On January 22, 705, the Shenlong coup d'état, wu Zetian was overthrown. On the second day, the crown prince Li Xian supervised the country, on the third day Wu Zetian passed the throne to Li Xian, and on the fourth day Li Xian succeeded to the throne. Wu Zetian was driven to Shangyang Palace by her son, and her 15 years as emperor officially ended.
After arriving at the Shangyang Palace, Wu Zetian's spirit collapsed, and his body was also rapidly aging. So much so that when Li Xian saw Wu Zetian again, he was shocked, and the old mother had not been seen for a few days, it was almost as if he had changed as a person.
Why is that? The first is that the years are unforgiving. Wu Zetian was already an elderly man when he was emperor in his 60s, but under the stimulation of power, she rejuvenated her second spring, grew eyebrows at the age of 69, and re-grew teeth at the age of 72. After the second year of Wanli, Wu Zetian's health had been bad, but when she saw outsiders, she still showed a spirited appearance by makeup. However, in the Shangyang Palace, Wu Zetian probably didn't have the heart to wear makeup anymore. Her aging is also clearly displayed in front of outsiders.
Secondly, Wu Zetian's spirit was dealt a blow. On February 4 of the first year of the Shenlong Dynasty, Li Xian issued an edict to change Zhou to Tang, and all systems were restored to the same as before Emperor Gaozong of Tang's death. Wu Zetian's efforts of more than ten years have been written off, which makes her feel that her efforts of more than ten years are like a dream, saying that if she is not there, it will be gone. For a person like Wu Zetian, who has pursued his dreams all his life, there is nothing more tragic and cruel than seeing his achievements disappear.
Although imprisoned in Shangyang Palace, Wu Zetian was not abandoned by his sons and ministers, and Li Xian once told the world that he would lead the Wenwu hundred officials to visit Wu Zetian once every ten days. Regardless of whether this visit was sincere or false, Wu Zetian enjoyed the honor that other Emperor Taishang did not enjoy. Li Yuan and later Li Longji also served as Emperor Taishang, and their career as Emperor Taishang was basically spent in misery, and Wu Zetian was much luckier than them.
In fact, the ministers still had a lot of feelings for Wu Zetian. After the Shenlong coup, when wu Zetian was to be sent to Shangyang Palace, the chancellor Yao Yuanzhi, who was later the Kaiyuan name Yao Chong, wept in public. Zhang Kamzhi criticized him for not doing this appropriately, and Yao Yuanzhi said that his heartfelt feelings of leaving the old lord to shed tears and say goodbye were the obligations of the minister, just as it was the obligation of the minister to kill Erzhang in the first place. Yao Yuanzhi's views are very representative, and many ministers do not dislike Wu Zetian, on the contrary, because Wu Zetian gave them the space and opportunity to rise, they are grateful to her.
On November 26 of the first year of Shenlong, Wu Zetian completed her long and legendary life and died at the age of 82. Before dying, Wu Zetian confessed his posthumous affairs: restoring the identity of Empress Gaozong and burying with Gaozong. Li Xian agreed, personally escorting Wu Zetian's coffin back to Chang'an, opening the Qianling Tomb and burying his mother next to his father.
In doing so, Wu Zetian avoided the fate of being liquidated. In the future Li Tang Dynasty, no matter who became the emperor, it was her direct descendant, and it was impossible to live with her ancestors.
In addition, Wu Zetian also did two unexpected things. First of all, she pardoned the relatives of Empress Wang, Concubine Xiao Shufei, and Chu Suiliang, Han Yi, Liu Yi, and others. Secondly, Wei Yuan faithfully sealed hundreds of households.
Empress Wang and Consort Xiao were among the first victims of Wu Zetian's ascension, and Wei Yuanzhong was the last of her ministers to be wronged as emperor. Wu Zetian told these people and their descendants through these two things, I have forgiven from beginning to end, I can forgive you, can't you forgive me?
Empress Wang and Xiao Shufei's descendants had no record of Wu Zetian's attitude towards Wu Zetian's mistakes, and at this time, he probably had long forgotten Wu Zetian's injustice to him, and only remembered Wu Zetian's kindness to him.
This is the wisdom of Wu Zetian. It is precisely because of this great wisdom that Wu Zetian has received extremely high praise from his time and future generations. This woman, who began with rebellion and ended with a return, left us with countless feelings and thoughts.