The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

Chapter 174 Change of Dynasty
  Ancient people from various dynasties understood clearly that after Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi became seriously ill, Wu Zetian had great power.

I am afraid that once Li Zhi dies of illness, Wu Zetian will completely take over the power.

Without Li Zhi's restraint, Wu Zetian will go further and further on the road to usurping power.

Everyone stared at the host intently, and the climax was about to begin. Wu Zetian would transform from a queen to a queen step by step. This exciting part was what everyone was looking forward to the most.

After all, the Queen is something that has never happened before. It is unprecedented and will never come after her.

Throughout history, Wu Zetian is the only empress.

Because of this, everyone is particularly interested in knowing how Wu Zetian ascended to the throne step by step.

In particular, some powerful queens in various dynasties were even more concerned.

They were very curious, as they were both empresses, how could Wu Zetian be so capable and just complete the magnificent transformation from empress to emperor.

To say that the most interesting among the many queens is Lu Fei, the queen of Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty.

Empress Lu had never thought that a woman could be an emperor before, but now that she saw Wu Zetian successfully ascending to the imperial throne, she couldn't help but be a little moved.

The relationship between her and Liu Bang was not good, and Liu Bang never wanted to see her.

If she hadn't had enough power and means, Liu Bang would have deposed her as a queen.

It doesn't matter if the husband doesn't worry, but more importantly, his son Liu Ying doesn't worry either, so he has no one to rely on.

At this moment, she felt that there was no need to place her hopes on this careless father and son.

Sometimes, relying on others is far less reliable than relying on yourself.

Thinking of this, she stared at the anchor, ready to hear how a role model for women grew from a queen to an emperor.

"In 683, Li Zhi came to Fengtian Palace. Wu Zetian had previously persuaded Li Zhi to grant the title of Zhongyue after conferring the title of Zen on Mount Tai. However, it was suspended because Li Zhi was ill at the time."

"After Li Zhi returned to Luoyang after being granted the title of Zen, his condition worsened. He ordered Prince Li Xian to act as the agent of state affairs, and Prime Minister Pei Yan and others to assist in handling government affairs."

"In December of the same year, Li Zhi passed away in the Zhenguan Palace in Luoyang. He left an imperial edict for Prince Li Xian to ascend the throne in front of his coffin, and minister Pei Yan to assist in government affairs. Wu Zetian could make decisions on major military and state affairs."

"Four days later, Li Xian ascended the throne as Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty and honored Wu Zetian as the empress dowager. Wu Zetian made decisions on court affairs."

Li Shimin: What kind of peace of mind does this woman have? The child slave is obviously seriously ill and needs a good rest. However, this woman is not good at all. She drags the child slave to go to Zhongyue to be enshrined. Doesn't this aggravate the condition? Others What did the ministers do for food, and they didn't know how to stop him? They just watched the young slave's body being dragged down.

At this moment, he seriously suspected that Wu Zetian had done all this on purpose, just to wear down Zhinu's body and aggravate his condition, and to make Zhinu die quickly so that he could monopolize power.

Now the result is exactly like this. Zhinu Fengchan Zhongyue died soon after he came back, which made him suspect that Wu Zetian arranged all this.

Liu Che: I don’t understand what Li Zhi is thinking. I don’t believe that he can’t see Wu Zetian’s ambition to monopolize power. Why would he hand over the decision-making power of military and state affairs to Wu Zetian before he died? This is not a clear indication of succession. Aren't you happy to find Li Xian?

Logically speaking, Li Xian was still young when he succeeded to the throne and could take charge of his own affairs.

If Li Zhi had directly handed over power to his son Li Xian before his death, there would be no such thing as Wu Zetian's subsequent change of dynasty.

Li Xian became emperor, and there was an ambitious Queen Mother pressing down on his head. Not to mention how aggrieved this feeling was, he was the one who could best understand Li Xian's aggrieved feeling.

I remember that when he first became the emperor of the Han Dynasty, he thought he had great power and could mobilize troops and horses to attack the Huns as he pleased. However, he did not expect that he would be restricted by the Empress Dowager. He had to listen to the Empress Dowager in everything he did.

