Wu Zetian and Li Shimin had no children together. Why did she have six children with Li Zhi?

Empress Wu Zetian has served two husbands, and they are still father and son. Wu Zetian entered the palace at the age of fourteen, and at the age of twenty-seven, she met Li Zhi, Emperor Taizong. She served Emperor Taizong for 12 years without giving birth to a child, but she gave birth to six children during her decades with Emperor Taizong. Why is this happening? In fact, Wu Zetian's background is quite strong. Her father was Wu Shihuo, the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, while Li Shimin's father, Gao Zu Li Yuan Jinyang, stayed in Wushi many times since joining the army. His mother, Yang, is the daughter of Sui Dynasty imperial clan and Suining. So Li and Wu are old friends. When Wu Zetian was twelve years old, her father died, and several cousins were rude to her mother Yang. As a last resort, they were forced to move back to Chang 'an from Jingzhou (Wu Shihuo was the secretariat of Jingzhou at that time and was appointed as lord protector).

Fourteen-year-old Wu Zetian is charming as a lotus flower, and her beautiful face spreads all over Chang 'an. In November of the 11th year of Zhenguan (637), Li Shimin came to Wei Zi Palace in Luoyang, the capital of gods, and heard that 14-year-old Wu Zetian was "beautiful in Rong Zhi" and called her into the palace. Wu Zetian bid farewell to her mother, and the beauty cried goodbye to her mother, but Yang said calmly, "You see that the son of heaven doesn't know happiness, why is your child sad?" (See Book of Old Tang Dynasty). After entering the palace, he became a talented person of Emperor Taizong, and was named "Wu Mei".

Strangely enough, Wu Zetian served Emperor Taizong for twelve years, but her position never improved. She has been a talented person for twelve years and has never given birth to a child for Taizong. Why is this happening?

First of all, Wu Zetian was only fourteen years old when she entered the palace, and her body was not fully developed at this age. Therefore, even if Taizong and Wu Zetian are lucky, she may not be able to have children soon.

Secondly, the eldest grandson of Emperor Taizong died in the tenth year of Zhenguan (636), and the eldest grandson gave birth to three sons and four daughters for Emperor Taizong. The other children of Emperor Taizong were born to Wei Guifei, Yang Guifei, Yan Defai, Yang Fei and Yin Fei, and their status was far above that of Wu Zetian. There are many concubines in Emperor Taizong's harem. Some of them have been accompanying Emperor Taizong to Dabao from the Qin Dynasty, and their feelings are extremely deep. Wu Zetian was kind to the world because of her beauty. If she is only beautiful and nothing special, Emperor Taizong can't spoil her specially.

When Wu Zetian entered the palace, Emperor Taizong was thirty-nine years old. At the age of forty, his only sons were Wang Zhao, Li Fook wo, Wang Cao and Li Ming, which showed that Emperor Taizong was in poor health in middle age. Taizong died at the age of 52. Wu Zetian had never had children with Emperor Taizong before she met Prince Li Zhi. The deeper reason is that Wu Zetian fell out of favor with Taizong not long after she entered the palace.