Zhangcao is not particularly famous in history. If someone is not particularly familiar with history, he may have never heard of this name, but he ended the political career of a very famous politician in history. This person is the queen Wu Zetian. It is estimated that Chinese people don’t know about this name very few. Wu Zetian rarely encountered opponents in their political career. Even a founding father of the Tang Dynasty like Changsun Wuji, the leader of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion, and a royal relative, was defeated by Wu Zetian. And how could Zhang Jianzhi end Wu Zetian's control and rule over China for nearly half a century? What will his fate be afterwards?
Background of the Shenlong Coup
From the beginning of the reign of the dynasty with her husband Tang Gaozong to the official appointment of emperor in 690 AD, changing Tang to Zhou, and then on the eve of the Shenlong Coup, Wu Zetian had controlled or ruled China for nearly half a century. As she grew older, the issue of inheritance of the throne had become the biggest focus of the political arena at that time, either openly or secretly.
- Starting from 698 AD, Wu Zetian began to solve the problem of successors. At that time, Wu Zetian was hesitant about establishing a son ( Li Xian , Li Dan ) or a nephew (the name was the aunt and nephew at that time, that is, Wu Chengsi , Wu Sansi ). However, court officials represented by Di Renjie, Zhang Yizhi, and male favorites led by Zhang Yizhi, and Zhang Changzong all persuaded Wu Zetian to establish a son but not nephew. In addition, this year, the Turks invaded the border, and Wu Zetian ordered to recruit troops to fight against the enemy, but in a month, he did not recruit a thousand people. Later, he heard that the prince was in charge, and more than 50,000 people came to apply for the election. This incident also made Wu Zetian deeply realize that the people were in the Tang Dynasty, so Wu Zetian cut off the idea of letting the Wu family's children take over and basically made his son Li Xian the heir.
- After that, Wu Zetian began to make up for the rift in the relationship between Li and Wu, although these problems were actually caused by herself. In 699 AD, Wu Zetian arranged for the children of Li and Wu to join forces. She hopes that after her death, the Li and Wu families can live in harmony and share wealth. Representatives of the Li and Wu families, including Prince Li Xian, Prime Minister Li Dan, Princess Taiping and his wife, and Wu Sansi, all cooperated with Wu Zetian's arrangement. But it is estimated that Wu Zetian himself may not believe the effect. After arranging the issue of the heir, Wu Zetian began to become lazy about the government, and perhaps her body was getting older. She began to hide in the deep palace to cultivate and only hang out with the brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong on weekdays. This also led to the arrival of the biggest political crisis in the late Wu Zetian's reign.
The process of the Shenlong coup
In 699 AD, after the Li and Wu families swore, the issue of the heirs of the court seemed to have been clear, and the Li and Wu families also calmed down temporarily. Although the Wu family, who had lost the right to inherit the throne, did not dare to publicly challenge Wu Zetian's arrangements at that time, they obviously had to retaliate against some political enemies who promoted Li Xian's restoration. For example, the prime minister Ji Xu, who persuaded Zhang Yizhi's brothers to support Li Xian's restoration, was framed and demoted in 700 AD.
There is another very important reason for the peace between the Li and Wu families. The new forces suddenly emerged from the Wu Zhou court - the brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong. Zhang's brothers became Wu Zetian's male favorite because of their young and handsomeness. Since 697, they have also made Zhang's brothers the most powerful person in the late Wu Zetian's reign, and even their own children cannot be compared with the Wu family.
- In 700 AD, Di Renjie died of illness, and the Zhang brothers became more powerful in the court;
- In 701 AD, the son, daughter and son-in-law of the Crown Prince Li Xian discussed the Zhang brothers, but was angrily scolded by Wu Zetian, forcing Li Xian to order his son, daughter and son-in-law to hang himself and apologize;
- In 702 AD, Li Xian, with his younger brother Li Dan and Princess Taiping, wrote a letter to request that the Zhang brothers be king;
- In 703 AD, the Zhang brothers falsely accused the court officials of Wei Yuanzhong, and made him demoted.
