Diqin Designer

Chapter 360: Wu Mei's Ascension to Power, Li Zhi's Merits and Demerits

"In the sixth year of Yonghui, Wu Mei became the empress and drove Chu Suiliang out of the Tang Dynasty court and appointed him as the governor of Tanzhou. In the second year of Xianqing, Chu Suiliang was transferred to the more remote Guizhou as the governor. Guizhou in the Tang Dynasty was located in present-day Nanyue."

"Later in the second year of Xianqing, Wu Zetian, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu falsely accused Chu Suiliang of treason together with the Minister of the Central Secretariat Lai Ji and the Minister of the Imperial Court Han Yuan. As a result, Chu Suiliang was demoted again and was demoted to the post of governor of Aizhou, which was further south and more remote in Nanyue."

"After being demoted to Aizhou, Chu Suiliang wrote a letter to Li Zhi, saying that he had served Taizong and supported Li Zhi's succession to the throne, but this letter was still useless. The New Book of Tang records: 'The emperor was faint and cowardly, and he was tied to Empress Wu and never realized it.'"

"In the third year of Xianqing, Chu Suiliang passed away in Aizhou at the age of sixty-three."

Hearing the comment about Li Zhi being "stupid and cowardly", the First Emperor said: "Li Zhi is not stupid and cowardly. I'm afraid he knows better than anyone that he has to deal with an old minister like Chu Suiliang. How could he let him succeed in submitting a petition and return to the court?"

"How could Wu Mei succeed if she didn't get Li Zhi's approval?"

Li Nian nodded and said, "That's right. So Chu Suiliang's petition was impossible to succeed from the beginning. With Chu Suiliang's wisdom, he would not fail to see this point, but he had no other choice but to give it a try."

After finally kicking out these old ministers who were in the way, Li Zhi must be sick to call them back.

"The same strategy was used against Zhangsun Wuji. In the fourth year of Xianqing, the Censor Li Chao was reported to have colluded with Zhangsun Wuji and plotted a rebellion. Li Zhi ordered the Secretary Xu Jingzong and the Minister Xin Mao to investigate together. The result of the investigation was naturally that Zhangsun Wuji wanted to rebel."

"After learning that there was 'conclusive' evidence of Zhangsun Wuji's rebellion, Li Zhi cried and said, 'I absolutely cannot bear to punish him. Future generations of good historians will say that I could not get along with his relatives and let him end up like this.' Xu ​​Jingzong comforted Li Zhi by citing the example of Emperor Wen of Han killing his uncle Bo Zhao, so that Li Zhi could make a decision as soon as possible."

"So, without even confronting Changsun Wuji in person, Li Zhi issued an edict to strip Changsun Wuji of his official position and fiefdom, exiled him to Qianzhou, and ordered the prefectures along the way to send troops to escort Changsun Wuji to his exile."

Meng Tian heard this and laughed, "This Li Zhi is really shameless and evil-minded. He is not unwilling to confront Zhangsun Wuji because of the uncle-nephew relationship, but he is guilty and knows exactly what Zhangsun Wuji is planning. He is worried that confronting Zhangsun Wuji in court will cause trouble. It is better not to confront him and let it become a fait accompli."

Wang Jian also said: "How come Li Zhi is nothing like his father, Emperor Taizong? His mind, wisdom and tactics are not as grand and impressive as Emperor Taizong's!"

It’s not that Li Zhi’s methods were bad, but he didn’t seem as upright, generous and magnanimous as Taizong. He gave people the impression that he was cunning and scheming.

Taizong was upright and confronted others head-on, but Li Zhi acted like a sudden stab in the back, framing and slandering others.

Li Nian smiled and said, "It should be because Taizong and Li Zhi had different upbringings, which led to their different personalities and naturally different styles of doing things."

"In July of the same year, Li Zhi asked Li Ji and Xu Jingzong to review the case of Zhangsun Wuji's rebellion. Xu Jingzong sent Yuan Gongyu, the secretary of the Central Secretariat, and others to Qianzhou to interrogate Zhangsun Wuji about his rebellion. However, as soon as Yuan Gongyu arrived in Qianzhou, he forced Zhangsun Wuji to hang himself."

