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91-677: Some historians consider Wu to have begun in 902, when Yang Xingmi was named Prince of Wu by the Tang dynasty . All three rulers of Wu after 907 (when the Tang dynasty collapsed and Zhu Wen established the Later Liang dynasty ) were Yang Xingmi's sons. The first ruler Yang Wo was murdered by his ministers Xu Wen and Zhang Hao , and his two brothers after him were effectively puppets dominated by Xu Wen at first, and later Xu Wen's adopted son Xu Zhigao (Li Bian) who in 937 usurped power to establish

182-439: A Huainan officer who was captured when Qian recaptured Sū Prefecture.) By late 901, the powerful palace eunuchs , upon learning of a plot between Emperor Zhaozong and the chancellor Cui Yin to slaughter them, planned to kill Cui. In response, Cui summoned Zhu Quanzhong to the imperial capital Chang'an with an army. Upon hearing of Zhu's impending arrival, the eunuchs, led by Han Quanhui , seized Emperor Zhaozong and fled to

273-456: A Qian counterattack, he, who had captured Qian's hometown Lin'an (臨安, in modern Hangzhou) by this point, protected Qian's ancestral tombs and allowed Gu, whom Qian valued greatly, to write home; he also pretended a large Huainan reinforcement was on the way. After extracting a large amount of monetary award from Qian, he then withdrew. (Yang later returned Gu to Zhenhai in return for Qin Pei ( 秦裴 ),

364-517: A base and support Yang Meng to take over power, and therefore ordered Jiang to withdraw. By 934, Yang Meng was carrying, in addition to the title of Prince of Linchuan, the honorary chancellor title of Zhongshu Ling ( 中書令 ) and military governor of Zhaowu Circuit (昭武, headquartered in modern Fuzhou , Jiangxi ). By that point, Xu was considering taking over the throne, and he was apprehensive that Yang Meng might interfere with his plans, and therefore had others submit false accusations that Yang Meng

455-451: A campaign to resist Yang at Lu Prefecture, along with Ni Zhang ( 倪章 ) the prefect of Shu Prefecture. Cai, in order to show resolve, dug open the graves of Yang's ancestors, and further had an emissary offer his prefect seal to Zhu Quanzhong, seeking aid from Zhu. Zhu, however, despised Cai for his treachery, and refused to aid Cai; instead, he informed Yang of what Cai had done. Yang thanked Zhu and sent Li Shenfu to attack Cai, and commanded

546-514: A dam on the Huai River. When Yang Xingmi attacked Pang, Zhu released the waters to flood Pang's army, and then attacked Pang with Yang. Pang's army was crushed by the waters and the Huainan forces, and Pang was killed. Zhu Yanshou also defeated Ge's army. Hearing that both of his generals had been defeated, Zhu Quanzhong also retreated. The Battle of Qingkou thus affirmed Yang's control of

637-778: A fallout with Gao himself (as Gao wanted to compromise with Bi while Lü opposed), sent Yang Xingmi an order in Gao's name requesting that he come to Yang Prefecture's aid. Yang, under the advice of his strategist Yuan Xi ( 袁襲 ), decided to act. He gathered his own forces and requested additional forces from Sun Duan ( 孫端 ) the prefect of neighboring He Prefecture (和州, in modern Chaohu , Anhui ), and headed for Yang Prefecture. Before he got there, Lü, with Gao and Gao's nephew Gao Jie ( 高傑 ) turning against him, already fled Yang Prefecture, and they rendezvoused at Tianchang (天長, in modern Chuzhou), along with Bi's one-time ally Zhang Shenjian ( 張神劍 ), who had turned against Bi due to Bi's refusal to give him

728-590: A final attack against Sun, defeating him. Tian captured Sun on the battlefield, and Yang executed Sun, sending his head to Emperor Zhaozong. Most of Sun's army surrendered to Yang, although Liu Jianfeng and Ma Yin took some of the remnants and advanced south. (They eventually reached the Hunan region and took it over.) Yang then marched victoriously to Yang Prefecture and made it his headquarters again, while stationing Tian at Xuan Prefecture and An Renyi at Run Prefecture. Emperor Zhaozong, receiving Yang's report, made him

819-600: A fleet himself in preparation, and Feng decided to preempt him by attacking Ningguo's capital Xuan Prefecture with his fleet, despite Yang's sending messengers to urge him not to. When Feng engaged Tian, however, Tian defeated him and crushed his fleet. Feng, in light of his defeat, considered heading east out onto the East China Sea , but Yang persuaded him that he would be treated well if he submitted to Yang. Feng did so, and Yang commissioned him as deputy military governor of Huainan. Yang then sent Li Shenfu to serve as

910-425: A follow-up army himself. Cai's subordinate Zhang Hao surrendered to Yang. Lu Prefecture fell in fall 893, and Yang executed Cai — but refused to accept the suggestion that Cai's ancestral tombs be dug up, stating: "Because of what Cai Chou did, the people under heaven despised him. Why should I follow his example?" Thereafter, he also sent Tian Jun to attack She Prefecture (歙州, in modern Huangshan , Anhui ); when

1001-501: A large army was arriving from Lu. As a result, Chen fled. Subsequently, when Qin Zongquan , who was previously the Tang military governor of Fengguo Circuit (奉國, headquartered in modern Zhumadian , Henan ) but who had rebelled against Tang by this point, sent a brother to attack Lu, Yang sent Tian Jun to repel Qin's attack. Meanwhile, when other agrarian rebels Wu Jiong ( 吳迥 ) and Li Ben ( 李本 ) attacked Shu, Gao Yu abandoned it (and

