Wu Zetian's ambition, the difficult road to power;
Wu Zetian
In 637 AD, Wu Zetian had just turned 14 years old, and Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, heard that she had a delicate appearance and demeanor, so he summoned her to the palace, and was named a five-grade "talented person", and was given the name "Wu Mei", and the world called her "Wu Mei Niang".
The five-grade "talent" is the lowest-ranking internal official in the harem, so Wu Zetian can only take care of Li Shimin's daily life, but he can't get his favor.
Once, the envoys of the Western Regions presented a horse to Li Shimin, named "Lion Skull", this horse is tall and mighty, and the horse is abnormal, and it is said that it can "travel thousands of miles a day without lacking".
Li Shimin was very happy when he saw it, so he asked the horse trainer to ride on it and run a few laps to let himself see.
As soon as the horse trainer rode up, the "lion horse" neighed, and then the four hooves took off into the air and slammed the horse trainer to the ground.
Li Shimin saw that this BMW was so irritable and irritable, so he asked: "Which of you can tame this 'lion skull'?" I rewarded a thousand taels of silver. ”
There must be brave men under the heavy reward, only to see a total of a dozen or so generals who have been killed on the battlefield for many years, but they were all thrown off the horse after a few "lion skulls".
At this time, none of the civil and military officials dared to come out to ride horses again, and Li Shimin was very anxious when he saw it.
At this moment, Wu Zetian stood up and said to Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, the concubine can subdue it, please let the concubine give it a try!" ”
Li Shimin was taken aback: "You are a weak woman, how can you subdue the fierce horse?" This is definitely not going to work! ”
Wu Zetian tamed the horse
Wu Zetian said: "I only need three things, an iron whip, an iron hammer and a dagger. If it is disobedient, whip it; If it is not obedient, he strikes it on the head with a hammer; If he refuses to obey him, he will cut off his neck with a dagger. ”
Li Shimin was immediately taken aback when he heard Wu Zetian's words, and only felt that the woman in front of him was both smart and terrifying.
On the surface, he repeatedly praised Wu Zetian for having the means to tame the fierce horse, but in fact, he was deeply afraid of Wu Zetian's cruel methods.
Because Li Shimin was on Wu Zetian, he seemed to see the sword and sword shadow when he was in the "Xuanwumen Coup", and his heart suddenly shuddered.
So he snubbed her out of the palace, and he didn't favor her for 12 years, so Wu Zetian has been a five-grade "talent" for 12 years.
In 649 AD, 50-year-old Li Shimin contracted "dysentery", and due to the limited medical skills at that time, Li Shimin's condition became more and more serious.
You must know that "dysentery" is not a serious disease in our modern times, but it is a life-threatening disease in ancient times!
Li Shimin and Wu Zetian
The emperor's dragon health was not safe, so Wu Zetian accompanied Li Shimin to take care of him day and night, and the crown prince Li Zhi also accompanied him to take care of Li Shimin.
The keen Wu Zetian knew that if he wanted to "salted fish body", he had to grasp the "life-saving straw" of the crown prince Li Zhi.
Wu Zetian racked his brains to win Li Zhi's favor, and Li Zhi was tempted by the beautiful Wu Zetian, and soon became a "captive under the pomegranate skirt".
Next, Wu Zetian and Li Zhi carried Li Shimin behind their backs, and finally sparked a nondescript spark of love.
However, the world is unpredictable, just when Wu Zetian's fate was about to take a turn for the better, God made another big joke with Wu Zetian.
In 649 AD, Tang Taizong Li Shimin died of illness at the age of 52, and the crown prince Li Zhi inherited the throne for Tang Gaozong.
Because Li Shimin was afraid that Wu Zetian would be unfavorable to Li Tang Jiangshan before he died, he sent her to Ganye Temple as a nun.
Wu Meiniang thought that she was like this, day after day, year after year, with the green lantern ancient Buddha, until she grew old.
But Wu Zetian still has feelings for Li Zhi in her heart, she keeps thinking about Li Zhi, and looks forward to Li Zhi taking her back to the palace.
In his thoughts, he wrote a poem "Ruyi Niang" and gave it to Li Zhi, expressing his love, and also brought a pomegranate skirt he wore with the poem.
The editor will explain the meaning of Wu Zetian's "Ruyi Niang":
Seeing that the spring flowers are gone, and the summer trees are green, the people who miss you are thin and their hearts are broken.
