On January 24, the second year of longevity, someone told the former Shangfang supervisor Pei Bandit and Fan Yunxian to visit the emperor's heir Li Dan privately, and Emperor Wu was furious, and immediately ordered the two to be beheaded in the city, which was only three years before Emperor Wu became emperor.

Not long after, someone accused Li Dan of wanting to rebel, and the empress ordered Junchen to interrogate his entourage. In order to prevent Lai Junchen from killing innocents indiscriminately, and in order to return the innocence of the master he served, An Jinzang, a worker of Taichang, knew that Lai Junchen was ruthless and vicious, so he cut his chest to prove that Li Dan did not rebel.

The empress was deeply moved, it was rare for a person of low status and humble status to be able to sacrifice his life for righteousness in such a way.

In order to comfort his son, Emperor Wu came to visit in person and sighed: "I can't see my own son, so you are wronged by this, and I feel deeply guilty for being a mother!" ”

After admitting his mistake, he immediately ordered that the examination of the matter be stopped.

Although this incident has passed, it is like swallowing a stone in Emperor Wu's heart, and it is uncomfortable. On the issue of the succession of the prince, Emperor Wu has always been contradictory and indescribable.

Although he controls the world with the respect of the Son of Heaven, what he has done is simply incredible and unreasonable in the eyes of the court and even the people of the world.

If there is a person in the world who does not ask himself questions in the form of resistance, denunciation, or insults, I am afraid that it will be difficult for him to justify himself.

Thinking back to stepping into the gate of the royal family at the age of fourteen, after decades of ups and downs, I always feel that there is an invisible force pushing me forward desperately, although it is very hard and very difficult, but I can't stop. Is it his unwilling character or is it the will of God?

In the eyes of outsiders, he has always been confident and decisive. However, from the bottom of my heart, I am sometimes suspicious of my actions.

It should be said that he is a person with great ambitions and aspirations. It was the Tang royal family that provided a stage for them to display their talents and realize their ambitions, and it was also the royal family that achieved their careers. In order to show his talents, in order to realize his ambitions, he is not a palace maid.

After being named Zhaoyi, he was not in peace, especially after being named Zhaoyi by Gaozong, the desire to get ahead was particularly strong. However, at that time, the greatest wish was to win the queen.

I think that whether it is by virtue or by virtue of assisting the emperor's contribution, I should enjoy this honor. However, her humble background has become the biggest obstacle to the queen, and has become the reason for the princes and ministers to oppose her posterior!

I resisted at all costs. Fight your wits and win the battle! This also made him see a cruel reality, if you want to achieve your due position in the court, in addition to ingenuity and contribution, it is a desperate struggle!

Once you are soft-hearted, you will be swept away. It even became a sacrifice to the royal family. Meantime. It also made her understand why the first emperor Taizong wanted to launch the Xuanwumen Rebellion.

However, from the beginning, she never wanted to dominate the world as a woman. really pushed himself to the position of the Son of Heaven precisely in the process of establishing an heir to the royal family.

This is a difficult choice, a challenge that transcends the conventional: on the one hand, Jiangshan Sheji, and on the other hand, his own son! Which is right and which is wrong, and which is more important?

I'm afraid no one can tell! But one thing is certain. No matter what aspect you are, you are on the cusp.

At the beginning, the crown prince Li Hong was appointed as the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. Both the emperor and the empress had high hopes for him. Isn't it for the sake of the glory of the son and the mother?

In order to create a strong prince, Li Hong left his parents at the age of eight and lived alone in the East Palace, assisted by special old ministers and famous Confucians. Empress Wu also selected one from the series of books he wrote for him to read and teach him how to be a filial son and a benevolent gentleman.

However, this son, who is very similar to the queen mother's personality and is also very beloved by the queen mother, has embarked on a completely opposite path to the queen mother's wishes.

Although Li Hong's body is weak, his youthful character is stubborn, resolute and even conceited. As he grew older, Li Hong became disgusted with his mother's regency behavior, and even expressed public dissatisfaction and opposition to her mother's actions.

It should be said that Li Hong's road to becoming the prince of the Tang Dynasty was first paved for him by the Empress Wu, and when he fought for the queen, his first thought was to seek the crown prince for Li Hong and inherit the throne. After obtaining the queen, the son followed the mother, and Li Hong naturally became the prince.

