Zhu Wen

Zhu Wen was born the youngest of three sons, Quanyu, Cun and Wen. His father, Zhu Cheng () was an instructor in the Five Classics in Dangshan County, which at that time belonged to Songzhou. There was also a younger sister who married one Yuan Jingchu () of Xiayi County (), near Dangshan, whose father and grandfather had held office on a provincial and prefectural level, but who claimed ancestry from the prominent middle-Tang official Yuan Shuji. (Her son with Yuan, Yuan Xiangxian, would later be an important general during Zhu Wen's Later Liang and the succeeding Later Tang.) Zhu Cheng died while Wen was still a boy, likely about 864, or after. His widow brought her three sons to live in the household of Liu Chong () of Xiao County, Xuzhou. Zhu Cheng's mother is known to have been surnamed Liu. It is therefore possible that Liu Chong was a relative of Zhu Wen's grandmother. If this was in fact the case, Zhu Cheng's origin can not have been too obscure since the Liu family was the leading family in the area. The marriage of the daughter into the Yuan family also indicate a family of some standing. Zhu Wen was brought up to be a family retainer or manor steward, but it is said that the people in the Liu household did not view him highly, except Liu Chong's mother, Zhu instead went on to form his own bandit gang, one of many operating between the Yellow and Huai Rivers. In about 877 Zhu Wen and the second brother, Zhu Cun (), joined the rebel army of Huang Chao when it fought its way through the region. Cun was later killed in battle, but Wen rose through the ranks until given a separate command following Huang Chao's capture of the imperial capital Chang'an in January 881. On May 3, 883 Zhu was appointed prefect of Bian Prefecture (汴州, in modern Kaifeng, Henan) and military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered at Bian Prefecture), the appointment to take effect after the expected recapture of Chang'an. It was already known that Huang planned to escape east to Henan through the Lantian pass and the court needed someone to defend the canal route from the south-eastern granaries. As a former rebel with local knowledge of the area in question, Zhu was a natural choice. It could not have hurt his chances either that Quanzhong had actively sought the patronage of Wang Chongrong, one of the chief architects of the imperial offensive, who he took to calling "uncle" (Quanzhong's mother was also named Wang). Tang forces entered Chang'an half a month after Zhu's appointment and on August 9 Zhu duly arrived at Bian. ==Xuanwu governor==

Campaigns against Huang Chao As seen above Zhu Quanzhong arrived at Bian more than three months after his appointment. Zhu appointed several of his military retainers as guards officers, such as Ding Hui who was made administrator, Zhu Quanzhong's eldest son, Zhu Youyu () was also made an officer, though at this time he was yet a boy. The most important of these appointments was Zhu Zhen (), who was given special responsibility for selection, training and reorganization. Zhu Quanzhong did retain the hereditary officers in the guards and main army, but the reorganizations and preparations for war against Huang Chao had been entrusted to his own men. The Xuanwu army consisted largely of infantry. Having seen the effectiveness of the Shatou Turks' tribal cavalry during the recapture of Chang'an, Zhu ordered the formation of his own cavalry units. Command of the initial force was entrusted his military retainer Pang. Later as new units were formed, officers were both selected from men who had come with Zhu or recruited locally. Zhu soon had the opportunity to test the mettle of his new army. After his flight through Lantian Pass, Huang Chao attacked Cai Prefecture (蔡州, in modern Zhumadian, Henan), and the military governor of Fengguo Circuit (奉國, headquartered at Cai Prefecture), Qin Zongquan, defected to the rebels. Huang then proceeded to attack Chen Prefecture (陳州, in modern Zhumadian), but there the prefect, Zhao Chou, decided to resist even as his prefectural capital was put under siege. With Huang held up at Chen and his armies also meeting resistance in other prefectures, Zhu joined with the other governors of the region in early 884 to call in the man who had spearheaded the recapture of Chang'an – Li Keyong, military governor of Hedong (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) and chief of the Shatuo Turks. In spring 884 the combined forces of Zhu and Li Keyong routed Huang's generals and forced him to abandon the siege of