As the only orthodox female emperor in Chinese history, Wu Zetian was honored with many honors. It is also criticized by the world: plotting for power and usurping power; killing his own daughter to blame the then queen of the king; attacking scheming and unscrupulous means.
During Emperor Gaozong's illness, Wu Zetian, who handled the government affairs on his behalf and tasted the temptation of power, was out of control and often interfered in the government and influenced Li Zhi's decision-making. After Li Zhi's death, Wu Zetian deposed Li Xian, the emperor of Tang Zhongzong, who had recently succeeded him, and instead established Emperor Ruizong of Tang as a puppet emperor, taking over the throne of the dynasty, monopolizing power, and wantonly harming the Li family's clan. Some people are worried, and some people are using it to create momentum.
In Yangzhou, Li Jingye rebelled against the military
In order to consolidate his ruling position, Wu Zetian implemented a policy of eradicating dissidents, which put everyone in the Tang Dynasty and his pro-Tang courtiers at risk. At this time, the world has finally turned against, and it is this group of frustrated literati who have been eliminated by the imperial court.
Because of the degraded original Sikong, the grandson of the famous general Li Ji (original surname Xu, given the surname Li), the British duke Li Jingye (Xu Jingye), and his brother Li Jingyou (徐敬猷), Tang Zhiqi, the lord of Chang'an, Bo Luobin Wang, Zhan Shi si Zhi Du Qiuren, and the deposed Yushi Wei Siwen gathered in Yangzhou, plotting to decide to take Li Xian, the king of Kuangfu Luling, as a call, to attack Wu Zetian.
In order to increase the success rate of rebellion, they had to find someone in the imperial court to cooperate with the outside world. To this end, Wei Siwen thought of supervising Yushi Xue Zhongzhang, so he contacted him and asked him to start a trouble together. Xue Zhongzhang's heart understood, and it just so happened that Wu Zetianzheng ordered Yushi to go to various places to supervise the officials' fengji, so he wrote a letter requesting an envoy to Yangzhou. After arriving in Jiangdu, Xu Jingye arranged for someone to falsely accuse and report the rebellion of Shi Chenjing, the governor of Yangzhou. Xue Zhongzhang took the opportunity to hunt him down, and then Li Jingye came to his post in the name of the new governor of Yangzhou. Coupled with the identity of Inspector Yushi Xue Zhongzhang, other officials naturally would not doubt Li Jingye's identity.
After taking office, Li Jingye lied that he had been secretly ordered to fight against the rebel forces in the south, so he released prisoners from prison, opened warehouses, and distributed weapons to prisoners and craftsmen working in officials. On September 29, 684, the first year of the Guangzhai Dynasty, these prisoners and craftsmen immediately occupied the city of Yangzhou. After occupying Yangzhou, Li Jingye only then raised the banner of Kuangfu Zhongzong Li Xian and launched the Yangzhou Revolution.
Li Jingye claimed to be a general of Kuangfu Province and the governor of Yangzhou, and in less than ten days he gathered more than 100,000 Kuangfu troops, and many surrounding counties also responded to the surrender. Ancient people pay attention to the name of doing things, otherwise it would be difficult to get the support of the people of the world, so Li Jingye found Luo Bin Wang and wrote a "Acting Dedication To Pass on the Heavenly Text", which was later called "Asking for Wu Shuo". This article is truly written through the ages. A thousand years later, when Zeng Guofan formed the Xiang Army to fight against the Taiping Army, he also specially copied this article and wrote a one. It can be seen how domineering this article is. After li jingye listed Wu Zetian's guilt, he found a man who looked like the late crown prince Li Xian, and deceived everyone: "Li Xian did not die, he fled to Yangzhou City, and he ordered us to raise an army." So he used this to command the world. Sima Li Chongfu of Chu prefecture led the three counties of Shanyang, Yancheng, and Anyi (present-day Huai'an, Yancheng, and Baoying, Jiangsu) in response to Xu Jingye.