I once remembered that the first time I went out to Luoyang with the first emperor, the queen mother was worried about Li Hong, and she still took him to her side halfway, which can be described as a mother-son connection.

However, the hard work and price she has paid are not only not rewarded, but instead attract dissatisfaction and opposition, which is difficult for a mother to accept.

Although Li Hong's rebellious behavior caused all kinds of uneasiness and even anxiety after the martial arts, he was confident that with his maternal charisma and his own wisdom and ability, he could completely correct his behavior, shape him into a strong monarch of the Tang Dynasty, and transform his governing philosophy and ambition into his son's behavior.

What saddened the emperor and empress was that such an ideal prince of the country died young! The so-called medicine of the West Mountain does not save the soul of Dongdai; The doctor who blows the soup, don't return to the life of the dead river.

The trauma caused by this blow to parents is unprecedented, and it is completely difficult for outsiders to understand! Next is the crown prince Li Xian.

This talented, energetic and handsome young man, his resolute and stubborn personality is exactly the same as his brother Li Hong.

Before leaving the palace and entering the palace of King Lu, he was familiar with the "Book of Shang", "Book of Rites", "Analects", and could recite more than a dozen ancient poems.

After taking over as the crown prince, especially during the period when Dai Gaozong presided over the state affairs, he was able to pay attention to the essentials of governance, sympathize with the people, and show great pity; the implementation of criminal law, with a focus on censorship; Good and good, adhere to integrity, and won the praise of the first emperor Gaozong.

Unlike Li Hong, Li Xian's interests are more extensive, his rebellious character is more prominent, and his confrontation with his mother is more intense.

Although the queen mother wrote "Shaoyang Zhengfan" and "The Biography of the Filial Son" for him, wrote many letters to teach him, and even gave him stern advice and warnings in the dual capacity of mother and empress, however, nothing could help except increase his fear, anxiety and even hatred.

This is for Empress Wu. It is undoubtedly very painful! What Empress Wu doesn't understand is why her two most proud and satisfying sons are against her?

Although the crown prince Li Xian was finally deposed. But it's a helpless choice after all! Helpless and resentful, she was keenly aware that it was not so much that the prince was against her, but that the subordinates who assisted the two princes were competing with her.

Those guys who tend to be inflammatory, they take advantage of the prince's youth and naivety, push the waves to form a party, and form a force against them.

At that time, when the subordinates of the late crown prince Li Hongdong's palace team were transferred to the new prince. I had a vague feeling that I might raise a tiger, and later facts confirmed this.

Therefore, at the same time that the crown prince Li Xian was deposed. He ruthlessly eradicated the gang of subordinates who were beside the prince.

In fact, Empress Wu may understand that the subordinates who assist the prince have their duties and obligations. The crown prince can only be educated and cultivated using classical Confucian teachings and the orthodox way of being a king. They may have selfish motives, but they will never deviate;

And the educated prince must also use the orthodox yardstick to measure the actions of the queen mother, when the queen mother's actions are beyond their imagination, they can only choose to rebel and rebel against the queen mother.

Li Xian and later Li Dan are completely different. Although they have healthy physiques and have their own strengths and weaknesses in personality and qualifications, one of them is rash and ignorant and self-serving, and the other is not rigid enough and more than soft.

This is completely incompatible with the monarch of the powerful Tang Dynasty. Empress Wu understood that his son could become the son of heaven of the Tang Dynasty. In the final analysis, it is to rely on the identity of the queen and the authority under the queen's identity!

From Li Xian to Li Dan. Their character and talent have always disappointed themselves, such a genius, without their own strong backing, will only be slaughtered arbitrarily. Empress Wu has always believed that the royal family has no selfish affairs.

Those who clamored for the Son of Heaven to return to power and threatened with force, those who had so-called sympathy for the Son of Heaven and even made friends with the Son of Heaven,

Their first goal was to oust the empress from power, and then either they would control and manipulate a weak emperor to gain greater power and benefits; Either they can replace it with the power they have formed.

The rebellion in Yangzhou and the rebellion of the princes of the clan are all showing such a tacit fact.

If their plot succeeds, whatever the outcome, it will be bloody turmoil and unprecedented disaster! Therefore, for those who dare to fight the emperor's idea, those who dare to compete with themselves, they can only fight back without hesitation and eradicate them cleanly and thoroughly!

