Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 67
Depose the prince and plant the cause of disaster

Empress Dugu not only kept her husband from getting close to women, but for the sake of the national interest, she also forcibly interfered in the emotional life of her son and ministers.Empress Dugu selected the daughter of the Yuan family as the concubine for the crown prince Yang Yong, and appointed the daughter of the Yun family as Zhaoxun according to the ritual system.Concubine Yuan is gentle and virtuous by nature, dignified and polite. Empress Dugu thinks that she is very suitable for her future mother, so she is very important to her; Yun Zhaoxun is a lively and well-behaved woman, with a pretty appearance and charming. Empress Dugu thought her frivolous behavior, so it was a bit reluctant to make her Zhao Xunben. According to her intention, she wanted the prince to get as close as possible to the Yun family.However, the prince's feelings are different from his mother's. He respects the concubine Yuan more, but he loves Yun Zhaoxun very much.Therefore, most of the time, they are lingering with Yun's.In this regard, Queen Dugu was very displeased when she heard the news.

At this time, Yang Yong's younger brother Jin Wang Yang Guang just took advantage of the situation. He deliberately pretended to be frugal, benevolent, filial, and unsmiling, making friends with ministers and currying favor with his mother everywhere.Seeing Yang Guang trying to act according to her own requirements, Queen Dugu naturally liked it very much. She said to Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty: "Guang'er is very filial. When he was away from the court and his parents, he wept and felt sad; his newlywed princess was also very pitiful. Guang'er was busy with government affairs and had no time to take care of her. I sent a maidservant to visit. Princess Xiao often could only sleep and eat with them. It’s not like Yong’er and Yun’s, who hold banquets for fun all day long. Yong’er is really close to the villain!” Because of Yang Guang’s deliberate conspiracy and the evaluation of Queen Dugu, Yang Yong’s position as the crown prince has become precarious.

Unfortunately, due to the embarrassment of the prince, the ambitious concubine Yuan was worried and anxious about him, but the prince himself didn't take this matter to heart, which finally caused Yuan's depression to become ill and passed away regretfully.Zhaoxun Yun is a woman who doesn't care much about political affairs. She is obsessed with the love of her children. This kind of character is very pleasing to Yang Yong. The crystallization of their love - the little prince.

Originally, the death of Concubine Yuan caused Empress Dugu to worry about her, but now the prince has violated the rules she set—"If there are any in the backyard, they will be sterile, and show selfless favor."Therefore, the concubine's son became the crime of Prince Yang Yong, which made the queen very dissatisfied with him.

At this time, it happened that Yang Guang, the king of Jin, met his mother in Beijing from his defender Yangzhou.With ulterior motives, he provoked Queen Dugu secretly: "The prince has dissent towards my son, and has sent people to assassinate my son many times, which frightens my son." Yang Guang's confusing words, but because she had already developed a deep prejudice against Yang Yong, she listened to Yang Guang's one-sided words without thinking.Feelings of love and anger welled up in her heart at the same time, so she frankly explained her feelings to Yang Guang: "Yonger is no longer a weapon, he puts aside his wife and only favors Yun Shi, and he dares to bully you brothers with me, If after he becomes the Son of Heaven, the Crown Prince turns out to be a concubine, you brothers will still have to bow down to the Yun Family to earn your living!"

When things have come to this kind of situation, there is no doubt about the abolition of the prince.Therefore, in October of the 20th year of Kaihuang, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty deposed the prince as a commoner on the charge of "indulging in love, being unreasonable, benevolent, filial, and close to villains" under the advice of Empress Dugu.One month later, at the behest of Empress Dugu, Jin Wang Yang Guang was established as the crown prince.

After taking care of her son, Empress Dugu also has to take care of her ministers.Gao Ying was the founding father of the Sui Kingdom, and had a deep friendship with Empress Dugu's natal family. He was originally highly respected, and the Queen's system still had to take effect on him.After the death of Gao Ying's first wife, Gao Ying, who was the Prime Minister, was heartbroken. He once said sadly to Queen Dugu: "The string of the harp is cut off suddenly, and it's just a chanting in the house." This statement was once praised by the queen.Unexpectedly, not long after, the drums and gongs in Xiangguo's mansion were noisy, and news spread that Xiangguo was celebrating the birth of a concubine.Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty congratulated Xiangguo for having a son in his later years, but Empress Dugu was furious, thinking that Gao Ying was inconsistent with the outside world.So Empress Dugu talked to Emperor Wen about her high cheeks every day by her pillow. Finally, Emperor Wen couldn't stand the empress' hard and soft request, and the prime minister Gao Ying, who had been in power for 20 years and had made great achievements, dismissed the prime minister in the name of "difference between appearance and appearance, untrustworthy". As a post, let him go back to his hometown for the elderly.

