The Western Xia Dynasty was short and chaotic, and at the age of 13, Emperor Li Liangzuo saw his cousin at his uncle's house, eventually killed his uncle's family and married his cousin Liang as empress. Unexpectedly, the Liang family firmly grasped the imperial power for 18 years.
In 1038, when the Western Xia Dynasty was first established, Li Yuanhao became the monarch, and his wife Yeli became the first empress.
But the core of power is not the emperor, but the empress's elder brother Yeli Yuqi, a general who wields powerful military power.
Yeli Yuqi didn't take the monarch Li Yuanhao in his eyes, and his behavior made Li Yuanhao, as the emperor, lose face.
So, in order to weaken the influence of this general, Li Yuanhao tried to deprive him of his military power, but Yeli Yuqi was uncompromising.
In order to maintain the royal power, Li Yuanhao had to try to get rid of this powerful opponent. So, he executed Yeli Yuqi on trumped-up charges and seized his wife, Muzang.
The beauty and wisdom of the Wuzang clan won Li Yuanhao's favor. became a favorite concubine, and it didn't take long for Li Yuanhao to give birth to her second successor, Li Liangzuo.
It turned out that from the moment he entered the palace, the Muzang clan planned his own rise. Using ingenious means, she successfully made Li Yuanhao his brother not hide the false Pang and gave him the position of Xiangguo.
In 1047 AD, the Muzang clan succeeded in confusing Li Yuanhao and deposing Empress Norishi.
And she herself replaced her as the new queen, which created favorable conditions for her and her brother not to hide Pang and plot to seize the country.
After that, Li Yuanhao handed over the government affairs to Wuzang Pang, and he himself took the concubines to Helan Mountain to enjoy a luxurious life.
At this time, Li Yuanhao found that his son Ning Lingge's wife was very beautiful, and he actually occupied it.
Ning Lingge's mother, Empress Yeli, was deposed, and his wife was taken captive, which made him deeply resentful of his father.
The brothers and sisters of the Wuzang clan wanted to monopolize the government, in order to achieve their goal, they saw through Brother Ning Ling's mind and began to provoke Brother Ning Ling.
At the instigation of the Wuzang brothers and sisters, Brother Ning Ling decided to assassinate to vent his anger.
The world is unpredictable, after Li Yuanhao's death, Ning Lingge and his mother Ye Li were accused of rebellion and finally executed.
At the same time, Li Yuanhao has already left a will to inherit the throne and wants to be succeeded by his younger brother Wei Ge Ningling.
In the face of this decree of succession, he questioned Ning Ling's qualifications, believing that he was neither His Majesty's son nor had military merits, so he should not succeed to the throne.
With the strong support of Wu Zang Pang, the young Li Liangzuo became the heir to the throne.
Since Li Liangzuo was only 1 year old, he did not hide the Queen Mother and his uncle and became the real controllers of power.
After taking power, the Empress Dowager often had trysts with men, and over time, her debauchery caused public outrage, causing her and a male pet to be assassinated by another male pet who resented her behavior.
After the death of the Empress Dowager, in order to maintain power, he married his daughter to the young emperor Li Liangzuo, and continued to manipulate the government as his uncle.
However, Li Liangzuo's dissatisfaction with his uncle's autocracy deepened, and he made many secret rebellions, but they always ended in failure.
Later, when Li Liangzuo visited his uncle, he became infatuated with his beautiful cousin Liang. The Liang family has a delicate appearance and a variety of amorous styles, which aroused the heart of the little emperor.
On the occasion of farewell, Li Liangzuo invited the Liang family to enter the palace many times to accompany the queen Wuzang clan, but in fact, he used this as an excuse that he was able to get close to the Liang family many times.
The two gradually became acquainted, and Liang sensed the emperor's admiration. Coincidentally, Liang's mind was quite active and eager to climb the high branches, so the two tacitly began a forbidden love.
Later, by chance, the Liang family learned in the palace that her husband and father-in-law were discussing the plan of finding a new monarch, and she took advantage of entering the palace to inform Li Liangzuo.
At this moment, Li Liangzuo knew that his uncle had always intended to depose him and seize the throne.
Therefore, Li Liangzuo did not hesitate and acted quickly, sending the general Manba to execute his uncle's family on the charge of treason.
Even the Empress Muzang clan was not spared, and the entire Muzang family withdrew from the center of imperial power in this change.
Relieved of her worries, Liang finally rose to the throne of the queen with her beauty and wisdom. She went through hardships and finally completed a gorgeous transformation.
After becoming empress, Liang, as a Han Chinese, prompted Li Liangzuo to actively advocate a series of sinicization policies, establish friendly relations with the Song Dynasty, and successfully conclude a peace treaty.
But the twist of fate always came in a hurry, Li Liangzuo died young at the age of 21, and passed the throne to his 7-year-old son Li Bingchang.
As the biological mother, Liang became the regent of the young emperor, and actually held the power of the court.
Empress Dowager Liang adopted cruel and shrewd methods in order to secure her power.
She abolished the royalists in the court, purged dissidents, and finally established a centralized system centered on her. She promoted her own people as important ministers and formed a powerful force.
But after this scheme, the reign of Empress Dowager Liang was not all smooth sailing, and her centralization caused dissatisfaction among the party members.
In order to win over the party and nobles, the Empress Dowager Liang abolished Li Liangzuo's previous Sinicization policy and frequently attacked the Song Dynasty, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties and arousing civil resentment.
Under the double attack of public resentment and court pressure, Empress Dowager Liang had to choose to return to her son Li Bingchang.
This process marked the end of her reign in Western Xia, and the whole process lasted for 18 years! After losing power, Empress Dowager Liang was depressed and died within a few days.
@惊鸿历史苑
The rise and eventual defeat of Empress Dowager Liang shows the tortuous fate of a woman in power and politics.
She skillfully used her beauty and resourcefulness to become the queen of Western Xia, and firmly controlled the government through many palace changes, but finally failed after just 18 years.
Empress Dowager Liang's life is an interweaving of power and women's fate, and her glory and failure make people deeply feel the twists and turns of history.
Perhaps, her story is a wake-up call, reminding us that wisdom and ethics are equally important in the road of power schemes, regardless of gender.
What do you think about this?
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