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Volume 3: A blow of destiny, the king appears Chapter 28: Zetian words, wordless stele song

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    In the first year of the Holy Calendar (698), Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi sought to be crown princes, and several people sent people to tell Empress Wu: Since ancient times, there has never been an emperor with a different surname as his heir.  Empress Wu in the Literature Museum was undecided. Di Renjie said to Empress Wu: Which one is closer between aunt and nephew or mother and son?  (Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi are both nephews of Empress Wu, while Zhongzong and Ruizhong are the sons of Empress Wu.) If your Majesty has a son, he will worship his ancestors in the Taimiao for thousands of years; if he establishes a nephew, he has never heard of his nephew being the emperor and offering sacrifices to his aunt in the Taimiao.

    He also persuaded Empress Wu to summon back the King of Luling (Zhongzong).  Empress Wu had no intention of establishing Wu's successor and Wu Sansi.  Nai summoned King Luling to return to the Eastern Capital, and the emperor's heir (Ruizong) asked his subordinates to King Luling. Empress Wu appointed King Luling as the crown prince and appointed him as marshal. Di Renjie was appointed as deputy marshal and led troops to attack the Turks.

    Empress Wu believed in Di Renjie and often called him an old man without calling him by his name.  Di Renjie liked to criticize and remonstrate, and Empress Wu always obeyed him.  When Renjie died, Empress Wu cried and said: The court is empty!  I often sigh: God has taken away my country, why did I do it too early?

    Brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were young and beautiful, and served the Empress Wu.  The two of them often wear vermilion powder and gorgeous clothes.  Wu Chengsi, Wu Sansi and others all rushed to pursue them and even held whips and horses for them.

    Zhongzong's eldest son, King Shao Li Chongrun (named King Shao when Zhongzong became crown prince for the second time), his sister Princess Yongtai and her son-in-law Wu Yanji secretly discussed why Zhang Yi's brother could enter the palace at will. Yi Zhi complained to Empress Wu, who ordered Li Chongrun to  , Princess Yongtai, and Wu Yanji were all sentenced to death.

    In Wu Zetian¡¯s later years, the brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong rose rapidly and became Wu Zetian¡¯s new favorites. Princess Yongtai, Wu Zetian¡¯s granddaughter, was executed for discussing the two brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong in front of her husband Wu Yanji and her royal brother Li Chongrun, who was the king of Shao at the time.

    In the first year of Shenlong (705), Wu Zetian was seriously ill and bedridden, with only her favored ministers Zhang Yizhi and brothers Zhang Changzong at her side.  Prime ministers Zhang Jianzhi and Cui Xuanwei, as well as ministers Jinghui, Huan Yanfan, Yuan Shuji, etc., handed over to Li Duozuo, the commander of the imperial army.  Pretending that brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were treason, they launched a mutiny and led more than 500 imperial guardsmen to rush into the palace and kill the two Zhang brothers. They then surrounded Wu Zetian's palace and demanded that Wu abdicate. This is known as the Shenlong Revolution in history.

    The Wu family was forced to abdicate the throne to Prince Li Xian, who became Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty.  Zhongzong's title was Zetian Dasheng Emperor.  After the end of the Wuzhou Dynasty and the restoration of the Tang Dynasty, all officials, flags, uniforms, and characters were restored to the old system, and Shendu was restored to be the eastern capital.

    In the first year of Shenlong, Wu died of illness in Shangyang Palace.  Year eighty-two.  The imperial title was removed from the legacy system and she was called the Great Sage Queen of Zetian.  In the second year of Shenlong (706), he and Gaozong were buried in Qianling Mausoleum, leaving an unmarked stele.

    For Wu Zetian, starting from the Tang Dynasty, there have always been various evaluations from different angles.  Early Tang Dynasty.  Since all emperors were her direct descendants, and Confucian orthodoxy had not yet fully taken hold, the evaluation of Wu Zetian at that time was relatively positive.