Chen. The final defeat of Huang Chao brought about the surrender of several rebel commanders to Zhu, strengthening his forces and providing him with a second group of officers who would serve him loyally in the years to come. Soon after Huang's defeat a quarrel occurred between Zhu and Li Keyong, and when Li Keyong passed through Bian, Zhu attempted to have Keyong assassinated during the night of June 11, 884. The attempt failed and Li Keyong escaped back to his own capital at Taiyuan from where he lodged a complaint in the imperial court. In his reply, Zhu claimed to have had no foreknowledge of the incident, but explained that the plan had been hatched by his army commander Yang Yanhong () in collusion with a representative of the court and that he had since had Yang executed. (In reality, Yang was killed by friendly fire (an arrow fired by Zhu himself) during the attempt to kill Li Keyong.) Campaigns against Qin Zongquan The death of Huang Chao was however not the end of rebellion against Tang imperial sovereignty. Qin Zongquan took over the leadership and declared himself emperor. Qin expanded his territory in all directions, even capturing the eastern capital Luoyang, in 885–886. With this alliance Quanzhong gained an important buffer between Bian and the rebel capital at Cai. A further opportunity to strengthen his position came in December 886 when the Yicheng Circuit (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan) army, headquartered at Hua Prefecture (), mutinied against the court-chosen governor, An Shiru (). An suppressed the mutiny, but Zhu then attacked, and easily captured Hua, killing An and commissioning Hu Zhen as An's replacement. In doing so, Zhu also warded off a rival attempt by Zhu Xuan the military governor of Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong)—an ally of Zhu Quanzhong's—to take over Yicheng. These numbers might be exaggerated, but Zhu Quanzhong's total force might well have reached thirty thousands by this time. By May/June 887 Zhu felt strong enough to counterattack. He called in the Yicheng army, and asked for, and received, aid from his two neighbouring "brother" governors, Zhu Xuan and Zhu Xuan's cousin, Zhu Jin of Taining Circuit (泰寧, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong). Meanwhile, Cai Prefecture had finally been captured in January/February 889. Qin Zongquan was taken captive and, after passing through several hands, ended up in the care of Zhu Quanzhong who entrusted his own manager-adjutant Li Fan with the delivery of the prisoner to Chang'an, where the imperial government executed Qin. In April/May Zhu Quanzhong was elevated to Prince of Dongping. During these firsts years as governor Zhu Quanzhong had put much trust in his chief commander, Zhu Zhen, so much that Zhen became powerful enough to challenge Quanzhong's authority. To put a check on this Zhu Quanzhong appointed one of his guard officers, Li Tangbin, in a move clearly modelled after the Tang practice of appointing eunuch supervisors to the armies. Zhu Zhen and Li Tangbin soon began to quarrel Zhu Quanzhong next demanded from Weibo's military governor Luo Hongxin rights of passage, as well as provisions for his upcoming campaign against Li Keyong. Luo refused on the grounds that provisions were scarce and pointed out that Zhu Quanzhong's men should not have to pass through his province to the north to strike at Li Keyong to the west. With this refusal as excuse Zhu Quanzhong in March/April 891 marched against Weibo in person, with generals Ge and Ding in charge of subordinate commands, capturing four counties and routing the Weibo army in a battle at Neihuang. Following these defeats Luo was forced to sue for peace and accept an alliance with Zhu. Elsewhere Li Keyong had by this time soundly beaten Zhang in the field was now restored to his former titles by the Emperor. Seizure of Tianping and Taining With Shi Pu dead and Ganhua under his control, Zhu Quanzhong now concentrated on destroying Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin. He attacked Zhu Xuan himself in 894, defeating Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin's joint forces and killing more than 10,000 men from Tianping and Taining. (Around the same time, Li Keyong's strength was said to be beginning to wane after a costly campaign to defeat his adoptive son Li Cunxiao, who had rebelled against him, while the relationship between Zhu Quanzhong and Yang Xingmi was beginning to become tense again, after Zhu Quanzhong's vassal Zhang Jian () turned against Zhu