Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

But no matter how powerful the fox was, it was ultimately no match for the hunter. The next year, he challenged Prime Minister Di Renjie and falsely accused him of treason, hoping to remove the last stumbling block in his life.

But what he didn't expect was that this opponent who was well versed in criminal law actually confessed his guilt. He was so happy that he relaxed his guard, but the seemingly defeated opponent found an opportunity to send the documents beside him to his boss.

In order to maintain the balance in the court, the boss pardoned Di Renjie, but he was still a favorite of the boss. Although countless people complained to the boss every day, he was still useful and was indulged in doing whatever he wanted.

But tools are tools after all. Once he offends the wrong people, his fate will not be much better than those of his former colleagues. In 697 AD, he wanted to frame his boss's daughter and those brothers.

Others thought that he was so overwhelmed by power that he even dared to frame his boss's favorite daughter. But he was not a fool, so how could he not know the disparity between their statuses? In this case, how could he dare to take the risk of offending the relatives that his boss favored?

The real history is probably like this: he did not intend to falsely accuse his boss's daughter and brother, but because he had done so many evil things, he had made countless enemies. In order to seek revenge, they slandered him and wanted to attack his boss's relatives.

Regardless of whether the informant's words were true or false, the boss hesitated again and again, and finally ordered him to be beheaded in public. The onlookers, both men and women, old and young, rushed to scrape off his flesh, and the boss also ordered his house to be confiscated in order to calm the public anger.

Most of the cruel officials in history did not have a good end. They were the emperor's lackeys and also the scapegoats.

When the emperor needs to eliminate dissidents, they are favorites; when the emperor no longer needs them, they become treacherous ministers and cruel officials.

Even so, there are still people who continue to compete to become the emperor's lackeys, but in the end they cannot escape the fate of being abandoned after the rabbit has died.

——"So Wu Zetian's bad reputation is not unjust at all."

——"I've seen it, it's really amazing, it's simply psychology."

——"Boss: This guy has done all the bad things for me. If I kill him now, I can establish an image of justice."

[The most powerful female official in the Tang Dynasty - Shangguan Wan'er, a female official in the Tang Dynasty]

Shangguan Wan'er was one of the most powerful women officials in Chinese history. Her life was full of legends and ups and downs, from a lady from a noble family to a slave in the imperial court, and then from a court lady to a powerful official. Her story is as exciting as any palace drama today.

In the treacherous Tang palace, she worked hard to win a place for herself. Why was Shangguan Wan'er, who had lived through three dynasties, accused of being promiscuous and abusing power, and was trusted by Wu Zetian, but was executed on the spot by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang?

In this video, let us walk into the life of Shangguan Wan'er, a famous talented woman in the Tang Dynasty, in chronological order.

Shangguan Wan'er, also known as Shangguan Zhaorong, was born in Shanzhou, Henan Province. Her grandfather Shangguan Yi was the prime minister during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and a famous court poet at the time. He created the elegant and graceful Shangguan style of poetry.

If nothing unexpected happened, Shangguan Wan'er would grow up to be a talented woman, write moving poems, marry a noble man of equal status, and live a happy life.

However, the appearance of a woman completely changed her life. This woman was the Queen Wu Meiniang at the time, who would later become the famous Empress Wu Zetian.

Not long after Shangguan Wan'er was born, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, suffered from rheumatism and often felt dizzy, so he had to ask Empress Wu to help with state affairs.

However, Empress Wu took the opportunity to suppress dissidents and cultivate her cronies, which caused Li Zhi's strong dissatisfaction and he wanted to depose her. Shangguan Yi, as the prime minister at the time, was responsible for drafting the edict to depose the empress.

However, Empress Wu would not sit still and wait for death. The eunuchs and palace maids around Li Zhi had already been bribed by Wu Zetian. As soon as Shangguan Yi finished writing the edict to depose the empress, Empress Wu received the news.

Wu Zetian came to Li Zhi to complain, which made Li Zhi feel ashamed and uneasy, and the couple shook hands and made peace. But Shangguan Yi became a scapegoat. Under the false accusation of Wu Zetian's favorite ministers, Shangguan Yi was executed for treason, his property was confiscated, and his female relatives were sent to the palace as slaves.

The Ye Ting in the Tang Dynasty was where the palace maids and concubines lived, including many women like Shangguan Wan'er who were born in noble families but fell into the Ye Ting. Most of these women could only sweep and mend in the deep palace for their entire lives, without freedom, lack of food and clothing, and spent their lives in silence.

However, Wan'er's mother did not give up hope even under such difficult conditions. She taught Wan'er poetry and prose, hoping that one day she could help her daughter escape from this cage.

Under the careful training of her mother, Shangguan Wan'er was well-versed in poetry and books. She was not only able to recite poems and write essays, but also had a good understanding of official affairs and was extremely intelligent.

