Empress He (Zhaozong)
Encyclopedia
Empress He (d. December 29, 905), semi-formally known as Empress Jishan (積善皇后) (after the palace she resided in, Jishan Palace), was the wife of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang
(Li Jie/Li Ye) near the end of the Chinese
dynasty Tang Dynasty
, and the mother of two of his sons, Li You/Li Yu
and Emperor Ai of Tang
(Li Zuo/Li Zhu). Her husband, she, and her sons would all die at the hands of the warlord Zhu Quanzhong, who would eventually take over the Tang throne and establish his own Later Liang Dynasty
.
, Sichuan
), and her family was not prominent. She became a consort of Li Jie
's while he was the Prince of Shou. It was said that she was beautiful and wise, and therefore was favored by Li Jie.
After Li Jie (who then changed his name to Li Min, and then to Li Ye) became emperor (as Emperor Zhaozong) in 888 after the death of his brother Emperor Xizong
, he created Consort He an imperial consort with the rank of Shufei (淑妃), the second highest rank for imperial consorts below empress. She was the mother of his oldest son Li You
(who was created the Prince of De) and ninth son Li Zuo
(who was created the Prince of Hui). (Li You's birth date is unknown, while Li Zuo was born in 892
.)
In 897, while Emperor Zhaozong was at Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan
, Shaanxi
) after having fled the imperial capital Chang'an
in 896 in response to an attack by the warlord Li Maozhen
the military governor (Jiedushi
) of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji
, Shaanxi
), he created Li You Crown Prince
(and changed Li You's name to Li Yu), and then created Consort He empress. (She was the first living empress in a century since Emperor Zhaozong's great-great-great-grandmother Empress Wang
, the wife of Emperor Dezong
, was briefly empress for three days before her death in 786, even though there had been emperors' mothers who were honored empresses dowager
while they were alive after their sons became emperors and/or been honored empresses posthumously.)
, one of the two commanders of the eunuch-controlled Shence Armies, who took the Shence Army soldiers into the palace to force him to abdicate and pass the throne to Li Yu. Emperor Zhaozong initially tried to resist Liu's order for him to abdicate, but Empress He, sensing the severity of the situation, convinced him to submit to Liu's order. Liu proclaimed Li Yu emperor (and changed his name to Li Zhen) while having Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He given the titles os retired emperor (Taishang Huang) and retired empress (Taishang Huanghou) respectively, but actually had Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, and most of their household, put under house arrest at Shaoyang Pavilion (少陽院). Less than two months later, when a group of Shence Army officers loyal to Emperor Zhaozong (led by Sun Dezhao (孫德昭), Dong Yanbi (董彥弼), and Zhou Chenghui (周承誨)) killed Liu and his fellow Shence Army commander Wang Zhongxian (王仲先), it was at Empress He's advice that Emperor Zhaozong first verified that Liu and Wang were dead before exiting Shaoyang Pavilion to resume the throne. He changed Li Zhen's name back to Li Yu but removed the title of Crown Prince from him, making him against the Prince of De.
Emperor Zhaozong, however, subsequently resisted advice from the chancellor Cui Yin
to wrest control of the Shence Armies from the eunuchs and put them under the command of the chancellors; instead, he commissioned the eunuchs Han Quanhui
and Zhang Yanhong (張彥弘) as the new commanders of the Shence Armies. This eventually led to the deepening of the enmity between Cui and the eunuchs. The chief eunuchs entered into an alliance with Li Maozhen, while Cui entered into an alliance with Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng
, Henan
). When Cui summoned Zhu to Chang'an to try to use Zhu to wrest control of the Shence Armies from the eunuchs, the eunuchs kidnapped Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, taking them to Fengxiang Circuit's capital Fengxiang Municipality.
