Emperor Ai of Tang
The new Later Liang emperor created Li Chu the Prince of Jiyin and moved him from Luoyang to Cao Prefecture (曹州, in modern Heze, Shandong), and put his mansion under heavy guard, with a fence of thorns surrounding it. In 908, he had Li Chu poisoned to death, and gave Li Chu the posthumous name of "Ai" (哀, "lamentable"). In 928, by which time Li Keyong's adoptive son Li Siyuan was ruling as the emperor of Jin's successor state Later Tang (as Emperor Mingzong), which claimed to be the legitimate continuation of Tang Dynasty and which had earlier destroyed Later Liang, Emperor Mingzong's officials suggested that a temple be built to honor Emperor Ai. Emperor Mingzong had such a temple built at Cao Prefecture. In 929, Emperor Mingzong's officials further suggested giving Emperor Ai a more proper (i.e., more Tang-traditional) posthumous name of Emperor Zhaoxuan Guanglie Xiao, with a temple name of Jingzong, but they also pointed out that since Emperor Ai's temple was not among the imperial ancestral temples, a temple name was not proper. Therefore, only the new posthumous name was adopted, and the temple name was not. Traditional histories thus referred to him mostly as Emperor Ai but also at times as Emperor Zhaoxuan.No family recorded in official histories; Song dynasty general Li Gang was claimed to be a descendant through a son named Li Xizhao (李熙照)
Administrative divisions of the Tang dynasty
The court made slow progress in stamping out the rebellion due in large extent to the deterioration of central authority. The reigning sovereign Tang Xizong was subject to constant manipulation by eunuch officers like Tian Lingzi. Although the rebellion was finally defeated in 884, the court continued to face challenges posed by the warlords—officially military commissioners who held enormous regional power, including Li Maozhen in Fengxiang (Qizhou, Jingji 京畿), Li Keyong in Taiyuan (Bingzhou, Hedong), Wang Chongrong in Hezhong (Puzhou, Hedong), and Zhu Wen in Bianzhou, Henan. The country was constantly torn by the tug-of-war between the eunuchs and the warlords. The eunuchs used their physical control of the emperor as leverage to stay in power and carry out their agenda. The warlords wanted to purge the court of eunuch influence. Against this hopeless backdrop, the penultimate sovereign of Tang, Zhaozong, ascended the throne in 888, and although a man of lofty ambition, he remained throughout his reign a mere puppet in the machinations of court politics.