It is precisely because of this relationship that many of the decisions made by the people of the Tang Dynasty were always creative, such as allowing foreigners to serve as officials. Such a policy was impossible in other dynasties, but it was just a routine operation in the Li a

The nine heavens closed the palace, and the clothes of all nations bowed to their crowns. ——Wang Wei

If we want to select the most open dynasties in the feudal period of our country, Tang Dynasty must be one of them. From the chaotic marriage relationship of the Li and Tang royal families, we can see how enlightened the relationship between men and women in this era was. To what extent.

It is precisely because of this relationship that many of the decisions made by the people of the Tang Dynasty were always creative, such as allowing foreigners to serve as officials. Such a policy would not have happened in other dynasties, but in the Li and Tang Dynasties it was just a routine operation.

The Tang Dynasty was not greatly constrained by feudal ethics, so it was often able to completely break through the bottom line of ethics. Its various behaviors were simply shocking. Li Shimin took his younger siblings and sisters-in-law as concubines, Li Zhi married His little mother was a concubine, and Li Longji brought his daughter-in-law into the harem.

In addition, Helan Minzhi, known as the most handsome man in the Tang Dynasty, also had many strange tricks. He was Wu Zetian's nephew, but he had a relationship with his grandmother, and even took over the crown prince's wife. He insulted Princess Taiping and constantly challenged the bottom line of ethics and morals in the Tang Dynasty. Today we will talk about his story.

Helan Minzhi's perfect start

During the feudal dynasty, family background was extremely important to a person. Although ordinary people could join the ruling class through imperial examinations or meritorious service, the price they had to pay was very high. Many people spent their entire lives without It is impossible to obtain a meritorious title, and if you pass the exam, you may not be able to get an official position.

Ordinary people may only stick to their original class for the rest of their lives. The rulers have firmly imprisoned them in their hands. Everyone can only do their own job for the operation of the empire.

If a person is born into a noble family, the situation he faces is completely different. A good background can allow a person to enter the core of power in the shortest time and at the least cost. If he has certain specialties, he will be favored by the emperor. It's just around the corner.

Helan Minzhi was born in such a family. His father is the Korean public Helan Anshi, and his mother is the Korean lady Wushun. However, his parents are not worth mentioning compared to his aunt, because his aunt is the famous Empress Wu Zetian.

Born into such a family, it was only a matter of time before Helan Min's rapid rise to prominence. In addition to his background, Helan Minzhi was also talented and talented in literature. He often traveled with the literati of the time and became the focus of attention at the time.

According to historical records, Wu Zetian lost his father when he was young. His father warrior Yun and his two sons from his ex-wife marginalized their mother and daughter in every way. In desperation, she could only return to her natal family to live with her mother, and mother and daughter depended on each other.

After Wu Zetian became the queen, she finally had the right to speak. She sent her two brothers, who had felt sorry for her, to serve as officials in other places, while her mother and sister (Wu Shun) shared the glory and wealth with her.

No matter how powerful Wu Zetian is, she is still a woman. In feudal society, men were very important to the family. After driving away her two brothers, Wu Zetian faced a very embarrassing situation, that is, there were no men in her natal family, which would undoubtedly make her She felt insecure.

Wu Shun is Wu Zetian's biological sister, and Helan Minzhi is her son. When Wu Zetian saw his talented nephew, his eyes suddenly lit up and she praised him greatly. At the same time, He Lanmin's own talent and character met Wu Zetian's requirements.

In this way, under the arrangement of his aunt, He Lan Minzhi became the heir of the Wu family (renamed Wu), and history also called him Wu Minzhi .

In general, Helan Minzhi seemed to have received special blessing from God in the first half of his life. He won at the starting line in the initial stage of his life. It can be said that he was very lucky to have such a start.

As the saying goes: "If morality is not matched, there will be disaster." Helan Minzhi's good luck only ended here. A series of events in the later period caused great changes in his heart, and he eventually fell into madness.

Talents have become the playthings of power

The tragic experience in childhood made Wu Zetian have a very deep relationship with her mother and sister. Wu Zetian naturally did her best to let her mother and sister live a decent life in order to repay the two people for their love for her. of kindness.

Mother Yang was canonized as Mrs. Rongguo, and sister Wu Shunze became a Korean lady. She had a high status and could freely enter and leave the palace. Unfortunately, Wu Shun's husband, Helan Anshi, died young. Wu Shun often went to the palace to accompany his sister, which made Wu Shun feel a little comfort in her heart, and also brought her a relationship that she shouldn't have.

When Wu Shun first entered the palace, he always accompanied Wu Zetian to talk and communicate about the friendship between the sisters. Sometimes the elder sister would bring her daughter Helan's with her, creating a scene of deep sisterly love.

However, what Wu Zetian never expected was that her kindness would actually lead to a wolf entering the house. As time went by, after Wu Shun and his daughter entered the palace, they often only stayed in front of Wu Zetian for a while, and then disappeared.

Where did they go? It turned out that while Wu Zetian was pregnant, the mother and daughter had been having an affair with Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty in private. Compared with Wu Zetian's half-old lady, the young and beautiful Helan was even more favored by Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty.

Tang Gaozong wanted to adopt her as a concubine, but Wu Zetian did not agree, so Li Zhi had to make Helan the wife of Wei Kingdom. Wu Zetian was very angry about this. She kindly let the mother and daughter into the palace, but she did not expect that they would retaliate for their kindness.

After being betrayed by her relatives, she naturally couldn't swallow the bad breath, so she found an opportunity to poison Helan to death in the palace. After hearing the news of her sister's death, Helan Minzhi hurried to the palace and saw her sister's body. Devastated.

