After August of the eighth year of Wude (625), the warrior Yi appointed Shi Waifang, the governor of Yangzhou, as an official. Originally, Tang Gaozu told him that he would only be released for half a

After August of the eighth year of Wude (625), the warrior Yi appointed Shi Waifang, the governor of Yangzhou, as an official. Originally, Tang Gaozu told him that he would only be released for half a year, but soon (the fourth day of June in the ninth year of Wude) , Li Shimin mobilized the Xuanwumen soldiers, Li Yuan abdicated, and all the important ministers in the court were replaced by Li Shimin's cronies. The warrior Yi was ostracized and never returned to the court. In August of the ninth year of Wude (626), Li Shimin ascended the throne and became the emperor, changing his reign name to Zhenguan. In the second year (627), the warrior Yu was appointed as the governor of Lizhou (now Guangyuan City, Sichuan). There are three theories about Wu Zetian’s birth time. The first is that she was born in the seventh year of Wude (624), the second is that she was born in the eighth year of Wude (625), and the third is that she was born in the second year of Zhenguan (628). Year). According to the first and second theories, Wu Ze was born in Chang'an (Xi'an); if according to the third theory, he was born in Guangyuan. Because she was very beautiful after birth, her mother named her "Meiniang". In any case, Wu Zetian spent her childhood and adolescence in Guangyuan. Wu Zetian lived with her father in various places during her childhood. She was young and eager to learn. She loved to read poetry and epic collections and was quite talented. Her father died when she was 12 years old, and she and her mother were abused by her brothers. In the eleventh year of Zhenguan (637), 14-year-old Wu Zetian entered the palace and became Tang Taizong's talented person (positive fifth grade). Tang Taizong initially favored her because of her beauty. But soon Taizong discovered her excellent political talent, and there was a saying among the people that "military generals replaced Li", so he left her aside. Wu Zetian worked as a talented person for 12 years, but her status was never improved. When Emperor Taizong was seriously ill, Wu Zetian established a relationship with Emperor Taizong's son, later Gaozong Li Zhi. After Li Zhi succeeded to the throne, Wu Zetian was promoted from "Cai Ren" and "Zhaoyi" to "Queen". Later, when Li Zhi fell ill, Wu Zetian handled part of the government affairs on his behalf, and was called the "Queen of Heaven". In the second year of Yongchun (683), Gaozong died, Zhongzong Li Xian came to the throne, and Wu became the empress dowager. In the first year of Sisheng (684), Li Xian was deposed as King of Luling and Li Dan was made emperor. In 690 AD, Wu Zetian officially ascended the throne of "Emperor" and became the only female emperor in Chinese history. She changed the name of her country to Zhou. That year, Wu Zetian was already a 67-year-old woman. Wu Zetian specially created a word "曌" (pronounced with the fourth tone of zhao) for her name, which means "the sun and the moon are in the sky". After Empress Wu came to the dynasty and took the throne, the era of truly arbitrary dynasty policy began. In September of the same year, Xu Jingye (the grandson of Li Ji) mobilized 100,000 troops in Yangzhou, far away from the sacred capital of Luoyang, and launched a rebellion against Wu Zetian overnight. Wu Zetian dispatched 300,000 troops to quickly put down the rebellion. At the same time, Wu Zetian killed Gu Ming Minister Pei Yan and others, basically eliminating the opposition in the court; she also designed to force Li Tang's clan to rebel, and took the opportunity to go on a killing spree; removing the obstacles to becoming emperor. In order to combat those who were potentially dissatisfied with Wu Zetian, starting from March of the second year of Chui Gong (686), Wu Zetian began to reward informants and appoint cruel officials. While fighting against the opposition, Wu Zetian also created auspicious signs, built Mingtang, and found the basis for a woman to claim emperor in the Buddhist classic "Dayun Sutra" to create public opinion for her claim to be emperor. On May 18th, the fourth year of Chui Gong (688), Empress Dowager Wu gave her the title "Holy Mother God Emperor" and took a tentative step toward proclaiming herself emperor. In the first year of Zaichu (690), Wu Zetian deposed Ruizong, proclaimed himself Holy Emperor, changed the name of the country to Zhou, and made Luoyang, the eastern capital, the divine capital, and was known as "Wu Zhou" in history. Wu Zetian reigned supreme at the age of 67 and became the only female emperor in Chinese history. In 705 AD, Zetian returned to Zhou Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, and Zhongzong succeeded to the throne. On November 26 of that year, Wu Zetian passed away and left a last edict before her death: "Remove the title of emperor and call her the Great Sage Queen Zetian."