Wu Zetian is the second daughter of Wu Shihuo, the founder of the Tang Dynasty. Her mother is Yang (born in the royal family of Sui Dynasty, and her father is her younger brother, King Guan De of Sui Dynasty). Her ancestral home is in Wenshui County (now Beixu Village, Wenshui County, Shanxi Province). In the seventh year of Wude (624), he was born in Chang 'an (now Xi, Shaanxi) and was born in Lizhou (now Guangyuan, Sichuan). [4] There are two half-brothers, Wu and Wu, and two half-sisters, one is Mrs. Wu Shun, and the other is Mrs. Guo.
His father, Wu Shihuo, was engaged in timber trade and his family was well-off. At the end of the great cause, when Li Yuan was working in Hedong and Taiyuan, he met each other because he had defected to the Wu family many times. After Li Yuan rose up in Taiyuan to resist Sui Dynasty, the Wu family once subsidized money, food and clothing. Therefore, after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the positions of Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, Assistant Minister of Huangmen, Judge Shangshu, Yangzhou Secretariat, Lizhou Secretariat and Jingzhou Secretariat were recorded with "Yuan Cong Hero". Zhenguan years, moved to the Ministry of Industry, ministers, Jingzhou secretariat, lord protector. After his father died in the ninth year of Zhenguan (635), his cousins, Wu Huaiyun and Wu were very rude to his mother Yang. [5]
First court appearance
The red painter Yuan Pengfei's work Wu Zetian.
In November of the 11th year of Zhenguan (637), Wu Zetian was fourteen years old. When Emperor Taizong heard that she was beautiful in appearance and manners, he called her into the palace, making her a five-person talent and giving her the title of "Wu Mei", which was later mistakenly called Wu Meiniang. Before Wu Zetian entered the palace, she bid farewell to her widowed mother Shi Yang: "Do you know that it is not a blessing to serve the wise son of heaven? Why are you crying like a child? " [6]
During the reign of Emperor Taizong, Wu Zetian's life in the palace was not described in detail. Only in her later years did Wu Zetian recall that she trained horses for Emperor Taizong. Emperor Taizong had a horse named Lion Qi, which was fat and willful, and no one could tame it. Wu Zetian waited by and said to Emperor Taizong, "I can subdue it, but I need three things: iron whip, iron bars and daggers. Hit it with an iron whip. If you don't accept it, hit it on the head with an iron bar. If you don't accept it, cut its throat with a dagger. " Emperor Taizong praised Wu Zetian's ambition. [7]
However, Wu Zetian did not get the favor of Emperor Taizong. She has been a talent for 12 years, and her status has never improved. During the period when Emperor Taizong was seriously ill, Wu Zetian established feelings with Prince Li Zhi.
In the 23rd year of Zhenguan (649), Emperor Taizong died. Wu Zetian followed the example of the Tang harem and joined some childless concubines in the Ganye Temple in Chang 'an, but she never got in touch with the new emperor Li Zhi. [8]
Enter the palace again
In May of the first year of Yonghui (650), on the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death, Tang Gaozong went to Ganye Temple to make pilgrimages and met Wu Zetian again. The two men recognized each other and told each other their thoughts after leaving. [8]
In the second year of Yonghui (65 1), the queen who fell out of favor because she had no children took the initiative to ask Emperor Gaozong to bring Wu Zetian into the palace in an attempt to attack her rival Xiao Shufei. [9] Li Zhi had this idea and immediately agreed.
In May of the 2nd year of Yonghui (65 1), Tang Gaozong's mourning was full, and Wu Zetian entered the palace again. Before entering the palace, Wu Zetian was pregnant. After entering the palace, she gave birth to her son Li Hong. After returning to the palace, Wu Zetian really quickly defeated Xiao Shufei and won the favor of Li Zhi. In May of the following year (652), he became a second-class Zhao Yi. At that time, Queen Wang and Xiao Shufei often competed with Wu and spoke ill of each other, but Li Zhi wouldn't listen.
Wu Zetian played by Liu Xiaoqing (17 photo)
Wu Zetian was scheming and ruthless, dabbling in literature and history. In 654 (the fifth year of Yonghui), Wu Zetian gave birth to the eldest daughter Princess Anding Temple. According to the New Tang Book and Zi Jian, on the occasion of the princess's birthday in January in Anding Temple, the Queen Wang came to visit and fondle her. After the Queen Wang went out, Wu Zetian strangled the girl while no one was around and covered her with a quilt. When Li Zhi arrived, Wu Zetian pretended to laugh, lifted the quilt and looked after the children together, and found her daughter was dead. Wu Zetian cried. Ask people around you what's going on, and people around you will say, "The Queen has just been here." Li Zhi flew into a rage and said, "The queen killed my daughter!" Wu Zetian cried and scolded the king and queen for their sins. Queen Wang couldn't explain clearly, so Li Zhi had the plan to "abolish the king" from now on. However, this matter is controversial. Old Tang Shu and Tang Yaohui written by five generations only recorded the sudden death of the little princess.
