Zhu Yougui

Zhu Yougui was the third son of Zhu Quanzhong (with the two older sons being a biological half-brother, Zhu Youyu () and an adoptive brother, Zhu Youwen), == During Emperor Taizu's reign ==

In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Tang's last 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 older brother (Zhu Yougui's uncle) Zhu Quanyu (), as well as his sons, including Zhu Yougui, imperial princes, with Zhu Yougui being created the Prince of Ying. (As Zhu Youyu had died by that point, Zhu Yougui was the emperor's oldest surviving biological son.) In 910, Emperor Taizu made Zhu Yougui the commander of the elite Konghe Corps () of the imperial guards and also bestowed on him the honorific title of acting Situ (司徒, one of the Three Excellencies); he also made Zhu Yougui titularly the general over all non-Han soldiers. In 911, Zhu Yougui was additionally made the discipline officer over all of the armies. Meanwhile, it was said that over the years, after the death of Zhu Youzhen's mother Lady Zhang, Emperor Taizu became increasingly licentious, such that when his sons were away to attend to military matters, he would summon their wives to the palace to attend to him and often had sexual relations with them. Zhu Youwen's wife Lady Wang was said to be particularly beautiful and favored by Emperor Taizu, such that this became a factor in his increasingly believing Zhu Youwen, who was then serving as the defender of the eastern capital Daliang (i.e., the former Bian Prefecture, with Emperor Taizu's having established Luoyang as the main capital) to be his appropriate heir. Zhu Yougui was particularly jealous of the favors that Emperor Taizu showed Zhu Youwen. He also became disenchanted with his father after Emperor Taizu had him publicly battered on one occasion after he had committed some faults. In summer 912, after returning to Luoyang after a campaign against Later Liang's northern rival Jin, Emperor Taizu had become gravely ill, and he sent Lady Wang to Daliang to summon Zhu Youwen, intending to entrust the empire to him. Zhu Yougui's wife (also named Zhang) was also at the palace and became aware of this. She secretly stated to Zhu Yougui, "The Emperor has given the imperial seal to Lady Wang to take to the Eastern Capital. We will surely die soon!" Further, on July 17, Emperor Taizu also had his chief of staff Jing Xiang issue an order making Zhu Yougui the prefect of Lai Prefecture and decreeing that he report there immediately. This further made Zhu Yougui 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. On July 18, Zhu Yougui secretly met with the imperial guard general Han Qing (), who was also fearful of Emperor Taizu's frequent executions of senior officials and generals, and therefore agreed to participate in a conspiracy with Zhu Yougui. That night, they took their troops into the palace and assassinated Emperor Taizu—with Zhu Yougui personally confronting Emperor Taizu, and then having his servant Feng Ting'e () carrying out the actual act of stabbing Emperor Taizu to death. Pretending that Emperor Taizu was still alive, Zhu Yougui sent an order in Emperor Taizu's name, delivered by the palace attendant Ding Zhaopu () to Zhu Youzhen, who was then the commander of the imperial guards at Daliang, ordering Zhu Youzhen to kill Zhu Youwen. Zhu Youzhen subsequently carried out the order. Zhu Yougui then blamed the assassination on Zhu Youwen and took the throne. == Brief reign ==

Shortly after Zhu Yougui's taking the throne, the senior general Yang Shihou, who was then at Wei Prefecture (魏州, in modern Handan, Hebei) to defend it against potential Jin attacks, used the opportunity to seize the wealthy Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered at Wei Prefecture), and Zhu Yougui did not dare to challenge Yang; instead, he commissioned Yang as the military governor of Tianxiong, while transferring Tianxiong's military governor Luo Zhouhan, whom Yang displaced, to Xuanyi Circuit (宣義, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan). Zhu Yougui subsequently summoned Yang to a meeting and, at the meeting, ingratiated himself with Yang to try to get Yang, who was respected by the Later Liang soldiers, to support him; he subsequently sent Yang back to Tianxiong. and Feng tried to flee the palace but, when they saw that there was no escape, Zhu Yougui ordered Feng to kill Empress Zhang, then Zhu Yougui, and then himself. Yuan and Zhao then offered the throne to Zhu Youzhen, who accepted it. He posthumously demoted Zhu Yougui to commoner status. == Personal information ==

• Father • Zhu Wen • Mother • Name unknown, military prostitute at Bo Prefecture • Wife • Empress Zhang == Notes and references ==

• History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 12. • New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 13. • Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 266, 268.