Where is the imperial son in the pavilion now? The Yangtze River flows freely outside the threshold. Looking at the river of history from afar, feeling the vicissitudes of history, and walking into the story of Wu Zetian with the editor of the History Encyclopedia.
Wu Zetian is widely recognized as the only female emperor in history. She walked from the imperial harem to the front court, assisting the emperor in handling political affairs, and then seized power, sitting on the throne of God. With one person’s strength, she faced the loyal ministers of the Li family with iron fisted and resolute actions. Her achievements for the country and the court were no less than those of ordinary male emperors. But in the end, it was still impossible to completely establish the dominance of the Li family. Also, how could she compete with the patriarchal society that had been passed down for thousands of years, relying solely on her as a female?
In 705 AD, Crown Prince Li Xian and Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi launched a rebellion, forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate and supporting the restoration of Tang Zhongzong. Wu Zetian had expected that the overall situation had been decided. On the second day of the coup, Wu Zetian asked the crown prince to supervise the country. Three days later, she abdicated the throne to the crown prince. On the the fourth day, Li Xian officially succeeded to the throne. Wu Zetian left the political stage, and her miracle could not continue. Two months later, the country title was restored to Tang, and her rule was completely ended.
In the fourth year of Chang’an, Wu Zetian, who had lived to the age of 80, fell seriously ill and lay in bed. In her welcoming palace to the immortals, only her male pets Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong served, and the ministers would not come to report again. As a result, only her male pets served the empress and even intervened in court affairs, which made the relationship between Wu Zetian’s mother, son, and the emperor and ministers even more tense. According to historical records, they have not been proven to have engaged in rebellion, but it is likely that they had intentions of rebellion. After all, as male favorites, they had no power or influence. Once the Empress passed away, they would not have a good ending. Therefore, they colluded with the Imperial Guards and military commanders to promote a coup. There were rumors circulating in Chang’an at that time, but even if there was a plan, it was probably strangled in the cradle.
Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi had already regarded them as thorns in his eyes and wanted to kill them before forcing the Empress Dowager to abdicate. He took advantage of his position to appoint his confidants as the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Forest Army. If he wanted to promote the palace coup in the future, it would be a great help. At the same time, he could also use his confidants to unite with the Crown Prince, exchange plans, and conspire for major events.
When the time was ripe, Wu Zetian, who was old and seriously ill, could no longer control the situation. The Li family and ministers began to implement a plan to regain power. First, Zhang Jianzhi led a group of generals to attack the palace, and then the Crown Prince led five hundred soldiers and imperial guards to force the palace. Even though Wu Zetian’s army was guarding the palace, facing the Crown Prince, it was very likely that he would be the new emperor tomorrow. Therefore, they did not obstruct him much, and Li Xian easily led his army into the palace.
But when Wu Zetian arrived at the Xiangong Palace in her territory, there was a conflict between the army and the guards outside the palace. However, it was impossible to stop the fierce Crown Prince and Prime Minister. Even the brothers Zhang Yizhi who came to hear the news were killed, and their heads were hung in the south of Tianjin Bridge. These two brothers usually rely on their status as female emperors and male favorites, flaunting their power and acting arrogantly. When the people saw the death of the Zhang brothers, they were simply delighted and delighted. However, there was one person who was not happy, and that was Wu Zetian. When she came out and saw the two brothers who had died in the corridor, even if she didn’t really like them, it was undoubtedly a provocation to her face. So she asked Zhang Jianzhi why he did this.
Zhang Jianzhi was not afraid at all and replied, “At that time, you were able to wield great power because the Crown Prince was still young, and Emperor Gaozong entrusted him to you. But now that the Crown Prince has grown up, he no longer needs to live in the Eastern Palace. The people of the world also hope to see the Crown Prince inherit the throne, so they hope you can step down as soon as possible.” At this point, Wu Zetian already understood that the situation was hopeless, and her eyes were dazzled, so she had to agree.
Wu Zetian was able to declare herself emperor in the first place because her husband and son were unable to suppress her. If it were her father-in-law Li Shimin, she would not have had the opportunity to engage in political affairs. Emperor Gaozong of Tang was weak, and even his son, under the authority of his mother, was unable to stand tall and speak. Now that Wu Zetian is in her twilight years, Li Xian, with the support of her ministers, is forcing the palace. Her other brother Li Dan, although the Prime Minister of Anguo, is usually cowardly, is now able to support her brother in reclaiming the Li family’s territory, which makes his son Li Longji look at him differently.
Now that the forced palace has been successful, Li Dan, who was anxiously waiting outside the palace, has finally calmed down. Fortunately, there were not many bloody incidents during this forced palace, only the deaths of the Zhang brothers. After all, this is still the palace of the Li family, and there is no need for a large-scale killing spree. Although they were defeated, Wu Zetian was their biological mother and received proper placement. After some arrangements, Wu Zetian completely abdicated. One year later, she passed away, and her last wish was to be buried with her husband. She also took the initiative to abolish her former imperial title and be buried in the name of the empress.
Wu Zetian was able to abdicate smoothly thanks to the support of a group of ministers. Five important ministers, led by Zhang Jianzhi, were later crowned kings based on their merits and rewards. Therefore, this coup was also known as the “Five Kings’ Coup”, and later generations praised their achievements. However, the fate of these five people at that time was not very good.
Although the Zhang brothers have been eliminated, the power of the Wu family has not been completely eradicated. At that time, Xue Jixu once advised Jinghui: “Although the two brothers have been eliminated, there are still big figures like Lv Chan and Lv Lu in the court. Now we should take advantage of the situation to eliminate Wu Sansi, so that we can smoothly support the legitimate family.” This matter has also been repeatedly reported to Zhang Jianzhi by Jinghui, but Zhang Jianzhi did not agree, so Jinghui did not insist anymore.
Later, Empress Wei also wanted to follow the example of Empress Wu when she came to power. Wu Sansi colluded with her and became a disaster, so some people in the court shifted the responsibility onto Jinghui. Emperor Zhongzong was incompetent and confused, so he punished five people and demoted them all to official positions. So they can no longer deal with Wu Sansi, and Jinghui has repeatedly lamented and regretted not persisting in the past.
Why doesn’t Zhang Jianzhi agree to take advantage of the situation and eliminate Wu Sansi? He later explained the reason, ‘This is the emperor’s business.’ The reason why the emperor did not take advantage of the situation to eliminate the martial arts forces was because he wanted to stay and personally eliminate them, which showed his bravery and loyalty. Zhang Jianzhi died of depression in New South Wales, while the remaining four were either killed by the enemy or died of illness, and did not enjoy their old age properly.
