GBP Chapter 309 Women of the Tang Dynasty
Chapter 309 Women of the Tang Dynasty
However, the turn of fate came unexpectedly. Emperor Cheng of Han, Liu Ao, died in the bed of his beloved concubine, Zhao Hede, due to excessive indulgence, and had no offspring. Therefore, Wang Zhengjun's eldest nephew, Liu Xin, naturally ascended the throne and was known in history as Emperor Ai of Han. Wang Zhengjun was honored as the Grand Empress Dowager.
After Emperor Ai of Han ascended the throne, he began to weaken the power of Wang's relatives, and officials of the Wang family were dismissed one after another. Under the suppression of Emperor Ai of Han, the Wang family fell to the bottom. Although Wang Zhengjun had no real power, she could only retire completely and no longer ask about the affairs of the court.
The wheel of fate turned again. In the second year of Yuanshou (1 BC), Emperor Ai of Han died suddenly at the age of 25, without any offspring or crown prince. When Wang Zhengjun learned about this, she quickly joined forces with the Wang family's children to control the palace, seized the imperial seal, and made the 9-year-old Liu Xin the emperor, known in history as Emperor Ping of Han. Wang Zhengjun began to rule the country.
However, Wang Zhengjun was already over 70 years old and weak at that time. She had no interest in government affairs, and the power of the court gradually fell into the hands of Wang Mang. A few years later, Emperor Ping of Han suddenly died. According to the "Zizhi Tongjian", Emperor Ping of Han was probably poisoned to death by Wang Mang.
After Emperor Ping of Han died, Wang Mang selected the 2-year-old Liu Ying as the crown prince, and he controlled the regent behind the scenes. In 9 AD, Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty and officially ascended the throne. In order to legitimize his throne, Wang Mang asked his aunt Wang Zhengjun for the imperial seal. Wang Zhengjun angrily scolded Wang Mang as a traitor to the Han Dynasty, but in the end, under Wang Mang's coercion, she angrily threw the imperial seal, and a corner of the seal was broken.
After Wang Mang got the imperial seal, he destroyed the temple of Emperor Yuan of Han, abolished the system of the Han Dynasty, and renamed Wang Zhengjun as "Grand Empress Dowager of the New Dynasty". Although Wang Zhengjun was honored as the empress dowager of the new dynasty, she was very distressed because she knew that she had an unshirkable responsibility for the demise of the Han Dynasty. In the last few years of her life, she often complained about herself.
In 13 AD, Wang Zhengjun died of depression at the age of 84. This woman, who was known as one of the longest-lived queens, eventually left behind a lifetime of infamy.
[If you don't let me become the crown princess, I will make you die. The most promiscuous princess in the Tang Dynasty, the first person to poison her own father. Historical trivia about the Tang Dynasty]
She was the worst woman in the Tang Dynasty. She got pregnant before marriage at the age of fifteen, and shared a bed with her mother. As soon as her husband died, she hooked up with her uncle's son.
She was the granddaughter of Wu Zetian and the apple of the eye of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. In order to emulate her grandmother and become emperor, she conspired with her biological mother to poison her father, named herself the Crown Princess, and called the Crown Prince a slave.
At the age of 25, she committed suicide. She was the most beautiful woman in the Tang Dynasty, Princess Anle, Li Guoer.
Princess Anle Li Guoer's father was Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian, and her mother was Empress Wei. Li Xian's father was Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, her brother was Emperor Ruizong of Tang, Li Dan, her son was Emperor Shang of Tang, Li Chongmao, and her nephew was Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji.
His mother was Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in history. It can be said that his father, mother, younger brother, son and nephew were all emperors, which is absolutely unprecedented in Chinese history.
Therefore, some people gave him a nickname "Liuwei Dihuang Wan", but he lived a pretty miserable life.
Li Xian was deposed by his mother Wu Zetian and banished to Fangzhou when he had been emperor for less than two months. Li Guoer was born on the way to Fangzhou. Due to the long journey, his mother had a miscarriage, and Li Guoer came into the world early.
Because the situation was urgent and no suitable swaddling clothes could be found, Li Xian took off his own clothes and wrapped his daughter in them, so he named her Li Guoer.
Life in Zhouhang was hard, and Li Xian felt that he owed his daughter, so he doted on her. Li Guoer grew up in this doting environment and developed a willful and spoiled temper.
In 698 AD, Li Xian was recalled to the capital and became the crown prince again. The 13-year-old Li Guoer also returned to the prosperous Chang'an, and Wu Zetian conferred her the title of Princess Anle.
At this time, Li Guoer met Wu Chongxun, the son of Wu Sansi, by chance. The two were of similar age, and Wu Chongxun was handsome, and Li Guoer was attracted to him at once.
