The story takes place in the Tang Dynasty, when Wu Zetian was 68 years old and had just ascended the throne as emperor.
However, when all power and wealth are in one's own hands, people will always have different pursuits.
As a result, she, like the male emperors of all dynasties, chose to supplement her "harem". It's just that Wu Zetian's harem is a group of handsome and resourceful men.
Wu Zetian recruits male favorites, in addition to satisfying personal physical and emotional needs, she also hides more complex political and conspiracy considerations behind her.
Wu Zetian enriched his right-hand man by recruiting male favorites and further consolidated his political position.
Xue Huaiyi is recorded as Wu Zetian's first favorite male favorite.
Xue Huaiyi is extraordinary, but from a humble background.
It is said that he was once a subordinate of a princess's mansion, and because of a mistake, he was publicly punished by the princess's mansion.
It was because of this public punishment that he was able to be excavated by the princess.
When the princess saw that he was strong and handsome, her heart moved. So, the princess pardoned Xue Huaiyi and dedicated him to Wu Zetian, who was overjoyed.
However, Wu Zetian is well aware of the patriarchal ideology that has been inherited for thousands of years, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will definitely not accept his practice of recruiting male favorites. In order to avoid unnecessary disputes, she thought of letting Xue Huaiyi stay by her side openly and honestly in the name of chanting scriptures and preaching Buddhism for herself as a monk.
Later, there was a saying that "Wu Zetian and the monk sang at night" recorded in the wild history.
I have to say that Xue Huaiyi is not only a man who knows how to please Wu Zetian and has political vision, but also has become Wu Zetian's right-hand man for a long time.
In 685 AD, Wu Zetian built the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, which was supervised by Xue Huaiyi and served as the abbot.
In 688 AD, Xue Huaiyi was again appointed to supervise the construction of the Ming Hall and Heaven.
Wu Zetian also made no secret of his love for Xue Huaiyi, and quickly promoted Xue Huaiyi to the general of Zuo Weiwei of the third grade.
However, as time went by, Xue Huaiyi gradually forgot his identity and gradually became unruly, which made Wu Zetian begin to notice his excessive conceit and scheming.
Since then, Xue Huaiyi has continued to expand, no one pays attention to him, and he is rampant and domineering in Luoyang City, which has aroused the dissatisfaction of the ministers and the people, and has been reported.
Wu Zetian also sent someone to investigate Xue Huaiyi's illegal behavior, but as a result, the ** who investigated was severely beaten by Xue Huaiyi.
Wu Zetian was not confused, even if he loved him again, in front of the empire, Wu Zetian did not hesitate to choose to destroy his "relatives" with righteousness.
After falling out of favor, Xue Huaiyi realized the crisis, so in a Lantern Festival celebration, in order to win Wu Zetian's favor again, he performed an unexpected show, but Wu Zetian ignored it.
Seeing Wu Zetian, who was already iron-hearted, Xue Huaiyi was furious, and impulsively, he actually set fire to Wu Zetian's favorite Ming Hall.
Wu Zetian was deeply disappointed and had to order Xue Huaiyi to be executed. At this point, the fate of a generation of male pets has slipped.
In Wu Zetian's court, the male pets have become a pawn in her power plot chess game, and each male pet also shines a unique light in this political game.
Through the selection and appointment of male favorites, Wu Zetian actually established a relatively independent network of influence in the court. This network of influence is not only directly controlled by Wu Zetian, but also includes the male pets she has personally cultivated, as well as the families and backgrounds that these male pets may be involved.
Such a network could serve as a political stabilizer for Wu Zetian, helping to balance the power rivalry within the court and ensure that her reign could run smoothly.
As Xue Huaiyi gradually faded out, another male favorite, Shen Nanxuan, began to emerge.
Shen Nanxuan was originally the imperial doctor by Wu Zetian's side, compared with Xue Huaiyi, he is not only handsome, but also erudite and talented, and his mind is also very delicate, he knows Wu Zetian's physical condition well.
In ancient times, in addition to taking care of the emperor's body, the imperial doctor also had the responsibility to take care of the beauty and skin care of the women behind the power.
Wu Zetian, under the careful care of Shen Nanxuan, has a childish face and is full of temperament. Shen Nanxuan's delicate feelings made Wu Zetian feel a long-lost warmth, so Shen Nanxuan naturally became Wu Zetian's new favorite.
However, in the whirlpool of power schemes, Shen Nanxuan is not without ambition. After realizing Wu Zetian's dependence on him, Shen Nanxuan gradually had more desire for power.
Of course, Wu Zetian is also very shrewd, after learning the lessons of the Xue Huaiyi incident, Wu Zetian understands the balance of power even more, and no longer lets a certain person be pampered and arrogant, and spoils his own big things.
In an era of patriarchy, Wu Zetian, as a woman, needed more ingenious ways to ensure her authority in the political arena.
Having a loyal team of male favorites can not only wield a certain amount of power in the court, but also be able to use the resourcefulness and means of male favorites to confront possible political opponents. The male pet, to a certain extent, is also Wu Zetian's think tank.
At this time, two other male pets appeared.
Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi are a pair of brothers, and the tacit understanding and cooperation between the two brothers amazed Wu Zetian.
Zhang Changzong became the general of Yunlu with his outstanding talent, while Zhang Yizhi was appreciated by Wu Zetian for his magical ability to refine pills.
The brothers worked together to become Wu Zetian's right-hand man on the political stage, and also became her most trusted person.
In Wu Zetian's later years, they were even more monopolistic. The ministers feared that the Zhang brothers were too powerful and would threaten the imperial power.
The ministers jointly wrote a letter requesting Wu Zetian to cut off the Zhang brothers in order to maintain imperial power.
Faced with this difficult decision, Wu Zetian finally chose to believe in the right-hand man she had cultivated and fight against the controversy. However, the clouds of the coup d'état are gradually looming.
In 705 AD, Wu Zetian was seriously ill, and Zhang Cambodia and others launched the "Shenlong Coup", only to execute the Zhang brothers and force Wu Zetian to return to power in the Li family.
In this turbulent moment, Wu Zetian began to reflect on her dependence on male pets. She is deeply aware of the complexity of power intrigue and political games, and also realizes that the position and fate of male favorites are like herself, and it is difficult to escape from historical disputes. At this time, she gradually fell into reflection on her own political skills.
Eventually, the Zhang brothers were executed.
Wu Zetian's recruitment of male favorites, although it is full of political twists and turns and bizarreness, also left Wu Zetian's unique mark on the stage of history.
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