As a woman, she was able to seize the Li Tang Dynasty, become the empress of the ages, and lay the foundation for a prosperous age. Whether it was Wu Zetian's intelligence or vicious political strategies, they were all impressive.

• [Foreword]

Wu Zetian , the only female emperor in Chinese history, the founding monarch of Wu Zhou .

As a woman, she was able to seize the Li Tang kingdom, become the empress of the ages, and lay the foundation for a prosperous age. Whether it is Wu Zetian's intelligence or vicious political strategies, they are all impressive.

After Wu Zetian passed away at the age of 81, neither she nor the Wu family behind her were liquidated. Compared with Lu Pheasant After the death, the descendants of the Lu family were driven out and exterminated. I don’t know how many times I was lucky.

All of this is due to the 10 words Wu Zetian said before she died.

It was these 10 words that saved the Wu family from annihilation, not only maintaining their reputation but also preserving their natal family.

Wu Zetian stills

So, what were the 10 words Wu Zetian said before she died? Why can it keep the military family safe and sound? What are the stories about this eternal empress?

• [After all the hard work, he ascended the throne at the age of 67]

Wu Ze’s road to the throne was not easy.

In that era where men were superior to women, it was not easy for Wu Zetian, as the emperor's concubine, to stand out in the court, let alone to overthrow Li Tang and monopolize power.

Wu Zetian came from a noble and bureaucratic family. Her father, the warrior Yun, became rich in business during the Sui Dynasty. Later, he funded Li Yuan, Duke of Tang Dynasty, to raise troops in Jinyang, and then followed Li Shimin to pacify Chang'an. After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, he was listed as "one of the heroes of Taiyuan Yuanmou" and was a founding hero.

This allowed Wu Zetian to live in a wealthy and wealthy family since she was a child, and learned a lot of knowledge and skills, which laid a good foundation for her to successfully become emperor in the future.

Wu Zetian had the opportunity to contact the court when she was 14 years old.

At that time, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty visited the Luoyang Palace. Hearing that Wu Zetian was beautiful, he wanted to summon her to the palace.

After hearing the news, Wu Zetian thought of her widowed mother who was about to leave, and she immediately cried like a child, feeling very uncomfortable. At this time, she did not expect that she would be by the king's side, nor did she think that she would ascend to the position of empress later.

But it was hard to disobey the holy will. Wu Zetian finally entered the palace and was named a fifth-grade talented person by the emperor, giving the title "武美".

Wu Zetian stills

When Wu Zetian first entered the palace, her life was pretty good. She was also favored by Li Shimin for her beauty, and because Li Shimin proposed horse training, she saw the masculinity in Wu Zetian that was different from ordinary women.

But this kind of favor did not last long. Wu Zetian was left out in the cold because of the prophecy that "the Wu Dynasty Zhou Xing".

After that, Wu Zetian had more interactions with Li Shimin's son Li Zhi. The two people, who are similar in age, are surprisingly matched in personality and temperament. They have a strong temperament, a talented man and a beautiful woman. Soon, there is an atmosphere of ambiguity between the man and woman, and an "underground love" develops behind Li Shimin's back.

After Li Shimin died, Li Zhi succeeded to the throne. Wu Zetian, like some of Li Shimin's concubines, went to Chang'an Ganye Temple to become nuns. But at this time, Li Zhi was still obsessed with Wu Zetian and had no connection with her. When the period of filial piety expired, Li Zhi ignored the objections of the courtiers and insisted on taking the pregnant Wu Zetian back to the palace and named her Zhaoyi.

She was much more favored than the king, queen and Xiao Shufei at that time.

Li Zhi

Wu Zetian, who returned from Ganye Temple, experienced the ups and downs of life and deeply felt the value of power, which made Wu Zetian's desire for power continue to expand. When she successfully gave birth to her eldest daughter, Princess Andingsi, she regarded her biological daughter as a stepping stone to climb up.

