Diqin Designer

Chapter 359: The Filial Son Li Zhi
The First Emperor said: "I already know about this, and I will never let this happen in the Qin Dynasty!"

After getting the answer from the First Emperor, Li Nian added: "Compared to the problem, Taizong's achievements are undoubtedly greater. Unlike Emperor Wu of Han, whose achievements outweigh his faults, he is quite controversial. Taizong is an emperor who is highly regarded in Chinese history. Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di's idol is Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty."

"Idol means 'an object of worship and pursuit.' Zhu Di spent his entire life emulating Emperor Taizong and even wanted to be given the temple name Ming Taizong."

"'Zhu Di's original temple name was indeed Ming Taizong, but unfortunately one of his descendants was a 'god' who changed his temple name to Ming Chengzu. If Zhu Di knew about this, he would probably be so angry that he would come back to life!"

Theoretically, "zu" is a higher level title than "zong", but "zu" is generally used for the first king.

Changing Zhu Di's temple name to "Zu", the same as his father Zhu, was a clear reminder to future generations that Zhu Di was a vassal king who rebelled and came to power illegitimately.

Zhu Di certainly did not want people to remember this incident. He wanted people to remember that his throne was a legitimate inheritance from Zhu Di and was passed down from Zhu Di in a legitimate way.

Therefore, the temple name of Emperor Taizong of Ming is very good, and it is the same as his idol Erfeng.

After hearing what Li Nian said, the First Emperor and others thought to themselves: "This Ming Dynasty must be a dynasty with a lot of stories!"

How can there not be a story?

Even the "immortals" came out, although they are definitely not real gods. In all likelihood, they are some emperors of the Ming Dynasty who wanted to live forever. But you can tell there is a lot of story just by listening to it.

He trained himself to be like a crane, so he was not afraid of the palace maids strangling his neck...

Li Nian smiled and said, "Some people think that the reason why Taizong is evaluated better than Emperor Wu of Han is because Taizong did not have time to become like Emperor Wu of Han."

"In his later years, Emperor Taizong also showed signs of developing into the late years of Emperor Wu of Han, but he did not live as long as Emperor Wu."

Li Nian deliberately added: "The reason why Emperor Taizong died of illness in his early fifties was believed by some people in later generations to be because he took a large amount of elixirs in order to achieve immortality."

The First Emperor glanced at Li Nian. How could he not hear that this kid was using Emperor Taizong of Tang to remind him not to pursue any elixir of life, because it was fake and would make him die faster after taking it.

This made the First Emperor somewhat unhappy. In the eyes of this kid, was he such a stubborn person?
He had already killed all the alchemists who should be killed, and left the remaining ones to this kid.

Oh, there is another one who was neither killed nor given to this kid, and is still imprisoned.

"On May 26, the 23rd year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong passed away in Hanfeng Hall of Cuiwei Palace in Zhongnan Mountain at the age of 52. He was first posthumously named Emperor Wen and given the temple name Emperor Taizong of Tang. He was buried in Zhaoling Mausoleum."

"When Emperor Taizong was dying, he specifically entrusted his affairs to Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, saying to them: 'I will now leave all my affairs to you. The crown prince is kind and filial, as you know, so please guide him well!' He also said to the crown prince Li Zhi: 'As long as Wuji and Suiliang are still here, you don't have to worry about the world!'"

The First Emperor and others now understand Li Nian's tactics. This guy said this on purpose, so Li Zhi must have done something contrary to what Taizong said.

"On June 1, Li Zhi ascended the throne of the Tang Dynasty at the age of 22. Li Zhi was quite obedient when he first ascended the throne. But in the second year of his reign, in May of the first year of Yonghui, Li Zhi went to Ganye Temple to pay tribute to the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death. He met the talented Wu, and the Tang Dynasty embarked on a different path from then on."

Hearing the three words "Wu Cairen", the First Emperor and others regained their spirits.

