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Zhu Youzhen
Zhu Zhen (Chinese: 朱瑱) (20 October 888 – 18 November 923), often referred to in traditional histories as Emperor Mo of Later Liang (後梁末帝, "last emperor") and sometimes by his princely title Prince of Jun (均王), né Zhu Youzhen (朱友貞), known as Zhu Huang (朱鍠) from 913 to 915, was the third and last emperor of China's Later Liang dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, ruling from 913 to 923. He ordered his general Huangfu Lin (皇甫麟) to kill him in 923 when Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (Li Cunxu), the emperor of Later Liang's enemy Later Tang to the north, was on the cusp of capturing the Later Liang capital Daliang. His death marked the end of Later Liang, which was to be the longest among the Five Dynasties. Despite his ten-year reign being the longest of all the Five Dynasties emperors (if one does not count Li Cunxu's reign as the Prince of Jin prior to taking imperial title) sources on his era are relatively scarce, as many Later Liang records were destroyed following the Later Tang conquest of the Later Liang (as the Later Tang viewed the Later Liang as an illegitimate regime).
Zhu Youzhen was born 888, at what was then Tang dynasty's Bian Prefecture (汴州, in modern Kaifeng, Henan), as the fourth son of his father Zhu Quanzhong, who was then a major warlord as the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered at Bian Prefecture). His mother was Zhu Quanzhong's wife Lady Zhang, and he was her only known biological son. He was described to be handsome, not talkative, and favoring scholars. In 900, he received the title of military advisor at Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the Luoyang region).
In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Tang's final emperor Emperor Ai yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang with him as its Emperor Taizu. He created his sons princes, and Zhu Youzhen received the title of Prince of Jun. Around that time, Emperor Taizu had just established a corps of imperial guards known as the Tianxing Army (天興軍), and he made Zhu Youzhen one of the two commanders of the Tianxing Army. In 910, Emperor Taizu gave him the honorary title of acting Sikong (司空, one of the Three Excellencies) and, in addition to command of the Tianxing Army, gave him the title of commander of forces at the eastern capital (i.e., Bian Prefecture, which by this point was known as Daliang, with Emperor Taizu having established Luoyang as capital).
By 912, Emperor Taizu was seriously ill. He was considered to have favored his second son—an adoptive son, not a biological one—Zhu Youwen the Prince of Bo, the most. (At that time, he had his daughters-in-law attend to him in the palace, and he often made them have sexual relations with him. He favored Zhu Youwen's wife Lady Wang the most, and partly due to that favored Zhu Youwen the most as well.) When he believed that he was near death, he sent Lady Wang to Daliang, where Zhu Youwen was serving as its defender, to summon Zhu Youwen to him. This drew anger and fear from his third son, Zhu Yougui the Prince of Ying, particularly since at that time he also issued an edict sending Zhu Yougui out of the capital to serve as the prefect of Lai Prefecture. Zhu Yougui thus entered the palace and assassinated Emperor Taizu. Keeping Emperor Taizu's death a secret, he sent the eunuch Ding Zhaopu (丁昭溥) to Daliang, and, in Emperor Taizu's name, ordered Zhu Youzhen to kill Zhu Youwen. After Zhu Youzhen did so and Ding returned to Luoyang to inform him, he announced Emperor Taizu's death, blaming the assassination on Zhu Youwen. He then took the throne. He made Zhu Youzhen the defender of Daliang and the capital of Kaifeng Municipality (i.e., the Daliang region).
However, it was said that Zhu Yougui quickly caused the people to be discontented with him, due to his frivolous acts. Further, the rumors that he had been the one who killed Emperor Taizu were spreading in the army. Soon thereafter, Zhu Youzhen's brother-in-law (Emperor Taizu's son-in-law) Zhao Yan and cousin (Emperor Taizu's nephew) Yuan Xiangxian were secretly plotting to overthrow Zhu Yougui. Zhao informed this to Zhu Youzhen, and Zhu Youzhen agreed with the plot, and further sent his close associate Ma Shenjiao (馬慎交) to Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) to persuade the major general Yang Shihou the military governor of Tianxiong to join the plot, and Yang agreed. Zhu Youzhen further persuaded the elite Longxiang Army (龍驤軍) soldiers then at Daliang to join the plot as well, and then prepared to rise and attack Luoyang. However, before Zhu Youzhen could launch his own forces, Yuan and Zhao rose at Luoyang and killed Zhu Yougui. They then offered the throne to Zhu Youzhen, who accepted, but moved the capital to Daliang and took the throne there.
After he took the throne, Zhu Youzhen changed his name to Zhu Huang, and later to Zhu Zhen. He sent overtures to the general Zhu Youqian, who had submitted Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) to Later Liang's archrival Jin, upon Zhu Yougui's assassination of Emperor Taizu, and Zhu Youqian agreed to resubmit to Later Liang.
