Driving them out of the political arena marked the end of the rule of Guanlong Group for more than a century since the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and also created favorable conditions for social progress and economic development. ?
Wu Zetian also fostered the landlord bureaucrats through various channels, collected more landlord talents in the cloth, and expanded its ruling foundation:
1. The imperial court sent envoys to all parts of the country to collect talents and sent them to Beijing. The emperor took the exam himself. This is preparation and asking questions. As "A New Story of the Tang Dynasty" said, "In the early days of the Japanese revolution, people who fled in all directions should be prepared with 10,000 people, and they should be tested in person at the south gate of Yang Xiong." Those with excellent grades are not qualified, and they are hired and appointed to important positions.
2, ordered the "civil and military nine products at home and abroad and the people's salt bootstrapping", allowing officials and people to recommend themselves, so as not to miss the recommendation.
3. Further development of the imperial examination system recommended by township tribute (tribute), that is, state and county, not only increased the number of subjects, but also greatly increased the number of students enrolled, and the average number of students enrolled each year more than doubled compared with the Zhenguan period.
Moreover, it also pioneered the palace entrance examination system. For example, in February of the first year of divine providence (690), "The Queen Mother established Gong's family in the Los Angeles Temple, and Gong's palace entrance examination began"; In addition, in the second year of Chang 'an (702), a "military exercise was initially set up", which expanded the scope of selecting officials.
When Wu Zetian was in power with Emperor Gaozong * *, she also wrote to modify the genealogy and changed her name to surname Shi Lu, which made it more clear that "anyone who won five prizes in the imperial dynasty was promoted to Jinshi", which further dealt a blow to the old gentry and improved the status of civilian bureaucrats, so there was a situation of "crown and official driving side by side" after the middle Tang Dynasty.
Especially since the Anshi Rebellion, many soldiers from civilian backgrounds have been awarded more than five titles for military service and have been promoted to the rank of gentry. So the strict boundary between scholars and ordinary people has gradually disappeared. All the people surnamed Zheng call themselves Zheng in Xingyang, Li in Longxi and Li in Zhaojun, and they can't distinguish between fresh and old.
Rectify official management, severely punish corrupt officials and promote talents.
Wu Zetian inherited the policy of rectifying official management and severely punishing corruption during the Zhenguan period, "consulting with the prime minister on secretariat and county orders", and sent "six envoys to inspect counties" to assess whether county officials were clean and capable.
Officials who take bribes and bend the law, regardless of their positions, will pay the price. On the contrary, for talented people, they are unconventional. Wu Zetian attaches great importance to honest and clean officials, appreciates talented and knowledgeable people and can reuse them one by one.
Because Wu Zetian can attach importance to the rectification of official management, reward and punishment are strict, reward and punishment are rewarded, and she is good at observing and judging, so she can promote talents from a wide range of talents for her own use.
As commented in Zi Tongzhi Jian: "Although Empress Dowager Cixi abused her power to win over the hearts of the people all over the world, those incompetent people will eventually be punished or punished. Ruling the world with the handle of punishment and reward, politics comes from oneself, and it is clear-sighted, so the heroes also fought for it at that time. "
Open your heart and pay attention to what is acceptable.
Wu Zetian deeply understood the importance of coachable. Among the twelve suggestions, "speaking broadly" and "telling the truth" also played an important role. In March 686, he also set up a bronze plaque in the court to encourage ministers to write books and talk about things.
Although Wu Zetian has strict decrees and severe penalties, "when I forbear, although I love him very much, I hide a lot." However, she has great respect for the subjects who dare to speak out and try to adopt their suggestions. Even if the words are offensive, she can tolerate and avoid being investigated.
During her reign, few people were convicted of direct protests, so speaking out and remonstrating became a common practice in North Korea, which played a great role in reforming the shortcomings and promoting political clarity. ?
Appoint cruel officials
After Wu Zetian's rule was stable, he began to use cruel officials. In order to consolidate her rule, Wu Zetian used severe measures. In order to master the sovereignty of the country, she poisoned her son who was made a prince. In the second year of becoming emperor, Wu Zetian and Lai Junchen, one of the two cruel officials, killed another cruel official, Zhou Xing. In 697, Lai Junchen was killed, ending the politics of cruel officials. ?
economy
Attach importance to the development of agriculture, neglect taxes, and share interests with the people.
When Wu Zetian called it "the queen of heaven", she put forward "persuading farmers to pay tribute to mulberry" in twelve suggestions. In order to carry out the imperial edict, the imperial court stipulated that the assessment of local officials should take the development of agricultural production as an important standard, and people in the areas where state and county officials are located should be rewarded if "farmland is reclaimed and there is surplus grain at home"; On the other hand, those who "abuse the government and change their household registration" will be punished.