Zhu subsequently attacked Fengxiang Municipality and put it under siege. By 903, Fengxiang was out of food and under dire straits. Li Maozhen sued for peace with Zhu, agreeing to give him the emperor. However, to try to maintain a relationship with Emperor Zhaozong, before he released the emperor, he requested that Emperor Zhaozong marry Empress He's daughter Princess Pingyuan to his son Song Kan (李繼侃) and have Li Mi (李秘) the Prince of Jing marry the daughter of the chancellor Su Jian
, to whom Li Maozhen was aligned. Emperor Zhaozong, eager to be out of Li Maozhen's grasp, agreed to both marriage proposals despite Empress He's misgivings. Li Maozhen subsequently transferred the emperor and his household to Zhu, who took them back to Chang'an. (Subsequently, at Emperor Zhaozong's request, Zhu wrote Li Maozhen, demanding that he return Princess Pingyuan; Li Maozhen, whose military strength was greatly weakened, did not dare to resist, and returned Princess Pingyuan to the emperor.)
Cui subsequently realized that Zhu was leaving soldiers at Chang'an to control the emperor, and he feared the consequences. With the Shence Armies having been disbanded, he tried to reorganize the imperial army to resist Zhu. Zhu, in response, arrested Cui and forced Emperor Zhaozong to order Cui's removal; he then put Cui to death. He then, believing that Li Maozhen and Li Maozhen's adoptive son Li Jihui
the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern Xianyang
, Shaanxi
) might again attack Chang'an and seize control of the emperor, decided to destroy the city himself and forcibly move the capital to Luoyang
, which was firmly under his control. Emperor Zhaozong was forced to agree. However, during the journey to Luoyang, Emperor Zhaozong tried to slow down the trip with the reason that Empress He had just given birth and could not travel fast — so that he could try to send out secret emissaries to other major warlords Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu
, Sichuan
), Li Keyong
the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan
, Shanxi
), and Yang Xingmi
the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou
, Jiangsu
) — to no avail, as Zhu forced him to progress quicker to Luoyang. (Empress He probably had a daughter at this time, as Li Yu and Li Zuo were the only sons that she was recorded to have.)
Meanwhile, after the imperial household's arrival in Luoyang, Zhu, despite his having the imperial household under secure control, was disliking the fact that Li Yu was growing up and appearing handsome, worrying that he would become a focus of resistance. (Before Cui's death, he had suggested to Cui that Li Yu, as having improperly taken the throne earlier (albeit under duress) should be put to death; Cui relayed his proposal to Emperor Zhaozong, and when Emperor Zhaozong, who was shocked by the proposal, questioned Zhu, Zhu disavowed having suggested that to Cui.) Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, under the stress of not knowing what Zhu would do next, spent their days drinking and weeping. After Zhu made his staff member Jiang Xuanhui (蔣玄暉) the director of palace communications in order to have the emperor under his surveillance, Emperor Zhaozong in fact stated to Jiang, on one occasion, "The Prince of De is a beloved son of ours. Why does Quanzhong firmly want him dead?" When Jiang relayed these remarks to Zhu, Zhu became more apprehensive of the emperor, as well as the fact that at this time, the warlords who were resisting him (including Li Maozhen, Li Jihui, Li Keyong, Wang Jian, Yang, Zhao Kuangning
the military governor of Zhongyi Circuit (忠義, headquartered in modern Xiangyang
, Hubei
), and Liu Rengong
the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing
) were all ostensibly claiming that they wanted to restore the emperor's powers and return him to Chang'an. With Emperor Zhaozong being an adult and difficult to control, Zhu decided to get rid of the emperor and replace him with someone younger. In fall 904, he sent his adoptive son Zhu Yougong (朱友恭) and the officer Shi Shucong (氏叔琮) with soldiers to the palace. They killed Emperor Zhaozong and the imperial consorts Pei Zhenyi (裴貞一) and Li Jianrong (李漸榮); Empress He was spared only after she begged for her life from Jiang. Zhu declared Li Zuo Crown Prince, and then emperor (as Emperor Ai
, with his name changed to Li Zhu). Empress He was honored with the title of empress dowager
.