Ever since our last tryst, I've been here all day washing my face with tears, my clothes wet with tears, and my skirt with tears, and if you don't believe me, open my suitcase and see the tear stains on the pomegranate dress.
Friends, Wu Zetian's love poem is really well written, I don't know how everyone is? Anyway, the editor was moved.
Li Zhi and Wu Zetian
Li Zhi looked at the empathetic Wu Zetian, and was very excited, and immediately rushed to Ganye Temple to meet Wu Zetian.
The two were silent for two lines of tears, then crying sounded in their ears, and finally hugged each other tightly.
After Li Zhi returned to the palace, he missed Wu Zetian very much, but he couldn't take Wu Zetian back, after all, she was once the concubine of her father.
At that time, because Tang Gaozong Li Zhi's queen had no children for many years, and Concubine Xiao Shu gave birth to three sons in a row, she was quite favored by Li Zhi, and the queen's status was already in jeopardy.
Queen Wang wanted to pull Wu Zetian into her camp and deal with Concubine Xiao Shu together.
Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu
So he persuaded Li Zhi to include Wu Zetian in the harem, and Li Zhi was overjoyed and immediately agreed.
So, the 28-year-old Wu Zetian entered the palace again, at this time Wu Zetian was pregnant, and after entering the palace, he gave birth to Li Hong, the first son with Li Zhi.
Li Zhi is very happy, Feng Wu Zetian is "Zhaoyi", what level is "Zhaoyi"?
"Zhaoyi" is one of the titles of the emperor's concubines, the first of the nine concubines, and belongs to the second grade.
After Wu Zetian entered the palace, he really lived up to the expectations of the queen and queen, and the two joined forces to bring down Concubine Xiao Shu.
On the contrary, Wu Zetian became more and more favored by Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, which made Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu very angry.
Next, Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu worked together to attack and slander Wu Zetian, but Li Zhi ignored it, but became more and more fond of Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian first suppressed Concubine Xiao Shufei, abolished Concubine Xiao, cut off her hands and feet, and threw them into a wine vat to soak for several days, and finally died tragically.
Next, he dealt with Queen Wang, and in 653 AD, Wu Zetian became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter, that is, Princess Andingsi.
According to the New Tang Dynasty Book:
Zhaoyi gave birth to a daughter,...... 'After killing my daughter, I went to slander with my concubine, and now I am evil! ......, and the more the emperor believes in love, he has the intention of abolishing it.
In addition, according to the "Zizhi Tongjian", it is recorded:
Hui Zhaoyi gave birth to a daughter,...... "Kill my daughter later!" "......, the reason is that there is a will to abolish it.
According to the record of "Tang Hui Yao":
The daughter born to Zhaoyi died violently, and the queen killed her, and then there was a meaning of abolishing it.
The queen was very fond of the princess Andings, and often went to visit, and one day the queen came to see the little princess again, and after teasing her for a while, she went back to the palace.
Then Wu Zetian took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, so he strangled the little princess Andingsi to death, and then covered it with a quilt.
In the end, Wu Zetian ran to Li Zhi and cried that Queen Wang killed the little princess, and Li Zhi made up his mind to abolish Queen Wang.
In 655 AD, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi ordered to abolish the original queen and replace Wu Zetian as the queen. It is the famous "Abolition of Wang Liwu" incident in history.
Wu Zetian is the emperor, and his ruthlessness towards his son is daunting;
Wu Zetian
Next, Wu Zetian set his sights on the prince again, because the prince was also an obstacle on the way to becoming emperor.
At that time, the crown prince was Li Zhong, who was the eldest son born to Li Zhigang and his concubine Liu when he was made the crown prince.
Li Zhong had a weak personality and knew that his position was not guaranteed, so he offered to give up the position of crown prince.
Subsequently, Li Zhi made Li Hong, the eldest son born to He Wu Ze, the crown prince.
In April 675, not long after Li Hong became the crown prince, he contracted tuberculosis and died.
However, according to the "New Tang Book" and the "Old Tang Book", it is recorded:
The queen of heaven is in the court, and it is a killing and filial piety.
According to historical records, it can be seen that Li Hong died unnaturally and should have been poisoned by Wu Zetian.
After Li Hong's death, Li Xian, the second son of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, succeeded him as crown prince.
However, Li Xian and Wu Zetian had a disagreement, and Wu Zetian was deposed as the crown prince and demoted to Bazhou.
