The Bylo Ceremony was finally held as scheduled. On December 25, the fourth year of the vertical arch, as the Empress of the Holy Mother of God, led the civil and military officials in Luoshui to accept a piece of Rui stone engraved with "Our Lady of the People, Yongchang Emperor". This stone from Luoshui is called a treasure map by the Empress Wu. In fact, the so-called Ruishi or treasure map was forged by Wu Chenghei, the king of Wei, so that Tang Tongtai, a native of Yongzhou, claimed to have obtained it from Luoshui.

Of course, the Empress Wu knew the mystery of this, and the needs of reality contributed to her tacit understanding, and that piece of Ruishi was precious. Later, the Empress Wu renamed the "treasure map" as the "Heavenly Bestowal Holy Map", sealed the Luoshui God as a saint, added a special advance, and set up a temple, and placed Yongchang County on Luoshui.

It was a celebration of unprecedented pomp and circumstance. After experiencing such a twist and turn as quelling the rebellion of King Yue's father and son, it swept away the haze over the court, like a rainbow after the wind and rain, and the whole celebration was colorful; And the mysterious atmosphere and apostasy made the whole scene bizarre.

However, the festive appearance could not hide the aggressive atmosphere at all, showing the power of the divine power of the monarch, and once again highlighting the extraordinary courage and courage of the martial queen. And that unconventional and almost absurd approach also shows the helplessness of the Empress Wu's move.

All the way towards the goal of changing the dynasty system, Wu Houzhan looked forward and backward, staring at every step in reality from beginning to end, and did not allow her to have the slightest hesitation and mistake. It was impossible for her to fully foresee how many dangers there would be on the road to the system, but at least she could understand that the biggest obstacle was the ethics of the Tsunamu.

Since the Han Dynasty exalted Confucianism, those Confucian classics that maintained the authority of the Son of Heaven and the order of the world have been interpreted into the general ethics of the monarch as the minister, the father as the son, and the husband as the wife. As a result, a unified pattern was formed with the emperor as the dominant, men and women were inferior, and the superior was inferior.

As far as the Empress Wu is concerned, a unified dynasty will be established. The rules formed by this general ethics are what the Empress Wu must maintain and abide by; And before that. To realize her ambitions, this has undoubtedly objectively become a shackle on her way to domination, and a rope around her neck.

You want to get rid of it, but it's going to haunt you and leave you breathless. As a result, conflicts often occur on the road to the system. This conflict, whether direct or indirect, is concentrated in the life-and-death struggle with the royal family and ministers.

She can use her wits and talent to harness her courtiers. can also use strong and extraordinary means to clear obstacles and consolidate her position, but in the face of Tsunatsura ethics, her perseverance and courage seem pale and powerless.

Sometimes she feels that Tsunatsune ethics is like the wind in autumn, rolling up the leaves at the same time as they roll her up, so that she has to dance with it.

It's like an invisible net, an invisible but ubiquitous net. On the one hand, there is the ethics of the Tsunatsu. On the one hand, she is rebellious, and every step she takes can't bypass this net.

In order to break through this invisible net, from winning over the empress to assisting the first emperor, she had to defend everywhere with a humble body. I had to fight hard with all my might, but for more than 20 years, I have always encountered an embarrassing situation. This situation is even more prominent as the change of the dynasty system is approaching.

This invisible web. Undoubtedly, it is like a sharp weapon. Under the sharp weapon, it is not only yourself who is hurt. And the ministers who gave their blood and lives for it.

In order to break the pattern and weave another net, a net that can net the world and the scholars and officials, the Empress Wu skillfully used the Mandate of Heaven to make full use of the influence of the special identity of the queen mother, highlighting the divine authority of the monarch, highlighting the true character of the Son of Heaven of the heroine, trying to balance Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and seek a breakthrough from it.

The sage is ordained, the heavens descend from the sky, and the Tuide is customized, which is a concept that has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people since the Han Dynasty. There is no good reason to break the orthodoxy of the state, and there is no more way to abolish the existing order.

