didn't think that she could be the queen.
When Li Zhi married his daughter-in-law, Li Zhi was just an ordinary prince, and the prince was still his eldest brother Li Chenggan. As an ordinary Wang Ye, Li Zhi chose this Wang Clan at that time. And Wang's father is just an ordinary county order. Originally, the daughter of a county commander should be qualified to be a princess. But to make her a queen, it would be really too difficult for her.
Therefore, after this Wang became empress, he knew almost nothing about politics. On the contrary, in terms of harem struggle, the Wang family is very concerned. At that time, Li Zhi also favored another favorite concubine, Xiao Shi, so this queen Wang thought all day about how to compete with Xiao for favor, and did not think about political problems at all.
And then, a very ironic thing happened.
In order to fight for power, Li Zhi vigorously promoted relatives of Empress Wang's family. Especially Empress Wang's uncle was quickly promoted to Zhongshu Province and became the boss of Zhongshu Province.
Everyone can see that Li Zhi did this in the hope that in the future, Empress Wang's maiden family could fight with Changsun Wuji. Only in this way can Li Zhi himself completely sit on the throne.
However, what is outrageous is that next, in order to compete for favor, that queen Wang actually began to look for allies in the court! In this way, the biggest ally that Empress Wang could find was naturally Changsun Wuji. So in the end, Li Zhihao was not easy to promote Empress Wang's mother's family. But as a result, Empress Wang's maiden family instead allied with Changsun Wuji, and the two sides became political allies!
This incident really made Li Zhi depressed for a long time. He abolished such a vigorous bureau, but in the end, he made a wedding dress for others, making Changsun Wuji stronger.
But fortunately, the Li family clan faction, as well as the military represented by Li Wei, are quite stable for the time being. The situation of checks and balances between several parties has not been broken for the time being. Li Zhi believes that as long as he gives himself a little more time, he still has a chance to rebalance himself.
However, what Li Zhi never expected was that next, another emergency soon occurred. This incident completely forced Li Zhi into a corner.
This matter is called the case of Princess Gaoyang's rebellion!
Princess Gaoyang was the daughter of Li Shimin and married Fang Xuanling's son at an early age. Although Princess Gaoyang herself did not have a good private life, she was actually a very key figure in the Li family family at that time. Because she can involve the Fang family and many clans of the Li family at the same time. In the previous Li Shimin era, Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji, to a large extent, were actually two factions that checked and balanced each other.
Just four years after Li Zhi ascended the throne, Princess Gaoyang made a big incident. It is said that it was Princess Gaoyang who wanted to fight for the title of her husband, saying that her husband's eldest brother insulted her. Originally, this was actually a trivial matter, and Li Zhi didn't go too far into his heart, so he asked Changsun Wuji to check it casually.
But after Changsun Wuji's investigation, things became bigger.
I don't know how Changsun Wuji checked at that time, anyway, the result of finding out in the end was that Princess Gaoyang had a tendency to rebel!
And next, following the line of Princess Gaoyang, Changsun Wuji soon implicated a large number of people. Under the deliberate arrangement of Changsun Wuji, many of the real power kings of the Li family, as well as the entire Fang Xuanling family, were all overthrown!
After this incident, the entire Li Family Sect's faction instantly plummeted in strength, and could no longer compete with Changsun Wuji. As for the leader of the military, Li Wei, he was too lazy to mix with these court struggles. Li Wei was busy preparing to clean up Goguryeo and the Western Turks in the west, and his mind was full of war.
Therefore, Li Wei's attitude is, as long as you don't mess with me, don't disturb me to fight, you can toss as much as you like.
In this way, the court that originally checked and balanced each other was instantly unbalanced! The old minister faction, headed by Changsun Wuji, began to dominate in an instant!
This result, Li Zhike could not accept.
As emperor, Li Zhi could let his uncle hold great power, but he could not let his uncle have power to the extent that he threatened him.
So after this, Li Zhi began to actively look for new people. He urgently needed to find a new political force that could compete with Changsun Wuji.
Then, Li Zhi found a woman. This woman is Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian's story is familiar to everyone. Wu Zetian was a talented person of Emperor Taizong of Tang in his early years, and later served Li Shimin with Li Zhi when he was seriously ill, so he had a little ambiguity.
Later, after Li Shimin died, according to the rules of the time, Wu Zetian had to become a nun. But more than a year later, when Li Zhi went to pray in the temple, he saw Wu Zetian again.
So after this, the two soon rekindled their old relationship and began to have a personal relationship.
However, when Li Zhi first engaged in things with Wu Zetian, he didn't take Wu Zetian too seriously. For Li Zhi, this is really just a way for him to seek excitement. At that time, Li Zhi was thinking about how to fight for power from his uncle, and was busy promoting Empress Wang's mother's family. As for Wu Zetian, it is just a condiment in his bitter life.
