Anecdote of the Fifth Queen Mother

Chapter 19 Empress Wu (7)
In May of the fourth year of Chuigong (AD 688), Wu Zetian first held a grand court meeting in Luoyang, the capital of the gods. The governors, governors, clans, and relatives of all states gathered to celebrate the birth of the "treasure map".The so-called "treasure map" is nothing more than a piece of white stone, engraved with the words "The Holy Mother Comes, Yongchang Emperor's Industry", implying that Wu Zetian is the contemporary "Holy Mother".This was a trick played by Wu Zetian's nephew, Wu Chengsi. He deliberately asked someone to carve characters on the stone in advance, and then ordered Tang Tongtai, a native of Yongzhou, to present it. He said that he got it in Luoshui.Empress Wu Zetian made a fake show, worshiped Luoshui personally, prayed to heaven, and appointed Tang Tongtai as a guerrilla general. "Yongchang County" calls itself the "Holy Mother of God".

In November of the first year of Yongchang (AD 689), Empress Wu Zetian amnesty the world, changed the first year of the Yuan Dynasty to Zhouzheng, and took November of the first year of Yongchang as the first month of the first year of the first year of Zaichu.This is another important symbol of regime change.Fengge servant Zong Qinke is the son of Wu Zetian's father and sister. He specially took the opportunity to present dozens of newly coined characters such as "heaven" and "earth" to Wu Zetian.Wu Zetian chose the word "赵" as his own name.Since then, in order to avoid Wu Zetian's taboo, all the issued "edicts" were renamed "book making".

In order to ensure a smooth transition from the Li family to the Wu family, Wu Zetian successively reused a large number of Wu family members.For example, use his brother Yuan Shuangzi Wu Chengsi as Wenchang Zuoxiang and Tongfengge Luantai Third Rank; use his brother Yuanqingzi Wu Sansi as Xiaguan Shangshu; The scholar made Sun Wuyou the general of the right guard Zhonglang and the princess Shang Taiping; the son of his father and sister, Zong Qinke, was the internal history, and the son of Zong Chuke was the servant of Xia Guan; ; Use Yang Zhirou from his mother's Yang family as Xiaguan Shangshu, Tongping Zhangshi and so on.Wu Zetian once proudly declared: "I ordered the Dangzong (Wu family) and the foreign family (Yang family) to always be the prime minister." An important guarantee for Wu Zetian to successfully proclaim himself emperor.

In order to further create public opinion for the empress' ascension to the throne, Wu Zetian also cleverly used Buddhism.In the "Da Yun Jing" translated by Hou Liangtan Wuzhen, there is such a saying that the Bodhisattva turned into a female body in order to save all living beings in the world.Faming, the Shou Seng of the Eastern Wei Dynasty in Luoyang, and others attached to this statement, and made a "Dayun Jingshu" and dedicated it to Wu Zetian.In Shuzhong, "it is said that the sky is Maitreya's descendant, who is the master of Yan Futi (human world), and the Tang family is in harmony" ("Old Tang Book · Xue Huaiyi Biography").The nonsense fabricated by Faming and others gave Wu Zetian a layer of mysterious aura when Tang Jun came to the world on behalf of Wu Zetian, and it fell right into Wu Zetian's arms.Empress Wu Zetian ordered that a Dayun Temple be built in every state in the country, and a copy of the "Dayun Sutra" was stored for [-] monks; the monks in the temple preached the "Dayun Sutra" to the public.Wu Zetian rewarded nine people, including monk Faming, who speculatively wrote "Dayun Jingshu", and all of them were conferred as county princes.

After some careful preparations, in September of the first year of Zaichu (690 A.D.), Wu Zetian ordered Fu Youyi from Jiren to take more than 900 people from Guanzhong to Yique, Luoyang, the capital of the gods, to write a letter, requesting that the name of the country be changed to "Zhou" and bestowed The emperor's surname is Wu.On the surface, Wu Zetian refused to accept this proposal, but immediately promoted Fu Youyi to the official position. This method of "no silver 300 taels here" clearly revealed Wu Zetian's "secret".As a result, more than 6 people from all court officials, relatives of the imperial family, Siyi chiefs, monks and Taoists came forward one after another, and staged a farce of persuading progress. Shi.

