In fact, the easiest way to know how obedient Tang Gaozong is to Wu Zetian is to see what Wu Zetian made Tang Gaozong do.
The first thing to do is failure.
However, anyone who knows a little about this period of history will know that the fuse of this post-abolition storm was the informer of Wang Fusheng, the eunuch of the first year of Linde. He said that Wu Zetian had won the battle, and then Prime Minister Shangguan Yi took the opportunity to ask the emperor the post-abolition question. However, a more careful person will find that Shangguan Yi and Wang Fusheng, who started this storm, have the same resume: both of them were aides to Jong Li, the eldest son of Emperor Gaozong. When Li Zhong appointed Wang Chen, Shangguan Yi was the counselor and Wang Fusheng was the assistant minister.
Throughout the court events of past dynasties, we can know that once the queen was abolished, her status as a prince was lost. Therefore, if Wuhou is abolished, the fate of her own prince Li Hong and three other sons is self-evident. Shangguan Yi as prime minister, and shall not know this? However, at this critical juncture, Shangguan Yi not only failed to persuade the emperor to protect the prince, but offered to abolish the legislation. What is Wang Fusheng's intention to report the Queen? This kind of behavior has to be suspicious, so it is understandable that Xu immediately reported to the emperor that Shangguan Yi and the prince Jong Li had colluded secretly.
Tang Gaozong's failure seems to have ended in Wu Zetian's triumph-because Shangguan Yi was punished, Wu Zetian also got the opportunity to "listen to politics" and even called herself "two saints" with the Emperor. However, the title of "double saints" is not unprecedented. Empress Dugu in Sui Dynasty often talked with Wendi about political affairs. "The two often get along, and the palace is called two saints". A closer look at the list of prime ministers who came to power later shows that Wu Zetian's "victory" and so-called power are just a joke.
In the first year of Ganfeng, Liu paid homage, followed by Dai Zhide, Hao and others, and Shang Yuan Zhong Laiheng, Xue and Li also paid homage. Except for Dai Zhide, Zhang Wenwen and Wuhou, there was no enmity between these prime ministers, but others made a big fuss with Wu Zetian.
Liu, for example, was once an important person. He was a minister of humerus and a representative of military affairs, but he was sworn enemies with Li Yifu, one of Wu Zetian's favorite generals.
For example, when Li Yin was hit by a storm, they wanted to be a warrior, and they echoed each other from a distance. In a few words, the emperor dismissed the idea.
Chu Jun said to him, "Try the Book of Rites:' The son of heaven is in charge of Yang Dao and then Yin De. "Then the emperor and queen, heaven and the moon, Yang and Yin, each has its own master and guardian. Your majesty wants to violate this rule today. I'm afraid of it, just look from the sky, I'm afraid of it, just blame others. Yesterday, Wei Wendi ordered that the Queen should not enter the court after her death. Now, why does your Majesty bow his head in the autobiography of Tianhou? In the world, Taizong and Taizong are two saints, but your majesty is not. Your majesty is just guarding the ancestral temple and passing it on to future generations. If you are sincere, you can't control the country and the people, and you are the private property of future generations. Fuqit hangs down in detail. Li Yiyan, assistant minister of Zhongshu, said: "Chu Jun's quotation is enough to rely on, but there is no doubt about his sacred concern, so he is very fortunate." The emperor said, "Yes. "Then stop. (Old Tang Biography, Volume 34)
Another example is Lai Heng, whose younger brother is the former prime minister of the famous anti-martial school. Another example is Xue, whose father Xue Shou is one of the eighteen bachelors of Emperor Taizong, and whose mother Xue Jieyu is a concubine. Xue Jieyu "knows the history of classics and is good at literary talent". When Gao Zong was young, he "learned from him" and "respected him very much". Xue himself is still the master of Jingxian County, and his family is very close to the royal family.
Not to mention the military generals. Needless to say, Liu, Pei Xingjian is also one of the famous anti-Wushu figures, and the family is the younger brother of the queen who was replaced by Wu Hou. Xue was hand-picked by Li Xiaoyi and others, and they are not United with Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian's other two lovers, Yuan and Cui, were somewhat competent in the military, but they were both exiled.
Even if Wu Zetian later racked his brains to write twelve suggestions, Tang Gaozong's reaction was nothing more than "all orders were slightly executed"-the final decree was not only executed with Tang Gaozong's consent, but also only "slightly executed", which shows that Wu Zetian's opinion is of no importance to Tang Gaozong.
In fact, contrary to Tang Gaozong's imaginary scene of Wu Zetian's bidding, Wu Zetian is everywhere in the history books, trying to please Tang Gaozong and carefully pondering Tang Gaozong's mind.