In the end, Wu Zetian instructed the cool official Qiu Shenqi to force Li Xian to commit suicide.
Next, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian's third son, Li Xian, succeeded him as crown prince.
On the evening of December 27, 683, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi died in the Eastern Capital Zhenguan Hall at the age of 56.
Before his death, Li Zhi issued an edict:
The crown prince ascended the throne in front of the coffin; Assisted by Prime Minister Pei Yan; If there is an indecision in the major affairs of the military state, it will be taken from the queen of heaven to the end.
Next, Wu Zetian came to the dynasty to weigh the system, and took a substantial step forward in becoming the emperor.
In 684 AD, Li Xian was unwilling to be a puppet and tried to fight against his mother Wu Zetian, but was deposed by Wu Zetian as the king of Luling and demoted from Chang'an.
In February 684 AD, Wu Zetian changed the fourth son Li Dan as the emperor, which was Tang Ruizong, and she herself also walked from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, officially began to weigh the system in the court, and controlled all political affairs in the court.
Li Dan was soon placed under house arrest by Wu Zetian in the palace and completely became a puppet emperor.
On September 9, 690, Wu Zetian abolished Li Dan of Tang Ruizong, took the throne of emperor himself, changed the name of the country to "Zhou", and set the capital Luoyang.
Wu Zetian consolidated the imperial power and frantically slaughtered the descendants of Li Tang;
Wu Zetian
According to Mr. Lin Yutang, a famous modern writer, scholar and linguist in mainland China, he recorded in "The True Biography of Wu Zetian":
Wu Zetian murdered a total of 93 people in his lifetime (not including his relatives who were involved in the murder).
Among them, there are 23 relatives of her own, 34 members of the Li Tang clan, and 36 civil ministers and military generals of the imperial court (excluding her subordinates).
Wu Zetian believes that he comes from a humble background, and the Li Tang royal family still has strong political power and influence, so there is still a great potential threat to him.
Therefore, before and after Wu Zetian came to power, in order to stabilize the emperor's rule, he also paved the way for his future generations.
He made up his mind to eradicate all those who might threaten his throne, and wantonly killed the Li Tang royal family.
Among them, the descendants of Li Zhi who were killed by Wu Zetian are:
Li Zhong, King of Yan: Li Zhishu's eldest son, was given death;
Prince Li Hong: Wu Zetian's eldest son, poisoned;
Prince Li Xian: Wu Zetian's second son, who was forced to commit suicide;
Li Guangshun, the king of Anle County: Li Xian's eldest son and Wu Zetian's own grandson, was whipped;
Li Shouyi, the king of Yong'an County: Li Xian's second son and Wu Zetian's own grandson, was killed by a rod;
Li Chongrun, the prince of Yide: the eldest son of Li Xian, the third son of Wu Zetian, and the grandson of Wu Zetian, was killed by a rod;
Yongtai Princess Li Xianhui: Li Xian's seventh daughter and Wu Zetian's own granddaughter, was poisoned;
Li Shangjin, King of Qi: Li Zhi's third son, was falsely accused of treason and hanged himself;
The sons of Li Shangjin, the king of Qi: Li Yizhen, Li Yimei, Li Yizhang, Li Yihuan, Li Yijin, and Li Yipu were killed together during exile;
Xu Wang Li Sujie: The fourth son of Li Zhi, who was falsely accused of rebellion and assassinated on the way to escort;
Among the 13 sons of King Xu and Li Sujie: Li Jing, Li Ying, Li Qi, Li Wan, Li Zhan, Li Ling, Li Ming, Li Chen, Li Jin and other 9 sons were all killed, and the remaining 4 sons survived due to their young age and were imprisoned in Leizhou for a long time;
Among them, the descendants of Li Shimin who were killed by Wu Zetian are:
Wu Zetian
Li Wei, King of Jiang: The 7th son of Li Shimin and the son of Li Yun, King of Jiang, was killed;
Li Zhen, King of Yue: Li Shimin's 8th son, committed suicide after defeat;
Li Chong, King of Langya County: Li Zhen's eldest son, was defeated and killed;
Changshan Gong Li Qian: Li Zhen's third son, defeated and killed;
Shen Guogong Li Wen: Li Zhen's fourth son, exiled to death;
Li Shen, King of Ji: Li Shimin's 10th son, exiled to death;
The sons of Li Shen, King of Ji: Li Cong, King of Yiyang, Li Xuan, Duke of Chu, Li Xiu, Duke of Xiangyang County, Li Xuan, Duke of Guanghua County, and Li Jiu, Duke of Jianping County, were killed together.