Meng Tian added: "Li Zhi must be behind this, otherwise how could they be so bold? Aren't they afraid of being punished by Li Zhi after the incident?"

Li Nian continued, "Five years later, in the first year of Shangyuan, Li Zhi rehabilitated Zhangsun Wuji, restored his official title, and allowed his great-grandson Zhangsun Yi to inherit the title of Duke of Zhao. He also buried Zhangsun Wuji in Zhaoling Mausoleum."

Feng Quji shook his head and said, "Changsun Wuji is dead, his clan has declined, and his power has dispersed. It has no impact on the overall situation. Of course, we can vindicate Changsun Wuji, and this move can also show the world that he cares about his uncle and nephew!"

It has been five years since his death. Even if Changsun Wuji had a great influence during his lifetime, that influence has dissipated and he can no longer threaten Li Zhi. Rehabilitating his uncle Changsun Wuji at this time can make the world think that he is a loyal and righteous emperor.

But this also shows that Li Zhi is a ruthless person. It was obviously he who wanted to kill Zhangsun Wuji behind the scenes, but he still pretended to be an affectionate uncle and nephew.

"After Chu Suiliang, Zhangsun Wuji and other senior officials were eliminated, Li Zhi's power on the throne was completely consolidated, but he did not expect that he would use Wu Mei to eliminate Chu Suiliang, Zhangsun Wuji and others, which also allowed Wu Mei's power to grow rapidly in the court. This also laid the groundwork for what happened later!"

"In fact, from Li Zhi's perspective, it was a great choice to make Wu Mei the empress and use her to fight against senior officials like Zhangsun Wuji."

"Although Wu Mei originally had a good family background, Wu Shigui had been dead for many years, and the Wu family had no other talented people to help Wu Mei, so there was no worry from foreign relatives."

"Wu Mei can only rely on Li Zhi in the imperial palace. If Li Zhi is unwilling to make her the queen and support her, Wu Mei will be nothing."

"So as long as he can operate properly, Wu Mei will be perfectly under his control."

"Besides, Wu Mei is a woman. Even if she holds some power, she cannot usurp the throne like a man."

"Moreover, by doing so, not only can Wu Mei stand in front of him to help him deal with Zhangsun Wuji and others, but it can also please Wu Mei. It's the best of both worlds, so why not do it?"

"It's just that Li Zhi didn't expect that he would go too far. Wu Mei's ambition is greater than he imagined."

"After all, since ancient times, although there have been women who have ruled as queen dowagers, there has never been a precedent for a woman to be an emperor."

"Li Zhi's health was not good. After the fifth year of Xianqing, Li Zhi's health became worse, so he asked Wu Mei to review memorials and handle state affairs for him."

"It was also during this period that Wu Mei's influence in the Tang court grew stronger, and Li Zhi noticed this. Things were slowly getting out of his control, and conflicts arose between the couple."

Although they heard Li Zhi's reaction, everyone knew it was too late. Wu Mei's power was already established. Unless Li Zhi could be completely ruthless and endure the severe pain of cutting off his flesh, it would be difficult to eliminate Wu Mei.

Even worse, Li Zhi might not have the power to depose Wu Mei, and if he did, it would be hard to say who would live and who would die.

"In the first year of Linde, Prime Minister Shangguan Yi requested to depose the empress. Li Zhi also had this idea, so he ordered Shangguan Yi to draft an edict to depose the empress. But before the edict was issued, Wu Mei found out about it and immediately went to Li Zhi to complain. Li Zhi was unable to issue the edict, and instead betrayed Shangguan Yi."

Wang Wan asked curiously, "What happened to Shangguan Yi later?"

Li Nian said: "Falsely accuse him of treason and put him in prison and put him to death."

As expected, nothing unexpected happened. It was still the old routine of false accusation of treason. But no matter how old the routine is, it’s fine as long as it’s useful.

Wang Wan added: "Wu Mei's power is already established, and it will be difficult for Li Zhi to abolish it!"

Li Nian said: "Not only is Wu Mei the empress, she also has a group of ministers supporting her in the court. Her son Li Hong is also the crown prince of Li Zhi. If Wu Mei is to be deposed, what should be done with the children born to Li Zhi?"