The two soon fell in love. As their love deepened, Li Guoer became pregnant at the age of 16, which was a big scandal at the time. However, Wu Sansi and Li Xian not only did not punish her, but also quickly arranged for her to marry Wu Chongxun.
Less than six months after the marriage, Li Gui'er gave birth to a son. Li Xian and his wife were extremely happy. They gave their grandson an official title and granted him the title of emperor, doting on him very much.
In 705 AD, Li Xian became the emperor and Li Guoer was named Princess Anle. She was very powerful and began to act recklessly, relying on her parents' love. She especially loved to enjoy herself and built luxurious houses everywhere.
In order to build a house, she didn't care about the lives of the common people at all, she directly seized the common people's land and even took their children as slaves. The common people hated her with all their might, but they could do nothing about it.
Li Guoer also loved money, so in order to make money, she thought of selling official positions. She wrote the document for selling official positions herself and then took it to her father Li Xian for stamping.
Li Xian doted on his daughter to no end, and he would stamp his official seal without even looking at it. As a result, the court was filled with people who had bought their positions with money. These people had no ability and made the court a mess.
That’s not all. When Li Gui’er saw that her grandmother Wu Zetian had been an emperor, she also felt itchy in her heart to become a crown princess so that she could inherit the throne in the future.
She told her father Li Xian about this several times, but Li Xian thought it was too absurd and did not agree. Li Guo'er refused to do so, and she and Wu Chongxun worked together to bully the then crown prince Li Chongmao, calling him a lowly slave, and even wanted Li Xian to depose the crown prince and make her the crown princess.
In 707, Li Chongmao could no longer bear it and launched a coup d'état, killing Wu Sansi and Wu Chongxun. Li Guoer was not at home that day and escaped.
In the end, Li Xian killed Li Chongmao on the grounds that the crown prince was plotting a rebellion. In this rebellion, Princess Anle's father-in-law, husband, and several family members were killed.
In order to comfort his beloved daughter, Li Xian posthumously conferred the title of King of Liang on Wu Sansi and the title of King of Wu on Wu Chongxun, allowing them to enjoy posthumous honors.
Even with her father's protection, Princess Anle still did not stop. After Wu Chongxun's death, Princess Anle had an affair with Wu Yanxiu and then married him.
None of this is important. What is important is that Princess Anle's mother, Empress Wei, was also interested in Wu Yanxiu. Empress Wei used her power as the queen to order Wu Yanxiu to serve her.
After a while, Princess Anle and her mother shamelessly slept with the emperor at the same time. It must be said that they had a really good time.
Later, Princess Anle and her mother, Empress Wei, became more and more daring. Empress Wei even wanted to be the emperor, just like Wu Zetian. The mother and daughter thought that Li Xian was a stumbling block to them.
So in 710, Li Guoer found poison and asked his mother to put it in Li Xian's food. Li Xian died after eating it, and the power of the government fell into the hands of Empress Wei.
But they were too happy too early. Princess Taiping and Prince of Linzi Li Longji learned about this and immediately launched the Tanglong Rebellion. It was late at night, and Empress Wei fled in panic and eventually died under thousands of swords.
At that time, Li Guoer was immersed in the excitement of being the crown princess. Suddenly, she heard some noise outside and knew that something was wrong, so she ran away. But she didn't run far before she was caught by the imperial guards at Youyanming Gate.
The imperial guards chopped off her head with one blow. Li Guo'er was only 25 years old at that time. She had a bright future ahead of her, but because of her greed and willfulness, she ended up with her head and body separated.
Later, Empress Wei was demoted to a commoner, and Princess Anle was demoted to a commoner. What is even more shocking is that this pair of mother and daughter only lived 18 days longer than Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Li Xian.
[She was only one step away from becoming the second Wu Zetian, but was eventually picked up by others. Historical trivia of the Tang Dynasty]
Although she was the queen, she indulged in debauchery in the harem, openly kept male lovers, and frequently cuckolded the emperor.
In order to become the second Wu Zetian, she even poisoned her own husband. Later generations evaluated her as having the talents of "five pests". She was Wu Zetian's daughter-in-law and the second empress of Tang Zhongzong Li Xian - Empress Wei.
As one of the most notorious queens in history, historian Cai Dongfan once commented: "Wei is insignificant. Although she has the recitation and talent of a warrior, she is certainly insignificant.
Mothers and daughters could have sex, civil officials could have private affairs, and the chaos in the deep palace was unparalleled." Empress Wei was born in Duling County, Jingzhao Prefecture, Tang Dynasty. Her father, Wei Xuanzhen, was originally just a military officer in Puzhou.
