As a generation of empress, Wu Zetian's name is known to everyone. In a feudal society dominated by men, it must be said to be a miracle that Wu Zetian could openly reach the pinnacle of power. During her time in power, she also pushed the Tang Empire to a peak, which was even mo

As a generation of empress, Wu Zetian is known to everyone. In a feudal society dominated by men, it must be said to be a miracle that Wu Zetian could openly reach the pinnacle of power. During her time in power, she also pushed the Datang Empire to a peak, which is even more rare.

It must be said that Wu Zetian's political vision and wisdom are undoubtedly the most important qualities for an outstanding politician. However, as a woman with a foreign surname in the Li Tang Dynasty, the legitimacy of her ruling position has always been criticized. So her journey to the throne was stained with blood.

As Wu Zetian's right-hand man, The relationship between Di Renjie and Wu Zetian is full of contradictions. On the one hand, he tried his best to assist Wu Zetian, and on the other hand, he always wanted Wu Zetian to return the world to the Li family. Before Wu Zetian died, she deeply felt the deception from Di Renjie.

Wu ascended the throne

After becoming the queen of Tang Gaozong , Wu Zetian became the highest political height that a woman could achieve at that time. However, simply being a mother to the world is not enough to satisfy Wu Zetian's desire for power. In her opinion, as long as they have enough ability, women can also dominate the world.

The frail body of Tang Gaozong helped Wu Zetian a lot. Due to physical reasons, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty often felt unable to manage the affairs of the state, and Wu Zetian who accompanied him just took this opportunity to get in touch with politics. With Wu Zetian's help, Tang Gaozong felt a lot more relaxed.

So in 674 AD, Wu Zetian began to go to court together with Tang Gaozong and Li Zhi, which was known in history as the "Two Saints came to the court". At this time, Wu Zetian's status had surpassed that of a queen, and was on an equal footing with Tang Gaozong. In fact, she was no different from the real emperor.

Since it was approved by the emperor, the ministers did not have much objection to this arrangement. After all, the country belongs to the Li family, and Li Zhi is free to arrange it as he wishes. As long as Li Zhi has no objections, as a minister, it is inconvenient for him to say anything.

However, Wu Zetian's march towards the apex of power did not stop there. After the death of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian continued to serve as the empress dowager. Although she experienced two dynasties: Tang Zhongzong and Tang Ruizong , the emperor at this time was just a decoration, and Wu Zetian was the real person in power.

In 690 AD, Wu Zetian took the final step to ascend to power. Sixty-six-year-old Wu Zetian ascended the throne and proclaimed herself emperor this year, established the Wu Zhou regime, and became a veritable empress of the generation. During this process, Li's descendants felt like they were in hell.

Since ancient times, the struggle for power has been accompanied by bloodshed, and Wu Zetian was no exception. In order to become the queen, Wu Zetian also killed the descendants of the Li family. It is precisely because of this that Wu Zetian was criticized during her time in power, and the descendants of the Li family always wanted to overthrow her rule.

Despite this, Wu Zetian still gained a lot of talents. This is directly related to her eclectic political attitude. In her opinion, as a woman with a foreign surname, she can ascend the throne and become emperor. As long as a person is talented, why can't he be promoted exceptionally?

Among the people she promoted, Di Renjie was undoubtedly the most special one. As the prime minister of the Wu Zhou regime, Di Renjie was very conscientious and conscientious, and his talents were recognized by Wu Zetian. But at the same time, he always cared about the descendants of the Li family and hoped that Wu Zetian could return power to the Li family.

If someone else had been the emperor, Di Renjie's double-faced approach would have been dead long ago. But Wu Zetian did not kill Di Renjie, which shows Wu Zetian's broadmindedness. However, before Wu Zetian died, an old man came to her, and she realized Di Renjie's scheming.

Prime Minister Wu Zhou

is as the saying goes, "One emperor and one courtier." Like all other emperors, the first thing Wu Zetian did after ascending the throne was to establish her own think tank and cultivate her own power. It is best that these people do not have much political experience but have real talents and knowledge. This is the candidate she is most satisfied with.

So, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Lou Shide, Di Renjie came to Wu Zetian. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Di Renjie was appointed as the Prime Minister of Dali Temple, responsible for prison matters. Within a year, he had completed the backlog of cases that had been backlogged for several years, and no one raised any objection to his sentence.

It can be seen from this that Di Renjie's thinking is very careful, and he can almost be said to be perceptive. At this time, he was serving as the governor of Yuzhou, and his political achievements were still very outstanding. Although Di Renjie had an eccentric personality, his talents impressed Lou Shide, so he recommended him to Wu Zetian.

After being summoned to the capital, Wu Zetian asked: "When you were an official in Yuzhou, someone slandered you in the court. Do you want to know who it was?" But Di Renjie replied: "If your Majesty thinks it is true, I will take responsibility for it." Correction. If it is not true, this person is also reminding me, and I should thank him."

This conversation made Wu Zetian very appreciative of Di Renjie's magnanimity. It can be said that Di Renjie has many similarities with Wu Zetian. He does not take joy in things or feel sad about himself, and always puts the overall situation first. Such people are exactly the talents Wu Zetian is looking for.

Therefore, in the second year, Di Renjie was promoted to prime minister. Wu Zetian had great trust in Di Renjie. Even if someone falsely accused Di Renjie of treason, Wu Zetian only demoted him and then reappointed him as prime minister. This shows how much she cherished this rare talent.

Di Renjie’s plan

In fact, Di Renjie’s loyalty was not to Wu Zetian, but to the world. During his tenure as prime minister, Di Renjie devoted himself wholeheartedly. And this also caused his physical condition to deteriorate. Seeing this situation, Wu Zetian had to find a successor to the prime minister for herself.

So, after affirming Di Renjie's achievements, Wu Zetian asked Di Renjie to recommend someone with the same ability as him to replace him. After hearing Wu Zetian's request, Di Renjie recommended and Zhang Jian's without hesitation. However, Di Renjie's recommendation made Wu Zetian feel embarrassed.

It turns out that Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie are almost the same age, and Wu Zetian hopes that Di Renjie can recommend younger talents. But Di Renjie said that if Wu Zetian needed a prime minister like him, Zhang Jianzhi would undoubtedly be the best choice.

In 700 AD, Di Renjie died of illness. Five years later, Wu Zetian also reached the end of her life. Just when she was bedridden, the 80-year-old Zhang Jianzhi, together with Li Duozuo and a group of courtiers, launched the Shenlong coup and supported the restoration of Tang Zhongzong and Li Xian, and the country returned to the Li family. in hand.

At this time, Wu Zetian realized that Di Renjie recommended Zhang Jianzhi because Zhang Jianzhi, like him, was loyal to Jiangshan Sheji, not Wu. Only Zhang Jianzhi could continue to think about the country and the country after Di Renjie's death and put the development of the Tang Empire back on the normal track.

Conclusion

As a politician, Wu Zetian is undoubtedly outstanding. It was precisely because of her eclectic promotion of talented people that the Wuzhou Dynasty under her rule was full of vitality. However, it was precisely because of its great tolerance that Di Renjie, Zhang Jianzhi and others were allowed to infiltrate into the court.

It can be seen that even if a person has exhausted all his institutions, he can only accept the rules that are fair and reasonable. Although Wu Zetian successfully seized the imperial power, she still could not stop the loyal people's eager desire to return power to the Li family.