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1092-669: A minimal amount of food, and if Yang could simply refuse to engage Sun and wear Sun's army down, he could be destroyed. Dai further persuaded Yang to send the Yang Prefecture refugees who had fled to Ningguo back to Yang Prefecture to settle down, to try to see if that would cause Sun's army to miss Yang Prefecture. Meanwhile, Zhang and Yang's other officers also retook Chang and Run Prefectures. When Shi Pu also wanted to use this opportunity to advance south, Zhang and Li Decheng repelled his forces and further took Chǔ Prefecture (楚州, in modern Huai'an , Jiangsu , note different tone from

1183-687: A relief force that trailed. When Yang heard of Zhu's impending arrival, he withdrew. In 900, Emperor Zhaozong bestowed on Yang the honorary chancellor title of Shizhong ( 侍中 ). In fall 901, rumors arrived at Yang's headquarters that Qian Liu had been assassinated. Believing the rumors to be true and believing that this would be his opportunity to seize Qian's capital Hang Prefecture, he sent Li Shenfu to attack Qian's Zhenhai Circuit. Qian sent his general Gu Quanwu ( 顧全武 ) to resist, but Li Shenfu defeated and captured him. However, Li soon realized that Qian had not been assassinated and that he would not be able to capture more of Qian's territory. To ward off

1274-550: A subordinate of Qian Liu ; Tian surprised Du and captured him, taking Chang Prefecture. Yang also sent Ma Jingyan ( 馬敬言 ) to capture Run Prefecture (潤州, in modern Zhenjiang , Jiangsu ), and Ma did so. Subsequently, Emperor Zhaozong upgraded Xuanshe to a circuit with a military governor, renamed it Ningguo, and made Yang its military governor. Yang then also sent Li You ( 李友 ) to capture Sū Prefecture (蘇州, in modern Suzhou , Jiangsu ), but subsequently, Sun Ru attacked and took Su, killing Li You; Yang's officer An Renyi ( 安仁義 ), who

1365-453: A succession problem. The natural successor would be his son Yang Wo, but the Huainan staff members all had low opinions of Yang Wo. When Yang Xingmi brought up the matter with his secretary Zhou Yin ( 周隱 ) and told Zhou to issue an order summoning Yang Wo back from Xuan Prefecture, Zhou opposed the idea, stating that he viewed Yang Wo as an inappropriate successor due to his love for drinking and games. Instead, Zhou suggested that Yang entrust

1456-400: A threatening posture against Yang Xingmi. Yuan believed that with Yang Xingmi's forces worn out by the lengthy siege and the people of Yang Prefecture facing starvation, Yang Xingmi was in no shape to confront Sun. He suggested that Yang Xingmi abandon the city. Yang Xingmi agreed, and he prepared for an evacuation and return to Lu Prefecture, but did not carry it out immediately. Meanwhile,

1547-506: The Southern Tang .   – Wu emperors;   – Southern Tang emperors Yang Xingmi Yang Xingmi ( Chinese : 楊行密 ; 852 – December 24, 905 ), né Yang Xingmin (楊行愍, name changed 886), courtesy name Huayuan ( 化源 ), formally Prince Wuzhong of Wu (吳武忠王, "martial and faithful"), later posthumously honored King Xiaowu of Wu (吳孝武王, "filial and martial") then Emperor Wu of Wu ( 吳武帝 ) with

1638-462: The Southern Tang dynasty . Yang Pu , the last ruler, was the only one to claim the title of emperor ; the other rulers were kings or princes. The founder of Wu, Yang Xingmi , started his career as a volunteer soldier before seizing power in his home prefecture Luzhou in a military coup. The weak Tang court could only confirm his position. In 887 the governor of Huainan , Gao Pian , was captured by Bi Shiduo . Xingmi defeated Shiduo and captured

1729-400: The regent Xu Wen , stating, "It is the state of my family's; is it all right for it to be taken over by others?" Xu heard of his remarks and was displeased at them. Shortly after, Xu had him sent out of the capital Guangling to serve as the military prefect (團練使, Tuanlianshi ) of Chu Prefecture (楚州, in modern Huai'an , Jiangsu ). In 920, Yang Longyan grew deathly ill. While Yang Meng

1820-583: The temple name of Taizu ( 太祖 ), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He was the military governor ( jiedushi ) of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou , Jiangsu ) late in the Chinese Tang dynasty , whose takeover of Huainan and several nearby circuits allowed him and his family to rule over territory that would eventually become the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms state Wu (although Yang Xingmi would be

1911-665: The Emperor of Wu. He created Yang Meng the Prince of Changshan. In 928, Yang Meng's title was changed to Prince of Linchuan. Yang Meng was known to be close to his brother-in-law, the general Jiang Yanhui ( 蔣延徽 ), who had married one of his sisters. It was because of this close relationship that, in 934, when Jiang was sieging Jian Prefecture (建州, in modern Nanping , Fujian ), an important city held by Wu's southeastern neighbor Min , that Xu Zhigao became concerned that if Jiang were successful in capturing Jian Prefecture, he might use it as

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2002-890: The Huainan army attacked but could not capture Sù Prefecture quickly, Yang withdrew. (With Yang's campaign having failed, by 903 Li Maozhen was forced to kill Han and other eunuchs who followed Han and surrender Emperor Zhaozong to Zhu, to sue for peace. Zhu subsequently slaughtered the remaining eunuchs and took Emperor Zhaozong back to Chang'an and kept him under effective control.) In fall 902, Qian's officers Xu Wan and Xu Zaisi ( 許再思 ) mutinied against him and tried to take Hang Prefecture for themselves. When their initial attempt failed, they enticed Tian from coming to their aid. When Tian arrived at Hang Prefecture, he put it under siege and offered that if Qian would surrender it, he would be allowed to withdraw to Zhendong Circuit without further pursuit from Tian. Qian refused and, under Gu's suggestion, decided to enlist Yang's aid in stopping Tian (who

