Chapter 23 panic

The rebellion of the princes of the Tang Dynasty was caused by the construction of the Mingtang.The evidence that a revolution was brewing grew stronger day by day, saying that Empress Wu was about to usurp the Tang Dynasty, the Wu clan was about to change the dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty was about to perish.Empress Wu is now a Buddha and a god.But she still made her new dynasty find an origin in ancient times.Rumors swirled that she would call her new dynasty "Zhou," the golden age of Confucius.Because in the early years of the Zhou Dynasty, the lord of the Ming Dynasty built the Mingtang as a place to declare politics and religion. Now Empress Wu built the Mingtang, which must have the meaning of revitalizing the Zhou Dynasty and must be related to the Zhou Dynasty.

Empress Wu is becoming more and more elegant and ancient.Only the most beautiful and good can be worthy of this woman who is the master of fate.Although it is arrogant enough for her to think that she is the reincarnation of the Buddha, her courage to invent is also extraordinary when studying ancient history.Erudition and Confucianism cannot prove that Wu Zetian has any relationship with the emperors of the Zhou Dynasty.However, the first emperor of the Zhou Dynasty was King Wu. The word "Wu" is the posthumous posthumous title of King Wu of Zhou after his death. It has nothing to do with King Wu's surname being Ji.But this Wu Zetian doesn't care.Her surname is Wu, King Wu is the founding king of the Zhou Dynasty, and her country is called Zhou, of course there is nothing wrong with it.

After Empress Wu usurped the Tang Dynasty, she actually enshrined King Wu's spirit tablet in the ancestral temple of the Wu family, as her 40th generation ancestor, and just made offerings like this!Her background is humble, but her manners are very subtle.If she could do it, she would still recognize Confucius as her ancestor.The construction of the Mingtang and the rumors that followed it are indeed a dangerous signal.Under this growing threat, the Tang family is really in jeopardy.From the construction of the Mingtang, Empress Wu hinted that due to the similarity between the ancient and modern palaces, under her reign, the golden age of the Zhou Dynasty will soon reappear.At this time, some scholars have pointed out the prophecy from the scriptures.Isn't there a "Wu Cheng" in the book of books celebrating the success of King Wu?

All that is missing now is the auspicious omen from the heavens, which is bound to appear at the beginning of a new dynasty.This kind of auspicious omen expresses the will of God, which cannot be stopped by manpower.With the auspicious omen of heaven, the people of Li can talk about it and have faith.This kind of auspicious omen may be a bright star, maybe it is the morning light, maybe it is white smoke in the shape of a dragon rising from the roof of the bedroom of the real dragon emperor, but there is a sign, and it really happened.It was in July of the third year of Empress Wu Chuigong, a farmer reported that a hen he raised had turned into a rooster.Of course it will happen again.In the first month and October of the first year of Yongchang, Empress Wu, another incident like this happened, which was reported by farmers from all over the country.The reversal of yin and yang, of course, indicates that there will be extraordinary changes in behavior.Empress Wu was unwilling to spread such things.She thought there was another way.The omen from heaven was naturally fabricated by Wu Chengsi, because at this time the great abbot Feng Xiaobao was compiling the "Da Yun Jing" to record the miracle of the Buddha's reincarnation.

Wu Chengsi had someone forge an ancient stele with eight words engraved on it: "The Virgin's presence, Yongchang Emperor's career".These words were engraved on a piece of purple stone.The stele was thrown in Luoshui in advance, and then a farmer accidentally salvaged it.It would not be hard to believe that this event was carefully planned by Empress Wu, Wu Chengsi, Princess Taiping, and Feng Xiaobao.When the farmer sent the stele to the court, Empress Wu pretended to be surprised.Farmers were appointed guerrilla generals. Empress Wu always used the word "Holy Mother" to refer to herself, and believed that an ancient prophecy was about to be fulfilled.Heaven's omen was at last used to its fullest.As I said before, next month, she will be unceremonious and call herself the Holy Mother of God.In November of that year, the year name was changed to Yongchang, so as to correspond to the "Emperor Yongchang" on the stone tablet.

At this time, she decided to set up a sacrifice in the southern suburbs to thank heaven and earth. Luoshui was renamed Yongchangshui, and the water god was named Xianshenghou. Fishing is prohibited in this area.Songshan Mountain was renamed "Shenyue", and the mountain god was named "King of Heaven".In order to celebrate this grand ceremony, it is the amnesty of the world.A series of deception tricks, Empress Wu did it meticulously, of course the scholar Hongru at the time did not pay attention to it, Empress Wu just deliberately deceived the common people.But that set of tricks is not credible, just as flimsy and absurd as she claims to be Empress Wu, but Empress Wu firmly believes that the common people love myths, miracles, and prophecies, and they deeply believe in these things.

