Chapter 8 Chapter Eight: Who Helped Wu Zetian Seize Power

In the 289-year history of the Li-Tang Dynasty, there is a 15-year episode: the Wu Zhou regime from 690 AD to 705 AD.The founder of this regime was Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history. Speaking of this woman, various film and television works have been "gossiping" for many years, and her life has long been legendary.Originally the daughter of a timber merchant in Bingzhou, Shanxi, she first entered the palace and became the wife of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, but she had an affair with Li Shimin's son Li Zhihao in private.After Li Shimin's death, he was sent to a nun's nunnery to be a nun. After a few years of hard work, Xianyu turned over and was picked up by Li Zhi, Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, who never forgot his love, and came back as a noble concubine. The other concubines sat on the throne of the queen and dominated the harem from then on; then participated in the political affairs, took advantage of Li Zhi's neglect of state affairs and indulged in pleasure, and gradually took power. During this period, it is said that they killed their eldest son and second son; Abolished the third and fourth sons who had been emperors successively, and finally succeeded in seizing power, taking the Tang Dynasty and establishing the famous Wuzhou Dynasty.

Such a legendary woman, for thousands of years, has been chanted by future generations for her scheming, perseverance, ups and downs in life, and her immortal achievements as an emperor.Is she right?Is it evil?Is it a rebellious usurper, or a wise king who created a prosperous world?And her love history with nose and eyes, as well as her experience of raising male pets after becoming an emperor, and her experience of licentiousness in the harem, are all talked about by future generations, with mixed reviews, just like the wordless tablet when she died, all kinds of criticisms are still noisy today , still inconclusive.

But there is one conclusion: in the process of her going from nun to concubine, from concubine to queen, from queen to emperor, she is not fighting alone.All kinds of capable people gathered around her, serving her with all their might. As a result of their service, Datang changed his surname easily after only two generations of his foundation.Speaking of these "helpers" for her, most of the later historians have the same evaluation: they are all unfaithful and unfilial courtiers! However, are these courtiers really useless? From a nun to a female emperor, the road to break through and seize power is difficult, especially for Wu Zetian back then.In the early days of Tang Gaozong Li Zhi's reign, the first formidable opponent she faced after returning to the palace was Sun Wuji, the elder of the Three Dynasties.

In the TV series about Wu Zetian, Changsun Wuji mostly appeared as a villain, but he was indeed the most outstanding politician in the early Tang Dynasty.His original surname is "Tuoba". At the end of the Sui Dynasty, he was a prominent local family in Shanxi.During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, he first became a general, then minister of the Ministry of officials, and was finally worshiped as prime minister by Li Shimin.Throughout the prosperity of Zhenguan, he was the concrete implementer of various major policies of the Tang Dynasty, and he has made outstanding contributions.Li Shimin has always trusted this "big brother-in-law". Even before his death, Li Shimin once said to another important minister, Chu Suiliang, "After I die, you must keep everything safe."After Tang Taizong's death, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, who came to the throne, was his nephew, and his eldest grandson Wuji was named Qi Guogong, becoming the head of the most powerful officials in the early days of Tang Gaozong's reign.

But this "chief of officials" quickly made his nephew feel uncomfortable.Changsun Wuji is not fighting alone, he and his cronies and party members represent a common force - the Guanlong gentry class.This class is mostly relatives and nobles who followed Li Yuan to conquer the world, and they are closely related to each other. Through marriage, party formation, etc., they have formed a common interest group.Tang Gaozong, the emperor, was actually constrained in the early days of his accession to the throne.Although the imperial examination had been implemented in the Tang Dynasty, the most important thing in the promotion of officials was their status. Even in the imperial examination itself, most of the candidates were descendants of aristocratic families. It was very difficult for non-gentry officials to get promoted.As time went by, Changsun Wuji actually became a figure that both poor officials and the emperor felt uncomfortable with.