The return of Zhu Youqian to the Later Liang fold, however, did not change the threat against Later Liang of Jin's expanding power, which Emperor Taizu had been very concerned about prior to his death. He also had to guard against two other rival states, Qi and Wu. In 914, he stationed the general Kang Huaiying (康懷英) at Yongping Circuit (永平, headquartered in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi), to guard against Qi. Meanwhile, he tried to commission his brother Zhu Youzhang (朱友璋) the Prince of Fu as the military governor of Wuning Circuit (武寧, headquartered in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), to replace the Zhu Yougui-commissioned military governor Wang Yin (王殷). Wang, in fear, submitted to Wu. Zhu Zhen sent the generals Niu Cunjie (牛存節) and Liu Xun, and they, after repelling the Wu general Zhu Jin, captured Wuning's capital Xu Prefecture (徐州). Wang committed suicide.
In 915, Yang Shihou died. As Zhu Zhen had long been apprehensive of Yang's hold over the army, he outwardly mourned Yang but was in fact pleased. Zhao Yan and the official Shao Zan (邵贊) advocated using this opportunity to weaken Tianxiong Circuit, as it had, for most of Tang history up to this point, been a circuit that was de facto independent and difficult to control. Zhu Zhen agreed, and ordered that Tianxiong be divided into two circuits, with three of Tianxiong's six prefectures to belong to a new Zhaode Circuit (昭德, headquartered at Xiang Prefecture (相州), in modern Handan as well). The Tianxiong soldiers resented this division, and mutinied under the leadership of the officer Zhang Yan (張彥), holding the Later Liang-commissioned military governor He Delun (賀德倫) hostage. Zhu Zhen sent a eunuch, Fu Yi (扈異), to try to comfort the Tianxiong soldiers, but was not receptive to Zhang's request that Tianxiong's division be cancelled. Zhang thus decided to surrender the circuit to Jin. Li Cunxu shortly thereafter arrived at Tianxiong and took over control of the circuit. Intense campaigns between the Later Liang army, under Liu Xun's command, and the Jin army subsequently were waged, but the Jin army was continuously victorious over the Later Liang army, and two ambitious surprise-attack attempts by Liu and Wang Tan (王檀) on the Jin capital Taiyuan were repelled by Jin. By fall 916, nearly all of the Later Liang territory north of the Yellow River had fallen to Jin. (During the campaign, the Later Liang morale was sufficiently shaken such that there was even a mutiny against Zhu Zhen at Daliang itself, led by the officer Li Ba (李霸), during which Zhu Zhen had to personally lead guards to defend the palace gate, but the general Du Yanqiu shortly after crushed the mutineers.)
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Zhu Youzhen
Zhu Zhen (Chinese: 朱瑱) (20 October 888 – 18 November 923), often referred to in traditional histories as Emperor Mo of Later Liang (後梁末帝, "last emperor") and sometimes by his princely title Prince of Jun (均王), né Zhu Youzhen (朱友貞), known as Zhu Huang (朱鍠) from 913 to 915, was the third and last emperor of China's Later Liang dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, ruling from 913 to 923. He ordered his general Huangfu Lin (皇甫麟) to kill him in 923 when Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (Li Cunxu), the emperor of Later Liang's enemy Later Tang to the north, was on the cusp of capturing the Later Liang capital Daliang. His death marked the end of Later Liang, which was to be the longest among the Five Dynasties. Despite his ten-year reign being the longest of all the Five Dynasties emperors (if one does not count Li Cunxu's reign as the Prince of Jin prior to taking imperial title) sources on his era are relatively scarce, as many Later Liang records were destroyed following the Later Tang conquest of the Later Liang (as the Later Tang viewed the Later Liang as an illegitimate regime).
Zhu Youzhen was born 888, at what was then Tang dynasty's Bian Prefecture (汴州, in modern Kaifeng, Henan), as the fourth son of his father Zhu Quanzhong, who was then a major warlord as the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered at Bian Prefecture). His mother was Zhu Quanzhong's wife Lady Zhang, and he was her only known biological son. He was described to be handsome, not talkative, and favoring scholars. In 900, he received the title of military advisor at Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the Luoyang region).
In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Tang's final emperor Emperor Ai yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang with him as its Emperor Taizu. He created his sons princes, and Zhu Youzhen received the title of Prince of Jun. Around that time, Emperor Taizu had just established a corps of imperial guards known as the Tianxing Army (天興軍), and he made Zhu Youzhen one of the two commanders of the Tianxing Army. In 910, Emperor Taizu gave him the honorary title of acting Sikong (司空, one of the Three Excellencies) and, in addition to command of the Tianxing Army, gave him the title of commander of forces at the eastern capital (i.e., Bian Prefecture, which by this point was known as Daliang, with Emperor Taizu having established Luoyang as capital).
