Wu Zetian was the only legitimate female emperor in Chinese history, and was known as one of the “Two Saints” along with Emperor Gaozong. Today, the history encyclopedia editor brings relevant content to share with you.
She marked her name on historical milestones and is still well-known to this day. Wu Zetian’s fame far exceeded that of many other emperors, and she was very successful in this regard. In terms of political achievements, she laid the foundation for the Tang Dynasty’s “Kaiyuan Prosperous Era” and propelled the Tang Dynasty to its peak.
Wu Zetian’s succession was met with many doubts, as court officials appeared to submit to her on the surface, but in reality, they all wanted to replace her. In the eyes of these officials, women should never sit on the throne no matter what. In the social context of that time, her succession was bound to be particularly difficult. And she didn’t give up because of this, instead she won beauty.
Wu Zetian’s ultimate ascension to the throne was not only due to her intelligence and talent, but also her ruthlessness and cruelty. A prime minister once wrote the word ‘green goose’ and was beheaded, but the officials did not understand her actions. Wu Zetian responded, ‘Please read the characters separately.’. The officials suddenly realized what was going on here?
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Prime Minister Pei Yan
The prime minister who wrote the word ‘green goose’ refers to Pei Yan, who was one of the famous prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty. Pei Yan was born into an official family and has had a passion for reading since childhood, deeply understanding the principles behind it. He gave up playing time with peers just to read more books, which is the beloved “other people’s children” by parents. Pei Yan is so unique, which indicates that his life must also be unique.
Pei Yan has high expectations for himself, and he cannot tolerate any flaws in his studies. Only by fully mastering the knowledge in this book will he start learning the next one. Only by successfully completing his studies can he allow himself to enter the officialdom. For this reason, Pei Yan once refused promotion from the government, stating that his knowledge was not sufficient to hold official positions.
This is worth learning for everyone. Pei Yan was able to remain unaffected by external interference, uphold his beliefs, and continue to cultivate himself, ultimately achieving the position of prime minister. If he didn’t have absolute ability, Pei Yan wouldn’t have become a prime minister for no reason, and he was still a prime minister during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian. After completing his studies, he took the imperial examination and indeed achieved good results, successfully obtaining official positions, which made countless scholars envious.
There is no perfect person in the world, and Pei Yan is no exception. Pei Yan has the advantage of being diligent and eager to learn, while he also has the disadvantage of being jealous. In a war, he promised to surrender without killing and brought many Turkic generals under his command. Pei Yan was very jealous of Pei Xingjian and executed the surrendered Turkic generals. Pei Yan caused the country to lose its credibility due to his own selfish desires, which was not done by wise officials.
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be extremely cruel and merciless
Wu Zetian’s life was full of ups and downs. Her father was a founding hero and her family background was relatively good. At first, Wu Zetian was only a talented person of Li Shimin and did not receive any favor. Before she entered the palace, her mother shed tears and couldn’t bear to part with her daughter, fearing that she would face various dangers and not be able to survive in the deep palace. But Wu Zetian didn’t think so. Instead, she saw entering the palace as a heaven sent opportunity.
At this point, Wu Zetian had already shown her ambition, and she was by no means an ordinary person. She met Li Zhi in the palace and developed feelings for each other. This relationship gave her the opportunity to leave the Gan Ye Temple, and Li Zhi later reintegrated her into the palace. During her youth, Wu Zetian did not have smooth sailing, but instead suffered greatly due to palace conflicts.
During the process of competing for favor with the concubines in the palace, Wu Zetian’s ruthlessness was fully revealed. After Wu Zetian gave birth to the princess, Empress Wang came to visit and showed great affection for the little princess. Unexpectedly, after Queen Wang left, Wu Zetian personally strangled her one month old daughter and calmly covered her with a blanket. Wu Zetian successfully framed Empress Wang, and Li Zhi therefore wanted to depose her.