Wu Mei was a queen with real power, not one of those queens who only held power over the harem. If Li Zhi made up his mind, he could indeed depose Wu Mei, but he would consider whether it was worth it.

"After the incident of the empress being deposed, whenever Li Zhi governed, Wu Mei would be behind the scenes, and was involved in all matters, big or small. In August of the first year of Shangyuan, Li Zhi was crowned the emperor and Wu Mei was crowned the empress, which was known in history as 'the two saints ruling the country'!" "In the second year of Shangyuan, history records that Li Zhi's rubella became more serious, and he wanted to abdicate to Wu Mei, but was persuaded by Prime Minister Hao Chujun and gave up temporarily."

"But I think this is not true. Even if Li Zhi did mention this in history, he was probably testing Wu Mei."

"If Li Zhi really wanted to abdicate to Wu Mei, wouldn't it be better if he issued an edict before his death to let Wu Mei ascend the throne? Instead, in the year of his death, he ordered Crown Prince Li Xian to act as the governor of the country, and Prime Minister Pei Yan, Liu Qixian, Guo Zhengyi and others to assist in governing the country. His last will also ordered Li Xian to ascend the throne in front of his coffin, and any undecided military and national affairs would be decided by Wu Mei."

Wait, isn’t the crown prince of Li Zhi and Wu Mei called “Li Hong”? Then who is Li Xian?

Could it be that Li Hong was harmed by Wu Mei and this Li Xian was pushed to the throne?

Meng Tian asked, "Is Li Xian also the son of Li Zhi and Wu Mei? Where did Li Hong go?"

Li Nian understood what Meng Tian meant and replied, "In the second year of Shangyuan, Li Hong died suddenly when he went to Hebi Palace with Li Zhi and Wu Mei. He was only 24 years old."

"Some historical books believe that Li Hong was poisoned by Wu Mei, but this is unlikely. Just like Wu Mei strangled her daughter to death and framed Queen Wang, if Wu Mei wanted to poison Li Hong, she had to get past Li Zhi."

"Li Hong was Li Zhi's favorite son. After his death, Li Zhi issued an imperial decree to posthumously honor Li Hong as 'Filial Emperor' and buried him with the rites of an emperor. If Li Hong was really killed by Wu Mei, Li Zhi would have known about it. If he knew, he would have made up his mind to get rid of Wu Mei even if it would hurt himself."

Feng Jie continued, "If Li Hong is harmed by Wu Mei, not only will it harm Li Zhi's favorite prince, making Li Zhi hate him, but Li Zhi will also worry that Wu Mei will continue to murder his other sons. For the safety of his other sons, Li Zhi must remove this poisonous thorn before he dies, unless..."

"Li Zhi's love for Wu Mei is above the lives of all his sons and the country of the Tang Dynasty. That makes Li Zhi a truly foolish and cowardly person!"

And considering the way Li Zhi drove Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang and others out of the court, it is impossible that he was a cowardly person.

The temple name "Gaozong" was a good one before the Song Dynasty. The fact that Li Zhi was able to get it was enough to prove that he was not a foolish and cowardly monarch who was bewitched by Wu Mei and did not know the north from the south.

Li Nian smiled and continued, "After Li Hong died, Li Zhi appointed Li Xian, the second son of Li Hong and Wu Mei, as the crown prince. However, Li Xian had a bad relationship with his mother when he was the crown prince. In the second year of Tiaolu, Wu Mei deposed him on charges of treason and exiled him to Bazhou. In the first year of Wenming, Qiu Shenji, a cruel official sent by Wu Mei, forced him to commit suicide at the age of 31."

Another conspiracy...

The First Emperor did notice another thing. Li Zhi had too many reign titles. He had heard of "Yonghui", "Xianqing", "Shangyuan", "Tiaolu"...

The First Emperor raised his eyebrows and asked, "How many years did Li Zhi establish?"

Li Nian said: "Li Zhi reigned for 34 years and used a total of 14 era names. Li Zhi was also the emperor who used the most era names in the Tang Dynasty."

All the ministers were speechless after hearing this. Li Zhi was truly a maniac who loved changing the reign title. His constant changing would cause some inconvenience to the Tang Dynasty.

