According to historical records, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi was the ninth son of Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin, and his mother was his eldest grandson. In the fifth year of Zhenguan, Li Zhi was named King of Jin. In the sixteenth year of Zhenguan, Li Chenggan was abolished and Lee Tae was exiled for his crimes. In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Li Zhi was made a prince. In July of the 23rd year of Zhenguan reign, he was twenty-two years old. On April 13, AD 675, Tang Gaozong ordered Wu Zetian to take photos of the state affairs.
After 34 years in office, he died at the age of 56 and was buried in Ganling.
Unscramble the truth: Why is Tang Gaozong not a loser? 1. Pay attention to life. First of all, let's look at Tang Gaozong and Li Zhi's attitude towards life. Li Zhi never believed in immortality. He once said: If there are immortal people, how can we live in peace today? As we all know, the emperor is most eager to live forever and has been tireless. Qin Shihuang spared no effort to find the elixir of life, and finally died on the way. Even Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, ate too much Dan medicine and died, while Tang Gaozong and Li Zhi were far superior to his father. Tang Gaozong believed in the medical skill at that time, and he was able to actively cooperate with the doctor's treatment, even though he had a needle stuck in his head. He also ordered the Prime Minister to organize famous doctors to revise Tang Bencao. From his attitude towards life, we can know that Li Zhi is not a cowardly monarch! 2. Super crisis handling ability. Tang Gaozong's crisis handling ability is also very strong. The case of imperial clan rebellion in 652 AD also showed his tough side. Chai Lingwu, the mother-in-law of Princess Baling, Xue Wanche, the mother-in-law of Princess Danyang, the daughter of Gao-zu Li Yuan, and Wang Jing Yuan Jing, the sixth son of Gao-zu, conspired to launch a coup and wanted to elect Wang Jing Yuan Jing, who claimed to be the emperor, as the emperor. After the emperor found out, he decisively ordered Fang, Chai Lingwu to be beheaded, and let Princess Gao Yang and Princess Ba Ling commit suicide. Wu's brother was abolished, Fang's brother was demoted, and Wu's brother was exiled. It also implicated a large number of relevant personnel to take this opportunity to eliminate dissidents. From Gao Zong's performance in handling the crisis, we can see his tough side. Imagine that it is a bit far-fetched to describe such an emperor with the word fatuous cowardice.
3. Extraordinary Endurance Li Zhi also showed extraordinary talent in endurance. Li Zhi, the third son of Li Shimin, was only 22 years old when he became king. At that time, Emperor Gaozong's uncle Sun Chang Wuji was in power, and young Li Zhi could not compete with Sun Chang Wuji. However, after a long and confusing effort, Emperor Gaozong gradually weakened the power of Sun Chang Wuji, and finally took control of state affairs alone, and then exiled Sun Chang Wuji to other places, which led to his suicide.
4. Excellent military capability. Gaozong's military achievements should not be underestimated. In the period of Emperor Gaozong, the war against Koguryo, which had not been solved in the period of Emperor Taizong, was solved. Emperor sent generals Su, Li _, Liu and Xue to govern Liaodong, and finally surrounded Pingyang, destroyed Goguryeo and set up nine praetorium in Liaodong. Later, Silla unified the Korean peninsula and established good relations with the Tang Dynasty. Such a move solved the two major rivals of the East and the West in one fell swoop. Obviously, Emperor Gaozong realized the unfulfilled dream of Emperor Taizong, which made the territory of the Tang Dynasty reach its peak for a time. How can a warrior monarch be a coward? One day, when Li Zhi was out hunting, it suddenly began to rain. He asked his liegeman: How can a raincoat made of tarpaulin not leak a little water? The liegeman said that if it was made of tiles, it wouldn't leak rain.
The implication of this courtier is not to go out hunting and playing. The emperor understood what he meant and readily accepted the criticism. Later, Emperor Gaozong asked his officials again how to reduce the burden on the people. Minister Luigi said: Too much hard labor is a great burden for the people. Going out to work will delay the farming season and cost a lot of money. All unnecessary corvees should be exempted. After hearing this, Emperor Gaozong felt that what he said was very reasonable, so he accepted it modestly.
6. Attach great importance to the construction of legal system. China's most complete written code, the famous Tang Law, was revised by Sun Chang Wuji and other ministers in the fourth year of Emperor Gaozong Yonghui. Relatively speaking, the law enforcement in this period was loose and fair, and the crime rate was low. In history, once, Tang Lin, the general manager of Dali Temple, reported to Emperor Gaozong that there were only over 50 prisoners in the prison, and only two of them needed to be sentenced to death. It can be seen that Gao Zong is an emperor whose literary skills are not inferior to any emperor, and even superior to other emperors in some places.
In the current popular words, Emperor Gaozong was a cowardly emperor, and later historians had to write Emperor Gaozong as cowardly in order to vilify Wu Zetian to the greatest extent. Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian are free to fall in love. Their love does not conform to China's ethics, because when they have an improper relationship between men and women, they are sons and stepmother. Li Zhi can break through this ethical relationship, but he is different from ordinary people.
When they really came together and Wu Zetian moved from Zhao Yi to the Queen, Wu Zetian showed her brilliant side. They maintained amazing agreement on some points of view, such as their cooperation in cracking down on Wuji in Sun Chang. For decades, the husband and wife have become very familiar. It is with these foundations that Wu Zetian was able to read the throne, handle political affairs, and even listen to politics, forming a situation of double saints. Later, when the health of Emperor Gaozong went from bad to worse, state affairs were completely handled by Wu Zetian. Although it was a short week, Wu Zetian still adhered to the policy of governing the country by Emperor Gaozong, which enabled the policy of Emperor Gaozong to continue and the country to continue to be strong. Can't help but say that this is the genius of Emperor Gaozong! It should be said that Emperor Gaozong trained an outstanding talent for governing the country-Wu Zetian. However, because the gender relationship of Wu Zetian was strongly vilified by later generations, even Emperor Gaozong, who was both civil and military, seemed weak. This is cognitive bias.