Zhu was soon planning to take over the throne himself, and he had Jiang and the chancellor Liu Can
plan the transition. Jiang advocated slowing down the process to try to get the people of the empire to gradually accept the coming transition from Tang to a new dynasty, and this displeased Zhu. Meanwhile, Empress Dowager He was having her ladies in waiting
Aqiu (阿秋) and Aqian (阿虔) passing messages between her and Jiang, begging him to have her life and that of the young emperor spared when the transition would occur. This led to Wang Yin (王殷) and Zhao Yinheng falsely accusing Jiang being in a conspiracy with the empress dowager to restore Tang imperial power. In late 905, Zhu had Jiang and Liu put to death and replaced Jiang with Wang and Zhao. Wang and Zhao then accused Empress Dowager He of having carried on an affair with Jiang. Zhu had them put the empress dowager to death, along with Aqiu and Aqian, and had Emperor Ai issue an edict posthumously demoting her to commoner status.
Emperor Zhaozong of Tang
Emperor Zhaozong of Tang , né Li Jie , name later changed to Li Min , yet later name changed to Li Ye , was the penultimate emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China. He reigned from 888 to 904...
(Li Jie/Li Ye) near the end of the Chinese
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
dynasty Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
, and the mother of two of his sons, Li You/Li Yu
Li Yu (prince)
Li Yu , né Li You , briefly Li Zhen , formally the Prince of De , was an imperial prince of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. He was the oldest son of the penultimate emperor Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He and was Crown Prince from 897 to 900...
and Emperor Ai of Tang
Emperor Ai of Tang
Emperor Ai of Tang , also known as Emperor Zhaoxuan , born Li Zuo, later Li Zhu , was the last emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 904 to 907. The Ai Emperor was the son of Emperor Zhaozong....
(Li Zuo/Li Zhu). Her husband, she, and her sons would all die at the hands of the warlord Zhu Quanzhong, who would eventually take over the Tang throne and establish his own Later Liang Dynasty
Later Liang Dynasty
The Later Liang was one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China. It was founded by Zhu Wen, posthumously known as Taizu of Later Liang, after he forced the last emperor of the Tang dynasty to abdicate in his favour...
.
Background
It was not known when the future Empress He was born. She was from Zi Prefecture (梓州, in modern MianyangMianyang
Mianyang is the second largest prefecture-level city of Sichuan province in Southwest China. Its administrative area includes the city proper of Mianyang, with 985,586 inhabitants in the built up area , the county-level city of Jiangyou, and six counties, covering an area of over and a population...
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
), and her family was not prominent. She became a consort of Li Jie
Emperor Zhaozong of Tang
Emperor Zhaozong of Tang , né Li Jie , name later changed to Li Min , yet later name changed to Li Ye , was the penultimate emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China. He reigned from 888 to 904...
's while he was the Prince of Shou. It was said that she was beautiful and wise, and therefore was favored by Li Jie.
After Li Jie (who then changed his name to Li Min, and then to Li Ye) became emperor (as Emperor Zhaozong) in 888 after the death of his brother Emperor Xizong
Emperor Xizong of Tang
Emperor Xizong of Tang , né Li Yan , later name changed to Li Xuan , was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 873 to 888. He was the fifth son of his predecessor Emperor Yizong and was the elder brother of his successor Emperor Zhaozong...
, he created Consort He an imperial consort with the rank of Shufei (淑妃), the second highest rank for imperial consorts below empress. She was the mother of his oldest son Li You
Li Yu (prince)
Li Yu , né Li You , briefly Li Zhen , formally the Prince of De , was an imperial prince of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. He was the oldest son of the penultimate emperor Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He and was Crown Prince from 897 to 900...
(who was created the Prince of De) and ninth son Li Zuo
Emperor Ai of Tang
Emperor Ai of Tang , also known as Emperor Zhaoxuan , born Li Zuo, later Li Zhu , was the last emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 904 to 907. The Ai Emperor was the son of Emperor Zhaozong....
(who was created the Prince of Hui). (Li You's birth date is unknown, while Li Zuo was born in 892
892
Year 892 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Poppo of Thuringia, count of the march in Thuringia, is deposed by the German Carolingian king Arnulf of Carinthia....
