In 684 AD, the first year of the Tang Dynasty, the first year of the Tang Dynasty, the city of Chang'an had just passed the New Year, and a shocking news spread in the streets and alleys: the emperor Li Xian, who had only reigned for 55 days, had been deposed by the Empress Dowager Wu Zetian!
When the shocking news came, the government and the opposition were in an uproar. In ancient Chinese history, the abolition of the emperor has always been regarded as an extremely sensitive event, almost equivalent to a change of dynasty. And the abolition of the emperor in the Tang Dynasty is even more special, the abolition of the emperor is not the minister who is ready to usurp the throne, but the emperor's own mother - Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian's abolition of the emperor was undoubtedly an important symbol in the history of the Tang Dynasty, indicating that she began to take full power and laid the groundwork for the title of emperor a few years later. In this process, the Tang Dynasty general Cheng Wuting played a key role.
On behalf of the military, he fully supported Wu Zetian and enabled Wu Zetian to successfully depose the emperor. Historians generally believe that without Cheng Wuting's support, it is unknown whether Wu Zetian can successfully depose the emperor.
Cheng Wuting, a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty who made great contributions to the abolition of the emperor, was executed by Wu Zetian only a year later, and he was beheaded all over the house. How did he become the hero of Wu Zetian's abolition of the emperor, and why did he end up like this?
What is his background and background? The answers to these questions are in Cheng Wuting's life. Cheng Wuting, a native of Quzhou County, Hebei Province, has the same surname as Cheng Yanjin, the founder of the early Tang Dynasty, but the two families have no relationship.
His father was another famous Tang Dynasty general, Cheng Mingzhen. Let's take a deep look at Cheng Wuting and see how he became a key figure in the abolition of the emperor turmoil, and why he was executed by Wu Zetian.
Cheng Mingzhen, this name may not be familiar to many people, but he did leave a place in the official history. He came from a humble background, but he had a talent for both civil and military affairs.
He once followed Dou Jiande, the hero of the late Sui Dynasty, and served as a county magistrate, with outstanding political achievements. After Dou Jiande was captured alive by Li Shimin, Cheng Mingzhen chose to surrender to the Tang Dynasty with his territory and became a general of the Tang Dynasty.
Soon after, Dou Jiande's subordinate Liu Heimin rebelled again, and Cheng Mingzhen fought a fierce battle with him as a Tang Dynasty general, and won a major victory. In retaliation for Cheng Mingzhen, Liu Heimin killed his mother and wife.
After Liu Heimin was defeated and captured, Cheng Mingzhen killed him with his own hands. With this military exploit, although he descended to the Tang Dynasty late and was not a descendant of Li Shimin, he was still awarded the best Houlu.
Later, Cheng Mingzhen was named the Duke of Dongping County and served as the governor of Yingzhou. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he was transferred to the post of Assassin of Zhaozhou.
Cheng Mingzhen was killed by Liu Heimin because his whole family, and after descending to the Tang Dynasty, he married a woman from the Li family of Zhao County and gave birth to a son, Cheng Wuting. Cheng Wuting Ying was born in the Zhenguan period, and his father Cheng Mingzhen's career began to go smoothly in the eighteenth year of Zhenguan, serving as the head of the Pyongyang Provincial March.
In the war against Goguryeo, Cheng Mingzhen made many meritorious contributions and became a famous general of the Tang Army. In the era of Li Zhi, Cheng Mingzhen served as the protector of Dongyi and participated in the war of Tang to destroy Goguryeo with the famous general Su Dingfang.
However, before the Tang dynasty gradually weakened Goguryeo, Cheng Mingzhen died.
Cheng Wuting's youth, due to his special family background, was very different from other people's experiences. He was born because he had a son again after the family was broken, so his father was very strict with him and took him with him from an early age.
After Cheng Wuting became an adult, he successfully entered the military and began his promotion path by virtue of the art of war taught by his father and his own bravery. In the army, his promotion was relatively smooth, and he finally became the general of the right leading army.
Although this official position is not high, it has its special features in the Tang Dynasty military system, because this position is responsible for commanding the forbidden army and defending the imperial city, which completely changed Cheng Wuting's life.
Cheng Wuting was promoted to the rank of general of the right leading army Wei Zhonglang during the most sensitive period of the Tang Dynasty's high-level leadership. Although Li Zhi was in power, due to a serious headache, he had to ask Empress Wu Zetian to assist in handling government affairs.
During this period, Wu Zetian promoted the Hanmen on a large scale, forming a force called the "Hou Party". In order to fight for more power, she even poisoned her own son.
Li Zhi's second son Li Xian was originally made the crown prince, but it is rumored that he was actually born to Li Zhi and Wu Zetian's sister by fornication, and was passed on to Wu Zetian. When Li Xian, who grew up, heard about this and began to fight for power with Wu Zetian.
Soon after, someone reported that Li Xian had rebelled and found hundreds of pieces of armor in his house. In desperation, Li Zhi deposed Li Xian and renamed his third son, Li Xian, as the crown prince.
Cheng Wuting took over as the commander of the Praetorian Guard when the crown prince Li Xian and Wu Zetian were fighting for power, and according to the analysis of later historians, it is likely that it was at this time that he took refuge in Wu Zetian.
At that time, Wu Zetian was powerful, and even Emperor Li Zhi was often influenced by her. After Cheng Wuting took refuge in Wu Zetian, his career was smooth sailing. As the son of a famous general, Cheng Wuting's military talent is outstanding and he is highly respected in the army.