Li Nian continued, "After Li Xian was deposed, Li Zhi appointed his and Wu Mei's third son, Li Xian, as the crown prince. Because of this incident, the reign title was changed again, from Tiaolu to Yonglong."

"Li Xian was also a character. He successfully ascended the throne, but was deposed by his mother Wu Mei. Later, Wu Mei made him the crown prince, and he returned to being the emperor again."

It is understandable that a person served as both emperor and crown prince twice, but it is outrageous that this person served as crown prince again after becoming emperor.

"Although Li Zhi had a big problem with Wu Mei, his reign was not without achievements. He had both merits and faults."

"During the Yonghui reign, a peaceful era was created, known as the 'Yonghui Reign'. At that time, the territory of the Tang Dynasty was unprecedentedly vast, and it was said to be 12.37 million square kilometers."

The First Emperor had heard Li Nian talk about the historical territory of the Qin Dynasty, and he calculated it in his mind, and it was almost four times the territory of the Qin Dynasty at its most vast.

Li Nian continued: "At that time, the Tang Dynasty not only had a vast territory, but also had a stable border and a prosperous people. It was praised as having the legacy of the Zhenguan period. During Li Zhi's reign, he also quelled the rebellion of the Eastern Turks and destroyed Baekje and Goguryeo..."

Hearing the word "Koguryo" again, the First Emperor asked, "Was Koguryo destroyed during the reign of Emperor Li Zhi?"

That was a foreign country that had not been destroyed under the reigns of Yang Guang and Taizong, but was destroyed by Li Zhi.

But this is not surprising.

Although Yang Guang did not truly defeat Goguryeo and even sent a lot of supplies to Goguryeo, his conquest also consumed Goguryeo's population. When it came to Emperor Taizong, he further weakened Goguryeo's strength.

By the time of Li Zhi, Goguryeo had weakened and was no longer strong, while the Tang Dynasty, with the foundation of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan Reign, was still growing in strength.

As Goguryeo declined and the Tang Dynasty prospered, there was certainly a chance for us to defeat it!

Li Niandao said: "In the sixth year of Yonghui, the coalition forces of Goguryeo and Baekje attacked Silla. Silla sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty to ask for help. Li Zhi sent troops to attack Goguryeo and Baekje successively. In the fifth year of Xianqing, Su Dingfang, Duke of Xing, pacified Baekje and captured the king and prince of Baekje. Baekje was declared extinct. In the first year of Zongzhang, the Tang army captured Pyongyang, causing Goguryeo to follow in the footsteps of Baekje."

"Unfortunately, although Baekje and Goguryeo were destroyed, the Tang Dynasty did not maintain control over that area, because Silla fought against the Tang Dynasty again for the right to rule the former territories of Baekje and Goguryeo."

Wang Jian was not puzzled by Silla's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty. These foreign nations and ethnic groups were all like this. They would not be grateful for the Tang Dynasty's assistance, but would only think about getting greater benefits from the Tang Dynasty. He was just puzzled that the Tang Dynasty had defeated Baekje and Goguryeo, but could not deal with Silla?

After hearing Wang Jian's question, Li Nian smiled and said, "Regarding the war between Silla and the Tang Dynasty, the historical records of Silla and China are different."

"The Silla side recorded that they had a great victory over the Tang army. In the first year of Xianheng, they captured 82 cities of the Xiongjin Military Governorate in one fell swoop. In the second year of Xianheng, they beheaded 5,300 people, captured two Baekje generals, and six Tang Guoyi. In the third year of Shangyuan, they defeated the Tang general Xue Rengui and beheaded more than 4,000 people."

"But in Chinese history books, Liu Rengui defeated the Silla army at Qichongcheng. Later, Andong pacification ambassador Li Jinxing defeated the Silla army three times at Maixiaocheng, forcing the Silla king to send an envoy to apologize and pay a large amount of tribute to the Tang Dynasty."

Wang Jian smiled and said, "It seems that in the battle between Silla and Tang, Tang should win!"

Silla was also a state in the region where Goguryeo was located, and Li Nian has already said that people in that region like to make up history and steal things from other countries, even celebrity festivals. They are more likely to tamper with this history than the Tang Dynasty.

But if the Tang Dynasty won, why did it lose control of that area?

(End of this chapter)