In just a few years, the Zhang brothers have been spread from being unknown to being powerful all over the world. Even the son and daughter of the crown prince Li Xian (also also Wu Zetian's grandson and granddaughter) were forced to commit suicide and apologize. In addition, Li Xian and members of the Li Tang royal family also had to write a letter to request that they be crowned king. It is conceivable how much hatred members of the Li Tang royal family hate the Zhang brothers. Similarly, Li Xian's son-in-law was also Wu Chengsi's son, and he was also asked to commit suicide. Wu Sansi and others had to flatter and please the young Zhang brothers. From this point of view, the Wu family has no good impression of the Zhang brothers.
Under such a political background, the Li and Wu families began to unite, and the court ministers also launched attacks on the Zhang brothers. The most powerful groups or families in the Wuzhou court except the Zhang brothers united tacitly, and the end of the Zhang brothers was not far away.
In 704 AD, under the planning of the Li and Wu families, the court officials began to attack the corruption of the Zhang brothers, in an attempt to force Wu Zetian to alienate and attack the Zhang brothers. Although the evidence was conclusive, Wu Zetian directly sheltered and pardoned the Zhang brothers for his beloved "little fresh meat" and arranged a scapegoat for them. At the end of the same year, the court officials once again caught the Zhang brothers' handle and convicted another conviction. As a result, Wu Zetian still covered up the Zhang brothers. These political attacks in the court were all resolved by the Queen Wu Zetian. It seems that the short-lived women are left with these ministers helpless. But at this time, Zhang Jianzhi, who was over 80 years old, made his debut, and he was appointed as prime minister in September of that year.
The wheel of history finally came to 705 AD, the first year of Shenlong. At that time, the old Wu Zetian had been sick and rested for a long time. It was difficult for the ministers in the court to see her. The affairs around her and the government affairs of the country were controlled by the Zhang brothers. Seeing that there might be a change, the Li and Wu families and the imperial ministers began to plot to force the palace. The mastermind who forced the palace was recorded in history as Zhang Jianzhi, who had just served as prime minister. However, from the analysis of historical records, the Li and Wu families obviously supported this act of forcing the palace, at least in acquiescent. Otherwise, Zhang Jianzhi, who had just been appointed as the prime minister and was over 80 years old, and only 500 soldiers, would he deal with the queen Wu Zetian, who had been in power for half a century? Personally, I think it is impossible! The actual process of the
incident was actually very simple. On the 22nd day of the first lunar month, 705, Zhang Jianzhi and others led 500 soldiers into the palace from Xuanwu Gate, directly killed the Zhang brothers and then reported to the Queen Wu Zetian (actually forcing the palace). Wu Zetian questioned Zhang Jianzhi and others who participated in the coup in person and then scolded Prince Li Xian who was hiding behind them. But the elderly Wu Zetian was obviously unwilling to fight with them any longer. Soon she accepted the result of the coup. Two days later, she issued an edict to pass the throne to Li Xian. Like the Xuanwu Gate Incident, the entire coup ended in three days.
After the Shenlong Coup, the status of Zhang Jianzhi and others and the political structure of the Tang Dynasty
705 in the first month of the Shenlong period, the Shenlong Revolution not only brought Li Xian back to the throne, but also turned the Wu Zhou regime back to the Li Tang regime. Zhang Jianzhi and others were also promoted to the title. Among them, Zhang Jianzhi, Jinghui, Cui Xuanwei, , Huan Yanfan, , Yuan Shuji, were all named Duke because they were the main planners and implementers. At the same time, they also held important positions in the court of Li Xian, and became the leader among the officials of the court at that time.
But soon a new political game began. After Zhongzong ascended the throne, his power was quickly controlled by Empress Wei. Originally, Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian had a cowardly personality and Empress Wei had a strong personality. When the couple was exiled and suffered from exile, Li Xian felt guilty towards his wife, so after the restoration, Empress Wei was allowed to control the government. Empress Wei, who has a strong desire for power, and her ambition daughter, Princess Anle, quickly formed a new force group. They all wanted to follow Wu Zetian's example in controlling the government and even ascend to the throne and become emperor.
