How did Princess Taiping, the daughter of Wu Zetian in Tang Dynasty, die?

Princess Taiping's fate is closely linked to her mother Wu Zetian. Later, Princess Taiping married her cousin, Xue Shao, son of Princess Chengyang. However, within a few years, this marriage was considered a big mistake and needed to be corrected. It's just that it's not Princess Taiping who got married wrong, but her mother Wu Zetian. It seems that Princess Taiping's life and fate are decided by her mother. This time, why did Wu Zetian think that the marriage with her cousin was a wrong decision? How did Princess Taiping die?

The Secret of Princess Taiping's Death

In August of the first year of Yanhe, Zong Rui was transferred to Prince Li Longji and abdicated as the emperor's father. In the same year, Princess Taiping's husband Wu died.

In the first two years, he and Guo, Wang Maozhong, Gao Lishi and others pre-emptively trapped and killed General Zuo and Prime Minister Right. Princess Taiping fled into Nanshan Buddhist Temple and returned three days later. Emperor Li Dan came forward to ask Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty to pardon his capital crime, which was rejected by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty. Princess Taiping was finally given a gift and died at home. Her husband Wu's grave was razed to the ground.

Things have to start from Tang Gaozong. After Tang Gaozong's death, Wu Zetian proclaimed himself emperor and entered the countdown. In the years after the death of Emperor Gaozong, Wu Zetian successively deposed his third son Li Xian, put his fourth son Li Dan under house arrest, suppressed the Yangzhou rebellion led by Xu Jingye, and eliminated the opposition between the military and the political system through the so-called Pei Yan rebellion. She is in full swing, step by step, getting closer and closer to the throne of the emperor. The ancient dynasties in China were all named after the same family. If you want to replace Li Tang with Wu Zhou, not only the emperor, but also the whole royal family. Therefore, Wu Zetian wanted to be emperor, and she had to clean up Li Tang's imperial clan. What did Wu Zetian do? She was involved in a conspiracy.

At that time, Wu Chengsi, Wu Zetian's nephew, forged a gem with the words "Mother God, Yongchang Diye" in order to promote Wu Zetian's regime change, falsely claiming that it was salvaged from Luoshui, and said that it represented good luck and sent someone to Wu Zetian. According to the traditional Confucian belief, drawing a river and writing a book are important signs that the sky will descend to Sri Lanka and belong to national first-class auspiciousness. This fabricated auspicious feeling was exactly what Wu Zetian wanted, and she immediately decided to do it with great fanfare, so that people all over the country knew that it was God's will for her to be emperor! How to deal with it? She named this stone the treasure map of the blessed land, and gave herself an honorific title, called the Virgin Jade Emperor. At the same time, she announced that she would visit Luoshui in1February, hold a ceremony to receive the map, and receive congratulations from hundreds of officials in the lobby. In order to do this well, she ordered the provincial governors and the consorts of Li Tang imperial clan to gather in Luoyang ten days before the ceremony! Obviously, Wu Zetian wanted to use this national etiquette project to destroy Li Tang's power.

When this imperial edict came out, the imperial clan of Li Tang was in a panic. They think Wu Zetian is furious and definitely want to concentrate them in Luoyang, and then catch turtles in a jar and destroy them in one fell swoop! The more I think about it, the more nervous I get. What should I do? It is better to take risks than to wait for death. Under the control of this panic, members of the imperial clan began to contact each other and plot rebellion. Who is the rebel? The first is, of course, the sons and grandchildren of previous emperors and other male members. In addition, the concept of marrying a woman and splashing water was not popular in the Tang Dynasty, so several generations of emperors' princesses also reported it. However, due to various reasons, such as the traitor's informer, the rebellion was forced to be held in advance, and the rebels also contracted from the whole imperial clan of Li Tang to Li Zhen, the king of Yue, and Li Chong and his son. Such a small fight was no match for the imperial court at all, and was soon suppressed by Wu Zetian.

However, it was Wu Zetian's established goal to destroy the effective strength of Li Tang's imperial clan. It is also a strategy to gather them in Luoyang. Now that the snakes are out, how can we make them shrink back! So, after suppressing Li Zhen and his son, Wu Zetian began to take the lead, implicated many royal families, and a large number of royal families were ordered to be executed, and Wu Zetian's purpose of bloodbath of Li Tang clan was completed. And her son-in-law, Xue Shao, the husband of Princess Taiping, and his brother Xue _ are among them!

Son-in-law Xue Shao wants to create rebellion against her mother-in-law. Things look really shocking. However, considering that Wu Zetian's murder of the imperial clan was a political conspiracy, we can't help wondering whether the Xue Shao brothers had any intention of rebellion. For this matter, there are two diametrically opposite records in the history books. One is "New Tang Book"? The princess learned that she had set out, but her brother Shao, citing his mediocrity, transferred to recruit soldiers and responded. Anxious to defeat, kill all the officials and kill them. If you say it, you will die in prison. According to this statement, the Xue Shao brothers have indeed paid for recruiting, ready to rebel, but it's a pity that Li Zhen and his son are too timid to react and fail. At this time, in order to cover up the crime, the Xue brothers killed their specific executors, so they deserved it. However, for the record of the same thing, the old Tang books are quite different. According to "Biography of Empresses", Shao was falsely named as the king of longitudinal arch. In other words, Xue Shao didn't rebel, saying that he rebelled is a kind of framing. So which record is reliable?

