Chapter 199 Chapter 198 Wu Zetian, Emperor Wu Zetian

"The heroine comes to the world", a rare phenomenon in Chinese history, was created by Wu Zetian, an outstanding figure more than 1,200 years ago.Wu Zetian, Wu Zhao, this historically charming name has left countless riddles for future generations, and has withstood praise and criticism from generation to generation.The 290-year history of the Li Tang Dynasty was directed by the female emperor Wu Zetian for nearly half a century. On the twenty-third day of the first lunar month in the seventh year of Emperor Wude of Tang Gaozu (624 AD), Wu Zetian was born in a family of officials in Chang'an City.His father, a samurai, borrowed Wenshui in Bingzhou (now Wenshui, Shanxi).His mother, Yang Shi, was the daughter of Yang Da, the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty.Wu Zetian's family background had a profound impact on her future fortune and political character throughout her life.

Wu Zetian's life experience is not important.During the reign of Emperor Yangdi of the Sui Dynasty, construction was carried out everywhere, and the samurai Xun took the opportunity to make a fortune in the timber business, and thus gained the opportunity to make friends with the upper class, and obtained the military position of Yingyang Mansion Captain (a low-level officer in the military mansion of the Fubing system) .In the thirteenth year of Daye (AD 617), Li Yuan raised an army in Jinyang. The warrior Xun was a quartermaster at that time, and then Keping Jing Division Chang'an.In the third year of Wude (620 A.D.), the wife of the samurai Xun passed away. Tang Gaozu acted as a matchmaker. He married the daughter of Yang Da, the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty, and the successor of an old lady who was over 40 years old. He gave birth to three daughters, and Wu Zetian was the second.

People like Wu Zetian who came from nouveau riche had no political future to speak of under the social atmosphere of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.The experience of being despised by the world because of her poor background stimulated Wu Zetian, and prompted her to form a psychological character of chasing power and ruthless revenge for everything. Wu Zetian spent her girlhood with her father in Lizhou (now Guangyuan, Sichuan).In the ninth year of Zhenguan (AD 635), the samurai Xun died in the post of governor of Jingzhou. The two sons Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang born to his ex-wife Xiangli and their cousins ​​Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun waited for Yang's mother and daughter to be mean and rude. Wu Zetian's orphan, daughter and widow lived a very uncomfortable life in Chang'an.

In the tenth year of Zhenguan, Empress Taizong's eldest grandson died.The next year, Taizong heard that Wu Zetian was beautiful, so he called her into the palace to become a talented person. She was only 14 years old at the time.After entering the palace, Emperor Taizong gave her the title Wu Mei, known as Mei Niang.Mei Niang is indeed charming and charming, but her character is vicious and staunch.Wu Zetian has not had a child in the palace for 12 years, and has not been promoted for more than ten years as a talented person, which shows that she is not favored by Taizong.Although the half-confinement life of more than ten years made her waste the best part of her youth, it was her first step on the political stage after all, and it was a crucial step.It was at this time that Wu Zetian had a love relationship with Prince Li Zhi.

In May of the 23rd year of Zhenguan (649 A.D.), Emperor Taizong died, and Wu Zetian was forced to shave her hair and become a nun and sent to Ganye Temple.In the first year of Yonghui (AD 650), on the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi came to Ganye Temple to offer incense and reunited with Empress Wu Zetian. The old love was revived, so Gaozong abandoned Buddhist rules and etiquette and brought her into the palace. After entering the palace this time, at the age of 28, Wu Zetian, who had already matured in her thinking, showed her talents in the power struggle.

Wu Zetian entered the palace this time thanks to the Queen.At that time, Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu were competing for favor. In order to drive a wedge between the emperor and Concubine Shu, Queen Wang actively advocated accepting Wu Zetian into the palace, and made her own claim to let Wu Zetian grow hair and wait.After entering the palace, Wu Zetian respected the king and queen and served them wholeheartedly. He was liked by the emperor and the queen.However, the naive queen underestimated Wu Zetian. Her win-win and use of Wu Zetian not only got rid of Concubine Xiao Shu, but also destroyed herself in the end.

Tang Gaozong had a total of 12 children, and the last 6 were all born to Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian's desire to monopolize Gaozong is evident.After she got Gaozong's incomparable favor, she was of course unwilling to be subordinated to others, and she wanted to replace the king and queen.So they carried out activities in the harem to win people's hearts. When they found people who had a bad relationship with the queen and concubine Xiao Shu, they tried their best to win them over, gave them small favors, and placed them around the queen and concubine Xiao Shu.Wu Zetian took advantage of the rivalry between the Queen and Concubine Xiao Shu, and joined forces with the Queen to attack Concubine Xiao Shu, making her deposed as a commoner.Then he pointed the finger at the queen.

