Chapter 32 This queen is not abolished by the emperor

Although Gaozong easily took away the chess piece of Li Yifu, the danger of losing power was not lifted at all. Since suffering from wind disease, Gaozong's health has not improved, so Empress Wu has more and more opportunities to participate in politics, and her political ambitions have also continued to expand.Gao Zong Li Zhi found sadly that the Wu Mei who "succumbed to humiliation and obeyed her will" no longer existed, and was replaced by a woman with a desire for power from head to toe.Not only did this woman no longer obey him and respect him, but instead she emptied him step by step, and even surpassed him!

In addition to grief, Li Zhi felt a strong anger. (Volume 201: "When you get the ambition, you specialize in being a blessing. The superior wants to do something, but the action is controlled by the latter, and the superior cannot overcome his anger.") Everything is exactly the same as that of Changsun Wuji back then. No, it's even worse than the eldest grandson Wuji back then! In this way, Gaozong's anger towards Empress Wu became stronger day by day.But he didn't notice that at the same time, Empress Wu Mei's dissatisfaction with him was getting deeper day by day.

Gaozong was angry because his power as the son of heaven was stolen by his wife, while Empress Wu was dissatisfied because her husband's heart was stolen by another woman. Yes, in the past few years, Gaozong's love for Wu Mei has become weaker and weaker, while his favor for the other two women has increased day by day.What makes Wu Mei feel ironic is that one of these two women is her own sister, Mrs. Han, and the other is her niece, Mrs. Wei Guo. Mrs. Korea's husband's family can be considered a wealthy family, and her husband's name is Helan Yueshi.She gave birth to a pair of sons and daughters, the son named He Lanminzhi, who grew up to be a beautiful boy well-known in Chang'an; the daughter was later Mrs. Wei, who was also said to be beautiful and charming.Helan Yueshi died early, so Mrs. Han became a widow at a young age.After Wu Mei was in the palace, Mrs. Korea often took her daughter in and out of the forbidden palace. After a long time, Gaozong Li Zhi fell in love with this charming widow, and took the beautiful girl beside her into his arms , and soon named this little lover Mrs. Wei.

In this way, the mother and daughter became the new love of the emperor's pillow.Whenever Wu Mei saw her sister and niece entering and leaving the emperor's bedroom with spring faces and beautiful branches, her eyes would repeatedly shoot out flames of anger and jealousy. Gaozong Lizhi didn't notice the flame. Mrs. Korea did not see the flame either. Until one day later, when the palace people inadvertently discovered that it was no longer the mother and daughter who frequented the emperor's bedroom, but only a young Mrs. Wei was left. up. Yes, Mrs. Korea disappeared. Without anyone noticing, Mrs. Korea disappeared from this world quietly.

History books do not record the specific time and specific reasons for Mrs. Korea's death, but it is widely rumored that she was poisoned to death by her own sister, Queen Wu Mei.However, the affairs of the palace have always been mysterious and unpredictable. No one can tell the real cause of Mrs. Han's death. The careful palace people can only see a trace of sorrow and hatred from Mrs. Wei's beautiful and sad face. Especially when Empress Wu Mei was present, the hatred in her eyes seemed particularly strong. After the death of Mrs. Han, Gaozong Li Zhi devoted all his love to Mrs. Wei Guo to their mother and daughter. He even wanted to formally make her one of the nine concubines, but he also knew that as long as Wu Mei was still in the Queen's In his seat, it is impossible for him to take this step.

So, is it possible to get Wu Mei off the queen's seat? Of course it is possible. Since Wang Liwu could be abolished back then, why can't Wu Mei be abolished today, and then take the Helan family as his concubine, and stay with this beautiful, gentle and understanding little lover for the rest of his life? Once such an idea appeared in Gaozong's mind, it was like a stone thrown into the center of the lake, causing ripples that became bigger and bigger, making him unable to calm down anymore. Therefore, in order to regain the power of the emperor, and also for the beautiful and lovely Helan family, Gaozong Lizhi decided to give it a go!

Next, all he needs is an appropriate timing, an appropriate reason to abolish the queen. In the winter of the first year of Linde (AD 664), such an opportunity finally appeared. One day, the eunuch Wang Fusheng in the palace suddenly reported to the emperor, saying that a Taoist priest named Guo Xingzhen often "entered and exited the forbidden area" and set up altars under the arrangement of the queen, and - "tasted as a technique of disgusting victory"! (Volume 201) Tired of winning? Another dreadful crime. People still remember that when Wu Zhaoyi framed the queen, she used this heinous crime.No one expected that many years later, someone would accuse Empress Wu of the same crime.