At the same time, after the reign of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty and the early days of Emperor Gaozong's accession to the throne, even though it was called "the rule of Yonghui", there was actually a trend of increasing corruption.Even Changsun Wuji himself was interrogated by Tang Gaozong for accepting bribes. Instead, Changsun Wuji replied brazenly: "How can I completely stop ministers seeking personal gain for relatives." It can be said that corruption has become public.Tang Gaozong had nothing to do about this, he could only sigh and settle the matter.Moreover, after Tang Gaozong came to the throne, all the senior officials in the court came from Changsun Wuji's faction. Many national events did not go through Tang Gaozong, but only reported to Changsun Wuji. It’s up to you.” But he could only sigh.Changsun Wuji, from his own uncle when he was the prince, to a minister at the beginning of his accession to the throne, now has become a stone that Tang Gaozong must remove.

The chess piece that removed this stone was Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian was officially admitted to the imperial palace in the second year after Tang Gaozong ascended the throne, that is, in 651 AD.In the second year, she gave birth to the eldest son Li Hong for Tang Gaozong, and she has been greatly favored since then.After that, she took advantage of the conflict between Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu at that time to help Queen Wang get rid of Concubine Xiao Shu together. After that, the "ally" relationship between her and Queen Wang broke down.Tang Gaozong's Queen Wang is the great-great-granddaughter of Western Wei General Wang Sizheng. The Wang family is also a wealthy family of the Guanlong Group, and they are even family friends with the eldest grandson Wuji's family.Therefore, the so-called empress dispute is not only a family issue of the emperor, but a game of political power that concerns the future of countless people.However, Queen Wang herself is too inexperienced in fighting. She has a straightforward personality and is not as good at inviting favors as Wu Zetian, so naturally she gradually fell out of favor.Then, Wu Zetian took advantage of her daughter's death (it is said that her daughter was strangled to death by Wu Zetian herself), and insisted that the queen killed her daughter.However, the queen made a foolish trick again, and even asked a witch to curse Wu Zetian. After the incident was revealed, Tang Gaozong, who could not bear the queen, no longer tolerated it.In August 655 A.D., Emperor Gaozong of Tang put Wang and Empress in limbo, and officially put the "abolished empress" on the agenda. Of course, Changsun Wuji's Guanlong Group had a clear-cut stand-against it!

Of course it was right to object. Queen Wang's natal family was a member of this group, and Queen Wang was the daughter-in-law chosen by Tang Taizong for Li Zhi.At this time, Tang Gaozong's foundation was not solid, and he did not dare to disobey the officials to make their own opinions. If he wanted to abolish the empress, he must obtain the support of the ministers.Tang Gaozong first gave in, and took the initiative to talk to the ministers in private, but to no avail, and then focused on finding a breakthrough, talking to Changsun Wuji.Called into the palace to talk, disagreed, went to Changsun Wuji's house to talk, didn't agree, then gritted his teeth and lowered his figure, and even gave Changsun Wuji a gift.First sent to the officials, the three youngest sons of Changsun Wuji (average age 5 years old) were all sealed as the sixth rank, and money was sent, and 10 cars were sent for silk and satin alone. In the end, they were forced to do nothing, and even Wu Zetian's mother Yang came to the door. I beg, but let you say what you want, Changsun Wuji just two words - no.

If this situation continues and the Guanlong Group huddles together to resist, Wu Zetian's dream of becoming an empress may have come to an end.But at this critical moment, a little man whom no one liked - Li Yifu, easily reversed the situation. Li Yifu can also be regarded as an old minister. He entered the court as an official during the Zhenguan period. Tang Taizong Li Shimin personally tested his talent and learning, and later appointed him as Zhongshu Sheren. He was an official responsible for drafting edicts. During the Zhenguan period, he was the most Famous pens.But compared with Changsun Wuji, there is one heaven and one earth. During Tang Gaozong's reign, many noble families and officials who were once at the same level as him were already in high positions, but he was still doing the work of copying. There is no way, who made him come from a humble background, and Ma Zhou and other officials who appreciated him have also passed away.But he was not reconciled, and had been waiting for an opportunity, and he saw the opportunity of the fight for abolishment, so he decided to take a gamble.

