A duel in the court

In December of the fifth year of Yonghui (654), Wu Zetian gave birth to another son, named Li Xian. Li Xian's birth made Wu Zetian like a tiger. At this time, Wu Zetian already has two sons under her knees, she has more confidence, her waist is harder, and she has more capital to attack the back position, and she feels that becoming the queen is just around the corner.

In March of the sixth year of Yonghui (655), Wu Zetian wrote an "Internal Training", as if he was the queen.

Queen Wang can't stand it: don't put the old lady in her eyes, let's see.

But with Emperor Li Zhi as the backstage, Empress Wang also has no way to take Wu Zetian. The neglected Queen Wang was anxious, the fire of jealousy was getting stronger and stronger, she thought about Fadi to put Wu Zetian to death, but her plan was too childish, and each one was worse than the other.

In desperation, Queen Wang came up with a strange plan and was ready to play a trick. She asked her mother, Liu, to find a wizard and perform the technique of "disgust with victory". (Disgust and victory, the use of spells to curse or pray to achieve the purpose of defeating the person, object or monster that you hate)

I thought that this matter was done very secretively and nothing would go wrong, but what Queen Wang didn't expect was that she had Wu Zetian's henchmen by her side, and she told Wu Zetian about the situation. Wu Zetian put a handful of snot and tears, and immediately made a report to Tang Gaozong, saying that the queen cursed the saint and the crime could not be punished.

Tang Gaozong was furious, he was completely disappointed in this woman, and his determination to abolish Wang Liwu was even stronger. At the same time, he ordered Liu to be driven out of the palace gate and not allowed to enter again, and Liu Zheng was removed from the post of prime minister and demoted from Chang'an. It was degraded to the history of Suizhou (now Suining, Sichuan).

It's really hard to guard against thieves, and I wanted to put Wu Zetian to death. Unexpectedly, it was self-defeating and lifted a stone to shoot himself in the foot. The queen regretted not falling.

Uncle was demoted, Queen Wang had no backstage, she was in a panic, and in the face of the powerful Wu Zetian, she had a feeling of being out of breath.

Although Liu Zheng fell, the opposition to the abolition of the queen was not small, these people were Zhenguan old ministers, mainly the prime minister, and the representative figures were the eldest grandson Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Yu Zhining, Han Ai and Lai Ji. If you want Wu Zetian to become the queen. This hurdle must be crossed.

Now, the queen's power is not as good as before, and Wu Zetian also has some supporters, so Tang Gaozong put the abolition on the agenda again, and is ready to do the work of these old guys.

One day in September, after retiring from the court, Tang Gaozong summoned the eldest Sun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Li Tao, Yu Zhining and other important ministers into the inner hall to discuss important matters. The people who have been in the officialdom all the year round are roundworms in the emperor's stomach. You don't have to guess to know that this summons must be about the posterior.

Chu Suiliang said outside the hall: "Today's summons must be for the future. The emperor's mind has been decided, but I am under the orders of the first emperor and will fight to the death. Otherwise, he will go to see the first emperor after his death. ”

It doesn't matter if Chu Suiliang doesn't know the current affairs, or if he doesn't have a tendon, anyway. He is determined to prevent Wu Zetian from becoming the queen. If these people can always stand together to resist the abolition of the queen, then. Tang Gaozong couldn't help it, because he could depose or kill an important minister. But you can't kick all the important ministers out of the court. It's a pity that other people don't have the courage to admonish each other with death like Chu Suiliang, and they are ready to be the grass on the wall.

Regarding the matter of deposing the queen, Li Tao and Changsun Wuji and others were not people in the same trench, and they were worried about a head-on conflict with Changsun Wuji and others, so they pretended to be sick and were unwilling to wade into this troubled water.

As a result, only the eldest grandson Wuji, Chu Suiliang, and Yu Zhining entered the inner hall.

Tang Gaozong said to the eldest grandson Wuji: "The queen has no children, Wu Zhaoyi has a son, I want to establish Zhaoyi as the queen, what do you think?" ”

In the face of Li Zhi's straightforward conversation, the eldest grandson Wuji was a little difficult, and directly raised objections, making the emperor lose face, and the future will definitely not be easy. I wish someone could block it for me.

