Wu Zetian's "superior" road from talented person to queen is on thin ice.

As we all know, Wu Zetian is the only real queen in the history of China, but her political start was not smooth sailing. If she hadn't been skillful in calculation and careful step by step, the fourteen-year-old woman who entered the palace might have disappeared in the long river of history. Wu Zetian was born in a merchant family. His father became rich from the timber business in his early years and later became an "arms supplier" in Tang Gaozu. Although Tang Gaozu called her "Yuan Conggong of Taiyuan", Wu Zetian's father could not provide her with a prominent background. Because Guanlong Group controlled the Western Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties for more than 100 years, according to the concept of family status at that time, only the children of Guanlong Group members were considered aristocratic families and qualified to hold important positions in the court. Although Wu Zetian's father's personal ability made him one of the gentry, he still belonged to a small family with insignificant blood relationship. Therefore, it is natural for the Wu family to be excluded, and it is even more difficult to gain higher authority.

In 636 AD, Wu Zetian entered the palace as a talented person and was named "Mei Niang". As the lowest-ranking official, she can only take care of the life of Emperor Taizong, but she can't get any favor.

The clever and precocious girl was entrusted to Prince Li Zhi, who was four years younger than herself. She racked her brains to get close to Li Zhi and win his favor. The young and cowardly prince soon fell in love with Mei Niang. Seeing that Wu Zetian's fate was about to improve, Emperor Taizong was dying at this time. He was worried that the autocratic situation in Lv Zhi in the Western Han Dynasty would reappear, so he called Wu Zetian to bed and revealed in his speech that he wanted to die.

Unexpectedly, Wu Zetian tactfully said that the emperor's body may not be unable to heal, so he did not dare to die immediately. On the contrary, she was willing to cut her hair into a nun in order to repay the emperor's kindness.

After getting the answer, Wu Zetian quickly packed her bags and prepared to become a monk. Prince Li Zhi, though reluctant, was helpless.

It was not until the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death that Li Zhi, who has become Tang Gaozong, went to Kanye Temple to burn incense, and he was reunited with Mei Niang in his heart by "coincidence". When the two met, the queen Wang knew about it, and the queen Wang took the opportunity to encourage Wu Zetian to return to the palace. In fact, Queen Wang's real intention was to use Wu Meiniang to balance Xiao Shufei, who was favored at that time.

At the beginning of entering the palace, Wu Zetian was respectful to the queen and won the favor of the queen. Unexpectedly, the emperor soon began to favor Wu Zetian and made her a Zhao Yi. At the same time, the queen who fell out of favor and Xiao Shufei began to jointly deal with Wu Zetian. In the face of exclusion and suppression, Wu Zetian is also struggling to find a way out once and for all. Because of her humble background, it is almost impossible for Wu Zetian to reach the top by normal means under the attack of the harem concubines and former aristocratic ministers. It was not until the spring of 654 AD that Wu Zetian gave birth to a clever and lovely daughter that her cruel struggle was triggered. That day was also a coincidence. As soon as Queen Wang visited the baby girl, Wu Zetian received a report and prepared to see the emperor. So he strangled his daughter without hesitation, covered himself with a quilt, and casually went out to see the emperor. After the emperor entered the inner room, Wu Zetian smiled like a flower and didn't panic at all. The emperor excitedly lifted the quilt, only to see his daughter's body. Wu Zetian immediately made a 180 degree reversal of her difficult mood and cried loudly. After asking about the ladies-in-waiting, Li Zhi outlined the ins and outs of things in his mind. In this way, Wu Zetian successfully accused the queen of never turning over.

In Guanlong Group, the staunch supporter of Queen Wang was forced to resign, leaving behind the stubborn Qiu Wuji, who vowed to keep the position of Wu Zetian and made unremitting efforts in a soft and hard way. Wu Zetian gradually realized that she could not get the support of Guanlong aristocratic group, so she looked for supporters among officials who were born in poverty and frustrated.

A lot of things have happened. In the book, Mr. Li Yifu and Mr. Scheeren first asked the emperor to abolish the queen and establish Wu Zetian. Although Wuji and Chu Suiliang of Guanlong Group tried their best to persuade them, the queen was demoted to 10. In June of the same year 165438+ 10, Wu Zetian was made queen and her son Li Hong was made prince.

When Wu Zetian saw that her purpose had been achieved, she accelerated the pace of seizing power. She killed the Queen Wang and killed or demoted the main members of Wuji Group. By 659, the old power group was completely destroyed, and the power of the imperial court returned to the palace. Due to Tang Gaozong's poor health, Wu Zetian began to get involved in political affairs. In the Qing dynasty, she held real power and was an equal with the emperor.

Wu Zetian was autocratic for a long time and began to dominate. Tang Gaozong, who had limited power, was very angry and instructed Prime Minister Shangguan Yi to draft an imperial edict to abolish Wu Zetian as Shu Ren.

