Li Duozuo
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Li Duozuo (Chinese: 李多祚; pinyin: Lǐ Duōzuò; died August 7, 707[1]), noble title Prince of Liaoyang Commandery (遼陽郡王), was an ethnically Mohe general of China's Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties. He is mostly known for his participation in the successful Shenlong Coup in 705 that overthrew Wu Zetian and returned her son Emperor Zhongzong to the throne, and the failed coup of 707 in which Emperor Zhongzong's son Li Chongjun attempted to have Emperor Zhongzong's wife Empress Wei killed.
It is not known when Li Duozuo was born. His ancestors were said to be Mohe chieftains with the title "Yellow-headed Commandant" (黃頭都督, Huangtou Dudu). Long before Li Duozuo's time, his ancestors had submitted to Chinese rule, and the family history was not well preserved. He was said to be brave and strong, capable at archery, and for his military achievements[2] he was made You Yingyang Da Jiangjun (右鷹揚大將軍), one of the generals commanding the imperial guards, at the recommendation of the general Pei Xingjian (裴行儉). In one of the campaigns against the Heishui Mohe, he induced the chieftains of the Heishui Mohe to feast with him and got them drunk before slaughtering them.
During Wu Zetian's regency and reign
In 687, when Emperor Ruizong's mother Empress Dowager Wu (later known as Wu Zetian) served as regent, there was an invasion by the Eastern Tujue khan Ashina Gudulu and his general Ashide Yuanzhen (阿史德元珍). Empress Dowager Wu commissioned the ethnically Baekje general Heichi Changzhi, assisted by Li Duozuo, to defend against Ashina Gudulu's attack, and they were able to defeat the Eastern Tujue forces at Huanghuadui (黃花堆, in modern Shuozhou, Shanxi), causing the Eastern Tujue forces to flee.
In 694—by which time Empress Dowager Wu had seized the throne from Emperor Ruizong, establishing a new Zhou dynasty as its "emperor" and interrupting Tang—the Shiwei rose against Chinese rule, and Li Duozuo was commissioned against them. He was able to defeat the Shiwei.
In 696, the Khitan chieftains Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong launched a major rebellion against the Zhou rule, invading Zhou territory. Li Duozuo was one of the 28 generals sent against the Khitan, and after the Khitan rebellion ended in 697, Li Duozuo was given the slightly greater office of You Yulin Da Jiangjun (右羽林大將軍) and became the commander of the imperial guards at the north gate of the palace.
In 702, when Wu Zetian was apparently contemplating further military action in the northeast and put the chancellor Wei Yuanzhong in command, Li Duozuo made acting commandant at You Prefecture (幽州, roughly modern Beijing), assisted by the generals Xue Na and Luo Wuzheng (駱務整). However, it appeared that military action was not launched.