Li Zhaode

Li Zhaode (李昭德) (died April 28, 697) was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty and at one point served as chancellor. He was known for his abilities and strong will, which eventually led to a conflict with Wu Zetian's secret police official Lai Junchen. He was executed on the same day as Lai, who was in turn accused by others of treason.

It is not known when Li Zhaode was born, but it is known that his family was from the Tang Dynasty capital Chang'an. His father Li Qianyou (李乾佑) served as an imperial censor during the reign of Tang's second emperor Emperor Taizong and later as minister of justice during the reign of Emperor Taizong's son and Wu Zetian's husband Emperor Gaozong, and was known for his honesty but carelessness with words. Li Zhaode was the son of a concubine of Li Qianyou, and was said to be capable and strong-willed like his father, and he passed the imperial examination when he was young. He was eventually promoted to be an assistant censor (御史中丞, Yushi Zhongcheng), but in 689, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong's son Emperor Ruizong, he was accused of improprieties unspecified in history and briefly exiled to be the sheriff of Lingshui County (陵水, modern Lingshui, Hainan), but was eventually recalled to be one of the three deputy ministers of defense (夏官侍郎, Xiaguan Shilang), along with Lou Shide and Hou Zhiyi (侯知一).

As of 692—after Wu Zetian had seized the throne from her son Emperor Ruizong in 690 and taken the throne herself, establishing Zhou and interrupting Tang—Li Zhaode was still serving as the deputy minister of defense when he secretly suggested to Wu Zetian that her nephew Wu Chengsi the Prince of Wei was becoming too powerful. She initially responded, "He is my nephew, and so I I trust him." Li Zhaode responded:

How can the intimacy of nephew and aunt be compared with that of son and father? There were sons who killed their fathers and usurped thrones, and nephews can do so as well. Right now, Wu Chengsi is Your Imperial Majesty's nephew, prince, and chancellor. HIs power is the same as yours. I am afraid that Your Imperial Majesty might not be able to remain long on the heavenly throne.

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