2093-527: The Lu Prefecture militia, and he distinguished himself in battles. However, as a result, his commander was apprehensive of him, and persuaded then-prefect Lang Youfu ( 郎幼復 ) to send Yang on an away mission. When Yang subsequently met his commander to bid farewell, and the commander, wanting to pretend to favor Yang, asked Yang what favors Yang would want him to do, if any; Yang responded, "I need your head!" and then killed him. Yang then took control of

2184-455: The Prince of Qi, was taking on imperial trappings. Yang Meng decided to take one final attempt to stop the transition. In fall 937, he assassinated Wang Hong, and when Wang Hong's son led the guards to try to attack him, he killed Wang Hong's son with an arrow. He took two guards who were loyal to him and fled to Lu Prefecture (廬州, in modern Hefei , Anhui ), as Zhou Ben the military governor of Desheng Circuit (德勝, headquartered at Lu Prefecture)

2275-584: The Tang imperial government, which was also weary of the developments at Huainan Circuit, had commissioned Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng , Henan ) the military governor of Huainan as well. Zhu announced that he was making Yang Xingmi deputy military governor, while announcing his own officer Li Fan ( 李璠 ) as acting military governor. He sent his advisor Zhang Yanfan ( 張延範 ) to Yang Prefecture to convey his good will and decisions to Yang Xingmi. Yang Xingmi initially welcomed Zhang, but upon hearing that Zhu

2366-416: The acting military governor of Huainan and soon thereafter died. At the Huainan staff members' request, Li Yan issued an order under Tang imperial authority making Yang Wo the new military governor of Huainan and overall commander of the eastern circuits, succeeding Yang Xingmi. Yang Meng Yang Meng ( 楊濛 ) (died 937), courtesy name Zhilong ( 志龍 ), formally Prince Ling of Linjiang ( 臨江靈王 ),

2457-585: The attack by sending his brother Cui Xian ( 崔賢 ) to Zhu as a hostage and promised to contribute 2,000 soldiers to Zhu's campaigns. Subsequently, when Zhu sent Cui Xian back to Fengguo and demanded that he return with the 2,000 promised soldiers, Cui Hong's officer Cui Jingsi ( 崔景思 ) assassinated Cui Xian and seized Cui Hong, fleeing to Yang's domain with him and the soldiers. In spring 899, Yang Xingmi and Zhu Jin attacked Ganhua's capital Xu Prefecture ( 徐州 ). Zhu Quanzhong, after first sending his officer Zhang Guihou ( 張歸厚 ) to try to relieve Xu, also personally led

2548-856: The campaign against Wuchang, Yang sent back the response, "I will do so and rebuild my relationship with you if the Son of Heaven were restored to Chang'an." In summer 904, Li Shenfu fell ill and died while attacking Wuchang; Yang replaced him with Liu Cun ( 劉存 ). Meanwhile, Tai also died, and Yang replaced Tai with his oldest son Yang Wo . In winter 904, Zhu Quanzhong himself led an army to try to aid Wuchang and sent other officers to raid Huainan territory. He also sent Cao Yanzuo ( 曹延祚 ) to Wuchang's capital E Prefecture ( 鄂州 ) to help Du defend it in light of Liu's siege. However, by spring 905, Liu had captured E Prefecture and taken Du and Cao prisoner; he sent them to Yang Prefecture, where they were executed, allowing Yang to incorporate Wuchang into his domain. Through

2639-405: The capital was left to his son Xu Zhixun . After Zhixun's murder in 918, this position was inherited by Wen's stepson, Zhigao . In 919, Yang Longyan proclaimed himself King of Wu and inaugurated a new era name , thus for the first time Wu officially claimed to be a sovereign state. Longyan died of illness in 922 and was succeeded by his brother, Xingmi's fourth son, Yang Pu . As before, Xu Wen had

2730-428: The circuit to Liu Wei with the direction that after Yang's younger sons grew older that the circuit be given to one of them — a proposal that Xu Wen and Zhang Hao attacked as unworkable. When Yang again told Zhou to summon Yang Wo, Zhou drafted such an order but then delayed sending it. However, Xu and Zhang found the order and sent it, and Yang Wo arrived in Yang Prefecture in winter 905. Yang Xingmi commissioned him as

2821-572: The circuits to the east, bestowing him the honorary chancellor title of Zhongshu Ling ( 中書令 ), and created him the Prince of Wu. The edict ordered Yang to attack Zhu from the east. (The edict was delivered by Li Yan , the son of the retired chancellor Zhang Jun , on whom Emperor Zhaozong bestowed the imperial surname of Li. Li Yan would subsequently remain in Yang's domain to serve as the Tang emperor's representative, although after Li Yan's arrival Yang also himself began exercising imperial authority, as

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2912-409: The city against the siege, but their attempts to counterattack were repelled by Yang Xingmi, who inflicted heavy losses on their troops. Meanwhile, under siege, Yang Prefecture was running out of food supplies, leaving to severe famine and cannibalism. (During the siege, Qin put Gao to death, and Yang Xingmi responded by a great display of mourning.) After several months, Yang Xingmi, unable to capture

3003-439: The city of Chang'an and forced Emperor Zhaozong to move the capital to Luoyang . On the journey to Luoyang, Emperor Zhaozong sent one final secret communique to Yang, Li Keyong, and Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu , Sichuan ) to ask for them to make an attempt to rescue him; none of the three did. Still, when Zhu Quanzhong sent emissaries to try to persuade Yang to abandon

3094-455: The city, considered withdrawing, but one night, Lü's former subordinate Zhang Shenwei ( 張審威 ) opened the city gates and allowed Yang Xingmi's forces in. Qin and Bi fled, allowing Yang Xingmi to capture the city. He claimed the title of acting military governor, while putting Lü and several other officers whose loyalty he considered suspect to death, including Zhang Shenjian. However, by this point, Qin Zongquan's general Sun Ru had arrived in

