After Wu Zetian's Reign
Wu Zetian was overthrown in a coup in 705, and her son Li Xian the Crown Prince, formerly emperor, was restored to the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong). Sometime during Emperor Zhongzong's reign, Zhang Xi was recalled to serve as the minister of public works (工部尚書, Gongbu Shangshu) and was also in charge of editing imperial histories, and was eventually put in charge of the eastern capital Luoyang.
In 710, Emperor Zhongzong suddenly died—a death that traditional historians believed to be a poisoning carried out by his powerful wife Empress Wei and daughter Li Guo'er the Princess Anle, so that Empress Wei could become "emperor" like Wu Zetian did and that Li Guo'er could become crown princess. Meanwhile, though, Emperor Zhongzong's son by a concubine, Li Chongmao the Prince of Wen, was made emperor, with Empress Wei retaining power as empress dowager and regent. She conferred on Zhang Xi the designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin (同中書門下三品), again making him chancellor de facto, but had him remain in charge at Luoyang. Less than a month later, she and Li Guo'er were killed in a coup led by Emperor Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping and nephew Li Longji the Prince of Linzi, and Li Longji's father Li Dan the Prince of Xiang, himself a former emperor, was restored to the throne (as Emperor Ruizong). Emperor Ruizong demoted all of the chancellors that Empress Dowager Wei had commissioned, and Zhang Xi was demoted to be the prefect of Jiang Prefecture (絳州, in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi). Sometime after that, he was created the Duke of Pingyuan, and died after his retirement, but the date of his death is not known.
Read more about this topic: Zhang Xi (Chinese Official)
Famous quotes containing the word reign:
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