What medicine did Tang Gaozong Li Zhi take, and why would he be fascinated by his little mother Wu Zetian?
After Li Shimin's death, Wu Zetian was subsumed into the Ganye Temple and became a nun, where she would spend the rest of her life if nothing else, but fate did not abandon Wu Zetian. A year later, Li Zhi went to the Ganye Temple to incense and met Wu Zetian, and for a year, he did not dilute their feelings for each other, because this time they met, Wu Zetian returned to the palace again.
Wu Zetian entered the palace as Li Shimin's concubine, and theoretically she should be the elder of Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi, who according to the current name, Li Zhi had to call her little mother. However, Li Zhi was very fond of Wu Zetian, and regardless of ethics and public opinion, he set Up Wu Zetian as a Zhaoyi in the face of gossip.
Wu Zetian was four years older than Li Zhi, and had also been a concubine of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin, and his status was very different, so why was Li Zhi so infatuated with Wu Zetian?
First of all, it is undeniable that Wu Zetian is indeed very beautiful:
Historical records:
"In the fourteenth year of the following year, Emperor Taizong heard of his color and chose him as a talented person."
Wu Zetian entered the palace at the age of 14, the main reason, on the one hand, Wu Zetian was the second daughter of the founding hero Wu Shiyan, who was a famous man, on the other hand, Wu Zetian was beautiful.
The emperor selects concubines, the most important indicator is the appearance, through the dynasties, probably only the Jinwu Emperor Sima Yan once had a period of ugly concubines, that is because he was forced by Empress Yang Yan. What kind of identity Li Shimin has, the selection of palace women and concubines, of course, is very exquisite, so Wu Zetian's appearance must be outstanding.
"Shangzhi is the crown prince, and he enters the service of Emperor Taizong, and is pleased to see the talented Wu clan."
In view of the imperial power struggle between Li Chengqian and Li Tai, Li Shimin could only establish Li Zhi as the son of heaven by exception, and Li Zhi seemed cowardly, but he had great ambitions. Li Shimin was seriously ill, and Li Zhi performed filial piety at the bedside, and it was in this situation that Li Zhi met Wu Zetian.
After Wu Zetian entered the palace, he was named a talented person and given the title of "Wu Mei", and then he was left behind by Li Shimin, so Wu Zetian was a talented person for twelve years. Li Shimin was sick in bed, and it just so happened that Wu Zetian was also waiting, and the first time Li Zhi saw Wu Zetian, he was deeply attracted to him, and in the absence of understanding between the two sides, only Wu Zetian's appearance attracted Li Zhi.
Some people say that Wu Zetian is not very good-looking, if this is the case, why did Li Shimin choose him to enter the palace? If the appearance is average, Li Zhi cannot fall in love with it at first sight.
Therefore, we can judge that when he was young, Wu Zetian must have come out extremely beautiful and just fit Li Zhi's taste.
Secondly, Wu Zetian was very scheming:
On the day Wu Zetian entered the palace, her mother was very difficult to give up, crying and crying in front of the door, but Wu Zetian said to her family:
"Seeing that the Son of Heaven knows that it is not a blessing, what children are sad?"
This means that serving the Son of Heaven is not necessarily a bad thing, so why cry and cry.
At the time of saying this, Wu Zetian was only 14 years old, and in our modern days, he should still be in junior high school, and his mind was not yet fully mature, but Wu Zetian was very rational, which showed the depth of his city government.
After entering the palace, Wu Zetian was not welcomed, although Li Shimin admired her appearance, but did not necessarily like his character, and the twelve years of talent life was also very difficult. However, Wu Zetian not only did not lose his fighting spirit, but also secretly looked for opportunities and set his sights on the crown prince Li Zhi.
The woman's biggest weapon is appearance and wisdom, during Li Shimin's serious illness, Li Zhi waited at the bedside all day, which was also quite boring, and seeing Wu Zetian made Li Zhi's eyes light up. Knowing that the prince was interested in himself, Wu Zetian did everything in his power to cater to the prince and firmly control the prince's heart.