Therefore, she cannot confront the traditional Gangchang ethics, nor can she fundamentally deny the Confucian concept of governing the country.

A simple truth, if the old is not new, the court and even the world are at a loss, and the result will only cause chaos and shake or even negate her entire ruling foundation.

Therefore, for a long period of time, although she was hurt by Confucian ethics again and again, she also drew a net for Confucian ethics from time to time. It seemed like a hard thing to do, but she had to do it, and she did it willingly.

At the same time, she also wanted to get rid of the constraints imposed on her by Confucian ethics, and she knew very well that if she acted strictly according to the Confucian ethics, she would achieve nothing.

If it is said that it takes courage and courage to deal with an enemy who is opposed by force, then it is necessary to deal with the Confucian ethics of Confucianism with superb wisdom and extraordinary skill, which is to base ourselves on reality, find another way, find a way out, and constantly carry out changes in actual operation.

What needs to be done now is to find more evidence to prove that she is the female emperor who was appointed by heaven.

As the queen and in charge of the government for many years, the Empress Wu is familiar with many royal etiquette, and naturally understands the key to the divine right of the monarch, has participated in various royal sacrifice activities of Gaozong, the first month of the spring of the third year of Linde, Gaozong ascended to Mount Tai to perform the ceremony of sealing Zen, and the Empress Wu is a sub-offering; She also worshipped silkworms in the northern suburbs many times in the name of the queen.

This is the glory of the royal family, symbolizing the supreme authority and dignity of the royal herdsmen in the world. It was this royal etiquette that inspired Empress Wu and made her know how to proclaim the Mandate of Heaven and how to use it.

After the reign of the Linzhao Dynasty, Empress Wu interpreted the rules of etiquette into rules that echoed the Mandate of Heaven and were used by herself. Empress Wu has always been confident, and has never doubted her wisdom and ability, knowing that these things can only be done step by step, and success will come naturally.

In order to create momentum, Empress Wu built a magnificent Ming Hall in the eastern capital of Luoyang, which was also equipped with a unique Yingtianmen and Heaven in front and behind.

After the completion of the project, the Empress Wu wore the crown dress of the Son of Heaven and led hundreds of civil and military officials to worship the Li royal family and the ancestors of the Wu family; After that, he came to the Vientiane Shrine to accept the congratulations of the ministers, and set up a banquet in the Ming Hall to feast on the ministers.

Also placed the copper box outside the noon gate, set up four boxes of Yan'en, admonishment, redress, and Tongxuan, so as to open up the way of speech and recruit talents. Detect celestial phenomena and public opinion, and accept appeals for unjust cases. Empress Wu advocated Buddhism. In particular, he has a soft spot for Huayan Sect and Northern Sect Zen.

Unlike the early emperor Taizong, who advocated Buddhism, Empress Wu advocated Buddhism at the same time. and ingeniously and painstakingly combined Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, interlaced warp and weft, and suppressed and exaggerated, interpreting them into a heavy weapon that was conducive to her becoming emperor. Empress Wu does not want to absolutize any kind of doctrine,

I just don't want to be bound by a certain doctrine; She may prefer a certain doctrine, but in reality she cannot be infatuated with a certain doctrine, and in a large way she can only turn it into a tool for her own use.

Xue Huaiyi, the master of the White Horse Temple, and Fa Ming and others made the "Great Cloud Sutra" and stated the fate. Yan Zetian is Maitreya's next birth, to be the Lord of Yan Futi, and the Tang clan should decline. After the martial arts, the "Great Cloud Sutra" was promulgated to the world,

Each Buddhist temple has a copy in its collection, so that the monks can give lectures from a high place. In all this, Empress Wu needs to make a reasonable and convincing interpretation of what she has done on the eve of becoming emperor, including the past, the present and the future.

All of them must be made logical under the interpretation of the Mandate of Heaven. To make it justifiable, in a word, is to do enough and do enough of the drama that the Son of Heaven deserves to enjoy Mingtang. It also lays a good foundation for consolidating imperial power in the future and opens up a future.

