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| 6) Ming Di 明帝 Liu Yu 刘□ 465-472 Taishi (泰始 tai sh_) 465-471
Taiyu (泰豫 tai yu) 472 Emperor Ming of LS ((刘)宋明帝) (439━472), personal name Liu Yu (刘□), courtesy name Xiubing (休炳), nickname Rongqi (荣期), was an emperor of the Chinese dynasty LS. He became emperor after his violent and impulsive nephew Emperor Qianfei was assassinated in 465, as he was regarded as more lenient and open-minded, but he soon turned cruel and suspicious as well after becoming emperor, and during his reign, his nephews and brothers were nearly all slaughtered on his orders, greatly weakening the LS state and contributing to its fall in 479, just seven years after his death. Background Liu Yu was born in 439, as Emperor Wen's 11th son. His mother Consort Shen Rongji (沈容姬) was a low-ranked imperial consort with the title Meiren (美人). For reasons unknown, Emperor Wen once wanted to put her to death, but she convinced him that killing her would offend the spirit of his deceased wife, Empress Yuan Qigui, and she was spared. In 448, Liu Yu was created the Prince of Huaiyang. In 452, his title was changed to Prince of Xiangdong. Consort Shen died in 453, the same year that Emperor Wen was assassinated by his crown prince Liu Shao, who took over as emperor and subsequently put a number of his brothers, including Liu Yu, under house arrest, but Liu Yu and the other brothers were released when another older brother, Liu Jun the Prince of Wuling, defeated and killed Liu Shao and took the throne himself (as Emperor Xiaowu). Emperor Xiaowu posthumously honored Liu Yu's mother Consort Shen as Princess Dowager of Xiangdong, and Emperor Xiaowu's mother Empress Dowager Lu Huinan took over the duties of raising Liu Yu to adulthood. As he grew, as was customary for LS imperial princes, he was rotated through governorships of commanderies and provinces. Liu Yu was regarded as a kind and open-minded man, with substantial literary abilities. He was also said to be grossly overweight. During Emperor Qianfei's reign In 464, Emperor Xiaowu died, and was succeeded by his son Emperor Qianfei. Emperor Qianfei was impulsive and violent, and he, after discovering and brutally suppressing a plot to depose him in favor of his granduncle Liu Yigong (刘义恭) the Prince of Jiangxia, suspected his uncles as well, and had them returned to the capital and confined. Of his uncles, he particularly suspected Liu Yu, Liu Xiuren (刘休仁) the Prince of Jian'an, and Liu Xiuyou (刘休佑) the Prince of Shanyang, since they were the oldest. (Another even older uncle, Liu Hui (刘□) the Prince of Donghai, was considered so unintelligent that Emperor Qianfei did not view him as much of a threat.) Because these three princes were all overweight, he had them put in cages and weighed as pigs would, and because Liu Yu was the heaviest, he called Liu Yu the Prince of Pigs, Liu Xiuren the Prince of Murderers, and Liu Xiuyou the Prince of Thieves. He often humiliated Liu Yu by putting him in stables and feeding him the way that pigs would be fed. He often wanted to kill Liu Yu, Liu Xiuren, and Liu Xiuyiu, but each time Liu Xiuren flattered him and caused him to change his mind. In one particular incident, he tied Liu Yu up like how a pig would be tied up, and had him delivered to the kitchen, stating, "Today is pig-killing day." Liu Xiuren, however, stated, "This is not the pig-killing day." He angrily asked Liu Xiuren why that was the case, and Liu Xiuren stated, "After your son is born, then kill the pig and take out his entrails!" Emperor Qianfei liked Liu Xiuren's joke and did not kill Liu Yu. In winter 465, around the time that Emperor Qianfei created his second wife, Lady Lu, empress, the palace eunuchs were of insufficient number to prepare for the ceremony, so Emperor Qianfei had the eunuchs from the princes' mansions conscripted to help, and Liu Yu had his own eunuch, Qian Lansheng (钱蓝生), observe Emperor Qianfei's actions and report to him. Meanwhile, some attendants of Emperor Qianfei were plotting to kill him, and when he was carrying out a ghost-shooting ceremony (after dreaming of the spirit of a lady in waiting