She strangled her daughter to death and falsely accused the Queen, which gave Li Zhi the idea of ​​deposing Wang Liwu.

In fact, Li Zhi had long had the idea of ​​reviving the imperial power, and abolishing Queen Wang was a breakthrough.

655, after several years of fighting, Wu Zetian finally got his wish and sat on the position of queen. After Wu Zetian ascended to the throne, she always obeyed her superiors, so she gained the respect of Li Zhi, and even allowed her to intervene in the government affairs. When Li Zhi was ill, Wu Zetian took care of all government affairs, large and small.

But as the emperor, how could Li Zhi allow anyone to be more powerful than him? As time passed, the contradiction between the two people became apparent, but at this time, "the coming of the two saints" has become a foregone conclusion. In addition, Li Zhi's health was deteriorating, and Wu Zetian was often by his side, so he naturally had a lot of say in power.

Wu Zetian stills

Even Li Zhi had the idea of ​​abdicating the throne to Wu Zetian and letting her serve as regent, but fortunately, the minister stopped him.

Soon after this incident, Li Zhi ordered Li Xian to act as the agent of the state affairs. Before he passed away due to illness, he also left a final edict: He ordered Prince Li Xian to ascend the throne. Once he encounters military and state affairs that cannot be adjudicated, he must obey the decision of the Queen Mother Wu Zetian.

After Li Xian ascended the throne, Wu Zetian took the position of empress dowager.

It stands to reason that most people would be satisfied if they could sit in the position of empress dowager. But Wu Zetian decided to come and proclaim himself emperor, deposed Li Xian as emperor, and directly promoted his fourth son, Li Dan, to the throne.

Wu Zetian, who was in power, continued to issue orders to the court, and the results did show that some of the policies implemented by Wu Zetian indeed made the government more stable at that time, and even the society of the Tang Dynasty continued to move forward.

As time went by, Wu Zetian's ambition to become emperor could no longer be restrained. In the past many years, the forces she had been supporting for her in the court had long been prepared to seize Li Tang Sheji.

In the battles again and again, Wu Zetian brutally killed the descendants of the Li Tang royal family. Many Li kings and their cronies died tragically in the change of ownership planned by Wu Zetian. It was not until Wu Zetian killed all these people, leaving only some obedient princes and ministers hanging on, that Wu Zetian finally felt that "the world is unified".

Wu Zetian stills

In September 690 AD, Wu Zetian finally ascended the throne as she wished and became the only female emperor in Chinese history.

Wu Zetian also specially changed the name of the country to Wuzhou, made Luoyang the capital, and made Chang'an her companion, and claimed to be of the same lineage as the previous Zhou dynasty, so that her rule could be justified.

Wu Zetian, who was now 67 years old, spent most of her life finally fulfilling her long-cherished wish. Although Wu Zetian can be said to be "scheming to usurp the throne", it cannot be said that she has no achievements. Her life can be regarded as a mixed success. At least when considering the issue of heirs, Wu Zetian was not confused.

• [Creating the legacy of Zhenguan, but cannot avoid the issue of considering the successor]

After becoming the emperor, Wu Zetian was as good at court politics as any of the male rulers in history. It can even be said that Wu Zetian's gender It became the biggest obstacle in her life.

During her reign, the "Legacy of Zhenguan" emerged, which inherited the rule of Zhenguan and started the Kaiyuan prosperous . Both politics and economy have made great strides forward.

Wu Zetian was already very familiar with controlling government affairs. After coming to power, he relied on his extraordinary courage to weaken the aristocratic power that could be said to be all-powerful at the time, and in turn promoted many "underprivileged children". Most of those people were from small landowners, and they were all unworthy people before, but Wu Zetian promoted all those who she felt were upright and talented.

