Zhu Youzhen
By 912, Emperor Taizu was seriously ill. He was considered to have favored his second son—an adoptive son, not a biological one—Zhu Youwen the Prince of Bo, the most. (At that time, he had his daughters-in-law attend to him in the palace, and he often made them have sexual relations with him. He favored Zhu Youwen's wife Lady Wang the most, and partly due to that favored Zhu Youwen the most as well.) When he believed that he was near death, he sent Lady Wang to Daliang, where Zhu Youwen was serving as its defender, to summon Zhu Youwen to him. This drew anger and fear from his third son, Zhu Yougui the Prince of Ying, particularly since at that time he also issued an edict sending Zhu Yougui out of the capital to serve as the prefect of Lai Prefecture. Zhu Yougui thus entered the palace and assassinated Emperor Taizu. Keeping Emperor Taizu's death a secret, he sent the eunuch Ding Zhaopu () to Daliang, and, in Emperor Taizu's name, ordered Zhu Youzhen to kill Zhu Youwen. After Zhu Youzhen did so and Ding returned to Luoyang to inform him, he announced Emperor Taizu's death, blaming the assassination on Zhu Youwen. He then took the throne. He made Zhu Youzhen the defender of Daliang and the capital of Kaifeng Municipality (i.e., the Daliang region).