In the eyes of the world, this is cruel and bloodless. However, knowing her son Mo Ruomu, and decades of court protests, she understood a truth, and what is irrational is actually rational.

Once you completely lose confidence in your son, instead of letting others slaughter you, it is better to be the emperor yourself, just like when you were fighting for the queen with Ming Zhengyan, which is already a natural and natural fait accompli.

Some people do not want to admit this fact, and see it as a great rebellion. I also feel that this is a great rebellion, but it is a great rebellion with no way out and no choice.

There are some people who just don't give up, they always doubt how long the empress can rule, and always pin their hopes on the deposed emperor Li Dan, once Li Dan takes power, they will regard themselves as heroes loyal to the Li dynasty, and behind their concern is their extremely sinister intentions! To make an example of it yourself is to let them die of this heart!

After three years of heaven, Wu Chenghei was deposed. This is the third time since Wu Chenghei entered the prime minister in the first year of the light house. Nine years before and after, the first visit to the prime minister was deposed after only two months;

Half a year later, it was reactivated, only for a month, and then it was dismissed. The first two strikes, Wu Chengsi had no idea; After a lapse of nine years, although the resignation of the prime minister caused the dissatisfaction of Emperor Wu Cheng for the turmoil of establishing an heir,

However, in Wu Chenghe's view, the children of the Wu clan are the princes, and Emperor Wu has long had this intention, not because of his own extraneous branches. Wu Chenghei was indeed a little confused about Emperor Wu's measures.

Wu Chenghei is the nephew of Emperor Wu. At the beginning, Emperor Wu's father, Wu Shi Tong, married Xiangli and gave birth to Yuanqing and Yuanshuang. Wu Chengsi is the son of Wu Yuanshuang.

When Wu Chengsi was young, he did not receive any grace from this aunt who became the empress of the Tang Dynasty, on the contrary,

He, along with his father, uncle, and Wu children, were inexplicably exiled to Lingnan and lived an inhuman life.

From fine clothes and jade food to scattered places, he was in the company of barbarians. The resentment and resentment can be imagined. Later, they were recalled by Empress Wu.

As the elder brother of the descendants of the Wu family, Wu Chenghei served from Shangyi to the Ministry of Rites and the prime minister. was degraded and raptured, and it was repeated several times. This was simply confusing for Wu Chenghe, who was not deeply involved in the world at that time. In the end, Wu Chenghei understood Empress Wu's intentions, which was in the process of court disputes.

Emperor Wu has always been in a complex state of mind of trust and non-trust towards the Wu family. She has no affection for her half-brother and the family, and even has some kind of resentment.

This resentment stems from the fact that his biological mother, Yang, was harassed and discriminated against by the Wu family Wu Huailiang, Wu Huaiyun (Wu Huang's cousin) and Wu Yuanshuang after the death of his father.

This not only hurt his mother, but also left a lifelong wound and shadow in Emperor Wu's heart.

When his father died, Emperor Wu was only twelve years old at the time. Because he couldn't stand the criticism of the Wu family. The proud mother came to Chang'an with her own three daughters.

Emperor Wu misses his father very much, and he has always been inseparable from her when he was alive. His loving and caring father brought her all the happiness and joy of childhood.

buried her father, and buried her carefree childhood, leaving behind the memory of her brother's discrimination and troubles. And that wounded heart.

At the age of fourteen. By chance, she became acquainted with the royal family, bid farewell to that family, and bid farewell to the short childhood that made her nostalgic and sad, and embarked on a life path that even she could not imagine.

From Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang, two half-brothers, as well as Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyuan, she initially experienced the hot and cold world and the warmth of the world, which also made her have a different view of family affection.

The rivalry at court taught her to fight and take revenge. I also learned to fight wits and courage.

She does not believe in gifts, the queen who was by the side of the emperor in her early years. had enveloped her in every way, but she knew that it was the queen Wang's wooing of her in order to deal with Concubine Xiao Shu, who was favored by the first emperor, not that she had special love and gifts.

In the years to come, she can give and use others, and she can also resolutely crusade against enemies, but she is always wary and suspicious of the gifts of others.

In Emperor Wu's view, the status and dignity of human beings can only be fought for by themselves, not by others.

