The idiom "tiger poison does not eat children" I believe everyone has heard, which means that although the tiger is fierce, it will not eat its own children, which is used as a metaphor for those bad people who are parents love their children, even if this person is extremely vicious.
But unfortunately, this is not the case, tigers sometimes eat their own children, tiger poison real food. In the same way, people are like this, not everyone loves their children.
For example, Wang Mang, who was known as a crosser, had a total of six sons, except for the third son Wang An, who died of illness, the other five sons were either forced to die by Wang Mang or executed. Wang Mang is a person who attaches great importance to power, and in order to achieve his own goals, his own son is nothing in his eyes and can be given up at any time.
In addition to Wang Mang, there is another woman in history who killed even her own son, who is she?
Image: Wang Mang stills
This person is the first empress in Chinese history, Wu Zetian, who entered the palace at the age of 14 because of her beauty and was named a talented person and given the name of Beautiful Lady. However, at this time, Li Shimin was already 40 years old, and in ancient times, when the average age was only 35 years old, his age was very large, coupled with the fact that there were so many beauties in the harem at that time, and there was not only Wu Zetian alone, so Wu Zetian stayed in the palace for twelve years without being favored by Li Shimin.
Later, Li Shimin was seriously ill and could not get up from bed, so the concubines of the harem took turns to serve. Wu Zetian knew that if the emperor died, his good life would come to an end, either to accompany the funeral, or to live a lifetime of the Qinglan Ancient Buddha.
Wu Zetian did not want this, so she thought of a plan, seducing the then crown prince Li Zhi, becoming his woman herself could save her life. She first planned a romantic encounter with Li Zhi, and successfully Li Zhi made her heart move. In the end, Li Zhi failed to resist the mature and charming Wu Zetian, and the two hooked up with Li Shimin behind their backs.
When Li Shimin died, Wu Zetian, as his concubine, was sent to Ganye Temple to shave his hair as a nun according to the rules, but was soon accepted into the palace by Li Zhi.
Photo: Wu Zetian stills at Ganye Temple
She and Emperor Gaozong of Tang had two princesses and four princes, in descending order: Princess Anding, Li Hong, Li Xian, Li Xian, Li Xian, Li Dan, and Princess Taiping, of which Princess Anding died early. Wu Zetian was only a Zhaoyi when she was born princess Anding, and she always wanted to find an opportunity to get rid of Empress Wang and sit in that position herself.
This Time, the Heavenly King Empress came to see Princess Anding and stayed for a while before leaving, and when Wu Zetian learned of it, she thought that her opportunity had come, and she personally suffocated her daughter alive. When Li Zhi came to see his daughter open the swaddle and found that her daughter had been dead for a long time, then Wu Zetian pretended to ask who had come, and the palace ladies on the left and right said that only Empress Wang had come, and this time Empress Wang could not wash it away by jumping into the Yellow River.
In the end, Li Zhi deposed Empress Wang and made Wu Zetian the empress, and Wu Zetian's eldest son Li Hong was made crown prince.
Image: Empress Wang comes to see Princess Anding stills
Li Hong is known for his benevolence and is deeply loved by the people. At that time, the imperial court recruited a large number of soldiers, and those deserters who did not report when the time came were to be executed according to military law, and their families were also charged.
Li Hong felt that this rule was unreasonable and too ruthless, so he advised his father and emperor: Some soldiers did not report in time because they were sick, encountered bandits, or crossed the river in distress, and they did not mean it. It is hoped that the law of the army will be changed so that the families of deserters will not have to sit together in the future.
After hearing this, Li Zhi felt that Li Hong's request was reasonable, so he approved it.
At the beginning, the relationship between Li Hong and his mother Wu Zetian was not bad, but as Li Hong's power grew, the relationship between mother and son also began to drift apart. Li Hongxian offended Wu Zetian because princesses of Yiyang and Xuancheng, and later Wu Zetian's nephew Helan Minzhi actually raped the princess-to-be Princess Yang, causing Li Hong's face to be disgraced. Wu Zetian was worried that Li Hong would kill the Wu family after he became emperor, so she chose to attack first and kill Li Hong.