But this decision is not easy to make. After all, Changsun Wuji is the big boss in the court. If he really ruined his face, he would not be able to get along.Li Yifu is gloomy, nicknamed Li Mao, and has a reputation as a hypocrite for a long time, but he offended his eldest grandson Wuji because of trivial matters at work. His eldest grandson Wuji didn't rub the sand in his eyes, and planned to demote him to the northwest. If he didn't gamble, It's time to enjoy the wind in the poor areas of the old and the young, and Li Yifu made up his mind: bet! He hurriedly wrote a memorial to Tang Gaozong, with a central content of one sentence: quickly establish Wu Zhaoyi (Wu Zetian) as the empress, with the heart of An Zhaomin.This memorial was really a timely gift. Tang Gaozong immediately showed it to the officials happily, and then promoted him to the Minister of Zhongshu, a small secretary, and suddenly became a senior official at the deputy ministerial level.The power of role models is infinite. With Li Yifu's testimony, a large group of officials from humble backgrounds in the court came forward one after another, demanding that the king and queen be abolished.After Tang Gaozong came to the throne, he felt for the first time that so many people supported him.

But Changsun Wuji was not reconciled. He gathered Pei Xingjian, Chu Suiliang and other ministers together, and decided to join forces to demote Li Yifu.But Tang Gaozong took the first step. Under Wu Zetian's instigation, he demoted Changsun Wuji's capable officer Pei Xingjian to Gaochang at once, and cut off Changsun Wuji's wings.Of course, after Pei Xingjian was demoted, he rectified the local border defense, defeated the Turks repeatedly, and achieved the prestige of a famous general. This is a later story. At this point, things have froze. It is not so much the issue of the abolition of the empress, but a large number of humble officials who were suppressed by the powerful and noble families boldly rebelled in the name of the abolition of the empress.For several days, there were constant disputes in the court. Changsun Wuji's faction was small but powerful, while Li Yifu's faction had many people but light power. The two sides fell into a stalemate.At this time, another person joined unexpectedly. This person was Li Ji, a famous general who had won many battles during the Zhenguan period. The reason why Li Ji wanted to help Wu Zetian was very simple. Li Ji had outstanding military exploits, but because of his humble background, he was always suppressed during Li Shimin's reign. In terms of status, he could not compare with Li Jing, Hou Junji and others.Before his death, Tang Taizong was still worried about Li Ji, so he demoted Li Ji from the capital, and ordered Tang Gaozong to recall Li Ji immediately after he ascended the throne, so as to win Li Ji's heart.But when Changsun Wuji was in power, Li Ji had never been ambitious, and even his military power was taken away by Changsun Wuji, so it was normal to take the opportunity to sing against Changsun Wuji.His joining became the last straw that overwhelmed the balance.Li Ji publicly declared: "This is His Majesty's family affairs, and the courtiers have no right to intervene." In one sentence, everyone's mouths were blocked, and the following things became logical: on the third day of September, the important minister Chu Suiliang who had always opposed the abolition was demoted, Irreversible after scrapping.On October 12, the queen and queen were officially deposed, and the 31-year-old Wu Zetian became the mother of the world.The Changsun Wuji faction suffered a heavy blow in this struggle, and important officials such as Chu Suiliang and Pei Xingjian were expelled one after another.Tang Gaozong also took the opportunity to establish his absolute authority.Changsun Wuji was also very knowledgeable. In the next few years, he seldom intervened in government affairs. Instead, he devoted himself to writing books in an attempt to avoid disasters, but disasters could not be avoided after all.Chu Suiliang, Shangguanyi and other important ministers of the grandson's lineage were successively eliminated in the following years. In 659 AD, someone reported that Changsun Wuji had colluded with the prince for rebellion. .Under the raging public opinion, Tang Gaozong dispatched Changsun Wuji to Sichuan without any real evidence. Then Chu Suiliang was dismissed from office, Changsun Wuji's children were exiled to Lingnan, and Changsun