Later, after the death of the Empress Dowager, he thought that he would come forward and exercise the power of the emperor, but he did not expect that his mother would also intervene in the government affairs.

One empress dowager left, and another empress dowager came. He was hampered by everything at first, but he was frustrated to death.

Therefore, he understood Li Xian's situation very well. With the Queen Mother as powerful as Wu Zetian suppressing him, Li Xian was just a useless emperor.

Li Zhi understood very well why he would hand over the power of the military and state to Wu Zetian before he died, because before learning that Wu Meiniang had usurped the throne, he had the same idea and wanted to hand over the power of the military and state to Meiniang before he died.

The reason is very simple. Li Xian is too weak and will definitely not be able to suppress the power of the Guanlong clan in the court.

Only Mei Niang has the ability to suppress the Guanlong clan and prevent the imperial power from being suppressed by the important officials in the court.

He went through great pains to kill Changsun Wuji and other court ministers before regaining his own power, so he did not want Li Xian to be controlled by the Guanlong clan in the court.

The reason why Mei Niang was handed over the power was to let Mei Niang clear up the obstacles in the court for Li Xian and then return the power to Li Xian.

After all, this is not unusual. There were many queen mothers in the previous dynasty who had monopolized power. In the end, each queen mother slowly let go and transferred the power to her son.

Therefore, he thought that Mei Niang would do the same and would return power to Li Xian before she died.

But he never expected that Mei Niang was not only so lively, but also so ambitious that she even coveted the throne.

Who would have imagined that no one would believe a queen mother who coveted her son's throne, but Mei Niang did it anyway.

He naturally knew that Mei Niang was ambitious and wanted to monopolize power, but he didn't care.

First, the court really needs Mei Niang to preside over the overall situation, and second, there are many queen mothers who monopolize power. In the end, all they need to do is return the power to their sons.

But in the end, he didn't think of Mei Niang's ambition, not only to be a queen mother who monopolizes power, but even to be an unprecedented empress.

But now that he already knows the outcome, it is impossible for Mei Niang's ambition to expand indefinitely.

"In 684, Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty wanted to appoint Wei Xuanzhen, the father of Queen Wei, as his minister, and give the wet nurse's son a fifth-rank official position."

"Prime Minister Pei Yan firmly opposed it, and Li Xian said in anger that he was willing to give the world to Wei Xuanzhen."

"Wu Zetian sensed that Li Xian was dissatisfied with her and tried to establish his political power. Therefore, he deposed Li Xian as King of Luling and moved him to Fangzhou. He established his fourth son, King of Yu Li Dan, as emperor and called him Emperor Ruizong of Tang Dynasty."

"After Ruizhong ascended the throne, he did not participate in the government affairs, but was placed in a separate palace. The emperor's powers were still performed by Wu Zetian."

"Wu Zetian changed the eastern capital of Luoyang to the capital of the gods. At the same time, he changed the flags from gold, the colors of official uniforms, and the names of provinces, and gave the palace the name Taichu Palace."

"Wu Zetian arranged for Li Dan to issue an edict to confer Wu Zetian's fifth ancestor, great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather, and father as Taiwei or Grand Masters, which elevated the title of the Wu Zetian family and established the Wu Zetian Ancestral Hall for the Fifth Generation."

"Wu Zetian's ambition to become emperor aroused the public opposition of the British Duke Xu Jingye. Using the call to support the King of Luling, he raised troops in Yangzhou to rebel. In more than ten days, he gathered 100,000 tribesmen."

"Prime Minister Pei Yan took the opportunity to suggest to Wu Zetian that the power should be returned to Li Dan to quell the rebellion."

"However, Wu Zetian had Pei Yan executed at Dutingyi in Luoyang for treason, and immediately appointed Li Xiaoyi, the general of Zuo Yuqian, as the general manager of Yangzhou Daodao, and led an army of 300,000 to conquer. Xu Jingye's rebellion was quickly suppressed. Keep central power firmly in your own hands."

Liu Che: Okay, I take back what I said before. No wonder Li Zhi is unwilling to hand over power to the new emperor Li Xian. This Li Xian is simply an incompetent and foolish emperor. How can he hand over the Tang Dynasty to his father-in-law Wei Xuanzhen, an outsider? Not even if you say it in anger.