A year later, Li Zhi still did not forget Wu Zetian, and when he went to the Ganye Temple to offer incense, he met Wu Zetian again. At that time, Wu Zetian must have taken the initiative to stand up, because she knew very well that if she did not seize this opportunity, she could only go through her life as a nun. After Li Zhi and Wu Zetian met, they both shed tears, and Li Zhi also put aside the pressure of the world and took Wu Zetian into the palace.
As a son of heaven, Li Zhi is of course also a lot of concubines, even if Wu Zetian is favored, there are still many competitors, if you want to continue to climb up, you must kill other favored concubines.
"Wu's qiaohui, multi-powered number, the first time to enter the palace, humble and condescending after the fact; after love, the number is called its beauty above."
Wu Zetian had a high political talent, and after entering the palace, she tried to climb the wang empress. Empress Wang wanted to take advantage of Wu Zetian and alienate the feelings of Li Zhi and Xiao Shufei, so she often praised Wu Zetian in front of Li Zhi, so Wu Zetian also became Li Zhi's favorite concubine and was worshipped as Zhaoyi.
As the saying goes, hooligans are not terrible, they are afraid that hooligans have culture, Wu Zetian is certainly not a hooligan, but she is not only beautiful, but also full of power, which makes her not only get the favor of Li Zhi, but also get the power she dreamed of.
Again, Wu Zetian was independent and strong, making up for Li Zhi's sense of security:
Li Zhi is the youngest of the three brothers, compared with Li Chengqian and Li Tai, his ability is also relatively average, under the influence of a strong father and two powerful brothers, Li Zhi's personality is somewhat cowardly.
"The public advises me to set up a pheasant slave, a pheasant slave is a coward, I am afraid that I will not be able to keep the society, why not!"
Due to the rivalry between Li Chengqian and Li Tai, coupled with the support of The Eldest Sun Wuji and others for Li Zhi, Li Shimin could only give the position of crown prince to Li Zhi.
The reason why Li Shimin did not like Wu Zetian may be related to Wu Zetian's strong personality, Wu Zetian did not have an appetite for Li Shimin, but Li Zhi just happened to like wu Zetian as an independent woman.
Li Zhi lost his mother at the age of eight and watched his two older brothers fight each other, and in this environment Li Zhi was more insecure. It is difficult to establish a sense of security, and Wu Zetian just makes up for Li Zhi's sense of security.
Wu Zetian is very strong and smart, she can always seize the opportunity at the first time, in order to achieve the goal or even unscrupulous means. At the beginning, Li Shimin asked the concubines to say the method of training horses, and Wu Zetian said:
"I can subdue it, but it takes three things, an iron whip, an iron rod, and a dagger."
Although Wu Zetian's answer was somewhat outrageous, it proved her independence and strength.
Wu Zetian used her power and wisdom to firmly grasp Li Zhi's heart, and after gaining favor, he excluded Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shufei. After that, Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shufei often said bad things about Wu Zetian to the emperor, but Li Zhi simply ignored this and trusted Wu Zetian very much.
Facts have proved that Wu Zetian not only psychologically made up for Li Zhi's deficiencies, but also helped Li Zhi with practical actions. Wu Zetian took control of the power of the harem step by step, and even began to get involved in some government affairs, while Li Zhi often made a wind attack, causing a vacuum in power.
Wu Zetian just happened to fill the gap in power, and swept away all the powerful ministers such as changsun Wujie, helping Li Zhi regain imperial power.
At first, Li Zhi looked at Wu Zetian's posture, and after getting along more, he began to appreciate Wu Zetian's personality, and as the situation continued to ferment, at the level of power, Li Zhi could not help Wu Zetian.
Before and after Wu Zetian became empress, presumably Li Zhi's fascination with Wu Zetian was long gone, but it was replaced by interest exchange or political support. In the end, Li Zhi was seriously ill, and Wu Zetian's tail was not big, so Li Zhi could only entrust Jiangshan to Wu Zetian.
Is this the right choice, or is it a helpless compromise? Probably only Li Zhi himself knew best!