She herself can doubt the destiny of heaven, but she must not let the people of the world doubt the identity of her heroine. So much so that after he was already the emperor, he had to rehabilitate Li Junxian of the previous dynasty. And the events involved in it had a profound impact on her before and after she became emperor.

As early as the period of serving the first emperor Taizong. At that time, the Empress Wu, who was canonized as Mei Niang, vaguely heard the legend of Wu Mei Niang, in fact, it was just a small song with the same name as her own name that circulated in the market, which was purely a coincidence. Later, there will be a true story of the wrongful killing of Li Junxian. Li Junxian, the general of Zuo Wuwei, had extremely high military merits and was highly valued by Taizong.

At the beginning of Taizong's business, he once followed Taizong to conquer Liu Wuzhou and Wang Shichong, etc., and every time he fought, he must charge into battle single-handedly, and gave countless palace maids, horses and cattle, gold, and miscellaneous rice before and after.

Taizong ascended the throne, and after many relocations, he became the assassin of Huazhou, the prince of Wulian County, and the guard of Xuanwu Gate. At that time, there were many Taibai stars in the daytime, Taishi divination: "The heroine Chang", during the period, the folk also passed that "after the third Tang Dynasty, the heroine Wuwang has the world." ”

It made Taizong Li Shimin very uneasy. Once, Taizong summoned military attachés to drink in the inner court, and asked everyone to report their nicknames when the drinking order was carried out. Li Junxian reported his nickname as "Five Niangzi".

Taizong was stunned, and because Li Junxian's subordinate counties had the word "Wu" in his fiefdom, he suspected that Li Junxian was the heroine who was going to replace Tang; Li Junxian later served as the assassin of Huazhou, and there was a royal history to play his communication with demons and plot misdeeds.

Taizong took the opportunity to punish Li Junxian and lost his family. As far as that time or a considerable period of time is concerned, neither Wu Meiniang nor the later Empress Wu has ever believed in such stories, let alone leaned on these stories on herself, it is common for the emperor to kill ministers who do not trust, so why worry about no excuse! Even if Taizong doubts, he should suspect her, Wu Meiniang, not Li Junxian.

However, Wu Meiniang was just an insignificant female talent at that time, not to mention a woman who had nothing to do with imperial power! In this regard, not only Taizong will not doubt it, but even he will not believe it.

It's just that later, with a series of evolutions in the imperial court, the status of the Empress Wu is constantly changing, and she more or less began to believe in the Mandate of Heaven, believing in the "heroine Chang", that "after the third Tang Dynasty, the heroine Wuwang has the world in the world", it is herself! Even so, Empress Wu always kept a clear head, and she knew that in order to control the world, what was needed was personnel, not the mandate of heaven.

The reason is very simple, the Tang Dynasty relied on Li Yuan, Li Shimin and others to work hard with their strength, and Taizong Li Shimin was able to be the emperor in the end, and he still used his own strength as a guarantee. She believes in the Mandate of Heaven, and to a large extent, she wants to use the Mandate of Heaven to expand her influence and gain the recognition of the world.

Moreover, with the Mandate of Heaven as a shelter, there is a righteous name of the divine right of the monarchy, and any preaching of the general ethics must give way to it and open the way for it.

The will of heaven is obedience to the will of the people, which further strengthens the martial queen's strong respect for the mandate of heaven and the divine right of the monarch. Thus, there was the grand ceremony of the Bailuo receiving the picture, and various actions in the future.

According to the style of Empress Wu, since a thing has been done, it must be done soundly and unambiguously. With the "Heavenly Sacred Map", the next step is to accept it with great fanfare and grandeur, so that everyone in the world knows that the will of heaven is really like this, and the will of heaven cannot be violated.

In the second year of Tianshou, when someone wrote a letter for Li Junxian to complain, Empress Wu did not hesitate to redress his name. The official lord was reinstated, and the burial was changed to a ceremony.

This move of the Empress Wu wants to prove to the world is true. The legend of the "heroine Chang", it predicts the current Empress Dowager Wu. Instead of the former Li Junxian, who was nicknamed "Five Niangzi".

