Historically, the relationship between Li Longji and Wu Zetian

As for Wu Zetian, this is a name with historical charm. He has always been a legendary historical figure rather than a legend. In folk stories, there are various comments on the female emperor, and the angles are also different. In the early Tang Dynasty, because all the emperors were her direct descendants, and Taoism did not fully occupy the dominant position, the evaluation of Wu Zetian was relatively positive. Let's see what kind of relationship she has with Li Longji.

After Wu Zetian became the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, she was puzzled by the question "Who can take over" for many years. For example, she has been slow to establish a prince. Is there no suitable candidate? I don't think so. Zhao Yan thought it was the way of inheritance. According to the tradition of patrilineal society, the ancient imperial power in China was transmitted under a surname.

This way of inheritance embarrassed her: if her son inherits the throne, it is a family, but it is not a surname with himself; If you pass the throne to your nephew, you will have the same surname as yourself, but not a family. She called the laid-off emperor Li Dan (the youngest son of Wu Zetian) an "heir" (similar to a prince but not a prince), which was a helpless move in this trouble.

At that time, although the national title was Da Zhou, people inside and outside the court turned to the royal family in Li Tang. For example, Zhang Jianzhi, Huan, Cui Xuan, Jing Hui and other ministers are all supporters of Li Xian (abolished as the king of Luling), while Li Zhaode, Di, Ji Xiang and others who are important officials around Wu Zetian also oppose Wu Zetian's nephew. The people even said, "How am I doing in Datang?" Few people are proud of Big Week. In September of the first year of Guangzhai (684), Xu Jingye set out for Yangzhou in the name of restoring the Tang Dynasty. In just a few days, more than ten thousand people gathered in 10, and the people are ready to deal with it. At that time, Wu Zetian had not proclaimed himself, and the people's hearts were clear.

The thing is, after the revival, the Turkic Khan sipped silently and surrendered to Da Zhou. Wu Zetian ordered my nephew, Wu Yanxiu, to go to Turkey, ready to marry a girl who sipped food silently and engage in political marriage. Moxip not only refused to marry Wu Yanxiu because he was not Li, but detained him and threatened to use force to help Li restore the Tang Dynasty. At this point, the Khitan, who had been badly repaired by Zhou and the Turkish Coalition forces, heard that the Turks were going to challenge Wu Zetian, and immediately became arrogant and publicly expressed their support for the "Qufu Li Tang" of the Turks. Wu Zetian is not easy to mess with She suppressed her with brutal officials and ordered her nephew Wu Chonggui and others to lead 450 thousand troops to fight back and sip silently, but it was useless.

There is also a small coincidence here, that is, the children of the Wu family as a whole are grinding people. Take Wu as an example. In order to become a prince, he tried his best and even made vicious moves. He tortured his successor Li Dan to death, and he couldn't do it until he died. Wu is one of the outstanding representatives of the Wu family, but his character is really not so good. Emma Wu looked down on him and joked that he was "a good flatterer, but a traitor". Most of Wu's other grandchildren are petty thieves. Those who lead troops outside can't win the battle, while those who engage in politics inside will only bully their colleagues.

If it weren't for the popular will, if it weren't for the pressure of public opinion in one's hand and the alliance of external anti-Zhou forces, if it weren't for the overall unworthiness of Wu Shi's children and the strong character of Wu Zetian, I'm afraid daydreaming would be the son of the Li family who wanted to ascend the throne of the emperor again. It is precisely because of these coincidences that Wu Zetian finally had to appoint her son Li Xian (the third son of Wu Zetian) as the Crown Prince and Li Xian as the Marshal of Hebei Road to take over the military power, which basically solved the problem of successors.

Why did Li Xian become the Crown Prince? Wu Zetian had four sons, the eldest son and the second son were killed by her. Among the remaining two sons, Li Xian used to be Tang Zhongzong, and his younger brother Li Dan also worked in Tang Ruizong. At this time, the system of letting children grow up is not binding at all, and Wu Zetian seems to have always disliked Li Xian and put him under house arrest for fourteen years. The only explanation is that Li Dan doesn't want to be emperor. For example, in the first month of the second year (686), "Wu Zetian wanted to restore political power, and Li Dan allowed it, so she asked Wu Zetian to continue to be in power." One didn't like it and the other didn't want to do it, forcing Wu Zetian to find a successor among the third generation of grandchildren.

Wu Zetian's grandchildren, according to Li's genealogy, should all be heavyweights. For example, her four sons are Li Zhongrun, Li Zhongfu and He. But when she named Li Dan's four sons, she didn't follow the rules of genealogy, which was obviously significant: she hoped to produce successors among Li Dan's sons.

The naming of Li Dan's eldest sons Li Xian and Li Xian reflects Wu Zetian's expectation psychology. Unfortunately, Li Xian's name is untrue, and he has no political talent. Later, she was named "Let the Emperor", which made her somewhat disappointed. In 685, Li Dan's third son was born, and Wu Zetian named him Li Longji, which gave him great expectations again. In 686, he even wanted to "Li Dan regain power in Zong Rui", which also confirmed this expectation.

Li Longji didn't let grandma down. He showed great ambition at an early age and developed a resolute character. He called himself "A Shen" in the palace and told others clearly that he wanted to learn from Cao Cao and help the Tang Dynasty. When he was seven years old, the court held a sacrificial ceremony. At that time, General Wu loudly reprimanded the attendants and guards. Li Longji immediately glared and shouted, "This is the court of the Li family. What is it to you? " How dare you scold my knight guard like this! "Looking at the child wu dumbfounded.

When Wu Zetian learned this, she didn't blame Li Longji this year, but fell in love with Xiao Gaozhi's grandson. The following year, she made Li Longji the king of Linzi County. Where did the ruling Wu clan look down on this little guy? They even laughed at Li Longji's "big boy". Only Wu Zetian was very comforted: "This son is my unicorn!"

In April, 696 (the first year of long live), Wu Zetian wrote the Song of Dingding: "Xi Nong first appeared, and Xuan Hao was in the palace. Tang Yu followed the heel and Tang Yu took the opportunity. The world is full of lamp houses and the sea is full of harmony. Go to the Xuan and learn the mirror, and build Longji. " Cast Jiuding and move it to Tiantong Palace.

Many scholars think that it is a coincidence that Ding Mingwen ended up with the name, but Zhao Yan doesn't think so. The Song of Tu Ding accurately sent two messages to the ruling and opposition parties. First of all, Wu Zetian vindicated her kingship. I became emperor because of heaven. My kingship belongs to God. This is Fu Rui from heaven, telling me to build a prosperous Zhou Jiye; Second, make political preparations for the successor, and the only person who can inherit my legacy is grandson Li Longji. This year, Li Longji was eleven years old.

At this point, Wu Zetian's successor problem was completely solved. Of course, it still belongs to the "default" because many obstacles still exist. In the next six years, based on this "default", Wu Zetian cleared the way for Li Longji to succeed to the throne step by step and created many favorable factors.

As early as 686, Wu Zetian killed the queen Zhao, which historians once said was a mystery. Now it seems that it is not. This should be an opportunity arranged by Wu Zetian in advance for her little grandson Li Longji. If you kill Empress Zhao, Wei Fei will definitely be superior, while Wei Fei and Wu Zetian will definitely be a disaster for the imperial court in the future. Chaos is the law, chaos is the law, and great talents are produced. This is a historical law. Wu Zetian is a person who acts according to law. She can't predict that Li Longji will become a successful person, but man proposes, God disposes, and there is always a chance to act according to historical laws.