Unexpectedly, it was told to Wu Zetian by the eyeliner placed beside Shangguan Yi, so Wu Zetian showed off her acting skills in front of Emperor Gao, and her tears made her feel that what she had done was excusable. So Wu Zetian's demotion went away, but Shangguan Yi was falsely accused, his son was executed together, and his wife and daughter became slaves in the palace.

Wu Zetian's road to authoritarianism is actually a game with the power of the prince. At first, the emperor wanted to pass the throne to Prince Li Hong, so Wu Zetian, who regarded power as her life, killed her own son with poisoned wine. When Li Hong died, he bled from the seventh floor, but it seemed like a relapse, which didn't arouse much suspicion from others.

After Li Hong's death, Li Xian, the second son of Wu Zetian, was made a prince. The emperor tried to make way for him many times, but Wu Zetian resolutely opposed it. A few years later, Wu Zetian found that Li Xian didn't listen to himself, so he imprisoned Shu Ren and made his third son Li Xian a prince.

In 683 AD, Tang Gaozong died, Prince Li Xian succeeded to the throne of Tang Zhongzong, and Empress Wu became the Empress Dowager. With the growing wings of Zhongzong, Wu Zetian abolished him as the king of Luling in an emergency, and his fourth son, Li Dan Tang Ruizong, succeeded him.

However, Zong Rui was controlled outside the power center of Chang 'an and was not allowed to participate in political affairs. However, Wu Zetian still felt uncomfortable and sent someone to force the deposed Prince Li Xian to remove all possible obstacles for his accession to the throne. The imperial clan knew that Wu Zetian was determined to destroy Li, and everyone was in danger, and people were constantly rising up. However, Wu Zetian is in danger. First of all, she lost no time in cutting off the back roads of Pei Yan, Cheng Wuting and others, and mobilized troops. In less than two months, she completely quelled Xu Jingye's rebellion in Yangzhou. What Wu Zetian did is an example. She sternly warned all ministers: "Can you be stubborn enough to get past Pei Yan now?" Despair. Has anyone ever fled Xu Jingye? Good at fighting. Is there anyone who is better at fighting than Cheng Wuting? These three people are very capable and prestigious, but in the end, they were not killed by me. Therefore, I advise you not to challenge the law casually, but to smile generously. "Sure enough, from then on, no one in the DPRK dared to expect anything at will.

In 688 AD, Wu Mi, the nephew of Wu Zetian, sent someone to dedicate a white stone with the words "The virgin will always be the emperor before people" to Wu Zetian, and lied that the stone was accidentally obtained in Luoshui. Wu Zetian is very happy. After choosing an auspicious day to thank God, she officially added the title of "Virgin Jade Emperor". From then on, Manchu Wu Wen also renamed Wu Zetian as "Your Majesty".

The remnants of Li Tang's imperial clan realized the disaster they would face, and the evil Hanwang Li Yuanjia, Li Chong and Betty Wong Li Yuan began to fight one after another. However, thanks to Wu Zetian's years of martial arts, during this period, the Tang Dynasty was strong and the people's hearts were stable, and most people did not want to be exhausted because of changing their surnames. Wu Zetian's army arrived, and Li's army either surrendered or fled, without any fighting capacity. In a short time, Wu Zetian suppressed the rebellion of the kings of Li.

After the success of the rebellion, Wu Zetian tightened her wrist and determined to completely eliminate dissidents. She set up a report box to encourage reporting. If the exposure succeeds, she will be promoted. If the report is false, she will not be held accountable. As a result, a large number of informers poured in from all directions, coupled with clever torture and ruthless officials, Wu Zetian set off a terrible purge. Numerous ministers died in this battle, and hundreds of people died in the imperial clan of Li Tang.

At this point, the atmosphere in the DPRK was tense and cold, and no one dared to speak or disobey. In July, 690, the monks of the Eastern Wei Temple called Wu Zetian the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha, and should take the place of Tang as the East Lord. Soon, Fu Youyi, an imperial historian, liked it and led more than 900 people outside the palace gate to ask Wu Zetian to change her country name to Zhou. Wu Zetian pretended to refuse, but secretly promoted Fu Youyi to serve.

Soon, officials from the DPRK and China, people from far and near, and Taoist monks formed a team to petition Wu Zetian again, and the number reached as many as 60,000. Wu Zetian had to "comply with public opinion" and changed the Tang Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty on September 9, 690. She acceded to the throne in Luoyang and became the only queen in China history.

From a gifted scholar to a queen, Wu Zetian's merits and demerits can be described as a long story. Wu Zetian is always so impressive, whether it is the wisdom of careful calculation or the cruelty of unscrupulous means, whether it is the all-out rule or the bloody suppression. Perhaps a wordless tablet behind her is the most appropriate summary of her life.