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.

Yang Fugong had been instrumental in having Emperor Zhaozong made emperor, but by 889 conflicts had begun between the emperor and the chief eunuch, leading to a public argument between Yang and the chancellors Kong Wei on one occasion over Kong's accusation that Yang was disrespecting the emperor.

Nothing further had come of the dispute publicly at this point, however.

Nevertheless, at the suggestion of Kong's colleague Zhang Jun, who advocates that a strong imperial army directly under the emperor is essential for the restoration of imperial power to counteract the warlords and the eunuch-commanded Shence Armies, Emperor Zhaozong begins recruiting an imperial army that eventually numbers one hundred thousand by spring 890.

At this point, Kong and Zhang believe that it is time to test this army, to show its strengths in the struggle against Yang at court.

Zhang therefore advocates a campaign against the warlord Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi)—one of the most powerful warlords of the realm and archrival to the also powerful Zhu Quanzhong—as both Zhu and Li Kuangwei the military governor of Lulong are at this time also requesting an imperial campaign against the expanding Li Keyong.

Emperor Zhaozong, despite his reservations, approves the campaign, which gets under way in summer 890, with Zhu's army attacking Zhaoyi Circuit (headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), then also under Li Keyong's control, from the southeast; Li Kuangwei and Helian Duo the military governor of Datong Circuit (headquartered in modern Datong, Shanxi) attacking from the northeast; and the main imperial army, under Zhang's command and supplemented by the armies of various circuits around Chang'an, attacking from the southwest.

Zhu's army was able to seize Zhaoyi quickly, due to the assassination of Zhaoyi's military governor Li Kegong (Li Keyong's brother) by his officer An Jushou, but the imperial official sent to take over Zhaoyi, Sun Kui, is intercepted and captured by Li Keyong's adoptive son Li Cunxiao (and subsequently executed when he will not submit to Li Keyong), badly affecting the imperial army's morale.

Li Cunxiao subsequently puts Zhaoyi's capital Lu Prefecture under siege, forcing Zhu's army to withdraw.

Li Kuangwei and Helian's armies are also repelled by Li Keyong's adoptive sons Li Cunxin and Li Siyuan, leaving Zhang's imperial army to face Li Keyong himself.

By late 890, the imperial army is suffering repeated defeats at the hands of Li Keyong's Hedong army, and the supplemental troops from Jingnan (headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi) and Fengxiang (headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) Circuits abandon the imperial army and withdraw by themselves, eventually leading to a total collapse of the imperial army, with Zhang and his deputy, Han Jian the military governor of Zhenguo Circuit (headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi) escaping with just a small contingent; the rest of the imperial army is effectively lost.

With Li Keyong subsequently threatening an invasion, Emperor Zhaozong is forced to restore Li Keyong to his titles and positions and exile Zhang and Kong, ending the campaign against Li Keyong in disaster.

The imperial treasury is being drained with the defeat against Li Keyong, and the campaign against Chen in a stalemate—the imperial army had put Xichuan's capital Chengdu under siege and caused a terrible famine within the city, but has not been able to capture it— and Emperor Zhaozong decides to end the Xichuan campaign as well.

He pardons Chen and recalls Wei, while ordering Gu and Wang (for whom he had created a Yongping Circuit out of parts of Xichuan territory) back to their circuits.

Wang is unwilling to accept this result, however, and he intimidates Wei into returning to Chang'an by himself, while Wang continues the siege of Chengdu.

Chen and Tian surrender to Wang in autumn 891, and Wang takes over Xichuan Circuit.

The end of the campaign against Li Keyong, which Yang Fugong had opposed, had not ended the tension between Emperor Zhaozong and Yang, but has intensifies it.

Yang had sought to retire in fall 891, and Emperor Zhaozong had approved the retirement.

Soon thereafter, amid rumors that Yang is planning a rebellion at Chang'an against the emperor, along with his adoptive nephew Yang Shouxin, Emperor Zhaozong sends the imperial guards to preemptively attack Yang Fugong's mansion, and Yang Fugong and Yang Shouxin flee to Yang Shouliang's Shannan West Circuit.