I really want to come to something.

Before the eldest grandson Wuji could speak, Chu Suiliang hurriedly said: "The queen was born in a famous family, and she is the daughter-in-law appointed by the first emperor for His Majesty. When the first emperor was dying, he once held His Majesty's hand and said to me: 'Jia'er and Jia's beautiful women are entrusted to Yuqing'. This sentence still echoes in the ears of the minister, and His Majesty should not have forgotten it. Besides, there is nothing wrong with the queen, how can she say that it is wasted. The ministers did not dare to submit to His Majesty and disobey the last orders of the first emperor. ”

Good guy, move the first emperor out and press me, I'm not scared.

Look at the other two, both of them lowered their heads and did not speak. It's obviously a default.

Li Zhi was very depressed, he had not found a suitable reason to refute Chu Suiliang's words, and as a result, the discussion of the day was fruitless, so he could only break up unhappily.

Tang Gaozong Li Zhi was determined to put Wu Zetian in the position of empress, and continued to discuss this topic the next day.

Yu Zhining was not only afraid of offending the emperor by disobeying the will, but also afraid of the obscenity of the eldest grandson Wuji. So, I chose to continue to be dumb. And the eldest grandson Wuji continued to need someone to be a shield, he said: "The first emperor took Chu Suiliang as the minister who took care of his life, listen to his opinion." ”

Chu Suiliang was also not polite, and went out again, and said in a fierce voice: "If Your Majesty has to change the queen, you can choose from the world, why bother to choose the Wu family." Everyone in the world knows that the Wu family once served as a talented person of the first emperor, if she is made the queen, the people of the world will say what is the behavior of His Majesty! May His Majesty think twice before acting, and if the minister violates His Majesty's will today, he will deserve death. But as long as you live up to the first emperor, what a pity to die. ”

After speaking, he threw the wat board on the ground: "Return the wat to His Majesty!" Then, he took off his hat and prostrated to the ground, expressing his resolute resistance.

In fact, Chu Suiliang has taken a step back, and Queen Wang can abolish it, but he just doesn't agree to Liwu Zetian as the queen. He used resignation and threats to his life to make Tang Gaozong extremely annoyed.

first used the first emperor to suppress me, and then threatened me with death, don't forget that I am the emperor who has life and death to seize power. Seeing that Li Zhi was about to break out.

At this moment, the eldest grandson Wuji saw that the situation was getting stricter and stricter, and hurriedly protected Chu Suiliang and said: "Suiliang is ordered by the first dynasty, and the punishment cannot be increased if he is guilty!" ”

The first emperor is the first emperor again, can't I get out of the shadow of the first emperor?

Li Zhi suppressed his anger and waved his hand, and everyone retreated.

Chu Suiliang has no market. If he is allowed to come out again, he will definitely anger the emperor. Instead, it will be self-defeating. So, the eldest grandson Wuji pushed Han Ai and Laiji to the forefront.

Han Ai said to Tang Gaozong: "Empress Wang is the daughter-in-law personally selected by the first emperor for His Majesty. If there is no fault to be deposed, there will be a negative impact, may His Majesty Xià put the community first, think twice before acting. After finishing speaking, he began to whimper and cry, a big man snorted and cried, and if he was not emotional, it would definitely not be like this.

Tang Gaozong treated this coldly and did not say a word. I thought Han Ai would be very interesting. No more admonitions, I didn't expect this person to go all the way to the dark, and the next day he came again. The content is the same as yesterday, but the feelings are more sad. This is not over, he then put on another note, saying that the queen is used to honor all countries, and the woman is no longer in virtue, and may His Majesty rein in the precipice, and do not leave a laughing stock for future generations. He even compared Wu Zetian to Daji, who brought disaster to the country and the people, and praised and intimidated Tang Gaozong.