Around the beginning of the fifth year of Yonghui, Wu Zetian gave birth to a second princess, who was very likable.Queen Wang also couldn't help going to visit and tease her, and she left first when she knew the emperor was coming.Wu Zetian took the opportunity to brutally strangle her own daughter to death, and then gently covered her with the quilt.After a while, the emperor came to see his daughter, Wu Zetian pretended to laugh, brought the emperor to the bed, lifted the quilt, and burst into tears.The emperor was shocked when he saw this scene, and hurried to find out what was going on.The maid told him that the Queen had just come, and Wu Zetian took the opportunity to make gossip, which made it hard for the Queen to argue.Coupled with the fact that the queen had not given birth for a long time, Gaozong made up his mind to abolish the queen and change Wu Zetian as the queen.In order to realize her political ambitions, Wu Zetian even disregarded ethics and laid such a cruel hand on her own daughter.

Around the issue of the queen's abolition, a thrilling struggle was launched in the palace.Queen Wang fell out of favor, and her uncle, Zhongshu Ling Liu Shi was the first to be relegated to exile.Uncle Guo, Taiwei Changsun Wuji, and Prime Minister Chu Suiliang and other Guming elders quickly formed an opposition force in an attempt to prevent Wu Zetian from entering the harem.The courtiers also split up. Li Yifu from Zhongshushe, Xu Jingzong from Wei Weiqing, Cui Yixuan from the imperial historian, Yuan Gongyu from Zhongcheng took the opportunity to compete to be Wu Zetian's confidants in an attempt to earn political capital for themselves.Wu Zetian won the support of these courtiers, determined to compete with the Changsun Wuji group.

In September of the fifth year of Yonghui, Tang Gaozong summoned several prime ministers, including Changsun Wuji, Li Shili, Yu Zhining, and Chu Suiliang, to the inner hall to discuss the matter of the queen's abolition.Wu Zetian sat behind the curtain to monitor.Changsun Wuji and others desperately remonstrated.It is believed that Queen Wang was born in a famous family, loyal and virtuous, and has no faults, so she should not be dismissed lightly.However, Wu Zetian was born in a humble family, and had served the late Emperor Taizong, so it was not in accordance with the etiquette to be a queen, and she was afraid of leaving the world with a bad name.Seeing that the remonstrance was ineffective, Chu Suiliang kowtowed and bled, and angrily proposed to resign and return to the farm.Seeing this, Wu Zetian became angry from embarrassment, and cursed across the curtain: "Why don't you kill this official!" Changsun Wuji said: "Suiliang is ordered by the previous court, even if he is guilty, he cannot be punished!" He was demoted to the governor of Tanzhou (now Changsha, Hunan).

The elders and ministers objected, and Gaozong was undecided.At this critical moment, Li Zhili, the founding hero, helped Wu Zetian.He told the emperor that it was the emperor's family business to abolish the empress, and there was no need to seek outsiders' opinions.Xu Jingzong also created public opinion in the court.Under the momentum of internal and external pressure to abolish Li, Gaozong issued an edict on October 13th in the fifth year of Yonghui to abolish Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao as ordinary people. They were later tortured to death by Wu Zetian.On the 19th, Wu Zetian was ordered to be the queen. The position of empress should be the highest goal pursued by ordinary women in feudal society. However, Wu Zetian was not satisfied when she became empress.Gaozong's cowardice and mediocrity gave her the opportunity to participate in the government affairs, which gradually enhanced her desire for power, and she knew the essence of exercising the power of the supreme ruler.She wants to break the convention and become the empress. At this time, the courtiers who hated Wu Zetian, headed by Changsun Wuji, still controlled the court and would overthrow her anytime and anywhere.Therefore, as soon as she became a queen, she set out to eliminate her political enemies one by one to open the way for the throne. The Changsun Wuji Group is the first object Wu Zetian wants to eliminate.In the spring of the fourth year of Xianqing (659 A.D.), Wu Zetian instructed Xu Jingzong to fabricate a crony case, involving Changsun Wuji.Changsun Wuji was demoted and exiled, and Xu Jingzong and others sent his party to force Changsun Wuji to commit suicide.The members of the Changsun Wuji Group who were implicated in the same case were either killed, exiled or demoted, and this political force was completely destroyed. At the same time, Li Yifu and Xu Jingzong were promoted to prime ministers and gradually became Zetian's confidantes. In the first year of Linde (AD 664), Emperor Gaozong was dissatisfied with Wu Zetian's domineering containment, so he conspired with Prime Minister Shangguanyi to abolish the Empress.Wu Zetian's cronies arranged by the emperor immediately reported to Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian rushed to the emperor's side in a hurry. After crying with grief and indignation, the emperor softened, and Gaozong shifted the responsibility to Shangguanyi.Wu Zetian immediately instigated Xu Jingzong to frame Shangguanyi and the deposed prince Li Zhong as conspiring against each other, put Shangguanyi and his son Shangguan Tingzhi in prison and executed them, and their family