At this moment, he finally understood the reason why Li Zhi wanted to hand over power to Wu Zetian. Having such a son was a bloody misfortune for eight lifetimes.

Even if the words were angry, the angry words were too outrageous. If Li Shimin heard it, he might not know how angry he would be!
  It can be said that the Tang Dynasty was conquered by Li Shimin single-handedly, but now his grandson Li Xian wants to give it to his father-in-law. It is really ridiculous when you think about it. It is not an exaggeration to say that Li Xian is the most stupid king in history.

Liu Che: @李世民, tsk tsk tsk, you have a great grandson!
  Li Shimin was already in a bad mood. Seeing Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's ridicule, he became even more angry. He wanted to beat Li Xian, an unworthy descendant, to death.

He can't speak without thinking, and he can say anything. It's easy to conquer a country, but it's hard to defend it. Now it's a good time. This unworthy descendant doesn't want to defend it, so he wants to give it away.

He now somewhat understood why Wu Zetian wanted to snatch the throne from his son. If he encountered such a loser, he might as well do it himself.

Li Shimin: @李智, how did you teach your son such a thing?
  Li Shimin: @李兴, and you bastard, I have worked so hard to conquer the country, and you are going to give it away?

Li Zhi: @李世民, Father, I apologize for your lax discipline. My son didn’t know Xian’er was so confused.

Li Xian: @李世民, @李志, Grandpa Huang, Emperor Father, I am saying this out of anger. This is all the fault of Prime Minister Pei Yan. Please ask Grandpa Huang and Father Emperor, I will definitely not give my country to my father-in-law.

Ying Zheng: Indeed, it is much better to give the country of Tang Dynasty to your mother than to your father-in-law.

Li Shimin:...

Li Zhi:......

Li Xian:......

Wu Zetian saw the late emperor arguing endlessly and ignored it, but was filled with emotion in her heart.

It's not that she wants to snatch the throne from her son, but it's because her son doesn't live up to expectations, so she has no choice but to do so.

The Tang Dynasty conquered by our ancestors was not easy. Since the descendants of Li Tang cannot defend it, let her, the daughter-in-law of the Li family, defend it!
  As long as her son had some energy, she wouldn't have reached this point.

"In 685, Wu Zetian issued an order that it was no longer necessary to send people to guard the Dengwen drum in the court. As long as someone beat the drum, the censor could accept complaints and report them."

"In May, Wu Zetian issued an edict allowing officials and ordinary people above the ninth rank at home and abroad to recommend themselves to the imperial court in order to be appointed."

"In 686, Wu Zetian issued an imperial edict to return the power to Emperor Li Dan, but Li Dan knew that his mother did not really want to return the power."

"So Li Dan resigned and asked Wu Zetian to continue to serve as the emperor and to act as the emperor."

"In order to spread the word, Wu Zetian placed a copper box in front of Luoyang Palace to accept self-recommendations, reports, and redress of grievances from people all over the world at any time. This move played a major role in stabilizing the government at that time."

"Wu Zetian supervised the clan and ministers and stipulated that anyone could inform."

"Anyone who informs someone will not be interrogated privately by the ministers, and the court will provide them with carriages, carriages, and food."

"Wu Zetian will personally receive the informant regardless of his status, even if he is a farmer."

"If the content of the report complies with the decree, you will receive special promotion and an exceptional promotion."

"Even if the whistleblower content is untrue, there will be no punishment, so whistleblowers from all over the world have emerged."

"Many people were awarded official positions through whistleblowers, and the entire society formed a politics of cruelty."

"Once the defendant is taken to prison, the cruel officials use various torture methods to interrogate him. Very few people make it out of prison alive."

"With the increasing trend of informing, the number of people tortured to death by cruel officials is increasing day by day."

"So all the ministers in the court felt insecure and did not dare to talk much when they met. Every time they went to court, they had to say goodbye to their families."

Ancient people from all dynasties could see clearly that Wu Zetian took so many actions to prepare for the change of dynasty.

Although Wu Zetian has monopolized power, she will encounter great resistance if she wants to ascend the throne as a woman.