Lai Ji also admonished: "The king is the queen." can only be selected from the famous ladies, this is what everyone expects. ”

Although Tang Gaozong considered these remarks to be clichés and negligible, he faced these opposing voices. He still has some scruples. Among the seven prime ministers, Chu Suiliang, Lai Ji, and Han Ying all clearly expressed their opposition to the abolition of Wang Liwu, although the eldest grandson Wuji and Yu Zhining did not speak. But it is clear that there are also objections. In addition, there is Cui Dunli, who is very old. Negligible. Only Li Tao, who always complained about his illness and did not show up, did not express his position. The abolition of the queen has affected so many prime ministers, and the resistance is beyond his imagination. What's next?

After retiring from the dynasty, the bored Tang Gaozong discussed with Wu Zetian.

"Are all the prime ministers against it?"

"No, Li Tao is the prime minister but he doesn't say a word"

"He must have a hard time, maybe it's our breakthrough."

So, Tang Gaozong secretly summoned Li Tao into the palace and asked him for his opinion on the abolition of the empress.

Who is Li Tao? Li Tao is the famous Xu Maogong in folklore, the hero of Wagangzhai, and the famous general of the early Tang Dynasty. Formerly known as Xu Shiyun, the word Mao Gong. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan gave him the surname Li, and later avoided Tang Taizong Li Shimin and changed his name to Li Tao. Han nationality, Caozhou Lihu (now southeast of Dongming County, Heze, Shandong). There is a folk saying that "Zhuge Liang calls for wind and rain, and Xu Maogong is clever in his calculations", he has lived in the three dynasties of Tang Gaozu, Tang Taizong and Tang Gaozong in his life, and he has won the trust of the imperial court and is relied on by the imperial court as the Great Wall.

In the main hall, the two began to talk.

"How's your health?"

"Thanks to the emperor's blessing, it's no big deal."

"I want to make Wu Zhaoyi the queen, but Chu Suiliang and others strongly oppose it, what should I do about this?"

Li Tao didn't want to wade into troubled waters, but in the end he couldn't dodge, so he had to bite the bullet. Speaking from the heart, he supports Tang Gaozong, but the people in the officialdom speak in a fog, and they don't speak lightly and openly about their positions. Besides, if the banner of supporting Tang Gaozong is raised, how to get along with opponents such as the eldest grandson Wuji in the officialdom in the future will definitely be squeezed out.

So, Li Tao smiled slightly and said: "This is His Majesty's family matter, why bother asking outsiders!" ”

It has always been the case that the authorities are obsessed with bystanders. Li Tao's few words made Li Zhi suddenly realize: I am the son of today, and it is my own business to stand up, and there is no need to ask for the consent of these old guys.

Tang Gaozong suddenly felt that he was full of strength, and he strengthened his determination to depose the empress.

At this time, Xu Jingzong, who supported Wu Zetian as the empress, also widely discussed in the court, the content of which was nothing more than that after the Son of Heaven was established, what should he do with his courtiers, and do not disagree in vain.

Therefore, Tang Gaozong decided to eliminate a qiē interference, cut through the chaos quickly, and establish Wu Zetian as the queen. Whoever angers the emperor will definitely not end well. Soon, the fiercest opponent, Chu Suiliang, was demoted to the governor of Tanzhou (present-day Changsha).

The opposition saw that the emperor was provoked, and in order to protect their vested interests, they suddenly fell silent en masse.

The tiger didn't think I was a sick cat. Seeing that the opposition had suddenly become well-behaved, Tang Gaozong was refreshed in his heart. Wu Zetian was also very excited, because she knew that the day when she would become the queen was not far off.

The new lord of the six houses

The dispute over the abolition of the queen is nearing the end, and the overall situation has been decided, just waiting for Tang Gaozong's order.

On October 12 of the sixth year of Yonghui (655), Tang Gaozong issued an edict:

Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu conspired to commit poison, abolished as concubines, mothers and brothers, and removed their names and went to Lingnan.

said that Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu poisoned the emperor, this kind of crime Tang Gaozong can think of, it is really an additional crime. There is no excuse for it. Queen Wang originally wanted Wu Zetian and Concubine Xiao Shufei to fight and lose both, so that she could profit from it. Unexpectedly, it was to lure the wolf into the house and shoot himself in the foot. And Concubine Xiao Shu, who was jealous of her back then, became a difficult sister in the trenches. God played a big joke on her. The queen could only accept this silently, because she was a loser, and she had no right to plead her case except to endure humiliation.

