Tang Ruizong Li Dan was the fifth emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Although he was considered emperor, he was always suppressed by Wu Zetian, and his family lived a life of imprisonment and surveillance for many years. It is precisely because of this special experience that his sons have a very good relationship, without any royal animosity, let alone fratricide. Li Dan actually had six sons. The sixth son, Li Longti, passed away early, while the other five sons were: the eldest son, Li Xian, whose real name was Li Chengqi, was posthumously awarded the title of “Emperor Rang”; The second son Li Zhao, whose real name was Li Chengyi, was posthumously conferred the title of Prince Huizhuang; Third son Li Longji, also known as Tang Xuanzong; The fourth son, Li Fan, whose real name was Li Longfan, was posthumously conferred the title of Prince Huiwen; The fifth son Li Ye, whose real name was Li Longye, was posthumously conferred the title of Prince Huixuan. This emperor and three crown princes were posthumously conferred by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, which also shows their deep brotherhood. Today we are going to talk about the story of Li Dan’s fifth son, Li Ye.
Li Ye, whose real name is Li Longye, changed his name to a single name after Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji ascended the throne to avoid the taboo of the emperor. In the third year of the Chuigong reign (687 AD), during which Li Dan was serving as emperor for the first time, Li Ye was conferred the title of King of Zhao. In the second year of Changshou (693 AD), Wu Zetian had officially declared herself emperor, Li Dan was demoted to the position of heir, and Li Ye was also demoted to the title of Prince of Zhongshan County and appointed as the Water Envoy. In the second year of Jinglong (708 AD), Li Ye concurrently served as the assistant driver of Chenzhou, and later held the positions of Qingguanglu Dafu and Taipu Shaoqing, while still serving as the assistant driver of Chenzhou.
In the first year of Jingyun (710 AD), Li Dan proclaimed himself emperor again due to the Tang Long coup. Li Yejin was granted the title of Xue Wang, with an additional one thousand households. He was also appointed as a secretary supervisor by Li Dan due to his eagerness to learn. In the first year of Kaiyuan (713 AD), Li Longji launched a congenital coup and completely seized all the power in the court. Li Ye, along with Li Longji, eliminated the influence of Princess Taiping. Afterwards, Li Ye served as the governor of the Crown Prince Shaobao, Tongjing Piwei Guo and other provinces. In the eighth year of Kaiyuan (720 AD), Li Ye was appointed as the Crown Prince’s Grand Protector.
Li Ye’s birth mother, Wang Defei, passed away very early, and he was raised by Wang Xianfei. After Emperor Xuanzong of Tang succeeded to the throne, Li Ye took Wang Xianfei to live in his own mansion and was very filial. Not only that, Li Ye also took care of his deceased sisters, Princess Huaiyang Li Huashan and Princess Liangguo’s sons, at the mansion, treating them as if they were his own biological sons.
In the thirteenth year of the Kaiyuan era (725 AD), the younger brother of Princess Li Ye was executed with a cane for committing a crime. The queen was very afraid and surrendered to face punishment, and Li Ye dared not enter the palace. Upon hearing this, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang summoned Li Ye into the palace and held his hand, saying, “What I guessed about brothers, heaven and earth share the blame!” He also issued an edict to restore the position of queen. In the 21st year of the Kaiyuan era (733 AD), Li Yejin was appointed as a Situ. In the 22nd year of Kaiyuan (734 AD), Li Ye passed away due to illness. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was grief stricken and unable to eat, so he was posthumously honored as Crown Prince and posthumously named Huixuan. He was buried with Emperor Ruizong of Tang at Qiaoling.