that he had killed), the attendant Shou Jizhi (寿寂之) killed him. (Traditional historians generally hint that Liu Yu was involved in the plot, but not having conclusive evidence, they did not state so conclusively.) With support from the officials and particularly with his brother Liu Xiuren as a major advocate, Liu Yu was declared emperor (as Emperor Ming). Early reign: victory over Liu Zixun and loss of northern provinces Emperor Ming posthumously honored his mother Consort Shen as Empress Dowager Xuan but, because he was raised by Emperor Xiaowu's mother Grand Empress Dowager Lu, he continued to honor her as empress dowager. He also tried to pacify the empire by promoting the various officials, his brothers, and some of his nephews. (However, he forced Emperor Qianfei's oldest younger brother Liu Zishang (刘子尚) the Prince of Yuzhang, and his sister Liu Chuyu the Princess Kuaiji, both born also of Empress Wang Xianyuan and both of whom participated in his ill-fated governance, to commit suicide.) He created his wife Princess Wang Zhenfeng empress. One of the nephews that he tried to promote, Liu Zixun the Prince of Jin'an, whose chief of staff Deng Wan (邓琬) had just prior to Emperor Qianfei's death declared a rebellion against Emperor Qianfei, refused, and instead declared a rebellion against Emperor Ming, in association with Yuan Yi (袁□) the governor of Yong Province (雍州, modern northwestern Hubei and southwestern Henan) and Liu Zisui's chief of staff Xun Bianzhi (荀卞之). They accused Emperor Ming of being an usurper and having unduly killed Liu Zishang. Jing Province (荆州, modern central and western Hubei) and Kuaiji Commandery (会稽, roughly modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang), governed by Liu Zixun's brothers Liu Zixu (刘子顼) the Prince of Linhai and Liu Zifang (刘子房) the Prince of Xunyang, also quickly rose in support. In spring 466, Deng Wan, claiming to have received a secret edict from Liu Zixun's grandmother Empress Dowager Lu Huinan, declared Liu Zixun emperor. Upon the declaration, nearly the entire empire declared for Liu Zixun, with Emperor Ming only in control of the region immediately around the capital Jiankang. However, Liu Zixun's generals proceeded slowly, believing that Jiankang would collapse on its own due to the lack of food supply. Emperor Ming's general Wu Xi (吴喜) was quickly able to advance east and capture Liu Zifang, taking the commanderies around Kuaiji that had declared for Liu Zixun and securing a food supply. The troops of Liu Zixun and Emperor Ming stalemated for months in the Chaohu region, until Emperor Ming's general Zhang Xingshi (张兴世) built a defense post at Qianxi (钱溪, in modern Chizhou, Anhui), upstream from Liu Zixun's main troops commanded by Yuan Yi and Liu Hu (刘胡), cutting off their food supplies. As Liu Hu then tried to capture Qianxi to reopen food routes, he was defeated by Zhang and Shen Youzhi, and Liu Hu and Yuan then fled, with their troops collapsing. Liu Hu fled back to Xunyang, but then left under guise that he was going to set up perimeter defenses while instead fleeing. Xunyang was left without a defense, and Deng Wan contemplated killing Liu Zixun to save himself, but instead was killed by another staff member Zhang Yue (张悦). Shen then arrived and executed Liu Zixun, ending his rival claim. However, Emperor Ming then grew arrogant in light of his victory. Instead of his initial policy of pardoning those who had declared for Liu Zixun, he began to deal with those who had not surrendered by this point harshly. In particular, at Liu Xiuren's suggestion, he put to death all of the still living sons of Emperor Xiaowu, accusing them (the oldest of whom was 10) of treason, along with several other officials whom he suspected of covertly supporting Liu Zixun, including Empress Dowager Lu's nephews. (Empress Dowager Lu herself had died during the war under suspicious circumstances. A rumor that the Nan Shi found reliable but indicated was not conclusively proven indicated that she had been secretly pleased about Liu Zixun's rebellion, and had tried to poison Emperor Ming so that Liu Zixun could be successful, but Emperor