Wu Zetian would do anything to achieve her goal, willing to sacrifice everything. When she was in the harem, she spared no effort to strangle her daughter in order to eliminate her competitor, Queen Wang. When seizing power, she poisoned her son Li Hong to prevent Li Zhi from giving way.
Wu Zetian showed no mercy towards her enemies, and the most common way was to exterminate them all. Once someone touches Wu Zetian’s interests, she ruthlessly kills them. She is like this to children, and even more so to officials. This is also the reason why Pei Yan was directly beheaded when he wrote the word “green goose”. Wu Zetian did not hesitate for a moment when dealing with those who betrayed her.
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The word ‘green goose’
Wu Zetian was knowledgeable and talented. She naturally knows how to govern the country and how to use people. Pei Yan was once highly valued by Wu Zetian and was able to hold the position of prime minister. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Zhongzong wanted to appoint his father-in-law as a attendant, but Pei Yan strongly opposed it. However, Emperor Zhongzong did not take Pei Yan seriously and stated that he did not need an official to guide his actions.
Pei Yan immediately felt that Tang Zhongzong was too foolish, so he reported this matter to Wu Zetian and advised her to depose Tang Zhongzong. Wu Zetian indeed deposed Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and enthroned Emperor Ruizong of Tang. Pei Yan’s talent was thus discovered by Wu Zetian, symbolizing Pei Yan’s official joining Wu Zetian’s camp. Pei Yan repeatedly advised and presented several clever strategies to Wu Zetian. At this time, Pei Yan and Wu Zetian were more like allies.
With the increasing power of Empress Wu Zetian, she was no longer able to readily accept advice, but became increasingly arrogant and unrestrained. Pei Yan repeatedly advised Wu Zetian, but not only did it not have a positive effect, but it also made Wu Zetian develop hatred. The situation seems to have turned back to the way Pei Yan and Tang Zhongzong did back then, but Pei Yan couldn’t find a second Wu Zetian.
Xu Jingye rose up in Yangzhou to oppose Wu Zetian, and Pei Yan decisively chose to leave Wu Zetian’s camp. Wu Zetian immediately had murderous intentions towards him. Above the main hall, Pei Yan bluntly urged Wu Zetian to return to power and withdraw the rebel army. Wu Zetian imprisoned Pei Yan and refused to let him go despite the pleas of officials. Pei Yan’s letter was intercepted, containing only the word ‘green goose’.
Wu Zetian cleverly interpreted the two characters using the method of breaking down characters, interpreting them as Pei Yan’s intention to become an insider for Xu Jingye. The civil and military officials dared not refute, and could only watch helplessly as Pei Yan was executed. In fact, the interpretation of the word “green goose” may not be accurate, but Wu Zetian’s killing intent towards Pei Yan is absolutely true.
The two words’ green goose ‘are not the focus, and whether or not these two words are present, Pei Yan’s ending will not change in any way. It doesn’t matter whether Pei Yan truly betrayed Wu Zetian. He crossed Wu Zetian’s bottom line, and his death was inevitable. Pei Yan’s death once again proved Wu Zetian’s ruthlessness, perhaps this was her weapon on the road to power.
04
summary
In history, there have been varying evaluations of Wu Zetian, with some praising her talent and others hating her ruthlessness. Although Wu Zetian was a woman, her ability to govern the country far exceeded that of men. Her existence proves that women’s talents cannot be ignored, and their status should not be lower than that of men. It’s just that feudal society is unwilling to acknowledge this, and there has never been a second empress in history.
Anyway, the Tang Dynasty did not perish at the hands of Empress Wu Zetian, but moved towards the next stage of strength. Wu Zetian provided a large number of talented individuals, which enabled the country to have a rich reserve of talent. Wu Zetian was open-minded and knew how to accept advice. Although not as good as Li Shimin, it is truly rare. Wu Zetian’s various achievements cannot be ignored, but her ruthlessness is truly chilling.