Li Zhi, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, said: "When I came out to see her, she was still fine, and when I retreated, I couldn't save her. Why have I been so hasty?" It meant that I saw her in the morning and she was fine, but I didn't expect that she died after I retreated. , how could it happen so suddenly.

At this time, Helan Minzhi stopped crying and glanced at Wu Zetian secretly. Wu Zetian also looked at this time. At that moment, Helan Minzhi knew why his sister died. From then on, he no longer treated his aunt like her. So close before.

Although Wu Zetian hoped that Helan Minzhi could help her seize power, since she had the idea of ​​"this son doubting me" in her heart, she also knew that this was impossible, and she began to slowly dislike this nephew.

Helan Minzhi knew that Wu Zetian was the murderer of his sister, but he could not make the matter public, let alone avenge his sister, because Wu Zetian had huge power and was completely powerless in front of him.

Although she was of noble birth, she was just a pawn of Wu Zetian. She might still have some value when she needed it, but once she was given up, she would end up no better than her sister.

Helan Minzhi was unable to resist such a situation. He felt very painful when he thought about it. He could only wander around the flower streets and willow lanes every day to relieve his depression. A generation of talented people fell into mediocrity.

During that time, Helan Minzhi completely let himself go. While enjoying the moment, he often did some outrageous things. Chang'an City kept spreading rosy news about him. Not only did Helan Minzhi not care about these, On the contrary, he was very proud.

Since he cannot avenge his sister, if his actions can bring shame to Wu Zetian, it can also be regarded as a means of revenge. This gives Helan Minzhi a sense of revenge, and it is this road that leads him to perished.

Absurd Revenge from the Nephew

As her grandson, Wu Zetian's mother Yang loved He Lan Minzhi very much, and Lan Minzhi had been very close to her grandmother since childhood. Even as an adult, he still visited his grandmother frequently, which made Yang even more fond of him.

However, after the death of his sister, Helan Minzhi had a bold and crazy plan in his mind.Naturally, Yang often felt empty after living as a widow for many years. Helan Minzhi's company gave Yang great comfort, but it could not solve the fundamental problem.

So with the advantage of being a young man, Helan Minzhi showed off his youthful vitality wantonly in front of his grandmother. Yang, who had been widowed for many years, could not suppress his inner restlessness after seeing his grandson's behavior, and finally the two got together.

At this time, Yang was already in her eighties (it is said to be 89 years old). Such an action was really unbelievable. It immediately set off a wave of private public opinion in Chang'an . Wu Zetian also learned about this. Very shocked.

Historical records about this matter: "Minzhi was young and beautiful, and he was obsessed with the wife of Rongguo. He made many mistakes due to his favor, which made God very displeased..."

In line with the principle that family scandals should not be made public, she still chose In order to be patient, her mother suffered a lot in order to raise her. As a daughter, Wu Zetian chose to acquiesce to Helan Minzhi's absurd behavior in order to make her mother happy.

Helan Minzhi was extremely excited when he saw Wu Zetian's reaction. This was exactly the result he hoped to see. When he thought of Wu Zetian's face full of anger in the palace but did not dare to explode, his heart felt extremely happy.

From then on, Helan Minzhi's behavior became more and more wanton, and his cousins ​​​​and wives became his prey. At that time, the prince Li Hong had reached the age of marriage, and Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian chose the daughter of Si Wei Shaoqing Yang Sijian as the crown princess for him.

The Yang girl is not only docile but also beautiful in appearance. She is an out-and-out beauty. After Helan Minzhi learned about this, he had the idea of ​​​​the crown princess. Before the prince's wedding, he ignored the dissuasion of others and forced her to marry him. Get a glimpse of the princess' beauty.

Seeing that Yang's daughter was indeed as beautiful and charming as people said, He Lanmin was so bold that he forcibly defiled her. Helan Minzhi's behavior was a great insult to the Li and Tang royal families. Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian were extremely angry when they learned about it.

Considering the impact of Helan's death on Helan Minzhi, Wu Zetian chose to minimize the big deal and chose another princess for the prince. Although Wu Zetian tolerated He Lanmin again and again, Helan Minzhi did not restrain himself and seemed to fight Wu Zetian to the end.

As Wu Zetian's favorite daughter, Princess Taiping often went out of the palace to visit her grandmother Yang. Once when she was visiting Yang, she happened to meet Helan Minzhi. Seeing the beautiful Princess Taiping, Helan Minzhi immediately became interested and wanted to plot against Princess Taiping.

The maids who were standing aside saw this and hurriedly stepped forward to stop him. As a result, Helan Minzhi simply pulled the maids and forced them to have sex with them. This incident made Princess Taiping very scared. When she returned to the palace, she cried and congratulated her mother. Lan Minzhi’s behavior.

In the first half of his life, Helan Minzhi received special care from God, but his good luck would eventually run out. With the death of Mrs. Rongguo, Helan Minzhi also lost his asylum. He was sentenced to death after being convicted of dozens of crimes by Wu Zetian. Lingnan, and was strangled to death with a riding crop on the road. He was only 29 years old when he died.

His charges are also very simple. The charges are: committing adultery with his mother, forcing the Crown Princess Yang's daughter to rape, and molesting the young Princess Taiping and her attendants. Each of the charges challenges the ethics and morals of society.

Looking back at Helan Minzhi's life, he was both lucky and unfortunate to be born into a noble family. Fortunately, he had a good start in life. Unfortunately, after his sister left him, he was powerless under the pressure of power and could only be manipulated by others.

's various later deviant behaviors may be his resistance and accusation against such a fate. Two years after He Lanmin's death, his mother Wu Shun also passed away. The story of the family flows in the long river of history.

What are your different views on He Lan Minzhi’s behavior?