It is irretrievable, it is time for Wang and Xiao to withdraw from the stage of history, and the new owner Wu Zetian will appear on the stage. Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu were immediately placed in another courtyard.

One person attained the Tao, the chicken and dog ascended to heaven, one person lost power, and the whole family suffered. A dog has his day. This is the law of nature's balance. Those relatives who used to follow the light also began to have bad luck because of the loss of power of Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu.

The middle palace cannot be left without an owner for a day, and the top priority is to set up a new queen.

Six days later, on October 18, led by Xu Jingzong, hundreds of civil and military officials petitioned for the establishment of Wu Zetian as the queen, which was something that Tang Gaozong had been looking forward to for a long time, and he immediately issued an edict to establish Wu Zetian as the empress:

The Wu family is honored and gentle, and the land is gorgeous, and it is only possible to do it. Elected into the back court, the reputation of the heavy pepper, Deguang Lanye. I used to be in Chu Er, and I was kind to him. Always have to be obedient, and leave the day. Within the palace, he bows to himself. Between the concubines, there is no surprise. Sacred feelings, every admiration. Then I was given by the Wu clan. If you are the same as the political monarch, you can be made a queen.

The meaning of this passage is: Wu Zetian came from an upstart family, was a minister of the country, and was talented and virtuous, so he was elected to the harem, and his popularity was good, and he was liked by everyone. When I was the crown prince, I waited for my father day and night in front of the bed, and my father was very satisfied, and he rewarded me with Wu Zetian when he was happy. This is exactly the same as Wang Zhengjun of the Han Dynasty (Wang Zhengjun was originally the palace maid of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, and later, Emperor Xuan rewarded her to the crown prince. Wang Zhengjun gave birth to a son, and when the crown prince is on the throne, he will be made queen), and now I want Wu Zetian to be my first lady.

Here, Tang Gaozong deliberately raised Wu Zetian's discipleship, and also said that their combination was a gift from Taizong, just to find some reason for Wu Zetian to be the queen, so as to block the mouths of the people in the world.

In fact, people are not stupid, who can be deceived by this kind of behavior of covering their ears and stealing the bell? Anyway, with the support of Tang Gaozong, Wu Zetian should be the queen.

After the promulgation of the "Edict of Liwu Zhaoyi as the Empress", the Taiji Palace and the Wu Mansion were decorated with lanterns, and Tang Gaozong began to hold a grand ceremony of "accepting the queen".

On November 1, Li Zhi arranged for Li Tao to send the seal ribbon (the queen's special seal) to Wu Zetian, officially canonizing her as the queen. On the same day, Li Zhi also held the largest grand ceremony for Wu Zetian since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. After 18 years of ups and downs from entering the palace in the eleventh year of Zhenguan, Wu Zetian finally realized his dream and became the new queen of the Tang Empire. She can finally say the phrase "Seeing the Son of Heaven is not a blessing" to the people of the world, but this Son of Heaven is no longer the original Tang Taizong.

After 18 years of hard work, he finally got the expected return, and Wu Zetian felt a lot of emotion in his heart. Thinking about the years when I traveled north and south with my father, the tears of my mother when I entered the palace for the first time, and the lonely green lantern of Ganye Temple, these things are still so clearly visible as if they happened yesterday. Now, wearing the phoenix crown, you are the mother of the country, and your heart is naturally extremely happy.

In addition to joy, Wu Zetian's heart was also full of gratitude. Without the support of frustrated bureaucrats and poor scholars, it would be difficult for him to become the queen with Tang Gaozong's favor alone. After a bloody baptism, Wu Zecai ascended the throne of the queen, and she will definitely cherish it and will never allow anyone to harm her vested interests.

The grand celebration could not hide the cruelty of the palace struggle, and the praise had not completely disappeared, and a new round of palace fighting had quietly begun.