members were lost. After Shangguanyi was killed, no one in the court dared to oppose Wu Zetian.Since then, her political power has expanded rapidly.As early as the fifth year of Xianqing, Emperor Gaozong was recuperating due to illness and asked Empress Wu to make a decision. She almost replaced the emperor.After Shangguan Yi was put to death, Wu Zetian assisted Emperor Gaozong to manage the government behind the curtain, which has formed "a situation where all the power in the world belongs to the central palace, and the emperor just surrenders." Wu Zetian was appointed to assist the government, and the central task was to continuously improve her political strength. The most important thing she did was to revise the "Surname Record".In Zhenguan, Tang Taizong ordered Gao Shilian and others to compile "Clan Records" in accordance with the principle of determining clan surnames by official positions.However, "Clan Records" did not jump out of the old practice of re-reading since the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Among the 293 surnames listed in the nine classes, there are still many old gentry families with low official positions but high family status, especially it excludes the Wu surname family. Of course, Wu Zetian could not tolerate it.In the fourth year of Xianqing, two months after Changsun Wuji was demoted from the capital, Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu and others immediately asked to revise the "Record of Surnames". Wait.This completely broke the frame of the gentry's surname ranking first. In the first year of Qianfeng (AD 666), Tang Gaozong decided to enshrine Mount Tai. Wu Zetian made full use of this opportunity and asked the emperor to let her lead his wife to participate in this large-scale ceremonial event. It is an unprecedented honor to preside over the Asian offering among the three offerings.At the end of the ceremony, all civil and military officials bestowed officials and titles, which was extremely graceful.These gifted ministers are all grateful to Empress Wu. In order to realize her political ambitions, Wu Zetian used various means to expand her influence on the bureaucratic class, and constantly cultivated and updated the bureaucratic team that supported her, which laid the foundation for her lifelong success.Since the Zhou and Sui Dynasties, the Jiupin Zhongzheng System has gradually lost its appeal to intellectuals. During the Wu Zetian period, the imperial examination system developed, and a large number of newly grown intellectuals from the common landowners flocked into the officialdom. Wu Zetian opened the door for them.In this way, during Tang Gaozong's lifetime, Wu Zetian created to a certain extent a team of cronies with considerable power, the core of which was the Beimen scholars who began in the Qianfeng period.Beimen Scholars were literati and scholars called by Wu Zetian in the name of editing and writing. They not only carried out editing work, but also relied on the power of Empress Wu to directly participate in government affairs and divide the power of the prime minister, thus becoming an important imperial force controlling the outer court.In the following 20 years, Wu Zetian changed from the empress to the imperial court, and then gradually changed the Tang Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty. These literati and bachelor think tanks played a role that cannot be underestimated. In the first year of Shangyuan (AD 674), Empress Wu Zetian promulgated the so-called "Twelve Suggestions", including persuading farmers and mulberry, thin Fu Fu, cessation of soldiers, and Guangyan Road, etc., involving national politics, economy, Military, social and other aspects, as the political program of her ruling, are implemented by the emperor's edict. Since Wu Zetian participated in politics as a queen in the fourth and fifth years of Xianqing (AD 559 and 660), he has gradually developed himself through a series of tasks such as improving the social status of Wu's family and serving officials, expanding the team of cronies, and proposing a political program. The strength of the country has expanded its influence, which fully reflects the strategy of a politician. Wu Zetian had four sons, the eldest son Li Hong, the second son Li Xian, the third son Li Xian (also known as Zhe), and the fourth son Li Dan (also known as Lun).In the first year of Xianqing, the prince Li Zhong was abolished and Li Hong was made the crown prince.Li Hong was kind, modest and reserved, and won the love of his father and the trust of his ministers.He has practiced government affairs many times, and has also shown good governance skills and conduct.Therefore, when Gaozong's health became worse and worse, he thought about passing the throne to Prince Li Hong. This made Wu Zetian very worried, seeing that he was about to lose his power to assist the government, and the ideal of the queen might also come to naught, and his son was very disobedient to him, and repeatedly violated his will.In order to remove the stumbling block, Wu Zetian finally poisoned the 24-year-old crown prince Li Hong to death in April of the second year of Shangyuan (AD 675). Li Hong's death was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Tang Gaozong who was frail and sick.He felt that he no longer had the energy to devote himself to state affairs, so he planned to hand over the throne to the already aggressive queen.Although the abdication was aborted under the opposition of