This talented military talent finally appeared on the scene. They were all very curious about how this woman became an empress in the Tang Dynasty!
Meng Tian was suspicious and said, "They said they went to Ganye Temple to burn incense for the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death, but how could Li Zhi not know that Wu Cairen was in Ganye Temple? I'm afraid he is intentionally looking for Wu Cairen?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "With Li Zhi's status and position, it is impossible for him not to know that after Emperor Taizong passed away, Wu Cairen became a nun in Ganye Temple. It is indeed possible that he went there for Wu Cairen."

Everyone almost couldn't hold back after hearing this. This Li Zhi was truly too "filial". Only one year after Taizong's death, he immediately couldn't help but go looking for Concubine Wu. Concubine Wu was the concubine of his father Taizong!

Moreover, this guy Li Zhi chose the anniversary of Taizong's death and went there under the pretext of offering incense to Taizong. It is hard not to suspect that he was being careless on purpose.

Is the pain of missing someone so unbearable?
Or would it be more exciting to have a secret meeting with my stepmother on the anniversary of Taizong's death?

Combined with the words that Emperor Taizong entrusted to Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang before his death, "The Crown Prince is benevolent and filial, as you all know, so please guide him well!", it is simply too funny.

Is this Li Zhi’s method of “benevolence and filial piety”?

Now that my father has passed away, my stepmother must be feeling cold at night and lonely. Let me, as his son, take good care of her on behalf of my father so that she won't feel cold at night and her life won't be lonely.

"Wu Cairen is the second daughter of Wu Shihuo, a founding hero of the Tang Dynasty. Her mother, Yang, was from the royal family of the Sui Dynasty. She has an extraordinary family background."

"In his early years, when Wu Shigui was still alive, Wu Cairen lived with his father in Jingzhou. His family was well-off and he lived a carefree life. However, in the ninth year of Zhenguan, Wu Shigui, the then governor of Jingzhou, died."

"The death of Wu Shihuo marked the end of Wu Cairen's carefree life. His mother, Yang, did not give birth to a son for Wu Shihuo. Therefore, after Wu Shihuo's death, Wu Cairen, his mother and his sister were bullied by his half brothers Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang. Soon after, Wu Cairen moved back to Chang'an with his mother from Jingzhou."

"In the eleventh year of Zhenguan, Wu Cairen's fate ushered in the most important turning point."

"In November of that year, Emperor Taizong visited the Luoyang Palace and heard that the Wu family had a very beautiful daughter, so he summoned her into the palace, made her a fifth-rank talent, and gave her the title 'Wu Mei'. Therefore, later generations also called her 'Wu Meiniang'!"

"When she entered the palace, her mother Yang cried and was reluctant to let her daughter go to the palace to serve the emperor. Wu Mei said: 'You know it is not a blessing to meet the emperor, why are children sad?'"

"Wu Mei did not see entering the palace as a disaster, but rather as a great opportunity."

"The reason Wu Mei entered the palace was not only because her beauty had spread to Emperor Taizong's ears, but also because Empress Zhangsun died of illness in the tenth year of Zhenguan. Emperor Taizong was depressed and wanted to recruit a group of beauties into the palace."

"When Wu Mei entered the palace, she was only fourteen years old, four years older than Li Zhi. Although she was not much older than Li Zhi, she was more mature than Li Zhi because of her experience and intelligence. Therefore, some people in later generations believed that Li Zhi liked Wu Mei because he regarded her as a substitute for Empress Changsun."

"There are not many records of Wu Mei's court life during the reign of Emperor Taizong, but Wu Mei herself recalled one thing: Emperor Taizong once had a fierce horse named 'Shi Zi Cong', which was fat and fierce and no one could tame it. At that time, Wu Mei served as a palace maid beside him, and she told Emperor Taizong that she had a way to tame the horse, but she needed three things: an iron whip, an iron club, and a dagger. If the horse did not obey after being beaten with the iron whip, she would club its head with the club, and if it still did not obey, she would cut its throat with the dagger."

Feng Quji said: "From this we can see the character of Wu Mei. Although she is a woman, she has the same ambition as men. If Emperor Taizong of Tang was wise, he would not let Wu Mei become powerful in the palace!"

After saying these two sentences, Feng Quji shook his head again and said, "Emperor Taizong conferred Wu Mei the title of fifth-rank talent, which was an intentional restriction, but her son Li Zhi had no choice..."

