Emperor Zhaozong of Tang

Emperor Zhaozong of Tang (March 31, 867 – September 22, 904), né Li Jie, name later changed to Li Min and again to Li Ye, was the penultimate emperor of China's Tang dynasty. He reigned from 888 to 904 (although he was briefly deposed by the eunuch Liu Jishu in 900 and restored in 901). Emperor Zhaozong was the seventh son of Emperor Yizong and younger brother of Emperor Xizong. Later, Li Jie was murdered by Zhu Wen, who would later become the founding emperor of the Later Liang dynasty.

During Emperor Zhaozong's reign, the Tang dynasty fell into total disarray and rebellions, which had been ongoing since the reign of his older brother, Emperor Xizong, as they erupted throughout the country while the imperial government's authority effectively disappeared. In the midst of all this, Emperor Zhaozong tried to salvage the dying dynasty. However, his efforts to reassert imperial power generally backfired, as his unsuccessful campaigns against Li Keyong, Chen Jingxuan, and Li Maozhen, merely allowed them to re-affirm their power. Eventually, the major warlord Zhu Wen seized control of the imperial government and in 904 had Emperor Zhaozong killed as the prelude of taking over the Tang throne. Zhu also killed many of Emperor Zhaozong's ministers, including the chancellor, Cui Yin. Zhu then placed Zhaozong's 13-year-old son as a puppet emperor (as Emperor Ai). By 907, Zhu himself took over the throne, ending the Tang dynasty and establishing a new Later Liang dynasty. Emperor Zhaozong's reign lasted almost 16 years and he was buried in the He Mausoleum . He was 37.

Background Li Jie was born in 867, during the reign of his father Emperor Yizong, in the eastern palace at the imperial capital Chang'an. (As Li Jie was also said to have been from the same mother as his older brother Li Yan, ) It was said that Li Jie was particularly close to Emperor Xizong since they shared the same mother, and he followed Emperor Xizong in flight from Chang'an from the attack of the agrarian rebels led by Huang Chao in 880. While on this flight, Li Jie, who was then 13, ran out of energy and requested a horse from the eunuch Tian Lingzi, who dominated Emperor Xizong's court; Tian refused and whipped Li Jie's attendant for the request. Li Jie thereafter bore a deep resentment for Tian. Emperor Zhaozong ordered Chen back to Chang'an and commissioned Wei Zhaodu as his replacement. When Chen refused to be replaced, Emperor Zhaozong ordered a general campaign against him, with Wei in command, assisted by Wang, Gu, and Yang Fugong's adoptive nephew Yang Shouliang the military governor of Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi).

Even though Yang Fugong had been instrumental in having Emperor Zhaozong made emperor, by 889 conflicts had begun between the emperor and the chief eunuch, leading to a public argument between Yang and the chancellors Kong Wei on one occasion over Kong's accusation that Yang was disrespecting the emperor. Nothing further came of the dispute publicly at this point, however. Nevertheless, at the suggestion of Kong's colleague Zhang Jun, who advocated that a strong imperial army directly under the emperor was essential for the restoration of imperial power to counteract the warlords and the eunuch-commanded Shence Armies, Emperor Zhaozong began recruiting an imperial army that eventually numbered 100,000 by spring 890.

Li Maozhen wanted to add Shannan West to his territory, so he requested to be Shannan West's military governor, fully expecting that Emperor Zhaozong would allow him to retain both Fengxiang and Shannan West. Instead, Emperor Zhaozong issued an edict making him the military governor of Shannan West and Wuding (武定, headquartered in modern Hanzhong) Circuits, while making the chancellor Xu Yanruo the military governor of Fengxiang. Despite the misgivings of the chancellor Du Rangneng, Emperor Zhaozong launched a campaign against Li Maozhen, with Du in charge of the logistics and Li Sizhou the Prince of Qin in command of the imperial guards, which Emperor Zhaozong had rebuilt with new recruits. The imperial army had low morale and little battle experience, however, and when Li Sizhou set to engage Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu's experienced armies, the army collapsed. Li Maozhen approached Chang'an, demanding Du's death. Emperor Zhaozong capitulated, ordering Du to commit suicide and allowing Li Maozhen to retain Fengxiang, Shannan West, Wuding, and Tianxiong. It was said that after this point, Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu, in alliance with the chancellor Cui Zhaowei, were heavily influencing imperial governance, such that the emperor would not dare to carry out any measures that they opposed.

The actions of Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han, in turn, drew a strong reaction from Li Keyong, who launched his army, crossed the Yellow River, and prepared to attack the three of them. Rumors developed that Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu both wanted to seize the emperor and take him to their domains. Emperor Zhaozong, in response, fled into the Qinling Mountains with his officials, and the people of Chang'an followed in droves. Meanwhile, Li Keyong engaged and defeated Wang's and Li Maozhen's troops, then put Wang's capital Bin Prefecture under siege. Wang fled and was killed by his own subordinates in flight. Li Maozhen and Han capitulated, sending apologies and tributes to Emperor Zhaozong. Emperor Zhaozong, who returned to Chang'an, bestowed great honors on Li Keyong and his key subordinates, but hesitated when Li Keyong proposed to attack Li Maozhen, believing that if Li Keyong destroyed Li Maozhen, the balance of power would be lost. He therefore forbade Li Keyong from attacking Li Maozhen. Li Keyong withdrew to Hedong Circuit, and, owing to his eventual defeats at the hands of Zhu Quanzhong, would not be able to return again.

