The Significance of the Divine Dragon Coup (Zhang Jianzhi Launching the Divine Dragon Coup)

Wu Zetian was an outstanding woman and an iron fisted politician. Many well-known powerful officials were defeated by her, such as Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang. But Wu Zetian was ultimately defeated by Zhang Jianzhi and had no choice but to abdicate. After personally launching the “Divine Dragon Coup”, Zhang Jianzhi forced Empress Wu Zetian to abdicate. So, in history, was Zhang Jianzhi a loyal minister who forced the emperor to abdicate? What kind of person is he? Now the editor will tell you about this politician Zhang Jianzhi, who is even more iron fisted than Wu Zetian.
Zhang Jianzhi is currently from Xiangyang, Hubei. In his early years, he was just an ordinary scholar, but with a brilliant mind, he is a rare talent. However, when Zhang Jianzhi was young, he was not highly valued. After passing the imperial examination and becoming a jinshi, he only obtained the position of county magistrate. Therefore, when he was young, Zhang Jianzhi served as a county magistrate for many years and never had the opportunity to be promoted. But capable people will not be buried. In his 70s, Zhang Jianzhi finally welcomed his opportunity. In 689 AD, the court held a talent selection and inquiry. Zhang Jianzhi stood out among more than a thousand people and achieved good results as the first place. Finally, with this exam, he entered the court.
Later, Empress Wu Zetian declared herself emperor, and Zhang Jianzhi’s official position was Fengge She Ren, who was the secretary of the emperor. At that time, the Turkic people came to request marriage and sent the Turkic princess to the Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian originally planned to marry this princess to Wu Yanxiu, but Zhang Jianzhi strongly opposed it. He believed that Turkic princesses could not marry members of the royal family, so she was disgusted by Wu Zetian and sent him to another place as a governor. Zhang Jianzhi formulated many suggestions within his jurisdiction based on the situation at that time and submitted them to Wu Zetian, but none of them were adopted by Wu Zetian. Therefore, Zhang Jianzhi was not highly regarded in Wu Zetian’s mind.
But later on, during a conversation with Di Renjie, Empress Wu Zetian asked him, “How can we get a truly talented person?” Di Renjie replied, “If Your Majesty were to seek articles or value qualifications, the current prime minister could be competent. Your Majesty also needs talents. Is it because the current officials’ abilities are not enough?” After thinking for a moment, Empress Wu Zetian replied, “Yes. Di Renjie saw this as a good opportunity, so he recommended Zhang Jianzhi to Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian trusted Di Renjie very much, so she immediately recalled Zhang Jianzhi and appointed him as the Pingzhangshi of Tongfengge Luantai, which was equivalent to entering the center of the court. Although Zhang Jianzhi was promoted by Empress Wu Zetian, he was not given much importance, which made Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie very angry.
In fact, the reason why Wu Zetian did not use Zhang Jianzhi was very simple. At that time, there were two treacherous courtiers in the court, namely Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi. They acted recklessly with Wu Zetian’s favor, causing chaos in the entire court. Therefore, Zhang Jianzhi and others hated them very much. In the first year of the Shenlong era, Wu Zetian fell seriously ill and had to recuperate in the palace. At that time, no one could see the emperor, only Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi could accompany him, so in fact, the power at that time was in the hands of both of them. Zhang Jianzhi and others were very anxious when they saw such a situation, so they planned a coup to restore the Li Tang dynasty. Because Zhang Jianzhi’s official position at that time was equivalent to that of a prime minister, he easily contacted many people and even secretly contacted Crown Prince Li Xian to prepare for a coup.
On the 22nd day of the first lunar month in the first year of the Shenlong era, Zhang Jianzhi and his five hundred troops entered the palace. They first went to the Eastern Palace to pick up Crown Prince Li Xian, but Li Xian was afraid of failure and dared not come out. In the end, Wang Tongjiao lifted Li Xian onto his horse and led him towards Wu Zetian’s residence. Zhang Jianzhi led the team to meet Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi outside the Yingxian Palace, and immediately killed them before going in to meet Wu Zetian. At that time, Wu Zetian was still seriously ill and angrily sat up to rebuke them. However, Zhang Jianzhi and others knew that the situation had reached this point and could not retreat. Therefore, they knelt down and forcibly demanded that Wu Zetian pass the throne to Li Xian. With Zhang Jianzhi’s planning, the Shenlong Coup was successful, and the Li family once again held great power in the world.
Zhang Jianzhi was a loyal minister. Although he launched a coup and forced the emperor to abdicate, Wu Zetian was already very incompetent at that time. She appointed two incompetent male pets and caused chaos in the country. Zhang Jianzhi and others decided to take risks for the sake of the country, which is exactly what a loyal minister should do. In fact, I think it doesn’t matter who becomes the emperor. As long as the emperor is a wise ruler, he will naturally gain people’s love and admiration. Wu Zetian was not a qualified emperor in the late period, so I believe that Zhang Jianzhi and others did the right thing. Therefore, for Li Tang Jiangshan and the people at that time, Zhang Jianzhi was an extremely loyal person.