the courtiers, Gaozong's proposal was a great incentive for Wu Zetian's long-planned ambition. One month after Li Hong's death, Li Xian, the second son of King Yong, was made the crown prince.Among the four brothers, Li Xian is the most talented, smart and studious, and deeply loved by his father.After Emperor Gaozong once dispelled the idea of ​​being inferior to the queen, he tried his best to train this son and ordered him to supervise the country many times.Li Xian was quite capable in handling government affairs, and the prime ministers arranged by Tang Gaozong were basically Prince Li Xian's people. The forces against Wu Zetian had certain advantages, and Wu Zetian was once again facing the crisis of losing power. Wu Zetian immediately instigated people to search for crimes, accused the prince of being sensual and conspiring against him, and mobilized people to search the East Palace.In August of the second year of Diaolu (680 A.D.), Prince Li Xian was deposed as a commoner and moved to Bazhou soon after.In February of the first year of civilization (AD 684), on the third day after Zhongzong was abolished, Wu Zetian sent people to Bazhou to kill Li Xian.Li Xian's case implicated many descendants of the clan and court ministers. In August of the second year of Diaolu, the day after Li Xian was deposed, the third son Li Xian succeeded him as the crown prince.In December of the first year of Hongdao (AD 683), Tang Gaozong died at the age of 56. In his will, the crown prince succeeded to the throne, and military and state affairs were handled by the Queen of Heaven.This paved the way for Wu Zetian to come to power.Li Xian succeeded to the throne, named Zhongzong, respected Wu Zetian as the empress dowager, and took Pei Yan as the order of Zhongshu. Wu Zetian was able to tolerate Li Xian's succession to the throne because Li Xian was not as smart as his two elder brothers, and even if he became emperor, he was easy to control.And at this time, the outer court has not yet completely controlled it, and the time for her to become emperor is not yet ripe. In February of the first year of Sisheng (AD 684), Wu Zetian made an excuse to abolish Tang Zhongzong, who had succeeded to the throne for less than two months, as the king of Luling, and was imprisoned in the deep palace.The fourth son, Li Dan, succeeded to the throne as Tang Ruizong. Although Wu Zetian let Li Dan inherit the throne, he was not allowed to participate in political affairs.Thus began the preparations for the change of dynasty. It is said that Wu Zetian was unwilling to stay in the court of Chang'an because she was afraid of the evil spirits of the queen and concubine Xiao Shu, so she renamed the eastern capital Luoyang as the capital of God in order to serve as the future capital.She posthumously gifted it to the fifth ancestor of the Wu family, which made her famous.Changed the names of the officials of the Tang Dynasty, for example, Shangshu Province was changed to Wenchangtai, and the left and right servants were changed to the left and right ministers; Menxia Province was renamed Luantai, Shizhong was named Nayan; Zhongshu Province was renamed Fengge, and Zhongshu Ling was called Internal History; The prime minister called it the third grade of Luantai in Tongfeng Pavilion.The names of the Six Departments of Shangshu were also changed: the Ministry of Officials was called Tianguan, the Ministry of Households was called Land Official, the Ministry of Rites was called Spring Official, the Ministry of War was called Xia Official, the Ministry of Punishment was called Autumn Official, and the Ministry of Industry was called Winter Official.Yushitai is divided into Zuo Suzheng and You Suzheng, the left platform pickets the imperial court, and the right platform pickets the counties.The name change of the hundred officials is a step in the empress's preparation to ascend the throne. However, this series of actions to change the dynasty has angered a group of politically frustrated elements.In September of the first year of civilization (AD 684), Liuzhou Sima Xu Jingye and others who were previously deposed by Wu Zetian raised troops in Yangzhou, publicly playing the banner of anti-wu.A team of more than 100,000 people gathered in ten days.The poet Luo Binwang, one of the Four Masters of the early Tang Dynasty, wrote "Discussing Wu Zhao", which created public opinion for the rebellion. Wu Zetian was facing such a major military crisis for the first time. Although he was calm on the surface, he was still panicking inside.She urgently mobilized 300,000 troops, appointed Li Xiaoyi as the general manager of Yangzhou Road, and led the army from Luoyang to the south along the Bian River to suppress the rebellion.He also appointed the famous general Zuo Yingyang and Hei Chi Changzhi as the general manager of Jiangnan Road to coordinate operations.Under the powerful military offensive, Xu Jingye and King Luo Bin retreated one after another and were killed by their generals.In just over 40 days, 100,000 rebels disappeared.Wu Zetian survived the greatest crisis safely. At the height of the war against the rebellion in Yangzhou, Prime Minister Pei Yan not only failed to actively organize the rebellion, but instead took the opportunity to threaten Wu Zetian to return power to Emperor Ruizong, but was killed by Wu Zetian.After Pei Yan's death, Wu Zetian began to adjust the prime ministers who controlled the outer court.Liu Jingxian, Wei Hongmin, and Guo Daiju were dismissed