Chapter 17 Time makes a queen

Even if measured by the standards of our society today, Wu Zetian's growth experience from a young talent with the lowest level to the only empress in Chinese history is still a complete anti-entropy process. According to Wang Xiaobo, it is to follow the water to the mountain Upstream, apples fly into the sky, and rabbits eat wolves belong to the same category of phenomena.In the history of our vast and populous motherland, patriarchal ideas have been so deeply rooted in the hearts of the people for two thousand years that even the simple craftsmanship of a small carpenter in a remote village is "passed on to men but not to women".And Wu Zetian is not like Liu Bei, who at least has the title of King Jing of Zhongshan, or the various traits that all successful kings have. As a mere woman, she snatched all the land and land of the Li and Tang royal families in her lifetime, not only controlling It is a bit inconceivable that a country with different surnames can control millions of men who are used to being the head of a family or the king of a country.

When Wu Zetian entered the palace, she was just a talent.The title of Wucairen is by no means as honorable and dignified as it is portrayed in later TV novels. To put it bluntly, she is just a blue-collar among Tang Taizong's concubines. According to research, the concubines of the Tang Dynasty did not dress up every day. They are just waiting for the emperor's green head card to be turned over at night, and a big quilt is wrapped around the emperor. They are somewhat similar to today's working women, and they all have their own jobs, so they are called "internal officials" in the system .And Wu Zetian's job as a talented person is to "handle the banquet, organize the silk, and present the merits of the new year." It is mainly responsible for arranging the emperor's banquet, music and rest, as well as the women's silk weaving in the palace, so there are often opportunities. To see the sky.

However, to climb from such a position similar to the front desk lady to the throne of the world is like the distance between Monica Lewinsky and the President of the United States, but unexpectedly, Wu Zetian not only did it, but also used the fastest speed Did it with maximum efficiency.Of course, here we can ask, did Wu Zetian do it herself, or was it the Tang Dynasty, the most glorious and also the most outrageous alien dynasty, who pushed this woman to the top? When we read history, until the end, we will inevitably have the feeling that "time makes heroes".Wu Zetian is from the Tang Dynasty, so everything about her is inseparable from the background of the Tang Dynasty.According to the most popular saying, the Tang Dynasty was the golden age of China.It is so dazzling in our minds that many people are fascinated by it today, and it has become a very fashionable thing to compare people in the Tang Dynasty.For example: Peking University is said to have a "985" key research project to create a world-class university, one of which is called the "Prosperous Tang Project"; Taiwan's Li Ao said that I most want to be a Tang Dynasty person; even Siqin Gaowa, who is acting, joins in the fun , Said that I was the same, but in fact what she did was to quietly change a Swiss passport for herself.

People who live in a prosperous age naturally have more confidence, straighter backs, greater ambitions, and of course fatter bodies. All these are very similar to the Americans who dominate the world today.Wu Zetian was born in that era, probably like this, maybe when he first entered the palace, he was like all kinds of immigrants who first arrived in New York, with a "Chang'an Dream" in his arms - such speculation is not unfounded, Zhenguan Eleven When 14-year-old Wu Zetian entered the palace in 1999, her mother Yang wept bitterly, but Wu Zetian comforted her mother and said: "Mother, don't be sad. How can you know that it is not a blessing for your daughter to be close to the sky?" After reading this paragraph, I believe that all Chinese people who have simple memories of the 1980s can vaguely imagine that Wang Qiming and his wife walked out of the US embassy with visas, and kissed in the streets of Beijing, which was shocking but touching and full of hope and dreams.

But in fact, in some respects, the enlightenment of the Tang Dynasty is far behind even the United States, which the people of the people aspire to.Still the same sentence, Lewinsky never thought that she could compete for the president of the United States. She was full of thoughts, and she could only say bitterly in her autobiography, "He loves me." A little psychological comfort, plant a small thorn in the heart of the couple at the pinnacle of power, and make them feel uncomfortable.Even in the Western society of the 21st century, when women's remarriage is no longer a problem, a certain prince's marriage to a woman who remarried, caused a great uproar, and was finally portrayed by the media as a love fighter. image.If Wu Zetian lived in any other dynasty, including ours, when she was neglected by Tang Taizong, she should feel ashamed and sigh like Teacher Wang Guozhen, "Happiness is always too short, and sorrow is always too long." But Wu Zetian lived in the Tang Dynasty, so she could plan for her future before her ex-husband's sick bed, and hook up with her ex-husband's son. Of course, only in the Tang Dynasty, this trick had meaning.Because only in the Tang Dynasty, it was possible for her to become the wife of the succeeding emperor openly, and there was room for all the stories after that.