But then, the queen knew about it. For the purpose of attacking that Xiao clan, Empress Wang directly took Wu Zetian into the palace, making Wu Zetian officially Li Zhi's concubine.
Empress Wang's trick is estimated to be the most famous wolf in history.
After Wu Zetian entered the palace, the next story was the bridge of the harem vying for favor. With Wu Zetian's means, Empress Wang and Xiao Shufei are definitely not opponents, and they will definitely lose. The most important thing is that at this time, Empress Wang formed an alliance with Changsun Wuji and committed a big taboo.
So after this, Li Zhi began to pamper Wu Zetian even more.
After Wu Zetian got Li Zhi's favor, he wanted to go one step further and get the position of that empress. But at this time, Wu Zetian found that although Li Zhi did not like Empress Wang, he could not move her position as empress. Because behind this empress, stood a powerful foreign qi, as well as the ally of Changsun Wuji.
In this way, Wu Zetian naturally wanted to find some of his allies in the court. At the beginning, Wu Zetian went to contact Changsun Wuji, but Changsun Wuji didn't pay attention to her at all. This matter is actually easier to understand, after all, Changsun Wuji, as an old minister, must not be used to this matter between Li Zhi and Wu Zetian. If you want him to support Wu Zetian, it is naturally unlikely.
And without the support of Changsun Wuji, Wu Zetian finally found out sadly after looking around the court: In the huge court, as long as Changsun Wuji does not nod, he can't even find an ally!
No way, who let the eldest grandson Wuji's family alone at that time! Not to mention Wu Zetian, even Li Zhi couldn't find the power to compete with Changsun Wuji at this time.
In this way, after Wu Zetian looked around, he found nothing. So in the end, Wu Zetian could only set his sights on the most inconspicuous group of people, the so-called cold officials.
Here we have to explain: because before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, China practiced the recommendation system for a long time, forming a large number of families. After arriving in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, although there was a imperial examination system, the power of the family family was still very strong. Those officials who come from large families are called family officials. And those officials who have ordinary families, have no background, and rely purely on the imperial examination to rise to the top are the so-called cold officials.
At the beginning of Li Zhi's accession to the throne, these cold officials were basically scraps that no one cared about. Although they can be officials, the high-level positions must be controlled by those officials from large families, and they are not given opportunities at all.
At that time, Wu Zetian, because he was rejected by Changsun Wuji, was also rejected by all other family officials. So in the end, Wu Zetian had no choice but to contact these unbacked officials.
Of course, at the beginning, Wu Zetian's solicitation was not very smooth. Although Wu Zetian was more favored in the palace, in the court, after all, Changsun Wuji had the final say. Those cold officials, who have worked hard for many years, finally climbed to their current position, and naturally they are not willing to turn their faces with Changsun Wuji for the sake of Wu Zetian.
Therefore, even a small number of cold officials are willing to accept Wu Zetian's solicitation. But deep down, they are still unwilling to turn heads with Changsun Wuji.
On Li Zhi's side, he also gradually noticed Wu Zetian's struggle. Li Zhi soon realized that this group of people, led by Wu Zetian, might become his new countervailing force. But at the same time, if he wanted to make Wu Zetian's power stronger, he first had to promote Wu Zetian to empress.
But if you want to establish Wu Zetian as empress, you will definitely not be able to bypass Changsun Wuji.
In order to break the deadlock, Wu Zetian was completely pulled up. Li Zhi even did not hesitate to bring a large amount of treasures and personally went to the door to give gifts to Changsun Wuji, only for Changsun Wuji to nod and agree. But as a result, Changsun Wuji accepted all the gifts, but still refused to agree to Li Zhi's request.
In this regard, Li Zhi was helpless.
If you want to balance Changsun Wuji, you must make Wu Zetian empress. And if you want Wu Zetian to be empress, you must get the consent of Changsun Wuji. Because under the system at that time, if Li Zhi forcibly abolished the decree, the province managed by Changsun Wuji could directly return the holy decree.
Once the holy decree is returned, Li Zhi's prestige is greatly damaged, and whether the imperial throne can sit firmly in the next step is probably a big problem.
So, this has become a deadlock that cannot be opened.
In the end, it was a small official from the Sichuan region who broke this situation.
This little official is named Li Yifu.
Li Yifu was an ordinary official from a low-level background, and because the article was written better, he was transferred to the capital. However, after arriving in the capital, Li Yifu had no family background support, and naturally could only become a low-level migrant worker. It is already impossible to go up further.