But if Xue _ wants to arise, must he tell his brother Xue Shao? I don't think he should say it. He should try to avoid letting his brother know. Why? Very simple, because Xue Shao was already the mother-in-law of Princess Taiping, and Princess Taiping was the apple of Wu Zetian's eye, and her mother and daughter were very loving. If he revealed the plan to Xue Shao and Xue Shao accidentally revealed it to Princess Taiping, wouldn't that be a trap? Some people may say that the two brothers live together, and there are so many recruits here, how can they not know there? It is really possible. Because according to the practice of the Tang dynasty, after the princess got married, the state built a mansion alone and did not live with her husband's family. In other words, although Xue Shao and Xue _ are brothers, their houses may be far apart. In this way, it is not difficult for Xue _ to hide the rebellion from his brother. If this reasoning holds, then Xue Shao's rebellion is an unjust case.

Whether wronged or not, what should Princess Taiping do when she sees Xue Shao in jail? She must actively rescue. As the saying goes, one day, the husband and wife, Princess Taiping, got married with Xue Shao and had four children. How can a child lose his father's support when he is so young? So Princess Taiping ran to Wu Zetian and cried, moved by emotion, reasoned with reason, and asked for emotion, while her mother saw Xue's deep affection for their mother and daughter. She said, you see, we have just been married for seven years, and our relationship is so good that the youngest child is only full moon. How could you have the heart to kill him? Besides, you called him a traitor. Where is the evidence? Can you kill him on suspicion alone? Princess Taiping must be giving Wu Zetian reason, reason and feelings. According to her idea, since she is the only daughter of her mother, how can she ignore her happiness because she loves her so much? So did Wu Zetian give Princess Taiping this face? Between the stability of the country and the feelings of her daughter, Wu Zetian chose the former, and finally punished Xue Shao for treason. But after all, Princess Taiping courted, so Xue Shao was not beheaded directly, but was beaten with a hundred sticks and thrown into prison to starve to death, which somehow saved her whole body. That year, Princess Taiping was just twenty-five years old.

So, since Xue Shao didn't rebel and her precious daughter Princess Taiping begged, why did Wu Zetian kill Xue Shao? The crux of the matter is that Wu Zetian thinks that Princess Taiping married the wrong husband. At first, Princess Taiping married Xue Shao because his mother was Tang Gaozong's sister. The significance of this marriage lies in consolidating Li Tang. Now, if Wu Zetian wants to change Li Tang into Wu Zhou, she must strengthen the strength of Wu Jia. At this time, Princess Taiping will undertake a new political mission, and Xue Shao must give way. In other words, for the ambitious politician Wu Zetian, Princess Taiping is just a pawn in her hand. She can go this way or that way in order to serve her own political interests. As a result, after Xue Shaogang's death, Wu Zetian began to remarry Princess Taiping. When choosing this new Xu, one condition must be met-the surname must be Wu.

Princess Taiping's Second Married Life

Who is the qualified candidate for Xu? The first candidate put forward by Wu Zetian was Wu Chengsi, who was Wu Zetian's nephew. At that time, he attacked the Duke of Zhou and was the heir of Wu Zetian's father. Wu Chengsi made great contributions to the change of Wu Zetian's dynasty. He is the hero of the Wu and Zhou Dynasties and the key training object of Wu Zetian. It is Wu Zetian's wishful thinking to marry her precious daughter to her nephew who has the most political prospect. Moreover, in Wu Zetian's mind, she once considered passing her own throne to this nephew, so that her daughter could climb to the peak of a woman's life-the queen, which is also her love for her daughter. For Wu Chengsi, if he wants to by going up one flight of stairs, he needs to seize such an opportunity. So, of course, he is willing to agree to this marriage. At first, Princess Taiping agreed, but unexpectedly, just before the wedding, Princess Taiping suddenly changed her mind and became a runaway bride. The candidate Wu Chengsi was strangely eliminated and replaced by Wu Jiyou, the grandson of Wu Shiqiong, the uncle of Wu Zetian.

What's going on here? The explanation of history books is that Wu suffered from a minor illness, and at the critical moment, she had a physical problem, so Princess Taiping changed her mind. If so, we can understand that Princess Taiping was just twenty-five years old. According to our eyes now, she is still a young girl. Why did she marry a psycho? As the saying goes, the body is the capital of the revolution, and it will not last long in the future. What is the significance of this marriage? However, the transition between the two candidates is actually not that simple. Personally, I think that the elimination of Wu and Wu's remarriage reflects the true will of Princess Taiping, but Princess Taiping is unwilling to marry Wu.