All the religious masquerade, the propaganda, the delusions and the megalomania, all that July of that year was full of fanfare.It was announced in the palace that a ceremony would be held, and Empress Wu would go to Shengtu Spring in person to be called by the gods to be the king of all people.At that time, it will be an ancient grand ceremony. All royal princes, civil and military officials, and wives and ladies with nobles will celebrate ten days in Beijing before the grand ceremony. Everything points to an immediate upheaval in politics.The meaning of the omen from heaven and all the absurd propaganda were understood by the princes of the Tang Dynasty.The establishment of a new dynasty is imminent and inevitable.Rumors abounded that the destiny had been moved, the revolution was imminent, and the princes of the Tang family were summoned to Beijing, and they were about to wipe out all of them.In the Jifu area, rumors are more prevalent, and everyone believes them without doubting them.

The princes of the Tang family originally lived scattered in various provinces, so there were many secret letters among each other, and news was also urgently passed on between friends in the capital.Are the rumors reliable?Are the princes going to the ceremony, or not?The princes in Kyoto didn't know what to think, and they didn't know what to believe.According to various signs, something dangerous is coming.Ji Wangshen heard the rumors and ignored them.Gongrong of Dongguan County (the son of King Huo) wrote to his friend Gao Zigeng, and Gao wrote back: "If you want to survive, don't come to Kyoto."

At this time, there were still six or seven old kings, all of whom were the younger brothers of Emperor Taizong.Among them, the most popular ones are Han Wang Yuanjia, Lu Wang Lingkui, The two were born of the same mother and are extremely close.The second is Huo Wang Yuangui, who is the uncle of Gaozong. He has a noble character and is more important than the times.The arrow technique is superb, when wild boars are running in groups, if you want to shoot any one, you will hit it with the bow, and you will be sure to hit it.Knowledgeable, still studying very diligently.When he was an official, he devoted all his official affairs to Sima, the chief minister, and took pleasure in studying by himself, and he never let go of the scroll.Sex does not like to show off, indifferent and self-satisfied.As a deep and quiet man, Emperor Gaozong consulted a lot in the past, and when there were important matters to be resolved, he often consulted secretly.Among Gaozong's brothers, Ji Wangshen and Yue Wangzhen are both in their sixties, and their writing skills are as good as those of other kings.The capitals of all the kings were Gao Juexian, but after Pei Yan was killed in the first year of Empress Wu Guangzhai, they were all ordered to leave Beijing to serve as officials outside the capital. Huo Wang Yuangui was in Shandong, Han Wang Yuanjia was in Henan, and others were scattered. .How will the kings deal with themselves?

It is not unreasonable to say that Empress Wu and her nephews, the Wu brothers, intentionally spread rumors that all the kings will be wiped out in the capital, in order to provoke the kings to act hastily, and then shoot them in the back just like the prison guards deliberately allowed the prisoners to escape. , and very reasonable.How can the generals defend themselves?Should we proceed with caution and hold back under the provocation and stimulation of Empress Wu?Or should they be called into the capital and gathered in one place to be slaughtered like a herd of pigs and sheep?Or should he bear the humiliation and be tortured by the executioner Zhou Xing?Wouldn't it be better to stand up like a man than to languish and die in prison?

The clans of the Tang Dynasty related to the situation at that time include: Taizong brothers: Huo Wangyuan and his son Qiudu Wangxu King Yuanjia of Han and his son Huang Guogong King Lingkui of Lu and his son King Fanyang Lingxuan Wang Yuanheng (deceased) and his son Gongrong of Dongguan County Sister Taizong: Princess Changle and her husband, Governor of Shouzhou, Zhao Yu Brother Gaozong: King Zhen of Yue and his son Langya Wang Chong Ji Wangshen has five sons Yuanjia, the king of Han, sent people to write to the kings, saying in the letter: "After the great enjoyment, the queen mother will punish all the kings. It is better to start the incident first. Otherwise, the Li family will have no seed." When Huang Guogong was the governor of Tongzhou, he sent a secret letter to Wang Chong of Langya. Chong was an official near Gyeonggi at that time.cloud: "My wife's illness is getting worse, and I may need early treatment. If it is winter, I may become a chronic disease." At that time, the kings were scattered all over the country (mostly in today's Hebei and Shandong provinces), and it was extremely difficult to respond, especially at that time when the spy network was densely spread.But without further delay, a decision must be made immediately.Actions must be taken even to save lives. Empress Wu finally frightened them.She hoped that they would rush into action, while she waited calmly with a sword hidden in her sleeve.Because she is acting on behalf of her son, and her son is the grandson of Taizong, even if she kills all the princes of the Tang family, it can be regarded as defending the Tang family.If the princes don't raise their troops to revolt, she can still assign spies to brew up troubles, completely weave the princes in, or catch them all in one go.She can order Zhou Xing of Suzhengtai to take action at any time.She's a sure thing.