In other words, Di Renjie has an aura in the emperor, and as soon as the emperor passes, he is held by his aura. Born at the right time, what is Di Renjie's background?

Children of non-aristocratic families who came up from the imperial examination. The times need such people. Speaking of this, it is impossible not to talk about the historical background at that time.

The early Tang Dynasty in which Di Renjie lived was an era of alternating between the old and the new. In the eyes of these nobles, the family is more important than the country, and they rely on the power of the family as officials.

Loyalty means the interests of the country, filial piety means the interests of the family, which is more important, that is not necessarily. Moreover, the emperor at that time often relied on these great nobles to build the country, and they also needed their help to continue his rule, so he did not dare to put forward too strict requirements in terms of loyalty to the monarch.

There is such a story in the Three Kingdoms, Cao Pi once invited his ministers to a banquet and asked a question for everyone to discuss: "The monarch and father each have a disease, and there is a pill to save one person. "Your monarch and father are both sick and dying, and there is a medicine at this time, whoever eats it will live, should it be given to the monarch or to the father?

Everyone talked about it, some said it to the monarch, some said it to the father, and there was an important minister named Bing Yuan who had been silent, but Cao Pi specially asked his opinion, and Bing Yuan was full of emotion at the time, and replied loudly: "To my father!" Cao Pi didn't dare to embarrass him. Bingyuan was not an aristocratic origin, but he was admired by the aristocracy of the time and represented their ideas.

It can be seen from this that the aristocracy is not the absolute first place for loyalty. Sui and Tang dynasties. The situation has changed, especially during the Wu Zetian period. The changes were even greater, and Wu Zetian was supported by ordinary landlords and bureaucrats. Defeat the noble group and ascend to the throne.

At that time, it was mainly the Guanlong aristocratic group that opposed her becoming empress, and most of the people who supported Wu Zetian were ordinary middle and low-level officials from non-aristocratic or declining aristocratic families, and these people won.

Since then, the Chinese aristocracy, which had lasted for hundreds of years since the late Eastern Han Dynasty, collapsed, and officials from ordinary landlord families occupied the mainstream.

These people have no prominent background, no big family to rely on, the monarch is their food and clothing, they become officials by the emperor's so-called favor, and their promotion depends on the emperor's promotion. Therefore, to be loyal to the emperor is to be loyal.

If you were an emperor, would you like the aristocracy or the common bureaucracy? It must be the latter, they are so controlling, obedient. Di Renjie became an official at this time, which can be said to be the right time. Why? Because the Di family belonged to ordinary landlords, not nobles, Di Renjie's ancestor is said to be Di Hei among the seventy-two disciples of Confucius, whether it is credible is unclear.

The Di family has lived in Gansu for generations and is still influential locally. But in the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the family declined, and Di Renjie's ancestors moved the family to Taiyuan, so the Di family said that they were from Taiyuan.

This was the official saying of the Tang Dynasty. But new archaeological discoveries show a different possibility. That is, Di Renjie is likely to be a descendant of the Qiang people of the ethnic minority.

The ancients recounted their ancestors, and they were always accustomed to pasting gold, and most of the people with the surname Zhang were descendants of Zhang Liang, the Marquis of Han Liu. Most of the people with the surname Sun are descendants of Sun Wu, and the surname Jiang is naturally the descendants of Jiang Ziya. Even the royal family of the Tang Dynasty, which has Hu blood, also pulled a Laozi Li Er as an ancestor for himself, and the Di family was probably not exempt from vulgarity.

It proves that China's national cultural and historical knowledge literacy needs to be strengthened. It's interesting to say. Hundreds of years later, Di Renjie was almost pretended to be an ancestor by others. "Shaw Brothers Records of Experience" records that the famous general Di Qing of the Song Dynasty was simple by nature and came from an ordinary background.

After making meritorious contributions, someone persuaded him to say, "When you push Di Liang Gong as a distant ancestor", you should recognize Di Renjie as a distant ancestor. Di Qing said with a smile: "A certain person from the Tian family, less as a soldier, and a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty, Liang Gong." "I'm a farmer, a small soldier, how dare I pretend to be Di Renjie? This man is sincere.

Di Renjie's father, Zhixun, served as the governor of Kui, but his political achievements did not seem to be prominent, and his father had already retired when Di Renjie became a monk. It is not clear what the origin of Di Renjie's mother's family is, and the historical records record that Di Renjie's mother's cousin is surnamed Lu, so Di's mother should also be surnamed Lu.

At that time, the prominent clans in the world were the Boling Cui clan, the Qinghe Cui clan, the Longxi Li clan, the Zhaojun Li clan, the Xingyang Zheng clan, the Fanyang Lu clan, and the Taiyuan Wang clan, known as the "five surnames and seven families".