On September 67th, which coincided with the Double Ninth Festival, the [-]-year-old Wu Zetian finally agreed to the "request" of the emperor and his ministers, and announced on the Zetian Gate Tower that the Tang Dynasty was the Zhou, and the Yuan Tianshou was changed. Dan became the heir of the emperor and officially ascended the throne of the "Emperor of the Holy God" of the Great Zhou Dynasty.The ridiculous thing is that Wu Zetian actually pursued King Wen of Zhou as the first ancestor Wen Emperor, and King Zhou Ping's youngest son Ji Wu as Emperor Rui Zukang, so he grafted Ji Zhou and his own Wu Zhou together.

As soon as Wu Zetian became emperor, he immediately made Wu Chengsi the king of Wei, Wu Sansi the king of Liang, and Wu Youning the king of Jianchang; all the men of the other Wu clan were named county kings, and all the daughters were princesses; People also followed suit and were exempted from hard labor.Fu Youyi, who took the lead in persuading him to advance, was also worth a hundred times for a while, and was named Luantai Servant, Ping Zhangshi, and given the surname Wu.This Wu Youyi stole the limelight. Within a year, he was promoted from a ninth-rank official to a third-rank official, and his official uniforms were changed into four colors: blue, green, red, and purple. He was known as the "Four Seasons Official".

After Wu Zetian monopolized the power, she began to indulge in sensuality and pursue luxury. Her first male pet was named Xue Huaiyi.Xue Huaiyi, whose original name was Feng Xiaobao, was from Jingzhaohu County (now Huxian County, Shaanxi Province).By chance, Feng Xiaobao met Tang Gaozu's daughter Princess Qianjin and was appreciated.Princess Qianjin recommended Feng Xiaobao to her in order to curry favor with Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian really favored Feng Xiaobao very much.In order to facilitate Feng Xiaobao's access to the palace, Wu Zetian ordered Feng Xiaobao to be ordained as a monk and named Huaiyi.Fearing that Feng Xiaobao's humble background would be ridiculed by others, he made him join the clan with Xue Shao, the captain-in-law. Xue Shao called him uncle, so he changed his surname to Xue.Feng Xiaobao, a drug seller in Luoyang City, turned into Xue Huaiyi, Wu Zetian's lucky minister.Wu Zetian specially overhauled the White Horse Temple in Luoyang and made Xue Huaiyi the master of the White Horse Temple.

Relying on Wu Zetian's power, Xue Huaiyi ran amok everywhere.He turned a group of street rogues into monks, ran amok at will, beat Taoist priests at will, and shaved Taoist priests' hair.Xue Huaiyi often rode a tall horse, shouting from front to back and hugging back, swaggering through the market, and those who approached were beaten to the point of bleeding.Youtai censor Feng Enxu had punished Xue Huaiyi's outlaw monks many times, and Xue Huaiyi held a grudge.Once they met on a narrow road, Xue Huaiyi ordered his subordinates to beat Feng Yushi to death, but no one dared to intervene.A group of Wu's children, such as Wu Chengsi, Wu Sansi, etc., although they were high-ranking officials, they flattered Xue Huaiyi blindly, served him like servants, and even led the horse for him personally.They dare not call Xue Huaiyi's name, and call him "Master Xue".

There was only one time when Xue Huaiyi was in trouble.When he was walking swaggeringly in the court hall, he was suddenly met by Prime Minister Su Liangsi, who immediately ordered Xue Huaiyi to be slapped dozens of times.When Xue Huaiyi complained to Wu Zetian, Wu Zetian said: "You should only enter and exit through the north gate. The south office is where the prime minister works. You must not offend him." Xue Huaiyi was beaten for nothing, but Wu Zetian gained a good reputation.Although this is a trivial matter, it shows Wu Zetian's bearing as a politician.

