His father, Wu Shihuo, was engaged in timber trade and his family was well-off. At the end of the great cause, when Li Yuan was working in Hedong and Taiyuan, he met each other because he had defected to the Wu family many times. After Li Yuan rose up in Taiyuan to resist Sui Dynasty, the Wu family once subsidized money, food and clothing. Therefore, after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the positions of Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, Assistant Minister of Huangmen, Judge Shangshu, Yangzhou Secretariat, Lizhou Secretariat and Jingzhou Secretariat were recorded with "Yuan Cong Hero". Zhenguan years, moved to the Ministry of Industry, ministers, Jingzhou secretariat, lord protector. After his father died in the ninth year of Zhenguan (635), his cousins, Wu Huaiyun and Wu were very rude to his mother Yang. In November of the 11th year of Zhenguan (637), Wu Zetian was fourteen years old. When Emperor Taizong heard that she was beautiful in appearance and manners, he called her into the palace, making her a five-person talent and giving her the title of "Wu Mei", which was later mistakenly called Wu Meiniang. Before Wu Zetian entered the palace, she bid farewell to her widowed mother Shi Yang: "Do you know that it is not a blessing to serve the wise son of heaven? Why are you crying like a child? "
There is no detailed description of Wu Zetian's life in the palace during the reign of Emperor Taizong. Only in her later years did Wu Zetian recall that she trained horses for Emperor Taizong. Emperor Taizong had a horse named Lion Qi, which was fat and willful, and no one could tame it. Wu Zetian waited by and said to Emperor Taizong, "I can subdue it, but I need three things: iron whip, iron bars and daggers. Hit it with an iron whip. If you don't accept it, hit it on the head with an iron bar. If you don't accept it, cut its throat with a dagger. " Emperor Taizong praised Wu Zetian's ambition.
However, Wu Zetian did not get the favor of Emperor Taizong. She has been a talent for 12 years, and her status has never improved. During the period when Emperor Taizong was seriously ill, Wu Zetian established feelings with Prince Li Zhi.
In the 23rd year of Zhenguan (649), Emperor Taizong died. Wu Zetian followed the example of the Tang harem and joined some childless concubines in the Ganye Temple in Chang 'an, but she never got in touch with the new emperor Li Zhi. In May of the first year of Yonghui (650), on the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death, Tang Gaozong went to Ganye Temple to make pilgrimages and met Wu Zetian again. The two men recognized each other and told each other their thoughts after leaving.
In the second year of Yonghui (65 1), the queen who fell out of favor because she had no children took the initiative to ask Emperor Gaozong to bring Wu Zetian into the palace in an attempt to attack her rival Xiao Shufei. Li Zhiyou had this idea and immediately replied.
In May of the 2nd year of Yonghui (65 1), Tang Gaozong's mourning was full, and Wu Zetian entered the palace again. Before entering the palace, Wu Zetian was pregnant. After entering the palace, she gave birth to her son Li Hong. After returning to the palace, Wu Zetian really quickly defeated Xiao Shufei and won the favor of Li Zhi. In May of the following year (652), he became a second-class Zhao Yi. At that time, Queen Wang and Xiao Shufei often competed with Wu and spoke ill of each other, but Li Zhi wouldn't listen.
Wu Zetian was scheming and ruthless, dabbling in literature and history. In 654 (the fifth year of Yonghui), Wu Zetian gave birth to the eldest daughter Princess Anding Temple. According to the New Tang Book and Zi Jian, on the occasion of the princess's birthday in January in Anding Temple, the Queen Wang came to visit and fondle her. After the Queen Wang went out, Wu Zetian strangled the girl while no one was around and covered her with a quilt. When Li Zhi arrived, Wu Zetian pretended to laugh, lifted the quilt and looked after the children together, and found her daughter was dead. Wu Zetian cried. Ask people around you what's going on, and people around you will say, "The Queen has just been here." Li Zhi flew into a rage and said, "The queen killed my daughter!" Wu Zetian cried and scolded the king and queen for their sins. Queen Wang couldn't explain clearly, so Li Zhi had the plan to "abolish the king" from now on. However, this matter is controversial. Old Tang Shu and Tang Yaohui written by five generations only recorded the sudden death of the little princess.
