Anecdote of the Fifth Queen Mother

Chapter 18 Empress Wu (6)
After Zhongzong was abolished, Empress Wu Zetian appointed Li Dan, the fourth son of Yu, as emperor.However, Tang Ruizong was just a puppet. Wu Zetian asked the adult Ruizong (22 years old at the time) to live in another hall, and she lived in the Zichen Hall to watch the dynasty. This was Wu Zetian's ultimate goal of driving Tang Zhongzong out of power.In order to eradicate hidden dangers, Wu Zetian specially sent Zuo Jinwu General Qiu Shenji to Bazhou to force the death of the late prince Li Xian.Wu Zetian was also worried about Zhongzong, who was abolished as Luling King. In April, he moved Luling King to Fangzhou, and then moved to Junzhou, where he lived in the former residence of Tang Taizong's son Li Tai.

In May of the same year, Wu Zetian promoted his nephew Wu Chengsi to the third rank of Taichangqing and Tongzhongshu. This was to further strengthen the power of the Wu family. .In September, Empress Wu Zetian changed Yuan to Guangzhai; changed the flag to gold, and changed the official uniforms below the eighth rank from blue to blue; changed Luoyang, the eastern capital, to the capital of God; Shuxing was named Fengge, and other official names were changed accordingly; and the ancestral temple of the Wu family was officially established in Shendu, and the ancestral hall of the Five Dynasties was in Wenshui.In this way, shouldn't Li Tang's family name be changed to Wu, and "Feng" seems to replace "Dragon"?

Everyone knows Sima Zhao's heart.Changing the Yuan Dynasty, changing the banner, changing the color of clothes, and establishing the ancestral temple are obviously changing the dynasty.At that time, although quite a number of courtiers turned to Wu Zetian, the royal family of Li and Tang still maintained a strong social foundation. There were still many people who opposed Wu Zetian's change of dynasty. Rebelled against Wu's court.

They acted hastily.In September of the first year of Guangzhai (AD 684), Li Jingye, the governor of Meizhou, Li Jingyou, his younger brother Zhou Zhiwei, Zhiqi of the Tang Dynasty, Luo Binwang, the governor of Chang'an, Du Qiuren, the director of Zhan Shisi, and Wei Siwen, the old censor, were all demoted successively and gathered in the yangzhou.Tang Zhongzong's abolition, Ruizong's puppet status, and Wu Zetian's proclaiming the imperial court all aroused the strong dissatisfaction of these old officials of Li and Tang. Coupled with the resentment of dereliction of duty, they decided to take risks and resist Wu Zetian's rule by force.

In order to seize military power, they first ordered Xue Zhongzhang, the censor of the same party, to go to Jiangdu for inspection, and then sent Wei Chao, a native of Yongzhou, to go to Xue Zhongzhang to sue Shi Chen Jingzhi, the governor of Yangzhou, for treason. Xue Zhongzhang put Chen Jingzhi in prison.A few days later, Li Jingye pretended to be the new chief history and took the post car to Yangzhou to take up his post. In the name of being ordered to conquer the chief of Gaozhou, he opened the treasury and equipped the army.Li Jingye sent an order to kill Chen Jingzhi, and formally raised his troops.He claimed to be the general of the Kuangfu Mansion, and led the governor of Yangzhou. With Tang Zhiqi and Du Qiuren as the long history, Li Zongchen and Xue Zhongzhang as the left and right Sima, Wei Siwen as the military adviser, and Luo Binwang as the secretary, he raised the banner of the Kuangfu Tang Dynasty. The whole country condemned Wu Zetian and demanded the restoration of Tang Zhongzong's throne.In order to appeal to the public, Li Jingye and others falsely claimed that Prince Xian was not dead, and found someone who looked like Prince Li Xian to pretend to be Prince Xian, saying that this time the army was led by Prince Xian.

After Li Jingye raised his army, many people responded, and within a few days, he had an army of more than [-] people.Sima Li Chongfu of Chuzhou (now Huai'an, Jiangsu Province) led his three counties to respond, and Li Jingye's general Wei Chizhao entered the Xiongshan Mountain in Huainan - Duliang Mountain.There is a tendency of "mountains collapsing" and "wind and cloud changing color".