Emperor Zhaozong made peace with Li Maozhen in spring 898, restoring the titles that he had previously stripped from Li Maozhen. With Zhu Quanzhong urging the emperor to move the capital to the eastern capital Luoyang, Han and Li Maozhen became apprehensive that he would launch an army to seize the emperor, and therefore repaired the palaces and governmental offices at Chang'an (which Li Maozhen's army had destroyed). In fall 898, Emperor Zhaozong returned to Chang'an, but with no army around him now other than the eunuch-controlled Shence Armies. and who was allied with Zhu Quanzhong. was planning with Cui to slaughter the eunuchs. When Cui's fellow chancellor Wang Tuan urged against such action, believing the plans to be too drastic, Cui accused Wang of being in league with the powerful eunuchs Zhu Daobi and Jing Wuxiu , who served as the directors of palace communications (Shumishi). Upon Cui's accusations, Emperor Zhaozong ordered Wang, Zhu Daobi, and Jing to commit suicide, and it was said that from this point Cui became the leading figure at court, with the eunuchs angry at and fearful of him. Still, Fengxiang's defenses were holding, and by fall 902, Zhu, with his attacks hampered by rains and illnesses to the soldiers, was considering a withdrawal. A trap advocated by and set by Zhu's officer Gao Jichang, however, induced Li Maozhen to send his troops outside the city walls to attack Zhu's troops, where they were crushed by Zhu's troops. From this point on, Li Maozhen could not fight back against Zhu any more, and by winter 902, Fengxiang was in such a desperate shape such that the residents were resorting to cannibalism. In spring 903, Li Maozhen sued for peace with Zhu, surrendering Emperor Zhaozong and the imperial household to him while killing Han and the other leading eunuchs, as well as Li Jiyun, Li Jihui, and Li Yanbi. Zhu took the emperor back to Chang'an, where one of the first actions Zhu and Cui carried out was to slaughter the remaining eunuchs, regardless of whether they supported Han's actions. This would be the effective end of the Shence Armies.

Chancellors during reign

Wei Zhaodu (888, 893–895) Kong Wei (888–891, 895) Du Rangneng (888–893) Zhang Jun (888–891) Liu Chongwang (889–892) Cui Zhaowei (891–895) Xu Yanruo (891–893, 894–900) Zheng Yanchang (892–894) Cui Yin (893–895, 896–899, 900–904) Zheng Qi (894) Li Xi (894, 895) Li Zhirou (895) Lu Xisheng (895) Wang Tuan (895–896, 896–900) Sun Wo (895–897) Lu Yi (896, 899–903) Zhu Pu (896–897) Cui Yuan (896–900, 904) Pei Zhi (900–903) Wang Pu (901–903) Pei Shu (901, 903–904) Lu Guangqi (901–902) Wei Yifan (902, 902) Su Jian (902–903) Dugu Sun (903–904) Liu Can (904)

Family Empress Xuanmu, of the He clan (; d. 906) Li Yu, Prince of De (; d. 905), 1st son Princess Pingyuan , 2nd daughter Married Li Jikan (, 李继偘), a son of Li Maozhen, in 903 Li Zhu, Emperor Ai (; 892–908), 9th son Zhaoyi, of the Li clan (昭儀 李氏, d. 22 September 904), personal name Jianrong (漸榮/渐荣) Lady of Zhao, of the Chen clan (赵国夫人陈氏） Lady of Jin, of the Ke clan (金国夫人可证), personal name Zheng Lady of Wei, personal name Chongyan (魏国夫人 宠颜) Lady, of the Pei clan of Hedong (裴氏), personal name Zhenyi (贞一) Unknown Li Yu, Prince of Di (; d. 905), second son Li Xi, Prince of Qian (; d. 905), third son Li Yin, Prince of Yi (; d. 905), fourth son Li Yi, Prince of Sui (，遂王 李祎， d. 905), fifth son Li Mi, Prince of Jing (; d. 905), eighth son Li Qi, Prince of Qi (; d. 905), tenth son Li Zhen, Prince of Ya (; d. 905), 11th son Li Xiang, Prince of Qiong (; 琼王 李祥， d. 905), 12th son Li Zhen, Prince of Duan Li Qi, Prince of Feng (，丰王 李祁) Li Fu, Prince of He Li Xi, Prince of Deng Li Hu, Prince of Jia Li Zhi, Prince of Ying (，颖王 李禔) Li You, Prince of Cai Princess Xin'an Princess Xindou Princess Yichang , seventh daughter Princess Tangxing (/唐兴公主) Princess Deqing Princess Taikang Princess Yongming (; d. 906) Princess Xinxing (，新兴公主) Princess Pu'an Princess Leping (，乐平公主)

Succession