Many people are not familiar with what happened after Li Zhi was deposed. Let’s follow the history encyclopedia editor to appreciate it together.
Preface: Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, is also considered a remarkable figure in history. With his step-by-step “cultivation”, he surprisingly sent his wife to the throne, becoming the only female emperor in Chinese history and creating history. When descendants study this matter, they mostly say that Wu Zetian’s rise to power was entirely due to Li Zhi’s cowardice. But in reality, Li Zhi was not indifferent to Wu Zetian’s ambition. He even wanted to depose the empress dowager at one point. What prevented his action?
The Beginning of Disaster
During Li Zhi’s reign, he mainly focused his energy on the diplomatic field, such as appointing and dismissing officials, restoring agriculture, providing relief and disaster relief, and so on. Although he did not make significant achievements, he was ultimately without merit or fault, and the country remained stable and healthy. But how could such a wise emperor be so confused as to let the harem participate in politics?
In fact, Li Zhi didn’t want to do it either, but he really couldn’t express his pain. Why? Because he is ill. This disease belongs to the family inheritance, and during the onset, there is numbness in the limbs, dizziness, and even the risk of coma. In the Book of Tang Dynasty, it was recorded that Li Zhi was suffering from “many bitter wind diseases”, and his illness was more severe than that of his parents and brothers. When he was busy with government affairs, Li Zhi’s vision was so blurry that he couldn’t even criticize him.
In order not to delay national affairs, Li Zhi had to find a capable assistant to help him approve the memorial. Who are you looking for? The relatives are definitely unreliable, and it is already a blessing that these people can remain stable and not rebel. Eunuchs are even more impossible, after all, their cultural level is still insufficient. Where are the courtiers? I can barely give it a try, but most of the high-ranking officials in the court at that time had a complicated relationship with the Guanlong Group, so I couldn’t rest assured.
At this moment, Li Zhi turned his gaze towards the harem. So, on an ordinary night, Li Zhi walked into Empress Wu’s bedroom with his memorial. From then on, this woman stepped onto the political stage of the country and became an undeniable focal point in history.
Power expands, Li Zhi remains vigilant
Speaking of which, although Wu Shi is a woman, she really has a knack for handling government affairs. When approving memorials, she can directly hit the key points, which has won high praise from courtiers. But it cannot be ignored that at this time, a force under Wu Zetian’s command had quietly expanded in the court.
In 662 AD, the court made a large-scale adjustment to the names of departments and officials in the central institutions. Is it surprising that such a grand reform has only changed its name? Of course not, such actions are actually a good opportunity for Wu Zetian’s power to expand. After this change, two powerful ministers under Wu Zetian, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu, instantly took control of the administrative and personnel management power in the court. In this way, Wu Zetian basically controlled most of the power in the court.
But Li Zhi is not foolish. How could he not know about Wu Zetian’s series of actions? So soon, Li Zhi accused Li Yifu of disrespecting the emperor and exiled him to Shu. Although this approach may not sound very intimidating, for Wu Zetian, it was like a heavy blow that really scared her.
Contact Quan Chen and prepare to abolish the post
Although Li Zhi resolved the issue of Li Yifu, who was standing with Wu Zetian at that time, there was still Xu Jingzong in the court who held significant power. Since that’s the case, why don’t you also contact a minister yourself. So Li Zhi selected a high-ranking official at the level of prime minister in the court – Shangguan Yi.
Why him? In fact, Li Zhi has no one else to choose from. There were four high-ranking officials at the level of prime minister in the current dynasty, and apart from Xu Jingzong, the other two were equally unreliable. Liu Xiangdao was originally a capable assistant in overthrowing Li Yifu, but he knew that the empress had already formed a grudge against him, so he hastily resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown. Another Dou Dexuan had a decent character, but his work was not smooth enough and he couldn’t hide anything in his stomach. After much consideration, Shangguan Yi is the most suitable.
After a period of contact and conversation, Li Zhi became more and more convinced of Shangguan Yi. So he first accused her of various behaviors, and then shared his long hidden thoughts: deposed empress!
When these two words were spoken, Li Zhi felt relieved. Unexpectedly, Shangguan Yi in front of him was even more excited than himself. He said, “Empress Wu is ambitious and domineering, and the people of the world have long been dissatisfied. Your Majesty should indeed abolish the empress dowager to please the people!” Hearing someone backing him up, Li Zhi immediately began drafting a decree to abolish the empress and announce it to the world at an appropriate time!
The servant reported and the operation failed
At this critical moment, Empress Wu’s eyeliner around the emperor played a role. At the moment she received the news, Wu Zetian was so scared that she couldn’t walk steadily. She hurriedly ran to the emperor’s palace and caught Li Zhi, who was drafting a decree at the time.
Seeing this scene, Li Zhi was so surprised that he couldn’t speak. However, Empress Wu took this opportunity to play the emotional card in front of the emperor. From chatting about Emperor Taizong’s illness to seeing him again at the Gan Ye Temple, from their acquaintance to their love stories, and all kinds of reminiscing about the past, Li Zhi was overwhelmed and his heart was shaken. In no time, Li Zhi comforted his beloved wife with heartache, and soon put the matter behind the revocation of the imperial edict behind him.
Who is the most unlucky person when two people reconcile like this? Of course, it was the highly excited Shangguan Yi at that time. Later, with the resurgence of Empress Wu’s status, Shangguan Yi was undoubtedly blacklisted and ultimately ended up with a dead end.
Although the matter of deposing the empress was not successful, Wu Hou’s defensive mentality greatly increased thereafter. She knew that although Li Zhi was not ruthless, he was not weak either. She must find a way to personally take care of her husband, otherwise she could be deposed at any time.
From then on, every time the emperor went to court, Empress Wu would accompany him, almost without interruption for more than ten years. Gradually, the empress was involved in making decisions on everything big and small in the court, and Wu Zetian walked step by step from the edge of the political stage to the center of it.
References: “Two Books of Tang”, “Essentials of Tang Meeting”, “Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government”