Ming, realizing her intend, poisoned her instead.) Late in 466, Emperor Ming created his oldest son, Liu Yu (different character than his own name), crown prince. Emperor Ming's reprisals brought an immediate heavy toll for LS. When Xue Andu (薛安都) the governor of Xu Province (徐州, modern northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui), who had earlier declared for Liu Zixun, tried to surrender to him, Emperor Ming, instead of just pardoning Xue, sent a force toward Xue's defense post at Pengcheng, Xue became fearful that Emperor Ming had no intent of pardoning him. (Indeed, Emperor Ming did not, and was intending to lead Xue into resisting, and then wiping him out.) Instead of simply resisting, however, Xue surrendered Xu Province to rival Northern Wei. He was joined in this action by Bi Zhongjing (毕众敬) the governor of Yan Province (兖州, modern western Shandong), Shen Wenxiu (沈文秀) the governor of Qing Province (青州, modern central and eastern Shandong), and Cui Daogu (崔道固) the governor of Ji Province (冀州, modern northwestern Shandong), although Shen and Cui soon changed their allegiance back to Emperor Ming. Northern Wei forces quickly joined Xue's, and they took up defense position against the attacking forces sent by Emperor Ming, commanded by the generals Zhang Yong (张永) and Shen Youzhi. With LS forces unable to siege Pengcheng effectively, Zhang and Shen Youzhi were forced to withdraw in spring 467, and on their retreat, Northern Wei forces commanded by Yuchi Yuan (尉迟元) sandwiched them with Xue, leading to a major rout. Against Shen Youzhi's protestations, Emperor Ming ordered him to attack Pengcheng again in fall 467, and Yuchi again defeated Shen Youzhi, ending Emperor Ming's efforts at recapturing Xu and Yan Provinces. With Ji and Qing Provinces now completely isolated from the rest of LS, they could not be supplied with fresh troops, and the Northern Wei general Murong Baiyao (慕容白曜) forced Cui's surrender in spring 468 and captured Shen Wenxiu's defense post at Dongyang (东阳, in modern Weifang, Shandong), annexing those provinces for Northern Wei. (While Pengcheng would temporarily be taken by Emperor Wu of Liang, the rest of the territory was lost to Southern Dynasties forever.) Emperor Ming also began to be suspicious of his brothers, and in 469, when a plot to make Liu Hui emperor was discovered, Emperor Ming had his brother demoted and then forced him to commit suicide. He also became displeased at the increasing authorities of Liu Xiuren, and Liu Xiuren, realizing that he was being suspected, surrendered part of his authorities but could not regain Emperor Ming's trust. Late reign Meanwhile, Emperor Ming's own conduct also began to decay. For example, in 470, he ordered officials and governors to offer him gifts, and when Sun Fengbo (孙奉伯) the governor of Shixing Commandery (始兴, roughly modern Shaoguan, Guangdong) only offered Guqin and books, and not the treasures that Emperor Ming was hoping for, he sent poison to Sun to order him to commit suicide, although he soon retracted that order. Also on one occasion, he held an imperial feast inside the palace, and ordered his ladies in waiting to strip for the guests. Empress Wang, embarrassed, covered her eyes with a fan. In anger, Emperor Ming said, "Your household is so naive and unaware of the world. Today everyone is trying to have fun, so why are you covering your eyes?" She responded, "There are many ways to have fun. What kind of a scene is it for aunts and sisters to gather to watch naked ladies in waiting and laugh about it? The fun that our household has is different." He became angrier and chased her away. Historical accounts, written during the succeeding Southern Qi Dynasty, indicate that Emperor Ming was impotent, and that although he had 12 sons, those were the results of his having seized his brothers' pregnant concubines and kept the children if they bore males, or his having had his concubines have sexual relations with others. (However, the fact that Empress Wang had two daughters, although no sons, may argue against such allegations, because it appeared rather unlikely that Emperor Ming would do