Chapter 17 Three Bloodstained Crowns

Despite so many preparations, it was not so easy for Wu Zetian to become emperor. It stands to reason that when the emperor dies, the prince should succeed him.Wu Zetian had four sons, three of whom were princes.The first one is Li Hong.Li Hong was canonized as the prince as early as the first month of the first year of Xianqing (AD 656), but died in April of the second year of Shangyuan (AD 675).Many people say that he was poisoned to death by Wu Zetian.It's a pity that there is no proof of death, not to mention that the prince's health is indeed very poor. As early as the year when he was canonized as the prince, he had suffered a serious illness, so that "the imperial doctor was helpless".In the second year of Xianheng (AD 671), when he was in charge of the country, Dai Zhide and others were also in charge of government affairs due to illness.So we had to count him as sick and dead.

The second prince is Li Xian.It was established in the second year of Shangyuan (AD 675) and abolished in the first year of Yonglong (AD 680).His dismissal is also a mystery.We only know that there is a lot of suspicion between their mother and son.Some people say that it was because he organized famous Confucianism to annotate "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", and talked about empress concubines and relatives intervening in politics, which violated Wu Zetian's taboo;In short, he was accused of treason, and hundreds of soldiers' uniforms were found in his palace as evidence.The poor prince was deposed as a common man and died in Bazhou in the first year of Sisheng (684 AD).

Taking hundreds of soldiers' uniforms as evidence of treason is obviously not enough evidence.How can such a small amount of weapons and equipment be rebelled against?Therefore, this "conclusive" evidence, like the wooden figurine found from the queen, has two possibilities.One, these weapons and equipment were indeed hidden by Li Xian, but the purpose was nothing more than self-defense.The other is planting.There are also two possibilities for planting: one is Wu Zetian's planting, and the other is someone else's planting, with the intention of provoking a fight between their mother and child, so that they can reap the benefits.But if Wu Zetian had no doubts about her son, then the stolen goods would not be planted.Moreover, even if those things were really hidden by Li Xian, there would not be such serious consequences.In fact, if it weren't for Wu Zetian's intention to abolish the prince, no one would come out to accuse the prince, let alone search the prince's mansion.It can be seen that Li Xian actually died of Wu Zetian's suspicion.

Saying that Wu Zetian framed Prince Xian is the same as saying that she poisoned Prince Hong, without any evidence.But Wu Zetian is suspicious and even jealous of her two sons, so he can be sure of the rest.The reason was that the monarchs, ministers, court and the public were all optimistic about the two princes.Li Zhi once said to his courtiers: "Hongren and filial piety, the minister of courtesy, has never happened before."This of course does not make Wu Zetian happy.What Wu Zetian hopes is that both China and foreign countries belong to herself, not to others.Therefore, when Li Hong passed away suddenly, some people suspected that it was Wu Zetian's poisonous hand-"People at that time thought it was the Queen of Heaven's poison (sound vibration, killing people with poisoned wine)".

After Li Hong's death, everyone turned to support Li Xian.Because everyone could see at this time that Wu Zetian's ambitions were not small, and Li Zhize had already left power.However, with Li Zhi's weak body and cowardly personality, it is almost impossible to regain power and revive the court.So they all pin their hopes on the new prince.Li Xian seems to live up to expectations.He has a handsome appearance and a dignified manner. He has loved reading since he was a child, and he has a photographic memory.He also presided over the commentary on the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", which is of a very high level and is still very authoritative.This made him famous.The ruling and opposition parties agreed that Li Xian would succeed Tang Zuo.Li Zhi even said to Li Shilin: "This son is strict with himself, and he is a talent for great achievements." If all the scholars are like Li Xian, "the Tang Dynasty will be safe"!