A forgotten and somewhat far-fetched story was picked up and skillfully used by Empress Wu, which became an important means for Emperor Wu to consolidate imperial power.

This is another move since Bai Luo received the map, although it is not as powerful as the former, but as a part of the martial queen's proclamation of the mandate of heaven, it is more practical and can conquer people's hearts.

In fact, the authenticity of the story is irrelevant, just as the authenticity of the Luoshui treasure map is insignificant. What the Empress Wu needs is this kind of confusing legend, and she also needs to spread this mysterious atmosphere, isn't the providence itself ethereal!

The people of the world, including the courtiers, are also gradually accepting a military queen who is about to become emperor. They saw a martial queen with strong deeds and extraordinary wisdom, a martial queen who matched the emperor.

In the eyes of the people of the world, it is not a deliberate arrangement of God, can there be such a goddess who controls the world? In the whole world, since ancient times, there is no more sacred than the mandate of heaven. It's even more shocking.

The shadow of the chicken Sichen and the heroine of the world slowly dissipated in people's minds, and was replaced by the divine aura of the Holy Mother of God. People began to be in awe and admiration for the Empress Wu, and there were more and more voices of harmony for the Empress Wu, and the ranks of supporters became bigger and bigger.

The fact is. A strong super-intelligent person can always get the support and support of more people, not to mention that the will of heaven and the people is conducive to the change of the emperor after the martial arts! And those scholars or ministers who are skeptical, resistant, or even resolutely opposed.

In the face of the fait accompli, they either parted ways with the Empress Wu at a critical time. Either they are afraid of their compulsion and silently admit and accept it. The strategy of the Empress Wu is, against those who oppose it. No matter how much merit he has and how much ability he has, he will be punished mercilessly;

Those who are willing to cooperate with themselves, even those who go against their will, even those who are opportunistic, are accepted and entrusted with reuse, with the aim of dividing, disintegrating, and completely isolating those hardliners who oppose them.

Empress Wu believes that what the will of heaven wants to determine is nothing more than the monarch's control and slaughter of the interests of the world, whether it is Gangchang ethics or moral education must be based on practical interests, the desire for interests will make some people make pragmatic choices, even those who abide by the Gangchang ethics, in the face of the fait reality, they will also make a wise choice to cooperate with the Wuhou, and those who cling to the rules are only a few after all.

Emperor Li Dan is a difficult emperor in the mind of the queen mother, and he is even weaker than the prince Li Xian. He is his mother's obedient son, but he is not a good emperor who can take on the great responsibilities of the world.

Li Dan is the youngest son of the queen mother, and he received more maternal love and care from his mother. As a result, he developed the habit of relying on his mother, and showed obedience in front of her, which was rare for a royal boy. He has never been a prince, and among the many princes in the royal family, it is not his turn to be the prince.

As a result, he has been far away from the whirlpool of power struggle, and has lived in a narrow circle of people since he was a child, literate and studying, and has not been bound by more rules and regulations of the royal family, which has given him more freedom and more personal interests and hobbies; Coupled with the versatility of the courtier Liu Yizhi, he is better than other princes in terms of talent.

The stable environment gave him more opportunities to accept traditional humanistic morality, which created his gentle, humble and obedient character. Far from the competition for royal power, it is difficult for him to feel the danger of the court, and he lacks the mind to deal with the affairs of the world.

As he grew older, he became a little deeper into the world, saw a world completely different from his own life circle, and also saw a mother who was different from caring and considerate of himself. He was shocked and somewhat afraid of his mother.

Unlike his brothers, he had no other privileges than titles, and was therefore immune to power struggles; He is not involved in government affairs, and he is even more reluctant to ask about the world, his mother, and those things that have nothing to do with him.

He willingly and quietly became his prince, willing to live a leisurely life with his companions, his wife, sons, and daughters, devoting himself to the practice of his beloved grass li, and studying his accomplished written exegesis.