this over female children─indeed, the allegations stated that he would only do this if his brothers' concubines bore males─or that the morally upright Empress Wang would engage in sexual relations with others, thus suggesting that the allegations were made to delegitimize Emperor Ming's sons Emperor Houfei and Emperor Shun vis-a-vis Southern Qi.) In addition, Emperor Ming was said to be suspicious, jealous, cruel, and violent. In addition, he was also superstitious, and his officials and attendants were forced to observe a number of taboos in both language and acts. Whoever violated these taboos would be executed, often in cruel manners, including having their hearts cut open or their entrails pulled out. In 471, Emperor Ming grew ill, and as Crown Prince Yu was only eight, he was fearful that his brothers would seize the throne, and therefore turned against them. His first target was Liu Xiuyou the Prince of Jinping, who was considered arrogant and violent and often offended Emperor Ming. Emperor Ming therefore, when he was out on a hunt with Liu Xiuyou, found an opportunity to have his guards push Liu Xiuyou off his horse and then pounded to death. When this news reached his youngest brother, Liu Xiuruo (刘休若) the Prince of Baling, the governor of Jing Province, Liu Xiuruo's staff members suggest that he start a rebellion, particularly in light of orders for him to return to Jiankang and then take up Liu Xiuyou's old post at governor of South Xu Province (南徐州, modern western central Jiangsu), but the cautious Liu Xiuruo did not rebel, but instead reported to South Xu. Meanwhile, because the public believed that Liu Xiuren would become regent if Emperor Ming died, the mid-level officials were all trying to ingratiate themselves with Liu Xiuren and his staff, drawing Emperor Ming's anger and suspicion, and he forced Liu Xiuren to commit suicide. He then summoned Liu Xiuruo back to Jiankang and forced him to commit suicide as well. The only brother who was spared with Liu Xiufan (刘休范) the Prince of Guiyang, who was considered to be unvirtuous and incompetent, and therefore not viewed as a threat. Emperor Ming's suspicions soon turned to other officials as well. In order to test the attitude of Xiao Daocheng the governor of South Yan Province (南兖州, modern eastern central Jiangsu), he had his strategist Wu Xi deliver a pot of wine to Xiao. Xiao, believing that wine was poisoned, was about to flee to Northern Wei, when Wu revealed that the wine was not poisonous and that Emperor Ming was merely trying to test him, and Wu drank some of the wine first to show Xiao. Xiao then drank the wine, and Wu returned to the capital and vouched for Xiao's loyalty, but his leaking of the non-poisonous nature of the wine was soon revealed. Emperor Ming, who was already suspicious of Wu's abilities, forced him to commit suicide. In fear, Empress Wang's brother Wang Jingwen (王景文), the commander of the armed forces, tried to resign. Emperor Ming would not let him do so, and then, suspecting that Wang would take power after Emperor Ming's death, forced Wang to commit suicide in spring 472. Emperor Ming himself died in summer 472, and was succeeded by Crown Prince Yu (as Emperor Houfei). 7) Houfei Di 后废帝 or Cangwu Wang 苍梧王 Liu Yu 刘昱 473-477 Yuanhui (元徽 yuan hu_) 473-477 Emperor Houfei of LS ((刘)宋后废帝) (463━477), also known by posthumous demoted title of Prince of Cangwu (苍梧王), personal name Liu Yu (刘昱), courtesy name Derong (德融), nickname Huizhen (慧震), was an emperor of the Chinese dynasty LS. During his brief reign as a boy emperor, he showed a knack for violence and arbitrariness, and in 477 he was killed by his general Xiao Daocheng, who made Emperor Houfei's brother Liu Zhun emperor but seized the throne in 479, ending LS and starting Southern Qi. Background Liu Yu was born in 463, when his father Liu Yu (different character) was the Prince of Xiangdong under his uncle Emperor Xiaowu. He was the oldest son of the Prince of Xiangdong, and his mother was the concubine Chen Miaodeng. (The Prince of Xiangdong had earlier disfavored Lady Chen and given her to his attendant Li Dao'er (李道儿) and then taken her