Emperor Dezong of Tang - Background

Background

Li Kuo was born in 742, during the reign of his great-grandfather Emperor Xuanzong. His father was Li Chu the Prince of Guangping — the oldest son of Emperor Xuanzong's son and crown prince Li Heng, and he was Li Chu's oldest son. His mother was a consort of Li Chu's, Consort Shen. He was born at the eastern palace — i.e., the Crown Prince's palace — at the Tang capital Chang'an. Later that year, he was created the Prince of Fengjie and given the honorific title of Tejin (特進). During the Anshi Rebellion, which erupted in 755, Emperor Xuanzong fled to Chengdu, while Li Heng and his sons, including Li Chu, fled to Lingwu. Li Kuo's exact locations during this time were not stated in historical records, although presumably he accompanied his father, because while his mother Consort Shen was captured by the rebel Yan forces along with many palace women, he was not. (Consort Shen disappeared during the rebellion and, after the end of the rebellion, despite repeated efforts made by both Li Chu and Li Kuo to find her, she was never located.) While Li Heng was at Lingwu, he was declared emperor (as Emperor Suzong), an act that Emperor Xuanzong later recognized.

After Chang'an was recaptured from Yan forces in 756, Li Chu (whose name was then changed to Li Yu) was made crown prince, and in 762, after Emperor Suzong's death, he became emperor (as Emperor Daizong). Emperor Daizong gave Li Kuo the title of supreme commander of the armed forces and created him the Prince of Lu, a title soon changed to Prince of Yong. He and his staff were sent to rendezvous with Tang and ally Huige forces at Shan Prefecture (陝州, in modern Sanmenxia, Henan), to prepare an attack to recapture the eastern capital Luoyang, which was then serving as the Yan capital under Yan's fourth and final emperor Shi Chaoyi. When Li Kuo met Huige's Dengli Khan Yaoluoge Yidijian (藥羅葛移地健), he treated Yaoluoge Yidijian as an equal, drawing Yaoluoge Yidijian's anger (as Tang was highly reliant on Huige aid at that time). Yaoluoge Yidijian had Li Kuo's Yao Ziang (藥子昂), Wei Ju (魏琚), Wei Shaohua (韋少華), and Li Jin (李進) arrested and whipped severely, such that Wei Ju and Wei Shaohua died that night. Yaoluoge Yidijian did not harm Li Kuo, but sent him back to the Tang camp. This incident would cause Li Kuo to bear great hatred for Huige later. After Luoyang was recaptured and Shi Chaoyi committed suicide in flight in 763, Li Kuo was given the chancellor title of Shangshu Ling (尚書令), and his portrait, along with those of eight generals, were added to the Portraits at Lingyan Pavilion. Subsequently, during a Tufan incursion in 763 in which Emperor Daizong was forced to flee Chang'an and Tufan forces briefly captured Chang'an, Li Kuo was named the titular supreme commander of forces in the Guanzhong region (i.e., the Chang'an region), but the general Guo Ziyi, as deputy supreme commander, was actually in command.