Therefore, in which dynasty to act according to the rules of that dynasty, this is called doing as the Romans do.Wu Zetian's move to turn things around, the move of "her husband is dead, hook up with her husband's son", although it can be regarded as a good move to draw fire from the bottom, but it must be coordinated with the right time and place.Otherwise, please see how many mothers who had adultery with their sons all ended badly. Although those mothers were either stunningly beautiful or had noble backgrounds, none of them could be the reason for their forgiveness.Only in the Tang Dynasty, a woman who was a father and son did not need to bear the risk of soaking in a pig cage, and after Emperor Gaozong's "Wu Family's family of Xunyong, Dihua Yingfu, she was selected into the back court and honored. Chongjiaowei, Deguang Lanye. I used to be in Chu Er, Tehe was kind, and I often had attendants, never far from the day and night. Inside the palace pot, I kept bowing myself; among the concubines, I never saw it. Holy love I know, every time I admire and sigh, I will be bestowed with the Wu family, and I will be the queen if I serve as the same ruler." After such a pretense of whitewashing, the three-year-old girl of the great emperor can still calmly ascend to the throne of the mother's world. back seat.

The story of Wu Zetian could only be staged in the Tang Dynasty.People can't choose the year of their birth, but at least from this story, we can understand better that there are many paths to a person's success, and how to choose the most effective path should analyze the environment in which he lives.The so-called time creates a hero. A hero is not passively waiting for the time to create a hero story, but a hero who is good at using the time to push himself forward.To use an analogy, if the hero is a surfer, the factor of his success is that he adjusts the sail according to the direction and speed of the wind.

We all say that we would like to be born in the Tang Dynasty, but dreaming of returning to the Tang Dynasty is just a wish, or an exciting rock and roll.The glorious era of the Tang Dynasty, where heroes were made, is long gone. Perhaps all we can do is to choose a path that best suits this era in this unchosen era. The same is true of the large environment, and the same is true of the small environment.Choosing the most suitable environment for oneself to live in and deciding one's own actions according to the environment is the realm of "harmony between man and nature", and it is also the theoretical basis for Wu Zetian to soar into the sky.We are more fortunate than Wu Zetian because we live in an era full of free choices. We can choose the path that suits us best according to our own character and ability.There is a vulgar saying that is actually very reasonable, that is, don’t choose expensive ones, only choose the right ones. This sentence can be used as the theoretical basis for us to soar into the sky on the career path.

The recent U.S. general election is approaching. It is said that the former first lady Hillary Clinton has become a popular candidate. People can't help but sigh. As time goes by, history always has its similarities. In the past, in the Year of the Monkey, the most common wall calendars in common people's homes were: an old monkey carrying a young monkey on its back, with a bee beside it, which means "seal monkeys from generation to generation".Wu Zetian happened to be a monkey, but her later achievements did not stop at becoming a marquis.Wu Zetian's family is a combination of new and old aristocracy: her stepfather was a big timber merchant in Shanxi, and was born as a poor landlord.When Tang Gaozu rebelled against the Sui Dynasty, he served as a marching officer and joined the army. This position is roughly equivalent to the minister of combat logistics.Later, he entered Chang'an with Gaozu.During the reign of Wude, he became the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and was granted the title of Duke Ying, and he became a nobleman from then on.Wu Zetian's mother is a genuine old nobleman, the daughter of Yang Da, the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty.In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, people still had a strong sense of family status.The laws of the Tang Dynasty stipulated that intermarriage between good people and slaves was prohibited.As for the upper class, although they are also nobles, their status and status are also different due to their different family backgrounds.