    But with the passage of time, especially "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" edited by Sima Guang.  Severe criticism of Wu.  During the Southern Song Dynasty, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism occupied a dominant position in Chinese thought, and the public opinion of devaluing women determined the evaluation of Wu Zetian.

    For example, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the famous thinker Wang Fuzhi.  He once commented that Wu Zetian was not tolerated by ghosts and gods, and the common resentment of her subjects.  But it is undeniable.  Empress Wu was good at governing the country and attached great importance to recruiting talents. She pioneered the imperial examination system. She knew people well and appointed them well. She was able to reuse famous ZTE officials such as Di Renjie, Zhang Jianzhi, Huan Yanfan, Jinghui, and Yao Chong.

    During the period when Wu Zetian was in power, the country had stable policies, proper military strategies, cultural renaissance, and prosperity for the people. Therefore, it has the reputation of Zhenguan legacy. It also laid the foundation for long-term peace and stability for the Kaiyuan rule of her grandson Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian made a huge contribution to history.  contribution.

    The first contribution Wu Zetian made to the development of history was that she attacked the conservative aristocratic families.  After Wu Zetian was established as queen, she kicked out Changsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang and others who opposed her becoming queen one by one, and demoted them to remote areas.  For Wu Zetian, this was to scare the monkeys, but these Guanlong Group and their adherents had become a conservative force with vested interests at that time.

    ¡°Kicking them out of the political arena marked the end of the Guanlong Group¡¯s more than a century-long rule since the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and also created a good condition for social progress and economic development.

    The second is to promote economic development.  In his Twelve Proposals, Wu Zetian suggested encouraging farmers and mulberry trees to reduce taxes and servitude.  After she came to power, she compiled "Zhaoren's Own Industry" and distributed it to prefectures and counties as a reference for prefecture and county officials to persuade farmers.

    She also paid attention to local governance and strengthened supervision of landlords and officials.  We also adopted a relatively tolerant policy towards land annexation and fleeing farmers.

    Therefore, during Wu Zetian's reign, society was quite stable, agriculture, handicrafts and commerce all developed greatly, and the household registration increased from 3.8 million households in the third year of Yonghui reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (652) to 615 in the first year of the Shenlong reign of Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty (705).  10,000 households, with an average annual growth rate of 0.721%.  This was a very high growth rate in the medieval era, and it was also an objective data reflecting the economic development during the Wu Zetian period.

      The third contribution is to promote the development of culture.  When talking about the imperial examination system, Shen Jiji of the Tang Dynasty said: The Queen Mother is very involved in literature and history, and she is very good at carving things.  The Queen Mother has ruled the world for more than 20 years. At that time, there were hundreds of ministers, all of whom were famous for their writings. Over time, it has become a common practice.

    These words of Shen Jiji contain rich content.  First, Wu Zetian attached great importance to the imperial examination and opened up a wide range of subjects.  Once when she was planning to prepare candidates for the imperial examination, she went to the examination room in person and presided over the examination.

    Second, at that time, the examinations for Jinshi subjects and formal subjects were mainly about policy questions, that is, application papers.  The quality of the article is the main criterion for admission.

    Third, Wu Zetian did not look at family status or whether they were the descendants of high-ranking officials, but rather based on their political ability.  Therefore, special attention was paid to selecting senior officials from those who came from the imperial examination.  More and more people are becoming senior officials from the imperial examination.  This greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of officials to participate in the imperial examination, and also stimulated the enthusiasm of ordinary people to study and study.  This is what Shen Jiji calls immersion.

    During the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, the father taught his son, and the elder brother taught his younger brother. The social custom that a five-foot-old boy was ashamed to be taciturn began in the period of Wu Zetian.  It is the popularization of culture that promotes the overall development of culture.  The famous poets and writers Cui Rong and Li Qiao all emerged during this period.  Sculpture and painting have also reached unprecedented levels.

    In addition, Wu Zetian also had a lot of negative comments. Cen Zhongmian said that Empress Wu was willful in doing things and had unpredictable likes and dislikes. By the time she came to court, she had served as prime minister for seventy-three people.