Photo: Li Hong found stills of Princess Yiyang and Princess Xuancheng
After Li Hong's death, Li Xian was made crown prince, and compared with his brother, Li Xian was much worse. He was obsessed with sound and even fell in love with zhao Daosheng, a domestic slave, and often rewarded him. But these are all small mistakes, and they are not yet abolished.
Because Li Zhi was seriously ill, he was often dizzy, unable to see, and unable to handle state affairs, so he let Empress Wu Zetian govern the country on his behalf. One mountain does not tolerate two tigers, this is the eternal truth, Li Xian and Wu Zetian mother and son have become enemies.
Image: Li Xian stills
Moreover, there was also a rumor in the palace at that time that Li Xian was not Wu Zetian's biological son, but her sister Lady Korea.
As we all know, Mrs. Han and Li Zhi do have a leg, and the two are still hooked up during Wu Zetian's pregnancy, her husband cheated on her sister, Wu Zetian must be angry when she learned of this, but she did not show it, but chose to be patient. Later, while Li Zhi was busy preparing for the Taishan Sealing Zen, Wu Zetian poisoned Lady Korea.
Since the sisters had already turned against each other, how could Wu Zetian raise a child for the Korean lady? Moreover, Wu Zetian did not consolidate his position without sons, so it is clear that this rumor is false, and Lee Hyun is not the son of Lady Han.
The matter of the harem must have come from the mouth of the harem people, and many people speculated that this rumor was spread by Wu Zetian and prepared for the public opinion of abolishing Li Xian.
Photo: Stills of Mrs. Han and Lee Ji stealing love
Later, hundreds of pairs of armor were found in Li Xian's residence, which was not what rebellion was, so Li Xian's position as crown prince was abolished. However, Li Zhi still loved Li Xian, and instead of killing him, he was imprisoned in the palace and exiled to Bazhou three years later.
After Li Zhi's death, Li Xian ascended the throne as emperor, but within two months he was deposed by Wu Zetian and replaced by Li Dan as emperor.
At this time, Li Xian was no longer a threat to Wu Zetian, but Wu Zetian was still not at ease and sent someone to Li Xian's residence to monitor his every move. Li Xian knew that her mother could not tolerate her, so she chose to commit suicide.
Image: Stills of Lee Hyun committing suicide
And only before his death he left a poem "Huangtai Gua Ci":
Plant melon yellow under the stage, melon ripe seeds away. One pick makes the melon good, and then picks it to make the melon thin. Three picks are still self-reliant, and the picks are not hugging.
The language of this poem is simple, and the meaning is simple and easy to understand. Very similar to Cao Zhi's "Seven-Step Poem", it uses the metaphor of planting melons and picking melons, and one picking, then picking, and three pickings must be no melon to pick in the end, leaving only a vine. Li Xian was exhorting his mother to attach importance to family affection and not to kill her own flesh and bones.
Picture from the Internet: "Huangtai Gua Ci"
Some people may have to ask, Li Xiandu has been deposed, why should he be targeted?
At this time, Wu Zetian was already in charge of the dynasty and was making plans for himself to be called emperor, and Li Xian's existence was always a hidden danger. If in the future he claims to be emperor, and some people oppose him and choose to support him as emperor, then it will be another big trouble.
Wu Zetian was indeed not mistaken, half a year after Li Xian's death, Xu Jingye raised an army to rebel, and it was still under the banner of Li Xian, he found a person who was very similar to Li Xian to pretend, saying that Li Xian was still alive and not dead.
From this point of view, Wu Zetian was indeed a cruel man, and in order to obtain supreme power, he even did not hesitate to kill his own children.
Article author: Zi Haojun
The entire article was originally produced by Zihao Film and Television Production Studio