The famous prime ministers at that time, Di Renjie, Zhang Jianzhi, and later Yao Chong, were all promoted by Wu Zetian and became famous in history.It can also be seen that during Wu Zetian's reign, the basis of rule has expanded, and the people's lives have also improved to a higher level. Both agricultural production and population have become very different.

Wu Zetian stills

Although Wu Zetian's methods of ascending to the throne were somewhat sinister and sinister, it cannot be denied that she was also a very accomplished emperor.

But it is a pity that when Wu Zetian ascended the throne, she was already 67 years old, which was not a young age in ancient times. Wu Zetian was exhausted mentally and physically after being in power for many years, and she had to start thinking about her successor.

In fact, Wu Zetian and Li Zhi also gave birth to many children, but because of Wu Zetian's ambition, most of these princes and princesses did not end well. Instead, they all became victims of Wu Zetian's political struggles. If the matter of

were to be dealt with by ordinary emperors, perhaps they would not be so entangled. It would be nothing more than another battle of " and nine sons to win over ". But Wu Zetian was different. As a ruler different from the Li Tang Dynasty, she faced two choices, that is:

to establish the Wu family as heirs, or to welcome back the Li family.

At this time, Wu Zetian also knew clearly in her heart that because of her decisive killings in recent years, she no longer had a good image in the Li family. Most of the remaining candidates from the Li family were People who look down upon her and look down upon her. How outrageous is

? For example: Princess Qianjin, who is Wu Zetian’s elder, is already over 70 years old, and she has to take the initiative to ask Wu Zetian, who is over 60 years old, to be her daughter.

Emperor Li Yuan's 18th daughter - Princess Qianjin's stills

This is absolutely impossible to happen in any period. This can completely show how powerful and vicious Wu Zetian, as the empress, is. The grudges of the Li family and their inability to be reused caused Wu Zetian's inner balance to tilt toward the Wu family. After all, in Wu Zetian's current view, this was the only way to protect herself.

Then why did Wu Zetian pass the throne to his son Li Xian in the end? This has to mention a person who is familiar to all of us: Di Renjie.

Di Renjie

Everyone knows that during Wu Zetian's reign, Di Renjie, the prime minister, could be regarded as her right-hand man and gained Wu Zetian's trust. When he learned that Wu Zetian was troubled by the problem of choosing his successor, Di Renjie naturally had to make some suggestions. What Di Renjie did was to persuade Wu Zetian to make the Li family the prince, which meant that he should make his son the prince instead of his nephew.

Di Renjie’s words can be said to have pointed the way for Wu Zetian. Since ancient times, ancestor worship in the Seven Temples of the Emperor has always been to worship parents and immortals. How can anyone worship their aunt.

No matter how strong Wu Zetian is, this ancestral system cannot be changed for a while. It is not impossible to forcibly pass the throne to the Wu family, but the men who will be worshiped after a thousand years are also the men of the Wu family, and have nothing to do with Wu Zetian, a female streamer.

After much thought, Wu Zetian finally followed Di Renjie's suggestion and brought her son Li Xian back from abroad and established him as the prince.

Tang Zhongzong Li Xian stills

Why Wu Zetian chose Li Xian as the prince, in addition to him being his own son, it may also be for the sake of the two big families, the Li family and the Wu family.

Li Xian was demoted from the capital when he was young, and did not have close contact with the Wu family that later came to power. As a result, he was not like those heirs who were close to the center of power. Compared with them, Li Xian's succession to the throne was easier to ease the relationship between the two. Relations between clans.

At this time, Wu Zetian was already old, and the road to becoming emperor did not know when it would come to an end. Naturally, she had to arrange all this early. But before died, Wu Zetian was still worried, and after much thought, she still left 10 words in her last words.

But I didn’t expect that it was these last words that saved Wu Zetian and saved the Wu family from annihilation...

Wu Zetian

• [10 words of last words: Go to emperor and call Zetian the Great Sage Queen]

a The "Shenlong Change" accelerated the speed of Wu Zetian's abdication. Li Xian, who had been taken back to the capital by Wu Zetian, had already started planning with the prime minister Zhang Jianzhi and other old officials.