In order for Xue Huaiyi to enter the palace frequently, Wu Zetian used an excuse to say that Xue Huaiyi had "ingenious ideas" and sent him to supervise the repair of Mingtang.The Mingtang is very large-scale. Tang Taizong and Tang Gaozong both discussed the matter of building the Mingtang when they were alive, but finally gave up because of the waste of people and money, but Wu Zetian put it into practice.In order to make his enthronement ceremony more spectacular, Wu Zetian resolutely ordered in February of the fourth year of Chuigong (688 A.D.) to mobilize tens of thousands of civilians to demolish the Qianyuan Hall and start the overhaul of the Ming Hall.Mingtang was completed in December of the same year, and it took only ten months. The speed is astonishing.According to the "Zizhi Tongjian" volume 290: "Mingtang is completed, 72 feet (about 74 meters) high, and [-] feet (about [-] meters) square. There are three floors: the lower layer is four o'clock, and each follows the square. ;The middle level is the twelfth hour; the upper part is a round cover, which is held by the nine dragons. On the upper part is an iron phoenix, one foot high, decorated with gold. In the middle, there are ten walls of giant trees, which run through the upper and lower parts. The image of Yong. It is called the Vientiane Shrine."

After building the Mingtang, Wu Zetian ordered Xue Huaiyi to continue to build the heaven and build a large statue.According to "Zizhi Tongjian" volume [-]: "The Mingtang was completed, and the empress dowager (Wu Zetian) ordered the monk Huaiyi to make a large statue of Jiayu, with dozens of people in his little finger, and built a heaven in the north of the Mingtang to store it. The hall was built. , Destroyed by the wind, and rebuilt, tens of thousands of people are enslaved every day, picking wood and rivers and ridges. In a few years, it will cost trillions (billion, one hundred thousand in ancient times), and the government will be exhausted. Use money for righteousness It's like dung, the queen mother didn't ask anything when she heard it. Every time she held an open meeting, she spent tens of thousands of coins (coins, one thousand copper coins); The deceased.” Just considering the above-mentioned bright hall decorated with golden phoenixes, the big Buddha statue that can hold dozens of people in the little finger, and the heaven, Wu Zetian wasted so much manpower, material resources, and people’s anointing in order to ascend the throne and become empress!
After Mingtang was completed, Wu Zetian granted Xue Huaiyi the title of General Zuoweiwei and Duke Liang.Not only that, but Wu Zetian also sent this monk Hua to lead the expedition many times.In May of the first year of Yongchang (689 A.D.), Wu Zetian appointed Xue Huaiyi as the general manager of the Xinping Army to discuss the Turks in the north.The army entered Chaihe, but there was no trace of the enemy. Xue Huaiyi returned triumphantly after Shanyutai carved stone records.In September, Xue Huaiyi was also appointed as the general manager of the Xinpingdao march, leading 20 troops, and then attacked the Turks.In December of the same year, Xue Huaiyi was granted the title of General of the Right Guard, and bestowed the Duke of E State. In February of the first year of Yanzai (AD 694), Xue Huaiyi was appointed as the general manager of the Daibei Road Marching Army; in March, he was changed to Shuofang Road Marching Army The general manager was ordered to crusade against the Turks.It happened that the Turks were retreating, so they did not march.It is inconceivable that this rascal in Luoyang has served as the leading marshal many times (never served as a deputy), and he has become a commander who is accustomed to fighting.Compared with Cheng Wuting, how can he be in the same breath!However, Xue Huaiyi was indeed lucky, and every time he dispatched troops, he did not meet the enemy. If there was a fight, the consequences could be imagined.

Afterwards, Shen Nanmiu, the imperial physician, was gradually favored by Wu Zetian, and Xue Huaiyi was alienated.Xue Huaiyi couldn't help being jealous and took the risk. He burned Mingtang and Tiantang to ashes.Wu Zetian knew that it was Xue Huaiyi who set the fire, but she kept her composure and ordered Xue Huaiyi to lead others to rebuild.This reconstruction took more people's resources than the previous one.In the first year of Long live the Tianchu (AD 695), Wu Zetian felt that the time had come for revenge, and that Xue Huaiyi no longer held much attraction for her.She entrusted this matter to her daughter Princess Taiping and Jianchang Wang Wu Youning.Princess Taiping informed Xue Huaiyi to go to Yaoguang Hall to discuss matters, but secretly ambushed dozens of strong and healthy women in advance. As soon as Xue Huaiyi arrived, he was tied up by these women's soldiers and taken to Jianchang King Wu Youning.Wu Youning secretly executed Xue Huaiyi and transported the body back to the White Horse Temple.This monk who was a man of sex did not end well in the end.

