Anecdote of the Fifth Queen Mother

Chapter 20 Empress Wu (8)
In order to facilitate informants, Wu Zetian also adopted the suggestion of Yu Baojia, the son of Shi Yushi Yu Chenghua, and specially designed and manufactured a copper box for collecting informants.The shape of the bronze urns is special, "the utensils are a room with four partitions in the middle, and each has an orifice on the top, so as to receive the outside and be sparse, so you can enter but not get out." Since the copper urns are confidential and safe, the informers are even more Unscrupulous.Lai Junchen, together with Wan Guojun, Zhu Nanshan and others, compiled a volume of "Informant Luo Zhijing", "Teaching his disciples to snare innocent people, weave them into anti-shaped structures, and arrange them all from the 'branches'" (Volume of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" two hundred and three).It is really a great invention of the cruel officials to elevate the informant to a theory.

The common method used by cruel officials to ask questions is Luozhi. "If you want to trap one person, you will order several places to report it, and the situation is the same", "One person is sued, a hundred people are full of prisons, envoys push and arrest, and the crown is like a city."This out-of-the-box method of fabricating crimes and arresting people endlessly has created a large number of unjust, false, and wrong cases. General Mirror "Volume [-]).

The cruel official Wang Deshou had a personal feud with Prime Minister Yang Zhirou, so when interrogating the local official Shangshu Di Renjie, he publicly asked Di Renjie to sue Yang Zhirou.Yang Zhirou is Wu Zetian's nephew, and Di Renjie has been a prime minister for a long time and is deeply trusted by Wu Zetian. It is even more conceivable that the cruel officials behaved so violently towards them.

Zuo Buque Qiao Zhizhi had a beautiful concubine named Biyu who was so loved by Qiao Zhizhi that Qiao Zhizhi even refused to marry because of this.After Wu Chengsi knew about it, he borrowed Biyu forcibly under the pretext of teaching makeup, and never let it back, and sent Qiao Zhizhi to join the army.Qiao Zhizhi missed Biyu, so he wrote a poem "Green Pearl Resentment" and gave it to her. The poem said: "I can't bear to say goodbye to the king, and it is useless to cover up the lead powder. A century of hatred is in a high-rise building, and the face of a generation is the king. Exhausted." (Volume [-] of Chaoye Qianzai) After Biyu got the poem, she threw herself into a well and died without eating for three days.After Wu Chengsi discovered this poem, he was so angry that he ordered Luo to report that Qiao Zhizhi was beheaded in Nanshi.Qiao Zhizhi and Biyu were just one of thousands of people who were forced to death by cruel officials. Many of them were killed by cruel officials just because their wives were beautiful.

In the second year of Tianshou (AD 691), Prime Minister Cen Changqian and Ge Fuyuan opposed making Wu Chengsi the crown prince, thus offending Zhuwu.They first let Cen Changqian go to the west to conquer Tubo, and soon called him back, and put him and Ge Fuyuan in prison together.Lai Junchen also coerced Cen Lingyuan, the son of Cen Changqian, to bring in Ouyang Tongpan, the son of another prime minister, Ouyang Xun. He tortured him in various ways, and finally killed him for treason.The execution of three prime ministers in one case shows the cruelty of cruel officials.

The case of Qi Lianyao is even more shocking.In the first year of Shengong (AD 697), in order to cheat money, a sorcerer of face-to-face tricked Qi Lianyao, a low-rank official in Luozhou, saying that he had two horns on his first head and "had dragon spirit". This matter was investigated by the cruel official Ji Xiang Knowing and reporting to Lai Junchen, Wu Zetian sent his nephew Wu Yizong to interrogate.Under Wu Yizong's suggestion, the defendant Liu Sili widely cited courtiers and made false accusations. As a result, 36 families including the prime ministers Li Yuanyuan and Sun Yuanheng were killed, and more than 1000 relatives and friends were exiled.

In addition to Luo Zhi, the criminal laws adopted by the cruel officials are also varied and outrageous. "Old Tang Book: The Biography of Lai Junchen" contains: "Every time a Junchen is imprisoned, no matter the severity, he mostly pours vinegar into his nose, and is forbidden in the dungeon; or in the urn, surrounded by fire. He also cuts off food and wages, and even smokes. The person who eats the clothes. He also makes the sleeping place filthy, and prepares all kinds of bitterness. Since he is not dead, he will never get out. Every time there is a pardon order, Junchen will send the jailer to kill all the heavy prisoners first, and then announce it." The cruel official Suo Yuanli invented There are ten kinds of big flails, which are called Ding Baimai, Can't Breathe, Sudden Roaring, Writing and Recording, Losing Soul and Courage, Reversing the Reality, Reversing the Reality, Dead Pig Worrying, Begging to Die, and Begging to Break the House.Just listening to these names can make people terrified and horrified.

