In 697, Princess Taiping brought a 17-year-old boy, Zhang Changzong, to 74-year-old Wu Zetian. Zhang Changzong knelt at the head of Wu Zetian's bed and played the flute all night. After listening to the flute, Wu Zetian felt as if he was dozens of years younger, and he was in a happy mood, so he immediately named him the general of Zuo Qianniu Weizhonglang.
Princess Taiping is Wu Zetian's youngest daughter, and seeing that Wu Zetian has been depressed every day since he killed his male favorite Xue Huaiyi, she had a plan in mind and gave her face "Liulang", that is, Zhang Changzong, to Wu Zetian for pleasure.
Wu Zetian only regarded her daughter as filial, in fact, she has been depressed for the past few days, because she is worried that after she dies, she should pass the throne to her nephew Wu Sansi, or return to the Li family and pass on her throne to her son Li Xian.
But when Wu Zetian saw Zhang Changzong's appearance, he no longer planned to think about these troubles, because Zhang Changzong was very good-looking, his voice was also magnetic, and he would do whatever the empress asked him to do, which made Wu Zetian happy.
Princess Taiping, who was on the side, realized the change in the state of her mother, so she said: "Queen Mother, Zhang Changzong is not only good-looking, but also plays a good flute, if you listen to him play the flute all night, you may be able to forget all the troubles before."
Wu Zetian was overjoyed, so he agreed, only to see Zhang Changzong take out the flute, the exquisite jade flute to support Zhang Changzong's lips, and then a melodious flute sound came from all directions to Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian thought to himself: "Sure enough, he plays a good flute!" She seems to be in a fairyland on earth, feathering and ascending to immortals, and she no longer has to worry about things in the world.
So Wu Zetian asked Zhang Changzong to kneel in front of her bed, listened to the flute all night, and sure enough, he woke up refreshed the next day, Wu Zetian felt that Zhang Changzong was very in line with her taste, so he named Zhang Changzong on the spot as the general of Yunlu from the third grade, worshiped Zuo Qianniu Wei Zhonglang General, and accompanied Wu Zetian day and night for his amusement.
Zhang Changzong also recommended his brother Zhang Yizhi to Wu Zetian, saying that his brother was not only handsome, but also made some elixirs, which people called immortal arts.
Zhang Changzong's introduction immediately attracted Wu Zetian's attention, and she really wanted to see what the "Wulang" who knew immortal arts in Zhang Changzong's mouth looked like.
Sure enough, when Zhang Yiyi entered the palace, Wu Zetian felt that what Zhang Changzong said was true, and the elixir refined by Zhang Yizhi felt more refreshed after Wu Zetian ate it, so Wu Zetian favored the two even more.
At that time, the authority of the Zhang brothers was in full swing in the court, and officials who wanted to be promoted had to take out part of the money to tie up with the Zhang brothers before they could enter the court.
In fact, the favor of the two brothers of the Zhang family was also deliberately done by Wu Zetian, since he had the two brothers Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi, Wu Zetian did not think about it in private, how to not cause chaos in the world after his death.
And it happened that during that time, the courtiers were divided into two camps around whether to pass on to Wu Sansi or give way to the crown prince Li Xian, and they were making trouble over this matter.
Wu Zetian took the opportunity to let the Zhang Changzong brothers gain power, and suddenly the court forces all challenged the Zhang brothers, and the dispute between Wu and Li was temporarily suppressed by Wu Zetian.
At that time, Di Renjie, an important minister who supported the crown prince Li Xian, specifically persuaded Wu Zetian not to let them abuse power for the sake of Zhang Xianzong's brothers.
At that time, Di Renjie saw that Wu Zetian was playing a board game called Shuanglu with the fortunate minister Zhang Changzong, so he made a bet with Wu Zetian, and if he won the card, he took Zhang Changzong's fur and lost the card, so he took off his court clothes and gave it to Zhang Changzong.
Wu Zetian looked resentful, and hurriedly complained: "Huaiying, (Di Renjie's words), your court clothes are so shabby, Zhang Changzong's fur is worth platinum, and it is still my reward, it is unfair for you to exchange it like this." ”
Di Renjie smiled slightly and said: "The old minister's clothes are specially prepared for meeting the emperor, and Zhang Changzong's clothes are obviously obtained because he was favored by the minister. ”
Wu Zetian laughed, Zhang Changzong was ashamed, because he was sarcastically ridiculed by Di Renjie, Zhang Changzong was not in good shape, and soon lost the fur on his body to Di Renjie.
After Di Renjie left the palace, he immediately gave this fur to the servants who served on the side.
Soon after, Prime Minister Zhang Khan Zhi and others took advantage of Wu Zetian's serious illness to bring Li Xian to the throne, known as the "Shenlong Coup" in history.
The Tang Dynasty was also restored after the coup, and Li Xian's son was Li Longji.