There is no fear in the Tang Dynasty, but there is taboo in the sky.Wu Zetian, who has tasted the benefits of monopolizing power, dislikes it very much when someone puts a stick in her favor.It happened at this time that Ming Chongyan was murdered.Ming Chongyan is a guy who pretends to be a ghost. It is said that he has some witchcraft and can heal people.He once said to Wu Zetian that the prince's virtuous life is not good, and he can't bear the succession, so Li Xian, the British king, or Li Dan, the prime minister, should be established.Later, Ming Chongyan was mysteriously murdered.The investigators arrested Li Xian's homosexual partner Zhao Daosheng for questioning, and confessed that Li Xian bribed the thieves to kill him.Then, weapons and equipment were found in Li Xian's stable.The whole case is confusing and confusing.But it is certain: either Wu Zetian single-handedly created this unjust case, or Wu Zetian took advantage of this case and did some tricks in it.Anyway, she achieved her goal.

It seems that Li Xian's books are still read a little less.He really shouldn't have robbed Wu Zetian of her scene when she was in the limelight.He only knew that the prince could be the emperor, but he didn't know that even the emperor could be abolished, let alone the prince? The third prince Li Xian was abolished on the throne of the emperor.This guy is a jerk and a straw bag.He is more wimpy, more lustful, more henpecked, and more brainless than his father.Although Li Zhi is a little weaker, he still has self-knowledge, and he is more cautious and decent in dealing with people, so he still has a certain prestige.However, Li Xian couldn't figure out his weight at all.Within two days of being on stage, before his butt was hot, he hurriedly flattered his wife and wanted the old father-in-law Wei Xuanzhen to be the prime minister.Prime Minister Pei Yan disagreed, and the confused emperor even said: The country belongs to me.Even if I give him the whole world, it's nothing special, let alone just let him be a servant?This is not only unacceptable to Wu Zetian, but also unacceptable to others.Even if the words are angry, they cannot be tolerated.Therefore, this guy only served as emperor for two months before being dragged down from the throne by Wu Zetian and Pei Yan.

In fact, Li Xian was indeed unbearable to be a king.In the first year of Shenlong (705 AD), after Wu Zetian abdicated, he became emperor again, but died unexpectedly.Because Empress Wei wanted to be the empress after her mother-in-law Wu Zetian, and her daughter, Princess Anle, wanted to be the empress dowager.They conspired to put poison in the pie and sent the foolish emperor to the west.Zhongzong Li Xian, a dizzy big-tailed sheep, planted his life on the three closest women: his mother Wu Zetian, his beloved wife Empress Wei, and his charming daughter Li Guer.It is not difficult to imagine that even if Wu Zetian did not abolish him, he would not be a good emperor.

Ruizong Li Dan, who succeeded Li Xian as emperor, was a smart man.He didn't even go to court at all, and handed over all government affairs to his mother, saying that he was young and ignorant (he was twenty-two years old), had no morals and talents, and was unbearable to govern the country.Two years later, Wu Zetian proposed to return the power to him, but he just kowtowed and refused to agree to death.Now that things have come to this point, it will be a matter of time before Wu Zetian replaces the Li family as emperor. However, Wu Zetian did not put the crown on her head in a hurry.

Wu Zetian was not one to act rashly (this is one of the big reasons for her success).She knew very well that what she was going to do was something unprecedented since the beginning of the world.Don't say that China has never had a female emperor, even if a woman is in power, it is not "legitimate".This requires foreshadowing and preparation, to make people change their minds, and to wait patiently and take a look.Wu Zetian can do this.She was patient and calm, but she couldn't wait too long because she was sixty-one years old. In fact, the situation at that time did not allow her to be slow and gentle.Power struggles have always been life and death, and regime change is not painting and embroidery.After Gaozong's death, the actual vacant throne has become a sensitive issue, and the trick of peddling dog meat can no longer be performed.Wu Zetian was faced with two choices: either return the power to the son and let Li Zhi's son sell mutton; or show the signboard of Wu's shop and openly sell dog meat.Wu Zetian knew very well that everyone was waiting for her showdown, not to mention there were so many people sharpening their swords and staring at her.