Too severe repression can easily lead to rebellious psychology, although Emperor Wen was out of consideration for the needs of state affairs.He expressed approval and obedience to the various systems of Empress Dugu's strict governance of the inner palace, but from his inner feelings, he has long been distressed and tired of these rules and regulations.In the autumn of the 21st year of Emperor Kaihuang, Empress Dugu contracted a mild illness by chance and was bedridden in the palace. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty took a young eunuch for a walk to the back garden of the palace to enjoy the cool air.Bypassing the Magpie Tower, passing through the Linfang Hall, and walking to the Renshou Palace, suddenly heard a crisp singing sounded from the end of the promenade, singing: "The golden well falls into the phoenix tree, and the dogwood burns the palace red; the king loves the autumn scenery, wandering around Renshou Official." The lyrics were clearly improvised, and they were in line with the situation at hand, and the line "the king loves autumn colors" also implied that Emperor Wen devoted his attention to Queen Dugu, who was almost in autumn, and had no intention of paying attention to him.Emperor Wen was very interested when he heard it, and followed the sound, only to see a beautiful girl of seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a bright autumn dress, leaning on the side of the corridor, singing and rolling up the bead curtain at will, looking like a leisurely and interesting autumn girl. Yantu!

This girl is the granddaughter of the former rebel official Wei Chihui. After Yuchihui's rebellion was suppressed, his family's female family members were taken in as official daughters.Emperor Wen was immediately attracted by her beauty and liveliness. He immersed himself in the boring and heavy state affairs for many years, and always guarded a strict wife by his side. His long-lost spring heart couldn't help but start to revive, and that night he stayed in Renshouguan, and had an affair with the Yuchi family.Had a drunken night.In the early morning of the next day, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty woke up suddenly and found that it was already bright, which exceeded the usual time for going to court. He did not forget his responsibility and hurried to the court.

Mrs. Yuchi is still immersed in the happiness of last night, leaning on the head of the bed to savor the memory, not getting up to do her makeup.

Empress Dugu in the palace over there felt suspicious when she saw that her husband hadn't returned all night, so she sent her confidant maid to find out what happened.The maids of Renshou Palace did not dare to stop them, so Empress Ren and all the maids swept into the inner room like wind. The empress ordered her maids to drag up Yuchi, who was disheveled, and threw it at her feet, scolding loudly: "The little goblin is playing a lonely role." Charming tricks, you dare to deceive the king's heart, and disturb the elegance of my palace, I will never allow you to steal your life!" Then an order was given, and the frail Yuchi was killed under the chaos in an instant.

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty in Wude Hall was reminiscing the joy of last night when he suddenly heard the bad news from Renshou Palace. He felt extremely sad and frustrated, and thought: "This empress is too lenient, and I can't protect the emperor once I am dignified. A beloved woman, she is so useless!" So he got up in a huff, rode on a steed, ran away in anger, and ran to hide in a temple in the deep mountains.After hearing the news, all the ministers rushed to the temple and implored Emperor Wen to return to the palace. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty sighed and said: "I am the emperor, but I can't be free!"

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was furious and wanted to issue an edict to abolish Empress Dugu, but he thought of the distress of the husband and wife and thought that his wife's actions were also to assist him in governing the country, so he let it go.Empress Dugu, who was high-spirited, was annoyed by her illness and frightened by the emperor's departure. Her minor illness turned into a serious illness. In August of the second year of Renshou, Empress Wenwen died of illness in Yong'an Palace. She was 59 years old and was buried in Tailing.

After Empress Dugu died, although Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty felt that he had lost a powerful arm, he also felt that he was freed from a bondage. He became famous and loved the world, and began to enjoy the entertainment of sex and sex to the fullest.At this time, he named two favorite concubines, the Chen family as "Mrs. Xuanhua" and the Cai family as "Mrs. Ronghua". "Mrs. Xuanhua" is a beauty left by Chen Gong in the Southern Dynasties. She has a beautiful appearance, smooth skin, and is gentle and pleasant; "Mrs. Ronghua" is from the north, charming and considerate.The two wives had their own charms, which fascinated Emperor Wen. They had feasts every day and spring nights every night. They happily boasted to others: "I am old! I am not in the right place. Now I have Erqing, which is enough for the entertainment of the evening scene." .”

"Wine is a poison that pierces the intestines, and sex is a steel knife that scrapes the bones." After all, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was already in his sixties. Weak and difficult to heal.Lying on the bed, he said to the left and right with a lot of emotion: "If the queen is here, I will definitely not be like this!" There are feelings, remorse, and bitterness, and it is here that he truly comprehends the painstaking efforts of the sage Dugu Queen .