Li Shimin's family is actually a Turkic family from Shanxi, belonging to the barbarians, so even if they become emperor, they still have the taste of nouveau riche, and they cannot surpass the so-called Shandong famous families handed down from the two Jin Dynasties spiritually.In 620 A.D., Mrs. Yuan, Wu Zetian's father, died of illness. Tang Gaozu acted as a matchmaker and introduced Yang to marry. She was already a 42-year-old girl at the time. Later, Yang gave birth to three daughters, and the second was Wu Zetian.Therefore, Wu Zetian's girlhood was actually spent under the eyes of her half-brothers, so she had a very difficult life with her sisters and mother in Chang'an.

Some people say that her vicious character has a lot to do with her origin, because her family started from her father.The issue of birth has become one of the sources of Wu Zetian's stubborn and competitive character. She will use her own efforts to respond to those discriminations.This argument obviously has the shadow of the theory of blood in it, and because it has been difficult, the inference of viciousness is not obviously tenable.It's very simple, those who lived a hard life with Wu Zetian, including her sister.As for her elder sister, it is said that compared with Wu Zetian, she is as beautiful as Wu Zetian, so when she died of her husband and brought her daughter to the capital as a widow to join Wu Zetian, Emperor Gaozong took a fancy to her.It is said that her sister was pregnant later, so she was strangled to death by Wu Zetian.In this story, the sister of the compatriot who was born the same as Wu Zetian and lived a hard life when she was a child, appears as a cowardly character.It can be seen that a person's personality still has a lot of innate components. Childhood experiences must have an influence, but it's hard to say how much influence it has. Dragons beget dragons and phoenixes, and mice beget burrows, a classic lineage theory, in fact, from now on, it can be understood differently.A dragon does not necessarily give birth to a dragon, and a phoenix does not necessarily give birth to a phoenix. This is the truth that people on the earth know after reading countless stories about prodigal sons. However, the sons born to mice can dig holes in the ground, and most people have not seen it yet. The beauty.Burrowing is a means of livelihood and a survival instinct for rats.The descendants of mice, born in dark and damp burrows, have never seen sunshine, blue sky and white clouds. Their yearning for the world on the ground and the sky may become a huge force, a kind of blowout enthusiasm.They burrow in the ground without anyone knowing it. They don't have the glory that dragons and phoenixes are born to attract the attention of all people, but they have a more instinctive sense of survival.Although their ideas and methods are wild, they have more obvious benefits because they are simpler and more direct.So once the rats got through the burrow and got into the sky, the dragon and the phoenix might not be able to deal with them so easily. This is why we often say that the rich can only last for three generations, and the descendants of declining nobles are rarely able to start from scratch and revive their family traditions.Wu Zetian is different. Although her mother is a declining nobleman, her father's blood is a new nobleman, or a nouveau riche, and the new instinct in her blood that doesn't follow the rules is actually similar to Li's. The temperament of Jia Dynasty, a new upstart, still faintly fits. Interestingly, because Taizong Shimin is the second generation of new nobles, he can gain insight into Wu Zetian's wild behavior.After entering the palace for more than a year, Wu Zetian was finally called into the Yeting Palace and was favored by Emperor Taizong for the first time.After that, she didn't seem to be very favored, even though the name Wu Mei was said to be bestowed by Emperor Taizong.Once, Tang Taizong got a strong horse named "Lion Cong", which was irritable and difficult to control.Tang Taizong sighed unceasingly for this.Wu Zetian saw this was an opportunity, so he went out of the crowd and said: "I can control it, but I need three things, one iron whip, two iron hammers, and three daggers. If you are not satisfied with the iron whip, use the iron hammer to hammer your head; If he refused to accept it, he would cut his throat with a dagger. The horse is for people to ride on, if it cannot be tamed, what is the use of it.” Tang Taizong was quite displeased with these words, and Wu Zetian’s speculation was unsuccessful, and instead he was left out in the cold.This is presumably reasonable.Imagine if you were a diamond dealer, and your new home-made BMW occasionally had something wrong, and the Hunan mistress would come up and say, "If it doesn't work, just smash it. I have three tools, a brick, a hammer, Rebar...".Can you resist beating her up?Not to mention the emperor. Besides, this