Xu Jingye was the first to openly challenge Wu Zetian.On September 29th in the first year of Sisheng (AD 684), that is, more than seven months after Zhongzong Li Xian was deposed and more than six months after Zhanghuai Prince Li Xian committed suicide, Xu Jingye raised troops in Yangzhou and announced that he would use the Overthrow Wu Zetian's "pseudo-regime" by force.Xu Jingye is the grandson of Li Shilin.Since Li Shilin was given the surname Li by Emperor Taizong, Xu Jingye was also called Li Jingye at that time.However, Li Jingye has now turned his back on Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian angrily announced that he is no longer qualified to be named Li.Xu Jingye was also polite, announcing that his uncle Li Siwen (already detained by Xu Jingye) was surnamed Wu who refused to join him in raising troops against the Wu family.It seems that Xu Jingye and Wu Zetian are in agreement on this point: Li Nai is the surname of the royal family, which is inexplicably honorable, how can a "thief" get it?Since Li Jingye betrayed the imperial court, of course he should still be surnamed Xu; since Li Siwen followed the Wu family, let him be surnamed that humble and vile Wu. This surname dispute, which now looks ridiculous, was carried out very seriously at the time.Both sides announced this decision to the whole country to show that their positions are upright.In fact, it doesn't matter what Xu Jingye's last name is, what matters is that his operation is doomed to fail almost from the very beginning.He had no ideological, organizational, military or financial preparations in advance. He was just a few frustrated bureaucrats and down-and-out literati. How can there be no reason for invincibility? But Xu Jingye didn't think of this.He was very arrogant at first.He asked King Luo Bin to draft a special call for him to criticize Wu Zetian verbally and to propagandize people all over the world.After all, King Luo Bin deserves to be one of the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty", and his writing style is surprisingly good.Coupled with the fact that I have been depressed for a long time and have no ambitions, public anger and personal hatred, a burst of resentment gushes out, so I wrote this article to shock the world and weep ghosts and gods.In Luo Binwang's writing, Wu Zetian was not a good thing in the first place.She has a bad nature (non-genteel nature), humble background (cold ground), and by concealing history (hiding the privateness of the former emperor), she got mixed into Gaozong's harem (the harem of Yintu).Once entering the palace, the fox's tail is exposed (seeing jealousy at the beginning, moth eyebrows refuse to let others; slanderous workers, foxy charm can confuse the Lord).As soon as he has power, he reveals his nature as a jackal (close to evil and secluded, crippling loyal and good people, killing sisters and brothers, killing kings and mothers).It is simply heinous, and it should have been punished by heaven and earth (humans and gods are jealous of each other, but heaven and earth cannot tolerate it).What's more, she is still vainly trying to overthrow Datang and steal the throne, so that the soul of the late emperor can't rest in peace, and the beloved son of the late emperor can't rest in peace. Tolerance, what can't be tolerated"!Xu Jingye, as "an old minister of the Emperor Tang Dynasty, Duke Zhongzi", not only "serves the success of the former emperor", but also "the kindness of the Heben Dynasty", so of course he can't just sit by and do nothing.Only then "because of the disappointment of the world and the push of Shun Yu's heart", held up the banner of justice, and assembled the armed forces to eliminate demons.What a powerful force this is! "It is connected to Baiyue in the south, mountains and rivers in the north, there are groups of cavalry, and jade axes are connected."What a mighty army this is! "The sound of the squad moves and the north wind rises, the sword qi rushes and the south fights flat, the silence makes the mountains crumble, and the sound changes the color of the situation." This kind of power is invincible (use this to control the enemy, no enemy is invincible), such The army is invincible.Not only is victory in sight, it is already victory.If you don't believe me, "Try to see who owns the world in today's domain"! This is indeed the most outstanding and exciting article in Chinese history. It is written so righteously and majesticly. It is said that even Wu Zetian applauded after reading it. It is really "the prime minister's