When Wan'er was 14 years old, Wu Zetian ordered the selection of female officials. Wan'er stood out from the crowd of palace maids with her good writing skills, escaped from her slave status, and was named a talented person.

When faced with questions from Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan'er answered fluently and fluently, with gorgeous rhetoric. Wu Zetian was very happy after reading it. Since then, Shangguan Wan'er became the nominal concubine of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and also became a popular person around Empress Wu Zetian.

So why did Wu Zetian promote Shangguan Yi's granddaughter as a talented person? When Wu Zetian was in power, she had to deal with most of the court's memorials herself. To this end, Wu Zetian promoted a group of talented women to assist in handling government affairs.

As the granddaughter of Shangguan Yi, Shangguan Wan'er was intelligent and good at writing, with a graceful and charming style, and she was very good at pleasing Wu Zetian. She also had a good relationship with Wu Zetian's daughter Princess Taiping.

After Wu Zetian ascended the throne, the 27-year-old Shangguan Wan'er became a veritable female prime minister. She was involved in the drafting of imperial edicts and the decision-making of memorials from ministers. Military strategies and the power of life and death also mostly depended on Shangguan Wan'er.

For a time, Shangguan Wan'er became an important figure in the political arena.

However, it was not easy to work for Wu Zetian. Once, Shangguan Wan'er was sentenced to death for offending Wu Zetian, but Wu Zetian, who loved her, commuted the sentence to tattooing on her face.

Shangguan Wan'er served Wu Zetian more attentively from then on, and also had a good relationship with the Crown Prince Li Xian's family. However, soon after, Shangguan Wan'er's fate would change again.

In 705 AD, Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi and others launched a coup, forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate and supporting Crown Prince Li Xian to return to the throne, which is known as the Shenlong coup. As a popular figure around Wu Zetian, how will 42-year-old Shangguan Wan'er stand?

Although the history books do not record Shangguan Wan'er's attitude towards the Shenlong coup, Li Xian obviously had a good impression of this female prime minister beside his mother. After Li Xian was restored to the throne, he conferred Shangguan Wan'er the title of second-rank Zhaorong, continued to be in charge of palace affairs, and issued an edict to rehabilitate Shangguan Yi.

Not long after, Li Xian made her the unprecedented person to take charge of the Hanlin Academy, and opened the Zhaowen Academy, recruiting talented people from all over the world to enjoy poetry, wine, entertainment, composing poems and singing together, and let Wan'er appreciate the poetry and prose of the world.

In addition to literature, Shangguan Wan'er also had a great influence on military and national affairs. Li Xian often had to listen to her opinions before making decisions, so in order to seek promotion, court officials all scrambled to please Shangguan Wan'er.

But only five years later, Shangguan Wan'er had to face another battle of choosing sides. However, this time she failed.

In 710 AD, Li Xian died suddenly, and Empress Wei made Li Xian's illegitimate son Li Chongmao the emperor, following the example of Wu Zetian. However, Princess Taiping and Li Longji jointly launched a coup and eliminated Empress Wei's party.

When Li Longji led his army into the palace, Shangguan Wan'er knew that Empress Wei was doomed, so she led the palace people to welcome Li Longji and took out an imperial edict, which stated that Li Longji's father Li Dan should be appointed as the regent. However, it was too late. Li Longji was very dissatisfied with Shangguan Wan'er's attitude of playing both sides, and ordered her to be beheaded.

A talented lady of her generation, she passed away at the age of 47. Princess Taiping was very sad and arranged her funeral.

At the end of this article, let us use Shangguan Wan'er's epitaph to summarize her life: "The Xiang River is cut off, the clouds of Wushan are broken, the pearls sink into the air, the jade is broken into pieces. Looking at the pines and cypresses, listening quietly to the tomb, a thousand years of life, the sound of the pepper flowers singing."

——"Shangguan Wan'er is a perfect example of someone who is too clever and calculating."

——"Shangguan Wan'er and Di Renjie are Wuze Tainan's right-hand men. They are one of the few female prime ministers in history. They are both talented and beautiful. I like the poems she wrote very much."

——"I started writing against the wind and it flew!"

[At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the eunuchs seized power. History of the Tang Dynasty]

The once prosperous Tang Dynasty could not escape the fate of being controlled by eunuchs. Among the 21 emperors of the Tang Dynasty, 9 were supported by eunuchs, and two emperors died directly at the hands of eunuchs.

The power of eunuchs was the strongest in history. In this video, let's take a look at the powerful eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty.

Long before the An-Shi Rebellion broke out, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, was very fond of the great eunuch Gao Lishi. Unlike other eunuchs, Gao Lishi's power came from the emperor's favor.

