In the later years of Wu Zetian's life, Zhang Kamzhi and others launched a Shenlong coup to restore the Li Tang artifact. However, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian, was faint and incompetent, and he was stunned that he had ceded power to his wife Wei Hou. Wei Hou was very ambitious and had always fantasized about being the second Wu Zetian, so he co-opted some people with ulterior motives, eliminated Zhang Kamzhi and other old ministers, and formed a wu and Wei dictatorship group headed by Wei Shi in the court.
Even though the crown prince Li Chongjun later staged a coup d'état and killed Wu Sansi, but it did not affect Wei Hou, her power was still very strong, and she even poisoned and assassinated Li Xian, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. At this time, Empress Wei was about to ascend the throne, but at the critical moment, Li Longji launched a coup d'état and killed Empress Wei.
But we must know that Li Longji was not a very influential figure at that time. Although he was the son of Li Dan and the King of Linzi, he was not a great official before, and he was thus dismissed from the post of other driver in Luzhou.
Objectively speaking, Empress Wei was indeed unpopular, causing a miasma in the court, especially her daughter Princess Anle was not a fuel-saving lamp, and in the palace, she insulted the ministers, ignored the royal law, and did whatever she wanted.
After emperor Zhongzong's death, Empress Wei was also worried about the change, so she ordered that 50,000 horses and horses be transferred from various provinces, and the left and right camps were stationed in the capital, so that her brother Wei Wen was always responsible, and Wei Wen's son and Wei Hou's other brothers were divided into the left and right battalions and the Yulin army to defend the palace.
It is said that such precautions are strict enough, but they are still invincible.
In fact, the reason why Li Longji launched the Tang Long Coup was successful was mainly due to two reasons.
First of all, the Wei hou clique was unpopular, although the chancellor Zong Chuke and most of the courtiers in the court were members of Wei Hou's party, there were still people who were dissatisfied with Wei Hou, especially after the death of Tang Zhongzong, it was rumored that Wei Hou's party was poisoned, which made the group even more indignant.
In the army, Wei Bo, Gao Song and others, in order to establish their own prestige, whipped soldiers at every turn, so although they held the command, in fact, many of their subordinates resented them.
Therefore, when Wei Hou was preparing to ascend the throne step by step, many ministers who had to rely on Wei Hou earlier began to wake up, such as Cui Riyong, a military attendant, who promptly informed Li Longji and advised him to attack as soon as possible.
Ge Fushun, commander of the Left Ten Thousand Horsemen Battalion, and Li Xianjian, the right Ten Thousand Horsemen, were both very key players in the coup. It was Ge Fushun who drew his sword and went straight to the Yulin camp and beheaded Wei Xuan, Wei Bo, and Gao Song to show the public.
Secondly, Li Longji is really not a fuel-saving lamp. In the first year of Jinglong (707), the 23-year-old Li Longji, the king of Linzi, was sent to Luzhou to serve as a driver, and stayed in Luzhou Li Longji for three years, during which he did not idle, but recruited talents from many sources, gained a group of confidants among middle- and lower-level officials, and recruited a group of warriors to accompany him.
After returning to Chang'an, he began to recruit the emperor's guards and horses to cultivate his own forces. Preparations were made for the Coup d'état in Tanglong.