As the only legitimate female emperor in Chinese history, Empress Wu Zetian’s appearance put an end to thousands of years of male rule in China. Interested readers and history encyclopedia editors should take a look together!
Feng Xiaobao, also known as Xue Huaiyi, was a handsome man who later became Empress Wu Zetian’s first male pet and was highly favored by her. Although Feng Xiaobao was a male favorite, he was awarded the title of Liang Guogong and also served as the commander-in-chief of the army several times to resist the attacks of the Turks. Due to his contributions, he was awarded the title of Left Guard Grand General. Later, he was conferred the titles of Grand General of Fu State and Duke of E State, and was also a person of high status and power at that time.
What kind of person is Feng Xiaobao? Why did Wu Zetian spoil him?
Wu Zetian became the emperor as a woman, and the male emperor had concubines. As the emperor, she naturally did not want to be outdone, and she also wanted someone to love. Coincidentally, Feng Xiaobao had a handsome appearance, which naturally made Wu Zetian quite fond of him.
Another reason is that Feng Xiaobao did indeed do a lot for Wu Zetian. Of course, what he did was mainly to create momentum for Wu Zetian to declare herself emperor. The momentum he created was to make the world feel that Wu Zetian’s declaration of emperor was a mandate from heaven and a legitimate one. This is exactly what Wu Zetian wanted, so it is normal for her to love him.
Feng Xiaobao, also known as Xue Huaiyi, was originally a medicine vendor in Luoyang. But he was burly, handsome, and eloquent, and later he fell in love with the maid of the princess. After the princess found out, she was naturally furious, but she didn’t punish Feng Xiaobao because she saw that he looked good.
This princess was originally the daughter of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan. When Wu Zetian came to power, many royal families were killed, but the princess was very good at pleasing Wu Zetian, so she was spared.
Princess Qianjin, in order to please Wu Zetian, offered Feng Xiaobao as her male pet,
Wu Zetian has been widowed since the death of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi. She is also a woman and now holds great power, so she acts without hesitation. When she saw Feng Xiaobao, who was handsome and burly, she was moved and left him in the palace.
Due to Feng Xiaobao’s low background, Wu Zetian also went to great lengths to change his surname to Xue and his name to Huaiyi, so that he and Xue Shao could be of the same clan. Even worse, Wu Zetian asked Xue Shao to recognize Xue Huaiyi as his adoptive father.
Feng Xiaobao received the favor of Empress Wu Zetian, so the court officials and Wu family members also showed him great respect.
Of course, in order to deceive others, Wu Zetian also asked Xue Huaiyi to shave his head and become a monk in order to enter and exit the palace. At that time, she called him “Xue Shi”.
Afterwards, Xue Huaiyi (Feng Xiaobao) also supervised the construction of Baima Temple and Mingtang. He also served as the commander-in-chief of the army, resisting the attacks of the Turks. Due to his meritorious service, he was appointed as the Grand General of the Vice State and the Duke of E State.
Of course, the important thing Xue Huaiyi did for Wu Zetian was to find a Buddhist scripture called the “Great Cloud Sutra”, which tells the story of the female protagonist ruling and becoming a Buddha. This undoubtedly provided a basis for Empress Wu Zetian to declare herself emperor, thus enabling her to declare herself emperor in a clear and legitimate manner.
Later, Wu Zetian fulfilled her wish and became emperor, and Xue Huaiyi was naturally a hero.
Xue Huaiyi was originally a peddler of medicine. Once he gained power, he naturally became arrogant, domineering, and lawless, so he did many heinous things. However, because he was also the male favorite of Empress Wu Zetian, people dared not speak out against him.
For example, Xue Huaiyi once led a group of monks to the streets to act recklessly and steal things. He saw that the Taoist insisted on shaving someone’s head to become a monk, even Gao Dao was sometimes not spared.
Xue Huaiyi also values officials, even prime ministers. For example, he once hit prime minister Li Zhaode.
The emperor had three palaces and six courtyards, and Wu Zetian was a female emperor. She also wanted to have more male pets, so she later had more male pets. Her affection for Xue Huaiyi weakened as she had more male pets.
Everything Xue Huaiyi did was given by Wu Zetian. Even though he was arrogant and domineering, it would have been better if he had been more obedient to Wu Zetian. However, he did not do so. Because Wu Zetian had too many male spoilers, Xue Huaiyi became unhappy and, in a fit of anger, did not go to the palace to see Wu Zetian.
Xue Huaiyi believed that he had made contributions, and Wu Zetian favored him. In order to protest against Wu Zetian’s excessive male favoritism, he set fire to the Mingtang. The Mingtang was built at a huge cost, but now it has instantly turned to ashes.
Xue Huaiyi acted recklessly to such an extent that Wu Zetian could not keep him. Soon after, Xue Huaiyi was killed.
Of course, there are different interpretations of Xue Huaiyi’s death. In addition to being ordered to be killed by Empress Wu Zetian, there are also claims that Princess Taiping sent someone to assassinate her, Wu Youning sent someone to assassinate her, or that Princess Taiping and Wu Youning jointly murdered her.
