Wu Zetian
Biography
From concubine to emperor, Wu ruled China in her own name, the only woman ever. She expanded the exam system, meritocracy against the aristocracy, agriculture investment. Her secret police and Buddhist justification, Maitreya incarnate, marked the reign. At 80 she was deposed in a coup, the Tang restored, she left a blank stele, her epitaph for others to write.
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