Liu Wu was initially created prince of Dai () in 178 BC. In 176 BC, he became prince of
Huaiyang () instead and his brother
Liu Can () replaced him as prince of Dai. In 168 BC, this was changed again to
Liang. Ignoring Liu Wu's pleas for help and imperial orders to advance to the city, he occupied his time strengthening his defenses and sending
Han Tuidang's cavalry raiders to disrupt what little overland supply the rebels could manage from Chu. Having wearied their armies assaulting Suiyang, the rebel princes were forced to fall back for supplies and their assaults on Xiayi were defeated with such prepared ease that Zhou initially refused to be woken from bed.
Luan Bu followed this by defeating the other rebel princes, who chose either death or execution. The successful strategy earned Zhou Yafu the wrath of the Prince of Liang and his mother, however.
Patron of the arts For his support during the rebellion, his brother Emperor Jing gave him many honors and privileges. His private gardens rivaled the emperor's and the prince expanded his number of retainers, bringing in
Yang Sheng (),
Gongsun Gui (), and
Zou Yang (). He became a famous patron, particularly of
fu poets such as
Sima Xiangru. One particularly influential piece was the "Memorial from Prison to the Prince of Liang", whereby Zou Yang successfully pleaded his case against the slander of other courtiers and freed himself from a death sentence not by addressing the charges against him but by multiplying historical examples of the disaster of gossip and libel.
Fall from grace When the emperor demoted his eldest son
Liu Rong from
heir apparent to
prince of Linjiang in 150 BC, the empress dowager took the occasion of an imperial feast to demand that Emperor Jing name Liu Wu as his crown prince in preference to his other sons. He immediately agreed, only to be talked out of it by his advisors.
Yuan Ang in particular counseled strongly against breaking the laws of succession, as the act would set a highly destabilizing precedent. Acting in support of their patron, Gongsun Gui and Yang Sheng conspired to have the elderly minister stabbed to death outside the walls of the imperial suburb of
Anling. They were responsible for nine related murders as well. and presented their bodies to the emperor, Afraid for her younger son's life, the empress dowager refused to eat until he was cleared of any charges. The official charged with the investigation reported back to Emperor Jing that, in his view, Liu Wu had been involved and that "sparing the Prince of Liang would break the law of Han"; nonetheless, "killing him would deeply distress the empress dowager and upset the emperor even more". He counseled the emperor to drop the issue. In discussion with the empresses, he blamed the murders solely upon the two courtiers and explained they had already been lawfully punished. The other four were (in order)
Liu Mai,
Liu Ming,
Liu Ding, and
Liu Bushi. His mother the empress dowager was at first inconsolable, but Emperor Jing placated her by dividing the
realm of Liang into five and bestowing them upon Liu Wu's sons. ==Tomb==