fault" that such a talent has not been discovered. .Naturally, Xu Jingye's rebel army became the benevolent teacher, the righteous teacher, the mighty teacher, and the victorious teacher.Unfortunately, the weapon of critique cannot replace the critique of the weapon.The mob gathered temporarily by Xu Jingye was no match for the Heavenly Soldiers of the Dynasty at all.After only a few rounds, he was beaten to pieces and fled in despair. In fact, Xu Jingye's downfall was revealed as early as Luo Binwang's proclamation.Xu Jingye made a wish at the end of the call-to-action and said: "All the nobles reward, the same refers to the mountains and rivers." It means that I, Xu, promise everyone that as long as you participate in my action, then, after the event is completed, all the titles will be rewarded. You can point to the mountains and rivers as your faith.With such a tone, it seems that this great river and mountain is already his Xu Jingye's at this moment. Isn't it extremely arrogant, arrogant soldiers must be defeated?Don't say that victory or defeat is still unknown at this moment, even if you win in the future, you shouldn't be awarded the official title by Xu Jingye, and you shouldn't be rewarded by Xu Jingye for the honor.In theory, this should be the emperor's business.Xu Jingye spoke in the tone of an emperor, didn't he just expose his wolfish ambition to be king and emperor?Xu Jingye's crusade against Wu Zetian, if there is still some possibility of victory, it is to take up the word "righteousness".Now that profit is used to replace righteousness and political capital is lost, the only option is self-destruction. In fact, Xu Jingye lost here.The military adviser Wei Siwen once said to him, since we are calling for the recovery of the Tang Dynasty and the industrious king, we should go straight to Luoyang and win the response of the people of the world.However, Xu Jingye couldn't resist the temptation of the so-called "Jinling Wangqi" and claiming the title of king based on the territory. He refused to go to the Northern Expedition and wanted to go to the East. He was defeated and killed by his subordinates on the way to Goryeo.He only made trouble for forty or fifty days before he was ruined, and he deserved it. Just the day before Wu Zetian revoked Xu Jingye's qualification to be surnamed Li, that is, on October 18, the first year of Sisheng, Prime Minister Pei Yan was beheaded in Duting.His death was neither injustice nor injustice. Pei Yan was killed for treason.The evidence is that he had private contact with the rebel King Luo Bin and had correspondence with Xu Jingye.It is said that in order to instigate rebellion against Pei Yan, King Luo Bin made up a folk song "one piece of fire, two pieces of fire, and the child in Feiyi sits in the hall", and explained: "Feiyi" means Pei, "one piece of fire, two pieces of fire" means Yan, " "Xiaoer" is Zilong (Pei Yan's character), and "sit in the palace" is naturally the emperor, which aroused Pei Yan's resentment.It is also said that Pei Yan's letter to Xu Jingye only contained the word "green goose". Yue launched a coup in the imperial court in response to the Yangzhou military.In short, according to these statements, Pei Yan's treason has both criminal motives and criminal facts. In fact, Pei Yan and Xu Jingye are not the same people.He was wary of Xu Jingye and what Xu Jingye was going to do, and didn't want to get involved.Xu Jingye's purpose was to overthrow the Wu family and become king himself; Pei Yan's purpose was to force the Queen Mother to retreat and return Ruizong.They have something in common on this point, but their differences are even greater.Pei Yan was opposed to armed rebellion, and he didn't want Xu Jingye to be in a bad mood.His plan is to work with Cheng Wuting to "admonish" Wu Zetian, just like what Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng did to Chiang Kai-shek during the "Xi'an Incident".It's just that Zhang and Yang succeeded, but Pei and Cheng failed.The reason it didn't work out was bad luck.Their plan originally was to take advantage of Wu Zetian's visit to Longmen to "hold her with soldiers" and force her to surrender power.It was only because of the bad weather and the heavy rain that this plan could not be implemented. Therefore, when Xu Jingye raised troops in Yangzhou, Pei Yan's mood can be said to be "joy and fear".The good news is that finally someone openly challenged Wu Zetian's authority, and she probably can no longer insist on her own way.The fear is that once the war starts, the situation will be