successively, and Jian Weiwei and Li Jingchen were added as prime ministers.Li Dangyue was demoted to Si Bin Shaoqing, and made Shen Junliang, Wei Fangzhi, Wu Chengsi, Wei Siqian and others as ministers.Soon, Wu, Cui, and Jian were removed from the post of prime minister.During the two years of the first year of Guangzhai (684 A.D.) and the first year of Chuigong (685 A.D.), the appointment and removal of prime ministers changed drastically.This is because Wu Zetian focused on weighing and adjusting the prime minister's team in view of the lessons of the out-of-control foreign court in the past struggle with Li Xian, and re-established his cronies and assistant ministers. Later, she created public opinion for her accession to the throne, and tried her best to exaggerate the mysterious atmosphere of adhering to God's will.In the fourth year of Chuigong, Wu Chengsi, Wu Zetian's nephew, sent Kang Tongtai from Yongzhou to present Wu Zetian with a white stone engraved with the words "The Holy Mother Comes, Yongchang Emperor's Industry", which is falsely claimed to be obtained from Luoshui.Wu Zetian was overjoyed. Wu Zetian also forced Emperor Ruizong to lead his officials to honor the title of "Holy Mother God Emperor", and made the God Emperor Three Seals (Jade Seals) as a symbol of ruling the country.The following year, the name was changed to Yongchang.Wu Zetian reigned for 15 years, Lin Dynasty autocratic 21 years, changed Yuan 18 times, sometimes three times a year, mostly caused by similar events.This shows that she is a little guilty about her behavior of proclaiming the emperor as a woman, so she exaggerates the divine right of the king. Before Wu Zetian, the ancient emperors were given temple titles and posthumous titles only after their death. Except for the Supreme Emperor, there was no precedent for receiving titles during their lifetime.Wu Zetian set a precedent, and the pattern of the honorary name was constantly renovated, which was followed by the emperors of later generations. The title of "Holy Mother of God" is just a transition from queen to queen, and it is imminent to wear the crown and rule the world justifiably.But at this moment, Li Tang's clan was unwilling to remain silent.Li Yuanjia, the eleventh son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty, the king of Han, Li Yuanjia, led the army and played the banner of "raising troops to sing to the world and welcoming Zhongzong back".The father and son of Yue Wang Li Zhen and Langya King Li Chong launched the attack in Yuzhou (now Ruxian, Henan) and Bozhou (now Liaocheng, Shandong) respectively. Wu Zetian had the experience of suppressing the rebellion last time and the consolidation of her position at this time, so she appeared very calm.She dispatched Qingping Dao chief Qiu Shenzhuli and Chinese army chief Qu Chongyu to lead two groups of troops, and they suppressed the clan's uprising without much effort. The two anti-military uprisings in Yangzhou, Henan and Bo were put down, and the forces that could compete with Wu Zetian were basically eliminated.On New Year's Day in the first year of Yongchang (689 A.D.), a grand ceremony was held in the Vientiane Shrine (Ming Hall). In the back is the sub-offer and the final offer.The official change of dynasty is just a matter of schedule. The Tang Dynasty Mingtang (also known as the Vientiane Shrine) was built under the presidency of Wu Zetian's male favorite Xue Huaiyi.Xue Huaiyi, formerly known as Feng Xiaobao, was born in Edi (now Yu County, Shaanxi).He has been in the rivers and lakes since he was a child, and has developed a strong body, which is rough and handsome. Princess Qianjin, the daughter of Emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty, found this stalwart man by chance, and immediately sent someone to summon him to the palace, bathed and changed his clothes in person, stayed for a few days, and dedicated him to Wu Zetian, who had been widowed for many years and was lonely in the palace.Xiao Bao has just turned 30 years old, he is good at serving the bed, and is deeply loved by the heavens.In order to allow Xue Huaiyi to come and go in the harem reasonably, Wu Zetian accepted Princess Qianjin's strategy, turned Feng Xiaobao into a monk, decorated the famous Baima Temple in Luoyang, let him be the host, and let him study Buddhist classics, which not only concealed his identity, but also made him a monk. Cultivate temperament and cultivate the ability to participate in politics.He changed his name to Huaiyi and gave him the surname Xue, so that Princess Taiping's husband, Captain Xue Shao, would treat him like an uncle. Xue Huaiyi is not satisfied with just being a face-to-face, he has extraordinary intelligence.In the fourth year of Chuigong (688 A.D.), Xue Huaiyi was ordered to supervise the construction of Mingtang and Paradise, which cost a huge amount of money, and the buildings are majestic and gorgeous, which is jaw-dropping.Because of his meritorious service, Xue Huaiyi was promoted to the third rank of Zuo Wuwei General, and named Liang Guogong.He also served as the general manager many times, leading the army and expeditions to the Turks.Taking advantage of the popular belief in Maitreya Buddha at that time, he and Seng Faming and other monks fabricated four volumes of "Da Yun Jing" and dedicated them to Wu Zetian. He became an ideological weapon against the Confucian theory that men are superior to women, and it also helped him ascend to the throne justifiably. Later, the