Li Jie was born in 867, during…

Li Jie was born in 867, during the reign of his father Emperor Yizong, in the eastern palace at the imperial capital Chang'an.

His mother was Emperor Yizong's concubine Consort Wang, who was said to have come from a humble background and whose rank within the palace was not recorded.

She appears to have died shortly after giving birth to Li Jie.

(As Li Jie was also said to have been from the same mother as his older brother Li Yan, whose mother was a different Consort Wang, it might have been that he was raised by Li Yan's mother.)

Emperor Yizong had created Li Jie the Prince of Shou in 872.

In 877, by which time Li Yan (named Li Xuan by this point) was emperor (as Emperor Xizong), Li Jie was given the honorary titles of Kaifu Yitong Sansi, commandant at You Prefecture (in modern Beijing), and military governor (Jiedushi) of Lulong Circuit (headquartered at Beijing) (At this time, Lulong Circuit was actually governed by the warlord Li Keju.)

It was said that Li Jie was particularly close to Emperor Xizong since they shared the same mother, and he had followed Emperor Xizong in flight from Chang'an from the attack of the agrarian rebels led by Huang Chao in 880.

While on this flight, Li Jie, who was then thirteen, had run out of energy and requested a horse from the eunuch Tian Lingzi, who dominated Emperor Xizong's court; Tian had refused and whipped Li Jie's attendant for the request.

Li Jie thereafter bears a deep resentment for Tian.

Emperor Xizong had grown gravely ill 888, by which time Huang's rebellion had been crushed and the imperial court had returned to Chang'an.

It was said that Emperor Xizong's younger brother and Li Jie's older brother Li Bao the Prince of Ji was the oldest among Emperor Xizong's surviving brothers and was considered wise, so the imperial officials wanted him to succeed Emperor Xizong, but the powerful eunuch Yang Fugong (who had succeeded Tian as the surveyor of the eunuch-controlled Shence Armies) wanted Li Jie to succeed Emperor Xizong, so Emperor Xizong issued an edict creating Li Jie crown prince.

Shortly after, Emperor Xizong dies, and Li Jie, changing his name to Li Min, takes the throne as Emperor Zhaozong.

During the mourning period, the chancellor Wei Zhaodu serves as regent.

Emperor Zhaozong's ascension creates great anticipation in the people's minds, as he is considered intelligent, handsome, decisive, and talented, with ambitions to restore imperial power that had been lost during Emperor Xizong's reign.

Not long after taking the throne, he changes his name further to Li Ye.

As soon as Emperor Zhaozong takes the throne, he receives petitions from Wang Jian and Gu Yanlang, advocating that Tian Lingzi's brother Chen Jingxuan the military governor of Xichuan Circuit (headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan), be removed from his post.

(Wang, who is allied with Gu (the military governor of neighboring Dongchuan Circuit (headquartered in modern Mianyang, Sichuan), has been fighting Chen for the control of Xichuan but is unable to prevail against Chen by himself.)

Still resenting Tian, who is now sheltered by Chen from edicts that Emperor Xizong had previously entered ordering Tian into exile, Emperor Zhaozong orders Chen back to Chang'an and commissions Wei Zhaodu as his replacement.

When Chen refuses to be replaced, Emperor Zhaozong orders a general campaign against him, with Wei in command, assisted by Wang, Gu, and Yang Fugong's adoptive nephew Yang Shouliang the military governor of Shannan West Circuit (headquartered in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi).

While the campaign against Chen was starting, another campaign that had been ongoing during the latter years of Emperor Zhaozong's reign is ending.

Qin Zongquan, formerly the Tang military governor of Fengguo Circuit (headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan), had declared himself emperor at Fengguo's capital Cai Prefecture in 885 and had sent out armies to conquer the nearby Tang circuits.

By 888, his power had waned under attacks by Tang's military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), Zhu Quanzhong, and in late 888 he is overthrown in a coup by his officer Shen Cong; he is subsequently delivered to Zhu, who then delivers him to Chang'an to be executed.