After Wu Zetian came to power, in order to popularize advanced agricultural production experience and technology, he recruited agronomists to compile the Chronicle of Zhaoren, which was distributed to all counties as a reference for county officials to persuade agriculture. At this time, the land equalization system began to collapse, and the phenomenon of people fleeing became common. A more tolerant policy is also adopted for farmers who fled from the merged land.
Therefore, during the reign of Wu Zetian, the society was quite stable, and agriculture, handicrafts and commerce all developed by leaps and bounds. The registered permanent residence increased from 3.8 million in the third year of Tang Gaozong Yonghui (652) to 6 1.5 million in the first year of Tang Zhongzong Shenlong (705), with an average annual increase of 0.72 1%. This is a very high growth rate in ancient China, and it is also an objective data reflecting the economic development in the period of Wu Zetian.
However, the flight of civilian families has also caused losses to government tax revenue and increased social instability. In order to be emperor, Wu Zetian respected Buddhism, overhauled temples and built large-scale halls and Xanadu, which also increased the burden on the people.
culture
Wu Zetian once called literary courtiers Zhou Maosi and Fan to compile books such as Yao Lan, Hai Zi and Yao Lu in Le Shu.
Among them, Hai Zi contains all Zetian figures created by Wu Zetian, and the whole book has been lost? . Le Shu Yao Lu is a music document of Tang Dynasty with high historical and academic value. Except for a few contents, it is of practical significance and occupies an important position in the history of ancient music in China. There are ten volumes in the book, and only the fifth, sixth and seventh volumes are left. ?
military affairs
Militarily, before and after Wu Zetian proclaimed himself emperor, she killed a large number of veteran generals who could be good at fighting. The gradual disintegration of the land equalization system reduced the number of government soldiers and the weak national defense force, which led to repeated defeats in foreign wars for a period of time.
Anbei Duhufu, Monan and Mobei were still ruled by the Tang Dynasty when Emperor Gaozong died, while during the Wu Zetian period, Cheng Wuting was killed indiscriminately and Fangyi Wang was abandoned, which made the post-Turkic expansion occupy Monan and Mobei.
Wu Zetian almost gave up Anbei and Anxi, which were painstakingly managed by Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong. However, with the steady rule, Wu Zetian gradually recovered.
Extended data:
Wu Zetian, a name with historical charm, is a legendary historical figure rather than a legend. She is the second daughter of Emperor Taizong's aunt and the queen of Li Zhi.
She assisted Emperor Gaozong in handling military affairs. After managing state affairs for 30 years, she ascended the throne and claimed to be the emperor of the Holy Spirit. She abolished Tang, changed her name to Zhou, and became the only queen in the history of China.
From her participation in the political affairs, claiming to be the emperor, to her serious illness and moving to Yang Palace, she was in power for nearly half a century, inheriting the "Zhenguan rule" and opening up the "Kaiyuan Shi Sheng", whose historical achievements are well known to the world. As Soong Ching Ling sincerely commented on her, Wu Zetian was "an outstanding female politician in feudal times".
Then Tian was smart, quick-witted, expressive and courageous from an early age. Deeply impressed by her talent, her father taught her to read and write to familiarize her with the world. Shi Zi, when he was thirteen or fourteen years old, had read widely, memorized them thoroughly, and laid a certain foundation for poetry and songs, and his calligraphy was excellent and his words were outstanding.
In the 23rd year of Zhenguan (649), Emperor Taizong died, and Tian and all his concubines were sent to Chang 'an Ganye Temple to have a haircut for Ni. Li Zhi, the ninth son of Emperor Taizong, was very interested in her after she acceded to the throne, so she often went to Ganye Temple. After two or three years, she was recalled to Zetian's official position and was promoted to "Zhao Yi".
In the sixth year of Yonghui (655), Wu Zetian, who was deeply loved by Gaozong, was a shoo-in in the battle for the Inner Palace, urging Gaozong to establish himself as his successor. However, in feudal society, the abolition of the queen is a national event and must be agreed by etiquette. When he explained to Zhu Suiliang, Mowgli and other senior officials his plan to abolish the Queen and establish a queen, he was immediately strongly opposed.
They think that Wu comes from a humble background and it is not appropriate to be the last one. However, Emperor Gaozong's idea was also supported by Xu Zhongjing, Wu Zetian's accomplice and some important officials in North Korea, such as Li Yifu and Li Ji. With their help, an imperial decree was finally promulgated in October of this year, abolishing the king and queen, and officially canonizing the Emperor of Heaven as the queen.