However, when Wu Zetian was reading the text, he applauded the knot, pretended to be calm, and said: Luo Bin Wang is quite talented, this is the talent of the prime minister, how come such a talent has not been discovered? But the courtiers still read the inner turmoil from her calm as watery face. Yangzhou, the third largest city on the imperial map besides Chang'an and Luoyang, now has a group of rebels, so how can she sleep peacefully? Tang Zhiqi and Du Qiuren in the rebel army were good friends of Cheng Wuting, the general of Zuo Yulin's army, and Xue Zhongzhang was the nephew of the chancellor Pei Yan.
And Cheng Wuting is now fighting the Turks, and whether he will rebel against the old lord is also a variable. Wu Zetian faced the worst military crisis of her life. Wu Zetian advocated conquest and the suppression of the rebellion by military means; pei Yan, the chancellor, opposed the conquest, advocated the use of political means to solve the problem, and returned the government to Li Dan, leaving the rebels nameless and defeating themselves without a fight.
In fact, Pei Yan said that it was for the sake of the Li Tang Dynasty, and it was just for his own career. He had thought that he could also benefit from helping Wu Zetian depose Li Zhe and take power with empress dowager orders, but he did not expect that Wu Zetian would take over the dynasty himself, and vigorously support the people of the Wu family, so that his power would be damaged, so he now wanted to force Wu Zetian to return to Li Dan, so that he, as a minister who cared for his orders, would have a place to play.
Wu Zetian was struggling with who to quell the rebellion, and she desperately needed a huge victory to silence everyone. All this forced Wu Zetian to make a quick and correct judgment. She mobilized 300,000 troops into battle in seven days. However, these 300,000 troops are not a problem, the key is the candidate to lead the army.
Wu Zetian could have chosen a general who was brave and good at war, but she did not, but chose Li Xiaoyi, the general of Zuo Xiaowei lang at the time. Li Xiaoyi was a relatively special person, the son of Li Shentong the King of Huai'an, the younger brother of Li Daoyan the King of Jiaodong, the cousin of Li Yuan, the cousin of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and the current emperor Li Dan still had to call him Uncle Grandpa. He was a man of very high rank and prestige in the Li Tang Sect.
Didn't Li Jingye revolt on behalf of li tang's royal family to restore Li Tang? Then pick one of the most prestigious and senior people in the Li Tang royal family to lead the soldiers to fight, and at the same time let the other Li Tang royal families know: Don't look at someone rebelling in your name, but I still trust you, we are a family.
So what was Wu Zetian going to do? She wanted to suppress this great uprising of the Li Tang royal family. How did Li Jingye raise an army, didn't you say that you wanted to restore Li Tang? Then I will pick one of the most prestigious and senior people in the Li Tang royal family to lead the soldiers to fight. This was Wu Zetian's first consideration in choosing This Mr. Li Xiaoyi to lead the troops to fight, and this was for the ministers to see. The second consideration is for the Li Tang royal family: don't look at some people rebelling in your name, but I still trust you. We are a family, one move and two seconds. Wu Zetian's power was really high.
On the sixth day of october of the first year of Guangzhai, Wu Zetian appointed Li Xiaoyi as the general of Zuo Yuju wei and the grand commander of the Yangzhou Dao March, Wei Yuanzhong as the overseer, and the generals Li Zhishi and Ma Jingchen as his deputy generals, leading an army of 300,000 people to seek Xu Jingye.
Li Jingye, who was once in a high position and held a high position of authority, is now going to rebel, and the reputation of kuangfu Li's Jiangshan and dissatisfaction with Wu Zetian's dictatorship is actually just an excuse for Li Jingye's narrow-mindedness, communiqué of personal vendetta, and ambition. Before the mutiny, Li Jingye inherited the title of Duke of England by his grandfather Li Ji (李勣), and the officials were too servants of Shaoqing and Meizhou Assassins. During Wu Zetian's reign, Li Jingye was demoted by Wu Zetian to Sima of Liuzhou for making mistakes! This made Li Jingye resentful and indignant.
For the route against Wu Cao, Wei Siwen's suggestion was to march directly into Luoyang, while Xue Zhongzhang felt that he should first capture Chang and Run'er Prefectures before marching into the Central Plains. King Luo Bin also believed that the essence of the westward advance was Kuangfu, while the southward movement was divided. Li Jingye was bent on taking Jinling as his dream of being emperor, but he had forgotten his original intention and raised an army to go south to seize Jinling.
