He was initially assisted by capable chancellors like Yao Chong, Song Jing and Zhang Yue who were already serving as government officials before Xuanzong ascended the throne.

[12] While Li Longji was back in Chang'an, he spent time to cultivate relationships with imperial guard commanders, as he believed that Emperor Zhongzong's powerful wife Empress Wei, who was in charge of government affairs, would bring harm to the Tang dynasty.

Originally, Empress Dowager Wei's clan members, along with Zong, Li Guo'er's husband Wu Yanxiu, and other officials Zhao Lüwen (趙履溫) and Ye Jingneng (葉靜能) were advising her to take the throne, like Wu Zetian did, and they also advised her to eliminate Li Dan and Princess Taiping.

If both people have clear opinions, he will make a decision based on this, as a result, he relies heavily on Princess Taiping and Li Longji.

She even spread rumors throughout the empire and tried to cause discontent among the common people, saying: Li Longji is not the eldest son of the emperor, so he should not become the crown prince.

[18] In 711, Song and another chancellor, Yao Yuanzhi, tried to persuade Emperor Ruizong to carry out a plan that they believed would end her plotting and influence.

Emperor Ruizong initially agreed and made the orders as Song and Yao suggested, except that he believed that Luoyang was too far and therefore sent Princess Taiping and Wu Youji only to Pu Prefecture (蒲州, roughly modern Yuncheng, Shanxi).

Liu Youqiu and the general Zhang Wei (張暐), with Emperor Xuanzong's approval, planned to mobilize the imperial guards to kill several of those chancellors – Dou Huaizhen, Cui Shi and Cen Xi.

On 29 July,[19] Emperor Xuanzong had Wang Maozhong take 300 soldiers to the imperial guard camp to behead Chang and Li Ci.

[18][20] Emperor Xuanzong's Kaiyuan era is usually viewed as one of the golden ages of Chinese history – a period of political stability, peace in society, and economic prosperity, in addition to advances in education, literature, music, painting, sculpture, and religion.

Changing the system of having a large group of chancellors simultaneous, as had been the case throughout Tang, Emperor Xuanzong reduced the numbers to two (or sometimes three) for the rest of his reign.

)[20] Meanwhile, the Tang relationship with Qapaghan Qaghan of the Göktürks had fluctuated during the first few years of the Kaiyuan era, as minor hostilities occurred at the borders as well as contests over vassals' loyalty for the two states, but they were also at times friendly to each other, with Qapaghan requesting at times to marry a Tang princess and Emperor Xuanzong agreeing to the proposal.

[24] Meanwhile, Tang, the Tibetan Empire, and the Umayyad Caliphate were constantly engaging in a three-way tug of war for influence in the Xiyu (i.e., modern Xinjiang and former Soviet Central Asia) region.

At Yao's suggestion, Emperor Xuanzong ordered an extensive campaign of extermination, which was said to reduce the impact of the infestation and ward off a major famine.

[20] Meanwhile, Song and Su had carried out a stern campaign against the use of coins that were not officially forged by the government, which brought popular resentment that Emperor Xuanzong found problematic.

Empress Wang died later in the year, and it was said that the eunuchs and the ladies in waiting mourned her bitterly and Emperor Xuanzong much regretted his treatment of her.

[32] In winter 725, Emperor Xuanzong, at Zhang Yue's urging, carried out a magnificent ceremony at Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

As a result, Wang Junchuo did not dare to counterattack, and subsequently blamed the defeat on a number of tribal chiefs in the area and had them exiles.

[32] Around the same time, Emperor Xuanzong began to build a residential complex in the palace for imperial clan members, known as the Mansion of the Ten Princes (十王院), to centralize their residence.

Zhang tried to curb his behavior but thus began to lose favor, while Li Linfu was gaining power due to his association with Consort Wu.

Some successful generals included Geshu Han, known for victories over the Tibetan Empire; Gao Xianzhi, who conquered city states of the Xiyu region, eventually battling the Abbasids at Talas; and An Lushan who defeated and once again vassalized the Khitan.

[35][38] By 742, the main Tang forces were all concentrated on the border, at nine different military circuits and one special military district (Lingnan), as well as three special coast defense districts (Changle, Donglai, and Dongmou):[38] Meanwhile, it was said that Emperor Xuanzong had paid less attention to increasing revenues after Yuwen Rong's fall, but by 742 he was again interested in doing so, and such officials as Wei Jian (韋堅, a brother-in-law of Li Yu, whose name was changed by this point to Li Heng), Wang Hong (王鉷), and Yang Shenjin (楊慎矜) became favored, and often, matters having to do with finances were stripped out of other officials' responsibilities and given to them as special commissions.

Li Shizhi and Wang Ju, who had been instrumental in Emperor Xuanzong's initial actions against Princess Taiping, committed suicide.

As a result, no one passed the first two levels of preliminary examinations, and Li Linfu subsequently submitted a note to Emperor Xuanzong congratulating him that no talent has been overlooked by the imperial administration.

On the western front, Gao Xianzhi suffered a major defeat at the Abbasid forces at the Battle of Talas in 751 as well, ending the Tang expansion to the west.

In the aftermaths, Wang Hong was forced to commit suicide, and Yang Guozhong, Chen, and Geshu Han further tried to implicate Li Linfu in the plot as well.

[45] In 755, Yang Guozhong further provoked An, who was then back at his post in Fanyang, by surrounding An's mansion at Chang'an and arresting and executing An's staff members.

An, in fear and anger, rebelled in winter 755, and quickly reached and captured Luoyang after defeating Feng Changqing's undersupplied army.

Also often attending to him were his daughter Li Chiying (李持盈), the Princess Yuzhen, the lady in waiting Ru Xianyuan (如仙媛), and the eunuchs Wang Cheng'en (王承恩) and Wei Yue (魏悅).

[6][54] Emperor Xuanzong was deeply criticized by later historians for his wastefulness and for his appointing of Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, and An to prominent offices.