In 604 A.D., Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was ill in bed. Once he saw Mrs. Xuanhua, the beloved concubine, come in hastily from the outside. He looked strange and asked her what happened.Unknowingly, Chen cried and said: "The prince is rude!" Emperor Wen said angrily: "How can a beast (referring to Yang Guang) pay a big deal! Dugu mistaken me!" To recall the deposed prince Yang Yong.Unexpectedly, the news leaked out, Liu and Yuan were arrested, and Yang Guang sent his confidant right concubine Zhang Heng to serve in the emperor's bedroom. Not long after, Emperor Wen of Sui died at the age of 64.

After the death of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, the crown prince Yang Guang came to the throne for Emperor Yang. To the surprise of Empress Dugu, the successor she carefully selected not only took possession of her father's concubine, Mrs. Xuanhua, but also selected beauties from all over the world. In addition, he abused the power of the people to build large-scale construction projects. In order to satisfy his own selfish desires, he killed important officials of the clan, abused his brothers and sisters, and did all kinds of outrageous things.At the same time, the history of the Sui Dynasty took a sharp turn from then on, and it was quickly defeated.

Empress Dugu's strict rule of the post-officials was widely praised by later generations. Empress Dugu made Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty a famous "strict wife management" in history.Although some people commented that her system and methods are too harsh, hurting other people's feelings, she is simply a cold-blooded woman.However, in her position, if she doesn't use some means, how can she manage a well-ordered harem so that Emperor Wen can concentrate on government affairs!Of course, Empress Dugu also had her mistakes, like her chosen prince Yang Guang, who is famous in history as a fatuous and lustful king.But Empress Dugu did not have bad intentions when she recommended him, it was purely out of consideration of the interests of the court, it was just Yang Guang's deceptive means that deceived her.

Wu Zetian: One emperor through the ages, alone in charge of the country
Looking at the 5000-year history of China, there is no other woman who is the emperor, and Wu Zetian is a miracle.

She flies high in a country that has been paying attention to the three cardinal principles and five constant principles for thousands of years, and dominates the world.In her era, restricted areas could be broken through, fate could be changed, and the brilliance of human nature created the Tang Dynasty's everlasting atmosphere; behind her, official and unofficial history left all kinds of confusing records, adding many mysteries to this legendary woman. color.How did this woman who was scolded by King Luo Bin as "a humble woman" climbed to the top of power step by step?Does the era create heroes, or does character determine destiny?What kind of woman is she?
In and out of the palace, helpless to become a monk

Wu Zetian was born in the first month of the seventh year (624) of Wude, Emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty.His father, a samurai, was in the timber business during the period of Emperor Sui Yang, and he followed the situation of Emperor Sui Yang's large-scale construction projects, and made a fortune as a result.The samurai Xun is not only good at doing business, but also good at making friends, so he got a military position in Yingyang Mansion.In the 11th year of Sui Shizu's great cause (615), Li Yuan served as the consolation ambassador in Hedong, Shanxi, and arrested the anti-Sui armed forces. When he passed by Fen and Jin, he lived in the home of the warrior Xun. The warrior Xun devoted himself to serving him, so he became a close friend.Two years later, Li Yuan was left behind in Taiyuan, and he used the samurai Xun as the armor of the marching army.After Li Yuan raised his army, the samurai Xun followed him to the left and right, paid homage to Dr. Guanglu with merit, and was granted the title of Duke of Taiyuan County, becoming one of the fourteen meritorious officials of Yuan Cong in Taiyuan.In the third year of Tang Gaozu Wude (620), the first wife of the samurai Xun, Xiangli, died. Li Yuan personally acted as a matchmaker and married the daughter of Yang Da, who had been the prime minister of the Sui Dynasty.At that time, Yang was over forty years old.

After becoming the successor of the warrior Yu, Yang gave birth to three daughters, and the second daughter was Wu Zetian.

The issue of family background is considered to be one of the sources of Wu Zetian's stubborn and competitive character, because public opinion at the time still discriminated against people like his father, and the atmosphere of emphasizing family status has not completely changed since the Wei and Jin Dynasties.Therefore, King Luo Bin said in "A Call to Wu's Family" that Wu Meiniang was "really cold".Wu Zetian was also affected by this kind of discrimination to some extent when she was a child.The affirmation of Wu Zetian by later generations includes her promotion and reuse of officials from poor backgrounds, which gradually broke the influence of family status.

When Wu Zetian was 12 years old, the warrior Xun died, and Yang and his three daughters were in a difficult situation.The two sons Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang left by the warrior's ex-wife and their cousins ​​Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun treated Yang's mother and daughter very harshly, so that after Wu Zetian gained power, he put them to death.