The behavior of Empress Wei and Empress Wei was soon discovered by Wu Sansi, the leader of the Wu family. He began to actively unite Empress Wei and Empress Wei. There were even rumors that he was also Empress Wei's lover. He also asked his son to marry Princess Anle, which quickly formed a political alliance between the Wei and Wu families.Compared with Empress Wei, who is ambitious but lacks political experience and ability, Wu Sansi's ability to fight politically is obviously much higher. He became an important official of this group in the court, and also absorbed outstanding female officials like Shangguan Wan'er and became an important helper for Empress Wei and her daughter to interfere in politics in the harem.
After Wei Wu Group appeared, the first goal was Li Chongjun, the prince of Zhongzong at that time. Because the existence of the prince was the biggest obstacle for Empress Wei to ascend to the throne of the queen, the biggest obstacle for Princess Anle to become the prince's daughter, and of course it was also the biggest obstacle for Wu Sansi to regain control of the government and wait for an opportunity to realize his political ambitions.
However, when the attack on Prince Li Chongjun, the first thing to do is to suppress and control the civil servant group in the court. After all, these people will definitely maintain the status of Prince Li Chongjun from the perspective of the etiquette and legal system. If the civil servant group is not suppressed and controlled, the political attempt of Wei Wu Group would not be realized. At that time, the leader of the civil servant group was the five heroes of the Shenlong revolution led by Zhang Jianzhi.
So Wu Sansi began to plan to attack Zhang Jianzhi and others. The scheming and concise Wu Sansi knew very well about the distribution of forces in the court at that time. First, the Wei Wu group led by Empress Wei and him, the other members of the Li Tang royal family led by Li Dan and Princess Taiping, and the third, the civil servant group led by Zhang Jianzhi.
Wu Sansi first deprived of their actual government power by empowering Zhang Jianzhi and five others to be crowned as kings by Empress Wei and Zhongzong. And because of the addition of the title of king this time, Zhang Jianzhi and five others are also called "Divine Dragon Five Kings ". Not long afterwards, Wu Sansi and others fabricated charges and falsely accused Zhang Jianzhi and other "Five Kings", causing Emperor Zhongzong of Tang Dynasty to exil to Zhang Jianzhi and other "Five Kings of the Dragon" on the frontier. Zhang Jianzhi died of worries and anger after reaching the exiled place, and the other members of the "Five Kings" also died of misfortune.
In the process of attacking the "Five Kings of the Dragon" and Prince Li Chongjun, Wu Sansi continued to increase the fiefs and rights of Li Dan and Princess Taiping through Zhongzong in exchange for the default and neutrality of these two royal members who were very influential in the political arena at the time. However, their forced the prince took the risk and fought with force. Although he was defeated and died, the Wu Sansi family was killed by Li Chongjun, which directly led to the decline of the Wu family and caused the Wei Wu group to lose an important leader, which also laid the groundwork for the complete collapse of the Wei Wu group later.
finally said: Zhang Jianzhi served as prime minister a year before the Shenlong Revolution. Under the harsh political situation where Wu Zetian favored and covered up the Zhang brothers, he took decisive measures to jointly contact and win the support of the Li and Wu families. With the support of these political forces, he led his troops to launch a coup, forcing the Empress Wu Zetian to abdicate, and welcomed Li Xian to restore the title of the Tang Dynasty.
After Li Xian was restored, Zhang Jianzhi was also named the Minister of Heavenly Officials and the Duke of Hanyang County for his merits. He was then plotted by his political enemy Wu Sansi and was first awarded the title of Prince of Hanyang County. Although his title was high, he lost government power. Later, after being falsely accused and slandered Wei, he was demoted to his hometown by Zhongzong Li Xian and retired. He was soon exiled to Longzhou and died of worries and anger. He ended up miserably.
In 710 AD, Empress Wei's power fell, Li Dan ascended the throne, Zhang Jianzhi was immediately rehabilitated with the other five kings, and was posthumously awarded the title of Zhongshu Ling, with the posthumous title of Wenzhen. Tang Xuanzong In the sixth year of Kaiyuan, he was granted the Zhongzong Temple Court. During the middle age of Jian, Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty, he was posthumously awarded him as Situ.
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