.)
In 897, while Emperor Zhaozong was at Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan
Weinan
Weinan is a Municipality in the province of Shaanxi, PRC. The Grand Historian Sima Qian was born in Weinan.-Administration:...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
) after having fled the imperial capital Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
in 896 in response to an attack by the warlord Li Maozhen
Li Maozhen
Li Maozhen , né Song Wentong , courtesy name Zhengchen , formally Prince Zhongjing of Qin , was the only ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Qi...
the military governor (Jiedushi
Jiedushi
The Jiedushi were regional military governors in China during the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. Originally set up to counter external threats, the jiedushi were given enormous power, including the ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes, and pass their...
) of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji
Baoji
Baoji is a prefecture-level city in Shaanxi province, China.-Geography:The prefecture-level city of Baoji has a population of 3,716,731 according to the 2010 Chinese census, inhabiting an area of . The city itself has a population of approximately 800,000. Surrounded on three sides by hills,...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
), he created Li You Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
(and changed Li You's name to Li Yu), and then created Consort He empress. (She was the first living empress in a century since Emperor Zhaozong's great-great-great-grandmother Empress Wang
Empress Wang (Dezong)
Empress Wang , formally Empress Zhaode , was an empress of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty for three days before her death...
, the wife of Emperor Dezong
Emperor Dezong of Tang
Emperor Dezong of Tang , personally name Li Kuo , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and the oldest son of his father Emperor Daizong. His reign of 26 years was the third longest in the Tang dynasty...
, was briefly empress for three days before her death in 786, even though there had been emperors' mothers who were honored empresses dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...
while they were alive after their sons became emperors and/or been honored empresses posthumously.)
As empress
Emperor Zhaozong returned to Chang'an in 898 after making peace with Li Maozhen. In 900, there was an incident where Emperor Zhaozong, after getting drunk, killed a few eunuchs — which led to immediate violent reaction by the powerful eunuch Liu JishuLiu Jishu
Liu Jishu was an eunuch late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who, as a powerful commander of the Shence Armies, briefly deposed Emperor Zhaozong in 900 and replaced Emperor Zhaozong with Emperor Zhaozong's son Li Yu, but was soon killed in a countercoup, allowing Emperor Zhaozong to return to...
, one of the two commanders of the eunuch-controlled Shence Armies, who took the Shence Army soldiers into the palace to force him to abdicate and pass the throne to Li Yu. Emperor Zhaozong initially tried to resist Liu's order for him to abdicate, but Empress He, sensing the severity of the situation, convinced him to submit to Liu's order. Liu proclaimed Li Yu emperor (and changed his name to Li Zhen) while having Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He given the titles os retired emperor (Taishang Huang) and retired empress (Taishang Huanghou) respectively, but actually had Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, and most of their household, put under house arrest at Shaoyang Pavilion (少陽院). Less than two months later, when a group of Shence Army officers loyal to Emperor Zhaozong (led by Sun Dezhao (孫德昭), Dong Yanbi (董彥弼), and Zhou Chenghui (周承誨)) killed Liu and his fellow Shence Army commander Wang Zhongxian (王仲先), it was at Empress He's advice that Emperor Zhaozong first verified that Liu and Wang were dead before exiting Shaoyang Pavilion to resume the throne. He changed Li Zhen's name back to Li Yu but removed the title of Crown Prince from him, making him against the Prince of De.
Emperor Zhaozong, however, subsequently resisted advice from the chancellor Cui Yin
Cui Yin
Cui Yin , courtesy name Chuixiu , nickname Zilang , formally the Duke of Wei , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong...
to wrest control of the Shence Armies from the eunuchs and put them under the command of the chancellors; instead, he commissioned the eunuchs Han Quanhui
Han Quanhui
Han Quanhui was an eunuch late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. The struggles by the eunuchs, led by him, against the chancellor Cui Yin, who wanted to eliminate the powerful eunuchs, led to the eunuchs' kidnapping of Emperor Zhaozong and then a major military confrontation between two...
and Zhang Yanhong (張彥弘) as the new commanders of the Shence Armies. This eventually led to the deepening of the enmity between Cui and the eunuchs. The chief eunuchs entered into an alliance with Li Maozhen, while Cui entered into an alliance with Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
). When Cui summoned Zhu to Chang'an to try to use Zhu to wrest control of the Shence Armies from the eunuchs, the eunuchs kidnapped Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, taking them to Fengxiang Circuit's capital Fengxiang Municipality.
