In 690, Wu Zetian was proclaimed emperor, and the first female emperor was born in Chinese history. The throne of the emperor, the lifelong desire of many hot-blooded boys, has now fallen into the hands of an old woman. Historically, wu Zetian's evaluations have been mixed, and she rectified the rule of officials and promoted the Tang Dynasty to its peak, but the 81-year-old recruited male pet also pushed her to the cusp of the storm.
Talented Female Warrior Clan
Wu Zetian's original name was Wu Cao, originally the second daughter of The Governor of Jingzhou, Wu Shiyan, and although her family wealth was not as good as that of the military nobles of Longxi, she was also considered to be solid. Later, when the samurai heard of the death of Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, he became sad and fell ill, and even followed Li Yuan away.
With the death of his father, the martial family fell in the middle of the road, and Wu Cao entered the palace and became a talented person of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin. Wu Cao's beauty and charm made Li Shimin intoxicated him and gave him the name "Wu Mei Niang". Also fascinated by Wu Cao was the prince of the dynasty, later Emperor Gaozong of Tang.
Emperor Gaozong LiZhi, who was in a period of youthful ignorance, perhaps lacked maternal love because of the early death of his birth mother Empress Wende, and had a different kind of affection for Wu Cao, the little mother. However, hindered by his father's authority, Li Zhi did not dare to take a half-step step in Lei Chi before Emperor Taizong's death, and chose to bury this emotion in his heart.
Wuzhou regime
In 649, Emperor Taizong of Tang, the First Emperor of the Ages, rode to the west of Hexi, and the crown prince Li Zhi ascended the throne for Emperor Gaozong of Tang. At this time, Li Zhi was still obsessed with Wu Meiniang, but the foundation of the first great treasure was not stable, and he did not dare to directly occupy his father's talent for himself. It was not until everything was in order and the regime was stable that Li Zhi began to act.
He braved the world's great disobedience to bring Wu Cao, who had cut his hair as a nun, into the palace, and sealed Wu Cao as Zhaoyi Niangniang. Later, Wu Cao relied on Li Zhi's favor and became empress in the deposed Wang Liwu Incident in the sixth year of Yonghui (655).
From the counterattack of the nun to the empress, Wu Cao only took 4 years. However, the empress dowager of the world could no longer satisfy Wu Cao's ambitions, and she set her sights on the court and showed great political talent.
In order to satisfy his desire for power, Wu Cao sat on an equal footing with Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi in the first year of the first century (674) and was known as the Second Saint. As Emperor Gaozong's health deteriorated in his later years, power gradually shifted to The Hands of Wu Shuo, and Emperor Gaozong became his puppet.
After Emperor Gaozong's death, Wu Cao, who felt the charm of power, was willing to give up power, even if this person was his own son. Both Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and Emperor Ruizong of Tang became instruments of his control of the government, until Wu Zetian felt that the pro-dynasty system could no longer satisfy her thirst for power.
In 690, Wu Zetian officially declared himself emperor and changed the name of the country to Luoyang, the capital of Zhouding.
After Wu Zetian ascended the throne, he set Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin as a lifelong example and enshrined him as the Ming Emperor of the Ages. During his reign, Wu Zetian rectified the administration of officials and vigorously promoted the Tang Dynasty to its peak. However, Wu Zetian's female title of emperor also attracted many insults, of which the Li clan was the most. In order to consolidate his rule, Wu Zetian wantonly brutalized the Li clan, and the whistle-blowing trend was rampant.
But what really pushed Wu Zetian to the cusp of the storm was that Wu Zetian still used the noodle head at the age of 81.
Harem "Belle"
After Wu Zetian ascended the throne, he summoned a large number of hardcover men into the harem for their enjoyment. They have different identities, including court officials, gangsters, and even monks.
The reason is that Wu Zetian's love for male pets is not driven by simple desire, but mainly for the following three reasons.
First, consolidate rule.
This one reason, which is also the most important of the three reasons, is the root cause of the problem.
Women are called emperors, making Wu Zetian bear great pressure at every moment. In the courtroom, the voices against her were endless, she needed a staunch supporter, a trusted person to help her coordinate the overall situation, and the male pet who was the pillow person became an excellent object.
Wu Zetian's many male favorites that were most criticized by later generations were the monk Xue Huaiyi. According to historical records, Empress Wu met this flower monk through the introduction of Princess Qianjin. Xue Huaiyi was more than eight feet tall and extremely handsome in appearance, but this was definitely not the main reason why Wu Zetian was good with him.
In terms of appearance, there were many people in the world who were better than Xue Huaiyi, so why did Wu Zetian bear the insult of being good with the monk for this pair of skin bags. What really fascinated Wu Zetian was Xue Huaiyi's book called the Great Cloud Classic.
What is rare and valuable is that the scripture actually has a record of women calling themselves emperors, which is a strong support for Wu Zetian to be called emperors as a woman, which can be regarded as finding a theoretical source for him. Therefore, Wu Zetian was extremely indulgent toward Xue Huaiyicai, and if it were not for Xue Huaiyi's burning of the Ming Hall and committing public anger, Wu Zetian would have been willing to kill him.
In addition, in Wu Zetian's view, the ancient emperors were all three palaces and six courtyards, and three thousand pink dai jiali, which was the standard of the emperor. Now that he has stood at the peak of his power and sat on the throne, how can he not follow the old system?
In order to show that he was no different from the male emperor, Wu Zetian hoped to have his own harem, which represented the authority of his own emperor. However, Wu Zetian, as a woman, naturally could not recruit women, and male pets came into being.
Second, self-emotion.
Although Wu Zetian was in the ranks of emperors, in the final analysis, she was only a woman, and she also had feelings. As she grew older, her desire for feelings only grew stronger, and she wanted to find a place to talk about her feelings.
But born in the imperial family, where there are feelings to speak of. After the death of her husband Li Zhi, How could Wu Zetian, as emperor, marry someone else, and the relationship with his children became stiff because of the power struggle, and even evolved into an enemy.
The warmth and harmony of an ordinary family is something that Wu Zetian could not feel in his lifetime. Under the rebellion of the people, whenever the night is quiet, Wu Zetian can only get comfort from the male pet and feel the warmth of the family.
Third, the atmosphere of openness in the Tang Dynasty.
Historian Chen Yinke once commented on the Sui and Tang dynasties, calling it "taking the blood of the barbaric essence of the outside world and injecting it into the decadent body of the Central Plains culture." Due to the turbulent situation during the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a great national integration. Even the royal family of the Li clan is not a pure Han bloodline, which originated from the military aristocracy of Longxi and has some humble blood.
Under the trend of great national integration, the binding force of the Three Principles and Five Constants of Confucianism has become very limited. Women are no longer only promised, but have the arrogance of nomadic people. The dress of women in the Tang Dynasty was known for its thinness, transparency, and dew, and its beauty was plump, and it was also extremely open to the relationship between men and women.
Wu Zetian can serve Tang Taizong and Tang Gaozong successively, so it is natural that she will find male favors to solve her personal needs.
The era when the status of women was really suppressed to a very low level and the virginity and martyrs were promoted, after the formation of the Song Dynasty.
Wu Zetian, as the only female emperor in Chinese history, has been controversial, and the matter of male favor has pushed him to the cusp of the storm. However, during the reign of Wu Zetian, the Tang Dynasty was pushed to its peak and laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, which is worthy of the world's affirmation!