No matter how powerful he was, Gao Lishi was always loyal and respectful to his master. With the outbreak of the An-Shi Rebellion, the emperor lost trust in military commanders from other clans, and the Li and Tang clans had always been in the fine tradition of killing each other.

When the emperor could not trust the military generals and royal family members, he could only choose to trust the household slaves around him, and the status of eunuchs began to rise rapidly.

In 756 AD, Crown Prince Li Heng ascended the throne in Lingwu, and his trusted eunuch Li Fuguo was rewarded and given the responsibility of managing the military power and supervising all officials. From then on, the eunuch group officially took center stage on the political stage of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Heng was a cowardly person and obeyed Li Fuguo's orders. Civil and military officials had to obtain Li Fuguo's consent before seeing the emperor. Even the retired emperor Li Longji was bullied by Li Fuguo.

Li Fuguo was so arrogant because he not only had military power, but also colluded with Empress Zhang. The two conspired to kill Li Heng's youngest son, Prince Jianning. Crown Prince Li Yu was afraid of Li Fuguo and dared not speak out against him.

However, Li Yu is young after all, and Li Fuguo is weak and sickly. One day, Li Yu will become emperor. At that time, will the eunuch group like Li Fuguo still be so arrogant?

In 762, Li Yu was seriously ill, and Empress Zhang wanted to depose Li Yu and choose another member of the Li Tang royal family to inherit the throne. Li Fuguo not only did not help Empress Zhang, but also turned to Li Yu to help him depose Empress Zhang, hoping to gain Li Yu's trust by supporting him and continue to hold power.

So would Li Yu really be willing to be manipulated by Li Fuguo?

After Li Yu ascended the throne, he respectfully addressed Li Fuguo as his father-in-law and consulted him on all important government affairs. Li Fuguo was complacent and relaxed his vigilance.

Not long after, Li Yu sent someone to break into Li Fuguo's house late at night and killed him while he was sleeping. This was the end of a generation of powerful eunuchs. However, the eunuchs' monopoly of power started by him was far from over.

After Li Fuguo's death, Li Yu promoted the eunuch Yu Chaoen to participate in government affairs. Unexpectedly, Yu Chaoen was not much better than Li Fuguo. Not to mention the civil and military ministers, even the emperor Li Yu was ignored by him. Li Yu deeply regretted it and joined forces with the prime minister to kill Yu Chaoen.

Although the eunuchs had great power at that time, the emperor still had enough power to eradicate them. But when Li Yu's son Li Shi ascended the throne, the power of the eunuchs was further enhanced.

Not to mention the prime minister, even the emperor could not stop them. Emperor Dezong of Tang, Li Shi, also knew the harm of eunuchs' disorderly politics, so as early as the beginning of his reign, he was able to use capable officials and demote eunuchs. But after a few years, he found that eunuchs were still trustworthy.

In 783 AD, the governor of Jingyuan brought 5000 soldiers to Chang'an to ask for a reward, but unexpectedly got nothing. Since the emperor was unwilling to give, he had no choice but to take it.

The generals and soldiers made a big fuss in Chang'an and looted everywhere. Tang Dezong was so scared that he fled Chang'an, but he had no guards around him. Only the eunuchs stayed with Li Shi loyally.

From then on, Li Shi also used eunuchs as his grandfather did. In life and death situations, domestic slaves are the most reliable.

In this way, the eunuchs' power grew stronger and stronger. Although they could not become emperors themselves, they could decide who would be the emperor. If the emperor did not want to listen to them, they could replace the emperor.

After Li Shi's son Li Song ascended the throne, he relied on Liu Zongyuan and others to launch reforms. However, because this violated the interests of the eunuchs and the local governors, he was forced by the chief eunuch Ju Wenzhen to give up the throne to his son Li Chun.

Not long after, he died mysteriously. After Li Chun became emperor, he continued to use eunuchs and let them lead troops to war. Some ministers advised Li Chun to be careful about the eunuchs' excessive power, but Li Chun said they were just family slaves, and no matter how much power they were given, it would be easy to get rid of them.

However, the power of the eunuchs was so great that everyone in the court and the country could see it. Even the concubines in the harem had to deliberately win them over to help their sons fight for the throne.

In 820 AD, Li Chun died and the eunuchs supported Emperor Muzong of Tang, Li Heng, to ascend the throne. Li Heng was addicted to elixirs and died at the age of 30.

His eldest son, Emperor Jingzong of Tang, Li Zhan, was killed by the eunuch Liu Keming, and the throne was passed to Emperor Wenzong of Tang, Li Ang. Li Ang wanted to change the status quo of the eunuchs' dictatorship and planned to unite the court officials to kill the eunuchs, but he did not expect to send these officials to their death.

——"He gave away a big one with this move. He is a bad player who loves to play."

——"It's outrageous. They directly kicked out the contestants of the Ganlu Change."