imperial doctor Shen Nanqiu became Wu Zetian's new male favourite, and Xue Huaiyi was left out in the cold. This made him jealous, and he burned down the huge Mingtang he supervised and built.The ministers demanded that Xue Huaiyi be severely punished, but Wu Zetian couldn't bear to pursue it.But Xue Huaiyi became more and more arrogant, and Wu Zetian finally couldn't bear it anymore and ordered someone to assassinate him. On the Double Ninth Festival (September 9th) in the first year of Tianshou (AD 690), the 67-year-old Wu Zetian officially ascended the throne and realized her dream of being an empress. The flag was still red, and the Yuan Dynasty was changed to Tianshou, and the Great Zhou Dynasty was established.Emperor Ruizong Li Dan was demoted to the heir of the emperor, and the crown prince Li Chengqi was also demoted to the grandson of the emperor.In Luoyang, the capital of the gods, the seven temples of Wu's family were established as Taimiao, and Zhou Wen Wang Jifa was honored as the first ancestor Wen Emperor, and Zhou Ping Wang's youngest son Ji Wu was regarded as Rui Zu Kang Emperor.The fifth ancestor, Wuke, has been revered as Emperor Yanzucheng, Gaozu Wujuchang as Emperor Sugongzhangjing, great-grandfather Wujian as Liezu Emperor Zhaoan, grandfather Wuhua as Xianzu Emperor Wenmu, and father Samurai Xun as Taizu Emperor Xiaominggao.Wu Chengsi, the son of his half-brother Wu Yuanshuang, and Wu Sansi, the son of Wu Yuanqing, were made king, and more than ten people including his nephew Wu Yizong were named county kings. Wu Zetian wants to establish and consolidate her status as a heroine in an ancient feudal country, and the opposition is very strong.Although the open rebellion was suppressed, there was still a potential political force that was always threatening the survival of her and the new dynasty.Moreover, anti-martial words and deeds inside and outside the court are extremely common. For example, Prime Minister Di Renjie's aunt Lu Shi did not allow her son to "serve as the heroine", and even her confidant Liu Yizhi persuaded her to "return to politics" to reassure people's hearts.What's more, the Duke of Poyang, Li Yuan, wanted to welcome Emperor Zhongzong to Luling.Facing these potential opposition forces, Wu Zetian was on pins and needles. At this time, Yu Baojia, the son of Yu Chengye (one of the 27 cruel officials in the Wu Dynasty), offered a "good strategy": set up a copper gate in the court hall, and accept letters from all over the world. Wu Zetian accepted the suggestion and issued an order to cast four bronzes, which were painted in green, red, white and black, and placed in the court hall.Qingyu is called "Zhaoen" and placed in the east, Danjia is called "Zhaojian" and placed in the south, Baijiao is called "Revenge" and placed in the west, and Heijiao is called "Tongxuan" and placed in the north.The imperial edict is to admonish the doctor (admonisher) to be the envoy of knowledge, and to serve as the envoy of the censor, to accept the world's whistleblowing documents.Although the purpose of this measure is to strengthen political control, it is also effective in opening up the voice and understanding the situation. In order to facilitate informants, Wu Zetian also ordered all prefectures and counties that anyone who intends to go to Beijing to submit a letter to inform will be treated as a post-horse and a fifth-rank official along the way.All informers, regardless of their status, were interviewed.Those who tell the truth will be promoted and rewarded, and those who are not will not be held accountable.For a time, informers from all over the world flocked in, and there was an endless stream of people who came to Beijing to submit letters. Through this informant system, Wu Zetian quickly found a group of cruel officials.After she abdicated, in the first year of Shenlong (AD 705), Tang Zhongzong issued an edict listing 27 cruel officials, among which Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing, and Lai Junchen were the most notorious.Most of these people were born scoundrels with cruel temperaments, specializing in informers and frame-ups.Lai Junchen and Wan Guojun also specially compiled a whistleblowing monograph "Luo Zhijing" as a teaching material for training new cool officials. They created a variety of cool interrogation methods, such as "pulling the prongs of the donkey", "hanging the cart with a calf", "presenting fruits from the immortal", "climbing the ladder", "pressing the condyle of the square beam", "pulling the knee with broken tiles", "Phoenix Sunning its Wings", "Macaque Drilling into the Fire" and so on.Also invented 10 big flails, also ordered with different names: Ding Baimai, Can't Breathe, Sudden Roar, Immediately Inherited, Lost Soul, Facts and Facts, Reverse Facts, Dead Pig Worry, Begging to Die, Begging to Break Home.These appalling tortures made the prisoners "tremble and sweat, and let themselves be falsely accused". In this way, a complete set of systems and institutions for implementing the terrorist policy was established.Under the policy of terror, Wu Zetian let go of cruel officials, and dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people were killed and exiled. Li Tang's clan was the main target of the cruel officials.Unwilling to let the late emperor's career fall into the hands of foreign women, the descendants of the Li family hated Wu Zetian extremely.The stronger the resistance, the harder the blow.Except for Li Xian, Li