If you want to successfully achieve the ultimate leap, you must control the entire court and kick out all the ministers who oppose you. In this way, no one can stop him from becoming emperor.

The whistle-blowing style undoubtedly achieved this very well. The cruelty of the cruel officials made all ministers dare not oppose Wu Zetian, or even discuss it in private.

It can be said that the court officials in this period were miserable. They had to live cautiously every day, for fear that they would be caught and tortured in prison if they said something wrong.

The ambition of the Queen Mother was obvious, and all the people in the world knew that the Queen Mother wanted to depose the emperor and ascend the throne herself.

Except for some ministers who dare to speak out, most ministers have compromised and allowed the Queen Mother to change dynasties.

There is no way, the Queen Mother's power is far beyond what they can deal with.

And there is another point. Wu Zetian will eventually return power to the Tang Dynasty after becoming emperor, so there is no need for them to stop it.

"In 688, Wu Zetian's ambition to seize Li Tang's kingdom became clear, causing the Tang Dynasty clan kings to become uneasy and raise armies to fight against her."

"Langxie King Li Chong and Yue King Li Zhen launched an army to attack Wu Zetian, but they were quickly suppressed by Wu Zetian, and the ten kings surnamed Li who were implicated were executed."

"My nephew Wu Chengsi sent someone to carve out the characters 'The Holy Mother is here, the emperor will be forever prosperous' on a piece of white stone, and presented it to Wu Zetian as an auspicious sign, thus kicking off Wu Zetian's change of dynasty."

"Xue Huaiyi, Wu Zetian's male favorite, led more than 10,000 people to demolish the Qianyuan Hall and build a Mingtang, called the Wanxiang Palace."

"In 690, the monk Faming compiled the Dayun Sutra, saying that Wu Zetian was the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha who descended to earth and should be the master of the world."

"Officials and citizens, relatives, foreign leaders, monks, and Taoist priests requested Wu Zetian to change the name of the country to Zhou and give the emperor the surname Wu. Li Dan asked for the surname Wu."

"Wu Zetian deposed the Tang Dynasty, established the Zhou Dynasty, granted amnesty to the world, moved the capital to Luoyang, the divine capital, changed the name to Yuan Tianshou, and honored himself as the Holy Emperor."

Li Shimin's face looked ugly, not because Wu Zetian changed dynasties. After all, he knew this very early and had already accepted it calmly.

What made him resentful was that the descendants of Li Tang were massacred by Wu Zetian. Ten descendants of the Li family were killed before they ascended the throne.

It is conceivable that after Wu Zetian ascended the throne, in order to stabilize the political power, she would definitely implicate the descendants of the Li family, and it was very likely that Wu Zetian would kill them all.

When he thought of so many of his descendants being killed by Wu Zetian, he couldn't help but feel sad and his heart was twitching.

Li Zhi: Male favorite Xue Huaiyi? snort!
  He looked angry. Mei Niang had a male favorite before she became the emperor. If she became the emperor, she would not be able to open the male favorite version of the Three Palaces and Six Courtyards.

He was not that angry when Mei Niang became the emperor, but finding a male favorite to cuckold him really made him very angry.

You know what the anchor said can be seen by all the people in the world. Where does this put his face?
  Li Zhi: @武泽天, just one? Didn't find two more?
  Feeling Li Zhi's strange aura, Wu Zetian looked a little embarrassed, as if she had done something wrong, so she remained silent and did not respond.

When ancient people from various dynasties saw Wu Zetian clearing all obstacles and finally ascending to the throne, they were all sighing and filled with emotion.

A woman's journey from being a talented person to a queen, then to a queen mother, and finally becoming an emperor is truly legendary and has been admired by countless people.

Although many scholars do not agree that Wu Zetian ascended the throne as a woman, they have to admire Wu Zetian's ability.

Throughout history, Wu Zetian is the only one who can seize the throne as a woman.

Empress Lu of the Han Dynasty listened with admiration to Wu Zetian's step-by-step process of ascending to the throne.

This made her think deeply, maybe after Liu Bang's death, with her power and means, she might not be able to become the second Wu Zetian.

(End of this chapter)