The ancient emperor had 3,000 emperors, so when Wu Zetian ascended the throne, how many male favorites did he have in his harem?

To this day, many people still wonder, in ancient times, the emperor had 3,000 noble families, so when Wu Zetian ascended the throne, the first Queen in Chinese history, did she also have "three palaces and six courtyards" and "3,000 young men and women?" " or not?

Vo Zetian (also known as Vo Mi Nuong, Vo Chieu) was born on February 17, 624 into a well-off noble family. Entering the palace at the age of 14, she was given the name "Mi" by Emperor Thai Tong of the Tang Dynasty, graceful and beautiful, yearning to shine, longing for the Emperor's favor. But she was only a "slave" of Thai Tong for more than 10 years.

After the death of Thai Tong, Wu Zetian was sent to Cam Nghiep pagoda as a nun. As a woman, she wanted liberation from monastic life, which could only be achieved through marriage and needed to rely on an obedient husband. Historical opportunity made Thai Tong's son Ly Tri her choice.

Cao Tong Ly Tri was emotional, weak and sickly, indecisive, and had feelings for Wu Zetian. So, after 5 years of living in a cold and lonely temple, she entered the palace for the second time and became "Chieu Nghi" of Cao Tong.

When Tang Gaozong died, Wu Zetian spent the reigns of Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong as Empress Dowager, and eventually became the sole Emperor of the Wu Zhou dynasty, the dynasty she founded that survived. from 690 to 705. She is also the only recognized female emperor in Chinese history.

In ancient times, the feudal ideology of valuing men over women was still deeply rooted. Until the Ly Tang dynasty, Wu Zetian opened a new ruling regime with the first queen in history as the ruler. Only then can we break this chain of ignorance. That's why later generations' criticism and assessments of her also caused a lot of controversy.

The fact that Wu Zetian became emperor also made posterity wonder whether her harem would have three palaces or 3,000 beautiful women like other emperors?

On the 9th day of the 9th lunar month in the year 690, Wu Zetian, then Empress Dowager Wu, officially ascended the throne at Zetianmen, changed the dynasty's name from Tang to Chu, and changed the era name to Thien Thu. After ascending the throne, the Queen did not want to be inferior to other emperors, she also began to recruit a harem. However, her harem did not have beautiful women, instead she raised male favorites.

According to the book "Old Tang Books", a book compiled by historians of the Later Jin Dynasty (907-960) about the history of the Tang Dynasty, after Wu Zetian proclaimed himself emperor, the harem raised many male pets.

Among them, the Queen quite favored Truong Dich Chi, Truong Xuong Tong, Tham Nam Mao, Tiet Hoai Nghia,... According to records in the book "Old Tang Book - Truong Hanh Thanh Story", Vo Tac's first male wife Thien's name is Tiet Hoai Nghia. Tiet Hoai Nghia's real name is Phung Tieu Bao. Since he was a child, he has been involved in wandering around, training to have a strong body, and despite his roughness, he has not lost a bit of his handsomeness.

Thanks to his muscular appearance and beautiful face, Phung Tieu Bao caught the eye of the maid in Princess Thien Kim's palace of Duong Cao Tong. This maid secretly brought Phung Tieu Bao into the palace for a date and was discovered by the princess. Because he wanted to please Vo Ze Thien, Thien Kim decided to offer Phung Tieu Bao to her.

Tieu Bao was just 30 years old at that time. She had good skills, so she was extremely favored by Vo Ze Thien. In order to allow Phung Tieu Bao to enter the palace in a reasonable way, Vo Tac Thien turned Phung Tieu Bao into a monk, repaired Bach Ma Tu in Luo Duong so that he could take over the position of Abbot.

At the same time, let him study Buddhist scriptures, so that he can hide his identity and also cultivate his personality. Later, Vo Ze Thien changed his name to Hoai Nghia and gave him the family name Tiet, so that Princess Thai Binh's son-in-law, Captain Tiet Thieu, would treat him like a father and uncle. When Tiet Hoai Nghia became her male favorite, she was 61 years old.

Tiet Hoai Nghia was not only the male favorite of Queen Vo, he was also responsible for building two palaces, Minh Duong and Thien Duong. However, Tiet's male wife increasingly interfered in court affairs, culminating in setting fire to two palaces. This made Wu Zetian angry and ordered him to be executed.

The reason Tiet Hoai Nghia died was because he was jealous of Vo Ze Thien's second male favorite - Tham Nam Mau. Tham Nam Mau is a royal physician who is extremely favored by Empress Wu thanks to his appearance that is very similar to his predecessor, Ly The Dan.

In addition, he was loved by the female emperor because he specialized in creating remedies to retain her youth. When Tham Nam Cau died of illness, she cried a lot and wrote poetry to express her grief.

Wu Zetian's third male favorite is Truong Tong Xuong. This person was presented to the female emperor by Princess Thai Binh when she was over 70 years old. History books describe that Truong Tong Xuong's face was "as beautiful as a lotus".

After that, Truong Tong Xuong also led his younger brother Truong Dich Chi into the palace to serve Empress Wu. According to Former Duong Thu, the two were "in their twenties, white and handsome, good at singing and singing" which made Vo Tac Thien very satisfied. The female emperor also made them national dukes. The two often wear makeup and beautiful outfits.

In 698, Wu Zetian founded Khong Hac Giam in the name of a place for discussion and literary development, in fact her harem. Truong Tong Xuong and Truong Dich Chi are the managers of this place. Khong Hac Giam has 43 members, including Martial Empress's male favorites and literati. In the mid-700s, this place had a bad reputation as a entertainment venue, so she changed its name to Phung Than Phu.

Under Empress Wu's tolerance, the two Truong brothers stirred up trouble at the court, causing many officials to become dissatisfied. In 704, Wu Zetian fell ill so he did not care about politics and let these two people decide everything.

In 705, fearing that the two Truong brothers would rebel, prime minister Truong Gian Chi and his ministers launched a mutiny, forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate and placing Emperor Zhongzong on the throne. The female emperor was imprisoned in the palace and died not long after, at the age of 81. Two male favorites of the Truong family also died after her death.

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