Li Longji and the Kaiyuan Glory Days-Sequel І

Li Longji and the Kaiyuan Glory Days-Sequel І



Li Longji was born in 685 - an eventful period in the Tang-dynasty court. One year before his birth, his grandmother Wu Zetian, in collusion with Prime Minister Pei Yan, demoted his uncle Zhongzong to a lower title - the Prince of Luling; and his father, the Prince of Yu, was enthroned as Tang Emperor Ruizong. Ruizong, however, though a ruler at the prime of his life, remained secluded in another palace, and barred from the access to state affairs. Li Longji was made the Prince of Chuat the age of 3.



When he was 6, Wu Zetian formally changed the name of the dynasty from "Tang" to "Zhou." Emperor Ruizong was reduced to the rank of "Crown Prince" and sent back to the palace designated to him. In the 12th month (Chinese lunar calendar) of the year 693, Li Longji was made Prince of Linzi. That same year, his mother was framed by housemaid Tuan'er, and, on the 2nd of the lst lunar month the following year, secretly executed in the palace, and buried to this day no one knows where. In the 8th month of the same year, his father was also falsely charged with "conspiracy."



After the death of Wu Zetian, Emperor Zhongzong, mane and cowardly, left power to his wife Empress Wei and his daughter Princess Anle. Subjects who had made outstanding achievements for the country, like Zhang Jianzhi, were either demoted or exiled; the Crown Prince Li Chongjun was murdered; Wu Sansi and his ilk, who had been out of royal favor, staged a comeback; Empress Wei reinstated her own brother in power and urged her daughter Princess Anle to unscrupulously take bribes through awarding official ranks; she also ordered Taoist temples built at random and enslaved the people. State power fell completely into the clutches of the Wei-Wu clique.



In the 6th month of 710, after Empress Wei and her gang poisoned Emperor Zhongzong to death, Li Longji resolutely launched a palace coup and seized the whole Wei-Wu clique. Thus, Emperor Ruizong was restored to power. Li Longji, for his merits in stabilizing the state of affairs, was awarded the title, "Prince of Peace."