Quanzhong and surrendered Si Prefecture (泗州, in modern Huai'an) to Yang, and Zhu, apparently in retaliation, seized a large shipment of tea that Yang had delivered to Bian Prefecture, intending to sell.) In late 895 and early 896, Li Keyong tried to send Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin two major waves of reinforcements, first commanded by the officers Shi Yan () and Li Chengsi (), and the second commanded by his adoptive son Li Cunxin. Both waves of reinforcements had to go through Weibo, and while the first wave went through, Li Cunxin angered Weibo's military governor Luo Hongxin by pillaging the people of Weibo; further, Zhu Quanzhong wrote Luo and warned Luo that he believed that Li Keyong intended to conquer all of the territory north of the Yellow River, including Weibo. Luo thus ambushed Li Cunxin, inflicting heavy losses and preventing Li Cunxin's forces from reaching Tianping, and Luo thereafter became a Xuanwu ally, particularly after Li Keyong's subsequent punitive attack against Weibo was repelled by joint Weibo/Xuanwu forces. Continued expansion By this point, Zhu Quanzhong was also allied with the chancellor Cui Yin, such that when Emperor Zhaozong (who was then at Hua Prefecture (華州; not the same prefecture as the one in Xuanyi Circuit), the capital of Han Jian's Zhenguo Circuit, after Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) attacked Chang'an) considered sending Cui out of the imperial government, Cui used Zhu's influence to force Han and Emperor Zhaozong to change their minds and retain Cui at the imperial court. Also in 900, Zhu Quanzhong made a major incursion to the north, inflicting heavy losses against Liu Rengong, and also forcing the submission of two circuits which had been loosely allied with Li Keyong (Chengde (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), ruled by Wang Rong, and Yiwu (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei), ruled at the time by Wang Gao, who fled in face of the Xuanwu attack and was replaced by his uncle Wang Chuzhi. It was said that by this point, all of the circuits north of the Yellow River were submissive to Zhu. By summer 902, Zhu and his main army had returned to Fengxiang and put it under siege. Li Maozhen made several attempts to counterattack, but each of Li Maozhen's attempts was beaten back by the besieging Xuanwu army. (Meanwhile, Emperor Zhaozong had sent the imperial envoy Li Yan to Huainan to order Yang Xingmi to attack Zhu's territory, but Yang, after launching a campaign but having his food supply delivery hampered by an inadequate supply system, withdrew.) By fall 902, Fengxiang was in a desperate state, but so was Zhu—as his siege was hampered by the rainy weather and the soldiers were becoming ill. At the suggestion of his officer Gao Jichang, he laid a trap for Li Maozhen by having a soldier, Ma Jing (), falsely surrender to Li Maozhen and claim that Zhu's army was so stricken by illnesses that it was withdrawing that night. A major attack by Li Maozhen's army from within the city fell into traps that the Xuanwu army laid, and the Fengxiang army suffered huge losses, such that from that point on, Li Maozhen began considering a negotiated peace with Zhu. Once Zhu returned to Xuanwu, he gathered his army to get ready to capture the two Wang Shifan-held circuits, Pinglu and Taining. However, in summer 903, Wang, in alliance with Yang Xingmi's general Wang Maozhang, crushed and killed Zhu Youning in battle, giving Wang Shifan's badly outnumbered army a brief reprieve. Wang Maozhang, however, then judged the situation to be hopeless and withdrew his Huainan army, leaving Wang Shifan to face Zhu alone. Further, shortly after, Yang would be battling a rebellion against him by his generals Tian Jun the military governor of Ningguo Circuit (寧國, headquartered in modern Xuancheng, Anhui) and An Renyi () the military prefect of Run Prefecture (潤州, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) and be unable to again aid Wang Shifan. Wang Shifan was forced to surrender to Zhu, and, while Zhu allowed him to remain military governor of Pinglu for the time being, would not again pose a threat to Zhu. Shortly after Emperor Zhaozong's death, Zhu also had nine elder of the deceased emperor's sons (except Emperor Ai) killed, sparing Emperor Ai and his mother (Emperor Zhaozong's wife) Empress Dowager He. Further, under the advice of his ally, the chancellor Liu Can, and Li Zhen, he carried out a slaughter of senior Tang officials from aristocratic family, including forcing some 