Anecdote of the Fifth Queen Mother

Chapter 22 Empress Wu (10)
It was the lecherous Li Zhi who took a fancy to his father's talented Wu Zetian before his sickbed, and never forgot it; Wu Zetian, who was destined to accompany the yellow scroll and green lantern until the end of his life, was revived and had a bright future; it was this weak Li Zhi who, uncharacteristically, resolutely made Wu Zetian a queen despite the strong opposition of his courtiers; Li Zhi, who was sick, had to let Wu Zetian interfere in politics, so that Wu Zetian tasted the forbidden fruit of the royal family; it was this cowardly Li Zhi who took the initiative to stand side by side with Wu Zetian and hand over the power.It can be said that without the mediocre Gaozong succeeding to the throne, it would be impossible for this female emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty to appear.

Of course, on the issue of Wu Zetian proclaiming emperor, there is no need to deny her personal talent.She is good at grasping the opportunity, has certain political talents, has a tenacious fighting spirit, is decisive in handling things, and remains calm in times of crisis. The demeanor of a statesman and the cunning of a conspirator are reflected in her.And it was these qualities that enabled her to turn danger into safety at some critical moments, and also enabled her to maintain her decades-long rule.

In a feudal society, it was unethical for a woman to proclaim herself emperor, and it was even more outrageous to replace Tang with Wu Zhou.In Wu Zetian's life, he was opposed by a large number of courtiers such as Changsun Wuji, by generals such as Xu Jingye, by Li Tang's clan, by Khitan, Turkic and other tribes, by the harem king and queen and others. He opposed it, and was even opposed by his husband (Tang Gaozong) and his own son.Her road to becoming emperor was full of struggles with the above-mentioned people, and her gorgeous crown was full of opponents' blood.These endless internal struggles did not benefit the national economy and the people's livelihood at all, but exhausted her life's energy.In other words, if Tang Gaozong's heirs were male descendants, most of Wu Zetian's brutal struggles would not have happened in the first place.

Wu Zetian proclaimed himself emperor as a woman, the contradictions she encountered were more acute, and the struggle she carried out was more intense.Her rule more fully exposed the darkness of the feudal system; her rise to power more concentratedly showed the evils of the feudal system.Only by analyzing her actions in this sense can we make a more appropriate evaluation of her; and only from this perspective can we understand Wu Zetian's various unreasonable actions.And if you forget Wu Zetian's identity as a feudal emperor, you will take it for granted and draw various unrealistic conclusions.

In the long-term ruling career, Wu Zetian won the three tastes.For decades, she has kept a close eye on the word "Quan".In her life, she has never deviated from this goal.From the first day she stepped into the palace gate, she began to chase power and climb to the peak of power.In feudal society, unlimited imperial power has an irresistible temptation for anyone.Dominating others, doing as one pleases, taking life and death, and lusting for extravagance, the supreme power is like a huge magnet, attracting all those who are likely to obtain this power.And once you enter the power struggle, it's like riding on the back of a tiger, which makes you want to stop.The millstone of this feudal system is constantly turning, either climbing to the top or falling into the abyss.This is the main reason why Wu Zetian was still unwilling to be reconciled after becoming the queen, the highest position of a woman in the feudal dynasty, and continued to climb up to become emperor.

The reason why Wu Zetian entered the palace was because she longed for the unlimited imperial power, and when she had been a talented person for 12 years and had tasted the eyes of concubines, she deeply realized the value of power.In order to regain power, like a water prisoner who was about to drown, she desperately grasped the straw of Tang Gaozong.This straw was indeed a fairy grass. It brought Wu Zetian back to life, and sent her from the nunnery to the tall palace.After entering the palace for the second time, she spared no effort to expand her power.In three years, she changed from talented person to Zhaoyi, from Zhaoyi to empress.She has become the "First Lady" who is under one person and above ten thousand people.For this reason, she executed and exiled ministers such as Changsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Han Yuan, Lai Ji, and Liu Shuang, cultivated pro-party parties such as Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu, and Wang Dejian, and even strangled her infant daughter to death with her own hands.

Gaozong's illness made her get involved in government affairs; Gaozong's cowardice allowed her to stand side by side with Gaozong and openly intervene in politics. After Gaozong's death, Wu Zetian was absolutely unwilling to give up the power she had already obtained.In order to continue to be in power, she forced her eldest son Hong and second son Xian to death again and again, and eliminated Pei Yan, Xu Jingye and the kings of Li Tang's royal family who supported Li Tang's royal family.In order to govern herself, she did not hesitate to oust her third and fourth sons, tearing off the last fig leaf.

