The Tang Dynasty, a name that shines in the 5,000-year-long history of China, occupies half of the country during the feudal imperial period, and has gone through dozens of dynasties, like a song of long years.
Even with the passage of time, the glory of the Tang Dynasty is still there, and today's overseas Chinatowns are all telling the glory of the Tang Dynasty.
In the eyes of most people, the Tang Dynasty seems to be a coherent dynasty that always belongs to the Li family, but this is a misunderstanding, because in the long history of Li Tang, there is an episode, that is, the "Wu Zhou" founded by Wu Zetian.
Although the official history does not separately list Wu Zetian, who established himself as emperor, the fact of his existence cannot be denied, because during the reign of Wu Zetian, the world no longer has the surname "Li".
Although Wu Zetian is the daughter-in-law of the Li family, she has finally achieved her own glory. As the first female emperor in Chinese history, Wu Zetian's reputation has long been far and wide, and if you take stock of the most powerful women in ancient China, she is indisputably the leader.
However, the most curious thing is not her political achievements as emperor, but how she, a weak woman, climbed to the top of her life step by step. Wu Zetian's success is inseparable from the two men in her life, one is Li Shimin, who led her into the palace, and the other is Li Zhi, who makes her extremely favored, and Li Shimin is Li Zhi's biological father.
Ethically, Wu Zetian was Li Zhi's stepmother, a relationship that might be spurned now, but widely accepted in the Tang Dynasty. The openness of the Tang Dynasty allowed this complex relationship to exist.
In this relationship, there is a problem that has always plagued people, that is, Wu Zetian and Li Shimin have been married for 12 years and have no children, but they have children after one year of marriage with Li Zhi, and the truth behind it is embarrassing.
Let's take a look at this mystery together. The gentleman is good, Li Shimin is full of spirit after ascending the throne, what he has to do is to lead the Tang Dynasty forward, he knows that the throne is not easy to come by, so he has been working hard to do things that can last for centuries, after all, if you want to suppress the bad reputation, you can only make your image more magnificent.
Li Shimin, a great emperor who created the prosperous era of Zhenguan, his achievements are comparable to those of Qin Shi Huang. However, a life without desires can make people feel empty, and Li Shimin is no exception.
As a result, the harem became his pastime, and the courtiers naturally did their best to satisfy his preferences. When Li Shimin visited Luoyang, the courtiers actively looked for beautiful women for him, among them, the news that the martial family had a girl who had just grown up attracted Li Shimin's attention.
At the instigation of his courtiers, he summoned Wu Zetian, who was only 14 years old, into the palace. There is such a record of Wu Zetian's appearance in the history books: "Rong Zhi Beauty", which shows that she has had a special beauty since she was a child, and even at the age of 14, she was already a top beauty that men could not resist.
In the eleventh year of Zhenguan, Wu Zetian was brought to Chang'an by Li Shimin from Luoyang, and given the title of Wupin Talent, we call her Wu Meiniang. However, in the twenty-third year of Zhenguan, after Li Shimin's death, according to the regulations of the Tang Dynasty, if the concubines of the first king did not have children, they must become nuns, and Wu Zetian was one of them.
What is puzzling is that in the twelve years that Wu Zetian entered the palace, Li Shimin did not leave any heirs. Although Li Shimin has many harem concubines and a large team of heirs, before Wu Zetian entered the palace, he already had 35 children, and Li Zhi was also one of them.
Based on Li Shimin's prime, it should be easy to have children, but Wu Zetian failed to give birth to children for him.
Going deep into the birth record of Li Shimin's children, we will find a deeply regrettable fact: after eight years of Zhenguan, Li Shimin has no children born. This means that before Wu Zetian entered the palace, Li Shimin seemed to have lost his fertility, so it is reasonable that Wu Zetian has been by Li Shimin's side for so many years but has not been pregnant.
At the same time, through historical records, we can also find a fact: Wu Zetian was not favored by Li Shimin. Although Wu Zetian has outstanding appearance, she may not be able to stand out in the huge harem.
In the emperor's harem, the birth status of a child often depended on the power of the mother. Therefore, even if someone tries their best to give birth to a son for the emperor, those favored concubines will find ways to stop it, because once the other concubines have a prince, it will pose a threat to their own status.
When Wu Zetian first entered the palace, she was only a child, so naturally she could not be compared with those concubines who had already given birth to children. Unable to have children, Wu Zetian faced the risk of being ostracized by the concubines in power in the harem, which could cost her the opportunity to serve Li Shimin.
For a long time, Li Shimin may forget that there is such a woman in the harem. Wu Zetian, like other women, longs to be favored by men, and when Li Zhi appears, she immediately realizes that the opportunity has come.
During Li Shimin's serious illness, Wu Zetian and Li Zhi, who was made the crown prince, got very close, and the relationship between the two also warmed up rapidly during this period.
After Li Shimin's death, Wu Zetian was sent to Ganye Temple to cut his hair and become a nun. At that time, Li Zhi's foundation was not stable and he could not afford to keep Wu Zetian in the palace, so he often went to Ganye Temple alone to offer incense, in order to express his deep thoughts about Wu Zetian.
The originally quiet pure land of Buddhism has now become a place for Li Zhi and Wu Zetian to confide in each other, and their feelings have become deeper and deeper in frequent exchanges, and the connection between them has become inseparable.
At this time, Wu Zetian was no longer a girl who had just entered the palace, she was deeply attracted to Li Zhi with her 26-year-old mature charm and unrivaled charm. She has an insight into the survival of the court and knows how to protect her position through her own means.
During this time in Ganye Temple, Wu Zetian became pregnant, which was undoubtedly a huge good news for Li Zhi, and for Wu Zetian, this child was her bargaining chip to climb up.
After staying in Ganye Temple for less than a year, Li Zhi insisted on his own opinion, regardless of the opposition of the courtiers, and insisted on welcoming Wu Zetian back to the harem. Since then, Wu Zetian has relied on his own talents to give birth to four sons and two daughters for Li Zhi.
This made Li Zhi's favor for Wu Zetian more indulgent, which led to Wu Zetian's status rising step by step, until he ascended to the throne after Li Zhi's death. Therefore, Wu Zetian's failure to give birth to children for Li Shimin was not her own reason, but Li Shimin's cause.
Since Wu Zetian has no problem, it is reasonable that she and Li Zhi have so many children.