Since then, the power of the royal imperial palace has all fallen into the hands of Wu Shi.
After Tian ascended the queen's throne, her wit and shrewdness, as well as her advantages of "being familiar with literature and history and being resourceful", were fully exerted and developed by leaps and bounds, which made her sit up and take notice. She also took advantage of the queen's position and the emperor's love for herself to actively participate in the discussion of state affairs. "The best thing for a secretary to play with is decided after the season."
During the five years from the sixth year of Yonghui (655) to the fourth year of Xianqing (659), she managed to destroy her political opponents, demoted her minister and shot Zhu Suiliang, which made her die of depression. Sun Chang Wuji was forced to hang himself under the door of Zhongshu; The elimination of Zhu Suiliang and Yuan Zhen's supporters consolidated and expanded her influence and power, and removed the obstacles on her way to participate in politics.
In 660, the emperor Li Zhi was dazzled by the phoenix, so he wrote a letter to Wuhou, entrusting him to assist the government. Since then, people have been in power since they participated in politics. "Life and death are decided by the mouth, and the son of heaven has just fallen." Although people are behind the scenes, they remotely control the real power of the imperial court.
Later, Emperor Gaozong regretted it and tried to regain power, and secretly ordered Shangguan Yi, assistant minister of Zhongshu, to depose the queen. I was secretive, "wanting to vent", Wu Hou was ruthless, and Shangguan Yi was executed immediately. The emperor's move fell short, which made the marquis of Wu more alert.
Because Wu Hou handles government affairs in an orderly way, unlike Gao Zongjiu, he is very obedient to ministers. Although Emperor Gaozong hated her arbitrariness, many state affairs had to rely on her. In this way, Wuhou gradually walked from behind the scenes to the front desk, unexpectedly came to Chenzidian with Emperor Gaozong, and accepted the worship of ministers together.
In the first year of Shangyuan (674), after Gaozong and Empress, the world called them "Two Saints". Since then, Emperor Gaozong has existed in name only, and the authority of the Tang Dynasty is in the hands of Wuhou.
From the first year of Shangyuan (674) when Zetian became the "Queen of Heaven" to the first year of Tiancai (690) to 16, Wu made a lot of long-term preparations and took various effective measures.
First of all, when he inherited the throne, Emperor Gaozong wanted Zen to take the place of his eldest son, Li Hong. However, Wu Hou didn't care about his mother and son, poisoned Li Hong and made his second son, Li Xian, a prince.
Li Xian was appointed Prime Minister by Emperor Gaozong, and he was very good at handling government affairs. The marquis of Wu abolished Li Xian as Shu Ren and made his third son, Li Xian, a prince. In the first year of Hongdao (683), Emperor Gaozong died, and Li Xian, the emperor of Zhongzong, just succeeded to the throne, and Wuhou was named the Queen Mother.
A year later, he abolished Zhongzong, renamed Luling Wang, and made the fourth son Li Dan emperor, that is, Zong Rui. Li Xian and Li Dan are both impotent people, and they are also puppets on the throne of the emperor, subject to Wu Zetian everywhere.
Secondly, the genealogy is changed to surname genealogy, so as to attack and weaken the gentry bureaucratic group that has always opposed itself from tradition and public opinion, and to support and rely on the emerging landlord class in cloth clothes.
In this way, gentry bureaucrats no longer have the superior conditions to be officials, nor can they do whatever they want because of their rich background. As for officials who are born in the common people, they are no longer humiliated by their poor family. The privileges of gentry and nobles can no longer be seen in the revised surname records. Wu is the first surname in Surnames Tree, and he is not even included in the genealogy.
Thirdly, it is an important step to change the official name, change Luoyang, the eastern capital, into the God Capital, and establish a new order for itself. Show the whole country that their position is unified and supreme. Wuhou's New Deal measures were quickly opposed by the royal Li family and many gentry bureaucrats.
Xu Jingye, the secretariat of Longzhou after Xu Shijie, the founding father of the early Tang Dynasty, called hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses to take the lead in Yangzhou, and his masterpiece Please Wu Zhao spread all over the territory. Li Chong, the imperial clan king, was in Bozhou, and Li Zhen, the king of Yue, was also fighting against Wu.
On the same day, Wu Houjian decided to suppress this matter. Under her direct command, these rebellions quickly subsided, and the main attackers such as Xu Jingye, Li Chong and Li Zhen were either killed in the battlefield or killed.
Horrible killings and extensive involvement fully exposed the ruthlessness and decisiveness of Wuhou.
