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Hello and welcome to the history of China.

Episode 118, sewing the wind.

On the 19th day of the seventh month of 873, 12-year-old Li Wun was elevated to the throne of the

Tong Empire, and in a manner virtually identical to many of his predecessors,

meaning that he had been hand-picked by the court eunuchs for his advanced level of mediocrity.

The ceremony had been something of a

thing, as you might recall from last time, he'd actually been elevated to the status of heir apparent just one day prior

when it had become obvious that his father, Emperor Eizong, was not long for the world.

In fact, young Lee-one would be enthroned on the very day of his father's death, so we might imagine it was a rather somber affair.

As the fifth of Isong's eight sons, Lee won had received little if any training or education

about the affairs of government, much less leading one, and he's written to have much preferred

sports and games like archery, sword play, and horseback riding, and especially football, a favorite sport of the period.

He was also something of a gambler, with his particular favorites being dice games and cockfighting.

He's written as being an affable and fun-loving young man with a sense of humor, but rather slow-witted. In all, had this been another time, Lee won, or as he's known to history, Emperor Sheizong, might have been a perfectly acceptable placeholder

emperor, if nothing else.

However, as we'll be seeing today, his era of rule is not a normal time for normal people, but instead when the Jenga Tower of State at last has that final critical piece pulled out from under it.

Thus going forward, though it might be tempting to lay what's about to happen at the feet of this admittedly

ill-equipped monarch, Professor Robert Summers cautions us, quote,

if there was much to criticize in the conduct and leadership of the court during his reign,

it must be remembered that Sheizong faced a crisis of such

complexity and danger that it would have tested to the limit the wisdom and courage of any ruler,

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