History can't bear to look at the complete collection

Chapter 111 Celebrity Privacy 2
The truth about Wu Zetian's murder of women
For a long time, the saying that "Wu Zetian strangled his own daughter to death and blamed the king and queen" has been widely circulated among the people, and this saying has also been recognized by many formal historical works.However, recently the scholar Meng Xianshi pointed out that, judging from various signs and historical data, Wu Zetian did not actually "strike the throat and kill the baby".

Wu Zetian's birth in Chinese history is a historical miracle.However, Wu Zetian, who successfully won the throne, also paid a high price for it.As a female emperor, in the patriarchal ancient society, it is very frightening and unfair to men, especially those honest gentlemen who carry scriptures all day long. Vent their dissatisfaction and anger.

Therefore, the idea of ​​treating Wu Zetian as a monster has always occupied the mainstream position in traditional historiography. The saying "Wu Zetian strangled his own daughter to death" is a typical example, and it has become more and more true as it spreads.

However, looking at the historical records at that time, whether it is "Tang Huiyao" or "New Book of Tang", most of them emphasized the crisis brought by the death of the little princess to the queen, but did not directly say that the little princess was killed by her mother Wu Zetian of.Moreover, the crisis of the queen did not start with the death of the little princess, and later the queen was deposed, and there is no evidence that the death of the princess played a role.

In fact, the crisis of the queen had already appeared long before Wu Zetian entered the palace.Although Queen Wang was born in a famous family, her relationship with Gaozong seems to have been problematic from a very early age.Emperor Gaozong and Concubine Xiao Shu had one son and two daughters in succession. It is said in "Tang Huiyao" that "at that time Xiao Liangdi was favored, but the queen and queen hated her".Wu Zetian was able to enter the palace again, all thanks to the gift of the queen, and the main motive of the queen was to use Wu Zetian to defeat Concubine Xiao Shu, that is, "to be favored by the good emperor".But things backfired, and Wu Zetian "had entered the palace, treated her more favorably than Concubine Liang, and established herself as Zhaoyi".Queen Wang led wolves into the house, and concubine Xiao Shu fell out of favor, and Empress Wu Zetian came from behind, but Queen Wang was still not favored, and instead added a strong enemy.

Tang Gaozong didn't like Queen Wang, which was the real crisis of Queen Wang.It is precisely because the queen is in such a crisis that her uncle Liu Shi can't wait to prepare for the establishment of the prince. "New Tang Book?Li Zhong's Biography said: "The Queen has no children. After my uncle Liu Xun said, to be loyal to his mother, he must kiss himself, and then, please ask the emperor. He also shared with Chu Suiliang, Han Yuan, and Changsun Wuji , Yu Zhining and others followed up and made him the Crown Prince."

Emperor Li Zhi did not agree to the queen's request at first, but under the pressure of Changsun Wuji and other important officials in the court, he had to compromise and agree.The written record is very clear that the establishment of Li Zhong as the prince is to stabilize the status of the king and queen.At this time, the first son of Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong had not yet been born, let alone the death of the princess.

The establishment of Li Zhong as the prince did not relieve the status crisis of the queen.Not long after the crown prince was established, Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian's first son was born.This son was named Li Hong, and the name Li Hong itself has a lot of meaning.Since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Taoism-based social communication channels have been spreading the prophecies of "Laojun should govern" and "Li Hong should come out" to promote Li Hong as the true son of heaven.According to Mr. Tang Changru's research, Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian named their son Li Hong, which meant it was a prophecy.At that time, Li Zhong had already been established. Doesn't this imply disapproval of Li Zhong and some kind of disapproval of the queen?It is better to say that the crisis of Queen Wang's status came from Wu Zetian's attack, rather than from Tang Gaozong's indifference to her for a long time, and Tang Gaozong named his son Li Hong, which actually foreshadowed a greater crisis for the queen.To be clear, at this time, if Tang Gaozong hadn't thought of changing the queen, these problems would be impossible to explain.

In "Don Will Want?The Biography of Empress Wu, "Old Tang Book?Wu Zetian Benji" and "New Book of Tang?In the records of "The Biography of the Queen", when describing the struggle between the two sides, the positions are different, but Wu Zetian's victory is generally recognized.Therefore, Tang Gaozong had no emotional obstacles to deposing the king and queen at all, and the obstacles were only the ministers in the court.Wu Zetian, who knew Tang Gaozong's emotional pulse well, was necessary to pay such a heavy price as his own daughter's life for the continued attack on the failed king and queen?
What's more, when Tang Gaozong took steps to push the empress to be abolished, the reason for his complaint was that "the empress has no children", and there was never a word about the empress killing the princess.

Later, when Li Jingye raised his troops in Yangzhou, King Luo Bin did not mention Wu Zetian strangling the little princess to death in his mighty "Discussion of Wu Suo".If it is true, even if there is only a little rumor, will King Luo Bin show mercy?This shows that there were no such rumors when Li Jingye launched an army to attack Wu Zetian.

In addition, "Da Tang Xin Yu", which was written during the Tang Xianzong period, and "Old Tang Book", which is recognized as the most objective writing on the history of the Tang Dynasty, did not mention the murder of the princess at all. Regarding the death of the little princess, It just records the fact that she is the eldest daughter of Empress Wu and died.What's even more strange is that the novel clearly describes Wu Zetian strangling his daughter to death secretly and sneaking out. No one noticed the whole process. Since no one saw it, how did the author know?
Therefore, the fact that Wu Zetian strangled his own daughter to death is the result of Wu Zetian's vilification by later generations, it cannot be fully believed.

(End of this chapter)