When Li Jingye led his troops south, he was doomed to end in failure. Because there was only one responder, this person was Sima Li Chongfu of Chuzhou. He led the rebellion of the three counties in response to Li Jingye. When Li Jingye wanted to attack Runzhou, it was none other than his uncle Li Siwen who was serving as the assassin of Runzhou. Li Siwen did not approve of the rebellion at all, and also scolded loudly: The family is unfortunate, out of this rebellious thief! Li Siwen watched his nephew Li Jingye lead the rebels to attack, so he and Sima Liu Yansi mobilized the people to build the city wall and train soldiers to meet Li Jingye's rebels.
At this time, Xu Jingye ordered Tang Zhiqi to lead some men and horses to guard Jiangdu, and let his brother Xu Jingyou lead 5,000 troops to attack Hezhou, Wei Chizhao led his troops to attack Xuyi, and he personally led the main force to cross the Yangtze River to attack Runzhou. On October 14 of the first year of Guangzhai, Xu Jingye led an army to capture Runzhou. Subsequently, when Li Jingye learned that Li Xiaoyi was leading his army to Yangzhou, he crossed the river north from Runzhou and camped in Xia'axi in Gaoyou territory, ordering Xu Jingyou to lead his troops to March to Huaiyin, and not to send Wei Chao and Wei Chi Zhaotun to the duliang Mountain (located in present-day southern Xuyi, Jiangsu) to resist the Tang army with the momentum of a horn.
After Li Xiaoyi's army arrived at Linhuai (linhuai, on the west bank of the Huaishui River northwest of present-day Xuyi, Jiangsu), he ordered Lei Renzhi to cross the river and launch an attack on Xu Jingyou. However, the first battle was lost and he retreated to Jiangbei. When Li Xiaoyi heard of the defeat of the soldiers, he was terrified and did not move. At this time, Wu Zetian's selection of the Imperial Guard's Imperial Attendant Wei Yuanzhong said to Li Xiaoyi: "The safety of the world is in danger, in one fell swoop. The days of peace in the world have been long, and once they hear about the crazy and violent people, they are all preoccupied with their ears waiting for their demise. Now the army has not been able to advance for a long time, a strong retreat, the people in the distance and near are disappointed, let them see you, will you feel that you are colluding with the rebels, the imperial court has appointed other generals to replace you, then you can't jump to the Yellow River!" When Li Xiaoyi heard Wei Yuanzhong's words, he did not allow a moment and immediately led his army across the river.
On October 24, 684, Li Xiaoyi's deputy general Ma Jingchen (马敬臣) beheaded Wei Chizhao (尉 Chi Zhao), Xiahou Zhan (夏侯瓒) and other rebels at the foot of Duliang Mountain. Xu Jingyebe sent Wei Chao's heavy troops to guard the capital Liangshan, and used his geographical advantages to resist the Tang army, making it impossible for the Tang army to advance.
Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 23
The Tang army could not capture DuliangShan for a long time, and Li Xiaoyi's generals discussed a battle plan. Most of the generals believed that Wei Chao relied on the dangerous advantage of Duliangshan, easy to defend and difficult to attack, our cavalry could not unfold the formation, the superiority of the soldiers could not be exerted, if the strong attack, the casualties of the soldiers would be very large, it was better to leave a part of the troops to besiege Duliangshan, and the large army pointed directly at Jiangdu and subverted their lair. However, Zhidu envoy and Sima Xue Ke of Guangfu said: Although Wei Chao had dangerous points, he did not have many troops. If there are too many troops left, then the advancing troops will be insufficient, if there are fewer troops left behind, it is ultimately a disaster, it is better to take him first, as long as the Duliang Mountain is captured, then the enemies in Huaiyin and Gaoyou will collapse. Wei Yuanzhong's opinion was to fight Xu Jingyou first, and the generals responded: "It is better to attack Xu Jingye, as long as Xu Jingye fails, Xu Jingyou can be captured without a fight." If we attack Xu Jingyou first, Xu Jingye will send troops to save him, and then we will be attacked on our stomachs and backs. Wei Yuanzhong retorted, "No, the enemy's elite troops are all concentrated in Xia'a, and they have gathered in a hurry to make a decisive battle, in case our army loses, the big thing will be irreparable!" Xu Jingyou was born as a gambler, unfamiliar with the military, and the strength of the army is thin, the military spirit is easy to waver, the army is pressing, and it can be attacked immediately. Although Xu Jingye wanted to save him, it was simply too late from the distance calculation. Our army destroyed Xu Jingyou and advanced with victory, even if there were good generals like Han Xin and Bai Qi, they could not resist. Nowadays, it is not the best policy to rush to attack the strong without attacking the weak first. Li Xiaoyi finally adopted the suggestion that Xue Kecuo and Wei Yuanzhong should be weak first and then strong, and each of them broke through, and led his army to attack DuliangShan first, and the Tang army attacked on the mountain, killing hundreds of people. After a fierce battle, Wei Chao was defeated and fled overnight. Li Xiaoyi continued to advance eastward, attacking Huaiyin, and Xu Jingyou escaped. Then he took advantage of the victory to force Gao You to attack Xu Jingye's main force.
On November 13 of the same year, the vanguard of the Tang army arrived at Gaoyou, and Xu Jingye commanded the elite troops to hold on to Xia'axi, and the two sides once again formed a confrontation. Li Xiaoyi then sent Su Xiaoxiang, the commander-in-chief of the rear army, to lead 5,000 troops, taking advantage of the cover of night, to cross the stream in a small boat and launch an attack on the rebels. However, Xu Jingye had already taken precautions, Su Xiaoxiang's soldiers were defeated and killed, the left leopard Tao Wei Guo Yi Chengsan lang was captured, and the soldiers were not familiar with water and drowned more than half. In order to boost the morale of the rebels, the rebel left commander Shi Tangzhiqi pointed at Cheng Sanlang and said to the soldiers, "This is Li Xiaoyi!" As he was about to be beheaded for public display, Chengsaburo shouted, "I am Guo Yi Chengsaburo, not General Li." A large number of Tang troops and horses arrived, and your downfall was just around the corner. When I die, my wives and children are glorified, and when you die, your wives and children are not slaves, and you are ultimately inferior to me. Tang Zhiqi saw that the lie had been punctured, and he was caught off guard and quickly cut down the head of Cheng Sanlang.
Soon, the main force of the Tang army led by Li Xiaoyi arrived in the north of Xia'axi, and due to the favorable position occupied by the rebels, the Tang army failed many battles. Li Xiaoyi once again had the idea of retreating. The overseer Wei Yuanzhong and the marching officer Liu Zhirou once again persuaded Li Xiaoyi to strengthen his confidence in counterinsurgency, and offered a plan: set fire to the wind and fight a decisive battle. Li Xiaoyi accepted the suggestion of the two men, led the Tang army to attack in all directions, and launched a fire attack downwind, burning the rebel camp. Xu Jingye's army had been deployed for a long time, and the soldiers and soldiers were tired and watching, and the battle front could not be rectified. Li Xiaoyi attacked, took advantage of the wind and set fire, defeated Xu Jingye and defeated, beheaded 7,000 people, and drowned innumerable. Xu Jingye and others fled to Jiangdu on horseback, took his wife and children to Runzhou, and prepared to flee by sea to Goguryeo. After Li Xiaoyi's victory, he took advantage of the victory to pursue, did not give the rebels a chance to breathe, and quickly marched into Jiangdu and sent various generals to pursue Xu Jingye.
On November 18, Xu Jingye led the remnants to the boundary of Haiqu And wanted to go out to sea by boat, but they were blocked by strong winds and could not go to sea. His subordinate Wang Naxiang (王那相) beheaded Xu Jingye, Xu Jingyou, and Luo Binwang and surrendered to the Tang army. Yu Dang Tang Zhiqi and Wei Siwen were captured and beheaded. Li Xiaoyi then entered Yangzhou, where all the three prefectures of Yang, Run, and Chu were pacified.