Wu Zetian once ordered Xue Huaiyi to cast the Kyushu Ding, and later Yao Yu was the supervisor. It took more than two years and was cast in April of the first year of Shengong (697 A.D.).Among them, the Yuzhou Ding is 4 Zhang 4 Chi (about 3 meters) high and has a capacity of 56 stones; the tripods of other states are 2 Zhang 5 Chi (about [-] meters) high and has a capacity of [-] stones.The tripod is cast with pictures of the mountains and rivers of each state, and the nine tripods share more than [-] catties of copper.The Kyushu tripod was placed in the newly repaired Tongtian Palace (restored Mingtang). In order to drag the tripod from the Xuanwu Gate into the palace, more than [-] people were mobilized, and even the big cows and white elephants used as guards of honor also participated in the dragging.The bronze statues of the twelve gods (animals of the twelve zodiac signs) one foot high (about [-] meters) were also cast at the same time, and they stood around the Kyushu tripod, and the abuse of people's power reached an unprecedented level.

In addition, in August of the first year of Yanzai (AD 694), King Wu of Liang thought twice about favoring Wu Zetian. He proposed to collect Luoyang copper and iron, and build a metal pillar outside Duanmen (the south gate of the Luoyang imperial city) to praise the great Zhou. - "Tianshu".Wu Zetian immediately approved that because there was not enough copper and iron, they would wantonly search for agricultural equipment among the people, which really harmed the people.In the first year of Longevity Tianchi (AD 695), "summer, April, Tianshucheng, 26 feet high (about 42 meters), twelve feet in diameter, eight sides, five feet in diameter each. Below is Iron Mountain, It has a circumference of one hundred and seventy feet (about [-] meters), surrounded by copper dragons and kylins; Wu Sansi was written, engraved with the names of hundreds of officials and the chiefs of the four barbarians, and the Empress Dowager herself wrote the list date "Da Zhou Wan Guo Praises the Virtuous Tianshu" (Volume [-] of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian").

The fact that Wu Zetian established Tianshu is very thought-provoking.This is in line with her ecstatic character. During the 49 years from when she became a queen to when she stepped down, she successively issued edicts to change the yuan 33 times; "Yuegu" and other honorary titles have been changed back and forth, and they never get tired of it.Didn't the "Sacred Monument" written by her personally for Gaozong be a tribute to Gaozong and herself?This can't help but remind people of the wordless stele.How could a person who was so obsessed with fame and status during her lifetime and wished to pass on Wu Zhou and her own name to immortality, how could she imagine that when she was about to die, she would suddenly become humble and leave a blank on the stele for future generations to evaluate her achievements? What about right and wrong?On the Tianshu built by her during her lifetime, she still had to write the words "Great Zhou and Wanguo Praise Tianshu" in her own handwriting. How could she not say a word on the stone tablet she erected for herself?Compared with the "Great Zhou Wanguo Praise Tianshu", isn't the answer to the mystery of Wu Zetian's "Wordless Stele" self-evident?She just made an astonishing move to show that her great achievements cannot be expressed in words.

Of course, Wu Zetian also had his own difficulties.She was forced to step down by the coup d'état of the Five Kings, and the situation before her death was bleak, so there is nothing to say about building a monument to herself in that environment.Wu Zetian's posthumous decree to bury Qianling together, and erecting a wordless stele on the side of the "Sheng Ji Monument" is well-intentioned.This was the last scheming of the queen before she died, but it was extremely intriguing. She silently expressed her great achievements with no words.

Coincidentally, more than 100 years later (1806-1810 AD), there are still people following in Wu Zetian's footsteps.On the Place Vendôme in the center of Paris, France, Napoleon also erected a tall "Triumph Column" made of 1871 cannons. The bronze statue of Napoleon I stood proudly on the top of the column, but within a few years (May 5, 16 AD), the "Bronze Vendome Pillar" representing autocracy and aggression was pushed to the ground by members of the Paris Commune.Wu Zetian's "Da Zhou Wan Guo Praise Tianshu" has a shorter lifespan, it only existed for 20 years.In March of the second year of Kaiyuan (714 A.D.), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ordered to "destroy Tianshu, send craftsmen to melt its iron money, and the calendar will never end" (Volume 210 of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian").