Yang Fugong thereafter starts a rebellion against the imperial government, along with Yang Shouliang, Yang Shouxin, and other adoptive sons and nephews, including Yang Shouzhong, the military governor of Jinshang Circuit (headquartered in modern Ankang, Shaanxi), Yang Shouzhen, the military governor of Longjian Circuit (headquartered in modern Mianyang, Sichuan), and Yang Shouhou, the prefect of Mian Prefecture (in modern Mianyang).

In response to the Yangs' rebellion, Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), along with his allies Wang Xingyu the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi) and Han Jian, as well as his brother Li Maozhuang the military governor of Tianxiong Circuit (headquartered in modern Tianshui, Gansu) and Wang Xingyu's brother Wang Xingyue the military governor of Kuangguo Circuit (headquartered in modern Weinan), submit a joint petition for Li Maozhen to be made the commander of the forces against the Yangs.

Emperor Zhaozong, while inimical to the Yangs, is hesitant to give Li Maozhen more authority and territory, and therefore initially denies the request.

However, Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu launch an attack anyway, forcing Emperor Zhaozong into approving Li Maozhen as the commander against the Yangs.

By winter 892, Xingyuan has fallen to Li Maozhen, and the Yangs flee (and are eventually captured by Han and delivered to Chang'an to be executed).

Li Maozhen wants to add Shannan West to his territory, so he requests to be Shannan West's military governor, fully expecting that Emperor Zhaozong will allow him to retain both Fengxiang and Shannan West.

Instead, Emperor Zhaozong issues an edict making him the military governor of Shannan West and Wuding (headquartered in modern Hanzhong) Circuits, while making the chancellor Xu Yanruo the military governor of Fengxiang.

Despite the misgivings of the chancellor Du Rangneng, Emperor Zhaozong launches a campaign against Li Maozhen, with Du in charge of the logistics and Li Sizhou the Prince of Qin in command of the imperial guards, which Emperor Zhaozong has rebuilt with new recruits.

The imperial army has low morale and little battle experience, however, and when Li Sizhou sets out to engage Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu's experienced armies, the army collapses.

Li Maozhen approaches Chang'an, demanding Du's death.

Emperor Zhaozong capitulates, ordering Du to commit suicide and allowing Li Maozhen to retain Fengxiang, Shannan West, Wuding, and Tianxiong.

It is said that after this point, Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu, in alliance with the chancellor Cui Zhaowei, were heavily influencing imperial governance, such that the emperor would not dare to carry out any measures that they opposed.

The next point of contention in the troubled Tang dynasty comes in 895 with the death of Wang Chongying, the military governor of Huguo Circuit (headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), which precipitates a succession struggle between his nephew Wang Ke (the adoptive son of Wang Chongying's brother and predecessor Wang Chongrong and biological son of another brother, Wang Chongjian, whom the Huguo soldiers supports, and his son Wang Gong the military governor of Baoyi Circuit (headquartered in modern Sanmenxia, Henan), who covets the more prosperous Huguo Circuit.

Li Keyong supports Wang Ke, while Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han support Wang Gong, and all of them submit competing petitions on the behalf of the feuding cousins.

Emperor Zhaozong approves Li Keyong's petition and makes Wang Ke the military governor of Huguo.

In response, Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han march on the capital again, killing the chancellors Wei Zhaodu (who had returned to his position as chancellor after the Xichuan campaign) and Li Xi, whom they perceive to be behind Emperor Zhaozong's decision.

The actions of Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han, in turn, draw a strong reaction from Li Keyong, who launches his army, crosses the Yellow River, and prepares to attack the three of them.

Rumors develop that Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu both want to seize the emperor and take him to their domains.

Emperor Zhaozong, in response, flees into the Qinling Mountains with his officials, and the people of Chang'an follow in droves.

Meanwhile, Li Keyong engages and defeats Wang's and Li Maozhen's troops, then puts Wang's capital Bin Prefecture under siege.

Wang flees and is killed by his own subordinates in flight.

Li Maozhen and Han capitulate, sending apologies and tributes to Emperor Zhaozong.

Emperor Zhaozong, who returns to Chang'an, bestows great honors on Li Keyong and his key subordinates, but hesitates when Li Keyong proposes to attack Li Maozhen, believing that if Li Keyong destroys Li Maozhen, the balance of power will be lost.

He therefore forbids Li Keyong from attacking Li Maozhen.