Cao Wang Li Ming: Li Shimin's 14th son, forced to commit suicide;
The two sons of Cao Wang Li Ming: the eldest son Li Jun, the king of Lingling, and the second son, Li Jie, the prince of Li Guo, were killed;
Li Ju, the king of Hengshan County: Li Shimin's eldest son and Li Chengqian's second son, was killed;
Li Chou, the king of Guangdu County: Li Shimin's 6th son and Li Su's eldest son, was killed;
Li Fan, King of Shu: The 6th son of Li Shimin and the 3rd son of Li Su, were exiled to death;
Puwang Li Xin: Li Shimin's fourth son and Li Tai's eldest son, was framed and relegated to Zhaozhou to assassinate the history of the cool officials, and was framed to death.
Among them, the other descendants of Li Yuan who were killed by Wu Zetian are:
6 brothers of Li Xunqi, King of Changle: the son of Li Yuanying, the 22nd son of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, was persecuted and died in prison together;
Huo King Li Yuanliang: Li Yuan's 14th son, killed on the way to exile;
Li Xu, King of Jiangdu: son of Li Yuanliang, killed;
Li Yuanjia, King of Han: Li Yuan's 11th son, was forced to commit suicide;
Shangdang County Gong Li Chen: Li Yuanjia's third son, who was guilty to death;
Huang Guogong Li wrote: Li Yuanjia's fourth son, who was guilty to death;
Li Lingkui, King of Lu: Li Yuan's 19th son, was forced to commit suicide;
Li Ai, the king of Fanyang County: Li Lingkui's second son, was killed;
Li Rong, the prince of Dongguan County: the 15th son of Li Yuan and the 5th son of Li Feng, the king of Yu, was killed;
Princess Changle: Li Yuan's 19th daughter, was killed;
Li Yuanming, King of Shu: The 18th son of Li Yuan, was framed and killed by the Cool Officials Qiu Shenji;
Li Kang, King of Yuzhang: The son of Li Yuanming, he was framed and killed by the cool official Qiu Shenji;
heir Zheng Wang Li Pu: The son of Li Yuanyi, the 13th son of Li Yuan, King Zheng, was killed;
Li Zhen, the prince of Wenshan County: The 3rd son of Li Yuanli, the 10th son of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, King Xu, was killed;
Li Mi, the Duke of Guanghan County: The 5th son of Li Yuanqing, the 16th son of Li Yuan, the Taoist king, was killed;
Poyang County Duke Li Xu: Li Yuan's 16th son, the 6th son of Daowang Li Yuanqing, was killed;
Li Ying, King of Nan'an: The great-grandson of Li Yuanxiao, the 21st son of Li Yuan, was killed;
In addition, Wu Zetian also killed many clan nobles who were slightly distantly related to the Li Tang royal family's clan bloodline:
Such as: Li Xuan, Li Ying, Li Xuanzhen, Li Zhi, Li Chang, Li Zhiye, Li Zhiyan, Li Ran, Li Xun, Li Ce, Li Yue, Li Dian and others.
Among them, there were 36 important ministers of the court who were killed by Wu Zetian:
The head of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion, Taiwei Changsun Wuji: Tang Gaozong's maternal uncle and orphan minister;
Secretary Lang Shangguan Yi: Shangguan Wan'er's grandfather;
Cheng Wuting, the general of the right leading army: the son of Cheng Mingzhen, a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty;
British Gong Li Jingye: the grandson of the famous general of the early Tang Dynasty, the founding father of the People's Republic of China, and the son of Li Zhen, the assassin of Zizhou;
Prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty: Chu Suiliang, Han Yuan, Lai Ji, Liu Zheng, Pei Yan, etc.;
Famous generals of the Tang Dynasty: Wang Fangyi, Heiya Changzhi, Li Xiaoyi, Zhang Qianqiao, etc.;
The most terrifying person beside Wu Zetian;
Di Renjie
In fact, the most terrifying person around Wu Zetian is Di Renjie, why do you say that?
It was because he recommended it to Wu Zetian, and Zhang Cambodia, who later became the prime minister, later became Wu Zetian's gravedigger.
