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Volume 3: A blow of destiny, the king appears Chapter 27: Vientiane Palace

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    The prince Li Hongshen was loved by Emperor Gaozong, and Emperor Gaozong wanted to be the crown prince.  Taking over the power, he was dissatisfied with Prince Hong. It happened that Prince Hong saw that Xiao Shufei's daughters, Yiyang and Xuancheng, were imprisoned in the palace because their mother had offended Empress Wu. They were over thirty and unmarried. He petitioned to surrender, and Emperor Gaozong agreed.  Empress Wu was angry, and soon the prince died in Hebi Palace. People at the time thought he was poisoned by Empress Wu.

    In the first year of Hongdao (683), Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty died of illness and left a final edict: Prince Li Xian ascended the throne in front of the coffin. If there are military and state affairs that cannot be decided, Wu Zetian will decide.  Four days later, Li Xian ascended the throne as Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty.  Empress Wu was revered as the Empress Dowager.

    In the first year of Guangzhai (684), Zhongzong wanted to appoint Wei Xuanzhen, Empress Wei's father, as his minister, but Pei Yanli refused to listen, so Empress Wu deposed Tang Zhongzong as King of Luling and moved to Fangzhou.  He established his fourth son, King of Yu Li Dan, as Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty. Empress Wu took the title of ruler and took charge of the government.

    In the same year, brothers Xu Jingye and Xu Jingyou joined forces with Tang Zhiqi, Du Qiuren and others to support the King of Luling. They raised troops to rebel in Yangzhou, and gathered 100,000 tribesmen in more than ten days.

    Empress Wu immediately appointed Li Xiaoyi, General Zuo Yuqian, as the general manager of Yangzhou Daodao, and led 300,000 troops to conquer.  Xu Jingye was defeated and committed suicide.

    In the second year of Chui Gong (686), Empress Wu ordered a bronze box (a small copper box) to be made and placed in front of the Luoyang Palace to receive submissions from ministers at any time.  At the same time, the door to whistle-blowing is wide open, stipulating that anyone can whistle-blower.  For anyone who informs someone, the state will provide the station with carriages, horses, and food.  Even farmers and woodcutter were received personally by Empress Wu.  If the things told are in line with the will, you can be promoted to an unusual position.  If the accusation is not true, there will be no prosecution.

    At the same time, Empress Wu successively appointed a large number of cruel officials such as Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, Hou Sizhi, etc. to control the prison. Once the defendant was put into this prison, the cruel officials would use various torture methods to interrogate him.  Only one person can escape prison alive.  In this way, as the trend of informing became more and more popular, the number of people who were tortured to death by cruel officials increased day by day.

    As a result, a very terrifying political atmosphere formed inside and outside the court, so that ministers had to say goodbye to their families every time before going to court, and they were in panic all day long.

    In order to reward whistleblowers, Empress Wu made an exception and granted officials to whistleblowers. Hou Sizhi, who made a living by selling cakes, was a rogue.  Because he falsely accused King Shu Yuanming of conspiring with Pei Zhen, the governor of Hengzhou, he was appointed as a guerrilla general and censor.

    Wang Hongyi, known for his immoral conduct, sued the villagers for rebellion and promoted him to a guerrilla general and a royal censor.

    That year, twelve members of the Annan clan, including Wang Ying, were killed.  He also whipped the late crown prince Li Xian's two sons to death, and the Tang clan was completely killed. The young and weak survivors also fled to Lingnan, and hundreds of their close relatives were killed.

    Empress Wu planned to seize the state of Li Tang and eliminate the Tang clan. The kings were uneasy and wanted to raise troops to fight.  There is no consensus yet.  Langxie King Li Chong, the governor of Bozhou, raised troops in Bozhou (now northeast of Liaocheng, Shandong) in the fourth year of Chui Gong (688).  Li Zhen, the governor of Yuzhou and the king of Yue, raised troops in Yuzhou (now Runan, Henan) to respond.

    Empress Wu sent Qiu Shenji and Wei Chongyu to attack them.  Li Chong, the king of Langxie, was defeated and died in seven days; Li Zhen, the king of Yue, was defeated and committed suicide.  Empress Wu wanted to eliminate all the kings of the Li family and had Zhou Xing and others interrogate them, forcing Han Wang Li Yuanjia, Lu Wang Li Lingkui, Huang Guogong Li Zhuan, Dongguan County Duke Li Rong, Princess Chang Le and others to commit suicide.  The cronies and others were all executed.

    In the same year, monk Xue Huaiyi led more than 10,000 people to destroy the Qianyuan Hall and build the Mingtang Hall, which took nearly a year to complete.  It is two hundred and ninety-four feet high and three hundred feet wide.  There are three floors in total.  The top is a round cover with a nine-dragon holding it.  There is an iron phoenix on top, one foot high.  Decorated with gold, it is called the Vientiane Palace.

    After the Mingtang was completed, monk Xue Huaiyi was ordered to cast a large statue. The little finger of the big statue could also accommodate dozens of people. A five-story heaven was built in the north of the Mingtang to accommodate the big statue.  Trillions of dollars have been spent, and government finances have been depleted.

    In that year, Wu Chengsi ordered people to chisel white stones and write an inscription, saying: The presence of the Holy Mother will bring eternal prosperity to the emperor.  It was said to be found in Luoshui River and presented to Empress Wu. Empress Wu was overjoyed and ordered the stone to be called the treasure map.  Later, Empress Wu was given the title of Holy Mother God Emperor.