Strike a qiē enemy

It's all the emperor's fault

As the new queen of the Tang Empire, Wu Zetian is also ready to light a few fires for him to consolidate his hard-won status as a queen, so that everyone knows that he is capable and deserves to be a queen.

Therefore, Wu Zetian did not get carried away, and took a consistent signature move against the threat posed to her by some people in the harem, especially Prince Zhong and Eldest Sun Wuji.

Let's look at the harem where Wu Zetian lives, the harem is the palace where the emperor's concubines live, and the harem of the Tang Dynasty is called Yeting Palace, which is located in the west of the Taiji Palace in the city.

Although Wu Zetian has become the queen, she has been promoted step by step from a talented person to Zhaoyi to the queen. If the other concubines are favored, they will definitely threaten their status, and she will never allow her story to happen to other women. Therefore, in order to maintain her status as the queen, she took measures to control the harem and prevent trouble. Whoever may have an adverse effect on her will be cleaned up, and any disturbance in the harem will not escape her eyes.

In view of Wu Zetian's obscenity, the concubines in the harem were cautious, for fear of becoming the ghost of this powerful queen. For Wang and Xiao, who had been beaten into the cold palace, Wu Zetian felt that they were grasshoppers after the autumn and couldn't stumble for a few days, so he didn't rush to fight these two old rivals who had lost power. But an accidental incident changed Wu Zetian's decision and put the two women on the road of no return.

Wu Zetian, who became the empress, was very sensitive, and she regarded any concubine close to Tang Gaozong as her potential opponent and enemy. At this time, Tang Gaozong stepped on Wu Zetian's red line and got close to another person of the opposite sex, who was none other than Wang and Xiao who were beaten into the cold palace.

It was all the emperor's fault, Wang and Xiao thought they could see the light of day again, but they didn't expect it to lead to death. Here's how it happened.

Soon after Wang and Xiao were deposed, Tang Gaozong, who was benevolent and weak by nature, suddenly felt uneasy in conscience: in the past few years, he has been busy helping Wu Zetian to become the queen, and he has wronged Wang and Xiao, which is too unfair to them. After all, it is a bit ungrateful to be so cold and heartless as a husband and wife, and they should go and see them.

One day, Wu Zetian went home to save his relatives, and Tang Gaozong, who was extremely guilty, took the opportunity to see Wang and Xiao who were imprisoned in another courtyard.

In a dark, damp, airtight cell in the annex. It was a harsh winter, and the four walls of the stone chamber were full of ice. Wang and Xiao are better than dying. There was only a small hole in the mouth of the bowl next to the door of the cell, which was used by the slaves and maids to bring food inside.

Thinking about the good of Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu, and then looking at the current life of the two, Tang Gaozong was extremely worried, his nose was sore, and he almost cried loudly.

"Queen, are you okay, Lady Lady?"

"The concubines have fallen out of favor, were deposed as palace maids, and were imprisoned in other courtyards, but I didn't expect the emperor to call the honorific title of concubine."

Empress Wang did not have the slightest complaint in her words, but was full of gratitude for Tang Gaozong's visit. This made Li Zhi's heart even more uncomfortable, he really hoped that the queen could scold him a few words, so that he would feel better in his heart.

Without waiting for Li Zhi to reply, Queen Wang continued:

"Please remember the love between husband and wife in the past and let us out. After we went out, we renamed this courtyard Huixinyuan. We don't have any other luxuries, we just hope that we can recite Buddha for the rest of our lives and have a chance to be human again. ”

How could Tang Gaozong, who was already soft-hearted, withstand the attack of such tear gas, so he immediately agreed: "The queen and concubine can rest assured, I will arrange this matter." ”

After Tang Gaozong Li Zhi left a good hope for Wang and Xiao, he patted his ass and left.

It is said that living with hope is much more exciting than living like a walking corpse, and since Li Zhi came, Wang and Xiao have been in a lot of spirits, and they dream that Li Zhi can take them out of the prison cell and away from this ghost place. (To be continued......)