In June of the sixth year of Yonghui (655), it was widely rumored in the harem that the queen and her mother Liu were tired of winning. When Li Zhi learned this, he was furious and expelled his mother Liu from the palace. He also wanted to upgrade Wu to a first-class product [10]. Due to the opposition of prime ministers Han Yuan and Lai Ji, they finally failed. At that time, the ministers headed by Sun Chang Wuji and Chu Suiliang had great power, and Li Zhi's power was greatly restricted. Many ministers in the outer court, led by Sun Chang Wuji, opposed Tang Gaozong's abolition of Wang Wu Li, and Wu Zetian's road ahead was full of hardships. Li Zhi tried to restore imperial power by "abolishing the king" and hit the forces of old ministers. As a result, Wu Zetian began to become a political "comrade-in-arms" of Gao Zong.
Soon, Li Yifu, the secretary of the Central Committee, took the lead in supporting the "Abolition of the King" and was awarded by Li Zhi and Wu Zetian. Many middle-level officials saw that it was profitable to support the abolition of the king, so they turned to support Wu Zetian. Xu, Cui, Yuan and other ministers successively sent badges to Li, requesting the appointment of Wu. Li Zhi saw many people supporting him, and the idea of abolishing legislation sprouted again. Li Ji, one of the veteran heroes, added: "Your majesty's family affairs, why ask outsiders?" This completely touched Li Zhi's heart and reversed the unfavorable situation of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian on the issue of abolishing the Queen. In the same year1October 13, Li Zhi finally issued an imperial edict: on the charge of "conspiracy to poison", he abolished the queen and went to prison; Their parents, brothers, etc. He was also banished from office and exiled to Lingnan. Seven days later, Li Zhi wrote another letter and made Wu Zetian the queen. At the same time, the most opposed prime minister, Chu Suiliang, was demoted to the governor of another state.
In April of the 4th year of Xianqing (659), Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong reached an understanding that Sun Chang Wuji, Yu Zhining, Han Yuan, Lai Ji and others were dismissed from the capital. At this point, Li Zhi basically realized the centralized monarchy. The event of "Abolishing the King" dealt a heavy blow to the nobles in Guanlong. Since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the lack of imperial power has been changed, which has had a great impact on the history of China.
Two saints facing the court
In October (660) of the fifth year of the reign of Emperor Xianqing, Li Zhifeng had a seizure and was dizzy, so she could not handle state affairs, so she asked Wu Zetian to handle state affairs. But it also caused the rift between Wu Zetian and Li Zhi, and caused Wu Zetian to be almost abolished.
In the first month of the first year of Longshuo (66 1), Wu Zetian asked all women in the world not to perform Nuo You (an artist who performed burlesque in ancient times), and Li Zhi adopted it and wrote a letter. In April, Li Zhi wanted to lead an army to attack Korea, but Wu Zetian thought it was irresistible and the suggestion was adopted.
Wu Zetian's portrait
In the first year of Linde (664), Li Zhi asked Prime Minister Shangguan Yi to draft a letter to abolish Wu Zetian. Before the ink was dry, Wu Zetian found out in time that the abolition of the queen had to end in failure. So, Wu Zetian suggested to Li Zhi that they should go to court together in the near future and listen to politics. The combination of the two saints further increased her political experience and influence. [ 12]
But Wu Zetian was not satisfied. She wants to worship Mount Tai with Li Zhi. Due to the strong national strength of Tang Gaozong, Wu Zetian actively fled to Li Zhi to worship Mount Tai. When offering sacrifices to the god of heaven, the emperor deserves it first, and when offering sacrifices to the emperor, the queen mother deserves it. At the time of Zen, the emperor offered it first, and the minister offered it with a gift. But amenorrhea, after all, is none of the queen mother's business, so she added that amenorrhea is an instrument for sacrificing the country, which is shared by the queen mother and shows the virtue of staying behind. It is very inappropriate for a priest to make an offering, because there is a difference between men and women. We can't let the foreign ministers die. So, let her as a sacrifice to honor her mother-in-law, Li Zhi agreed. Later, in the third year of Linde (666), on the first day of the first month, she and Li Zhi made a meditation on Mount Tai as offerings, and also knighted the officials to make them grateful to her.
Satisfied, please adopt.