out of control.Moreover, whether it is dealing with the resourceful empress dowager now, or dealing with Xu Jingye who is heavily armed in the future, it will be a difficult problem.But he really didn't want to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reap the benefits.So he decided to take a gamble.He said to Wu Zetian: The emperor is old and not close to political affairs, so he gave the rebels an excuse.If the empress dowager returned to the emperor, the minister thought that the rebels would not seek peace. Pei Yan played a risky move.His wishful thinking is: since his own military remonstrance fails, he will borrow Xu Jingye's soldiers.First use Xu Jingye's soldiers to force Wu Zetian to step down, and then use Wu Zetian's soldiers to force Xu Jingye to submit.As long as the empress dowager abdicates and the emperor returns, Xu Jingye's military actions will come out of nowhere, and if he persists, it will be treason.At that time, it was much easier to ask for it, not to mention "not asking for self-leveling".No matter whether he quelled the rebellion without bloodshed or regained the government without fighting, he, Pei Yan, was a hero of the world and a famous minister through the ages.What's more, Pei Yan's statement is not without reason.Xu Jingye did not oppose Tang.On the contrary, he played the banner of Kuangfu Tang Dynasty.If the emperor returns to the court, why would Xu Jingye not bow his head and proclaim himself a minister? It's a pity that Wu Zetian is not so easy to coax.Her face remained calm, but she secretly laughed in her heart: Don't do this with my old lady!Disappointed?How can there be a rebel in the world who does not ask for peace!The army's conquest is not necessarily flat!With your clear mind and rich political experience, Pei Yan, don't you understand this truth?Can't you see that Xu Jingye's real purpose is to "reward all the nobles, and the same refers to the mountains and rivers"?Even if I return the power to the emperor, Xu Jingye will continue to raise troops and cause chaos with the excuse that "returning the power is false".It seems that the so-called "don't ask for peace" is false, and it is true that I want my mother to step down.No wonder he has no interest in crusade against traitors (doesn't look forward to punishing them).Wu Zetian has never been soft on this kind of person.Aren't you Pei Yan and Xu Jingye echoing and singing together?Well, no matter if you are playing the side drums, acting as an internal response, or taking advantage of the fire to rob or fish in troubled waters, I will kill you first, so as not to become elbows and armpits, which is hard to guard against.Therefore, Wu Zetian sent Pei Yan to the guillotine without the slightest hesitation.After the Yangzhou rebellion was quelled, Cheng Wuting was beheaded in the army. Pei Yan's treason case caused a great shock in the court.Few people believed that Pei Yan's rebellion was real.Because everyone knows that Pei Yan is both a loyal minister and an upright official.After Pei Yan was arrested, he ransacked his home as usual, but found that the dignified prime minister's mansion was completely destitute and impoverished.Cheng Wuting was even more wronged.As a famous general and hero of the Tang Dynasty, not only did he not rebel, but he also fought bravely in front to defend the border, killing the enemy so frightened that they dare not attack.After Cheng Wuting was murdered, the frontier soldiers were inexplicably sad and wept bitterly, while the Turks cheered and held a big banquet.When Wu Zetian killed Cheng Wuting, he really did something that loved ones hurt enemies. In fact, Pei Yan and Cheng Wu are not against each other, only Wu Zetian and the two of them know it well.That is: if Wu Zetian did not become emperor and returned to Ruizong, Pei Yan and Cheng Wuting would definitely not oppose him; if Wu Zetian declared himself emperor outrageously, Pei Yan and Cheng Wuting would definitely oppose him.It's just that no one can say that.Therefore, when someone persuaded Pei Yan to plead guilty and intercede, or save himself from death, Pei Yan just shook his head with a smile and said: "It is absolutely unreasonable for the prime minister to go to prison."There is no need to say any more.Similarly, when the court ministers guaranteed that Pei Yan would not rebel and said, "If Pei Yan rebels, the ministers will rebel too", Wu Zetian just smiled and shook his head and said: I know that Pei Yan will rebel, and Qing and others will not.It can be seen that both sides are tacit. In fact, no