1, political clarity
This is mainly manifested in Wu Zetian's advocacy of science and her ability to make an exception in employing people.
During her reign, she further developed the scientific system and founded the imperial examination and martial arts.
He also ordered civil servants with more than nine grades to bootstrap for a hundred years.
Wu Zetian selected a group of outstanding talents through imperial examinations, bootstrapping and others' recommendation, and became the mainstay of Wu Zhou regime such as Emperor, Yao Chong and Song Jing, and later became a sage in Kaiyuan period.
Lu, the prime minister of the middle Tang Dynasty, praised Wu Zetian for being good at employing people, with clear rewards and punishments.
Sima Guang, a historian of the Northern Song Dynasty, also believed that Wu Zetian "had his own politics and was good at observation and judgment".
Therefore, it is debatable to think that Wu Zetian used cruel officials, consorts and Toy Boy to keep her politics in the dark.
2. The economy has developed.
Wu Zetian attached importance to agricultural production.
It is believed that "the foundation of the country must be in agriculture" and "there are enough people in the family, then the country is safe".
It was ordered to write an agricultural book "Zhao Renben Ye Ji" and distribute it all over the world.
She continued to implement the system of land equalization.
Military land reclamation and farming in remote areas have achieved remarkable results.
Attach importance to and advocate the construction of water conservancy projects. Only in the 21 years since we were in power, there have been 19 local water conservancy projects.
The quality of farmland in China is also regarded as the standard of rewarding and punishing landlords and officials.
These measures of Wu Zetian promoted the development of agricultural production.
First, the national warehouse is full of grain; Second, the local grain storage is also very rich; Third, the number of accounts has increased significantly.
The handicraft industry in the era of Wu Zetian was also developing.
Mainly in the mining, casting and textile industries.
The development of agriculture and handicrafts promoted the prosperity of commerce.
Mainly manifested in the increase of "cities" or the development of urban trade.
During the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, the transportation industry also developed accordingly.
(For details, please refer to my book Social Economy during the reign of Wu Zetian, which is included in Wu Zetian and Luoyang, Sanqin Publishing House, 1988).
3. Strong national strength
Since Qin and Han Dynasties, China has been a unified multi-ethnic country.
Unity is the mainstream of history, and the aspirations of all ethnic groups are the same.
Therefore, to measure and evaluate the merits and demerits of any emperor depends on how he handles ethnic relations and whether he can maintain the territory of the country and * * *.
In the era of Wu Zetian's administration, he inherited the policy of national appeasement of Emperor Taizong and the strategy of "comforting if you fall, begging if you rebel". He invaded the nobles of Tubo, Khitan and Tubo, and adopted the attitude of opposing and punishing loyal ministers, which achieved great success.
Mainly manifested in the first year of longevity (692), Wu Zetian approved the request of the governor of Xizhou, Tang, to recover the "four towns of Anxi" and recognize heroes with his eyes. Among many generals, Wang Xiaojie was promoted to commander-in-chief of the whole army and general manager of Wuwei Army, led the army to break Tubo, and recovered the "Four Towns of Anxi" (Qiuci, Khotan, Qin Shu and Broken Leaves) in one fell swoop.
In the second year of Chang 'an (702), in December, Wu Zetian set up the Beiting Dadu Lake House in Tingzhou (the old city now Jimsar County, Xinjiang), and the Dadu Lake in Anxi respectively administered the northern and southern roads of Tianshan Mountain, thus safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity, promoting economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries and enhancing friendship with the people of Central Asia.
4. Culture has developed.
When Wu Zetian was in power, she cut literature and history and beautified it.
Attach importance to the construction of ancient buildings, such as Chang 'an Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Songshan Shaolin Temple, Luoyang Longmen Grottoes and Ganling.
Compatible with the three religions and make them develop.
Wu Zetian herself abides by Confucianism, loves Taoism and believes in Buddhism. She sent someone to turn the essence of the three religions into a book, All Three Religions are Heroes.
Develop imperial examinations, improve the cultural quality of bureaucrats, open court examinations, and increase the frequency and difficulty of routine examinations.
Wu Zetian once said:
1. Wu Zetian used all kinds of talents in order to consolidate her rule.
At the beginning, she advocated informers, hired Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen and other cruel officials, and killed many innocent people, causing public outrage.
Wu Zetian, in turn, killed the cruel official with the anger of snow. As a matter of fact, cruel officials all follow her orders.
On the surface, this is a political trick, which is not worth appreciating.
However, it must be admitted that most of the royal family and ministers of the old dynasty in Li Tang were killed at that time, which objectively weakened the decadent gentry.
However, in order to maintain her power and status, Wu Zetian also had a cruel side.
She did not hesitate to kill a generation of loyal minister Sun Chang Wuji and killed her eldest son Li Hong with poisoned wine. Demote the famous calligrapher Chu Suiliang and his second son Li Xian, third son Li Xian and fourth son Li Dan.
She is in hell to pay New Year greetings to the DPRK's important ministers, such as Lai Ji, Han Yuan and Liu Ying. Who dares to disobey herself? "Sisters" like the Queen Wang and her were falsely accused of many crimes, then tortured inhumanely, and finally executed, even their daughters.
So there is a certain basis for saying that Wu Zetian is a tyrant.
2. The most contemptible thing for her in history is that she once owned several Toy Boy, which has become a scandal that she will never forget, and has become a topic of tossing and turning among literati, so that her outstanding achievements have been drowned.
Wu Zetian's favorite people are mainly Xue Huaiyi, Shen Nan, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong.
Generally speaking, Wu Zetian is not only an outstanding female politician, but also an outstanding female strategist.
She developed the rule of Zhenguan in all directions and laid the foundation for the prosperity of Kaiyuan.
Of course, Wu Zetian also has a dark side in politics, financial difficulties in economy and so on.
But compared with her historical achievements, these are secondary after all.
It should also be pointed out that the economic development and strong national strength at that time were not the personal credit of Wu Zetian.
Due to the election of the equal land system and the rise of the imperial examination system, the hereditary aristocratic forces declined rapidly, the small and medium-sized landlord class rose sharply, and a large number of scholars proudly entered the political arena. This historical trend pushed Wu Zetian to the throne of the queen.
Wu Zetian complied with the historical era and promoted the development of China history.