back, and therefore there was constant rumor that his son's biological father was actually Li, not he.) His courtesy name of Huizhen came from the I Ching, which the Prince of Xiangdong used extensively for divination. After the Prince of Xiangdong became emperor (as Emperor Ming) after the assassination of his nephew Emperor Qianfei (Emperor Xiaowu's son) in 465, he created Liu Yu crown prince in 466 (although the name "Yu" was not actually settled on until 467). As the Crown Prince grew, he was known as an overly active child who liked carrying out dangerous tasks, such as climbing flag poles, and he had severe mood swings and was so impulsive that his attendants could not stop him from taking violent actions. Emperor Ming often had his mother Consort Chen beat him as punishment. In 470, Emperor Ming set up a separate household for the Crown Prince, as per tradition for crown princes. In 472, Emperor Ming died, and Crown Prince Yu took the throne as Emperor Houfei at the age of nine. He honored Emperor Ming's wife Empress Wang Zhenfeng as empress dowager and his mother Consort Chen as "Consort Dowager." Reign After Emperor Houfei ascended the throne, the government was technically in the hands of two high level officials that Emperor Ming had entrusted Emperor Houfei to -- Chu Yuan and Yuan Can. However, the close associates of Emperor Ming, led by Ruan Dianfu (阮佃夫) and Wang Daolong (王道隆), continued to be powerful behind the scenes and influential, and Chu and Yuan were unable to curb their powers. Chu and Yuan soon added Emperor Houfei's distant relative Liu Bing to their own rank to be involved in important decisions. In 473, Yuan's mother died, and he left the government to observe the three-year mourning period. One crisis that Emperor Houfei's administration needed to deal with almost immediately was that Emperor Houfei's single remaining paternal uncle, Liu Xiufan (刘休范) the Prince of Guiyang and the governor of Jiang Province (江州, modern Jiangxi and Fujian), was becoming displeased that he was not made prime minister, as the emperor's uncle. (Emperor Ming had, because he was apprehensive of his brothers taking power after his death, killed all of his remaining brothers in 471, except for Liu Xiufan, because he considered Liu Xiufan incompetent and therefore not much of a threat.) In summer 474, Liu Xiufan declared a rebellion, accusing Wang Daolong and another associate of Emperor Ming, Yang Yunchang (杨运长), of having wrongly instigated the death of Liu Xiuren (刘休仁) the Prince of Jian'an and Liu Xiuruo (刘休若) the Prince of Baling. Taking lesson from past rebellions that had failed because they had proceeded too slowly, Liu Xiufan ordered his troops to advance on the capital Jiankang as quickly as possible, and it took only five days for them to arrive at Jiankang. The general Xiao Daocheng volunteered to face Liu Xiufan's forces, and while Liu Xiufan's forces were initially able to prevail over Xiao's, the battles were not particularly decisive. Meanwhile, Xiao was offered a plan of deception by his subordinates Huang Hui (黄回) and Zhang Jing'er (张敬儿) -- that they would pretend to surrender to Liu Xiufan and then assassinate him, and he agreed with it. Huang and Zhang then pretended to surrender to Liu Xiufan, but then took the opportunity to kill him. However, Liu Xiufan's troops were not aware that Liu Xiufan was dead, and they initially continued fighting. Indeed, Liu Xiufan's general Ding Wenhao (丁文豪) soon engaged and defeated the forces under Wang Daolong's and Liu Mian (刘_), killing Wang and Liu Mian, and then put the palace under siege. Eventually, though, Ding's forces became aware that Liu Xiufan had died, and began to collapse on their own. Xiao and Yuan Can (who had returned to the government in light of the emergency) then defeated Liu Xiufan's remaining troops, ending the rebellion. In light of the victory, Xiao was promoted to be part of the decision-making nucleus, along with Yuan, Chu, and Liu Bing. Meanwhile, Emperor Houfei had begun to develop a reputation of being crazed and lacking in virtue. The people instead were hopeful that his cousin Liu Jingsu (刘景素) the