Dan and their children who were able to survive, and Princess Qianjin who was able to be at peace because of all kinds of flattery, the rest of the descendants of the clan were killed, committed suicide, or were exiled.In this way, when Wu Zetian officially ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Li Tang's clan was completely powerless to organize resistance. Another target of the cruel officials is the veteran minister.These people often regard themselves as veterans of the Tang family and take saving the country as their own responsibility. They hate Wu Zetian's "perverse actions".Therefore, Wu Zetian took very strict precautions against them, as long as she showed her signs, or even made false accusations, she would attack them.According to statistics, during the reign of Wu Zetian, there were 24 prime ministers, and 17 of them were killed or dismissed in 6 years and 7 months.Under Wu Zetian's cruel government, the prime minister's team changed drastically, which made it difficult for courtiers to form an anti-Wu Zetian axis when Wu Zetian usurped the Tang Dynasty. However, Wu Zetian is a mature politician after all, and there is a limit to her appointment of cruel officials. Except for Fu Youyi, the 27 cruel officials, such as Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, Qiu Shenzhili, Suo Yuanli, etc., were not given any post, but they were only allowed to enforce the law instead of ruling.In the judiciary, Di Renjie, Xu Yougong, Du Jingquan, Li Rizhi and other good officials who enforced the law fairly and fairly were retained.Although these capable and outstanding ministers were regarded as thorns in the eyes of the cruel officials and were repeatedly framed, they were always personally protected by Wu Zetian, which played an important role in the stability of the entire political situation. However, the indiscriminate killing of cruel officials also caused the courtiers to feel insecure, forming a new crisis.In order to ease the political situation, Wu Zetian used these cruel officials as scapegoats and killed them one by one to arouse the anger of the people.The brutality of the cruel officials finally ended in a fire.From proclaiming the system in the court to the early stage of proclaiming emperor, Wu Zetian used his iron wrist and cruel character to implement cruel officials for more than 10 years.Wu Zetian wanted to use women to consolidate her vested power, so as to ensure a sure victory in the struggle for the throne, and cruel official politics achieved the desired effect.Although there were many murders, she did not shake the foundation of her rule. On the contrary, she got the support of a wider range of common people. The Guanlong gentry with great power and high position objectively suppressed the power of the gentry and supported the power of the common people.This is also an important reason why Wu Zetian's regime was consolidated. With the end of the cruel government, the throne was consolidated, and the political atmosphere was also improved. However, Wu Zetian did not feel at ease in the choice of the heir to the throne.Her inability to break free from the shackles of tradition leaves her in trouble. Wu Zetian changed Tang to Zhou, and immediately appointed Wu's nephew and nephew as prime minister and general. His ministers also gave Wu's surname for meritorious service, and removed the Tian Fu of Wu's surname from all over the world. Number, set up a temple.Obviously, she wanted to pass on the throne to the descendants of the Wu family. The nephews of the Wu family headed by Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi were even more eager to try, and even colluded with cruel officials to persecute the Li clan.Wu Chengsi publicly challenged the status of the emperor's heir Li Dan. On New Year's Day in the second year of longevity (AD 693), Wu Zetian held a sacrificial ceremony in the Vientiane Shrine (Mingtang), and actually made Wu Chengsi the second sacrifice and Wu Sansi the final sacrifice, publicly posing the Wu family's world.The emperor's heir, Li Dan, stood aside in embarrassment.As a result, the conflict between Li Wu's two surnames competing for the reserve position intensified day by day. Several insightful prime ministers such as Di Renjie and Li Zhaode resolutely opposed the establishment of Wu as the heir of the emperor.Wu Zetian had a headache: making her nephew the crown prince could preserve her Wu Zhou regime, but the successor would not enshrine her as an ancestor to the Taimiao.And by making her son the crown prince, she can share the sacrifices of her descendants with her husband, and get the rightful position of queen, but this will inevitably make her return to the tradition she broke with herself. One day, 74-year-old Wu Zetian said to Di Renjie: "Last night, I dreamed of a big parrot with broken wings. What does it mean?" The two wings refer to the two sons of His Majesty. If His Majesty uses two His Highnesses, wouldn't the two wings be revived?" At this time, the prime minister Ji Xu suggested to Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, the male favorites: You two brothers are domineering and domineering, and are deeply hated by the officials. If you want to protect yourself, the only thing you can do now is to participate in the great politics of establishing a reserve. , Persuading Emperor Wu to restore Luling King as the crown prince.Er Zhang listened to his words, and repeatedly blew the pillow wind, prompting Wu Zetian