By 912, Emperor Taizu was seriously ill. He was considered to have favored his second son—an adoptive son, not a biological one—Zhu Youwen the Prince of Bo, the most. (At that time, he had his daughters-in-law attend to him in the palace, and he often made them have sexual relations with him. He favored Zhu Youwen's wife Lady Wang the most, and partly due to that favored Zhu Youwen the most as well.) When he believed that he was near death, he sent Lady Wang to Daliang, where Zhu Youwen was serving as its defender, to summon Zhu Youwen to him. This drew anger and fear from his third son, Zhu Yougui the Prince of Ying, particularly since at that time he also issued an edict sending Zhu Yougui out of the capital to serve as the prefect of Lai Prefecture. Zhu Yougui thus entered the palace and assassinated Emperor Taizu. Keeping Emperor Taizu's death a secret, he sent the eunuch Ding Zhaopu (丁昭溥) to Daliang, and, in Emperor Taizu's name, ordered Zhu Youzhen to kill Zhu Youwen. After Zhu Youzhen did so and Ding returned to Luoyang to inform him, he announced Emperor Taizu's death, blaming the assassination on Zhu Youwen. He then took the throne. He made Zhu Youzhen the defender of Daliang and the capital of Kaifeng Municipality (i.e., the Daliang region).
However, it was said that Zhu Yougui quickly caused the people to be discontented with him, due to his frivolous acts. Further, the rumors that he had been the one who killed Emperor Taizu were spreading in the army. Soon thereafter, Zhu Youzhen's brother-in-law (Emperor Taizu's son-in-law) Zhao Yan and cousin (Emperor Taizu's nephew) Yuan Xiangxian were secretly plotting to overthrow Zhu Yougui. Zhao informed this to Zhu Youzhen, and Zhu Youzhen agreed with the plot, and further sent his close associate Ma Shenjiao (馬慎交) to Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) to persuade the major general Yang Shihou the military governor of Tianxiong to join the plot, and Yang agreed. Zhu Youzhen further persuaded the elite Longxiang Army (龍驤軍) soldiers then at Daliang to join the plot as well, and then prepared to rise and attack Luoyang. However, before Zhu Youzhen could launch his own forces, Yuan and Zhao rose at Luoyang and killed Zhu Yougui. They then offered the throne to Zhu Youzhen, who accepted, but moved the capital to Daliang and took the throne there.
After he took the throne, Zhu Youzhen changed his name to Zhu Huang, and later to Zhu Zhen. He sent overtures to the general Zhu Youqian, who had submitted Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) to Later Liang's archrival Jin, upon Zhu Yougui's assassination of Emperor Taizu, and Zhu Youqian agreed to resubmit to Later Liang.
The return of Zhu Youqian to the Later Liang fold, however, did not change the threat against Later Liang of Jin's expanding power, which Emperor Taizu had been very concerned about prior to his death. He also had to guard against two other rival states, Qi and Wu. In 914, he stationed the general Kang Huaiying (康懷英) at Yongping Circuit (永平, headquartered in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi), to guard against Qi. Meanwhile, he tried to commission his brother Zhu Youzhang (朱友璋) the Prince of Fu as the military governor of Wuning Circuit (武寧, headquartered in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), to replace the Zhu Yougui-commissioned military governor Wang Yin (王殷). Wang, in fear, submitted to Wu. Zhu Zhen sent the generals Niu Cunjie (牛存節) and Liu Xun, and they, after repelling the Wu general Zhu Jin, captured Wuning's capital Xu Prefecture (徐州). Wang committed suicide.
In 915, Yang Shihou died. As Zhu Zhen had long been apprehensive of Yang's hold over the army, he outwardly mourned Yang but was in fact pleased. Zhao Yan and the official Shao Zan (邵贊) advocated using this opportunity to weaken Tianxiong Circuit, as it had, for most of Tang history up to this point, been a circuit that was de facto independent and difficult to control. Zhu Zhen agreed, and ordered that Tianxiong be divided into two circuits, with three of Tianxiong's six prefectures to belong to a new Zhaode Circuit (昭德, headquartered at Xiang Prefecture (相州), in modern Handan as well). The Tianxiong soldiers resented this division, and mutinied under the leadership of the officer Zhang Yan (張彥), holding the Later Liang-commissioned military governor He Delun (賀德倫) hostage. Zhu Zhen sent a eunuch, Fu Yi (扈異), to try to comfort the Tianxiong soldiers, but was not receptive to Zhang's request that Tianxiong's division be cancelled. Zhang thus decided to surrender the circuit to Jin. Li Cunxu shortly thereafter arrived at Tianxiong and took over control of the circuit. Intense campaigns between the Later Liang army, under Liu Xun's command, and the Jin army subsequently were waged, but the Jin army was continuously victorious over the Later Liang army, and two ambitious surprise-attack attempts by Liu and Wang Tan (王檀) on the Jin capital Taiyuan were repelled by Jin. By fall 916, nearly all of the Later Liang territory north of the Yellow River had fallen to Jin. (During the campaign, the Later Liang morale was sufficiently shaken such that there was even a mutiny against Zhu Zhen at Daliang itself, led by the officer Li Ba (李霸), during which Zhu Zhen had to personally lead guards to defend the palace gate, but the general Du Yanqiu shortly after crushed the mutineers.)