emperor with outstanding military exploits conquered the world from horseback and took the throne from his brothers. He was more wary than anyone else.Originally, he was able to ascend to the throne. After all, didn't he come by holding an iron whip, hammer and dagger, meeting gods and killing gods, meeting Buddhas and killing Buddhas?Coincidentally, Taibai Jinxing appeared in the sky in a certain year, because it is also recorded in ancient books that "after three generations, the heroine Wu Wang", Wu Zetian is the only woman in the palace with the surname Wu.Even if Tang Taizong didn't believe it deeply, but when he saw this woman who was destined to utter such a sentence in public, the nouveau riche immediately knew that this woman was not a strong character, but an emperor's means.From then on, he never got close to Wu Zetian, and degraded her to a slave, and regarded her as a bewitch. But the throne was passed on to the third generation, and the blood of the nouveau riche was diluted, while the melancholy weakness and credulity of the aristocrats gradually gained the upper hand.Wu Zetian's unappreciable personality in Emperor Taizong's eyes became a personality in the eyes of Prince Li Zhi.It is said that when Wu Zetian was serving Emperor Taizong, the prince fell in love with him, and Li Zhi quietly gave her the jade pendant as a token of love.But there is also a saying that Wu Zetian took the initiative to seduce Li Zhi.Comprehensive consideration should be that the latter statement is more reasonable - Li Zhi is a cowardly person, and he is unlikely to be too active in love, and when he was a prince, how could he be so bold as to seduce his father's concubine?Anyway, Wu Zetian can be regarded as his half "little mother".And taking the initiative to attack is in line with Wu Zetian's character.For her, since she has fallen out of favor with the emperor, it is not bad, or even better, to hold the crown prince in her hands.Because the emperor at that time was already dying, and the prince was the future emperor, and if he captured the prince, he would seize the future. Regarding how the love between the two of them was specifically operated, the plot is of course impossible to enter the history books.But here are some wonderful circumstantial evidence and references. "The Secret Ways of Marriage of a Daughter" records all kinds of strange courtship methods of the Tang people.The so-called "攮" is connected with "禳", that is, praying for "禳", which means to pray for good fortune and get rid of catastrophe. "Married person" refers to a married man.It says: When a married woman cannot get her husband's love, there are many ways to woo her husband.For example, put your bare feet on your husband's navel to scratch it; for example, burn your husband's thumbnail as ashes and use it for drinking to show your utmost respect to your husband; Win the affections of your husband with this slight bitterness.It can be seen that the atmosphere in the Tang Dynasty was very open, and women flirted very well, which was quite different from those chaste women in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and Wu Zetian must have been the same. Wu Zetian, a combination of old and new aristocrats, has dominated Li Zhi, a third-generation aristocrat. After the two had a "feeling", Wu Zetian was invincible, pointing to where to fight, because compared to Li Zhi, Wu Zetian represented advanced productivity. In the game between the two, Li Zhi has no chance of winning.Fornication in the nunnery, taking advantage of the empress and concubine disputes to return to the palace in a high-profile manner, strangling the biological daughter to blame the empress concubine Shu, these unconventional tactics, and even later the legendary poisoning of the biological son, faced with these unconventional, full of emotions. Bloody and violent, with a wild atmosphere and a brand-new way of thinking for women, the emperor Li Zhi has no power to fight back. He watched Wu Zetian do whatever he wanted, stepping on his head to reach the pinnacle of power.This is the absolute victory of rats born to burrow. Don't play the common sense card, this is a Jedi counterattack that you can't do when facing powerful enemies, but sometimes think about it, in this difficult world, in a world where almost everyone likes to speak English, In a world where individuals have a prestigious university diploma for self-defense and often use foreign names to prove their origins, if they don't play the common sense card and follow the rules step by step, when will the eyes of the nobles stay on themselves for a while?Therefore, in an era when the president of an overseas listed company always bares his upper body on the cover of fashion magazines, and a rich man with a net worth of billions likes to show off his northwest accent with a few lines of dialogue in movies, you should never be unreasonable. ashamed.Because you have to.