    In the early days of her rule, due to the widespread whistle-blowing trend, she reused ruthless officials such as Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen. In addition, later historians disdained her violation of traditional ethics. As a woman, she actually had many male concubines (called male favorites).  , so the history books strongly criticized her for what she did, and denounced her as insidious, cruel, and good at manipulating power. Together with the dictatorship of Empress Wei during the reign of Zhongzong, it was collectively called the Wuwei Rebellion.

    However, Zhao Yi defended Wu Zetian's private life, saying: The emperor was rich all over the world and had thousands of concubines. It was not strange that the queen was a queen but only had a few favors.  also.

    The main shortcoming of Wu Zetian's rule was the loss of territory.  First, they took the initiative to abandon the four towns of Anxi in 686, and only sent Wang Xiaojie to recover them in 692.

    In addition, the rebellion of Sun Wanrong and Li Jinzhong was aroused in 696, which caused the Khitan Xi to fall into the hands of the Turks during the Wu Zhou Dynasty.  The Anbei Protectorate was under Chinese rule when Emperor Gaozong died, and the indiscriminate killing of Cheng Wuting and the abandonment of famous generals such as Wang Fangyi allowed the Eastern Turks to regain their kingdom.  Anbei never recovered.  She almost gave up all Anbei and Anxi that Taizong and Gaozong had worked hard to manage.

    In addition, if Wu Zetian used Tang Xiujing, Di Renjie, etc. to know people and make good use of them, it was just to correct previous mistakes.  In the early days of Wu Zetian's reign, she appointed cruel officials such as Lai Junchen and Suo Yuanli, as well as commanding the army with Seng Huaiyi and others, which reflected her nepotistic character and her appointment of people was not based on talent.  Things didn't change until later in life.

    Hong Mai of the Song Dynasty said in "Rong Zhai Essays": Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty are not unknown. Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty called them the female protagonists of Zhongying.

    Miscellaneous Records - According to legend, when Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was still alive, he asked an astronomer to tell fortunes. The astronomer believed that within thirty years, all the Li family would die at the hands of a man named Wu.  So Taizong massacred the Wu family's courtiers, but he didn't expect that the person responsible was the Wu talented person around him.

    It is said that during the period of Ganye Temple, Li Zhi once went to pay homage and lost his mind after seeing Wu.  At that time, Queen Wang, who was competing with Concubine Xiao Shu for favor, took advantage of this situation to recruit the Wu family as her own faction to fight against Concubine Xiao Shu. Unexpectedly, both of them died at the hands of the Wu family.

    After Wu Zetian became emperor, she also had many male favorites.  Among them, the most famous one is Feng Xiaobao (Xue Huaiyi). Empress Wu Zetian sent him to become a monk at Baima Temple in the east of Luoyang. His name was Huaiyi, but he still had an affair with Wu Zetian.  One year during the Bon Festival, Huaiyi, who had gradually fallen out of favor at that time, burned the Mingtang in order to attract Wu Zetian's attention, and the fire spread throughout Luoyang.

    In order to reform culture, Wu Zetian created the Zetian script.  Some of the Zetian characters were also spread to Japan and South Korea, and even became the names of some Japanese people.

    Wu Zetian wrote one hundred volumes of "Cui Gong Collection" and ten volumes of "Jin Lun Collection", which have been lost.  There are forty-six poems in existence today, and "Quan Tang Wen" has compiled them into four volumes.

    In the 6 years before Wu Zetian became emperor, she used three reign names. In the 15 years after she proclaimed herself emperor, she used 16 reign names. She was the emperor who used the most and highest number of reign names among Chinese emperors.  Ranking second is Sima Zhong, Emperor Hui of the Western Jin Dynasty.

    In addition to Wu Zetian, there were two other female emperors in history who were generally not recognized by later historians for other reasons. They were the Yuan family of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Chen Shuozhen during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty.
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