Emperor Zhaozong

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About Emperor Zhaozong

Reign Years:888- 904 A.D

Given Name: Li Ye

Reign Name:Emperor Zhaozong

Emperor Zhaozong – Tang Dynasty

Emperor Zhaozong was the second to the last ruler of the Tang Dynasty. He was born as Li Jie and was later given the name Li Min, then Li Ye. His rule started in 888 and ended in 904.

Zhaozong of Tang was smart, ambitious, and strong-willed. However, the Tang Dynasty was already declining at that time, and the empire was controlled by corrupt and manipulative eunuchs. Aggressive rebellions were also occurring across the nation, and local military forces were controlled by strong warlords.

Early Life of Li Jie

Li Jie was born in 867 in the easter palace at Chang’an, the imperial capital. His father was Emperor Yizong, and his mother was the concubine Consort Wang. When he was born, Consort Wang died afterwards.

In 872, Emperor Yizong named Li Jie the Prince of Shou. When his older brother, Emperor Xizong, was ruling the empire in 877, Li Jie was given several honorary titles. These were the Kaifu Yitong Sansi, commandant at You Prefecture, and Jiedushi (military governor) of Lulong Circuit.

In the following year, Huang Chao’s rebellion had been quashed, and the imperial court was returned to Chang’an. Eventually, Emperor Xizong became severely ill. The imperial officials wanted Li Bao, the eldest among Xizong’s surviving brothers, to succeed the throne.

However, Yang Fugong, a powerful eunuch, preferred Li Jie as the emperor to succeed Xizong. With that. Xizong issued an edict to make Li Jie the crown prince.

When Emperor Xizong died, Li Jie changed his name to Li Min and ascended the throne as Emperor Zhaozong.

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The Reign of Emperor Zhaozong

During Emperor Zhaozong’s reign, the Tang Dynasty fell into chaos. The rebellions that had been ongoing since Xizong’s rule didn’t stop as well. The authority of the imperial government had become ineffective to save the falling empire.

Unfortunately, Zhaozong of Tang’s efforts to reassert the imperial government’s power backfired. His failed campaigns against Chen Jingxuan, Li Keyong, and Li Maozhen allowed the eunuchs to reassert their power and control.

The Campaigns against Chen Jingxuan and Li Keyong

When Emperor Zhaozong seized the throne, he immediately received petitions advocating to remove Chen Jingxuan from his post. Chen Jingxuan was the Jiedushi or military governor of the Xichuan Circuit.

The emperor ordered Chen to return to Chang’an and have Wei Zhaodu take his position. However, Chen refused to be replaced, so Zhaozong started a general campaign against the military governor with Wei in command.

During the campaign against Chen Jingxuan, another campaign was ongoing during the later years of Emperor Zhaozong’s rule.

Although Yang Fugong was involved in making Emperor Zhaozong succeed as emperor, conflicts eventually began between them. This led to a public argument in 889 between Yang and the chancellor Kong Wei.

A campaign against the warlord Li Keyong, the Jiedushi of the Hedong Circuit, was also endorsed. Li Keyong was defeated.

At this point, the campaign against Chen Jingxuan was in a stalemate. The imperial army placed Chengdu, Xichuan’s capital, under siege, causing severe famine. Since the imperial treasury was being drained, they weren’t able to capture the capital.

With that, Zhaozong of Tang decided to end the Xichuan campaign.

The Conflict with Li Maozhen

Although the campaign against Li Keyong ended, the conflict between Emperor Zhaozong and Yang continued. In fact, the tension between them worsened.

During the fall of 891, Yang planned to retire, which was approved by Emperor Zhaozong. Later, there were rumors that Yang was plotting a rebellion against the emperor at Chang’an.

Zhaozong of Tang ordered the imperial guards to attack Yang Fugong’s mansion, causing the latter to flee. Yang Fugong fled with his adoptive sons and nephews. They started to rebel against the imperial government afterwards.

In response to the rebel army, Fengxiang Circuit’s Jiedushi Li Maozhen submitted a joint petition to the emperor. He requested to be the commander of the army against the Yang, but Emperor Zhaozong hesitated to approve the petition.

Despite being hostile with the rebellious Yang army, the emperor denied the request to grant Li Maozhen more power. But eventually, Emperor Zhaozong was forced to make Li Maozhen the commander of the imperial army. In 892, during winter, the Yang had fallen, causing them to flee.

Later, Li Maozhen requested to include Shannan West in his territory and be the area’s military governor. Although the emperor approved the request, he made the chancellor Xu Yanruo the Jiedushi of Fengxiang and started a campaign against Li Maozhen.

The imperial army’s morale was low with its inexperienced troops, but Li Maozhen’s army collapsed.

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End of Reign and Death of Emperor Zhaozong

At some point, the great warlord Zhu Quanzhong was able to gain control of the imperial government. In 904, he ordered the killing of Zhaozong of Tang as his preliminary actions in seizing the Tang Dynasty throne. The warlord also murdered a lot of the emperor’s ministers.

Afterwards, Zhu Quanzhong made Li Zuo, Emperor Zhaozong’s 13-year-old son, a puppet emperor. He reigned as Emperor Ai, who was forced by the warlord to abdicate after three years. This brought the Tang Dynasty to an end.