Emperor Ruizong of Tang - Second Reign

Second Reign

Emperor Ruizong was immediately faced with the issue of whom to make crown prince—as Li Chengqi, as the oldest son overall and the oldest son of his wife, was the appropriate heir under Confucian principles of succession, but Li Longji had been the one whose accomplishments had allowed him to retake the throne. He hesitated. Li Chengqi declined consideration to be crown prince—stating to his father:

If the state were secure, then consideration should be first given to the oldest son of the wife. If the state were in danger, then consideration should be first given for achievement. If you did not follow this principle, the people of the entire empire will be disappointed. I would rather die than to be placed above the Prince of Ping .

Li Chengqi wept and begged to yield for several days, and after further persuasion by the chancellor Liu Youqiu – who had been part of Li Longji's coup plans—Emperor Ruizong agreed, and created Li Longji crown prince. Li Longji submitted a petition offering to yield to Li Chengqi, but Emperor Ruizong rejected it.

Emperor Ruizong reversed many of Emperor Zhongzong's actions and posthumously honored many people who lost their lives during the reigns of Wu Zetian and Emperor Zhongzong. He further removed thousands of officials that Emperor Zhongzong had commissioned at the recommendations of powerful courtiers, without having been submitted for examination by the examination (門下省, Menxia Sheng) and legislative (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng) bureaus of government, as was proper. Meanwhile, though, with Emperor Ruizong considered meek, the court was dominated by two competing factions—of Princess Taiping and Li Longji. Indeed, it was said that whenever chancellors brought proposals to Emperor Ruizong, Emperor Ruizong would ask them whether they had consulted Princess Taiping and Li Longji, and only act if the chancellors had consulted them. Princess Taiping, finding Li Longji to be not receptive to her influences, began to spread news of offenses by Li Longji, hoping that he would eventually be removed. In 711, the chancellors Yao Yuanzhi and Song Jing tried to defuse the situation by having Princess Taiping sent to Pu Prefecture (蒲州, roughly modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) and the two princes with arguable better claims on the throne than Li Longji—Li Chengqi and Li Shouli the Prince of Bin (whose father Li Xián (note different tone than Emperor Zhongzong) was an older brother to both Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong) – out of the capital to serve as prefectural prefects, but after their plan was discovered by Princess Taiping, she angrily complained, and was recalled to the capital along with Li Chengqi and Li Shouli. Yao and Song, credited with reforming the civil service system, were demoted, and it was said that thereafter, the civil service system became as confused as it was during Emperor Zhongzong's reign.

In 712, the general Sun Quan (孫佺), the commandant at You Prefecture (幽州, roughly modern Beijing), aggressively attacked the Xi chieftain Li Dabu (李大酺), and was defeated by Li Dabu, at the loss of nearly the entire army.

Later in 712, Princess Taiping had astrologers warn Emperor Ruizong that the constellation that symbolized the imperial throne, Dizuo (帝座), showed that there would be a change in the emperor's position — believing that Emperor Ruizong would suspect Li Longji of plotting a coup and that she could remove Li Longji this way. Instead, Emperor Ruizong, reasoning that the change in the emperor's position could be accounted by an orderly transition, offered to pass the throne to Li Longji. Princess Taiping fervently opposed it, and Li Longji initially declined, but at Emperor Ruizong's insistence finally accepted and took the throne (as Emperor Xuanzong). However, at Princess Taiping's suggestion, Emperor Ruizong retained much of the imperial power as Taishang Huang (retired emperor), and his edicts continued to carry greater force than Emperor Xuanzong's.