Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in the history of the mainland. As a politician, Wu Zetian had outstanding statecraft and political wisdom. She was from the lowest level of the court, fighting all the way to the historical figure who finally ascended the throne.
Her experience has created her independent, rational, forbearing, suspicious, jealous, cruel, and cruel personality. On the way to seize power, he wiped out the forces that maintained the Li dynasty, and almost killed all the people of the Li family. Wu Zetian's theory of power survival is to obtain imperial power through love and childbirth, and to coerce the Son of Heaven to order the ministers and the side of the Qing monarch to form a political force dominated by the Wu clan.
She is indifferent to family affection, kills her children, blames others, and excludes dissidents. She also has Xue Huaiyi, Shen Nanxuan, Zhang Changzong, Zhang Yizhi and other faces. Her interpersonal relationship handling principle is: those who follow me prosper, and those who oppose me die.
Her moral concepts are selfishness, self-interest, autonomy, and power, emphasizing the role of evil in moving history forward. So she kills whoever threatens her power, even her own children.
Wu Zetian killed his first son, Li Hong
Li Hong was kind and benevolent since childhood, and he was very concerned about the people's welfare during his time as the prince, and was deeply loved by Emperor Gaozong of Tang and praised by hundreds of officials.
In 675, the crown prince Li Hong accompanied Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian on his tour of Luoyang, and suddenly died halfway to the road, only 23 years old, Tang Gaozong was in pain because of the death and injury of his beloved son. Li Hong's death is very controversial, and there is a theory that Li Hong was poisoned by his mother Wu Zetian. Because Emperor Gaozong of Tang was weak and sick in the later period, he intended to pass the throne to Li Hong in advance, Wu Zetian was greedy for power, and if Li Hong became emperor, it would undoubtedly be very unfavorable to her taking power, so Wu Zetian poisoned his own son ruthlessly.
Although in history, it is said that Li Hong died of tuberculosis, there is also a theory that because Li Hong did not approve of his mother's practice of imprisoning their daughters after the death of Empress Wang and Xiao Shufei, Li Hong interceded for his two sisters, which caused Wu Zetian's dissatisfaction, so Wu Zetian secretly poisoned Li Hong.
Wu Zetian killed his second son, Li Xian
After Li Hong's death, Emperor Gaozong of Tang re-installed Li Xian as crown prince, and Li Xian was the second son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian. Li Xian is pure by nature, which is very similar to his brother Li Hong, and has more fortitude and integrity than his brother.
During Emperor Gaozong's serious illness, he ordered the crown prince Li Xian to oversee the country, and Li Xian's outstanding achievements were highly praised by his father and ministers. At the same time, he was extremely dissatisfied with his mother Wu Zetian's ambition to control the imperial government, which led to a rift between mother and son. Li Xian did not know that his mother Wu Zetian had already killed him.
According to accurate historical records, in 679, Wu Zetian ordered people to frame Li Xian for attempting to rebel, and ordered people to forge evidence of Li Xian's rebellion. Emperor Gaozong of Tang learned that his son had attempted to rebel, and in his heartache, he deposed the crown prince Li Xian at the instigation of Wu Zetian, and Li Xian failed to clear himself of suspicion of conspiracy, and was eventually deposed, demoted to a commoner, and exiled to Bazhou.
In 683, Emperor Gaozong of Tang died and was succeeded by the newly established crown prince Li Xian, and Wu Zetian controlled the Tang dynasty from then on. In order to prevent Li Xian from plotting rebellion, Wu Zetian sent Qiu Shenwei to Bazhou in the second year after Emperor Gaozong's death to monitor Li Xian's every move, and finally forced Li Xian to death.
After Wu Zetian killed his two sons, his ambition was obvious, and he finally abolished Li Xian, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and Li Dan of Tang Ruizong, who she supported, and completely controlled the government of the Tang Dynasty.
Wu Zetian's third child killed - the daughter of the just full moon
According to the records of the Zizhi Tongjian and the New Book of Tang, when Wu Zetian was vying for the position of empress, Princess Andingsi was born. When the princess was just over the moon, Empress Wang went to visit, but after Empress Wang left, Wu Zetian strangled her daughter to death while no one was in person, and covered her under the quilt.
Just at this time, Emperor Gaozong of Tang Li Zhi came to see his daughter, Wu Zetian greeted him with a smile, pretended that nothing had happened, happily lifted the quilt, only to find that his daughter was dead, wept sadly, and blamed the death of Princess Andingsi on Empress Wang.
In the end, Emperor Gaozong of Tang was furious, resulting in Empress Wang being deposed, and Wu Zetian becoming empress as he wished. But Wu Zetian still did not let Empress Wang go, and still killed her.