With Wu Zetian's full support, Cheng Wuting's status in the army gradually rose and he became a bigwig in the military. In less than ten years, Cheng Wuting was quickly promoted and achieved a leap in life.
In 679 AD, the Eastern Turks in the north rebelled again. Pei Xingjian, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, was appointed commander-in-chief and was responsible for conquering the rebels. In terms of his deputy, Wu Zetian chose Cheng Wuting.
There is a deep political implication behind this. First of all, Cheng Wuting does have outstanding military talents, and letting Cheng Wuting hold this position does not have the intention of brushing up on military merits.
The military strength of the Tang Dynasty at that time coupled with the ability of the commander Pei Xingjian, this battle can almost be said to be a sure victory. Letting Cheng Wuting serve as his deputy is almost equivalent to giving him military merits, and then he can be easily promoted.
Secondly, Cheng Wuting served as a deputy, which may also be to monitor Pei Xingjian. Because in the military of the Tang Dynasty at that time, Pei Xingjian could almost be said to be the leading boss.
However, he opposed Wu Zetian's rise to power and was regarded as Wu Zetian's political enemy. Therefore, Wu Zetian may have feared that once Pei Xingjian took control of the army, it would pose a threat to his rule.
And Cheng Wuting, as Wu Zetian's confidant in the military, is completely reasonable to spy on Pei Xingjian. In short, Cheng Wuting was appointed as a deputy, not only because of his military talents, but also because of his political value.
His existence not only has the meaning of brushing up on military merits, but also has the intention of monitoring Pei Xingjian.
Cheng Wuting played a key role in both wars of the Tang Dynasty, especially in suppressing the Hu rebellion. His heroic performance was recognized by the higher-ups, so he was promoted to the rank of General of the Right Wuwei and General of the Left Xiaowei, and inspected the Zuo Yulin Army.
His position made him the supreme leader of the Praetorian Guard, responsible for the defense of the capital. However, this also laid the groundwork for the coup d'état that followed.
Cheng Wuting was appointed as Shan Yudao's pacification ambassador shortly after Li Zhi's promotion, in charge of military affairs in the north. However, shortly after Cheng Wuting received his appointment, Li Zhi died, and Cheng Wuting remained in the capital to take charge of defense work.
After Li Xian ascended the throne, although he became the fourth emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he did not have any real power. Before Li Zhi died, he asked Prime Minister Pei Yan to assist Li Xian, and Pei Yan was Wu Zetian's man.
In addition, Cheng Wuting was also promoted by Wu Zetian and was responsible for the guards of the capital. Therefore, the entire capital has fallen into Wu Zetian's control.
Not to be outdone, Li Xian changed his timid attitude during the prince's period, and now as the emperor, he actively supports Empress Wei's maiden family, trying to create a party of relatives to counter Wu Zetian's forces.
However, in the face of Wu Zetian's strength, Li Xian's methods were too immature. He once tried to appoint his father-in-law Wei Xuanzhen as a servant, but was directly opposed by Prime Minister Pei Yan.
Angry, Li Xian publicly declared in front of several important ministers: "The world is mine!" Even if I give the whole world to Wei Xuanzhen, it's not a big deal, is there still a lack of a servant? ”
Li Xian's words made Wu Zetian determined to abolish the emperor. She understands that if she doesn't abolish the emperor and let Li Xian play, she may lose power. So, she instructed Cheng Wuting to lead troops into the palace, control the palace, and convene hundreds of officials in the Qianyuan Palace, officially announcing the deposition of Li Xian's emperor and the establishment of the fourth Li Dan as the emperor.
As the supreme controller of the capital's defense, Cheng Wuting's attitude was crucial to the success of the coup. If he supports Li Xian, the military power in his hands is enough to launch a coup d'état and push Wu Zetian **.
Cheng Wuting's loyalty and strength made him a representative of the Tang Dynasty military. However, his son Cheng Wuting was by no means an idle man, and his ability made him a top general in the Tang Dynasty.
In fact, like Cheng Wuting, both generations of father and son are very outstanding, which is rare in the history of the Tang Dynasty. Cheng Wuting's influence was not limited to the elite Tang army in the north under his command, and his position in the court was enough to influence the entire imperial palace.
Therefore, when Cheng Wuting clearly supported Wu Zetian's abolition of the emperor, there was no suspense about the outcome of this emperor abolition turmoil.
Li Xian was deposed and renamed King of Luling, and then exiled to Hubei, Li Dan became a pure puppet, no longer competing with Wu Zetian for power, and all the power of the Tang Dynasty fell into the hands of Wu Zetian.
After the coup d'état, Cheng Wuting took the time to go to the north to quell the Turkic rebels, who fled and quickly resolved the northern issue. However, as soon as Cheng Wuting solved the northern problem, there were problems within the Tang Dynasty, and the Li family clan and Li Tang's former ministers raised troops against Wu Zetian, among which Yangzhou Xu Jingye's army was the most powerful.
When Wu Zetian asked Prime Minister Pei Yan, he hoped that he could give advice on how to deal with Xu Jingye's army. However, Pei Yan's attitude this time was completely different from the past, and he suggested that Wu Zetian return power to Li Dan.
In addition, several important ministers who had previously supported Wu Zetian's abolition of the emperor also turned to support Li Dan, hoping that Wu Zetian would return power. This situation is puzzling, these people were on Wu Zetian's side before, why did they change their words to support Li Dan after Xu Jingye raised his army?
Some people think that these people are very loyal to the Li family, or they are frightened by Xu Jingye. But this is not the case.