In addition, there are tortures such as "phoenix drying its wings" and "monkey drilling fire". "When the prisoner leads the shackle forward, it is called the donkey pulling the prong; the shackle is held on the head of the tree, and it is called the calf hanging the cart; the two hands hold the shackle, and the bricks are piled on it, and the name is the fairy offering fruit; standing on the tall tree, the shackle handle Struggle backwards, and the name of the jade girl climbs the ladder" (Volume [-] of Chaoye Qianzai).The cruel officials are capable of torture, and people have given them many corresponding nicknames.For example, Suo Yuanli is called "Suo Shi", Zhou Xing is called "Grandma Niu Tau", Li Quanjiao is called "Human Head Rakshasa", Wang Xu is called "Ghost Face Yasha" and so on.These "bull heads" and "ghost faces" are rampant in the world, creating a living hell on earth.

The cruel officials dealt with the cases, and the killings were excessive, and most of them ended with the death penalty.For example, in the second year of Shangyuan (AD 675), the slave of Hao Chujun's grandson Hao Xiangxian sued his master for treason. Zhou Xing was appointed to judge the case, and Hao Xiangxian's family was ordered to be punished.The censor Ren Xuanzhi tried his best to defend Hao Xiangxian, but was dismissed from office.Hao Xiangxian was finally beheaded by the whole family, and Wu Zetian sent people to dig up his family's ancestral grave and burned Hao Chujun's body to vent his anger.Before his execution, Hao Xiangxian scolded Wu Zetian, took the firewood from the firewood seller and beat the executioner, and was killed on the spot.Wu Zetian ordered that from now on, the execution of death row prisoners will be gagged with wooden pellets to prevent prisoners from yelling and scolding.

In the second year of Changshou (693 A.D.), the murder case of envoys of the Six Paths was even more murderous.At that time, according to Wu Zetian's suspicious psychology, Buque Li Qinshou lied as "Liu who replaced the warrior" and "Liu who was Liu", and suggested that Wu Zetian should kill the relatives of the exiled kings or ministers.This was originally Li Qinshou's method of inviting favor by borrowing the head of exiles, but it was in line with Wu Zetian's psychology. She immediately sent the cruel official Wan Guojun to Lingnan to push the press.

After Wan Guojun arrived in Guangzhou, he gathered all the exiles together, and then falsely preached an imperial decree, ordering the exiles to commit suicide.The cries of the exiles shook the sky, and the cry of grievances shook the ground. Wan Guojun ordered them all to rush to the water's edge, and killed more than 900 people at one time.After Wan Guojun returned to the court, he lied about exiles rebelling against him, and suggested that Wu Zetian send personnel to investigate the movements of exiles in various places.Wu Zetian promoted Wan Guojun to be a doctor of Chaosan and serve as a censor. At the same time, she sent Liu Guangye, Wang Deshou and other five people to inspect various roads. "Guangye and others saw that Guojun was prevalent in massacres, so that he could be honored and honored, so they carried out their cruelty together, for fear of what would happen later, Guangye killed 700 people, Deshou killed 500 people, and the rest were less than [-] people. People who committed crimes during the non-revolutionary period were also killed” ("Old Tang Book·Wan Guojun Biography").Such a tragic massacre is very rare in history, and Wu Zetian's indiscriminate power is indeed unprecedented in ancient times.

Under severe punishment, torture will inevitably lead to torture; under cruel punishment, unjust imprisonment will inevitably result; During the Revolution of Zhou, everything is new, and the old officials of the Tang Dynasty were punished by someone. It is true." Di Renjie took advantage of the looser guards in prison, and took the opportunity of sending cotton clothes to his home, and his son read it for him. Call for injustice.When Wu Zetian summoned Di Renjie, "He said: 'Why do you accept the rebellion?' To the Japanese: 'If you don't accept the rebellion, you will have died of flogging'" ("Old Tang Book Biography of Di Renjie").This example couldn't be better to illustrate the excessive punishment of cruel officials during Wu Zetian's period.