Zhu subsequently attacked Fengxiang Municipality and put it under siege. By 903, Fengxiang was out of food and under dire straits. Li Maozhen sued for peace with Zhu, agreeing to give him the emperor. However, to try to maintain a relationship with Emperor Zhaozong, before he released the emperor, he requested that Emperor Zhaozong marry Empress He's daughter Princess Pingyuan to his son Song Kan (李繼侃) and have Li Mi (李秘) the Prince of Jing marry the daughter of the chancellor Su Jian
Su Jian
Su Jian , courtesy name Shengyong , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor from 902 to 903, while Emperor Zhaozong was under the physical control of the warlord Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit and Li's eunuch allies, led by Han...
, to whom Li Maozhen was aligned. Emperor Zhaozong, eager to be out of Li Maozhen's grasp, agreed to both marriage proposals despite Empress He's misgivings. Li Maozhen subsequently transferred the emperor and his household to Zhu, who took them back to Chang'an. (Subsequently, at Emperor Zhaozong's request, Zhu wrote Li Maozhen, demanding that he return Princess Pingyuan; Li Maozhen, whose military strength was greatly weakened, did not dare to resist, and returned Princess Pingyuan to the emperor.)
Cui subsequently realized that Zhu was leaving soldiers at Chang'an to control the emperor, and he feared the consequences. With the Shence Armies having been disbanded, he tried to reorganize the imperial army to resist Zhu. Zhu, in response, arrested Cui and forced Emperor Zhaozong to order Cui's removal; he then put Cui to death. He then, believing that Li Maozhen and Li Maozhen's adoptive son Li Jihui
Li Jihui
Li Jihui , né Yang Chongben , was a warlord in the late Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and early Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Qi, who ruled Jingnan Circuit as its military governor .- Background :It is not known when Yang...
the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern Xianyang
Xianyang
Xianyang is a former capital of China in Shaanxi province, on the Wei River, a few kilometers upstream from Xi'an. It has an area of...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
) might again attack Chang'an and seize control of the emperor, decided to destroy the city himself and forcibly move the capital to Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
, which was firmly under his control. Emperor Zhaozong was forced to agree. However, during the journey to Luoyang, Emperor Zhaozong tried to slow down the trip with the reason that Empress He had just given birth and could not travel fast — so that he could try to send out secret emissaries to other major warlords Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
), Li Keyong
Li Keyong
Li Keyong was a Shatuo military governor during the late Tang Dynasty and was key to developing a base of power for the Shatuo in what is today Shanxi Province in China...
the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan
Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
, Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
), and Yang Xingmi
Yang Xingmi
Yang Xingmi , né Yang Xingmin , courtesy name Huayuan , formally Prince Wuzhong of Wu , later posthumously honored King Xiaowu of Wu then Emperor Wu of Wu with the temple name of Taizu , was a military governor of...
the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou
Yangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...
, Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
) — to no avail, as Zhu forced him to progress quicker to Luoyang. (Empress He probably had a daughter at this time, as Li Yu and Li Zuo were the only sons that she was recorded to have.)