30 of them to commit suicide at Baima (白馬, in modern Anyang) and then throwing their bodies into the Yellow River. In fall 905, Zhu carried out against the Zhao brothers, quickly defeating them and forcing them to flee (Zhao Kuangning to Yang, Zhao Kuangming to Wang Jian), allowing him to absorb the Zhaos' territory. He was originally planning to returning to his own territory after this, but then changed his mind and decided to attack Yang. His army, however, was hampered by the storms and unable to inflict any real damage on Yang's territory before being forced to withdraw. Zhu had by this point decided to take over the Tang throne. Liu, as well as the director of palace communications Jiang Xuanhui (), were thus planning the traditional steps for the regime transition—which would include having Zhu created the prince of a large fief, given the Nine Bestowments, and given other extraordinary honors, before the emperor would yield the throne to him. So, as the first step, they had Emperor Ai first make Zhu the Generalissimo of All Circuits. The impatient Zhu was displeased, wanting the process to go faster; meanwhile, Jiang's political enemies Wang Yin () and Zhao Yinheng used the chance to falsely accuse Liu and Jiang of dithering not only to allow Tang to survive longer, but to wait for the possibility of change in situation; they further accused Jiang to be in an affair with Empress Dowager He. Zhu thus became incensed at Liu and Jiang, and not even a subsequent edict in Emperor Ai's name creating him the Prince of Wei (with a 21-circuit fief) and giving him the Nine Bestowments placated him. Late in 905, he had Liu, Jiang, and Empress Dowager He executed, and forced Emperor Ai to issue an edict claiming that Empress Dowager He committed suicide to offer an apology for her affairs with Jiang and posthumously demoting her to commoner status. In spring 906, Luo Shaowei, fearful of his own headquarters guards (who had become extremely powerful and often overthrew military governors to install new ones of their liking), entered a pact with Zhu where he slaughtered the headquarters guards and Zhu provided Xuanwu military support in order to suppress possible mutinies in response. When Luo subsequently carried out the slaughter, many Weibo soldiers mutinied in response, and for several months Zhu and Luo's joint forces suppressed the mutinies. After that campaign, Zhu headed north, wanting to conquer Liu Rengong's lands. He put Liu's son Liu Shouwen (whom Liu Rengong had made the military governor of Yichang) under siege at Yichang's capital Cang Prefecture (). However, at this time, Ding Hui, whom Zhu had made the military governor of Zhaoyi, aggravated at Zhu's killing of Emperor Zhaozong, rebelled against Zhu and surrendered his territory to Li Keyong. Zhu was forced to give up his campaign against Liu and withdraw. On the back to Xuanwu, Zhu stopped at Weibo to rest his body due to an illness. While there, Luo pointed out to him that the warlords still resisting him were all claiming that they were intending to restore the Tang emperor's power, and suggested to him that he should quickly take the throne to end such hopes. While Zhu did not respond to Luo's suggestion, he was personally thankful to Luo for bringing the suggestion. Once he returned to Xuanwu, he again did not respond when the Tang official Xue Yiju, then visiting Xuanwu ostensibly by Emperor Ai's order, suggested the idea, showing, indeed, that he was intending to do so. When Xue returned to Luoyang, he mentioned this to Emperor Ai, who thereafter issued an edict to prepare to yield the throne in spring 907. Thereafter, Zhu changed his name to Zhu Huang, and then, when Emperor Ai sent the chancellors Zhang Wenwei and Yang She to Daliang to offer the throne to him, accepted, thus ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang (with him as its Emperor Taizu)—despite the misgivings of his brother Zhu Quanyu () and Zhu Quanyu's subsequent prediction that this would bring disaster on the Zhu clan. == Reign as Later Liang emperor ==