In June of the sixth year of Yonghui (655), it was widely rumored in the harem that the queen and her mother Liu were tired of winning. Li Zhi was furious when he learned this, and kicked his mother Liu out of the palace. Moreover, she also wants to promote Wu Cong to Yipin. Due to the opposition of prime ministers Han Yuan and Lai Ji, they finally failed. At that time, the ministers headed by Sun Chang Wuji and Chu Suiliang in the imperial court had great power, and Li Zhi's power was greatly restricted. Many ministers in the outer court, led by Sun Chang Wuji, opposed Tang Gaozong's abolition of the king, and Wu Zetian's road ahead was full of hardships. Li Zhi tried to restore imperial power by "abolishing the king" and hit the forces of old ministers. As a result, Wu Zetian began to become a political "comrade-in-arms" of Gao Zong.
Soon, Li Yifu, the secretary of the Central Committee, took the lead in supporting the "Abolition of the King" and was awarded by Li Zhi and Wu Zetian. Many middle-level officials saw that it was profitable to support the abolition of the king, so they turned to support Wu Zetian. Xu, Cui, Yuan and other ministers successively sent badges to Li, requesting the appointment of Wu. Li Zhi saw many people supporting him, and the idea of abolishing legislation sprouted again. Li Ji, one of the veteran heroes, added: "Your majesty's family affairs, why ask outsiders?" This completely touched Li Zhi's heart and reversed the unfavorable situation of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian on the issue of abolishing the Queen. In the same year1October 13, Li Zhi finally issued an imperial edict: on the charge of "conspiracy to poison", he abolished the queen and went to prison; Their parents, brothers, etc. He was also banished from office and exiled to Lingnan. Seven days later, Li Zhi wrote another letter and made Wu Zetian the queen. At the same time, the most opposed prime minister, Chu Suiliang, was demoted to the governor of another state.
In April of the 4th year of Xianqing (659), Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong reached a consensus: Sun Chang Wuji, Yu Zhining, Han Yuan, Lai Ji and others were removed from their posts, and their capitals were dismissed. At this point, Li Zhi basically realized the centralized monarchy. The event of "Abolishing the King" dealt a heavy blow to the nobles in Guanlong. Since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the lack of imperial power has been changed, which has had a great impact on the history of China. In October (660) of the fifth year of the reign of Emperor Xianqing, Li Zhifeng had a seizure and was dizzy, so she could not handle state affairs, so she asked Wu Zetian to handle state affairs. But it also caused the rift between Wu Zetian and Li Zhi, and caused Wu Zetian to be almost abolished.
In the first month of the first year of Longshuo (66 1), Wu Zetian asked all women in the world not to perform Nuo You (an artist who performed burlesque in ancient times), and Li Zhi adopted it and wrote a letter. In April, Li Zhi wanted to lead an army to attack Korea, but Wu Zetian thought it was irresistible and the suggestion was adopted.
In the first year of Linde (664), Li Zhi asked Prime Minister Shangguan Yi to draft a letter to abolish Wu Zetian. Before the ink was dry, Wu Zetian found out in time that the abolition of the queen had to end in failure. So, Wu Zetian suggested to Li Zhi that they should go to court together in the near future and listen to politics. The combination of the two saints further increased her political experience and influence.