When receiving the secret report from Wang Fusheng, Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi was furious on the surface, but he was secretly happy in his heart-what more legitimate reason to abolish the empress than "disgusting to win"? After the victory-weariness incident broke out, Gaozong Li Zhi immediately summoned Shangguanyi, the assistant minister of Xitai and the third rank of Dongxitai (the assistant minister of Zhongshu, and the third rank of Tongzhongshumen) into the inner hall to discuss how to deal with the queen. This Shangguanyi had just made his obeisance to the prime minister a year ago, and his qualifications were much lower than other prime ministers, but why did Gaozong choose him as a secret businessman?

There is only one reason-senior prime ministers like Li Ji and Xu Jingzong used to support Empress Wu, so Gaozong didn't dare to hand things over to them.Now to deal with Empress Wu, only a new face like Shangguanyi can be used. Shangguanyi was a Jinshi in the early years of Zhenguan, and also a master of prose, especially a master of five-character poems, who became famous very early.Hearing his name, Emperor Taizong once called him into the palace and awarded him a direct bachelor of Hongwenguan. He often sang poems with him, and even asked him to revise the edict, and later promoted him to be the secretary.After Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne, Shangguanyi was promoted to secretary and junior supervisor. After that, he once served as an official of Chen Wang Lizhong; after Li Zhong was canonized as the crown prince, he served in the East Palace. bachelor.

Shangguanyi is a typical literary courtier. The reason why he can rise to the top is not mainly due to his political talent, but his literary talent.He is the representative poet of Qi and Liang Yufeng. His five-character poems are "Qi Cuo Wan Mei" and have a style of their own. They are known as "Shangguan Style" and occupy a place in the history of Chinese literature. As the saying goes, there is a poetic spirit in his stomach, and it is said that Shangguanyi's demeanor and demeanor can be described as handsome and elegant, floating like a fairy. "Jiahua of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" once recorded that after Shangguanyi paid homage to the prime minister, he was in Luoyang, the eastern capital, "tasting entering the court in the early morning, patrolling the Luo embankment, stepping on the moon and bridle", and impromptuly chanted a song "Entering the Luodi and stepping into the moon" ": "The pulse is wide and the river flows, and the horses are driven through Changzhou. Magpies fly to the mountains and the moon is dawn, and the cicadas are noisy in the wild wind in autumn."