The new Later Liang emperor created the deposed Tang emperor the Prince of Jiyin, and moved him to Cao Prefecture, under secure guard. (He would, however, have the Prince of Jiyin poisoned in 908.) He posthumously honored his parents, as well as ancestors up to four generations, as emperors and empresses. He made Jing Xiang his chief advisor, making decisions in conjunction with Jing before having Jing announce them to the chancellors. Also in 909, Liu Zhijun, then defending Hua Prefecture (the one in Zhenguo Circuit), became apprehensive when Emperor Taizu, in response to false accusations that the general Liu Han () made against Wang Chongshi () the military governor of Youguo Circuit (佑國, then headquartered at Chang'an), slaughtered Wang and his family. Liu Zhijun made a surprise uprising against Later Liang, surrendering not only his own Zhongwu Circuit to Qi but also capturing Chang'an and presenting it to Qi. Emperor Taizu was quickly able to dispatch Yang Shihou and Liu Xun to recapture Chang'an and force Liu Zhijun to flee to Fengxiang, however, without significant losses on the western border. Meanwhile, it was said that in his latter years, after Lady Zhang's death, Emperor Taizu became increasingly licentious. (One example would be in 911, when he was spending the summer at the summer mansion belonging to Zhang Quanyi (who had changed his name to Zhang Zongshi after Emperor Taizu took the throne, to observe naming taboo). While at Zhang's mansion, it was said that Emperor Taizu had sexual relations with nearly all of the women of the Zhang household, causing an insulted son of Zhang Zongshi's, Zhang Jizuo (), to consider assassinating him, only to be stopped by Zhang Zongshi, who cited Emperor Taizu's previously saving their house when they were under Li Hanzhi's attack.) It was said that with Emperor Taizu's sons often away from the capital on missions, he would summon their wives into the palace to attend to him, and often had sexual relations with them. He particularly favored Zhu Youwen's wife Lady Wang. Further, although Zhu Youwen was not a biological son, he was the oldest among his surviving sons (as his only older biological son, Zhu Youyu, had died earlier), and he was seriously contemplating passing the throne to Zhu Youwen. In summer 912, when he became deathly ill, he sent Lady Wang to Daliang to summon Zhu Youwen. At the same time, he issued an edict, through Jing, sending his next oldest son, Zhu Yougui the Prince of Ying, out of the capital Luoyang to serve as the prefect of Lai Prefecture and decreeing that he report there immediately. This made Zhu Yougui, whom the emperor did not favor, believe that the next order would be to kill him—for, around that time, it was customary to first exile an official before executing him. Zhu Yougui immediately formed a conspiracy with the imperial guard general Han Qing (), and thereafter took imperial guard soldiers into the palace. He assassinated Emperor Taizu with the assistance of his servant Feng Ting'e (), and then issued order in Emperor Taizu's name to his brother Zhu Youzhen the Prince of Jun, who was also at Daliang, to execute Zhu Youwen. After doing so, Zhu Yougui publicly announced Emperor Taizu's death and blamed the death on Zhu Youwen, then took the throne. Zhu Youzhen would in turn overthrow him next year and take the throne. == Personal information ==

Parents • Father: Zhu Cheng (), posthumously honored Emperor Wenmu () with the temple name of Liezu () (honored 907) • Mother: Lady Wang (died 891), Lady Dowager of Jin, posthumously honored Empress Wenhui () Consort and issue • Empress Yuanzhen () (honored 912) of the Zhang clan (张氏 ) • Zhu Youzhen (朱友貞) (888–923), the Prince of Jun (created 907), later emperor • Zhu Youzi (朱友孜), the Prince of Kang (created 913?, executed by Zhu Youzhen 915) • Consort Shi, Lady of Wuwei, of the Shi clan (石氏), younger sister of Shi Yanci () Baron of Wuwei • Zhaoyi Chen, of the Chen clan (陳昭儀 陳氏), later Buddhist nun (tonsure 909) • Zhaorong Li, of the Li clan (李昭容 李氏) • Meiren, of the Duan clan (), younger sister of Duan Ning • Wife of Zhu Jin • Unknown: • Zhu Youyu () (died 904), posthumously created Prince of Chen (created 907) • Zhu Yougui (朱友珪), the Prince of Ying (created 907), later emperor • Zhu Youzhang (), the Prince of Fu (created 907) • Zhu Youyong (), the Prince of He (created 907) • Zhu Youhui (), the Prince of Jian (created 907) • Princess Anyang, wife of Luo Tinggui (), son of Luo Shaowei • Princess Changle, wife of Zhao Yan, son of Zhao Chou • Princess Jinhua, second wife of Luo Tinggui, later Buddhist nun (tonsure 910) • Princess Puning, wife of Wang Zhaozuo, son of Wang Rong • Princess Zhenning • Adopted Children • Zhu Youwen (), né Kang Qin (), the Prince of Bo (murdered by Zhu Youzhen on Zhu Yougui's orders 912) • Zhu Youqian, né Zhu Jian (), the Prince of Ji • Zhu Yougong (), né Li Yanwei () (executed and original name restored 904) • Zhu Yourang (), né Li Rang () • Zhu Hanbin (), son of Zhu Yuanli () an officer killed in battle ==References==