3185-474: The domain of Han's ally Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji , Shaanxi ). Zhu soon arrived in Chang'an's vicinity and, at Cui's urging, put Fengxiang's capital Fengxiang Municipality under siege. With Fengxiang under siege, Emperor Zhaozong issued an edict (possibly under the eunuchs' duress) in spring 902 to Yang, commissioning him as the overall commander of

3276-493: The edict that Li Yan delivered authorized him to do so.) Yang thereafter prepared a campaign against Zhu. While Yang was preparing the campaign against Zhu, Tian Jun, who was by this point the military governor of Ningguo, was preparing an attack against Feng Hongduo , an officer of Zhang Xiong's who had continued to occupy Sheng Prefecture (昇州, i.e., Shangyuan) after Zhang's death, who had an impressive fleet. (Because of his fleet, Feng had refused to submit to Yang.) Tian built

3367-658: The efforts of his officer Li Jian ( 李簡 ). Sun then advanced toward Xuan Prefecture. Yang Xingmi sought aid from Qian, who then possessed the Hang Prefecture (杭州, in modern Hangzhou , Zhejiang ) region; Qian did not launch troops, but did aid Yang's army with food. In spring 892, With Sun's numerically superior army pressuring him, Yang considered abandoning Xuan Prefecture and withdrawing to Tongguan (銅官, in modern Tongling , Anhui ). Liu, Li Shenfu, and Dai Yougui ( 戴友規 ) dissuaded him, pointing out that Sun believed that he could destroy Yang quickly and therefore carried

3458-561: The first ruler in his line to receive the title of Prince of Wu, it was a Tang-bestowed title and did not denote independence of the state), including most of modern Jiangsu and Anhui and parts of modern Jiangxi and Hubei . Yang Xingmin was born in 852, during the reign of Emperor Xuānzong of Tang . He was from Lu Prefecture (廬州, in modern Hefei , Anhui ). His ancestors, including his father Yang Fu ( 楊怤 ), were farmers for generations. In youth, Tian Jun and he became close friends, and they came to refer to each other as brother. It

3549-525: The forces from Tianping and Taining Circuits to Anfeng (安豐, in modern Lu'an), posturing to head to Shou Prefecture; and Zhu Quanzhong himself with his main forces to Sù Prefecture (宿州, in modern Suzhou , Anhui , note different tone from the prefecture in modern Jiangsu). The people of Huainan Circuit were greatly shocked and dismayed by Zhu's forces. However, Pang, because he had such an impressive force, underestimated Yang Xingmi's army. Yang Xingmi had Zhu Jin serve as his advance commander, and Zhu constructed

3640-422: The governor of Xuanshe. Meanwhile, Zhu Quanzhong, who was an old friend of Zhao Huang's, sent emissaries to request that Yang release Zhao to him. However, Yang, accepting Yuan's suggestion that doing so might leave Zhao as a threat, instead executed Zhao and gave Zhao's head to Zhu's emissaries. Meanwhile, he sent Tian to attack Chang Prefecture (常州, in modern Changzhou , Jiangsu ), then held by Du Leng ( 杜稜 ),

3731-460: The honorary titles of acting Taifu ( 太傅 ) and Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi ( 同中書門下平章事 ) and created him the Prince of Hongnong. By spring 897, Zhu Quanzhong had achieved final victory against two military governors that he had waged war against for years — Zhu Xuan the military governor of Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an , Shandong ) and Zhu Xuan's cousin Zhu Jin

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3822-557: The imperial government that Yang be made acting military governor. In spring 888, Sun (who by this point had put Qin Yan and Bi to death and taken over their forces) finally attacked Yang Prefecture, capturing it easily. Sun claimed the title of military governor. Yang Xingmi fled, and per Yuan's suggestion, returned to Lu Prefecture to prepare his next step. Yang Xingmi, however, believed that Sun Ru would eventually attack him, and in fall 888, he considered heading south to attack Zhong Chuan

3913-525: The last Tang emperor to abdicate and proclaimed himself the first emperor of the Later Liang. Yang Wo refused to acknowledge this change and continued the use of the last era name of Tang. From this point Wu was an independent, sovereign entity. Young and untested at his father's death Yang Wo had to rely on the director of the guard, Xu Wen , for his ascension, but later grew to resent Xu Wen's influence. However, before he could pull himself free, Yang Wo

4004-549: The mature men and women of Yang Prefecture across the Yangtze to accompany his army, while killing the old and the weak. (As Sun left Yang Prefecture, Yang sent Zhang Xun and Li Decheng into Yang Prefecture to take control of the remaining food supplies in the city and to comfort those who escaped Sun's massacre, effectively allowing him to take the city without a fight.) Sun subsequently surrounded Yang Xingmi at Guangde (廣德, in modern Xuancheng), and Yang Xingmi only escaped through

4095-410: The military governor ( Jiedushi ) of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou , Jiangsu ). It is not known when he was born, although his immediately older brother Yang Longyan was born in 897 and his immediately younger brother Yang Pu was born in 900, placing a timeframe on his birth date. His mother's name was not recorded in history. The first historical reference to Yang Meng

4186-409: The military governor of Huainan, while making Tian the acting military governor of Ningguo and An the prefect of Run. It was said that due to years of warfare, Huainan Circuit was stripped of its population and wealth. Yang Xingmi was frugal, promoted farming, decreased the tax burden, and encouraged commerce with nearby circuits. It was said that within several years, Huainan was restored to what it

4277-840: The military governor of Taining Circuit (泰寧, headquartered in modern Jining , Shandong ) — capturing and executing Zhu Xuan, forcing Zhu Jin to flee, and taking control of both circuits, allowing him full control of the region between the Yellow River and the Huai River . (Shi Pu's Ganhua Circuit had fallen to him in 893.) Zhu Jin fled to Huainan, along with the Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan , Shanxi ) officers Shi Yan ( 史儼 ) and Li Chengsi ( 李承嗣 ), whom Hedong's military governor Li Keyong had previously sent to aid Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin. Yang personally went to Gaoyou (高郵, in modern Yangzhou) to welcome them. It