History has continuously proved that, contrary to the desire of all Chinese and foreign dictators to live forever, they are just passers-by in history...

[-]. Golden Wheel Swimming in the Evening Smoke
The famous story of "Inviting the Lord and the Urn" is preserved in the "Supplementary Collection of Chaoye Qianzai", which tells that Lai Junchen once was ordered by Wu Zetian to interrogate Zhou Xing, the servant of the autumn official, and Qiu Shenji, the general of Zuo Jinwu. event.Lai Junchen invited Zhou Xing to his yamen calmly, and asked, "During the interrogation, the prisoner refused to confess. What should I do?" Zhou Xing said, "It's easy. Take a big urn and burn charcoal on all sides. , put the prisoner in the fire urn, who would dare not recruit him!" So Lai Junchen sent someone to set up a big urn, set it on fire, stood up, and said to Zhou Xing slowly: "I have ordered you to be interrogated, please Please, please!" Zhou Xing was so frightened that his whole body trembled, and he immediately confessed everything.

Both Lai Junchen and Zhou Xing were famous cruel officials during Wu Zetian's period, and cruel officials were indispensable imperial tools for Wu Zetian's dictatorship.From the death of Tang Gaozong (AD 683) to the overthrow of Wu Zetian (AD 705), a total of 22 years, during this period, except for the armed rebellion of Xu Jingye Yangzhou and the Yue King Li Zhen and his son, Wu Zetian's rule was basically stable.One of the most important reasons why there were no major disturbances was that Wu Zetian encouraged informants, reused cruel officials, and implemented a set of extremely terrifying high-pressure policies.

Emperor Taizong of Tang resolutely opposed informants and political framing. He once said: "People without knowledge always slander and confuse the monarch and ministers. It is not a foreign country. The sins of man are sinful." (Volume [-] of "Zhenguan Zhengyao") Tang Gaozong also ordered "banning torture and anonymous letters" when he was in power, saying that "anonymous letters are always banned by the state... This wind is like a fan, and it is deeply rooted" ( "Quan Tang Wen" Volume [-]).Why did Wu Zetian go against the established policy of Tang Taizong and Tang Gaozong and openly encourage whistleblowers?This is because Wu Zetian was in power as a heroine, and her name and words were not right in the feudal society. She was always suspicious and suspected that someone would overthrow her. Therefore, encouraging informants and reusing cruel officials became her important means of preventing problems before they happened.

The small "flying cavalry" (elite soldiers in the Forbidden Army) incident was the beginning of the whistleblowing.One day in the first year of civilization (AD 684), Tang Zhongzong had been abolished by Wu Zetian as King of Luling at that time, and there were more than a dozen flying horses drinking in the hotel.They were full of resentment because they didn't get the reward, and one of them said: "If I knew there was no reward, it would be better to support the King of Luling!" Immediately, one of them left the banquet and went to the north gate to complain. Caught up.Those who spoke were beheaded, those who knew but did not report were hanged, and those who informed were awarded the rank of five officials.

A dozen small soldiers complained, which was insignificant, but Wu Zetian made a big fuss and sentenced to death, the purpose of which was to gain prestige for himself.Inspired by this incident, she stipulated that no one should interfere with the informers in the future, and they should be provided with stage horses and meals equivalent to five-rank officials, and the capital should also set up hotels specially for informers.If you make a good report, you can become an official immediately; even if you make a false accusation, you will never be punished.As soon as this case was opened, the trend of whistleblowers flourished, and whistleblowers came in droves.Famous cruel officials such as Suo Yuanli, Lai Junchen, and Lai Zishao all made their fortunes by making informants.The cruel official Hou Sizhi did not know a single word, but relied on informants to become an official. When Wu Zetian asked him for questioning, he replied according to Suo Yuan's etiquette: "Beasts can't read, but they can get rid of evil!" Wu Zetian was very appreciative, He was promoted to Chaosan doctor and Zuotai servant censor.The cruel official Wang Hongyi often went to the melon field to eat melons. The owner was dissatisfied. In order to retaliate, he reported to the county magistrate that there were white rabbits in the melon field. The county magistrate sent people to trample on the melon field.Later, Wang Hongyi was awarded by Wu Zetian as the censor of Zuotai, known as "White Rabbit Censor".

(End of this chapter)