At this time, the rioters disagreed on the direction of the troops.Military adviser Wei Siwen believed that since the ambition was to restore the Tang Dynasty, he should send his troops northward and take Luoyang directly. In this way, people who support the Li and Tang royal family in the world will respond everywhere, and great success will be achieved.However, Sima Xue Zhongzhang believed that Jinling had a royal spirit and the Yangtze River was naturally dangerous. He suggested that Changzhou and Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) should be captured first, as a base, and then he could attack the Central Plains by advancing, and then separate the south of the Yangtze River by retreating.Li Jingye adopted the advice of Xue Zhongzhang and others, ordered Tang Zhiqi to guard Jiangdu, and personally led troops across the river to attack Runzhou.Military adviser Wei Siwen's proposition was not adopted. He sighed and said: "The army is strong if it is united, and it is weak if it is divided. Jian "Volume [-])
As expected by Wei Siwen, although Li Jingye captured Runzhou, defeated the army of Li Xiaoyi who came to attack several times in succession, and killed Su Xiaoxiang, the general manager of the rear army, and Guoyi Chengsanlang, etc. He lost his favorable opportunity due to his strategic approach, and was defeated by Li Xiaoyi's fire attack in the battle of Xia'axi.They fled to Hailing in a hurry, and then prepared to cross the sea to Goryeo.At this time, Wang Naxiang, the general of Li Jingye's department, rebelled and killed Li Jingye, his brothers Li Jingyou and King Luo Bin; Tang Zhiqi, Wei Siwen and others were also arrested successively and passed on to the capital.

The Yangzhou mutiny failed in less than two months, and many places did not even have time to respond.There are many reasons for the failure, but if Li Jingye can implement Wei Siwen's proposition, go north with drums, and attack Luoyang directly, the outcome is still very unpredictable.Because, on the surface, marching into Luoyang and attacking Chang and Run seem to be just a tactical difference, but in essence it involves the very sensitive question of whether to support Zhongzong and Qin Wang Li Tang, or to separate Jiangling and dominate Jiangdong. political issues.The reason why people enthusiastically joined the army and supported Li Jingye's army was to oppose Wu's replacement of the Tang Dynasty and restore the Li-Tang royal family, but they also did not approve of Xu's separatist regime and Xu's replacement of the Tang Dynasty.Therefore, as soon as Li Jingye sent troops to Chang and Run, he lost popular support and made a huge political mistake, so his failure was doomed.

The leader of the Yangzhou uprising this time was none other than Li Jingye, the grandson of the British Duke Li Ji who firmly supported Wu Zetian as the empress. This is really a historical coincidence.Wu Zetian hated the Yangzhou mutiny deeply. She not only punished Li Jingye, but restored Li's surname to Xu, and chased down the titles of Xu Jingye's ancestors and fathers, and dug Xu Jingye's ancestral grave.If Li Ji knew about it underground, how would he feel?

While suppressing Xu Jingye's rebellion, Wu Zetian suddenly arrested Xue Zhongzhang's uncle, Prime Minister Pei Yan, and quickly beheaded him on the charge of colluding with Xu Jingye in rebellion.In fact, Pei Yan has nothing to do with Xu Jingye's rebellion. It is false to say that Pei Yan rebelled, but it is true that he wants to put him to death.Pei Yan was a famous scholar in the Tang Dynasty. He had a deep relationship with Zhongzong Li Zhe (a Xian). "In the first year of Yongchun, Emperor Gaozong was fortunate to be in the Eastern Capital, leaving Prince Zhe to guard the capital, and ordered Yan, Liu Rengui and Xue Yuanchao to be his assistants. The prince supervised the country, and Yan followed the imperial edict, together with Liu Qixian, the servant of Huangmen, and Guo Zheng, the servant of Zhongshu, to make peace in the East Palace" ("Old Tang Book · Biography of Pei Yan").When Emperor Gaozong died, Pei Yan was Minister Gu Ming. His relationship with Emperor Gaozong was quite similar to that between Emperor Taizong and Changsun Wuji.