Therefore, when Wu Zetian expressed goodwill to Li Yifu, Li Yifu did not refuse, but decisively caught the line in Wu Zetian's palace. Of course, if you want Li Yifu to speak for Wu Zetian and go to the ring with Wu Zetian, this is certainly unlikely.
But then, one day, Changsun Wuji knew about this, so he began to keep looking for fault. As a real big man in the court, Changsun Wuji wanted to decide the promotion of an ordinary cold official, which was naturally very easy. So that day, Changsun Wuji directly sent a message to Li Yifu, asking him to be transferred back to his hometown the next day, and he would never want to continue to mess around in the capital in this life.
In this regard, Li Yifu also felt very aggrieved, he obviously did nothing, and it was really a little unfair to be suppressed like this. In the end, Li Yifu thought about it and felt that he should still gamble. Anyway, even if he doesn't do anything, he will still be kicked back to his hometown the next day, and he will never come out in this life.
Take a gamble, and the result could not be worse.
So that night, Li Yifu deliberately replaced the duty order in the palace, and then used his life's talent to write an article. Taking advantage of his duty in the palace, he sent this article to Emperor Li Zhi.
This article only says one thing, that is, to establish Wu Zetian as empress!
After Li Zhi saw this article, he was immediately excited. For a long time, Li Zhi's biggest headache was that no one in the court spoke for Wu Zetian. So next, Li Zhi directly promoted Li Yifu, allowing Li Yifu to directly enter Zhongshu Province as an official, and entered Changsun Wuji's lair.
After the precedent of Li Yifu, other Hanmen officials were naturally excited when they found that supporting Wu Zetian could obtain such great benefits. So after that, many cold officials that Wu Zetian had wooed before began to huddle one after another, and formed a cold door official faction around Wu Zetian!
For these cold officials, Li Zhi can be said to be not afraid of comers. As long as you support Wu Zetian and are willing to fight Changsun Wuji in the ring, I will give you an official!" So after that, a large number of cold officials began to work in the departments of the three provinces.
It was an iconic event.
When Changsun Wuji's family was the only one before, almost all the three provinces were his final say. If Li Zhi forcibly ordered the change of empress at this time, the holy decree would be returned directly. But now, with these cold officials within the three provinces, Li Zhi's holy decree can be smoothly implemented. Even if Changsun Wuji objected, Li Zhi could let others help pass.
Things have developed to this point, and Li Zhi has won back the first hand.
At the same time, at this time, Li Zhi also needed the support of another person. This person is the military boss, Li Wei.
At this time, Li Wei was still busy preparing for military affairs. More than a year later, Li Wei will re-preside over the Tang Dynasty's war against Goguryeo, and finally destroy Goguryeo completely. Therefore, at this time, Li Wei was not interested in participating in these things at all, he just said 'This is His Majesty's family affair'.
And for Li Zhi, this is enough.
Li Wei's attitude shows that the military will not help each other in the struggle between the two sides. At the same time, within the three provinces, Li Zhi also had enough manpower, and his holy decree could be carried out smoothly.
So after this, in October 655 BC, Li Zhi directly ordered that Empress Wang be completely abolished in the name of Empress Wang's witchcraft, and then Wu Zetian was installed as empress.
This is the famous abolition of the king Liwu incident in history!
Wu Zetian's success in ascending the throne was undoubtedly a fatal blow for Changsun Wuji. Because this means that Li Zhi's orders can be carried out smoothly in the future. Changsun Wuji, as the leader of the Lao Chen Party, will not be able to speak well in the future. So after that, many family officials who saw the wind and steered also turned to Wu Zetian.
So what follows is a situation of defeat.
In the following four years, Changsun Wuji was constantly suppressed, and the power of the Lao Chen faction became weaker and weaker. Four years later, Wu Zetian gave Changsun Wuji another hat of rebellion. In the end, Changsun Wuji was exiled to Lingnan, and after arriving in Lingnan, Wu Zetian sent people over again and directly forced him to commit suicide.
In this way, with the fall of Changsun Wuji, Li Zhi finally regained his power, completely freed himself from the shackles, and finally became an emperor with great power.
Looking back at the process of Li Zhi getting rid of Changsun Wuji's control, it is not difficult to find that the key to the problem lies in the incident of deposing Wang Liwu. As long as Li Zhi can successfully depose the empress, it means that Changsun Wuji's words are no longer the most effective. By this time, Li Zhi's victory was actually inevitable.
Therefore, after Wu Zetian took the throne, Changsun Wuji would be defeated.
Of course, for the eldest grandson Wuji, the uncle, Li Zhi is actually a little grateful. After all, if it were not for the eldest grandson Wuji, Li Zhi might not have been able to succeed so smoothly at the beginning of his accession to the throne. As for the end of Changsun Wuji's suicide, I am afraid that Li Zhi really did not expect it in advance.