Today, the History Encyclopedia editor brings you an article by Wu Zetian, hoping to be helpful to everyone.
Throughout the dynasties, there have been few female dictators, and the only female emperor is Wu Zetian, so many ordinary people are familiar with this figure.
But this person is not a virtuous wife or mother. Her life can be said to be a pursuit of power. In order to become an empress, he persecuted his benefactor, Empress Wang, and did not let go of Xiao Shufei.
Perhaps people think that the struggle in the imperial harem is indeed cruel, either you die or I live. However, in order to achieve absolute power in the court, Wu Zetian did not hesitate to kill her eldest son Li Hong, who had different political views from her. Her second son was also personally executed by her because he was not obedient enough.
Her behavior of resorting to any means necessary for power has always been criticized by later generations. In her later years, she also raised many male pets, one of which was Zhang Changzong introduced to her by her daughter Princess Taiping. Zhang Changzong’s brother Zhang Yizhi also became Wu Zetian’s male pet and one of her favorite male pets because of Zhang Changzong’s favor.
In her later years, Empress Wu Zetian, due to Zhang Yizhi’s actions, killed her own relatives, including a pregnant granddaughter. This event is recorded in official history, is it true?
Zhang Yizhi’s domineering behavior was not accepted by everyone
After Zhang Yizhi gained power, he became increasingly domineering. After all, as a popular figure around Wu Zetian, he had been promoted and ennobled all the way, and later was even appointed as the Duke of Huan. Almost all the civil and military officials in the court acted according to his face.
However, his domineering behavior will inevitably lead to dissatisfaction from others, especially the Li Tang royal family and the later Wu family who gained power because of Wu Zetian. They are most dissatisfied with Li Yizhi and Li Changzong, after all, both of them rely on Wu Zetian to pretend to be powerful here. As long as Wu Zetian dies, neither the Li family nor the Wu family will let them go.
But as long as Li Yizhi can wield power, he will continue to dominate. As long as Wu Zetian remains in power, he will not allow anyone to express dissatisfaction with him.
Li Zhongrun, the son of Li Xian, and Wu Yanji, the son of Wu Chengsi, are respectively the brother and husband of Li Xianhui, the Princess of Yongtai County. As they are in laws, they often keep in touch. Sometimes it is inevitable to talk about the situation of the court and express dissatisfaction with Zhang Yizhi’s participation in politics, expressing one’s emotions.
However, when Zhang Yizhi learned about this matter, he went to give a report to Wu Zetian, saying that Li Chongrun and Wu Yanji were not satisfied with Wu Zetian’s trust in him, and that outsiders were speaking ill of him, that is, speaking ill of Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian was naturally very angry, and in order to maintain her long-standing authority and vent her anger on her male pet, she did not take her family seriously and directly killed her relatives Li Chongrun and Wu Yanji. Princess Yongtai was also killed because she was implicated, and she was pregnant when she died.
Later, with the help of several courtiers, the father of Princess Yongtai, Li Xian, was finally restored and became emperor again. He felt very sorry for his daughter and even changed her burial to a tomb in honor of her. She became the only princess in history whose tomb was called a “tomb”, and only the emperor could enjoy its specifications.
Was Princess Yongtai really killed by Empress Wu Zetian
In the last century, a tomb of a Tang Dynasty princess was discovered and subjected to archaeological exploration. It was ultimately found to be the tomb of Princess Yongtai. However, the epitaph in it stated that Princess Yongtai’s death was due to difficult childbirth, rather than being punished for being implicated as described in historical books. Did we wrongly blame Wu Zetian at this time, or did she let go of her granddaughter?
Archaeologists conducted technical exploration of Princess Yongtai’s pelvic bones in order to investigate this issue, and found that her bones were indeed relatively young compared to her peers, and her death during childbirth may be a real event.
Let’s revisit the history books again. The history books state that Princess Yongtai’s husband and brother were killed on the third day of September, while the Tomb Inscription tells of Princess Yongtai’s death on the fourth day of September.
They died one day apart, perhaps Wu Zetian did not actually execute her. After all, if Princess Yongtai was implicated and executed, she could have been executed on the same day.
Perhaps Wu Zetian did not really harm her granddaughter, but she killed someone else’s husband and brother. This heartbreaking news, which Princess Yongtai knew, undoubtedly triggered her fetal qi and led to premature birth.
Perhaps it was due to a severe mental blow, followed by the occurrence of difficult labor, that ultimately led to death during childbirth, with one body and two lives lost. From this perspective, it is not an exaggeration to say that Wu Zetian caused her death.