The so-called rebellion and usurpation of Pei Yan is only a record commonly quoted in Volume [-] of "Chaoye Qianzai" and Volume [-] of "Taiping Guangji": "Pei Yan was the order of Zhongshu, and when Xu Jingye wanted to rebel, he ordered King Luo Bin to paint. Plan to join forces with Pei Yan. The king of Bin stepped on the wall and meditated for a while. It was a rumor: "One piece of fire, two pieces of fire, and the children in the scarlet clothes will sit in the hall." Teach the children in Yanzhuang to recite it, and they all come down All the boys sing. Yan Nai visits the scholars to explain it. He summons the king to come, and takes treasures and brocades a few times, but they don’t say anything. They also don’t say anything when they bribe music, prostitutes, and horses. It’s a common view of the ancient loyal officials and martyrs Therefore, seeing King Sima Xuan, King Bin happily said: "This is a heroic husband!" That is to say, since ancient times, ministers have been in power, and many countries have been moved. The matter of "Fei Yi" is in vain. King Bin immediately descends, and pays homage to the sun in the north: "This is a real person!" Then he conspired with Jingye and others. There is a report, but the imperial court can't understand it. Then the sky said: "The word "green" means December, and the word "goose" means I will take care of myself." Then punish Yan, Jingye, etc. to seek defeat." In fact, people with discerning eyes are very It is easy to see that this is just a clumsy game of splitting characters. How can Pei Yan, who is famous for his proficiency in "Zuo Zhuan" and "Han Shu", fail to see through this kind of trick.This is obviously a crime that the people who deliberately framed Pei Yan intentionally charged him.

As for Wu Zetian wanting to kill Pei Yan, there was actually another reason.First, Wu Chengsi suggested that the ancestors of the Wu family should be named, and the seven temples of the Wu family should be established in Dongdu, but Pei Yan firmly opposed it.Pei Yan used the Empress Lv incident in Han Gaozu's time as an example, and advised Wu Zetian not to do this.Later, Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi suggested that Wu Zetian should kill Li clan king Han Wang Yuanjia and Lu Wang Lingkui, etc. Prime Minister Pei Yan disagreed, which shows that Pei Yan was firmly opposed to Wu's succession to the Tang Dynasty.Now that Pei Yan has become a stumbling block to Wu Zetian's change of dynasty, it is natural for Wu Zetian to get rid of him.

Why did he kill Pei Yan at the same time when Xu Jingye raised his troops?There are other specific reasons here.According to the "Old Tang Book Biography of Pei Yan": "In autumn, when Xu Jingye rebelled, the queen mother called Yan to discuss the matter. Yan played the day: "The emperor is old, he has not been in charge of the government, and even has a sly word. If the queen mother returns to power, the thief It can be resolved without discussion.'" Pei Yan actually wanted to take advantage of Xu Jingye's opportunity to openly demand that Wu Zetian return to Emperor Ruizong. Of course, this was not tolerated by Wu Zetian, who was preparing to become empress, and Pei Yan's death was inevitable.

After Pei Yan was arrested, there were many people who proved that he was not rebellious. "Li Jingchen, a member of Fengge House, testified that Yan must be rebellious. Liu Jingxian and Fengge servant Yiyang Hu Yuan and Fan Jieri said, "The officials of Yanshe Jiyuan have made contributions to the country and dedicated them wholeheartedly. The world knows that the minister dares to show that he will not rebel." The Empress Dowager said: "Yan rebellion is correct, but Gu Qing doesn't know how to hear it." To the Japanese: "If Pei Yan is rebellious, then the ministers and others will also be rebellious." There are so many people in the civil and military circles who prove that Yan is not against it, and the Queen Mother doesn't listen to it" ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian" volume [-]).Wu Zetian was determined to get rid of Pei Yan, so no matter how much he persuaded him, it was futile. Pei Yan was just another victim on Wu Zetian's road to the empress's throne.

General Cheng Wuting of Zuo Wuwei had close contacts with Tang Zhiqi and Du Qiuren in the past, and this time he came forward to intercede for Pei Yan, so Wu Zetian would not tolerate it.In December of the first year of Guangzhai (AD 684), Wu Zetian accused Cheng Wuting of co-rebellion with Xu Jingye and Pei Yan, and sent General Zuo Yingyang to kill Cheng Wuting in the army.It's a pity that this generation of famous generals who fought against the Turks bravely many times died under the butcher's knife like this.When the news of his death spread to the Turks, the Turkic leaders were overjoyed, and immediately threw a big banquet and played the crown to celebrate.

