Wu Zetian bore Li Zhi four sons and a daughter, but she followed Li Shimin for 12 years (637-649), but did not give birth to a man and a half daughter. This shows that Wu Zetian is not infertile, but because she has not been favored by Li Shimin, who has always disliked Wu Zetian.
(Wu Zetian stills)
Why did Li Shimin always dislike Wu Zetian?
Tang Taizong did not like Wu Zetian, there is a saying, because at that time there was a proverb that "the heroine Wu Wang, the generation has the world". Although Li Shimin believed that it was Li Junxian who really wanted to seize his country, it was Li Junxian who should have killed Li Junxian on this proverb. But in fact, Li Shimin was still very jealous of Wu Zetian. After all, at that time, Li Chunfeng had told Li Shimin that this sentence was fulfilled in Li Shimin's harem. Li Shimin originally wanted to kill all the people in his harem, but Li Chunfeng said that killing them would be to disobey the Mandate of Heaven and would cause greater harm. And even if it is harmful to the Tang Dynasty, it will be thirty years, and thirty years will be fine. So Li Shimin gave up the decision.
Wu Zetian was in the harem, also surnamed Wu, and was still a woman. Did Li Shimin think that Wu Zetian would seize his country? Must have thought about it. However, Li Shimin could not imagine that Wu Zetian would have a relationship with his son no matter what. All he could think of was that he spoiled Wu Zetian, who gave birth to a son. This son would later gain the throne, and then Wu Zetian became empress dowager, relying on this point to control the government. In this way, she was equivalent to taking Li Tangjiangshan.
It is precisely because of this consideration that Li Shimin did not favor Wu Zetian. As long as she is not pampered, she cannot have a son. Without a son, it would have been impossible to seize Li Tang's world.
It seems that the logic of this statement is very clear, but this kind of ancient weft is actually very unreliable. Most of the things are rendered and added by later generations. The so-called uncertain prophets do not exist at all.
For example, Wu Zetian, most likely later when she became emperor, later she would make up such a story. In other words, in order to show that she had the throne, It was "Providence", so Wu Zetian deliberately created such a story. In short, it was unlikely that it would have happened at the time.
Wu Zetian is a woman who can become an emperor, in addition to "Providence" can explain, what else can be explained?
Another example is Liu Bang as emperor. After all, before Liu Bang, all kings were aristocratic, and only nobles could be kings. When Ordinary People like Liu Bang became emperors, they could only be explained by "Providence".
(Li Shimin stills)
So, what is the real reason why Li Shimin doesn't like Wu Zetian?
In fact, for this, Wu Zetian herself was also grumpy, she once told her subordinates a story, this story, it feels like Wu Zetian is defending himself.
At that time, Li Shimin had a very fierce lion and horse, and no one could tame it. At that time, Li Shimin took his concubine to see the trainer to train the horse, and the result was that the trainer was either kicked by the horse, bitten, or injured, and some were injured. At this time, Wu Zetian stepped forward and told Li Shimin that by giving her three things, she could tame this horse. Which three things did Li Shimin ask? Wu Zetian said: An iron whip, an iron hammer and a dagger. If the horse disobeys, beat it with an iron whip; if the horse does not listen any longer, strike it on the head with an iron hammer; if neither of these two methods can make the horse obedient, stab it with a dagger.
After Li Shimin heard this, although he ostensibly praised Wu Zetian for his cleverness, it was obvious that this also destroyed the image of Wu Zetian in Li Shimin's heart, and from then on, Li Shimin did not like Wu Zetian.
That is to say, Wu Zetian wanted to show that because of his strong style at that time, Li Shimin did not like her. So, is this the real reason?
When Wu Zetian first entered the palace, he was only 14 years old. Li Shimin chose her as a concubine, the main thing being for political purposes. After all, when Li Shimin was fighting in Jiangshan, Wu Zetian's father, Wu Shiyan, gave Li Shimin great help in the war. After Li Shimin sat in Jiangshan, in order to show that he did not forget his old friend, he deliberately took the daughter of the samurai as his concubine.
Did Li Shimin marry Wu Zetian because Wu Zetian was beautiful? The Old Book of Tang once recorded: "Emperor Taizong heard of his beauty, summoned him to the palace, and established himself as a talented person." The Zizhi Tongjian also said: "The daughter of the governor of Jingzhou, fourteen years old, smelled its beauty, summoned into the harem, and was a talented person." ”
However, in fact, no matter which history book the author, he has not seen Wu Zetian's buddha-figure, so it is inevitable that hearsay. And only say "beauty", there is no specific expression. In fact, wu Zetian's appearance can be found in the appearance of Princess Taiping. The Old Book of Tang once recorded princess Taiping: "The princess is fruitful and generous. "That is to say, Princess Taiping is a relatively fat type." It is estimated that Wu Zetian should also be relatively fat. Does Li Shimin like this type or not? Probably not necessarily like it.
This aesthetic orientation of the Tang Dynasty to be fat for beauty only existed after the appearance of Yang Yuhuan and the appearance of the Sheng Tang dynasty. Li Shimin was in the early Tang Dynasty, and his national strength was not very strong, and at that time, he should not have formed an aesthetic orientation of fat as beauty.
(Li Zhi stills)
Li Shimin is actually very concerned about beauty. For example, Li Yuanji's widow Yang Shi, because she looked very white, was loved by Li Shimin, and Li Shimin was not even afraid of being discussed, and chose Yang Shi as a concubine.
It can be seen from this that Wu Zetian's face does not seem to be the kind that Li Shimin likes.
However, appearance is not the most critical, and Li Shimin is by no means a person who takes people by their appearance. Li Shimin's request for the empress dowager can be seen from his love for empress dowager.
Empress Eldest Sun was dignified and atmospheric, and her body was full of a kind of righteousness. In particular, she can also give Li Shimin a lot of help in politics, so that Li Shimin can maintain the appearance of a benevolent monarch.
Obviously, this is Li Shimin's requirement for the appearance of the empress.
What is wu zetian's character?
In fact, from the title that Li Shimin gave to Wu Zetian, we can already see it. Wu Zetian was given the title of "Wu Mei Niang", highlighting a "mei" character.
Wu Zetian is not charming? From later history, we can see that Wu Zetian was not a good person in essence. She kills decisively, her heart is cold and hard, and her heart is fierce. If she is charming, she must have done it intentionally, not by nature.
That year, with this trick, Wu Zetian captured Li Zhi and made Li Zhi like her. In other words, this is a political consideration of Wu Zetian.
In fact, it can also be seen that Wu Zetian has been trying to make Li Shimin like her.
She wants to use "flattery" to attract Li Shimin's attention. Unfortunately, Li Shimin read countless people and did not like this kind of pretend "flattery", but liked the dignified appearance of empress eldest grandson. Although Wu Zetian tried his best in front of Li Shimin, he also did everything in his power. But she did not understand Li Shimin after all, so she missed Li Shimin perfectly. In the end, he stayed in the harem for 12 years, and he had little intersection with Li Shimin.
Fortunately, Li Zhi appeared later, and Li Zhi's personality and orientation just complemented Wu Zetian, so he gave Wu Zetian the space to display his talents. And Wu Zetian, nourished by the fertile soil of Li Zhi, eventually grew into a towering tree and became a queen of a generation.