Wuji hanged himself to death.This is the curtain call for a generation of famous officials. Of course, the director is Wu Zetian. In this process, the two people who contributed the most to Wu Zetian were Li Yifu in the front and Xu Jingzong who later tracked down the case of Changsun Wuji.The common feature of these two people is that they can speculate, they both come from poor families, and they all have the reputation of "traitorous ministers" behind them.Speaking of treacherous ministers, Li Yifu is not wronged at all. He is a hypocrite, and his character is extremely despicable. The idiom "hidden knife in a smile" came from him.Later, he specialized in corruption and sold official titles in partnership with his sons and daughters. The prices of various official positions were clearly marked, and he took more than 2 million yuan in bribes just by taking the opportunity of his mother's death.But in the end, he finally played big. After Empress Wu Zetian's position was stabilized, because of his notoriety, he found a "crime of treason" and was exiled in 666 AD, where he died on the road to exile. And another "second minister" Xu Jingzong is worth discussing.During the period after the abolition, he was the one who closely followed Li Yifu's performance, and he was the best at adapting to the wind.During the fierce dispute of the abolished empress, Tang Gaozong specially promoted him as Minister of the Ministry of Rites. It can be said that he was the direct executor of the abolished empress incident. Said to be a pioneer.But this man has another side: During the Peasant War at the end of the Sui Dynasty, he and Wei Zheng were Dou Jiande's counselors, and they were captured together and returned to the Tang Dynasty. After Wei Zheng was reused, he recommended him many times.During the Zhenguan period, the most important thing he did was to compile history. At that time, he was a writer. He left quite a few records of the Zhenguan Dynasty and peasant wars at the end of the Sui Dynasty.For example, "Sui Shu", "Jin Shu" and "Taizong Shilu" were all written by him, and they are still valuable materials for studying that period of history today.He also followed Tang Taizong to conquer Goguryeo and was ordered to draft an imperial edict. During Tang Gaozong's reign, Xu Jingzong, who was highly valued, did more cultural work, and of course he was criticized a lot.For example, he was ordered to revise the "Records of Surnames" to elevate the status of Wu Zetian's family, and has always been called a villain.However, his "Surname Record" broke the concept of family status and ranked surnames according to political achievements, which is a great progress in Chinese history.Since then, the door for children from poor families to enter the upper class has been completely opened.During his tenure as minister of the Ministry of Rites, he reformed the selection method of the imperial examination, encouraged a large number of poor students to participate in politics, broke the monopoly of the scholar family, and even suggested promoting culture and education in ethnic minority areas and encouraging the children of ethnic minorities to learn Confucian culture. Unification and consolidation both contribute.Moreover, Xu Jingzong was "cautious in nature, often covering up the faults of his subordinates".The reputation at that time was indeed much better than that of Li Yifu.So compared to Li Yifu being kicked away in the end, he was a nobleman all his life, and died in 672 as a young teacher of the prince. If most of Wu Zetian's cronies are people like Li Yifu who hide their knives behind a smile, or Xu Jingzong who sees the wind and turns, I'm afraid she will not be able to complete the triple jump from nun-queen-queen.In fact, in the ups and downs of Wu Zetian's life, there were indeed many talented "second ministers" who assisted him. Wu Zetian was able to smoothly intervene in the government and establish her own prestige, not overnight, but step by step, and one of the most critical things was her decision in a war: the Tangping Battle of Goguryeo in 661 AD.In this protracted war, the Tang Dynasty originally planned to pacify Baekje, an ally of Goguryeo, and then concentrate its efforts on destroying Goguryeo. However, it did not want Baekje to pacify and rebel, and joined forces with Japan to attack the Tang army from the Korean Peninsula. MacArthur's "Linchuan Landing" The wonderful pen was staged more than 1,000 years ago.Tang Jun, who