Knowing that Tang Gaozong was bent on carrying forward the sericulture ceremony of his mother's grandson, the Queen, was completely different from the fact that the Queen never held a sericulture ceremony. Wu Zetian's attendance rate of sericulture was the highest in the Tang Dynasty. Knowing that Emperor Gaozong advocated frugality, Wu Zetian took the initiative to change the thirteen pleats on the queen's skirt into seven. Knowing that Emperor Gaozong wouldn't let consorts sit, Wu Zetian wrote a special article "Internal Training" when she was still Zhao Yi. When she became queen, she formulated the "spouse commandment" and set an example. When he was alive, the Wu family disappeared into the court. It was not until Tang Gaozong's death that Wu Zetian had the opportunity to put all Wu family members in important positions in the court.
We can even find out which prime minister was appointed by Wu Zetian, or which general was appointed by Wu Zetian, so as to appreciate how Tang Gaozong obeyed Wu Zetian and how Wu Zetian seized power.
It's just a pity. Looking through the history books, I found that those who supported Wu Zetian came last. Except Xu, no one has a good end, but those who are repeatedly regarded as a thorn in Wu Zetian's side have been favored by others.
For example, when Wu Zetian hated the Empress and Xiao Shufei, he had to kill them one by one to complete the calculation. After his death, except for the Queen's younger brother Fangyi Wang, there is no need to mention all kinds of humiliation to his daughter's family. Is Wu Zetian generous? However, the history books clearly recorded her story about Fangyi Wang's "wanting to get rid of the crime, but not". However, when Fangyi Wang rose to the peak in the career of Emperor Gaozong, what could Wu Zetian do besides watching?
Another example is Sun Chang's infinite obstruction of Wu Zetian's post-establishment, and Wu Zetian was also disgusted. Although Wuji finally lost power, less than four years later, Wuji's first grandson often returned to Beijing to be an official and went to the fifth grade. Ironically, less than a month after Wu Zetian called her "Tianhou", Tang Gaozong wrote to restore Sun Chang Wuji's rank, buried with Zhaoling, and ordered his great-grandson to attack Zhao Guogong. At this time, where is Wu Zetian who is in charge of politics?
For another example, when Li Yifu, Yuan, Cui and others who supported Wu Zetian's accession to the throne were exiled, what did the ruling Wu Zetian do? Why can't I wait until after Tang Gaozong's death to remember that these people "have the merit of Yonghui Hui Zan", and that's why I'm chasing after them?
I want to come to Wu Zetian. If she really has such a great influence and really seizes power by life and death, it is absolutely a cinch to get rid of these people, such as Chang Sunyan, while it is easy for Li Yifu, Yuan and others to be promoted. However, throughout the history books, when Tang Gaozong spoke, she could not see the figure of Wu Zetian. Only when Emperor Gaozong was gone did Wu Zetian dare to stand up and clean up those who had hated herself and pursue those who had been kind to herself.
As for Tang Gaozong's life, how much does Wu Can know about the military and how much say does she have? In fact, after she took office, she can know a thing or two through various policies.
After Tang Gaozong's death, Wu Zetian adopted the policy of "internal determination while busy outside" in order to monopolize power, and devoted half of her energy to rooting out dissidents and pacifying the civil strife of Wang and others. In the face of the Turkic rebellion on the border, Wu Zetian pursued a passive and laissez-faire response. Unless the Turks went south and committed crimes that might threaten her dominance, Wu Zetian would send troops to resist.
If it is only to eliminate dissidents, it is a pity that Wu Zetian herself has no military talent. She only knew that those senior military generals who left the emperor, such as Cheng Wuting, Fangyi Wang, Hei Chi Chang, Li Xiaoyi, Zhang Qian, Quan Xiancheng and others, killed them and exiled them, but she didn't know how to win the battle. The generals personally appointed by Wu Zetian are also mediocre people who have no military command ability, or children who don't understand military affairs, such as Wu Chonggui, Wu Youyi, Wu Sansi and Wu Zongyi. Or its ministers, such as Xue Huaiyi; Or civil servants who are considered reliable, such as Wei, Di and Wei Daijia. Even the real generals in Wu Zhi are cowards when they get cold feet.
Coupled with the lack of long-term and effective strategic vision and military deployment, this led to hundreds of thousands of troops that were often seen during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, and they were reduced to countless cannon fodder under the command of a group of mediocre generals. Wu Zetian once tried to exchange goods, gold, silk and marriage for peace. However, because she didn't recognize the true intentions of the Turks, when Wu Zetian sent her nephew Huaiyang Wu Wang Yanxiu to Turkey to meet them, she was quietly sipped as an excuse for Wu Yanxiu's refusal to get married because he was not a son of the Li Tang royal family-a kiss policy finally introduced was humiliated, and finally it could become an excuse for the Turks to send troops. Wu Zetian's "military talent" is simply terrible.
Therefore, the territory of Wu Zhou period was sharply reduced by nearly one fifth compared with that of Tang Taizong and Tang Gaozong, and the territory of Wu Zhou period was the worst before An Shi Rebellion. It can be seen that when Tang Gaozong was alive, Wu Zetian never came into contact with the real core military-otherwise, under years of exposure, how could Wu Zetian's military level be so ugly?