But Wu Zetian was not satisfied. She wants to worship Mount Tai with Li Zhi. Due to the strong national strength of Tang Gaozong, Wu Zetian actively fled to Li Zhi to worship Mount Tai. When offering sacrifices to the god of heaven, the emperor deserves it first, and when offering sacrifices to the emperor, the queen mother deserves it. At the time of Zen, the emperor offered it first, and the minister offered it with a gift. But amenorrhea, after all, is none of the queen mother's business, so she added that amenorrhea is an instrument for sacrificing the country, which is shared by the queen mother and shows the virtue of staying behind. It is very inappropriate for a priest to make an offering, because there is a difference between men and women. We can't let the foreign ministers die. So, let her as a sacrifice to honor her mother-in-law, Li Zhi agreed. Later, in the third year of Linde (666), on the first day of the first month, she and Li Zhi made a meditation on Mount Tai as offerings, and also knighted the officials to make them grateful to her.
After two years of dry sealing (667), Li Zhi, due to a long illness, ordered Prince Li Hong to supervise the country.
In August of the first year of Shangyuan (674), Li Zhi proclaimed himself emperor, and Wu Zetian called the Tianhou Palace, saying that he avoided the first emperor, and successively, he really wanted to respect himself. In December, Wu Zetian suggested twelve things in the above table: First, persuade farmers to be generous. Second, give it to the third auxiliary place (exempt from the corvee in Chang 'an and its nearby areas). Third, stop fighting and moralize the world. Fourth, the South and North China (handicraft workshop government) still prohibits skillful floating. Fifth, save labor and effort. Sixth, talk extensively. Seven, Dewey mouth. Eight, princes and princes will all learn from Laozi. Nine, the father mourned for his mother for three years (it used to be one year). X. Before Shangyuan's "year number", the meritorious person had given himself (power of attorney) and did not pursue it. Eleven, Beijing official more than eight products, the welfare of the capital (increase wages). 12. One hundred officials who have served for a long time and have inferior material status may be applied for deferral in advance (promotion). Li agreed with the opinion and issued a letter to implement it. Wu Zetian can attach importance to agricultural production and stipulate that people who "reclaim land and have surplus grain at home" will be awarded prizes; Those who "abuse the government and transfer accounts" will be punished. The agricultural books compiled by Zhaoren Benye have been published all over the world, which has a great influence. During the reign of Wu Zetian, his religious policy was mainly Buddhism, supplemented by Taoism.
In the second year of Shang Yuan (675), Li Zhi was dazzled by the wind, and consulted with his ministers to prepare Wu Zetian for regency. Hao Jian, the prime minister, said, "Why did your majesty entrust the world of Gaozu and Taizong to Tianhou instead of passing it on to his descendants?" Li Zhi therefore suspended the discussion. When Wu Zetian learned about it, she gathered a large number of scholars and revised a large number of books, which were successively written as Xuan Lan, Ancient and Modern Internal Rules, Minutes of Qing Palace, Shaoyang Zheng Fan, Acropolis Code, Zi Shu Yao Lu, New Commandments of Fenglou, Biography of Filial Son, Biography of Lienv and Outline of Internal Rules. He secretly ordered these scholars to participate in the court proceedings to divide the power of the prime minister, and was called "North Gate Bachelor" by people at that time. In the same year, Prince Li Hong died of illness, and Li Xian, the second son of Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, was made Prince.
Hanging furnace for two years (680), Li Xian was abolished as Shu Ren for treason and exiled to Bazhou. Therefore, the third son, Li Xian, was appointed as the prince.