Li Nian smiled and said, "During the reign of Emperor Taizong, Wu Mei's status in the palace was indeed not high. She was a concubine for twelve years. But during the period when Emperor Taizong was seriously ill, Wu Mei and Li Zhi secretly developed feelings for each other."

"I don't know whether it was because Wu Mei really found the feeling of her mother, Empress Zhangsun, or Wu Mei's wisdom and maturity deeply attracted Li Zhi, Li Zhi never forgot Wu Mei!" "In May of the first year of Yonghui, Li Zhi went to Ganye Temple to burn incense and reunited with Wu Mei. In May of the second year of Yonghui, Li Zhi summoned Wu Mei into the palace again after the mourning period was over."

From the time, we can see that Li Zhi was very anxious. His father's death anniversary was in May, so his mourning period would also be over in May. As soon as it was over, he summoned Wu Mei into the palace.

I wonder if Li Zhi was really that anxious, or if he deliberately chose the month of Er Feng's death anniversary because he thought it would be more exciting this way?

This was what the First Emperor and others thought. Li Zhi was truly a filial son!

"But if Li Zhi doesn't summon Wu Mei into the palace, the truth will soon be revealed!"

"Because Wu Mei is pregnant at this time, if she doesn't enter the palace, she and Li Zhi will give birth to their baby."

This is another explosive news. Not only did Li Zhi have an affair with Wu Mei during the mourning period, he even made her pregnant.

Filial piety, it is truly filial piety!

"Not long after Wu Mei entered the palace, she gave birth to a son for Li Zhi. With a son, Wu Mei's position in Li Zhi's heart became more secure."

"In May of the third year of Yonghui, Wu Mei was canonized as a second-rank imperial concubine. But how could Wu Mei's ambition be satisfied by being a first- or second-rank imperial concubine? She wanted to become the queen and have more power!"

"But to become the queen, there are two great enemies in Li Zhi's harem that need to be eliminated: one is Li Zhi's legal wife, Queen Wang, and the other is Concubine Xiao Shufei."

"In fact, Queen Wang played a role in Wu Mei's re-entry into the palace."

"At that time, Queen Wang had no children, but Concubine Xiao Shu gave birth to Li Zhi's children. Queen Wang wanted Wu Mei to enter the palace to help her deal with Concubine Xiao Shu. Little did she know that she was only dealing with a wolf, and the one she was about to bring into the palace was a terrifying Tyrannosaurus Rex."

"If she knew what Wu Mei did later, Queen Wang would have wanted to stuff Wu Mei back into Ganye Temple and keep her away forever. Of course, even if Queen Wang didn't make any effort, Li Zhi would have eventually summoned Wu Mei to the palace, but not so soon."

"After entering the palace, Wu Mei and Queen Wang joined forces and quickly made Concubine Xiao Shufei fall out of favor. But once Concubine Xiao Shufei left, Queen Wang became Wu Mei's enemy. Some historical books record that in order to overthrow Queen Wang and ascend to the throne of queen, Wu Mei used an extremely cruel method."

"In the fifth year of Yonghui, Wu Zetian gave birth to another daughter for Li Zhi. Wu Mei asked Queen Wang to come and visit her daughter. After Queen Wang left, Wu Mei strangled her daughter to death and covered her with a quilt. When Li Zhi arrived, Wu Zetian pretended to smile, opened the quilt and went to see her daughter with Li Zhi, but found that her daughter was dead. She asked the attendants and learned that only Queen Wang had been there."

"Li Zhi was furious and wanted to depose the empress!"

Wang Wan shook her head and commented: "This plan is indeed vicious, but if Li Zhi had a little wisdom, he would have understood that this was not done by Queen Wang, but was framed by others."

Queen Wang could not have done such a thing unless she was completely insane.

Because when the incident happened, she was the first person to be suspected, it was too obvious.

Wang Wan added: "But we cannot rule out the possibility that Li Zhi is deliberately playing dumb. He may know that there is something fishy about this matter, but he just wants to use it to his advantage."

Li Nian tends to agree with Wang Wan's point of view.

