**Ten Thousand Fans Incentive Plan In the long history of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian, a well-known female emperor, in addition to her outstanding performance in the political arena, her pioneering achievements in the field of culture and sports are also eye-catching.
How many people's attention has the "martial arts system" created by Wu Zetian attracted? Did the introduction of this system inject new vitality and enthusiasm into sports activities in the Tang Dynasty?
In the second year of Tianzhu (691), Wu Zetian was officially proclaimed emperor, ending the situation that the monarch of the Tang Dynasty was controlled by the male of the imperial family, and opening the "Wu Zhou" period in which women were in charge of the government. For Taoists, however, this is a great rebellion.
Wu Zetian's status as a relative of the heroine is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle for her to become emperor. In order to consolidate imperial power and dispel the discontent of the scholars and the clan of the Martial Sect, she urgently needed a system for selecting loyal and eager people to fend off the threat of a potential rebellion.
Previously, during the twenty years of Gaozong's accession to the throne in his later years, the military strength of the Tang Dynasty was weakening day by day. The mutiny in An Lushan had not been completely quelled by the previous Jiedu, and foreign enemies such as Tubo and Khitan were ready to move, often invading the frontier. The Tang Dynasty's border guards were vulnerable, and repeated failed campaigns made Wu Zetian realize the need to restore the country's military strength as soon as possible.
However, the selection of excellent generals has always been a difficult problem. Although those who practice martial arts are good at riding and archery, they do not necessarily understand the rules of etiquette and cannot be admitted to the official through the civil official selection system of the imperial examination. The weakening of the army's strength made Wu Zetian's sense of crisis about the rule increasing day by day. Under pressure from many quarters, the idea of a "martial arts system" was born.
The prototype of the martial arts system can be traced back to the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when force and courage were also used as criteria for selecting people of merit. Although the Sui Dynasty also had a similar system of recommending military ministers, it was only in the experimental stage and lacked a certain degree of institutionalization and normalization.
It was not until the reign of Wu Zetian that this system was established and perfected. In 702 AD, Wu Zetian officially issued an edict and decided to hold the first martial arts selection examination, which was the beginning of the martial arts system. Different from the regular civil and official examinations, the martial arts examination is mainly based on mounted archery martial arts, which greatly broadens the possibility of ordinary people to gain fame.
This is an excellent opportunity for Wu Zetian. By setting up martial arts to recruit talents, we can not only discover more loyal generals to resist the threat of foreign enemies, but also enhance the military strength of the heroine's imperial power and provide support for its unstable position.
At the same time, in order to avoid the suspicion of excessive concentration of power in the royal family, she also set a certain amount of vacancies for border areas to encourage people to take the exam.
The assessment of the martial arts system is detailed and divided into two stages. The first stage is the recommendation of local autonomy, and the candidates are selected by the local **; The second stage is the formal assessment, including equestrian, bow and arrow, weight bearing and other items, and the content is quite comprehensive. Those with outstanding performance can be directly appointed to the official career. For the first examination, in order to reflect fairness and fairness, Wu Zetian even personally presided over the evaluation and assessment of some subjects.
Under her leadership, the first Wuke selection was a complete success. Through a series of controls and layouts, Wu Zetian's cronies sent to the military and political system have increased significantly. At the same time, the establishment of the recommendation system also gives ordinary people the possibility of seeking a way out through unconventional means, which alleviates the dissatisfaction of the people to a certain extent.
The establishment of the martial arts system had a profound impact on the political situation and the development of military power in the late Tang Dynasty. With military strength empty, Wu Zetian urgently needed to cultivate loyal generals to consolidate his rule. In the first martial arts, a group of outstanding military talents were selected, the most famous of which was Guo Ziyi, who "rebuilt the royal family".
Guo Ziyi was originally a reckless civilian, but stood out by participating in martial arts, and was later personally promoted by Wu Zetian and became an important general. He successively quelled the Yangzhou mutiny, suppressed the Li Tang rebellion, and turned the tide when the Tang army fell into an extreme disadvantage, and finally recovered Chang'an and Luoyang. In the following 20 years, Guo Ziyi has been the general of the right leading army, leading the army to repel many invasions of foreign tribes such as Tubo and Dangxiang, and has made outstanding achievements. It was precisely with generals like them sitting on the border that the military power of the Tang Dynasty was quickly restored.
With the continuous improvement of the martial arts system, more and more outstanding generals joined the military and political system of the Tang Dynasty, forming a strong support for national defense forces. It can be said that without the establishment of the martial arts system, the late Tang Dynasty may not have been able to quickly recover its military strength and resist the invasion of foreign enemies within a few decades. This played a key role in maintaining the stability of the Tang Dynasty regime.
Not only that, but the martial arts system has promoted a positive and enterprising spirit of the times. In order to stand out through the assessment, the people began to practice martial arts and train soldiers. For a time, the majestic men of the bow and horse blossomed everywhere, and the idea of sacrificing their lives for the country was also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It can be said that the martial arts system changed to a certain extent the social atmosphere of emphasizing literature over military force at that time, and invigorated the spiritual outlook of the Chinese people.
This coincides with Wu Zetian's own bearing. Even though she encountered all kinds of doubts and attacks, she still unyieldingly advocated martial arts and opened up her talents. It is with this perseverance and perseverance that she has accumulated enough strength and wings for the Tang Dynasty, so that the Tang Dynasty, a long-distance boat, can continue to move against the current in the decades after she took power.
During Wu Zetian's reign, he did implement some radical measures, so he was constantly criticized by later generations. However, the fairest assessment should be based on her achievements during her tenure in office.
The establishment of the military system has enabled military generals to have a way to enter the ranks, and at the same time, it has also strengthened the strength of the army and national defense. It can be said that it was with this system to provide talent support that the Tang Dynasty was able to continue to survive for decades in the face of external troubles.
The judgment of Wu Zetian's merits and deeds in later generations may never be conclusive, but the far-reaching impact of the martial arts system is obvious to all. It embodies the spirit of the people's upward pursuit and enlightens the positive and enterprising atmosphere of Datang, which is really difficult to erase.
This historical phenomenon reflects the special preference of feudal rulers for intellectuals, and the marginalization of the martial arts system also means that the status of military merit in the eyes of rulers is gradually weakened. This situation has been repeated in the long course of history and has become a microcosm of China's feudal social and political system.
However, just as the wheels of history roll forward, the civil and military disputes may only be a specific product of the times. In different historical periods, the preferences of different rulers for the choice of civil and military affairs varied according to the time and conditions. Through an in-depth study of the changes in the martial arts system, we may be able to better understand the political evolution of feudal society and the strategic orientation of rulers in the selection of talents at different historical stages.