Wu Zetian practiced cruel officials politics, creating a long-term atmosphere of terror.For example, Wu Zetian set up a "Judge Court" for Lai Junchen at the Lijing Gate of the Imperial City of Luoyang because Lai Junchen "received and surveyed for sure". (Wang) Hongyi opera called Lijingmen the "Jingmen of Lijing", and those who speak of this gate, all the examples are also "("Old Tang Book Biography of Lai Junchen"). At that time, "everyone in the dynasty was in danger, Don't dare to speak when you meet each other, the road follows the eyes; or if you are arrested because of the secrets of the people, you will say goodbye to your family every day: "I don't know if I will meet again?" '" (Volume [-] of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian")
Relying on Wu Zetian as their backing, the cruel officials did all their evil deeds.But they didn't end well either, they were just tools in Wu Zetian's hands.Once it loses its use value, it becomes a scapegoat and a funeral object for the Wu regime.The Yu Baojia who suggested to Wu Zetian to set up a copper tower was killed by Wu Zetian soon after his enemies accused him of making weapons for Xu Jingye's rebels.Among the 27 cruel officials listed in the edict issued by Tang Zhongzong in the first year of Shenlong, Lai Junchen, Zhou Xing, Fu Youyi, Qiu Shenji, Suo Yuanli, Hou Sizhi, Lai Zishao, Wang Hongyi and others were all executed or exiled by Wu Zetian successively.

Wu Zetian used cruel officials to maintain his own rule, and then used the lives of cruel officials to alleviate people's blame for him, killing two birds with one stone.Her skills are clever, and many people put hatred on the accounts of cruel officials.When Tathagata Junchen was killed, "all the people in the country complained about it, and they would cut their flesh, and it would be exhausted" ("Old Tang Book·Biography of Lai Junchen").The cruel officials are nothing but Wu Zetian's minions, and Wu Zetian, their general backstage, cannot escape the blame.Since the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian has been second to none in the number of cruel officials appointed and the length of the reign of terror.Under her rule, whistleblowers looked at each other, cruel officials ran amok, and unjust prisons spread all over the world.The instigator of this historical tragedy was Empress Wu Zetian, who opened Pandora's box and released all kinds of elves.

Cruel official politics is the product of Wu Zetian's deformed regime, and cruel official politics is also a unique historical phenomenon of dictatorship and tyranny.It not only hit Li Tang's clan and court bureaucrats, but also brought suffering to the people; this bloody drama directed by Wu Zetian is a national tragedy, and this profound historical lesson must be remembered.

In order to cultivate his own power, Wu Zetian not only reused cruel officials, but also appointed a large number of redundant officials.Tang Taizong believed that "officials win people, not many people." He ordered Fang Xuanling to carry out a large-scale streamlining, and only 640 officials at the central level were retained (Volume [-] of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian").By the time of Emperor Gaozong, the number of officials had increased greatly. After Wu Zetian came to power, the expansion of the ranks of officials became more and more out of control.In addition to selecting scholars according to the normal imperial examinations, Wu Zetian also held palace examinations, bootstrapping, official examinations, military examinations, and southern elections.

At the time of Wu Zetian, the trend of selling officials was already very popular. According to the first volume of "Chaoye Qianzai", "Before Qianfeng, the selection of candidates was no more than a few thousand per year; after the arch, it was often up to 50 per year." Practicing, always pretending to be a fake name, Shijia asked. If you don’t have a pen in your hand, you will send it to the East Division. You can’t read, and you will be sent to the South Hall. There are not enough staff, and the officials who have the right to make up for examinations, photographs, and inspections are full of bribes. , Stains and filth. When it flows out of the office, the more money it has, the more money it will flow." "It is because the selection of people is redundant, more than the flock, and the bureaucracy is more noisy than the ants." Luoyang ordered Zhang Changyi to accept 60 taels surnamed Xue. He entrusted Zhang Xi, the servant of the heavenly official, to give him the gold.Unfortunately, Zhang Xi lost the note with his name on it, so he went to ask Zhang Changyi.Zhang Changyi said that he couldn't remember the name, and that anyone with the surname Xue would be given an official, so Zhang Xi granted more than [-] people with the surname Xue an official.The abuse of officials can be seen from this.