was fighting hard, suddenly fell into the dilemma of being attacked by the enemy.Under the crisis, Emperor Gaozong of Tang even once wanted to conquer by himself, but was dissuaded by Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian proposed a bolder plan: the Tang Dynasty organized a navy, crossed the sea, landed on the Korean peninsula and defeated Japan to ensure the victory of the battle.This plan was implemented to the letter, and then, the Tang army successfully wiped out Goguryeo, defeated Japan, and fulfilled the wish that Tang Taizong Li Shimin would never forget until his death.Wu Zetian's reputation also rose for the first time, and she gradually participated in government affairs until she took power.In this war, another contribution of Wu Zetian was to recommend a person-Liu Rengui. When this war broke out, Liu Rengui was 60 years old, but this was the first time he independently commanded a large-scale battle.This veteran soldier had joined the army since Li Yuan's time, and became a county lieutenant when Li Shimin was in power, but he was almost executed by Li Shimin for killing the captain without authorization. Fortunately, Wei Zheng interceded to save his life.In Li Shimin's era, he was always a sesame official like the county magistrate, and he was not promoted to Shizhong until Tang Gaozong ascended the throne. Later, Li Yifu was accused, and he dealt with it fairly, offending the powerful "Li Mao" at that time. He was promoted to governor of Shandong, but because of a hurricane while delivering food, he was imprisoned by Li Yifu. Thanks to Wu Zetian's intercession, he was saved from death.Soon after, the war in Goguryeo was tense, and Liu Rengui was recommended by Wu Zetian, and was ordered to cross the sea and march eastward when he was in danger. Wu Zetian's appreciation of Liu Rengui started from what Liu Rengui did.At that time, Liu Rengui once published "Five Strategies for Flat Goguryeo", and proposed a strategy of attacking Goguryeo from both land and water in Liaodong and Shandong.From then on, Wu Zetian recognized the energy of this veteran. Although Liu Rengui offended Li Yifu, Wu Zetian's confidant, Wu Zetian still recommended him.In March 661 AD, when Liu Rengui went to war, the Tang army landed from Jinjiang and broke through the encirclement of the Baekje army in one fell swoop. The battle of Jinjiang wiped out tens of thousands of enemies, and the plan of Baekje and Goguryeo to attack the Tang army was completely bankrupt.After the victory, the Tang army encountered heavy snow and severe cold again. Tang Gaozong heard the news and intended to let Liu Rengui hurry up to teach, but Liu Rengui resolutely opposed it, thinking that the current team would fall short.Sure enough, as Liu Rengui expected, Baekje then united with Japan and launched a counterattack against the Tang army. Liu Rengui made a decisive decision and led the navy to reach the mouth of the Baijiang River to confront the Japanese fleet. The Japanese army now had more than 50,000 people, five times that of the Tang army Outnumbered by the enemy, Liu Rengui seized the river mouth first, forcing more than 400 warships of the Japanese Navy to squeeze into the narrow river channel, and then launched a fire attack. The 50,000 Japanese troops were immediately caught in a sea of ​​flames. A great victory killed the entire Japanese army.This battle, which is not recorded in many Chinese history books, is the first time that China and Japan have fought each other in history-the Battle of Baijiangkou between China and Japan.It was precisely because of the failure of the war that after that, Japan changed from aggression to China and looked up to China, desperately learning from China. Liu Rengui, who returned from victory in the Korean battlefield, was rewarded by the Tang Dynasty, and he was promoted to 6 ranks at once.In 665 AD, he was promoted to Prince Zuo Zhonghu, and became a close minister of Wu Zetian's eldest son Li Hong.Liu Rengui is famous for his loyalty. When he offended Li Yifu, Yuan Yishi, Li Yifu's confidant, was a pawn and tried his best to frame him. After Liu Rengui became favored, instead of counterattacking, he recommended Yuan Yishi's ability to Tang Gaozong.Afterwards, Liu Rengui once retired and returned to his family. Later, after the Tang army was defeated by Tubo, Liu Rengui was ordered in danger, and was responsible for defending Tubo.At this time, Tang Gaozong had already abandoned state affairs, and