In the second year of Yongchun (683), Li Zhi arrived at Fengtian Palace. At that time, after sealing Mount Tai, Wu Zetian advised Li Zhi to seal Zen as Zhongyue. Li Zhi terminated due to illness. Li Zhi has an unbearable headache. Dr. Qin said, "There is slight bleeding in the prickly head, which can be cured." Wu Zetian said in the tent: "This doctor can behead. Do you want to stab the emperor with blood? " Li Zhi said, "I have a headache. Bleeding is not necessarily a bad thing!" The doctor used acupuncture at Baihui point, and Li Zhi said, "I can see it with my eyes." Soon, Li Xian, the Crown Prince, was appointed as the agent of national politics, and Pei Yan, Guo Zhengyi and others were appointed as officials of the Eastern Palace. Li Zhi returned to Du Dong from Mukden Palace and was very ill. No minister below the prime minister could receive him. In December of the same year, Li Zhi died, and his suicide note was: The prince succeeded to the throne before Chang, and whether the military affairs could be decided was decided by Tianhou. Four days later, Li Xian acceded to the throne, assisting Tang Zhongzong and Wu Zetian. In February of the first year of Guangzhai (684), Wei, the father of the proposed appointment, was assisted and Pei Jian, the prime minister. Li Xian said angrily, "Even if I gave the whole world to Wei Zhen Xuan, why not?" Do you still care about a waiter? Wu Zetian used this as an excuse to depose Li Xian as king of Luling and moved to Zhou Fang. Yu Wang's fourth son Li Dan became emperor for Tang Ruizong and Wu Zetian. In September of the same year,, joined hands with Tang and Du to help and help King Luling, sent troops to Yangzhou to fight against Wu, and gathered 100,000 people in more than ten days. Wuhou immediately took the left general Li Xiaoyi as the general leader of Yangzhou Road and led 300,000 troops to conquer. 1 1 month, Xu Jingye defeated and committed suicide.
In March of the second year of the vertical arch (686), Wu Zetian ordered the manufacture of a small copper box and placed it in front of Luoyang Miyagi, ready to accept the respect of the liegeman. At the same time, open the door to informers and stipulate that anyone can tell them. The state should provide all informers with chariots, horses and food. Even the farmer Qiao Min and Wu Zetian have seen it in person. If the content is in line with the wishes, it can be promoted without exception. If the accusation is not established, there will be no guilt. At the same time, Wu Zetian successively appointed a large number of cruel officials such as Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen and Hou Sizhi to take charge of the prison system. If the defendants are put into this prison and cruel officials use all kinds of torture for interrogation, there is no doubt that they can get out of prison alive. In this way, with the trend of more and more informers, more and more people are tortured to death by cruel officials. So a terrible political atmosphere was formed inside and outside the imperial court, so that ministers had to say goodbye to their families every time they went to court and lived in fear all day. In order to reward informers, Wu Zetian made an exception and awarded an official to informers. In that year, he killed twelve members of the imperial clan, including Li Ying, king of Annan, and flogged the second son of the late Prince Li Xian. The imperial clan of the Tang Dynasty was completely destroyed, and its young and weak adherents also flowed to Lingnan.
Wu Zetian tried to seize Li Tang and destroy the imperial clan of the Tang Dynasty. The kings are uneasy and want to meet each other. Before a consensus was reached, Li Chong, the evil king of Bozhou, sent troops in August (688) in Bozhou (now northeast of Liaocheng, Shandong Province). Li Zhen, King of Yue in Yuzhou, sent troops to Yuzhou (now Runan, Henan) to respond. Wu Zetian sent Qiu and Wei to attack him. The evil king Li Chong rose up and died on the 7th. In September, Li Zhen, the king of Yue, committed suicide after his defeat. Wu Zetian tried her best to get rid of Li Zhuwang, put Zhou Xing and others on trial, and forced Hanwang, Li Lingkui, Li Chuan, Dongguan Princess Li Rong and other cronies to commit suicide.
In the same year, Wu Zetian ordered Xue Huaiyi to command more than 10,000 people to destroy the Yuan Temple and the Jianming Temple, which took nearly one year to complete, with a height of 294 feet and a width of 300 feet. There are three floors, with a round cover on the top and Kowloon supporting it. There is an iron phoenix on the mountain, ten feet high. Decorated with gold, it is called "Vientiane shrine". After the completion of Tang Ming, the monk Xue Huaiyi was ordered to cast a colossus. The little finger of the colossus can hold dozens of people, and a five-story paradise has been established in the north of Tang Ming to receive the colossus. The cost is trillions, and the government finances are exhausted. Wu ordered people to chisel white stone as a text, saying, "The Virgin is a human being and Yongchang is the emperor." Known as the discovery of Luoshui, it was dedicated to Wu Zetian, who was overjoyed and called this stone a "treasure map". Later, Wu Zetian added the title of "The Virgin Jade Emperor".
