The rise and fall of historical dynasties, as well as the succession of vivid historical figures, have left deep imprints in the long river of history. So why did Empress Wu Zetian let people dig up the tomb of Xu Maogong in history? Below, the History Encyclopedia editor will provide a detailed introduction to the relevant content.
Xu Maogong changed his name four times in his lifetime.
The first name was Xu Shiji, given by his parents. After surrendering to Li Tang, he was given the national surname by Li Yuan due to his outstanding achievements, so he changed his name to Li Shiji. After becoming emperor, Li Shimin changed his name to Li Ji to avoid the emperor’s taboo. Later, when his grandson Li Jiye rebelled, Wu Zetian angrily took back the surname “Li”, and Li Ji became Xu Ji again.
Xu Maogong was cautious throughout his life and rarely intervened in the power struggles of the royal family. Before Li Shimin launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he repeatedly tried to win over Xu Maogong in an attempt to make him contribute, but Xu Maogong remained silent and detached from the matter.
Therefore, Xu Maogong ranked second to last in the list of the twenty-four meritorious officials in Lingyan Pavilion, while the late Tang Dynasty defector, Yuchi Gong, who had average achievements and strongly urged Li Shimin to launch the Xuanwu Gate Incident, ranked first among all the generals.
After Tang Gaozong ascended the throne, he planned to depose Empress Wang and replace Empress Wu Zetian with Empress Wu Zetian. This caused a great uproar in the court, and the founding heroes Qi Qi, led by Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, opposed it. They tried their best to persuade Xu Maogong to join the opposition.
But Xu Maogong remained silent and detached from the matter. In order to avoid the limelight, Xu Maogong claimed that he could not afford to be sick. Later, Tang Gaozong repeatedly sought his opinion, and he could only reply with one sentence:
Why bother asking outsiders about Your Majesty’s family matters
This sentence is quite clever. On the surface, it doesn’t seem to indicate whether to support or oppose, but in essence, the attitude is very clear. This is the emperor’s own family matter, and no one else has the right to interfere. This statement undoubtedly gave Tang Gaozong a shot in the arm, directly helping Wu Zetian become the empress.
It has been proven that Xu Maogong had an extremely sensitive political sense, and his choice to stand on the side of the highest leader was extremely wise.
Not long after, Changsun Wuji, who firmly opposed the establishment of martial arts, although ranked first among the twenty-four meritorious officials in Lingyan Pavilion and was considered the uncle of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, still could not escape the fate of being forced to commit suicide and the entire clan being exiled. And Xu Mao passed away peacefully and justly.
However, humans can only manage their affairs before death, and no one can manage their affairs after death. Xu Maogong never imagined that shortly after his death, he would suffer the fate of having his coffin opened and his body exposed, and it was Wu Zetian who gave this order.
In theory, Xu Maogong made great contributions to Empress Wu Zetian. If it weren’t for his words back then that enlightened Emperor Gaozong of Tang, perhaps Empress Wu Zetian’s position would have been ruined. Why did Wu Zetian treat her benefactor like this? Here, we have to mention Xu Jingye, the “good son” of Xu Maogong.
Xu Jingye is a person with great strategy and courage, but he has an impulsive personality and is prone to acting impulsively. Xu Maogong repeatedly admonished him to change his impulsive personality, but Xu Jingye went his own way. Xu Maogong sighed and said, “This child can prosper my family, but whoever destroys my family will surely have this child
Unexpectedly, Wu Zetian’s words turned out to be a prophecy, deposing the emperor and exposing the ambitions of the wolf. Xu Jingye raised the banner of supporting Li Tang and opposing Wu Zetian, but ultimately suffered a defeat and was killed.
Wu Zetian vented her anger on Duke Xu Maogong, so she had his tomb dug up, ready to scatter his bones and ashes. However, when she examined the tomb, everyone was shocked to find that besides the decaying body, there was only one court dress and ten wooden figures in the tomb of Duke Xu Maogong, not even a porcelain piece.
Wu Zetian sighed and said, “This old Taoist is really cunning, but considering his loyalty and integrity, it’s better to spare him