After flattening Xu Jingye and killing Pei Yan and Cheng Wuting, Wu Zetian was full of ambition. There is a wonderful record in "Tang Tongji":

The Empress Dowager (Wu Zetian) was furious, and called the officials to say: "I have no burden in the world, do all the officials know about it?" Hey! Wealth and wealth are all given to me; the world is happy, and I will take care of them. And the former emperor abandoned his ministers and entrusted the world to me. He did not love himself but the people. Now he is the leader of the army, all from the generals, the people How deep is the burden of my ministers! And there are old ministers who have been left behind in the Qing generation, who are stubborn and difficult to control Pei Yan? Are there generals who are noble, who can deal with exiles who have surpassed Xu Jingye? There are veteran generals who hold soldiers, and the process of attacking and winning Do you want to stand up? These three people are popular, and they are not good for me, so I can kill them. If you can surpass these three people, you should do it immediately; He paused, not daring to look up, and said: "Only the Empress Dowager made it."
Wu Zetian's goal was achieved. She just killed Xu Jingye, Pei Yan, and Cheng Wuting to show the monkeys, so that the officials would be honest and obedient, so that she could successfully seize Li Tang Jiangshan.

After suppressing Xu Jingye and other officials who supported the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian's desire to proclaim herself emperor became stronger. In order to further clear the obstacles to her proclaiming emperor, she decided to attack the kings of Li Tang's clan.To this end, she wields a ruthless iron fist.For example, Li Xiaoyi, the general who led the troops to suppress Xu Jingye, was said to have made great contributions to Wu Zetian, but because he was the son of Tang Gaozu's father and younger brother, Huaian Wang Li Shentong, he was not trusted.Only one year after Li Xiaoyi quelled the Yangzhou mutiny, he was demoted as the governor of Shizhou because of the false accusations made by Wu Chengsi and others.Wu Chengsi and others went on to spread rumors that Li Xiaoyi once said: "There are rabbits in the name, rabbits, and things in the moon, so there should be talents." In November of 687, Li Xiaoyi was expelled from his name and exiled for this trumped-up charge, and died soon after.

At that time, most of the Tang clan kings had been relegated to other places as magistrates. In order to catch them all, Wu Zetian ordered all the clan kings to return to Luoyang Chaoming Hall.The clan kings felt that disaster was imminent, so they contacted each other and prepared to resist with arms.The leaders of this armed riot were Tang Taizong's eighth son Yue Wang Li Zhen and his son Langya King Li Chong. He and his son Li Xu, the king of Jiangdu, planned to attack at the same time.

In August of the fourth year of Chuigong (688 A.D.), Wu Zetian sent envoys to various places to urge the kings to go to the eastern capital. Wang Chong of Langya felt that there was no delay, so he recruited 5000 people from Bozhou and hastily raised troops.Although Li Chong once sent people to report to the five kings of Han, Lu, Huo, Yue, and Ji, and asked them to jointly attack Luoyang, the capital of God, but due to the sudden incident, he was unable to prepare in time. As a result, only his father, King Li Zhen of Yue, recruited troops in Caizhou. 7000 people raised troops to respond, and the other kings waited and did not move.Wu Zetian ordered Zuo Baotao General Qu Chongyu, Xia Guan Shangshu Cen Changqian to lead [-] troops to challenge Yue Wang Zhen, and Zuo Jinwu General Qiu Shenji to challenge Langxie King Li Chong.Due to the scattered forces, inconsistent actions, and the disparity in the strength of the two sides, the riot failed in less than a month.Li Chong, the king of Langya, was killed by the gatekeepers of Bozhou City. Li Zhen, the king of Yue, his second son Li Gui, and his son-in-law Pei Shoude all committed suicide.

This uprising provided Wu Zetian with an excellent excuse to kill the clan kings, and Wu Zetian took the opportunity to kill.First, he arrested Han Wang Li Yuanjia and his sons Huang Gong Li Yi, Lu Wang Li Lingkui, and Princess Changle in Luoyang, and ordered them to commit suicide.Then, Xue Yi and Xue Xu, the imperial relatives of Jeju governors, were killed.Although Xue Zhao, the husband of Princess Taiping, was not beheaded, he was still beaten with a hundred sticks and died of starvation in prison.Huo Wang Li Yuangui was exiled and died in Chencang. His son Jiangdu Wang Li Xu and others were killed.Although Li Rong, the son of Li Feng, the king of Guo, surrendered to Wu Zetian, Li Rong, the Duke of Dongguan, died.Li Shen, Ji Wang, the governor of Beizhou, did not actually participate in the mutiny, but he was also exiled by Wu Zetian and died in Bozhou. His eight sons, Dongping Wang Li Xu and others were also executed one after another.