The aura of the family has long been lost, and the one that his father Wu Shi Tong paid for the Tang royal family has faded out of the memory of the royal family, like an orphan who has lost her support, she walks alone on the lonely road of the royal family, and this is still exchanged for her appearance, youth and talent.

She has not forgotten her proud and aristocratic mother, who is well-read and full of wisdom. From her mother, she received the influence and edification of poetry and literature, and also inherited her mother's stubborn and resolute character, which opened the door of wisdom and broadened her horizons.

And it's more about the enlightenment of the soul. The changes in her family made her lose any dependence and have more insights into life.

She was grateful to her mother for this, and inadvertently intertwined her mother's resentment against the Wu family, and after taking the throne of the queen, she severely punished the Wu family, and gave her mother a bad breath for herself. However, it was only a revenge within the family, a revenge for Empress Wu to use her special status to her relatives, although it was a subversion of the Wu family, but it did not attract much attention from the imperial court. What really attracted the attention of the imperial court was the reuse of the Wu family's children by the Empress Wu a few years later.

This was a major turning point for the Wu family, and a group of Wu descendants such as Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi ended their exile and entered the imperial court one after another to hold important positions, becoming an important force against the Li royal family.

This is undoubtedly a heavy decision of Empress Wu, and its influence and role have far exceeded the grievances and hatred of the Wu family.

This is the result of a series of events at the court. At the beginning, it was not the direct descendants of the Wu family that Empress Wu used, but her nephew Helan Minzhi.

Empress Wu's mother, Yang (Mrs. Feng Daiguo and renamed Mrs. Rongguo), had three daughters, the eldest daughter (Mrs. Feng Han), married to Yue Wangfu Gong Cao Helan Yueshi, the second daughter Zetian, and the third daughter married to Guo. Mrs. Han gave birth to a son, Helan Minzhi.

During the Qianfeng period, Empress Wu killed Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun under the pretext of killing Wu Yuanshuang and others, and Wu Yuanshuang and others were also implicated and exiled to die outside the ridge.

At the same time, Empress Wu ordered Mrs. Han's son Helan Minzhi to be the heir of the warrior Tong, changed his surname to Wu, and worshiped Zuo Shiji, Lantai Taishi, and attacked Zhou Guogong. He also ordered him to gather scholars Li Sizhen, Wu Jing and others in Lantai, correct the history and write a biography.

He Lanmin was young and beautiful, and relied on the favor of his grandmother, Mrs. Rongguo, and often made mistakes, which made the Empress Wu unhappy.

In the second year of Xianheng, Mrs. Rongguo died, and Empress Wu took out the court's Duanjin and ordered Minzhi to build a Buddha statue to pray for Mrs. Rongguo's blessings, but Helan Minzhi kept it for her own use.

persecuted and raped the crown princess (daughter of Siwei Shaoqing Yang Sijian) who was selected by Gaozong and Empress Wu. During the mourning period of Mrs. Rongguo, he took off his mourning clothes without permission, put on auspicious clothes, and played tricks for fun.

also persecuted the young Princess Taiping. After the defeat, Helan Minzhi was exiled to Leizhou, and hanged himself while passing through Shaozhou.

After the death of Helan Min, Wu Cheng's heir was recalled from Lingnan by Empress Wu to worship Shangyi and serve as the ancestor of Zhou Guogong. Soon he was promoted to secretary and supervisor. The children of the Wu clan who jumped out of the sea of suffering were flattered.

They were grateful for their aunt's favor, and they were sincerely afraid of being reused by the Empress Wu.

They paid the price for their father's meanness and injustice, and they also repented for their father's actions, and they also learned a lesson from their father's generation.

They regarded their past experiences as a foreshadowing of their success, and also attributed the same grievances and resentments as Empress Wu to their own parents, and finally realized the transformation of their hearts.

Despite this, just like when they were attacked and exiled, they still can't grasp their own fate, and can only pin their hope of survival and destiny on their aunt Empress Wu.

They have lost a qiē, and can only accept and accept the choice of the Empress Wu, and the condition for their selection is to be loyal to the Empress Wu as the premise, gain the trust of the Empress Wu, do their duty for the Empress Wu without complaint, and become a loyal servant of the Empress Wu. (To be continued......)