At that time, Wu Zetian was already suffering from illness, and she was in her twilight years. Seeing that her end was approaching, she still had the energy to control the government. This forced the ministers to join forces with Prince Li Xian to plan for the future of the world.

Soon after, Li Xian "imprisoned" Wu Zetian in Shangyang Palace . Zhang Jianzhi even came to persuade Wu Zetian to abdicate and return the power to the Li family again. Faced with such a situation, Wu Zetian had no choice but to compromise with the ministers.

Tang Zhongzong Li Xian

The era of Wu Zetian has passed, but the foundation left by Wu Zetian has not disappeared. It was precisely because of Wu Zetian’s existence that the later Tang Dynasty politics went more smoothly.

But Wu Zetian, who had been fighting in the harem and court for many years, did not know the dangers involved. The political situation in the court alone cannot be controlled forever. It's hard to say what kind of changes he will have to go through until he passes away.

In order to avoid the same fate as Empress Lu after her death, and to preserve the Wu family behind her, Wu Zetian left 10 very important words before her death: Remove the imperial title and call her Zetian the Great Holy Queen.

In just 10 words, it shows that Wu Zetian will not proclaim himself emperor after his death, let alone be buried as an emperor. Instead, he will be buried in the Qianling Mausoleum of as a queen, together with Tang Gaozong Li Zhi.

Wu Zetian's strategy can be seen in this, which prevented her from ending up in peace after death like those in later generations.

If you think about it carefully, it is indeed true. As long as this country is still surnamed Li, who dares to open the Qianling Mausoleum? Besides, how can the tombs of emperors and empresses be opened by ordinary means? Even after thousands of years of wind, frost, rain and snow, Qianling Mausoleum is still well preserved.

In this way, not only did Wu Zetian avoid the fate of being pulled out and whipped to death like Xu Maogong, but it also allowed her to have a place in the Li family ancestral temple and be worshiped by her descendants, but no one could change her position. .

Wu Zetian's status has been preserved, and even the Wu family, which was quite powerful in the court before, will not be labeled as a rebel. They will not suffer annihilation and can continue to survive better in the future. Killing two birds with one stone, which woman in history can compare with Wu Zetian's strategy?

It can be said that Wu Zetian's 10-character last words not only protected herself, but also preserved the Wu family, her mother's family.

However, later the Wu family could not bear this sudden change and wanted to make troubles in the court, but they never wanted to sink deeper and deeper into the whirlpool of power. In the end, they failed Wu Zetian's good intentions and fell into the misfortune of Li The end of Tang liquidation.

• [Summary]

From an aristocratic lady to a martial artist beside Li Shimin, after Li Shimin's death, she turned back to Li Zhi's concubine, fought hard in the harem, and finally took the position of queen as she wished; later, with Li Zhi's acquiescence, He went to court, and finally ascended to the throne of God at the age of 67.

Along the way, whether it was vicious methods or resourceful strategies, Wu Zetian climbed to the pinnacle of power step by step. Eliminate dissidents, mutilate flesh and blood, and even let her own children become the pedal of power. Wu Zetian did all these ruthless tricks.

When she ascended to the throne of God at the age of 67, her political control was still as good as that of men, or even stronger than that of men. After ruling for many years, she was able to create a peaceful and prosperous age for the people, and she became the only orthodox female emperor.

Even on her deathbed, Wu Zetian lit the last fire for her life. In just 10 words, let yourself be honored and worshiped, and save the Wu family from annihilation. Even this skill is beyond the reach of ordinary people. The

era created Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian also made an era. Even if there are future generations who want to imitate Wu Zetian and become empress again, they all end up in vain. The only female emperor in Chinese history shines in the long river of history. As for the merits of Wu Zetian, I will leave it to future generations to comment.