Prince of Jianping, who was an adult and was considered a kind and generous man, could become emperor. Many army officers were hoping to join a rebellion by Liu Jingsu, while Yang Yunchang and Ruan Dianfu, who wanted to hold onto power, wanted to eliminate Liu Jingsu as a potential threat. In 475, they wanted to act on an accusation that Liu Jingsu was plotting rebellion and arrest him, but were stopped from doing so by Yuan and Xiao. In summer 476, however, one of the army officers who was hopeful for a Liu Jingsu rebellion fled to Liu Jingsu's headquarters at Jingkou (京口, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), falsely telling Liu Jingsu that Jiankang was in disarray and that he needed to quickly proceed to Jiankang and take the throne. Liu Jingsu therefore started his uprising, but his forces lacked good generals. Meanwhile, Xiao sent Huang Hui to attack Liu Jingsu, and Huang, while secretly sympathetic of Liu Jingsu's cause, was hesitant to turn against Xiao because his lieutenants were all Xiao's confidants, and he defeated Liu Jingsu, who was captured and killed. By 477, Emperor Houfei's reputation was one that was feared and despised, for by this point Empress Dowager Wang and Consort Dowager Chen had completely lost control of him, and he was doing everything that he pleased. His guard corps would accompany him, and they killed humans and animals alike that they encountered, often in cruel manners. Emperor Houfei, indeed, would personally cut the victims open, and if he did not kill on a given day, he would appear depressed for the day. Because he was leaving and returning to the palace at all times during day or night, the palace guards would not dare to lock the palace gates, leaving palace defenses open. The situation was getting sufficiently severe that even Ruan, who had wanted to keep Emperor Houfei in power, instead plotted to depose him, but was discovered and executed. When Emperor Houfei subsequently received reports that the officials Du Youwen (杜幼文), Shen Bo (沈勃), and Sun Chaozhi (孙超之) were part of Ruan's conspiracy, he led his guards and personally executed Du, Shen, Sun, and their households, cutting the bodies to pieces, including even infants. On one particular day, Emperor Houfei charged into Xiao Daocheng's headquarters and saw Xiao sleeping naked. He was intrigued by the large size of Xiao's belly, and he woke Xiao up, drew a target on Xiao's belly, and prepared to shoot Xiao with arrows. Xiao pled for his life, and Emperor Houfei's attendant Wang Tian'en (王天恩) pointed out that if he killed Xiao with an arrow, he would lose Xiao's belly as a wonderful target -- and so at Wang's suggestion, Emperor Houfei shot Xiao with bone-made round-point arrows and was pleased when he was able to target Xiao's bellybutton successfully. Xiao became fearful after the incident, and he initially discussed with Yuan and Chu the possibilities of deposing the emperor, but could not get them to go along with his plan. Instead, he independently planned with a number of his associates, and he also entered into agreements with a number of Emperor Houfei's attendants. On the night of Qi Xi in 477, Emperor Houfei's attendant Yang Yufu (杨玉夫), whom Emperor Houfei had previously threatened to kill, cut off Emperor Houfei's head while he was asleep, and delivered the head to Xiao via Xiao's subordinate Wang Jingze (王敬则). Xiao immediately went to the palace with the emperor's head in possession -- and the palace guards had been so terrified by the emperor that they were supposed to protect that when they heard of his death, there was no mourning but great rejoicing. Xiao issued an edict in the name of Empress Dowager Wang legitimizing the assassination and posthumously demoting Emperor Houfei to the title of Prince of Cangwu, while making Emperor Houfei's younger brother Liu Zhun the Prince of Ancheng emperor (as Emperor Shun). (According to later accusations by Shen Youzhi while starting an uprising against Xiao, Xiao also exposed Emperor Houfei's body to the elements that it became infested by maggots, although it is not clear whether Shen's accusation had a basis in fact.) |