4368-488: The military governor of Zhennan Circuit (鎮南, headquartered in modern Nanchang , Jiangxi ) to try to take over Zhong's territory. Yuan Xi, however, pointed out that Zhong had possessed Zhennan for years and was well-prepared for an attack; instead, he suggested that Yang attack Zhao Huang the governor of Xuanshe (who had been commissioned by Qin Yan when Qin left Xuanshe to head for Huainan). Yang agreed, and also persuaded Sun Duan and Zhang Xiong , an independent general who

4459-522: The military governor of Zhongyi Circuit (忠義, headquartered in modern Xiangfan , Hubei ) secretly entered into an alliance with Yang, but after Zhu Quanzhong found out and attacked Zhongyi, capturing Zhao's brother Zhao Kuanglin ( 趙匡璘 ), Zhao Kuangning agreed to abandon his alliance with Yang. Similarly, Cui Hong ( 崔洪 ) the military governor of Fengguo Circuit, a vassal of Zhu's, also had secret communications with Yang, and when Zhu discovered this, Zhu sent Zhang Cunjing ( 張存敬 ) to attack Cui. Cui warded off

4550-456: The military governorship of Huainan. While still nominally loyal to the Tang dynasty, rival warlords were now carving out their own statelets. Yang Xingmi clashed with Zhu Wen of Later Liang in the north and Qian Liu of Wuyue in the south, successfully defending his territory. In 902 Yang Xingmi was named Prince of Wu by Emperor Zhaozong of Tang . Yang Xingmi died in 905 and was succeeded by his oldest son Yang Wo . In 907 Zhu Wen forced

4641-788: The militia and declared himself the commander. Lang was unable to control him, and so submitted a report to Gao Pian the military governor ( jiedushi ) of Huainan Circuit, which Lu Prefecture belonged to, recommending that Gao commission Yang the new prefect to replace Lang himself. Gao agreed, and Emperor Xizong subsequently, at Gao's recommendation, issued such a commission. Also in 883, two of Gao Pian's officers, Yu Gongchu ( 俞公楚 ) and Yao Guiili ( 姚歸禮 ), failed in an assassination attempt against Gao's favored sorcerer Lü Yongzhi , who had in effect taken over Huainan's governance due to Gao's trust in him. Lü thus made accusations against them, and Gao sent them out to combat agrarian rebels. Lü then secretly informed Yang (falsely) that Yu and Yao's intent

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4732-550: The overwhelming attack of Zhu's, and he sought aid from Yang. Yang sent Wang Maozhang to aid him and launched an attack on Sù Prefecture, but soon withdrew his attack from Sù. In addition, while Wang Maozhang initially had successes in conjunction with Wang Shifan in repelling the Xuanwu attack, soon, Wang Maozhang, determining that it would be impossible to indefinitely hold off the Xuanwu attack, withdrew from Pinglu, leaving Wang Shifan without further aid. By winter 903, Wang Shifan

4823-847: The people of She offered to surrender if Yang would make Tao Ya, who was known for kindness to the people, prefect, Yang did so, and She surrendered. Yang treated the imperially-commissioned prefect Pei Shu with respect, and sent him back to the imperial government. Meanwhile, Ni abandoned Shu and fled, and Yang sent Li Shenfu to be its prefect. In spring 894, Wu Tao ( 吳討 ) the prefect of Huang Prefecture (黃州, in modern Wuhan , Hubei ) — which belonged to neighboring Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan) — submitted to Yang. When Wuchang's military governor Du Hong subsequently attacked Huang, Yang sent Zhu Yanshou to aid Wu Tao, starting years of warfare with Wuchang. (Wu subsequently offered to resign since he feared further attack from Du; Yang then had Ju Zhang ( 瞿章 ) take over as prefect.) Meanwhile,

4914-430: The prefect of Chú Prefecture (滁洲, in modern Chuzhou , Anhui ) attacked Shu; Tao was unable to resist, and fled back to Lu, allowing Xu to take Shu. Also in 886, under Gao's order, for reasons unclear, Yang changed his name from Xingmin to Xingmi. In 887, Gao Pian's officer Bi Shiduo , fearing that Lü Yongzhi would have him killed, rebelled and put Huainan's capital Yang Prefecture ( 揚州 ) under siege. Lü, who then had

5005-515: The prefect of Sheng. With the Feng threat over, Yang launched his attack on Zhu's domain, leaving Li Chengsi in charge at Huainan's headquarters. However, his army ran into food supply problems, as the large ships that he used to ship food supplies got stuck in the canals. ( Xu Wen had suggested supplying the army with small ships instead, to no avail, but after this incident Yang began to value Xu's advice and began to promote him.) Subsequently, when

5096-469: The prefecture in modern Chuzhou). By summer 892, Sun's army had been worn down sufficiently that Yang's army was beginning to have successes, and Zhang cut off Sun's army's food supply routes. Further, Sun's army was suffering from diseases, and Sun himself was stricken with malaria. With food supplies running low, he sent his officers Liu Jianfeng and Ma Yin to the nearby countryside to pillage for food. Yang, after hearing that Sun had fallen ill, made

5187-411: The provincial capital Yangzhou later that year, but by then Pian had been put to death by Shiduo. Another rebel leader, Sun Ru had Shiduo killed and absorbed his forces. Yang Xingmi was forced to abandon Yangzhou and retreat to Luzhou. With Luzhou as his base, Xingmi increased his power by seizing neighbouring prefectures until he could recapture Yangzhou in 892. For this act, the Tang court granted him