    During the reign of Empress Wu, the imperial examination system was further developed.  During the Zhenguan period, a total of 205 Jinshi were admitted, and during the reign of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu, a total of more than 1,000 people were admitted.  The average number of students admitted each year has more than doubled compared to Zhenguan.  In the first year of Emperor Wu's reign (690), Empress Wu asked the tribute officials in person at the Luocheng Palace, which was the beginning of the palace examination.

    That year, ten cunfu envoys were sent to patrol various roads and recommend talents. A year later, more than a hundred people were recommended. Empress Wu received them all regardless of their origins, and appointed them according to their talents, or gave up people for the test of Feng Pavilion (Zhongshu Province).  , In the process of giving, he may be an examiner, a wailang, a censor, a builder, a collector, or a bookkeeper. From this time on, the official examination system began. At that time, people had to make up the ques and carry them on the cart, pick up the relics, and push them to serve the censor.  The school secretary is off his wrist.  words.  Although Empress Wu used her official position to win people's hearts, she would also remove those who were incompetent. She was very discerning and good at making judgments, so people at that time were happy to work for Empress Wu.

    The following year, Monk Faming and others wrote four volumes of the Dayun Sutra, saying that Empress Wu was the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha and should be the master of the world. Empress Wu ordered it to be implemented throughout the world.  The two prefectures in the two capitals were ordered to build a Dayun Temple each to store the Dayun Sutra.Order monks to explain and elevate the status of Buddhism above Taoism.

    Fu Youyi, the imperial censor, led 900 people from Guanzhong to submit a request to change the name of the country to Zhou and give the emperor the surname Wu.  So a total of more than 60,000 officials, relatives of the emperor's family, common people, chiefs of various barbarians, ascetics, and Taoist priests also submitted petitions to change the country's name.  Empress Wu agreed to change Tang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty as requested.

    He was honored as Holy Emperor, with Ruizong as his heir, given the surname Wu, and the crown prince as his grandson.  Seven temples of the Wu family were erected in the divine capital, and they honored King Wen of Zhou as the first ancestor, Emperor Wen.  Wu Chengsi was made King of Wei, Wu Sansi was made King of Liang, and the rest of the Wu family were made kings and eldest princesses.

    The Wu clan sent Youying Yangwei General Wang Xiaojie as the commander-in-chief of the Wuwei Army, and he and Wuwei General Ashina Zhongjie led their troops to the Western Regions to conquer Tibet.  The Tang army was victorious and defeated the four Anxi towns of Khotan, Shule, Qiuci, and Suiye. The Anxi Protectorate was still set up in Qiuci and sent troops to garrison it.

    In the third year of Changshou (694), Wu Sansi led the leaders of the four barbarians to ask the Tianshu to be made of copper and iron and set it up outside Duanmen to praise Empress Wu's merits.  Empress Wu personally wrote: "All the nations of the Great Zhou Dynasty praised Tianshu for his virtue."

    The casting of Tianshu took eight months to complete. It is shaped like a column, one hundred and five feet high, twelve feet in diameter, with eight sides, five feet on each side. The bottom is an iron mountain, and the circumference is one hundred and seventy feet. It is made of copper.  It is surrounded by dragons and unicorns; on top is a soaring cloud bearing dew plate with a diameter of three feet, on which four dragons stand upright holding fire beads and are one foot high.

    The worker Mao Poluo made the model, Wu Sansi wrote the text, and engraved the names of hundreds of officials and the leaders of the barbarians on it.  Two million catties of copper and iron are needed, and Hu is asked to gather hundreds of billions of money. If he cannot buy enough copper and iron, he can provide folk agricultural tools to make up for it.

    In the first year of Long Live Tongtian (696), Khitan leaders Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong led an uprising, captured Yingzhou, and killed the governor Zhao Wenhui.  The Wu family sent generals Cao Renjie, Zhang Xuanyu, Li Duozuo and others to lead troops to conquer.

    Due to the mistake of being ambushed by Tubo, the entire army was wiped out.  Then, the Wu family sent Wu Youyi, Wang Xiaojie and others to lead troops to attack, but they all returned with great defeat.

    In the first year of Shengong (697), Wu Zetian sent Wu Yizong, Lou Shide, and Sha Zha Zhongyi to lead an army of 200,000 to attack the Khitan.  Sun Wanrong was defeated and killed, and the remaining Khitan troops surrendered to the Turks.

    In the first year of Shengong (697), the Wu family sent Wu Yizong to interrogate Liu Sili for his rebellion. Wu Weizong said that as long as Liu Sili pointed out which court officials were involved in the rebellion, he would be spared the death penalty. So Liu Sili falsely accused Prime Minister Li Yuanyou, Sun Yuanheng and other 36 domestic celebrities.  Their clans were exterminated, and more than a thousand people fled with their relatives and friends.  People at that time thought that Wu Yizong was second only to Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen in cruelty.

    That year, Lai Junchen wanted to sue the kings of the Wu family and Princess Taiping (Zhongzong's sister, Wu Zetian's only biological daughter who grew up), and also wanted to accuse the emperor's heir (Tang Ruizong) and the King of Luling (Tang Zhongzong) of cooperating with the North and South Yamen.  Conspiracy to rebel, plan to catch them all in one fell swoop.

    The kings of the Wu family and Princess Taiping were all very frightened. They jointly exposed his crimes and were sentenced to death in prison.  Enemies competed for his flesh and soon all was eaten.  Lai Junchen is cunning, greedy and violent, trapping innocent people, weaving a rebellion, and killing people without any plan.  There was a mountain of stolen goods and bribes, and the innocent souls were blocked. Empress Wu also knew the world's resentment, and ordered him to be counted for his crimes and his family property to be confiscated.
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