There are many questions about the only female emperor in the history of our country, one of which is that after being welcomed back to the palace by Li Zhi, Wu Zetian received the highest treatment in front of Li Zhi, even though she was initially criticized. Even the empress was jealous and wanted to execute Wu Zetian.
But in the struggle between Li Zhi’s protection and Wu Zetian’s own, she still sat on the throne as empress. At this time, Wu Zetian had Li Zhi’s special favor, and the women in the harem also kept a distance from her. Even if her son ascended the throne, she was worshipped as the empress dowager. Why did she still have to become the previous generation of empress dowager and be criticized? Below, the history encyclopedia editor will bring you a detailed introduction. Let’s take a look together!
In fact, when it comes to Empress Wu Zetian becoming a female emperor, it was not something she could do alone. There were many things that pushed her to become this female emperor. It is a fact that Empress Wu Zetian had a strong personality, but in ancient times, even if she was strong, she would still create waves in the imperial harem and not involve political affairs.
But Li Zhi relied too much on Wu Zetian, not only doting on her in the harem, but also frequently consulting her on political affairs. Over time, Li Zhi felt the sweetness of Wu Zetian’s help in handling political affairs, and later became even more dependent on Wu Zetian in politics. This gave Wu Zetian the opportunity to expand her ambitions. Although men were superior to women in ancient times, many women had outstanding natural abilities, but most were suppressed. Li Zhi allowed Wu Zetian to discover areas where she could show her talents, so Wu Zetian had a desire for political power since Li Zhi’s time. So even after Li Zhi’s death and her son ascended to the throne, she didn’t want to give up her power, so much so that she almost drove her own son crazy.
At this point, Wu Zetian was already in a dilemma. She told her son that she had no idea about the throne, but her actions frequently changed the emperor. During this period, none of the descendants of the Li family had outstanding abilities, which gave Wu Zetian the opportunity to monopolize power. When Wu Zetian’s desire to hold power reached its peak, she used thunderous means to suppress the opposing ministers in the court and sat on the throne herself.
In fact, looking at the descendants of the Li family after Li Zhi, there are really few who can compare to Wu Zetian. If the Tang Dynasty successfully took over the hands of the Li family, it may not necessarily govern better than Wu Zetian. Therefore, this is also why the descendants of Wu Zetian who proclaimed herself emperor rarely criticize her.