Mother Empress Wu originally did not plan to let her young son participate in politics and become the emperor, and the first emperor Gaozong never considered that this weak prince could be his successor, and his father's love was to make his young son a person of noble character.

Parents love their young son, maybe it's a nature, maybe they know that their young son can't inherit the throne, and they need to give him more care and more care. Empress Wu did not treat her young son as harshly as she did with the crown prince, as harsh as she was with cruelty.

It was forced out by the harsh reality and the laws of the royal family, and she could not be kind-hearted. She also knew that in fact, at that point, there was no family affection and motherly affection at all, and there was only a hard-hearted heart and a she-wolf-like ruthlessness.

Just when Zhongzong Li Xian was deposed, Ruizong Li Dan succeeded to the throne, and the ministers kept saying "abolish the faint and establish the Ming", she clearly knew that this was not her own wish, and she had a passive mentality of last resort.

She couldn't bear to break the peaceful life of her youngest son Li Dan, and she didn't want to let him inherit the throne in this way at this time, so that he could accept this cruel reality that had nothing to do with him prematurely.

is far from the thoughts of the ministers, and the two princes Li Xian and Li Dan in the minds of her mother Empress Wu are not her ideal monarchs.

When the crown prince Li Xian inherited the throne, Empress Wu foresaw that this son would be difficult to convince the public. Li Xian's personality is not much different from his brothers, they all have that unruly and rebellious character, the difference is that Li Xiankong has his ambitions, but he has no great talent, and all that remains is the ignorance and arrogance of the empty eyes.

Even the former emperor Gaozong was not at ease with his son inheriting his throne, so he had to make a special explanation in his edict: "...... Those who do not make decisions about military affairs will be punished by the queen of heaven. ”

The fact is that Emperor Li Xian could not tolerate his mother, let alone the division commanders and ministers who had been assisting him for many years, but behind his complacent ambition was to insist on going his own way, and the end could only be the betrayal of his relatives.

Li Dan's succession to the throne, in the minds of the ministers, can be described as the desire of the people and the expectations of the people, but in the case of the Empress Wu, it is actually just an expedient measure.

Li Dan is her most beloved son, is all her family affection and maternal sustenance, his gentle character and personable demeanor can win her as a mother's heart, after experiencing several sons to her rebellion and even rebellion, she needs such a son to heal her wounds and comfort her soul.

However, all of Li Dan's strengths just exposed all his weaknesses, he lacked the masculinity that a great monarch should have, and his overly elegant mentality made him lack the eloquence to deal with the complex situation of the royal family and even the world.

Empress Wu knew that Li Dan was not good as the emperor, but it was difficult to violate the world's principles for a while, and it was difficult to live up to the expectations of the public, so she could only push the boat along the river and take advantage of the situation. To achieve great things, she needs time, more foreshadowing and patience.

She can temporarily submit to the ministers, and cannot tolerate the emperor becoming a puppet manipulated by the ministers. In the cheers of the ministers "abolishing the faint and establishing the light, and the expectations of the people will return", she did not hesitate to resolutely come to the court to weigh the system.

This is actually opening a door to the ministers, and at the same time closing this door, turning the courtiers' feelings and hopes for Emperor Li Dan into a castle in the air in an instant. According to the courtiers' thoughts, Empress Wu had reason not to trust the abandoned Li Xian, but there was no reason not to trust Emperor Li Dan.

However, there is no explanation, and there is no indication of when Empress Wu will return to power. In this way, in the face of Empress Wu's actions and behaviors, in addition to being confused, the courtiers could not see her motives and purposes clearly for a while. They have only one simple wish, that is, to return the emperor to the emperor as much as possible.

In fact, in Empress Wu, her purpose and intention are very simple, that is, to send a signal to the ministers and the world that at the right time, she will replace this emperor. She had to signal that this was an earth-shattering event that needed to be prepared.

She knows how big the stakes are, and that risk has to be faced sooner or later. She is confident that she has the ability to resist risks without being knocked down by them, and she also has the ability to control the world. (To be continued......)