Liu Rengui's prosperity was mostly at the behest of Wu Zetian.After Li Hong's death, Wu Zetian's second son Li Xian and third son Li Xian successively became the crown prince, and Liu Rengui was appointed as the prince and Taifu, which can be said to have added trust to him. However, Liu Rengui had a clear judgment on the political situation in Gaozong's later period.In the years after the Battle of Baijiangkou, the thing he did the most was "resign".In 683 A.D. in the late period of Tang Gaozong, his resignation was finally approved.After the death of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian was in charge and purged the old officials of the former court. As Wu Zetian's confidant, Liu Rengui was reinstated again.While Liu Rengui resigned, he worked conscientiously for Wu Zetian. For example, he impeached Jiang Sizong, a general who opposed Wu Zetian, and sentenced Jiang Sizong to death.In 685 A.D., Liu Rengui, who was named Zuoxiang, died of illness in office. Wu Zetian ordered the court to stop for 3 days to mourn, which can be described as the most favored. On Wu Zetian's final ascension to the throne, one person played a decisive role.Without this person, whether Wu Zetian could become a female emperor may be a question mark.However, this person who played a key role did not intend to do so. Regarding the result of Wu Zetian's final ascension to the throne, he may only be able to say——I didn't mean it. This person is Pei Yan. During Tang Gaozong's reign, what he did most was cleaning.First clean out the old officials like Changsun Wuji, and then clean out the heroes like Li Yifu.Political struggles are raging, but state affairs require someone to do the work.A person who can work was appreciated by Wu Zetian in this way - Pei Yan. Pei Yan was from Wenxi, Shanxi Province. He was born in the local Pei family.It was difficult for an official from such an aristocratic family to get into Wu Zetian's eyes.After Pei Yan became an official, he started from the grassroots. He first worked as a local official in Shandong, Henan and other places, and then returned to the central government as a censor.But his emergence was due to the "extreme weather" incidents encountered by the Tang Dynasty during this period. Beginning in AD 675, the Tang Dynasty, which had been peaceful for a long time, suddenly encountered "extreme weather". The originally affluent Guanzhong area of ​​the Tang Dynasty suffered severe drought for three consecutive years, and the crops failed.Just during this period, the Tang Dynasty was still engaged in a war with Tubo for the four Anxi towns. There were constant wars in the northwest battlefield, and the country's economy was stretched.The Tang Dynasty originally hoped to get through the disaster year first, and waited for the disaster to pass in the second year, and then it would naturally recover, but this natural disaster lasted for a long time, like a year.The grain reserves of the Tang Dynasty were also gradually stretched.Pei Yan, who was still a censor at the time, decisively suggested that the war in the Western Regions should be stopped immediately, and the frontier army should be transferred back to Guanzhong, and the water from the Yellow River would be used to irrigate the Guanzhong to alleviate the drought.This seemingly lunatic suggestion was almost opposed by the entire court at the time, but at the critical moment, Wu Zetian supported him, and the Tang Dynasty temporarily stopped its foreign conquests.In the following year, Pei Yan, as the director of the project, built a water conservancy irrigation project connecting the Weishui River to the Yellow River, irrigating countless fertile fields. As expected by Pei Yan, the severe drought lasted until AD 681. year.With the completion of the water conservancy project in the Tang Dynasty, there was a miracle that there was no disaster in the Guanzhong Plain. In the next few years, the grain harvest increased day by day, and the Tang Dynasty also passed the most difficult period.This incident made Pei Yan greatly appreciated by Wu Zetian. Only 4 years later, Pei Yan was promoted to the third rank of Zhongshu Province and became the acting prime minister of the country. teacher.During Tang Gaozong's east tour, Pei Yan was ordered to assist the prince in supervising the country, which was well received.No matter how you look at it, he will be an important minister after the new king ascends the throne. This is indeed the case. Before Tang