Wu Zetian's end was tragic.
Wu Zetian's misery does not mean that she did not have a good life after stepping down. In fact, even if Wu Zetian did not become emperor, she was well served. Even if Zhang Yizhi Zhang Changzong's two faces were no longer by her side, there were a large number of slaves around her to serve her. Moreover, every 10 days, Li Xian would bring hundreds of civil and military officials to see her and worship her. Therefore, she does not have to worry about life.
Wu Zetian's misery was that her dignity was challenged. It was not easy to struggle to the highest position in life, became emperor, and also established a Wuzhou Dynasty. I wanted to pass on this dynasty and pass on the throne, but I was overthrown. Her chosen heir, Li Xian, was simply dismissive of the inheritance rights she had given.
In the end, Wu Zetian had to say that the Wuzhou Dynasty she had established was not counted, and Jiangshan was still the Li family; she, the emperor, could not count, she could only be Empress Gaozong; even she, the Emperor Taishang, did not count, but could only be an empress. Wu Zetian denied his life's work, obviously, this was a great harm to Wu Zetian's dignity. The most important thing for a person to live is to have face and dignity. Dignity and face are the basic guarantees for a person to live, and with this, people will live to be spiritual. Without this, even if you eat and drink, you feel tasteless.
(Portrait of Wu Zetian)
After Wu Zetian was pulled off the stage, he didn't even bother to do the matter of dressing up all day. It can be seen that she completely gave up on herself, and the whole person collapsed.
Wu Zetian had originally embarked on the peak of his life. And she has already put everything in order, and the four seas are a scene of peace and prosperity. When he first became emperor before, the situation of rebellion everywhere was gone, and Li Tangzong did not dare to resist. The ministers of the DPRK and China were very supportive of her, and her successor was chosen. Originally, she felt that she could lie flat and take a little rest. Who knows, overnight, the Divine Dragon Incident broke out. Everything has changed since then.
When such a thing happened, it is estimated that even Wu Zetian himself was a little confused. So, what's the problem?
In fact, it was precisely the three people she trusted the most.
The first person is Zhang Changzong, the first person in her face.
Zhang Yizhi Zhang Changzong's two faces, in the eyes of Wu Zetian, are children's small toys. They also played with Wu Zetian. They would sometimes ask Wu Zetian for something, and Wu Zetian also felt that it was harmless, so he casually agreed to them.
But unexpectedly, because at this time, Wu Zetian lived in the deep palace for many years and lived in simplicity. Therefore, these two people, who were originally just small toys, became wu Zetian's spokesmen. Since he became the spokesman of Wu Zetian, he could speak on behalf of Wu Zetian. As for that statement, did Wu Zetian say it? Since Wu Zetian was living in the palace, the ministers usually could not see her, so there was no way to seek her verification. So, basically, these two sides have the final say.
Over time, these two heads played a very important role in the imperial court. Wu Zetian himself did not expect this, so that later, when Zhang Kamzhi and others launched a coup d'état and killed Zhang Yizhi Zhang Changzong, Wu Zetian also said, These are two small toys, what do you kill them for? It can be seen that Wu Zetian really did not expect that these two faces, whom she trusted very much, would have a bad impact on her and how much damage they would cause to her politics.
(Portrait of Di Renjie)
The second person who caused Wu Zetian's defeat was actually her most trusted minister, Di Renjie.
Di Renjie was the most trusted prime minister in Wu Zetian's life. Wu Zetian had used a lot of prime ministers, and the one who satisfied Wu Zetian the most was Di Renjie. After repeatedly running into Wu Zetian, Di Renjie became Wu Zetian's confidant and played a role in determining and changing wu Zetian's political direction.
For example, Wu Zetian once wanted to make his nephew his heir. However, under the persuasion of Di Renjie, Wu Zetian changed his attitude and replaced his son Li Xian with the heir to the throne. These are all proofs that Di Renjie can play a big role.
Perhaps Wu Zetian did not think at all that Di Renjie was actually an important force that brought Wu Zetian down. It is not that Di Renjie did it himself, but he recommended Zhang Kamzhi. Zhang Kamzhi himself was a force against Wu Zetian, and he was an aide to Xiao Shufei's son Li Sujie, and also tried to help Li Sujie gain Li Zhi's trust and make Li Zhi li Sujie his heir. Di Renjie obviously knew this and recommended Zhang Kamzhi many times, hoping that Wu Zetian could make Zhang Kamzhi the prime minister.
In the end, it was Precisely Zhang Kamzhi who organized the Shenlong coup and forced Wu Zetian to step down.
We don't know if Di Renjie and Zhang Kamzhi discussed the restoration of Li Tangjiangshan? Was it because he had discussed restoring Li Tangjiangshan that Di Renjie strongly recommended Zhang Kamzhi?
But in any case, Di Renjie and Zhang Kamzhi were more inclined to Li Tangjiangshan in terms of feelings. It was only because Wu Zetian's politics had stabilized and he was also very capable that Di Renjie chose to support her. But in the end, Di Renjie still betrayed Wu Zetian and chose Li Tangjiangshan.
(Portrait of Zhang Kam-
The third person responsible for Wu Zetian's defeat was Wu Zetian's most trusted son, Li Xian.
Wu Zetian initially distrusted Li Xian. After Li Xian became emperor, the first thing he did was to promote his father-in-law to be the prime minister, and he also said, even if I give him Jiangshan, I am willing. This made Wu Zetian see Li Xian's immaturity, so Wu Zetian deposed Li Xian, and later went through the process of making Li Dan emperor and deposing him. However, after many years, Li Xian was also tempered to the point of losing his temper and obeying Wu Zetian's words. In addition, Wu Zetian had undergone a series of killings and the political situation had stabilized, so Wu Zetian decided to re-establish Li Xian as the crown prince and pass the throne to him in the future.
But it was Li Xian who seized her power early.
Of course, Li Xian did not take the initiative in this matter, but Zhang Kamzhi and others took the initiative to initiate it. However, Li Xian did not refuse, but obeyed Zhang Kamzhi and others. It can also be seen from this that Li Xian was actually forced to become emperor.
In short, Wu Zetian's failure actually came from the three people she trusted the most. I have to say that this is Wu Zetian's sadness.
But then again, Wu Zetian's failure was actually caused by herself. Why?
Wu Zetian trusted The Head, but relaxed his restraint on them; Wu Zetian trusted Di Renjie, but could not change Di Renjie's values; Wu Zetian trusted Li Xian, but Li Xian was also ambitious.
Once again, it was inevitable that Wu Zetian would be overthrown and deposed early. What is politics? Politics is a power. Whoever has the power is in control of politics. When Wu Zetian's body became weaker, she lived in the palace for many years, and she could not come to the government in person, her power naturally weakened. When her power becomes weaker, the power of others naturally increases.
When the power of others increased, contradictions arose, such as between Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong and the minister of the DPRK and China, Zhang Kamzhi. Everyone wants to control power, so the struggle arises. In the end, Zhang Kamzhi relied on Li Xian's golden signboard, and easily killed Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong and took control of power.
I believe that Wu Zetian finally understood this. She removed the emperor number, although she was unwilling, but she was definitely willing to accept her fate.