Why do you say that? First of all, we must confirm whether Wu's illness is too serious to get married. Obviously not. Because Wu died in the first year of the holy calendar, it has been ten years since Princess Taiping chose her husband for the second time. Before that, Wu had been actively seeking the position of prince, and he was still alive and kicking, and there was no record of illness at all. Even if he died in the first year of the Holy Calendar, it was because Wu Zetian finally chose Li Xian as his successor. Wu's hard work for half his life went up in smoke, which was a great psychological blow. So he was depressed, sick and dead. It can be seen that even if Wu has been ill for four years, it is just a few minor problems such as a cold and fever, which should not affect the overall situation of marriage. In this way, Wu's illness is just an excuse.

Since Wu is not seriously ill, why doesn't Princess Taiping want to marry him? I think Princess Taiping is dissatisfied with him for two main reasons. First of all, Wu was indirectly responsible for Xue Shao's death. Second, Wu is too close to the political core and has no sense of security. Princess Taiping and Xue Shao are married and have deep feelings. So, for Xue Shao's death, Princess Taiping must have turned her mind a thousand times and couldn't let it go. Why did Xue Shao die? The direct inference is that Xue Shao was executed because of the joint rebellion of the imperial clan of Li Tang. Li Tang imperial clan wanted to rebel because Wu Zetian asked them to gather in Luoyang. Wu Zetian asked them to gather in Luoyang, because she had the gem that said "The Virgin Mary, Yongchang Diye", and this gem was concocted by force. Of course, Princess Taiping must know very well that her mother is the real mastermind of the whole thing. But for her mother, Princess Taiping's feelings are very complicated, which can be said to be mixed with love and hate. Her mother gave birth to her and raised her. She can't hate her mother completely. Her mother is so strong that she dare not hate her mother. Therefore, we can only take it out on Wu. In her mind, Wu became a scapegoat, that is, he killed Xue Lang and the father of my child! It pains me to think about it. How can I sleep with her husband again?

In addition, for Princess Taiping, who has just experienced the pain of losing her husband, since politics has taken the life of her first husband, she does not want her second husband to be involved in the political whirlpool again. Wu is obviously too close to the political core, too keen on political speculation, and he feels unsafe living with such people. After such a comparison, Princess Taiping is unwilling to marry a political madman like Wu. So in the end, she refused the marriage on the pretext that Wu was ill.

Then why did Princess Taiping finally choose Wu as her own Xu? Wu and Wu have common advantages. They are all from the Wu family. They are politically reliable and can satisfy their mothers. In addition, Wu has advantages that Wu does not have. First, he had nothing to do with Xue Shao's death, and there was no emotional difficulty in marrying him. Second, his blood relationship with Wu Zetian is far away, relatively speaking, far from the political core; And he is calm, sincere and kind, and will not take the initiative to get involved in political struggles. Third, Wu is still a standard handsome man. It's a political marriage anyway. Since you can't rely on your feelings, there is nothing wrong with choosing an eye-catching one. So Princess Taiping said to her mother, I want to marry Wu.

Since Princess Taiping put forward Xu's candidate Wu, Wu Zetian has always respected her daughter's opinion on non-principle issues, so she readily agreed. However, after both Wu Zetian and Princess Taiping agreed to this marriage, new problems appeared. What's the problem? Wu has a problem because he is neither single nor divorced or widowed. He had a wife then, and her wife was still young and healthy. If she marries again, she commits bigamy. what can I do? This little thing can't beat Wu Zetian. A few days later, she sent a messenger to the Wu family, announced the order of Empress Dowager Cixi, and then gave Wu's wife a three-foot white silk. You, kill yourself. In this way, Wu immediately resumed his bachelor status. After such intensive arrangements, less than a year after Xue Shao's death, Princess Taiping scored twice and remarried Wu. Shortly thereafter, Wu Zetian officially changed Tang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty, became emperor, and realized her dream of being a queen.

There is no doubt that Princess Taiping's remarriage was paved by the fresh life of Xue Shao and Wu's ex-wife under the oppression of their mother's power. How can such a marriage dare to expect happiness again? However, whether Taiping remarries or not has nothing to do with marriage itself. Xue Shao's death and remarriage with Wu had an important influence on Princess Taiping's life. She began to lose her romantic fantasy about life and understood several cold truths. First, as the political core princess, she can't really get rid of politics and be an ordinary wife and mother. Secondly, if her first marriage reflected the interests of her father Tang Gaozong, then her second marriage undoubtedly reflected the interests of her mother Wu Zetian. Xue Shao's death made her understand that from then on, her mother was the most important person in her life. Third, feelings are quite fragile in the face of politics. Without political power, life is hard to guarantee, let alone feelings. Therefore, both mother-child affection and husband-wife kindness are easily influenced by political interests. These three understandings fundamentally changed Princess Taiping's thoughts. She changed from a charming and naive young woman to a woman with a deep heart. The potential of politicians inherited from their mother Wu Zetian was stimulated.

As the saying goes, people can't help themselves in Jianghu. Since mother is the most important person in life, Princess Taiping can only actively devote herself to serving her. From then on, she gradually participated in Wu Zetian's decision-making and became her confidant.