Meanwhile, after the imperial household's arrival in Luoyang, Zhu, despite his having the imperial household under secure control, was disliking the fact that Li Yu was growing up and appearing handsome, worrying that he would become a focus of resistance. (Before Cui's death, he had suggested to Cui that Li Yu, as having improperly taken the throne earlier (albeit under duress) should be put to death; Cui relayed his proposal to Emperor Zhaozong, and when Emperor Zhaozong, who was shocked by the proposal, questioned Zhu, Zhu disavowed having suggested that to Cui.) Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He, under the stress of not knowing what Zhu would do next, spent their days drinking and weeping. After Zhu made his staff member Jiang Xuanhui (蔣玄暉) the director of palace communications in order to have the emperor under his surveillance, Emperor Zhaozong in fact stated to Jiang, on one occasion, "The Prince of De is a beloved son of ours. Why does Quanzhong firmly want him dead?" When Jiang relayed these remarks to Zhu, Zhu became more apprehensive of the emperor, as well as the fact that at this time, the warlords who were resisting him (including Li Maozhen, Li Jihui, Li Keyong, Wang Jian, Yang, Zhao Kuangning
Zhao Kuangning
Zhao Kuangning , courtesy name Guangyi , formally the Prince of Chu , was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who ruled Zhongyi Circuit as its military governor from 892 until his defeat in 905 by Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit Zhao Kuangning (趙匡凝), courtesy...
the military governor of Zhongyi Circuit (忠義, headquartered in modern Xiangyang
Xiangyang
Xiangzhou District is a district of Xiangyang, Hubei, China. The district itself was formerly known as Xiangyang. It was a city famous for the Siege of Xiangyang by invading forces of the Mongol-founded Yuan Dynasty...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
), and Liu Rengong
Liu Rengong
Liu Rengong was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Lulong Circuit from 895 to 907...
the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
) were all ostensibly claiming that they wanted to restore the emperor's powers and return him to Chang'an. With Emperor Zhaozong being an adult and difficult to control, Zhu decided to get rid of the emperor and replace him with someone younger. In fall 904, he sent his adoptive son Zhu Yougong (朱友恭) and the officer Shi Shucong (氏叔琮) with soldiers to the palace. They killed Emperor Zhaozong and the imperial consorts Pei Zhenyi (裴貞一) and Li Jianrong (李漸榮); Empress He was spared only after she begged for her life from Jiang. Zhu declared Li Zuo Crown Prince, and then emperor (as Emperor Ai
Emperor Ai of Tang
Emperor Ai of Tang , also known as Emperor Zhaoxuan , born Li Zuo, later Li Zhu , was the last emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 904 to 907. The Ai Emperor was the son of Emperor Zhaozong....
, with his name changed to Li Zhu). Empress He was honored with the title of empress dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...
.
As empress dowager
Shortly after Emperor Zhaozong's death, Zhu Quanzhong also had Jiang Xuanhui invite Li Yu, as well as eight other sons of Emperor Zhaozong's, to a feast. At the feast, under Zhu's orders, Jiang had the nine princes killed by strangulation.Zhu was soon planning to take over the throne himself, and he had Jiang and the chancellor Liu Can
Liu Can (Tang Dynasty)
Liu Can , courtesy name Zhaozhi , formally the Baron of Hedong , nicknamed Liu Qiezi , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Zhaozong and Emperor Zhaozong's son Emperor Ai, near the end of the dynasty...
plan the transition. Jiang advocated slowing down the process to try to get the people of the empire to gradually accept the coming transition from Tang to a new dynasty, and this displeased Zhu. Meanwhile, Empress Dowager He was having her ladies in waiting
Lady in Waiting
Lady in Waiting is the 2nd album by American southern rock band Outlaws, released in 1976. -Track listing:#"Breaker-Breaker" – 2:59#"South Carolina" – 3:05#"Ain't So Bad" – 3:48...
Aqiu (阿秋) and Aqian (阿虔) passing messages between her and Jiang, begging him to have her life and that of the young emperor spared when the transition would occur. This led to Wang Yin (王殷) and Zhao Yinheng falsely accusing Jiang being in a conspiracy with the empress dowager to restore Tang imperial power. In late 905, Zhu had Jiang and Liu put to death and replaced Jiang with Wang and Zhao. Wang and Zhao then accused Empress Dowager He of having carried on an affair with Jiang. Zhu had them put the empress dowager to death, along with Aqiu and Aqian, and had Emperor Ai issue an edict posthumously demoting her to commoner status.