In the second year of Tianshou (AD 691), Wu Zetian sent people to Qidao to teach "examination officials" (i.e. trainee officials). In the car, pick up the relics by the amount of the bucket, serve the censor with the vertebrae, and take off the Shang Shulang'" ("Tang Huiyao" Volume [-]).A large number of redundant officials mostly bribed their elections. After taking office, they plundered money wantonly, and the burden on the people was increasing day by day.

Wu Zetian’s indiscriminate appointment of officials was mainly for sensationalism and buying people’s hearts. Except for the martial arts and southern elections, which objectively played a positive role in the selection of Lingnan talents and generals, the rest of the measures were just unconventional and abused a large number of redundant officials.The cruel officials domineeringly, and the redundant officials refuse to give up their wealth, so that the country has no peace and the people have no peace.

Volcanoes will always erupt, and people's grievances will eventually boil. In the last years of Wu Zetian's reign, the world was full of grief and precarious.Wu Zetian's throne is already unstable, and a coup crisis is imminent...

[-]. Shangyang White-haired Man
One day in the first year of Jiushi (700 A.D.), on the big river near Jingzhou, there was mist and a small boat was drifting in the torrents.Apart from the sailors, there were only two officers on board.Facing the great river, they stand hand in hand, swear to the alliance of heaven, and are determined to overthrow the rule of Empress Wu Zetian and restore the Tang Dynasty at the expense of their lives.Among them, the one with white beard and hair is the outgoing governor of Jingzhou, Shi Zhang Jianzhi, and the other is his successor, the 59-year-old general Yang Yuanyan.This oath on the river was the prelude to a coup d'état. The leader of this coup d'état was the venerable Zhang Jianzhi, and the direct fuse of the coup d'état was the old Wu Zetian's excessive trust in Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi.

The favor of Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi is inseparable from Wu Zetian's only daughter, Princess Taiping. "Don't give birth to a boy but give birth to a girl", this is very abnormal in a feudal society where men are superior to women, but Wu Zetian loved her daughter very much among the four sons and one daughter she gave birth to. "(Taiping) Princess Fang has a wide range of wealth, and has many powers. The queen mother (Wu Zetian) thinks that she is like herself and loves her very much. She often discusses world affairs in secret" (Zi Zhi Tong Jian, Volume [-]).

Princess Taiping was also unscrupulous in order to please Wu Zetian. She even personally found a male favorite for her mother.In the second year of Long Live Tongtian (AD 697), Princess Taiping brought Zhang Changzong, a 74-year-old handsome boy, to Wu Zetian, and he was immediately favored by the queen.Zhang Changzong also recommended his elder brother Zhang Yizhi, who was "more than [-] years old, fair-skinned and beautiful, and good at singing and singing", into the palace ("Old Tang Book·Zhang Xingcheng Biography"), and they all became the "male concubine" of the [-]-year-old queen. ", accompany Wu Zetian to have fun day and night, and people call him "Two Zhang".

Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong are both grandsons of the former Minister Zuo Pushe Zhang Xingcheng.After the two were favored, Wu Zetian named Zhang Changzong General Yunhui and Xingzuo Qianniu Zhonglang General; Zhang Yizhi was Siwei Shaoqing;Within a few days, Zhang Changzong was granted the title of doctor Yinqing Guanglu and his mother, A Zang, the wife of the wife. He also ordered Shangshu Li Jixiu to serve A Zang privately, and posthumously awarded Zhang Xizang, the father of the two Zhangs, as the governor of Xiangzhou.It's really lucky for the two, the chicken and dog ascended to heaven.