In April of the first year of Yongchang (AD 689), 12 members of the clan, including Lianzhou Biejia Poyang Gong Li Chen and Chenzhou Biejia Runan King Li Wei, were killed for planning to welcome Zhongzong.Deng Xuanting, the servant of the Tianguan, was also implicated and executed just because he married his daughter to Li Chen.In September, another six people including the governor of the clan Ezhou and the king of Zheng Li Xuan were killed.In the same year, Li Yuanming, the No. 18 son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, and Li Xuan, the king of Yuzhang, were killed.In August of the first year of Zaichu (AD 690), "killed Prince Shaobao and Nayan Pei Judao; Guihai, killed Shangshu Zuo Cheng Zhang Xinglian; Xinwei, killed 12 people including Wang Ying of Nan'an, and flogged and killed the second son of the old prince Xian, The clan of the Tang Dynasty was completely wiped out, and the young and weak survivors also fled to the south of the Lingnan, and hundreds of their relatives were punished" ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian" volume [-]).

Wu Zetian deeply understood that her road to becoming emperor was full of thorns, and she would not be able to achieve her goal of enthroning unless these obstacles were removed.These obstacles mainly came from those courtiers who supported the Li Tang royal family and the clan kings of the Li Tang Dynasty.Of course, among ordinary people, there are also many people who support the royal family of Li and Tang.For example, in September of the third year of Chuigong (687 A.D.), Yang Chucheng, a native of Guozhou, claimed to be General Lang, and recruited people to Fangzhou to welcome the king of Luling.In order to clear the obstacles on the way forward, Wu Zetian mainly adopted repressive means, but her skills were quite ingenious, worthy of being a shrewd politician.

Wu Zetian did not come to power immediately after Gaozong's death, but successively let her two sons Zhongzong and Ruizong act as puppets, and let herself control the government.During the suppression of the riots of Xu Jingye, Yue Wangzhen and his son, and in the process of killing the clan kings surnamed Li, she acted as the queen mother of the Li Tang royal family, which greatly concealed the illegality of her usurping the country, and also This makes it difficult for quite a number of people to stand up and firmly oppose, thereby weakening the social foundation of the opponent.In the minds of the soldiers who were sent to suppress the mutiny of Xu Jingye, the father and son of Yue Wangzhen, etc., and in the minds of the officials who were ordered to kill the clan king of the Li family, they seemed to still serve the Li Tang Dynasty.The signboard of the Empress Dowager of the Tang Dynasty was used just right by Wu Zetian.

When Wu Zetian wiped out all the ministers who supported the royal family of Li and Tang, killed the clan kings of the Li and Tang Dynasty, and used terror to clear away the main obstacles on the road to becoming emperor, she no longer needed her son as a puppet, and The fig leaf of the Empress Dowager of the Tang Dynasty is no longer needed. She is going to be promoted to the house, and the yellow robe will be added to her body.

After more than 30 years of painstaking efforts, the time for a change of dynasty has finally come, and the time has come for Wu Zetian to officially become the Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty...

[-]. Stars for Ziweitian
In the Ming Dynasty, when you traveled to Shangyuan, you were in a hurry to announce the spring.

Flower whiskers grow overnight, don't wait for the dawn wind to blow.

——Volume [-] of "Quan Tang Poems"

This is a famous poem written by Wu Zetian included in "Quan Tang Poetry", and later generations added a small preface.The preface of the poem said: "In the second year of Tianshou, Qing Xiang wanted to pretend to be Huafa, please go to the garden, and have a plan. Xu Zhi, if there is a different plan when looking for doubts, he sent an envoy to announce this. So in the early morning, it was named Huabuyuan , the officials are convinced of its difference." In fact, this small preface is not credible, and the following day: "Famous Flower Cloth Garden" is just a myth.The preface was obviously made up by people who praised Wu Zetian. A poem shattered a palace coup, and a poem frightened all the flowers to obey their orders, and they bloomed in the cold winter. This dramatic plot is perfect for deifying Wu Zetian. However, but as history, it has never appeared.

As for the poem itself, it doesn’t look like it was made by someone else. It looks like Wu Zetian’s self-contained character, and it fits Wu Zetian’s unique status. It is exactly the tone of the empress Wu Zetian.Speaking of Wu Zetian proclaiming the emperor, she spent a lot of effort, and she also carefully arranged the specific steps.

(End of this chapter)