5278-710: The real power. He prodded Yang Pu to proclaim himself emperor, but died in 927 before this could happen. 29 November 927 Yang Pu acceded the throne as Emperor of Wu. Xu Zhigao was made grand marshal and director of the Chancellery. The Wu capital was at Guangling (present-day Yangzhou ), and held present-day central and southern Anhui , central and southern Jiangsu , much of Jiangxi , and eastern Hubei . Xu Zhigao had been adopted by Xu Wen on Yang Xingmi's insistence and soon proved himself an able man. He came to power in Wu after his stepfather's death in 927 and continued to rule

5369-424: The relationship between Yang and Zhu Quanzhong also broke down over two disputes — when an emissary of Zhu's insulted Zhang Jian ( 張諫 ) the prefect of Si Prefecture (泗州, in modern Huai'an), Zhang responded by submitting to Yang, and when Yang sent his officer Tang Linghui ( 唐令回 ) to Xuanwu's capital Bian Prefecture ( 汴州 ) with a large supply of tea to try to sell it for profit, Zhu had Tang detained and seized all of

5460-514: The siege, was able to capture Su, additional attacks by Tian and An Renyi against other officers of Qian's were repelled, and Qian's attacks against Dong did not abate. By summer 896, Dong was forced to surrender to Qian, who executed him and took over Yisheng (which was subsequently renamed Zhendong). Meanwhile, Qian, Du Hong, and Zhong Chuan, all fearing that they would be the next target of Yang's expansion, entered into an alliance with Zhu Quanzhong. Around this time, Emperor Zhaozong also gave Yang

5551-422: The spoils he wanted. (By this point, Bi, who had received aid from Qin Yan the governor of Xuanshe Circuit (宣歙, headquartered in modern Xuancheng , Anhui ), had offered the military governorship to Qin, so he informed Zhang that any division of spoils had to await Qin's decision, drawing Zhang's anger.) Yang Xingmi then took these joint forces and put Yang Prefecture under siege. Qin and Bi initially defended

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5642-411: The state as governor of Jinling for some time. Finally in 937 he formally seized power for himself by proclaiming himself King of Qi and Yang Pu abdicated after suppressing the opposition of Yang Meng . Two years later, by claiming descent from a Tang prince Xu Zhigao and restoring his surname of Li, Xu Zhigao became Li Bian and proclaimed the restoration of the Tang. His state would be known to history as

5733-465: The tea. In spring 895, Yang submitted a petition to Emperor Zhaozong accusing Zhu of crimes, requesting that Emperor Zhaozong order the military governors to the north to attack Zhu with him; Emperor Zhaozong's court, which was extremely weak by that point, was not recorded as having taken any actions on Yang's petition. Yang subsequently attacked Shou Prefecture and captured it; he made Zhu Yanshou its military prefect (團練使, Tuanlianshi ), and Zhu Yanshou

5824-592: The territory between the Huai and the Yangtze Rivers. In spring 898, Qian Liu, Zhong Chuan, Du Hong, and Wang Shifan , the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Weifang , Shandong ), all submitted petitions to Emperor Zhaozong, requesting that the imperial government declare a general campaign against Yang, with Zhu Quanzhong as the campaign commander; Emperor Zhaozong refused. Meanwhile, hearing of Zhu Quanzhong's defeat, Zhao Kuangning

5915-465: The threat, Tian withdrew after extracting a monetary payment from Qian and forcing Qian to surrender a son ( Qian Chuanguan ) as hostage. In spring 903, Yang sent Li Shenfu, assisted by Liu You ( 劉有 ), to attack Du Hong's Wuchang Circuit. Meanwhile, Wang Shifan, who had similarly received an edict from Emperor Zhaozong to attack Zhu during the Fengxiang siege and who had acted on it, was now facing

6006-462: The vicinity, having been sent earlier in the year by Qin Zongquan to vie for control of Huainan Circuit. (When Qin Zongquan subsequently tried to recall Sun, Sun killed Qin Zongquan's brother Qin Zongheng ( 秦宗衡 ), who was theoretically the commander of the army, and refused the recall, effectively acting independently from this point on.) Qin Yan and Bi joined forces with Sun, who immediately put up

6097-611: The years, Zhao Kuangning remained in communications with both Yang and Wang Jian, a situation that eventually drew Zhu's anger. In summer 905, he launched a major attack against both Zhao Kuangning and his brother Zhao Kuangming , the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou , Hubei ). The Zhao brothers were crushed; Zhao Kuangning fled to Huainan, and Zhao Kuangming fled to Xichuan. Zhu incorporated their domains into his. After his success, he decided to head east to attack Huainan, but after running into storms, withdrew. Meanwhile, Yang grew ill, and faced

6188-560: Was a mother. Further, he incorporated Tian's staff into his despite their earlier opposition to him. (An continued to hold out and would not be defeated and executed until spring 905.) With Tian defeated, Yang commissioned Li Shenfu as the new military governor of Ningguo, but Li Shenfu declined and resumed the campaign against Wuchang. Instead, Yang commissioned Tai as governor (not military governor). Yang also sent Gu and Qian Chuanliao, along with Qian Chuanliao's wife (his daughter) back to Qian Liu. Meanwhile, Zhu Quanzhong had destroyed

6279-587: Was a senior general who had served under Yang Xingmi, and Yang Meng was hopeful that he might support Yang Meng's efforts. When he arrived at Lu Prefecture, however, Zhou's son Zhou Hongzuo ( 周弘祚 ) closed off the mansion and did not allow Zhou Ben to see Yang Meng, while sending guards out to capture Yang Meng. He then delivered Yang Meng toward Guangling, but Xu sent an imperial messenger with an edict in Yang Pu's name, intercepted Yang Meng at Caishi (采石, in modern Ma'anshan , Anhui ), and killed him there. Yang Meng

6370-433: Was about to arrive, Tian turned back to Xuan and engaged Tai. Tai sent letters in Yang's name to Tian's officers, who still bore allegiance to Yang, and then attacked, defeating Tian, who then fled back to Xuan Prefecture. Tai put Xuan under siege, and when Tian tried to counterattack, Tai defeated him and killed him. Yang, remembering his friendship with Tian, pardoned Tian's mother Lady Yin and continued to honor her as she

