On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month in 700 AD, 77-year-old Wu Zetian, who advocated Taoism and Buddhism, went to Songshan to pray. At this time, it has been 10 years since she became the first female emperor in history at the age of 67.

The first time I learned about Wu Zetian's punishment-removing gold casket, I visited Songyang Academy in 2020. There is a miniature imitation in the exhibition hall of the institute. The description of the exhibit simply records the discovery process of this gold paper, and shows that the original is collected in Henan Provincial Museum.

At the end of April last year, the new Zhengzhou Museum in songshan road was completed and opened. At the same time, many national treasures were loaned from provincial museums for exhibitions. That was the first time I saw this golden note that Wu Zetian punished.

I went to Henan Museum twice some time ago and once again came across this cultural relic.

Wu Zetian is the only woman who ascended the throne of emperor in the history of China. She is also the oldest emperor (67 years old) and one of the longest-lived emperors (82 years old).

Wu Zetian is resourceful and knowledgeable in literature and history. Before she officially proclaimed herself emperor, she managed state affairs with Tang Gaozong and Li Zhi. At this time, her political ability has been demonstrated, and her historical achievements after becoming emperor are even more remarkable.

For example, the Wu Zetian Dynasty perfected the imperial examination system that began in the Sui Dynasty, and established the system of martial arts, palace examination and trial officials, which played a pioneering role in the system of selecting and appointing talents at that time and later dynasties.

During the reign of Wu Zetian, paying attention to the agricultural reward for farming and mulberry reduced the labor and taxes of farmers to a certain extent, and adopted a more relaxed policy for farmers who fled their land after the gradual disintegration of the land equalization system, which made great contributions to restoring the economy, increasing the population and stabilizing social order in the Tang Dynasty.

In the early days of Wu Zetian's reign, she appointed cruel officials and carried out the system of cruel officials' informers, which attacked and killed many aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty who opposed her and established her own new political group, which also played a positive role in stabilizing the political power and social situation.

Wu Zetian is also very useful in the military. In addition to recovering and stabilizing the four towns in Anxi, the post-Turks also submitted to the Zhou Dynasty (Tang Dynasty) for a period of time.

However, although Wu Zetian has many achievements in history, as a woman, mother and grandmother, especially after she ascended the throne of the emperor in her later years, many behaviors and practices of Wu Zetian were criticized by later generations.

Apart from the fact that Wu Zetian was talked about by later generations from the concubine of Li Shimin of Emperor Taizong to Tang Gaozong of Li Zhi, there were rumors that Wu Zetian was carried away by power and desire and designed to kill herself and Li Hong, the eldest son of Li Zhi.

In the tomb buried with Gan Ling in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, the second son of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, Prince Xian, also died under the imperial power of the female emperor Wu Zetian.

Among the numerous tombs buried with the dead in Ganling, apart from Prince Zhang Huai's tomb, Prince Yide's tomb has also attracted much attention.

Li Zhongrun, Prince Yide, the eldest son of Li Xian, Tang Zhongzong. He was the great-grandson who was named Huang by Li Zhi, and was the close grandson of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian. After Li Zhi's death, Wu Zetian successively abolished his two sons, Li Xian and Li Dan, and finally proclaimed himself emperor.

In his later years, Wu Zetian and his minions Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong had chaotic private lives, and two of them were good at interfering in state affairs. Although criticized by the whole court, no one dared to speak out because of the power of Wu Zetian.

At that time, Li Zhongrun, who was only 19 years old, was accused by Zhang to grandma Wu Zetian for privately discussing the unbearable situation of grandma and slave, and then Li Zhongrun was beaten to death. Even if Prince Yide was once the great-grandson of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, it is impossible to defeat her favorite and the female emperor in her later years.

Among the tombs buried with Gan Ling, the tombs of Princess Yongtai and her husband Wu Yanji are equally eye-catching. /kloc-In 0/7, Princess Yongtai and her husband died at the hands of the imperial grandmother. Only one day after the death of a German prince Li Zhongrun, the cause of death was the same as that of a German prince, all because of private discussions about the private life of the imperial grandmother.

Wu Zetian's exoneration must have made her 77 years old at that time, and it will be chilling to recall so many outrageous things she has done in her life. Especially for their sons and grandchildren, they can kill each other. This is why when they go to Songshan to pray, they send Taoist priests to leave their golden paper on Ji Junfeng to alleviate their inner guilt.

The original text of Wu Zetian's Golden Mirror is as follows:

After Wu Zetian, Wei Shi, the queen of Li Xian, Tang Zhongzong, and the biological mother of Princess Runhe Yongtai, Jong Li, tried to imitate the good governance of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and become an emperor like Wu Zetian after Li Xian regained the throne of Tang Zhongzong. Finally, Li Longji, the Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, was killed, as well as the daughters of Li Xian and Wei Hou, the princess of happiness who was also full of infinite yearning for power.

After Queen Wei and Princess Anle, Wu Zetian's daughter Princess Taiping also wants to be a female emperor like her mother Wu Zetian. Princess Taiping was executed for coveting the throne after helping Li Longji destroy the Queen Wei and Princess Anle.

The occurrence of these political events is undoubtedly inseparable from the influence of Wu Zetian's abolishment of Sect and Zong Rui's self-proclaimed emperor.

Empress Wu Zetian was eventually wise SHEN WOO, still in charge of her son Li Xian, and was buried with Li Zhi as the Queen of Tang Gaozong in Tangganling, Xianyang, Shaanxi.

The tall and solemn wordless tablet in front of Wu Zetian's tomb is in sharp contrast with this small gold bar for removing sin, just like the ups and downs of her life, and her merits and demerits will be passed down to future generations for comment.