matter whether the evidence of Pei Yan's treason case is solid or not, his death is a tragedy.It was a tragedy for Pei Yan, and it was also a tragedy for Wu Zetian.Because none of them were "wrong", and they all paid the price, and the losses were heavy.Pei Yan was killed to defend his claim.This proposition is: the emperor can only be a man, and only the descendants of Li Shimin.Judging from feudal etiquette and Pei Yan's education, this is correct, it is "justice" and "right way".Wu Zetian's proposition is: the strong is king.The emperor should be appointed by a capable person, regardless of whether the person is a man or a woman, or whose surname is Li or something else.From another perspective, this is not bad, it is also "justice" and "right way".As a result, Pei Yan and Wu Zetian clashed for their different "justice" and "righteous way", and paid the price separately: Pei Yan lost his life, and Wu Zetian lost a generation of famous officials and generals, which is equivalent to cutting off his right-hand man. However, Wu Zetian still has to thank Pei Yan deep in his heart. If it is said that Xu Jingye's short-lived rebellion strengthened Wu Zetian's confidence and made her feel that things in the world are not impossible to do, then Pei Yan's attempted coup reminded her to be careful not to lose Jingzhou carelessly.The road will not be smooth, and the future will not be smooth sailing, but will be full of dangers and dangers.Xu Jingye's rebellion was certainly unpopular (as Chen Zi'ang said at the time, "Yangzhou's rebellion lasted for almost fifty years, while the rest of the country remained silent"), and his own imperial title system was also subject to controversy (as in The important minister Liu Yizhi said: "Since the Empress Dowager has abolished the faint and made the Ming clear, she can use the imperial court to proclaim the system! It is better to return to the government and calm the hearts of the world.") It seems that the remnants of Li Tang's clan are not terrible, but the tradition of etiquette and law is not. It is a formidable foe to defeat.Back then, when Cao Cao did extraordinary things in extraordinary times, he could only "coerce the emperor to order the princes." Now, if Wu Mou wants to do extraordinary things in ordinary times, he has to do extraordinary things.Obviously, for Wu Zetian, her road to the throne can only be paved with bones.The queen's crown on her head can only be dyed with blood.She couldn't wait for someone to bump into the muzzle.She must create terror and start a killing spree to make everyone submissive and silent. Now Wu Zetian is convinced that she is carrying out a great earth-shaking revolution. The word "revolution" in ancient China originally meant "changing dynasties" or "changing the mandate of heaven", such as Yin Revolution Xia Ming, Zhou Revolution Yin Ming, etc.Therefore, "Book of Changes" said that "Tang and Wu revolutions follow the sky and respond to people."However, whether it is the Shang Tang revolution or the Zhou Wu revolution, they are quite different from Wu Zetian's revolution.The former happened when the old dynasty was dying, and the latter happened when the new dynasty was flourishing; the former was a male family replacing another male family, while the latter was a woman trying to subvert the man's world; the former was to seize power by armed forces , the latter can only engage in a palace coup.Obviously, Wu Zetian's difficulty is even greater, and whether "following the sky and responding to people" is also a big question.However, Wu Zetian is a great woman who is not afraid of heaven and earth, does not believe in evil and refuses to admit defeat, and is empty of the sun, moon and stars (Zhao is the sun, moon and sky).If God does not allow her to revolutionize, she will revolutionize God; if God does not give her a revolutionary atmosphere, she will create it herself; if everyone does not approve of her revolution, she will make everyone afraid to speak.In short, she must create a political climate in which resistance to her is known to all to be futile. So Wu Zetian began to carry out her spy politics and reign of terror confidently.The core part of this kind of politics and rule is the informant system, cruel official groups and unjust, false and wrongly decided cases.Creating unjust, false and wrongly decided cases, and framing one's political opponents and people they dislike for treason are common tactics used by all autocrats and dictators.Liu Bang used it, Cao Cao used it, and Wu Zetian can certainly use it.The difference