Di Renjie can be said to have been picked up by Wu Zetian, and he is also Wu Zetian's self-considered descendant.
And Di Renjie has always insisted on Li Tang's orthodox followers in his bones, and he has not forgotten that the country was laid by Li Tang.
After Wu Zetian, Jiangshan naturally wanted to return it to Li Tang's descendants, and he has always firmly believed that Li Xian is the most suitable candidate for the crown prince.
So Di Renjie has been waiting, waiting for a suitable opportunity and the right person to appear.
Because Di Renjie knew in his heart that only in this way would he not live up to Wu Zetian's kindness to him, let alone go against his original intention.
When Wu Zetian reached his old age, he was entangled and in a dilemma because the Liwu family still established the Li family as the prince.
When Di Renjie learned that Wu Zetian wanted to pass on the throne to his nephew and make Wu Sansi the crown prince, he was very anxious, and used clever words to persuade Wu Zetian to return to the Li Tang family in a timely manner.
Di Renjie said: "Who is closer to the nephew or the son? If you set up a son, the future generations can enjoy the worship in the temple, but if you set up a nephew, it will be different, no nephew in the world will worship his aunt in his own temple! ”
Di Renjie is Wu Zetian's confidant and confidant, Wu Zetian respects Di Renjie's suggestion very much, and he is even more determined to make his son Li Xian the crown prince.
Then Di Renjie made the most critical decision, and finally ousted Wu Zetian from the throne.
Zhang Cambodia
Di Renjie recommended a new prime minister for Wu Zetian before returning to his hometown, and this person was Shi Zhang Khanzhi, the governor of Jingzhou.
But Wu Zetian thought that Zhang Cambodia was too old, so he didn't reuse him, but just let him serve as the Sima of Luozhou.
When Wu Zetian asked Di Renjie to recommend talents for her again, Di Renjie strongly recommended Zhang Cambodia.
And Di Renjie solemnly told Wu Zetian: "This person can serve as the prime minister, not just a Sima, which is overkill!" ”
Wu Zetian saw that Di Renjie insisted on his opinion so much, so he appointed Zhang Khan Zhi as the prime minister.
It seems that Di Renjie resolutely supports Zhang Cambodia to take the position, and there is only one reason for him to do this: that is, Zhang Cambodia and himself are like-minded, and they want to use Zhang Cambodia's hand to complete the great cause of Li Tang's restoration.
In 705 AD, that is, the fifth year after Di Renjie's death, when Wu Zetian was seriously ill, Zhang Cambodia and Cui Xuanwei and many other ministers launched the "Shenlong Coup" to force Wu Zetian to abdicate and return to Li Xian.
Wu Zetian
It wasn't until Wu Zetian was seriously ill and dying that he suddenly woke up to Di Renjie was the most terrible person beside him.
And those descendants of Li Tang were just unjustly killed by themselves, even if they were killed, it would be useless, but it was too late to regret it at this time.
Wu Zetian also realized that why did Di Renjie insist on recommending Zhang Cambodia to himself in the first place? It turned out that it was because of them, the former ministers of Li Tang, who had always been concerned about Li Tang's country.
It is estimated that Wu Zetian must have hated Di Renjie and annoyed himself before he died, the most terrible person was always by his side, and he was with him every day, and he also gave him the greatest trust.
In the end, Wu Zetian let go of everything and left a testament of "go to the emperor and call the Great Holy Empress of Zetian".
She told the world that Jiangshan has always belonged to the Li Tang family, and her identity has always been the daughter-in-law of the Li family.
It is precisely because of this edict that the Wu family can be preserved, and Wu Zetian and Li Zhi are buried together and enjoy the Taimiao.
Epilogue:
Although Wu Zetian is a woman, he climbed to the pinnacle of power in the feudal era when men were superior to women, but he tossed all his life, and in the end, even his most trusted confidant Di Renjie did not recognize him, let alone the people of the world?
In the final analysis, Di Renjie is still for the people of the world, for his original intention, just talking and laughing, he easily collapsed the Wuzhou Dynasty, and has to make the world admire Di Renjie's wisdom and bravery!
"Solemnly declare: This work is only the original debut of today's headlines, and has opened the whole network to protect rights, without the permission of the author, no one may reprint, embezzle, or carry in any way, and infringement must be investigated! 》
Historical References:
《Tang Kai Essential》
New Tang Dynasty Book
Old Tang Book
"Information Governance Guide"