to make a final decision not to consider establishing Wu's heir. At the beginning of the first year of the holy calendar (AD 698), Wu Zetian sent someone to secretly take Li Xian, the king of Luling, back to Luoyang. Li Dan, the heir of the emperor, asked to abdicate knowingly, and Li Xian was made the prince.When Wu Chengsi saw that the crown prince had changed hands, he died in a fit of anger. The restoration of Li Xian not only prevented the kings of the Wu family from plotting to become the crown prince, but also suppressed the arrogance of the Wu clan at the right time, so that they could not seriously endanger politics when Wu Zetian was alive, and also played a good role in easing the ethnic relations at that time. role. In the first year of Long Live Tongtian (AD 696), when the Khitan army invaded Hebei, they issued a proclamation saying: "Give me back the King of Luling." Khan's daughter was rejected on the spot.Mochu Khan said: "I have been gifted by the Li family for generations, and I plan to marry my daughter to the Li family as a reward. How can you be qualified as a Wu family. I heard that the Li family has two princes. I should send troops to help." It can be seen that Chu The status issue is very likely to become an excuse for the Khitan and Turks to send troops to invade the Tang Dynasty, prompting Wu Zetian to solve it as soon as possible. The restoration of King Luling eased the once tense atmosphere.In order to prevent Wu Zetian from fighting and killing again after his death, Wu Zetian summoned Prince Li Xian, Xiangwang Li Dan, Princess Taiping and Zhuwu to make oaths, sacrifice to heaven and earth, set up iron coupons, and hide them in the history museum, so that they can Peaceful coexistence.As a result, Wu Zetian won the last period of relatively stable and relaxed days.Restoring Li Xian as the prince is another wise decision made by this female politician in her later years after she gave up the politics of cruel officials. In her later years, Wu Zetian was served by her male favorite brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong. She was very grateful for the dedication of the Zhang family brothers, so she appointed them high-ranking officials and entrusted them with state affairs. The two became her most trusted people in her later years. Brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were born in Yifeng, Zhongshan (now Anguo, Hebei). Zhang Xingcheng, his grandfather, was a prime minister in the last years of Zhenguan, so he can be regarded as a famous family.After Xue Huaiyi was killed, the imperial doctor Shen Nanqiu acted as a male favourite, but Shen was over middle-aged and could not meet Wu Zetian's request. Wu Zetian, who was in her 70s, fell into boredom and boredom again, moody, irritable, and scolded the maid at every turn. It is the daughter who understands her mother's thoughts.In the second year of Long Live Tongtian, Princess Taiping brought Zhang Changzong, a beautiful young man, to Wu Zetian. Zhang Changzong was smart and knew the melody.Half a month later, Zhang Changzong recommended his brother Zhang Yizhi to Wu Zetian.From then on, both Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were deeply favored by Wu Zetian, and they were immediately worth a hundred times, just like princes.Under the near doting favor of Emperor Zetian, the pair of beautiful boys were very popular inside and outside the court. Even those in power in the court, such as Wu Chengsi, Wu Sansi, Wu Yizong, Zong Chuke, Zong Jinqing, etc., also scrambled to flatter them. In the first month of the second year of the Holy Calendar (AD 699), Empress Wu Zetian set up a new Control Crane Mansion in the palace, with Zhang Yizhi as the Control Crane Supervisor, Zhang Changzong, Ji Xu, Li Jixiu, Xue Ji, etc. (later renamed Fengchen Mansion, Zhang Yizhi (for Fengchen Order), feasted and played wantonly.In order to cover up their licentious life, Wu Zetian summoned 26 scholars including Song Zhiwen, Yan Chaoyin, Li Qiao, Zhang Shuo, and Liu Zhiji to compile 1,300 volumes of "Three Religious Pearls" in Konghe Mansion. Zhang Changzong and Li Qiao were the editors. Make. Er Zhang was so arrogant and favored that he not only acted arbitrarily in the harem, but also began to interfere in the government.Wu Zetian also intentionally entrusted them with government affairs, and Er Zhang's power rapidly expanded.The civil and military ministers were terrified by this, and there were discussions in the court.At the end of the fourth year of Chang'an (704 A.D.), Wu Zetian was ill and was bedridden. She hadn't seen the prime minister for months, and there were only two servants around her.This prompted a coup to be put on the agenda. In the first month of the first year of Shenlong (705 A.D.), after a period of careful preparations, Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi and others led a military coup, killing Er Zhang in the palace.Wu Zetian on the sickbed was forced to abdicate, Tang Zhongzong was restored, and the Li Tang regime was rebuilt. 正月二十五日，武则天被迫离开她做了15年天子的皇宫，迁居到洛阳宫城西南的上阳宫。中宗为其上尊号“则天大圣皇帝”，以示慰藉。武则天无法忍受失去皇位的痛苦，心境极坏，精神涣散，已是风烛残年的身体随之彻底垮了下来。神龙元年十一月初二，虚岁82的武则天凄冷地死在上阳宫的仙居殿。临终遗嘱：去帝号，称则天大圣皇后；归葬乾陵（高宗的陵墓）；赦免遭她迫害的王皇后、萧淑妃二族及褚遂良、韩瑗、柳奭的亲属。被酷吏构陷的人在她临下台时已予赦免。 武则天的谥号曾几经变化，睿宗即位后，改称“天后”，景云元年（公元710年）再改为“大圣天后”，延和元年（公元712年）又追尊为“天后圣帝”，不久改为“圣后”。唐玄宗当皇帝后，开元四年（公元716年），改谥“则天皇后”，天宝八年（公元749年），最后定谥号为“则天顺圣皇后”。这些谥号的变化表明，武则天一直保持受到李姓子孙的尊崇。 神龙二年正月，武则天的灵柩在唐中宗李显护送下运回长安，与唐高宗合葬在乾陵。她临终曾留遗嘱，让儿子李显为她树碑但不须立传，从而留下了“无字碑”之谜。