Wei was born with natural beauty and was chosen by Li Xian, who was still the crown prince at that time, when she was young. She became the crown princess, which marked the beginning of her life linked to Li Xian's fate.
At first, their life was smooth. Wei gave birth to one son and four daughters for Li Xian. When the eldest son, Li Chongrun, was just one month old, he was made the crown prince by Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, and for a time he enjoyed great honor.
However, fate always changes unexpectedly. In 683 AD, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, passed away, and Crown Prince Li Xian succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. Crown Princess Wei was named Empress.
After Li Xian ascended the throne, he was eager to improve the status of Empress Wei's family. He tried to promote his father-in-law Wei Xuanzhen to be prime minister in order to build up his own power. He even said arrogantly: "Even if I give the whole world to Wei Xuanzhen, what's wrong with that?"
This practice caused extreme dissatisfaction with Wu Zetian. Li Xian was deposed by his own mother Wu Zetian after only 50 days in office. He was demoted to the Prince of Luling and his family was exiled to Fangzhou. This exile lasted for 14 years of hardship.
Life in that remote place was extremely difficult, and Li Xian and Empress Wei experienced countless hardships and dangers. Their daughter Princess Anle was also born during the exile.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. During this period, the relationship between the two became even deeper. Li Xian even made a solemn promise to Empress Wei: "If I come to power again in the future, I will let you do whatever you want without any restrictions."
In 698 AD, Li Xian was recalled to Luoyang and reappointed as the crown prince. Perhaps because of the previous setbacks, Li Xian became cautious. He consolidated his position by marrying his daughter to Wu Zetian's nephew, and also gave Empress Wei more opportunities to participate in court affairs.
In 705 AD, the Shenlong coup broke out. Zhang Jianzhi and others forced Wu Zetian to abdicate, Li Xian was restored as emperor, and Wei once again became the empress. The re-honored Empress Wei began to interfere in state affairs.
She followed the example of Wu Zetian and sat behind the curtain whenever Li Xian attended court. Li Xian, grateful for his wife's companionship and silence in the past, overly indulged her in this behavior, which made Empress Wei's desire for power continue to expand and her behavior became more unscrupulous.
Empress Wei knew that if she wanted to gain a firm foothold in the court and realize her greater ambitions, she had to build up her own power. At that time, the Wu family had been operating in the court for many years. Although Wu Zetian had abdicated, her influence was still there and her power was intertwined.
Empress Wei's daughter Princess Anle married Wu Sansi's son Wu Chongxun. With the help of this relationship, Empress Wei and Wu Sansi quickly colluded with each other and formed a powerful political force.
Wu Sansi relied on his special relationship with Empress Wei to frequently enter and leave the harem, and even had an affair with Empress Wei, but Li Xian was completely unaware of this. Sometimes he saw them gambling in their untidy clothes on the bed, and he would help count the chips with great interest.
In addition, Empress Wei also introduced some male favorites into the harem, including the cook Yang Jun, the horse Qinke and the horse dealer Zhao Luwen. These people won the favor of Empress Wei with their handsome appearance and special skills.
Empress Wei let them do whatever they wanted and even gave them a certain status and power in the palace.
As her power gradually expanded, Empress Wei had more and more courtiers. Empress Wei, Princess Anle, and her sister Lady Weiguo and others accepted bribes on a large scale. The most famous incident was Princess Anle selling official positions and titles.
No matter whether one is a rich or ordinary citizen, as long as one bribes them 30 yuan, one can directly obtain an official position appointed by the emperor's personal edict.
According to relevant historical records, they appointed no fewer than a thousand officials, including both foreign and regular officials. This shows how chaotic the entire court regime had become, which seriously undermined the normal operation of the bureaucracy and national order.
Princess Anle became even more arrogant because of her favor. Not only did she bully Crown Prince Li Chongjun, she also tried to get Li Xian to depose the crown prince and make herself the crown princess.
Unable to bear it any longer, Li Chongjun finally chose to rise up in rebellion. In 707 AD, he launched a mutiny and led the Yulin Army to kill Wu Sansi and his son and their families. He then led his troops into the palace, intending to kill Wu Sansi's accomplice Shangguan Wan'er, as well as Empress Wei, Princess Anle and others.
Unfortunately, Li Chongjun was defeated and killed. This mutiny not only failed to curb the ambitions of Empress Wei and others, but made them even more fearless afterwards.
Empress Wei longed to ascend the supreme throne like Wu Zetian and become the ruler of the world.
In order to achieve this goal, on the one hand, she eliminated dissidents in the court, and either demoted Zhang Jianzhi and other veterans who supported the restoration from the capital, or exiled and killed them; on the other hand, she continued to expand her sphere of influence, allowing members of the Wei family to share power, and the court was filled with her spies and confidants.