Killing a daughter and framing the queen is a very risky thing. If Li Zhi finds out that Wu Mei killed his daughter herself, the consequences will not be what Wu Mei wants.

"Li and Wang Xiang have the same idea. The intention of this matter is too obvious to frame her. If the plan fails and Li Zhi finds out, Wu Mei will suffer the consequences and may even lose Li Zhi's favor."

The important reason why Wu Mei was able to ascend to the throne was Li Zhi's favor for her. If she lost Li Zhi's favor, she would be nothing.

Moreover, this matter was not mentioned in Luo Binwang's "Exhortation to Punish Wu Zetian".

This manifesto stated that Wu Mei murdered both Li Zhi and her own mother Yang.

"Wu Mei is a very smart woman. She will take risks, but she won't take such a big risk. Unless..."

Li Nian changed the subject and said with a smile, "Unless Li Zhi was completely foolish in love with Wu Mei, and was completely bewitched by her and lost his mind, but from a historical perspective, although Li Zhi doted on Wu Mei, he was not stupid, but extremely smart."

"Li Zhi's idea of ​​deposing the empress was not because Wu Mei strangled her daughter to death and framed Queen Wang as recorded in history books, but because Li Zhi wanted to strike at senior ministers such as Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang by deposing the empress. Deposing the empress was just a means of political struggle!"

Hearing this, Wang Ben said, "Chang Sun Wuji is Li Zhi's uncle, and was entrusted with the responsibility by Emperor Taizong of Tang before his death. I never thought that he would be dealt with by Li Zhi!"

Li Nian said: "So what if he is my uncle? So what if he is the minister who entrusted me with my life before my death? The old ministers like Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang are very powerful in the court. They have already affected Li Zhi's own power!"

"And during Li Zhi's reign, Zhangsun Wuji was different from during Taizong's reign. He was proud of his achievements and was Li Zhi's uncle, so he gradually became complacent. He suppressed dissidents in the court and eliminated ministers who disagreed with him. He had gone from being a wise minister under Taizong to a cancer in Li Zhi's eyes. How could he not be eradicated?"

"Changsun Wuji even framed Li Zhi's half-brother Li Ke and Taizong's cousin Li Daozong. Li Zhi proposed to depose Queen Wang and make Wu Mei the queen. He may have had the intention of favoring Wu Mei, but he also had the intention of suppressing Changsun Wuji and others."

"When Li Zhi proposed to depose Wang and establish Wu, Chu Suiliang fiercely opposed it, and even placed his hu tablet on the steps of the palace, took off his scarf and kowtowed until he bled. Although Changsun Wuji did not say it explicitly, he also supported Chu Suiliang."

"However, their obstruction could not stop Li Zhi, who still deposed Queen Wang and made Wu Mei the queen. From then on, Wu Mei transformed from a former talent to the queen of the Tang Dynasty!"

"Wu Mei held a grudge against Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang and other people who had prevented her from becoming the empress. After becoming the empress, she began to take revenge on these people."

When the First Emperor heard this, he laughed and said, "Li Zhi certainly dotes on Wu Mei, but he also wants to use her as a sharp blade to kill senior ministers like Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang. If he deals with Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang himself, it will be inconvenient, but Wu Mei is just right!"

Changsun Wuji was his uncle, and Chu Suiliang was the minister entrusted by his father when he was dying. Li Zhi could handle it personally, but it would of course be better to let someone else do it for him.

Others also thought of this: This Li Zhi is something. He is not a fool who only knows how to dote on Wu Mei. Instead, he is quite scheming!
Not only did he elevate the status of the woman he favored and made her happy, he also suppressed the veteran ministers, letting them know who sat on the dragon throne of the Tang Dynasty. He also created grudges between Wu Mei and Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang and others, forcing Wu Mei to become his knife and work for him.

It was also very obvious that Li Zhi deposed Wang and enthroned Wu. It was clear that he was using this opportunity to demonstrate his imperial majesty to all the officials of the Tang Dynasty: No matter whether you are my uncle, or the minister entrusted by the late emperor before his death, I am the current emperor of the Tang Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)