In 69O AD, Wu Zetian thought that the conditions for the audience were ripe, and first created a public opinion through the mouth of the monk Faming: "Wuhou was reincarnated as Maitreya Buddha, and the contemporary Tang Dynasty was the son of heaven."
Then he directed the matter, and 60 thousand subjects, led by him, wrote to Jin, please change the country name. At this point, naturally, the marquis of Wu came to Dabao in the sound of "long live" of "respecting heaven" and "obeying public opinion", and realized his long-cherished wish, changing the Tang Dynasty to "Zhou" and calling himself "the Holy Spirit Emperor". This year, she is 67 years old.
If we say that Wu Zetian showed amazing political strategies and means in her political career of participating in and discussing state affairs for more than 30 years before she proclaimed herself emperor. Then, during more than ten years as emperor, she fully demonstrated her outstanding political talent and statesmanship in employing people, handling affairs and governing the country.
After Emperor Tiandi proclaimed himself emperor, he paid more attention to the selection and use of talents. She believes that "the nine domains are wide, and if one person strengthens them, they can become wings." Anything that can "secure the country" and "define the frontier" will be used according to her family background and qualifications.
In order to recruit talented people, she developed and improved the imperial examination system since the Sui Dynasty, liberalized the recruitment of talented people, allowed herself to be an official and try out officials, and set up foreign officials. In addition, she also initiated the palace entrance examination and martial arts system, which created favorable conditions for more and more talents to be discovered and collected. For example, Guo Ziyi, a famous soldier in the mid-Tang Dynasty, just "joined the army at leisure".
In this way, during her several years in power, there are always a group of capable ministers and generals who are "literate as a man" and "fighting against martial arts" to serve her and effectively safeguard Wu Zhou's political power.
For agricultural production, then Heaven also attaches great importance to it. She said: "The foundation of the founding of the country must be agriculture", "Agriculture leads to cultivation, cultivation leads to more millet, and more millet leads to wealth". She stipulates that local officials who can "reclaim land and have surplus grain at home" can be promoted; "The government is too harsh and the household registration is shifting." "Those that are light will be degraded and even replaced at inappropriate times."
In this way, during her reign, agriculture and handicrafts have been greatly developed. The population is increasing. According to the statistics at that time, the number of households in Yonghui was 3.8 million. By the first year of Shenlong, when he died, it gradually increased to 6 1.5 million, almost doubling. Only in this way can we explain the development of agricultural economy in this period.
During the Japanese government's administration, it made a lot of efforts to resist foreign invasion, safeguard border peace and improve relations with neighboring countries. The invasion and harassment of Tubo nobles were resolutely resisted and countered by heaven. Longevity for two years (692), she sent general Wang Xiaojie to defeat Tubo, recapture four towns in Anxi, and move the capital to Anxi and Qiuci.
Later, the northern court was established in Tingzhou, which consolidated the northwest frontier defense and opened the once-interrupted "Silk Road" to Central Asia. During her several years in power, she adhered to the policy of land reclamation by border troops. During the fiscal year, the governor of Lou Deyi, Fengzhou, said, "There are millions of plows and grains, and no soldier is spared."
In the first year of Dazu (70 1), Guo was appointed as the governor of Liangzhou, and insisted on farming the fields for five years, "rations can last for decades." Wu's large-scale long-term reclamation. It has a positive effect on the development of border areas, reducing people's traffic burden and consolidating border defense.
Of course, during Wu Zetian's nearly half-century in power, there were also many mistakes. She used cruel officials and rewarded informers. Let many corrupt officials run amok for a while.
They extorted confessions by torture, killed innocent people and framed others, which caused many civilian military commanders to suffer injustice. Although it played a role in consolidating the regime of Wu Zhou, the contradictions within the ruling group intensified, and everyone feared for himself, which would inevitably affect the governance of the country and the development of production. She let go of the palace election and sharpened the bureaucratic group.
Enlargement and bureaucratic expansion will inevitably increase the burden on the people. In her later years, she was ambitious and extravagant, spending a lot of money and labor. This has affected and delayed the development of productive forces to varying degrees. However, these mistakes and faults are, after all, tributaries of Wu Zetian's political career.
As the only female emperor in the history of China, she was able to overcome all difficulties. During the half century's rule, she formed a strong centralization, social stability and economic development, inherited the "rule of Zhenguan", created a "prosperous era of Kaiyuan", eliminated the disadvantages of the times, developed production, improved the imperial examination, broke the concept of the door, appointed talents in an eclectic way, followed the historical trend and made drastic reforms.
Her historical merits and demerits, like the "wordless monument" she set up for herself, can only be judged and judged by history.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Wu Zetian