In the second year (69 1) in July, Farming and others wrote four volumes of The Great Cloud Sutra, saying that Wu Zetian was the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha and should be the master of the world, and Wu Zetian ordered its promulgation. Ordered two Beijing to build a Dayun Temple to store the Dayun Sutra, and ordered monks to explain it, so as to raise the status of Buddhism above Taoism. In September, Fu Youyi led 900 people from Guanzhong to the table. Please change the country name to Zhou and the emperor's surname to Wu. As a result, more than 60,000 officials, the emperor's clansmen, ordinary people, the leaders of Siyi, shamans and Taoists also submitted their names. The marquis of Wu must invite him to change the Tang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty and Yuan Tiancai. He was honored as the Holy Spirit Emperor and changed his name to Tiandi, but he still took Li Dan as his heir and gave his surname Wu Shi. After the establishment of the seventh samurai temple, Zhou Wenwang was honored as the ancestor of Wendi. Wu was appointed as Wang Wei, Wu Sansi was, and the rest of the Wu people were Wang and princess royal. In September of the first year of longevity (692), Wu Zetian sent Wang Xiaojie and Ashina Zhong You to the northwest. 125, Wang Xiaojie made a big breakthrough in Tuen, and recovered the four towns of Qiuci, Shule, Khotan and broken leaf Anxi, and made Ding 'anxi the capital of Qiuci. In the case of unanimous opposition from ministers, Wu Zetian resolutely sent 30 thousand more troops to Anxi four towns. This measure made Anxi four towns stable from then on, and it was not repeated until the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.
Longevity for two years (692), on the third day of the first month, he killed Liu and De Feidou, the concubine of Emperor Li Dan. On the seventh day, Li Chengqi, the grandson of the emperor, was demoted to Shouchun Wang and Hengwang Li Chengyi, Hengyang Wang and Chu Wang Li Longji, Linzi Wang and Wang Wei Li Longfan, Baling Wang, Zhao Wang Li and Peng Cheng Wang. On the ninth day of September, Wu Zetian added the "Golden Wheel Emperor" and granted him an amnesty, allowing him to gather for seven days to make "Seven Treasures" such as Golden Wheel and White Elephant. 14, Wu Zetian honored his great-grandfather Emperor Zhao 'an as Emperor Zhao 'an of Hunyuan, his great-grandfather Emperor Wenmu as Emperor Wenmu, and his father Emperor Xiao Minggao as the highest filial emperor.
After three years of longevity (694), Wu Sansi led the leader of Siyi to cast Shu Tian out of copper and iron, and stood outside the terminal door to praise the merits of Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian wrote in her own handwriting: "All countries in the Zhou Dynasty praised Shu Tian". Shu Tian was cast in August, one foot high, with two million Jin of copper and iron.
In the first year (695), on the second day of the first month, Wu Zetian added the symbol "cishi Yuegu Golden Wheel Saint Emperor" and changed the country name to "Zheng Sheng". Amnesty was granted and the assembly was allowed for three days. In May, Khitan leaders Li Dezhong and Sun Wanrong led an uprising, captured Yingzhou and killed the local governor Zhao. Wu Zetian sent generals Cao, Li Duozuo and others to lead the army to conquer. Because Tubo was ambushed by mistake, the whole army was wiped out. Then, Wu Shi sent Wu Yousi, Wang Xiaojie and other soldiers to crusade, and they were all defeated. In April of the first year (697), Wu Zetian sent Wu, Lou Deyi and He Zhong to attack Qidan. In June, Sun Wanrong was defeated and killed, and the rest of the Khitans defected to the Turks.