6461-711: Was about to turn against him, pretended to have suffered a stroke and stated to his wife Lady Zhu that he would be entrusting the headquarters to Zhu Yanshou; she wrote Zhu Yanshou relaying Yang's remarks. Yang then summoned Zhu Yanshou to Yang Prefecture; believing Yang's sincerity, Zhu Yanshou went and was seized and executed by Yang, who then also executed Zhu Yanshou's brothers and divorced Lady Zhu. Meanwhile, Li Shenfu had initial successes against Tian's officers Wang Tan ( 王壇 ) and Wang Jian ( 汪建 ). Tian therefore decided to depart Xuan Prefecture and engage Li Shenfu himself. At Li Shenfu's suggestion, Yang then sent Tai Meng to attack Xuan after Tian left Xuan. Upon hearing that Tai

6552-491: Was an imperial prince of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wu . In 937, believing that the regent Xu Zhigao was about to seize the throne from his younger brother, then-reigning emperor Yang Pu , Yang Meng tried to start an insurrection against Xu, but was quickly captured and executed. Yang Meng was the third son of Yang Xingmi , a major warlord at the end of Tang dynasty as

6643-424: Was assassinated by Xu Wen and his colleague Zhang Hao in 908. Wen and Hao had initially planned to divide Wu between themselves and submit to Liang, but they soon fell out. Xu Wen installed Yang Wo's younger brother Longyan and had Zhang Hao killed. Yang Longyan was a mere puppet with Xu Wen as the state's true ruler. Wen made himself Runzhou governor and moved his command to Jinling . The regular administration at

6734-514: Was before the war began. He organized 5,000 of Sun Ru's soldiers who submitted to him into an elite corp known as the Heiyun Corps ( 黑雲都 ), and had them serve as his advance corps in battles against other circuits. Meanwhile, although Sun's subordinates largely submitted to Yang (other than the escaped Liu Jianfeng and Ma Yin), Cai Chou the prefect of Lu Prefecture, who had previously been Yang's subordinate but had surrendered to Sun, started

6825-536: Was forced to resubmit to Zhu. Meanwhile, it was said that Tian had become deeply resentful against Yang for forcing him to abandon Zhenhai. His resentment was furthered when he went to Yang Prefecture to meet Yang Xingmi to request that Chi and She Prefecture, both of which had previously belonged to Ningguo, be returned to Ningguo, and Yang refused. In summer 903, Tian and An Renyi (who was then still at Run Prefecture as its military prefect) together rose in rebellion against Yang; they eventually enticed Zhu Yanshou, who

6916-669: Was headquartered at Qian's base Hang Prefecture)), who had previously been Dong's subordinate, used this as the excuse to attack Dong, seeking to conquer Dong's Yisheng Circuit. Yang, not wanting to see Qian conquer Dong, tried to dissuade Qian, and also sent emissaries to Dong urging him to immediately cancel any use of imperial title and resume offering tributes to Emperor Zhaozong. Qian would not relent in his attack, however, so Yang sent Tai Meng to attack Sū Prefecture to divert Qian's attention, while submitting petitions in Dong's defense. However, while Yang, who later went to Su himself to command

7007-678: Was his oldest younger brother, Xu disliked Yang Meng and did not want him to succeed Yang Longyan, so he instead issued an order in Yang Longyan's name formally naming Yang Pu regent. When Yang Longyan subsequently died, Yang Pu took the throne as the King of Wu, while Yang Meng was moved from Chu Prefecture to serve as the military prefect of Shu Prefecture (舒州, in modern Huangshan , Anhui ). In 927, by which time Xu Wen had died and been succeeded as regent by his adoptive son Xu Zhigao , Yang Pu, pursuant to advice that Xu Wen left, declared himself

7098-529: Was in 919, when Yang Longyan had just declared himself the King of Wu , a kingdom derived from the domains that Yang Xingmi conquered at the end of Tang. Yang Longyan created his younger brothers and his only known son Yang Fen ( 楊玢 ) dukes — in Yang Meng's case, the Duke of Lujiang. It was said that Yang Meng was talented, and he often lamented the state of the affairs in Wu, which then was in effect controlled by

7189-453: Was said that he was physically strong in his youth, and during the Qianfu era (874–879) of Emperor Xuānzong's grandson Emperor Xizong , Yang Xingmin became a bandit. He was captured, but the prefect of Lu Prefecture, Zheng Qi , was impressed by his appearance, and stated to him, "You will be rich and honored one day. Why be a bandit?" Zheng then released him. Yang later became a soldier of

7280-768: Was said that previously, the Huainan forces were only capable at water welfare, and now with the injection of the field soldiers from Tianping, Taining, and Hedong, their field fighting capabilities were greatly improved. Li Keyong subsequently sent emissaries to Yang, requesting that Shi and Li Chengsi be returned to him; Yang agreed, but as Yang treated Shi and Li Chengsi well and awarded them with much treasure, neither Shi nor Li Chengsi actually ever returned to Hedong, and they served Huainan thereafter. Later in spring 897, Yang resumed his attacks against Wuchang. At Du's request for assistance, Zhu Quanzhong sent his adoptive son Zhu Yougong ( 朱友恭 ) to attack Huang Prefecture. Ju Zhang abandoned Huang in response to Zhu Yougong's attack, but

7371-442: Was sending Li Fan as acting military governor, turned angry. Zhang, in fear, fled back to Xuanwu. Meanwhile, Li Fan, on his way south, was ambushed by Shi Pu the military governor of Ganhua Circuit (感化, headquartered in modern Xuzhou , Jiangsu ), who was angry that Zhu, not he, was given Huainan. With both Yang Xingmi and Shi turning against him, Zhu abandoned his plans of taking control of Huainan. He subsequently recommended to