Outside Luoyang Palace, the morning light is faint, the dawn moon is fading, weeping willows are swaying, and the breeze is blowing.In this peaceful and beautiful picture, all the officials waiting to enter the court by the Luoshui River saw by coincidence that Shangguanyi, the prime minister of the court, was coming riding a white horse, and felt that the poems he uttered were in the same breath. The characters are exquisite and "clear in rhyme", while he himself is full of fluttering clothes and high spirits, "looking like a god". Many years later, people seem to be able to vaguely see the temperament and demeanor of her grandfather Shangguanyi from Shangguan Wan'er, the most beloved female official of Empress Wu Zhao. Shangguanyi is a typical literati, and when literati enter politics, it is usually difficult to avoid the problems of self-importance and arrogance, and it is even more difficult to survive for a long time in the turbulent political struggle.Therefore, even though Shangguanyi was trusted by Emperor Gaozong as his confidant and promoted to prime minister, he didn't know what kind of unpredictable fate would be waiting for him after this short period of nobility and honor. As Emperor Gaozong's most trusted and most relied on prime minister, Shangguanyi knew very well what the emperor wanted in his heart.So when Emperor Gaozong secretly summoned him to enter the inner palace and asked him how to deal with the queen, Shangguanyi immediately replied firmly: "The queen's dictatorial power has disappointed the whole country, and I request to be deposed." Li Zhi nodded frequently, and immediately ordered Shangguanyi to draft an imperial edict for the abolishment. At this moment, Shangguanyi never expected that the imperial edict that the emperor asked him to draft would become his death notice. In front of the imperial case in the inner hall, Shangguanyi, who was full of poems and books, spread out a piece of plain paper, and after pondering for a while, he began to write the last text of his life eloquently. With the drafting of Shangguanyi's edict, Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi and Empress Wu Mei, who had gone through ups and downs for eighteen years, finally irretrievably came to the brink of breaking up. The emperor is going to depose the queen! At the critical moment, the court intelligence network that Wu Mei has carefully built for a long time finally played a critical role in life and death. When the eyes and ears placed beside the emperor came to tell her the terrible news, people saw that Empress Wu Mei had no expression on her face. If you have to say what expression you have, you can only use two words to describe it - calm. After a while, Empress Wu suddenly showed a confident smile to the people, and then walked towards the inner hall without saying a word. At that moment, Queen Chu's calm demeanor and calm expression surprised everyone present, and at the same time made them feel a kind of sincere admiration. They believe that such a queen is definitely more qualified than any woman to be the mother of the world, and it is definitely not something that the emperor can do away with! When Wu Mei walked straight into the inner hall, the abolished empress edict was still lying quietly on the emperor's case.Behind the imperial case was the astonished and frightened face of Emperor Li Zhi. Wu Mei walked to the imperial case and stood still, then her gaze was directed at the emperor like the sun at noon. The emperor dodged in a panic, his face turned pale in an instant. Immediately afterwards, Wu Mei began to narrate the past in an unusually calm tone. Those were the past events that happened between her and him in the past eighteen years of ups and downs. Of course, this kind of narrative cannot cover everything, but can only be a selective and focused summary of the previous situation. But for Li Zhi at this moment, such an outline is enough - enough for him to be ashamed, enough for him to be timid, enough for him to feel ashamed, and enough for him to change his mind. Finally, Li Zhi lowered his head deeply, and said in a low voice, "I didn't have such a heart at first, so Shangguanyi taught me." (Volume 201) At this moment, Emperor Li Zhi is like a child who has done something wrong. Empress Wu Mei showed a mother-like magnanimous smile. Now that the Son of Heaven has admitted his mistake, Empress Wu can of course put on a gesture of letting go of the past, as if nothing happened. But there is a premise here, that is - the emperor must pay for the mistakes he made. In other words, although Li Zhi himself can shirk responsibility and escape punishment, his accomplices and his cronies in the court must pay the price for their master! This is the true meaning of Empress Wu's smile. At the moment Wu Mei turned and walked out of the inner hall with light steps, a long list of revenge had completely appeared in her mind. The first two on the list are Shangguanyi and Wang Fusheng. The third one is the abolished prince Li Zhong. Because both Shangguanyi and Wang Fusheng used to belong to Li Zhong's former East Palace, and now that these two people have participated in the abolition incident, Li Zhong can't escape the responsibility.Moreover, if Li Zhong did not die for a day, the position of Prince Li Hong would never be stable.Therefore, Empress Wu must use this opportunity to get rid of Li Zhong, whether it is out of revenge or out of consideration of cutting grass and roots. Over the years, the deposed prince Li Zhong can be said to have tasted the warmth and coldness of the world, and read all the heat and cold of the world.When he was established as the prince, he was still young and didn't fully understand the meaning of power and wealth, but he was surrounded by a large group of fawning and fawning people all day long.At the age of fourteen, he was suddenly deposed and lost everything overnight, and then those around him disappeared without a trace as if they were fleeing the plague.On the day he left the capital, none of the former officials of the Eastern Palace came to see him off, which really broke his heart. At the end of the same year when he was relegated as governor of Liangzhou, he was once again relegated as governor of Fangzhou (now Fangxian County, Hubei).In the days that followed, Li Zhong grew up slowly, and finally saw his own destiny clearly—it turned out that he was a pawn in the hands of others from beginning to end. As a result; behind his ups and downs of fate, there have always been some terrible forces manipulating and dominating. When he realized all this, Li Zhong felt extremely terrified. He seemed to see conspiracy and death