There is also the meritorious military nobles of the Guanlong Group who fought the world during the period. The Di family is not a big family, if his mother is Fan Yang Lu, there will definitely be a record in Di Renjie's biography, because according to the habits of the ancients, there will be a lot of ink and color on such a prominent origin as "five surnames and seven families".

But no, it can be seen that his maternal line is not noble. But bad things turn into good things, although the aristocracy has unlimited scenery, how can it be thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi. During the Wu Zetian period, the nobles were unlucky, and officials from ordinary families, especially those who came up from the imperial examination, were more valued. Wu Zetian hated the aristocracy all his life, and the Wu family was a small surname, so Wu Zetian was obstructed and despised by the nobles a lot.

After she was appointed as the queen that year, it was several major representatives of the Guanlong aristocratic group who stood up against her, and the leaders were Emperor Gaozong's uncle Sun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Yu Zhining, etc. At that time, Gaozong convened a meeting of the prime ministers to discuss the abolition of the queen and the establishment of Wu Zetian, and the eldest grandson Wuji and others fiercely opposed.

Of course, they couldn't see that Wu Zetian wanted to be the empress at this time, and the main reason for their opposition was that Empress Wang's family had a high status (she was the Taiyuan Wang family in the "Five Surnames and Seven Families") and Wu Zetian's family had a low status.

Chu Suiliang said at the time: "The queen is a famous family, and the first emperor was married to His Majesty." The first emperor was about to collapse, and his majesty said to the minister: 'I am a beautiful woman, and now I will pay Qing. What His Majesty has heard, the words are still in my ears.

The queen has never heard of it, how can it be wasted! The minister did not dare to bend from His Majesty, and disobeyed the order of the first emperor! "The status of the Empress Wang's family is high, how can it be abandoned lightly, not to mention that Emperor Taizong entrusted your little couple to us before he died, so he resolutely can't!

This struggle was the first fierce frontal struggle in Wu Zetianzheng's career, and as we all know, she was naturally the victor in the end, which also planted the seeds of hatred for the nobles.

After coming to power, she took many measures to crack down on and limit the privileges and influence of the aristocracy, such as eliminating the eldest grandson Wuji group and vigorously promoting officials from low-level ordinary families. Revision of the "Surname Directory", etc. At the same time, Wu Zetian made a lot of heavy reforms to the imperial examination. For example, the establishment of the palace examination and the establishment of martial arts.

It is to put aside the aristocracy and select talents from the people for themselves. She subconsciously values people like Di Renjie. So he was born at the right time.

A basic concept: Confucian concept Although Wu Zetian admired and respected Di Renjie all his life, and Di Renjie also assisted her wholeheartedly, Di Renjie was an orthodox Confucian in the final analysis, and his heart was actually still on the side of the Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian knew this, but she was helpless.

The hen crows is a disaster for the family, so there has been no female monarch in China since ancient times, and the already scarce period when women were in power is also regarded as a period of chaos, such as the famous Western Han Dynasty and Empress Lu. Even Tang Gaozong's father, Emperor Taizong, felt that it was unthinkable for a woman to be in power.

Once upon a time. Queen Seondeok of Silla sent an envoy to ask for help, saying that Goryeo was fighting herself, and asked the Tang army for assistance. Taizong sat on the throne and said a lot, in a word: "The country is dominated by women, and it is insulted by its neighbors. ”

Who let you be the queen in power, how can the country have a heroine, or how can the neighboring countries bully you? It's interesting to think about. Do you know there's a better character in your harem?

Di Renjie admitted that Wu Zetian was a great politician and a legitimate monarch, but the assistant empress still caused him trouble, and he was very distressed about it. It is said that he later served as prime minister. On a snowy day, he went to visit his cousin outside Luoyang City, who always treated him lukewarmly.

As soon as I arrived at the door, I met my cousin returning from hunting. When this cousin saw your cousin who was the prime minister, he casually made a gesture and left. The attitude is very arrogant. Di Renjie didn't care, and said to his aunt: "I am the prime minister now." If my brother wants to be an official, I can help. As a result, the aunt replied: "Your aunt is my son, and I don't want him to serve the heroine." ”

This is a satire of Di Renjie, it is said that Di Renjie was very embarrassed at that time, which reflects that he himself is a little unreasonable. As we will see later, this contradictory mood runs through Di Renjie's life.

By the way, some readers may think when they see this story: Di Renjie is engaging in nepotism and cronyism. Indeed, what he said about packing tickets for his aunt was nepotism by today's standards.

This is the disadvantage of the rule of man. It stands to reason that his cousin's son is not within the scope of power, and Di Renjie is suspected of abusing his power, so we don't have to say anything about it. For Di Renjie, the idea of loyalty to the monarch and the idea of opposing women in power are entangled, both of which come from the education he received since childhood, and are very contradictory. The Zhou Dynasty replaced the Tang Dynasty, unlike other dynasties that were accompanied by wars and turmoil, once the son of heaven and a courtier, Wu Zetian took a gradual approach to gradually establish the Great Zhou.