between Wu Zetian is that she openly and generally encouraged informants and appointed cruel officials to create unjust, false and wrongly decided cases on a large scale.Few people have legalized and publicly encouraged informants like Wu Zetian.She stipulated that no one should stop the informer.Even woodcutters and peasants could go to the capital to meet the emperor and file charges.They will be provided with stage horses by the government, enjoy the treatment of five-rank officials along the way, live in official inns after entering Beijing, eat official food, and can be personally received and rewarded by Wu Zetian.The most important thing is: Even if you expose falsehoods, you will not sit back and will not be punished in any way. Who doesn't want to do this kind of no-cost business with only income and no loss.Even if it's a trip to the capital at public expense, it's worth it to get addicted to being a fifth-rank official.As a result, informers from all directions flocked in, and all ministers in the court and China were in danger.Wu Zetian insisted on reading those whistleblower letters every day, with great interest and never tired of it.These informant letters provided her with many clues, enabling her to know the social trends in the court very well.It really made her smile with joy.She did not forget that because of the ineffectiveness of intelligence, Xu Jingye and his gang had engaged in so many conspiracies and tricks, but the imperial court knew nothing about it. It was only when they gathered an army of 100,000 to attack the city that they were shocked and reacted in a hurry.She did not forget that Pei Yan's premeditated mutiny was stifled in the cradle precisely because of the informant.Informant, for a dictator, is really a good thing. Therefore, Wu Zetian decided to reward the informers heavily and select a group of cruel officials from among the informers.The reason why these ruthless officials were selected from among the informers was that those who disdained to inform would also be unwilling to coerce confessions.If you don't engage in forced confessions, how can you turn the informant into a case and put the opposition to death?After tasting the sweetness of informants, Wu Zetian was no longer satisfied with obtaining information only through this method.She also needs to deal with all the informants, create one unjust case after another, so as to knock the opposition to the ground, and set another foot on them, so that they will never stand up again.In fact, the establishment of a whistleblower system is absolutely necessary and timely only when "appalling" cases are continuously revealed.This requires cruel officials.It doesn't matter what kind of background these people are, whether they are educated and learned, or whether they understand the law and are capable.The important thing is to see Wu Zetian's face, and enough despicability and cruelty. It can be seen that the system of whistleblowers, gangs of cruel officials, and unjust, false and wrongly decided cases, these three things are linked together.When someone comes out to inform, there will be intelligence and clues, and there will be reasons and excuses to punish the person; someone will act as a cruel official, and the whistleblower's report may be "substantiated", and it is possible to create unjust, false and wrong cases; Only by wrongly judging the case can we continue to declare that "the country is under threat", thus making the informant system and the gang of cruel officials appear reasonable and legitimate.Now that national security is under such a serious threat, it is even more necessary to encourage whistleblowers and reuse cruel officials.With such a vicious circle, an atmosphere of terror is naturally formed.In fact, has the country ever been threatened?It's just that Wu Zetian is nervous, or it's just an excuse for her to kill people. Although Wu Zetian's method is extremely despicable, dirty and obscene, it works.Over the past few years, no one dared to make irresponsible remarks on what she did, and there were only voices of praise and flattery.The green paper books reporting the so-called auspiciousness and the persuading table of the so-called destiny flew to the palace like snowflakes, and flew to the majesty of Wu Zetian.After pretending to make excuses, on September 9th, the first year of Zaichu, that is, the first year of Tianshou (AD 690), the biggest female careerist in Chinese history finally got her wish and put on the blood-stained robe. crown.This year, she was sixty-seven years old.