However, for Wu Zetian, this period of difficult days was fleeting.In 636 A.D., the tenth year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong's empress Changsun died of illness.In the second year, Li Shimin heard that Wu Zetian was very beautiful, so he called her into the palace and made her a talented person. This is a very low-level concubine.When Li Shimin was in power, the establishment of internal positions was still in the same system: under the queen, there were noble concubines, Shu concubines, one concubine De, one concubine Xian, who were wives, and were first-class; there were Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, Zhaomei, Xiuyi, Xiurong, Xiumei, Chongyi, Chongrong, and Chongyuan each have one person, nine concubines, and the second rank. Under them, there are 9 Jiehao, 9 beauties, 9 talents, 27 Baolin, and 27 imperial daughters. There were 27 female adopters.Among them, talented people rank sixth, only slightly better than ordinary court ladies.At this time, Wu Zetian was only 14 years old.

After entering the palace, Emperor Taizong gave her the title of Wu Mei, so people called her Mei Niang.Because of her stubborn personality, she was not good at displaying women's gentle means, so she was not favored by Taizong.This made Wu Zetian not give birth to a man and a half woman for Taizong in the 12 years since he entered the palace, and of course the title of talent has not changed or improved.

Wu Zetian's chance came from Taizong's son Li Zhi, later Gaozong.

Li Shimin was sick in his later years. As the prince, Li Zhi often went to his father's bed to show his filial piety, so he inevitably met Wu Zetian, a talented person in charge of the emperor's rest, and Wu Zetian and Li Zhi developed feelings.

Prince Li Zhi is the third son of Empress Changsun, who is cowardly and indecisive by nature.He was not the best candidate for the crown prince at the beginning. His two elder brothers, the crown prince Chengqian and the king of Wei Li Tai, won the throne.

In the 22nd year of Zhenguan, that is, in 649 AD, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty died, and Prince Li Zhi came to the throne as Emperor Gaozong.According to the custom, Wu Zetian was sent to Ganye Temple to become a nun together with other barren concubines.

Wu Zetian was not a woman willing to be teased by fate. Although she did not inherit the demeanor of her mother's family, she did not lack the enterprising spirit of her father and grandfather.The life of a nun in Ganye Temple does not mean an end, but a beginning.Li Zhi is a very emotional person. He pities Wu Zetian and never forgets his old love. Wu Zetian firmly grasps Li Zhi's life-saving straw. Wu Zetian took him back to the palace.Coincidentally, at this time, in Li Zhi's harem, Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao are competing for favor and jealousy.

The two sides refused to give in, and Wu Zetian took advantage of the fisherman, and her fate really took a turn for the better.

At that time, Queen Wang was facing an unprecedented threat. Concubine Xiao was favored by her concubine, and Wang was neglected, and her heart gradually became unequal. There was a grievance between the two, and the conflict intensified.At the time when the concubines were fighting, the news that Li Zhi went to Ganye Temple to visit Wu Zetian reached the ears of Queen Wang.Queen Wang is not a person who is good at scheming, but she came up with an idea out of desperation.Queen Wang persuaded Li Zhi to take Wu Zetian back to the palace in an attempt to curb Concubine Xiao Shu's aggressive momentum with the help of the Wu family.This suggestion was in the arms of Li Zhi.Therefore, Li Zhi ordered the officials to welcome Wu Zetian into the official again.

When she re-entered the palace this time, Wu Zetian was already 28 years old. Generally speaking, women of this age are basically half-old mistresses, no more beautiful than teenagers, but Wu Zetian's scheming is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Her beauty may indeed be outstanding, and Gaozong's feelings for her are the foundation. The reunion after a long absence can better capture Gaozong's heart.

Queen Wang didn't expect that she was leading wolves into the house.After becoming an official, Wu Zetian was very grateful for the care of the queen. She respected the queen very much and served her very thoughtfully, which made Gaozong very happy.Both the emperor and the empress were happy, and Wu Zetian's concubine status was promoted to Zhaoyi, which is the level of the second rank.More than the other eight concubines, she is the head of the nine concubines. Above her, there are only the queen and the fourth concubine.

After Wu Zetian entered the palace, she gave birth to four boys and two girls for Gaozong, and Gaozong had only twelve children in total.The last six were all born to Wu Zetian. It can be seen that Wu Zetian's favor is unmatched by other concubines. Even the queen who advocated letting him enter the palace did not expect it, and she suffered a big loss in the end.

Wu Zetian's character determines that she is not willing to be under others, and her goal is the queen.After her position was stabilized, she began to act schemingly.In the harem, she tried every means to win over the eunuchs and maids, especially those who had a bad relationship with the queen and concubine Xiao Shu. She always tried to get close to them, and gave some small favors to make them pay attention to the actions of the queen and concubine Shu.In the first step, Wu Zetian joined forces with the king and queen to attack Concubine Xiao Shu. After Gaozong deposed Concubine Xiao Shu into a commoner, Wu Zetian began to attack the queen.

Empress Wu Zetian gave birth to a second child, a girl, who was very cute. The Queen also liked it very much.Wu Zetian took advantage of this opportunity to kill her own daughter in order to be the queen.

(End of this chapter)