Many people are not familiar with Wu Zetian’s male pet, so let’s enjoy it together with the history encyclopedia editor.
Since ancient times, it has been male emperors, but history has witnessed the emergence of the extraordinary woman Wu Zetian. After Wu Zetian came to power, the country was prosperous and the people were at peace, and the economy was very prosperous, so there were not many people in the court who were dissatisfied with Wu Zetian. Before Empress Wu Zetian, women relied heavily on men for their livelihoods. There are 3000 beauties in the imperial harem, but not many of them can make the emperor remember their names. As long as they receive a little favor from the emperor, they can immediately fly onto the branches and become phoenixes.
After Wu Zetian came to power, she also followed the example of previous emperors and actively expanded her harem. It is said that Empress Wu Zetian once had four male pets in history, and it is unknown how many of them did not leave a name in history. So the question is, why didn’t these male pets make Wu Zetian give birth to a prince or a princess?
Huaiyi
Wu Zetian had multiple men throughout her life, with the most famous being two emperors, Li Shimin and Li Zhi. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Wu Zetian was gentle and lovely, completely resembling a weak woman. During the reign of Li Zhi, due to his indecisiveness, Wu Zetian gradually began to dare to govern. But more importantly, he provided advice and strategies for Li Zhi. So Li Zhi was still very confident in Wu Zetian during his lifetime.
After Li Zhi’s death, Wu Zetian ousted her son from the throne and declared herself emperor. Wu Zetian’s first male pet was Xue Huaiyi. Xue Huaiyi was originally a small peddler, but he was very brave and eloquent, which made Wu Zetian very happy. This person’s original name was Feng Xiaobao. In order to deceive others, Wu Zetian even asked Feng Xiaobao to become a monk and change his name to Xue Huaiyi before including him in the harem.
However, Xue Huaiyi did not have self-awareness. Later, relying on Wu Zetian’s favor, he caused trouble in the court. Gradually, Wu Zetian grew tired of Xue Huaiyi and his fate was very tragic.
Shen Nanmiao
Shen Nanmiao was Empress Wu Zetian’s second male pet. He was an imperial physician, and when Empress Wu Zetian was ill, it was usually Shen Nanmiao who consulted her. After going back and forth, the two gradually developed feelings for each other, and coupled with their disgust towards Xue Huaiyi, Shen Nanmiao successfully rose to power. There are not many records about Shen Nanmiao. There is one theory that he later died in the harem, and another theory that Shen Nanmiao was tired of this game and voluntarily retired and returned home.
Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi
Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi were a pair of brothers, both recommended by Princess Taiping. Due to her beautiful appearance, she quickly gained the favor of Empress Wu Zetian. And the two of them also had their own opinions in politics, becoming Wu Zetian’s right-hand men for a time. However, these two brothers still drifted away with the favor of Empress Wu Zetian and, like Xue Huaiyi, began to slowly lose themselves. Wu Zetian turned a blind eye to the actions of the two brothers. Later, Wu Zetian fell seriously ill, and Li Xian was reinstated to the throne. Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi, the two brothers, were all executed.
These four people are all male favorites of Empress Wu Zetian that are recorded in historical books, and it is unknown how many are not recorded. Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong Li Zhiyu had 4 sons and 2 daughters, but they have not had any sons with their male pets for so many years.
Many people believe that this was caused by the social environment at that time. Although Wu Zetian was the empress, it was still an era of male superiority and female inferiority at that time. So when Wu Zetian raised a male pet, she also had to hide it from others to avoid being poked in the spine.
But personally, I think the biggest reason is that Wu Zetian was a woman, and once she became pregnant and gave birth, her body would be weak and vulnerable, which inevitably led to the downfall of the government. In order to consolidate her political power, Wu Zetian chose not to have children. What do you think?