Gaozong died of illness in 682 AD, he summoned Pei Yantuogu alone.After Tang Gaozong died of illness, Li Xian ascended the throne, and Pei Yan became Zhongshu Ling, the head of hundreds of officials under one person and above ten thousand.Empress Dowager Wu Zetian also had great trust in Pei Yan. In the first month of Li Xian's accession to the throne, she summoned Pei Yan many times to inquire about Li Xian's performance.And Pei Yan also repeatedly asked Wu Zetian to "inquire about politics", because this Tang Zhongzong Li Xian was really too muddy to support the wall, and he had no ability to govern the country. Father-in-law is prime minister.Pei Yan, who was the order of Zhongshu, naturally quit, and the two quarreled, Pei Yan refused to draft the imperial edict on the grounds of the "Empress Dowager Order", and Tang Zhongzong was so angry that he scolded his mother on the spot: "Even if I let him be the emperor, it's none of your business. "Pei Yan is even more rigid, you scold your mother, I will complain to your mother, and then report the matter to Wu Zetian.But this matter violated Wu Zetian's taboo: she started her career as a concubine, so is it possible that Empress Wei should follow suit?After weighing the pros and cons, Wu Zetian made up his mind to abolish the emperor.This major event was first conspired by Wu Zetian and Pei Yan.As Tang Gaozong's Tuogu minister, Pei Yan made suggestions, first suggesting that Wu Zetian transfer the army loyal to her to Beijing to change defenses, and replace the generals of the Beijing army's left and right Habayashi.On the sixth day of February in 683 A.D., Pei Yan called on behalf of Wu Zetian to abolish Tang Zhongzong Li Xian's throne and exile to Lingnan.The reason why the matter of deposing the emperor went smoothly was mainly because Pei Yan came forward and persuaded all the officials who held great power at that time, but once the opening was opened, even eight horses could not be pulled back.The next day Empress Wu Zetian summoned his youngest son Li Dan as emperor. This Li Dan was not as absurd as his elder brother, but he loved literature and was obsessed with music, but he was not interested in governing the country. State affairs are all controlled by Wu Zetian.At this point, Wu Zetian seized power, leaving the last step of the Long March. But this last step, Pei Yan quit. At this time, Wu Zetian's natal clan had already begun to participate in politics, and the break between Pei Yan and Wu Zetian began.Wu Chengsi, Wu Zetian's nephew, suggested that the seven generations of ancestors of the Wu family should be named, but Pei Yan, who was loyal to the Tang Dynasty, firmly opposed it, thinking that it was an arrogance.But at this time, Pei Yan still had fantasies about Wu Zetian, he only hoped that Wu Zetian could assist the weak king, in his eyes, Wu Zetian was a shrewd and capable strong woman, but she was also the daughter-in-law of Datang.Therefore, Pei Yan tried his best to persuade Wu Zetian many times, and took the matter of Empress Lu as an example, hoping that Wu Zetian would not deviate.But Wu Zetian's idea of ​​becoming emperor at this time was already very firm.Pei Yan, from a right-hand man for more than 10 years, has become a stumbling block today.However, Pei Yan continued to firmly believe. In 684 AD, Xu Jingye raised troops in Yangzhou to oppose Wu Zetian's dictatorship. Wu Zetian asked Pei Yan for advice. Pei Yan believed that as long as Wu Zetian returned to the emperor, the rebellion would naturally subside.As a result, Wu Zetian was furious, Pei Yan was imprisoned on the spot, and beheaded 10 days later.This capable minister who had been working for Wu Zetian to seize power before was extremely staunch in prison and resolutely refused to plead guilty to Wu Zetian.But I don't know if he thought that in Wu Zetian's last step to seize power, he was actually the most important pusher. The death of Pei Yan and the rapid quelling of Xu Jingye's rebellion later allowed Wu Zetian to remove the last two stumbling blocks to his successful ascension to the throne.Then, there is the "persuasion" that has been seen in all dynasties in China.The ministers asked Wu Zetian to proclaim himself emperor, and persuaded him in 690 A.D., and it finally became a matter of course. Tang Ruizong Li Dan was abolished, Wu Zetian ascended the throne, and the country was renamed Dazhou.The Tang Dynasty was in shock, and the Wuzhou Dynasty, which ruled China for 15 years, began.