Boiling the frog in warm water, the relationship between the courtiers and her has developed for a long time, and many people can neither fully accept the new dynasty, nor completely deviate from it, to make fierce rebellion and martyrdom.

It can be said that Di Renjie was very loyal to the Tang Dynasty all his life, this is loyalty to the country, loyalty to Wu Zetian, and loyalty to her personally. This is the main line of Di Renjie's life. When he helped Wu Zetian govern the country, he thought that he was loyal and for Wu Zetian's good. When he laid out chess pieces on his deathbed, and even made arrangements for the coup d'état, he still thought that he was loyal, and it was also to protect Wu Zetian's reputation.

Wu Zetian, as an emperor, is undoubtedly the title of emperor for himself as a woman in the position of emperor designed for men. I'm afraid this is something that Qin Shi Huang, who designed the name of emperor, never dreamed of. Wu Zetian not only became a female emperor, but also steadily did it for more than ten years, if you add the seven years from the death of Tang Gaozong to her emperor, she has done it for 21 years, so it is not an exaggeration to sing that she has "dominated the world for 20 years". That's longer than many men in history have been emperors.

Why is she the emperor, and what is so special about her politics? I believe that there are two main aspects, one is the reform of the official system, and the other is the reform of the system of electing officials. Wu Zetian's change of the six departments to heaven and earth, spring, summer, autumn and winter is actually a change of soup and not a change of medicine, which has no substantive significance, and the real significance is that she has set up some new envoys. During the more than 20 years of Wu Zetian's reign, she had about 30 or so envoys, 12 of which were newly established by Wu Zetian, and these 12 envoys were: Zhikuang Envoy, Li Kuang Envoy, Cunfu Envoy, Yingtian Envoy, Supervisor Envoy, Flying Dragon Envoy, Defense Envoy, Idle Stable Envoy, Interview Envoy, Solicitation Envoy, Garden Envoy, Zhuang Zhai Envoy, etc. Wu Zetian's establishment of these new posts is suited to the actual situation. When something new happens, of course, there must be a corresponding official to manage it. For example, the two envoys of Zhikuang and Likuang, since Wu Zetian founded Tongkuang, of course, there must be corresponding personnel to manage them. These two positions have not been abolished at the end of the Tang Dynasty, which shows that these two positions are still very long-lived.

There is a Tang generation, this kind of envoy at any time, instead of the emperor to deal with various emergency affairs, just like the ministers of the later generations, generally able to deal with various events more smoothly, Wu Zetian's envoy increased from time to time, which is enough to prove that Wu Zetian is very attentive to the governance of the country.

In terms of the official election system, Wu Zetian's reform is even more well-known. The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were divided into regular examinations and system examinations. Changju is an examination held every spring, mainly for the entrance to the Shike, as well as the Ming Jing and other subjects. Those who come from Guoxue Taixue are called Gongshi, and those recommended by the state and county are called Xianggong. It is said that the Jinshi branch began in the Sui Dynasty and was "prosperous in Zhenguan", but from the actual situation, it is not accurate to say that Jinshi flourished in Zhenguan. Zhenguan was a total of 23 years, and there were only 205 Jinshi and the first, less than ten people per year, but during the 21 years of Wu Zetian's reign, the Jinshi and the first reached 575 people, about 25 people per year, which was two and a half times that of Zhenguan.

Wu Zetian not only opened the imperial examination, but also opened the system, the system is an irregular examination, limited to the report of the incumbent officials, the examination can get a higher official position, in the specific method of the examination, Wu Zetian's innovation is more, such as the test paper paste name system, the palace examination, etc., the famous prime minister of the Xuanzong Dynasty Zhang said that it was selected by Wu Zetian through the guò examination. There is also the martial arts system, which is Wu Zetian's first initiative. Wu Zetian also set up the Southern Election, specially selected talents from the southern minority areas where the culture was not yet developed at that time, and used the heroes of the Quartet as help. Although Wu Zetian's approach offended the hereditary nobles, he established a good reputation among the inferior scholars and won their support.

To sum up, Wu Zetian can be said to have made all-round achievements in governing the country, whether it is in politics, military, economy, literature and art, he can be called a king with outstanding political achievements, a real king. The king must speak in terms of his political achievements, and other so-called minor problems in his private life need not be brought to the table. Because for the people of the world, it does not matter whether a king's private life is fornication or chastity. The king's first task is to put the country in order, not to be a moral model. Thinking that the later generations of literati will abide by the family law, except for a little ambition, power and small skills, and in fact there is no commendable political achievements Gao Tao called "Female Zhong Yao Shun", he really held grievances for Wu Zetian. In the eyes of men, it seems that as long as women know how to please them, they can send any fleshy hat. Wu Zetian, on the other hand, is a peculiar woman who wants to break the order that men have choreographed, so the good things she does are ignored and the bad things she does are infinitely exaggerated. (To be continued......)