7462-415: Was sheltering criminals and making weapons. Yang Pu issued an edict demoting Yang Meng to the rank of Duke of Liyang, and had him put under house arrest at He Prefecture (和州, in modern Hefei , Anhui ). The officer Wang Hong ( 王宏 ) was sent with 200 guards to guard Yang Meng. By 937, it was becoming clear that Xu was about to get Yang Pu to yield the throne to him, as he, who by that point had been created

7553-563: Was still Yang's vassal at this point). He sent Gu, with his son Qian Chuanliao ( 錢傳璙 ), to Huainan as emissaries. Gu pointed out to Yang that if Tian captured Zhenhai, his power would increase greatly and would threaten Yang's; instead, he offered that if Yang would order Tian to withdraw, Qian Liu would leave Qian Chuanliao as a hostage. Yang accepted the proposal and gave a daughter to Qian Chuanliao in marriage. Yang subsequently ordered Tian to withdraw, threatening that if he did not, Yang would send someone else to take over Ningguo. Faced with

7644-425: Was subsequently able to beat back a Xuanwu counterattack and able to hold Shou. Meanwhile, Dong Chang the military governor of Yisheng Circuit (義勝, headquartered in modern Shaoxing , Zhejiang ) had misjudged his strength and declared himself the emperor of a new state of Luoping ( 羅平 ). Qian Liu (who carried the title of military governor of Zhenhai Circuit (鎮海, previously headquartered at Run Prefecture but now

7735-401: Was subsequently captured by Zhu Yougong. Meanwhile, Zhu Quanzhong, having conquered Tianping and Taining, decided to make Huainan his next target, so he gathered his available forces and sent his major general Pang Shigu ( 龐師古 ) with 70,000 soldiers from Xuanwu and Ganhua Circuits to Qingkou (清口, in modern Huai'an), posturing to head to Yang Prefecture; another major general Ge Congzhou with

7826-622: Was subsequently executed by Gao Pian). Yang then sent his officers Tao Ya ( 陶雅 ) and Zhang Xun ( 張訓 ) to attack Wu and Li; after Tao and Zhang subsequently captured and executed Wu and Li, Yang commissioned Tao as the prefect of Shu. In 886 — by which point the prefects of Huainan appeared to be attacking each other at will to enlarge their spheres of influence — Zhang Ao ( 張翱 ) the prefect of Shou Prefecture (壽州, in modern Lu'an , Anhui ) sent his officer Wei Qian ( 魏虔 ) to attack Lu. Yang sent Tian, Li Shenfu, and Zhang Xun to resist, and they repelled Wei's attack. Meanwhile, though, Xu Qing ( 許勍 )

7917-636: Was then at Run, then abandoned Run as well, allowing Sun to take Run. When Sun attacked Lu, Cai Chou ( 蔡儔 ), whom Yang had left in defense of Lu, also surrendered it to Sun. In spring 891, Sun pressed his attack, repeatedly defeating An and Tian, pushing toward Xuan Prefecture. It was said that the morale of Yang's army fell low in light of the defeats, rebounding only somewhat after some successes by Li Shenfu and Tai Meng ( 臺濛 ). Sun pushed forward to Huangchi (黃池, in modern Wuhu , Anhui ) and defeated Yang's officers Liu Wei ( 劉威 ) and Zhu Yanshou (a younger brother of Yang's wife Lady Zhu). However, Sun's army

8008-855: Was then at Shangyuan (上元, in modern Nanjing , Jiangsu ), to attack Zhao as well. With Zhao's main forces distracted by Sun's and Zhang's attacks, Yang was able to cross the Yangtze River easily and put Xuanshe's capital Xuan Prefecture ( 宣州 ) under siege. When Zhao's brother Zhao Qianzhi ( 趙乾之 ) the prefect of Chi Prefecture (池州, in modern Chizhou , Anhui ) tried to come to aid Zhao Huang, Yang sent Tao Ya to face him, and Tao defeated him, forcing him to flee to Zhennan. By 889, With Xuan Prefecture running out of food, Zhao Huang's officer Zhou Jinsi ( 周進思 ) expelled him; he tried to flee to Yang Prefecture, but Tian Jun captured him. After Yang reported what occurred to Emperor Xizong's brother and successor Emperor Zhaozong , Emperor Zhaozong commissioned Yang as

8099-444: Was then at Shou Prefecture and who carried the title of military governor of Fengguo, to join them as well (although Zhu Yanshou did not initially publicly state his intentions), and sent emissaries to Zhu Quanzhong, who also postured to attack Huainan to aid them. In face of the threat, Yang recalled Li Shenfu (who had been attacking Wuchang) to attack Tian and sent Wang Maozhang and Xu Wen to attack An. Yang, realizing that Zhu Yanshou

8190-449: Was thereafter stricken by a flood, forcing him to withdraw and return to Yang Prefecture. He nevertheless was able to send his officers Kang Wang ( 康暀 ) and An Jingsi ( 安景思 ) to capture He and Chú Prefectures, respectively, although Li Shenfu soon recaptured them. Subsequently, Yang and Zhu Quanzhong entered into an alliance against Sun. When Sun heard this, he decided that he would destroy Yang first and then attack Zhu. He thus forced

8281-587: Was to attack Lu Prefecture. Yang responded by laying an ambush for Yu and Yao, killing them, and then informing Gao that they had planned a mutiny. Gao, not knowing that Lü put this incident into motion, rewarded Yang for putting down the "mutiny." In 884, when Gao's nephew Gao Yu ( 高澞 ), then the prefect of nearby Shu Prefecture (舒州, in modern Anqing , Anhui ), came under the attack of the local agrarian rebel Chen Ru ( 陳儒 ), Gao Yu sought aid from Yang. Yang did not have enough soldiers to respond, but sent his officer Li Shenfu , who tricked Chen into believing that

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