Li Keyong withdraws to Hedong Circuit, and, owing to his eventual defeats at the hands of Zhu Quanzhong, will not be able to return again.

Li Maozhen, who had been intimidated into an apologetic posture to the imperial court, again becomes arrogant with Li Keyong gone from the region.

He becomes suspicious of Emperor Zhaozong's attempts to rebuild the imperial guards and put them under the commands of imperial princes, including Li Sizhou, Li Jiepi the Prince of Yan, and Emperor Zhaozong's uncle Li Zi the Prince of Tong.

In summer 896, he launches an attack on Chang'an.

Emperor Zhaozong immediately seeks aid from Li Keyong, but with Li Keyong being unable to launch an army at this time and Li Maozhen's forces having defeated Li Sizhou's, Li Sizhou recommends fleeing to Hedong.

Emperor Zhaozong initially agrees and prepares to head for Fu Prefecture (in modern Yan'an, Shaanxi), preparing to cross the Yellow River to Hedong from there; he also sends Li Jiepi to Hedong to prepare for his arrival.

However, after he leaves Chang'an, Han Jian sends emissaries, then personally arrives to meet with him, to persuade him to go to Zhenguo's capital Hua Prefecture instead, promising to do all he can to uphold imperial power.

As both Emperor Zhaozong and his officials are fearful of the lengthy trek to Hedong, Emperor Zhaozong agrees and instead heads for Hua Prefecture.

Emperor Zhaozong becomes effectively under Han's control once he arrives at Hua Prefecture, however, and Han stops any real imperial attempt to engage Li Maozhen militarily.

Further, he forces Emperor Zhaozong to disband the imperial guards under the imperial princes' control, and, after Li Jiepi returns from Hedong—thus exposing the fact that Li Keyong is in no shape to launch an army to aid the emperor—slaughters eleven imperial princes.

Emperor Zhaozong makes peace with Li Maozhen in spring 898, restoring the titles that he had previously stripped from Li Maozhen.

With Zhu Quanzhong urging the emperor to move the capital to the eastern capital Luoyang, Han and Li Maozhen become apprehensive that he will launch an army to seize the emperor, and therefore repair the palaces and governmental offices at Chang'an (which Li Maozhen's army had destroyed).

In fall 898, Emperor Zhaozong returns to Chang'an, but with no army around him now other than the eunuch-controlled Shence Armies.

The chancellor Cui Yin, who harbors an ardent hatred for the eunuchs and who is allied with Zhu Quanzhong, is meanwhile also rising in power at the Tang court.

By 900, Emperor Zhaozong, who has come to trust Cui and who will later describe him as "faithful but trickier" (than Han Wo, the official to whom the emperor was addressing his comment) is planning with Cui to slaughter the eunuchs.

When Cui's fellow chancellor Wang Tuan urges against such action, believing the plans to be too drastic, Cui accuses Wang of being in league with the powerful eunuchs Zhu Daobi and Jing Wuxiu, who serve as the directors of palace communications.

Upon Cui's accusations, Emperor Zhaozong orders Wang, Zhu Daobi, and Jing to commit suicide, and it is said that from this point Cui became the leading figure at court, the eunuchs regarding him with anger and fear.

The eunuchs also have become fearful of Emperor Zhaozong himself, who, after returning from Hua Prefecture, is described to be depressed, alcoholic, and unpredictable in his temperament.

The four top-ranked eunuchs—Liu Jishu and Wang Zhongxian, the commanders of the Shence Armies, and Wang Yanfan and Xue Qiwo, the new directors of palace communications—begin plotting to remove him.

After an incident in winter 900 in which Emperor Zhaozong, in a drunken rage, kills several attending eunuchs and ladies in waiting, Liu Jishu leads Shence Army troops into the palace and forces Emperor Zhaozong to yield the throne to his son Li Yu the Crown Prince.

Emperor Zhaozong and his wife (Li Yu's mother) Empress He ware honored as retired emperor (Taishang Huang) and retired empress (Taishang Huanghou) but put under house arrest.

Li Yu, whose name the eunuchs change to Li Zhen, is proclaimed emperor, but the eunuchs control the court.

They want to kill Cui, but are fearful that Cui's ally Zhu Quanzhong might react violently, so they only relieve Cui from his secondary posts as the director of finances and the director of salt and iron monopolies.