I believe everyone should know about Wu Zetian, the only empress in Chinese history. So in ancient times, during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, it can be said that women were also highly respected. But when it came to choosing to become the crown prince, Wu Zetian surprisingly chose Li Xian. Wu Zetian had control over both Li Zhi and Li Xian. It has to be said that Wu Zetian is really very clever. What’s going on here? Let’s take a look with the editor below!
Wu Zetian was a controversial emperor. First of all, she married a father and son, which was also a very controversial thing in ancient times. However, Wu Zetian still did it, and this was only the beginning of her entering the public eye. Her second husband, Li Zhi, was not in particularly good health, so during his time as emperor, Li Zhi handled many important matters in the court, and Wu Zetian also watched and studied beside him. Wu Zetian had a strong ability to learn, and Li Zhi was not a weakling in people’s mouths. He was also a very accomplished emperor.
Before Li Zhi passed away, the power of the court slowly came into the hands of Wu Zetian, and Li Zhi gradually became a puppet emperor. After Li Zhi’s death, Wu Zetian immediately made her youngest son Li Xian emperor. Why is this? Because Li Xian is someone who listens to him more and doesn’t have many strong opinions, she is very suitable for Wu Zetian’s choice of emperor, because all she wants is a puppet emperor.
But what was unexpected was that Li Xian still listened very much to his wife Wei Shi. This situation was not what Wu Zetian wanted to see. She wanted to dominate alone and did not want a second Wu Zetian to appear. So when Li Xian and Wei Shi were not firmly established in the court, they deposed Li Xian and made themselves the empress.
Wu Zetian encountered a new challenge, how to inherit the empire? When it comes to choosing an heir, Wu Zetian had two choices: one was to establish her own maternal family, the Wu family, and the other was to establish her in laws’ family, the Li family. These two are not considered excellent options
If the Li family is established, it means that the bamboo basket drawing water has been in vain, and I have indulged in the addiction of being an emperor with nothing. If the Wu family is established, the empire will immediately face many difficulties, and there will be no support from the ministers in the court. These people can tolerate her becoming emperor, but they will not tolerate the Wu family continuing to be emperor. In addition, the Wu family will be unable to support the wall.
At this time, although the Li family was also poor, with a large number of people flocking around, they had some advantage. However, the decision-making power was in the hands of Wu Zetian. Although Wu Zetian was nearly eighty years old, she still had the most energetic decision-making power in his hands. The problem was that she had no way to change this disadvantage.
So, with Li Xian’s innate advantages and numerous supporters, her own son would never settle for him no matter what, and during the sacrifice behind her, she could still gain some light. Finally, she made up her mind to crown Prince Li Xian, the Prince of Luling. This year was already 698, and she had been emperor for 8 years.
And the Wu family, with extremely poor abilities and no one to support them, were abandoned by Wu Zetian. Even though the Crown Prince had no chance with him, he still did not give up and moved around, including a bunch of male favorites of Wu Zetian. Relying on Wu Zetian’s favor and trust, they acted recklessly and finally angered the courtiers. In the first year of the Shenlong era, Zhang Jianzhi and others launched a rebellion, leading Zhang Yizhi and others, and then forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate. Li Xian ascended the throne, and then changed the country’s name to Tang.