After Wu Zetian got the two cards, she was very happy for a while, and felt like she was rejuvenated.In order to make Er Zhang even happier, Wu Zetian held banquets in the Luoyang Harem all day long, and asked Zhang Changzong to wear feather clothes, ride a wooden crane, play the flute and play music, and pretend to be the legendary "Prince Shengxian" Wang Zijin, and all the officials wrote poems Praise, Cui Rong's poem wrote: "I met Fuqiubo in the past, and now I am with Ding Lingwei. Zhonglang has the same talent and appearance, but his name in Tibetan history is different." ("Old Tang Book·Zhang Xingcheng Biography") In order to win Wu Zetian's favor, Wu Cheng Si, Wu Sansi, Wu Yizong, and Zong Chuke often wait outside the gate of Erzhang's house to lead the horse and hold the whip for him.They called Zhang Yizhi "Wulang" and Zhang Changzong "Liulang", and dared not call them by their names directly.When someone said flatteringly, "Liulang's face looks like a lotus flower," Yang Zaisi, the prime minister, flattered him: "It is said that Liulang is like a lotus flower. Zaisi thought otherwise, but the lotus flower resembles Liulang's ears." ("Datang Xinyu · Flattery") )
In order to accommodate a large number of male favorites such as Zhang Changzong, Wu Zetian specially set up a crane prison in the second year of the holy calendar (AD 699). Worship, ready to be summoned at any time.At the same time, Zhang Changzong, Li Qiao, Zhang Shuo, Liu Zhiji, Shen Jianqi, Song Zhiwen and other 26 people were ordered to compile "Three Religious Pearls" in the inner hall.In fact, compiling the book is nothing more than a cover-up by Angel Wu Zetian, whose purpose is to conceal the true nature of this institution.Zheng Banqian, a doctor, did not want to be such a tool for people to have fun, and wrote a letter to sue He Jian, and was demoted by Wu Zetian as a doctor of the Ministry of Water.

In the first year of Jiushi (700 A.D.), Wu Zetian changed the name of Crane Supervisor to Fengchen Mansion, and a group of frivolous children such as Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were still enshrined in Fengchen.In order to satisfy Wu Zetian's selfish desires, from time to time, beautiful young people were selected from all over the country to serve as the left and right enshrinements.Wu Zetian's licentiousness in her later years has reached the point where it cannot be added, no wonder someone even openly raised it to her in court①.

Under the protection of Wu Zetian, Er Zhang was so arrogant that he moved the government and the public.Wu Zetian also named Zhang Changzong the Duke of Ye and Zhang Yizhi the Duke of Heng; his brother Zhang Changyi was the Minister of the Sifu, Zhang Tongxiu was the Minister of Li, and Zhang Changqi was the governor of Qi and Ruzhou.Shangshi Fengyu Yang Yuanxi offended Zhang Yizhi, and was expelled from the capital together with his brother Yang Yuanheng.In the first year of Chang'an (701 A.D.), Shao Wang Li Chongrun (later named Prince Yide) and his sister Yongtai Princess and the princess's son-in-law Wu Tingji discussed the two together, and Zhang Yizhi sued Wu Zetian, who immediately forced the three to commit suicide.

In the third year of Chang'an (703 A.D.), Prime Minister Wei Yuanzhong was falsely accused by Zhang Yizhi and sent to prison for offending Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changyi. As Gao Yaowei, he exiled Si Li Cheng Gao Jian and Fengge Sheren Zhang Shuo to Lingnan.As for Erzhang's usual occupation of fields and houses, and the taking of wives and concubines, there are countless things.Once, Zhang Changqi openly robbed a married woman on the street, and arrested her husband and executed him.

For such lawless Zhang brothers, Wu Zetian shielded them in every possible way.In July of the fourth year of Chang'an (704 A.D.), all five of Zhang Yi's brothers were imprisoned for taking bribes, but Wu Zetian pardoned Zhang Changzong alone.When the prime ministers Wei Anshi and Tang Xiujing wanted to investigate the crimes of Zhang Yizhi and others, Wu Zetian simply transferred them out of the capital.In December, someone accused Zhang Changzong of calling a magician to meet him and saying that he
① For Zhu Jingze's remonstrance on the right supplement, see "Old Tang Book·Zhang Changzong Zhang Yizhi Biography".There was an emperor, Song Jing, the censor Zhongcheng, and others immediately convicted him of treason.But Wu Zetian ordered Song Jing to go on tour three times in a row, and Song Jing could not resist her orders.Wu Zetian had no choice but to let Zhang Changzong go to Yushitai for trial, but before the trial was over, he sent down an imperial edict to exonerate Zhang Changzong. Song Jing was so angry that he stomped his feet and said, "I regret not smashing this kid's head first!" As a result, Erzhang was tried four times and was ordered four times, "the brother who is in the spring and autumn is high, and has many political affairs" ("Old Tang Book · Zhang Changzong Zhang Yizhi Biography").Er Zhang and others committed a lot of evil, not only were not punished, but were reused twice. This could not but arouse the resentment of a large number of courtiers, and Zhang Jianzhi and others accelerated the pace of coup d'état.

(End of this chapter)