During Wu Zetian's reign, she opened the door to inform, reused a large number of cruel officials, cultivated cronies, and killed Li Tang's family.The prison is overcrowded, and the exiles look at each other.She promoted batches of corrupt officials and redundant officials, and then killed batch after batch like cutting leeks.In short, Wu Zetian tried his best to consolidate the power he had already obtained, but this kind of efforts to maintain his own selfish desires caused many families to be destroyed and a large number of people to fall to the ground.She wants to be the emperor, but she makes the country turbulent, the people are displaced, and the courtiers are all in danger. Isn't this price too high?Some people say that the politics of Wu Zetian's period was chaotic at the top but not chaotic at the bottom. This is really a fairy tale myth!Think about the turmoil in ancient and modern China and abroad!Chaos at the top will lead to chaos at the bottom, and chaos at the bottom will lead to chaos in the world. To say that chaos at the top and not chaos at the bottom is just self-deception to defend Wu Zetian's politics.

During her rule, Wu Zetian did not abide by certain political principles, nor did she have any fixed political program. The so-called "twelve things to suggest" was just a dead letter.The period of Wu Zetian, known as the successor to Zhenguan and the prosperity of Kaiyuan, was actually inferior to Zhenguan and Kaiyuan, and this period could have made a lot of achievements. Historically eclipsed.Wu Zetian gave full play to the imperial power in the feudal society, and she fell into the abyss of power deeply and couldn't extricate herself.When the sword of suppression could no longer stop the soaring grievances, the volcano under her erupted, and the volcanic magma finally submerged this once invincible woman.

The parrot dreams of rejuvenation, and the grass is rustling at sunset.Wu Zetian never dreamed that when she was sick, the five kings' coup with the prince's participation took place.She knew that she had no way to return to heaven, so she had no choice but to return to Li's house, "go to the title of emperor, and call her the great sage queen of Zetian".

[-]. Remaining remarks

At this point, this biography should be over.However, Wu Zetian is a very controversial historical figure. She once enjoyed a very high evaluation. This biography of mine seems to belittle her very low, which inevitably makes people suspicious.I think the wise see wisdom, the benevolent see benevolence, and there is no need to seek unity.This biography does not intend to draw conclusions on Wu Zetian.A special historical figure like Wu Zetian has never been definitively determined, and I don't think it will be possible to be definitively determined in the future.In Guangyuan, Sichuan, the folks are divided into two factions, one faction praises Wu Zetian, and the other faction praises Prince Li Xian but denies Wu Zetian.This biography does not focus on praise and criticism, but only narrates the historical process from how she became emperor to her decline.Since Wu Zetian had to walk on an uneven road in the feudal era when women intervened in politics, she had to pay a higher price than orthodox men and show more cruel and cunning tactics to succeed. Intended to belittle.

Then, readers will ask, what was the politics of Wu Zetian's era?Is it the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty?In the entire ancient Chinese history, there has never been an era when the queen mother intervened in politics and had a prosperous age. Of course, Wu Zetian was no exception.It has been clearly pointed out earlier that Wu Zetian's era was not as good as Zhenguan, and she was not as good as Kaiyuan. She had achieved a lot in her era, but it was because of Wu Zetian's interference in politics that brought the political eclipse of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.But then again, just because Wu Zetian lived in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, she was also influenced by the wind of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and she made a difference in politics. This is the reason for writing this essay.Here is a supplementary explanation of how to view Wu Zetian's positive side in politics.

In the more than 40 years of Wu Zetian's rule, generally speaking, there has been no particularly major turmoil.Xu Jingye's uprising was quickly quelled, showing Wu Zetian's political talent.Since then, the society has been relatively stable, and the economy has developed to a certain extent.She advocated "encouraging farming and mulberry, thin Fu Fu" ("New Book of Tang Biography of Empress Zetianwu"), paying attention to the construction of water conservancy, attention to food production, abundant reserves such as Jiacang, and rapid population growth.According to "Tang Huiyao" Volume 84 "Number of Households", in the third year of Yonghui (652 AD) of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, there were 380 million households in the whole country, and it increased to 705 million in the first year of Shenlong (610 AD) when Wu Zetian died. The average annual growth rate of [-] households is [-]%, which is relatively prominent in feudal society.

Wu Zetian also had her own uniqueness in employing people. Although she cultivated cronies, reused cruel officials, and set up redundant officials, she also paid attention to the selection of talents in order to consolidate her own regime.Wu Zetian issued the "Edict of Seeking Virtue and Virtue" many times, and believed that "the Tao is more valuable than seeking talents" (Volume 96 of "Quan Tang Wen").She personally interviewed candidates, created the palace examination, and used the method of "fuzzy names" to prevent cheating in the imperial examination.She opened "Southern Selection", intending to select talents from remote areas such as Lingnan and middle Guizhou.She held "martial arts" to select military talents for the country.Thanks to her efforts, a large number of outstanding civil servants and military generals have been used by her. Civil officials such as Di Renjie, Yao Chong, and Song Jing, and military generals such as Heizhi Changzhi, Lou Shide, Guo Ziyi, etc. are all momentary heroes.Her employment policy objectively hit the big landlords and tyrants, and helped the rise of the common landlords.