following him like a shadow.Since then, Li Zhong has been in constant fear, having nightmares every night, and always worrying about assassins during the day.In order to resolve disasters that may come at any time, Li Zhong repeatedly asked wizards to set up altars to divination good and bad luck; in order to guard against assassins, he even disguised himself, often wearing women's clothes. Li Zhong's every move in Fangzhou naturally cannot escape the eyes of Empress Wu.In the early autumn of the fifth year of Xianqing (AD 660), the imperial court once again issued an edict, deposing Li Zhong as a commoner, exiled Qianzhou, and imprisoned in the old house of the former abolished prince Li Chengqian. In that gloomy house, Li Zhong fell into extreme fear.In those few years, he gradually became unkempt and haggard, life has become a long punishment for him, he is already like a disabled person, living is waiting to die. In December of the first year of Linde (AD 664), Xu Jingzong, at the behest of Empress Wu, accused Shangguanyi, Wang Fusheng, and the deposed prince Li Zhong of secretly colluding and attempting to rebel.Shangguanyi was immediately arrested and imprisoned. A few days later, he was beheaded together with his eldest son Shangguan Tingzhi and the eunuch Wang Fusheng.It was in this disaster of family ruin and death that the newly born Shangguan Wan'er was confiscated into the Yeting court together with her mother. On December 15th, Li Zhong, the deposed prince, was sentenced to death in the demolition office at the age of twenty-two.Later, Liu Xiangdao, who was the right minister (Zhongshuling) at that time, was dismissed from the post of prime minister because of his deep friendship with Shangguanyi, and was demoted to be a minister of rites (Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites); at the same time, there was Zuo Suji (Shangshu Zuo A large number of officials, including Cheng) Zheng Qintai, were accused of having friendship with Shangguanyi, and were either relegated or exiled, and all were expelled from the court. Gaozong Li Zhi knew very well that these people were not implicated because they were friendly with Shangguanyi, but because they were all his cronies, so they were all driven out of Chang'an by the queen. Knowing this, Li Zhi was helpless. From the moment Empress Wu Mei walked into the inner hall with sharp eyes, and from the moment Li Zhi was forced to say "I didn't have such a heart at the beginning, Shangguanyi taught me", Li Zhi knew that he was finished , he could only hand over the power of the emperor to Queen Wu Mei. Because he has no choice. In fact, why didn't Li Zhi want to take the monarchy firmly in his own hands!Why doesn't he want to rule the empire according to his own will!However, since suffering from this damn wind disease, many things no longer depend on his will.Whenever he wants to concentrate on listening to the affairs of the officials, whenever he wants to cheer up to judge government affairs, the nasty illness will suddenly seize him, making him dizzy and weak in limbs. In this powerless situation, besides the queen, who else could he give power to?Give it to the prime minister?Although the current prime ministers all seem humble and obedient to the emperor, once the emperor really delegates the highest power to them, in time, who can guarantee that there will not be a second eldest grandson Wuji? In Li Zhi's view, even though he and Wu Mei have been in the same bed for a long time, they were once a loving couple who are like glue;What's more, after all, the queen gave birth to him four sons: Prince Hong, Pei Wangxian, Zhou Wangxian, and Yin Wang Xulun (later renamed Dan). When he came to Japan to drive west by himself, the queen must return the power to Prince Li Hong. At that time, the country will still be Li Tang's country, and the country will still be Li Tang's country.Such a result is better than letting the power of the government fall into the hands of powerful officials of different surnames, right? If the deterioration of health meant that Gaozong's power as the Son of Heaven must be sidelined, then he would rather be sidelined to Empress Wu Mei than to the second eldest grandson Wuji! Of course Li Zhi knew that this was not the best choice, but in the case of the lesser of two evils, isn't this the least bad choice? Of course, in this turmoil of abolition, Li Zhi's performance did seem a little cowardly.However, rather than saying that Li Zhi became timid under the persecution of Empress Wu, it is better to say that he realized the recklessness of his actions to abolish Empress at that moment.Because if Empress Wu is really abolished, Li Zhi will have to delegate power to the prime minister when he is entangled in illness. In addition, another reason why Li Zhi finally regretted and took back her life was that in the past few years when Empress Wu assisted in handling the government affairs, her performance was indeed impeccable and remarkable, even more mature than Li Zhi himself. Older and more politically wise.That being the case, when Li Zhi calmed down, he would naturally realize that his feelings for Mrs. Wei had damaged his rationality as an emperor, so he had to proceed from the perspective of the overall situation and the long-term stability of Li Tang Sheji, Further enhance the authority of Empress Wu. Regardless of whether Gaozong Li Zhi took the initiative or was forced, in short, since the winter of the first year of Linde, Li Zhi's imperial authority has gradually weakened.In this unexpected incident of abolition, Empress Wu Mei was not only unscathed, but took the opportunity to eradicate a group of cronies of the emperor in the court. From then on, Gaozong and Li Zhi were no longer the only ones in the Golden Luan Hall, but Gaozong and Empress Wu were side by side.The civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty can almost feel that the supreme power of the empire is gradually falling into the hands of Empress Wu Mei.The history said: "Since then, every time the emperor (Gaozong) sees things, the queen (Empress Wu) hangs behind the curtain, and everyone can hear about the government, regardless of size. The Son of Heaven is just handing over his hands, which is called the second sage both at home and abroad." (Volume 201) An era of "two sages coming to court" has thus begun. This year, Wu Mei was forty years old. At this time, Wu Mei, like a phoenix reborn from the ashes, after going through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, finally spread her wings and soared in the sky of the Datang Empire with a spirit of giving up to me and a towering attitude. Above the pinnacle of power.