In the first year of siddhi (697), brutal officials came to Chen Jun to sue King Wu and Princess Taiping, and falsely accused the imperial heir (Tang Ruizong) and King Luling (Tang Zhongzong) of conspiring with the northern and southern yamen, intending to catch them all. The king of Wu and Princess Taiping were so afraid that they jointly exposed their crimes and went to prison to be executed. The enemy is fighting for their meat, and soon they will eat it up. Lai Junchen is fierce, cunning, greedy and violent, netting innocent people and weaving them into opposites, killing people is even more incalculable. "Bribery is like a mountain, and ghosts are in the way." Wu Hou, also aware of the resentment of the world, ordered him to count his crimes and confiscate his property.
In the first year of the Gregorian calendar (698), Wu and Wu Sansi conspired to be princes, and made people say to the marquis of Wu several times: "Since ancient times, the son of heaven has never taken a different surname as an heir." While Wu Zetian was hesitating, the Emperor said to Wuhou, "Which is closer, a nephew or a mother and son? (Wu and Wu Sansi are both nephews of the marquis of Wu, sons of Wu Hou Zhongzonghe). Your majesty has a son, so he will be worshipped as an ancestor in the ancestral temple after he lives a long life. There is a nephew who has never heard that he has become the son of heaven and enshrined his aunt in the ancestral hall. " And suggested that Wu Zetian recall Li Xian. Since then, Wu Zetian has never set up Wu and Wu Sansi as princes, so he recalled Luoyang. The successor Li Dan requested that Johnson be located in Luling King, so Wu Zetian set up Li Dan as the crown prince, made him a marshal, and Di led the troops to attack the Turks as the deputy marshal. After Wu Zetian solved the problem of heir, Wu Zetian had no thorny problems to solve. She was full of ambition, and as she grew older, she began to indulge in pleasure.
Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong are young and beautiful. They joined the army. They often wear rich vermicelli and gorgeous clothes. Wu, Wu Sansi, etc. Everyone is vying to pursue them, even holding a whip for them. At this time, Wu Zetian has entered a real twilight. She has been ill for a long time, so her control over state affairs has declined. She regarded her two brothers as eyes and ears, and they gradually intervened in state affairs and framed Prime Minister Wei, which not only made enemies with the minister, but also reversed the situation of Wu Zetian's return and the succession of the prince, resulting in the complexity of the political situation, and the relationship between Wu Zetian's mother and son, the monarch and the minister was therefore unprecedentedly tense. According to historical records, Princess Yongtai, the granddaughter of Wu Zetian, was executed for discussing Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong with her husband Wu Yanji and her younger brother Li Zhongrun (then Wang Shao).
In the first month of the first year of Shenlong (705), Wu Zetian was seriously ill in bed, and only his minions Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong served him. Prime Ministers Zhang Jianzhi and Cui Xuanyong, together with joint ministers Jing Hui, Huan and Yuan, made friends with the imperial army, commanded Li Duozuo, pretended to rebel with his brothers, and then launched a mutiny, led more than 500 imperial soldiers into the palace, killed two brothers, and immediately surrounded Wu Zetian's bedroom, demanding that Wu Zetian abdicate, which is known as the Dragon Revolution in history.
Wu Zetian was forced to abdicate, and Prince Li Xian. Li is honored as "the Emperor of Heaven". Wu Zhou ended and the Tang Dynasty was restored. Officials, flags, costumes and characters were all restored to the old system, and God was restored to the East Capital.
On November 26th, the first year of Shenlong (65438+ February16,705), Wu Zetian died in Shangyang Palace at the age of 82. The imperial edict omitted the title of the emperor, and she was called "Queen of Heaven". In May of the second year of Shenlong (706), he was buried with Emperor Gaozong in Ganling.
Although the Tang room was based on her testamentary edict posthumous title, it was revised several times later: in the first year (7 10), it was changed to Tianhou. In the first year of Jing Yun (7 10), it was changed to Great Sage Queen. In the first year of Yanhe River (7 12), it was another day, and it was changed to Shengdi soon. In the fourth year of Kaiyuan (7 16), it was changed to Emperor Hou. In the eighth year of Tianbao (749), posthumous title and posthumous title were added, and Emperor Tianshun became the holy queen.