During Wu Zetian's period, the invasion and harassment of Tubo and Turks in the west and northwest made the frontiers of the Tang Dynasty very restless.In 650 AD, Songtsen Gampo died of illness, and Tubo has continued to provoke wars ever since.In 663 AD, Tubo forcibly annexed Tuyuhun, which was friendly with the Tang Dynasty, and invaded and occupied the eighteen prefectures in the Western Regions of Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was forced to withdraw its troops from the four towns of Anxi.In 679 A.D., the Eastern Turks, who had been attached to Tang for many years, also gathered together to rebel against Tang. They annexed the rest of Western Turks, posing a great threat to the frontiers of the Tang Dynasty.Wu Zetian fought resolutely without compromise.She successively dispatched Heizhi Changzhi, Cheng Wuting, Tang Xiujing, Wang Xiaojie and other generals to lead the army, repelled the invasion of Tubo and Tuque many times, recovered the four towns of Anxi, and set up Anxi, Beiting and other capital guards respectively. Strengthened the defense force.It is precisely because of the effective repulsion of foreign aggression that a relatively peaceful domestic environment has been maintained.She also allowed the army to farm in the frontier, which not only consolidated the frontier defense, but also reduced the burden on the country.

What is commendable about Wu Zetian's personal morality is that she knows her mistakes and can correct them, and she has the courage to correct the mistakes she made.We know that in order to maintain his rule, Wu Zetian practiced cruel officials for a long time.Counting from the case of abolishing Prince Li Xian in the first year of Wenming (AD 684) to the second year of Long Live Tongtian (AD 697) when the cruel official Lai Junchen was sent to the guillotine, the cruel officials abused their power indiscriminately for 15 years. Everyone was in danger, but it was Wu Zetian herself who really punished the cruel officials and finally gave up the politics of cruel officials.Famous cruel officials Lai Junchen, Qiu Shenji, Suo Yuanli, Fu Youyi, Hou Sizhi, Wang Hongyi, Zhou Xing, Lai Ziyi, etc., were all killed or exiled by Wu Zetian's order, massacring exiled Wan Guojun, etc. The envoy of the Six Paths was also severely sanctioned by Wu Zetian.In the first year of the Holy Calendar (AD 698), Wu Zetian reappointed Luling King Li Xian as the crown prince, and also replaced a group of Wei Yuanzhong, Zhang Jianzhi, Yan Yanfan, Yuan Shuji, etc. who opposed cruel officials in the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple and Yushitai Man, cruel official politics is basically over.Wu Zetian originally wanted to establish the descendants of the Wu family to inherit the Wu Zhou Dynasty, but because of her thoughts, she had to re-appoint Li Xian as the prince in the end.Wu Zetian once again changed his idea of ​​establishing a reserve, and eliminated the factors of instability, which is a wise move.

As a politician, Wu Zetian also has a generous spirit.When her male favorite Xue Huaiyi was beaten up by the prime minister Su Liangsi for breaking into the Nanya, Wu Zetian not only did not punish Su Liangsi, but warned Xue Huaiyi that the Nanya was the place where the prime minister went in and out, and asked Xue Huaiyi to go to the north gate instead.King Luo Bin wrote for Xu Jingye "Discussing Wu Zhao", which scolded Wu Zetian like a dog, but after reading it, Wu Zetian was overwhelmed by King Luo Bin's talent. She even criticized, "This is the prime minister's fault. Why is such a talent not used?" Another example is Wu Zetian. The reused Shangguan Wan'er, whose grandfather Shangguanyi and father Shangguan Tingzhi were all killed by Wu Zetian, but Wu Zetian loved talents eagerly and used them for a long time without doubt.Imagine that if Wu Zetian lacked a broad political mind, her decades of rule would be difficult to maintain.

Finally, I would like to talk about Wu Zetian's achievements in literature. She loves literature. "Quan Tang Poems" preserves 46 of her poems, and "Quan Tang Wen" contains 68 of her articles. Her calligraphy is also quite accomplished.Although these poems and prose are not lacking of other people's substitutes and imitations, due to the advocacy of this empress, the literary world during Wu Zetian's period was quite prosperous; Know how many other big money.Shen Jiji once pointed out: "The Empress Dowager (Wu Zetian) is quite involved in literature and history. Her art of carving insects, Yonglong Zhong began to select scholars with articles, and after Yongchang, the Empress Dowager ruled the world for more than [-] years. After a long time, it has become a common practice." ("Tong Dian" Volume [-] "Election [-]" note)

On the tall uncharacterized stele in front of the Qianling Mausoleum, there is engraved a poem by an unknown person in the Ming Dynasty: "The pine and cypresses of the Qianling Mausoleum were sacrificed by soldiers, and the wild cattle and sheep are full of spring grass. Only the Qianling people cherish the old virtues and worship Zhaoyi every year." Explaining Wu Zetian Also remembered by posterity.

(End of this chapter)