page_title: Emperor Guangwu of Han
section_title: First Days under the new Emperor
hierarchical_section_title: Emperor Guangwu of Han / As official under Gengshi Emperor / Role in reorganization of Gengshi Emperor's regime and dispatch to northern China / First Days under the new Emperor
caption_attribution_description: An assortment of bronze figurines excavated from a Chinese Eastern Han tomb, dated 1st or 2nd century AD, depicting military cavalry and spoke-wheeled chariots.
context_page_description: Emperor Guangwu, born Liu Xiu, courtesy name Wenshu, was an emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in AD 25 and thus founder of the Later Han or Eastern Han. He ruled over parts of China at first, and through suppression and conquest of regional warlords, the whole of China was consolidated by the time of his death in AD 57.
  Liu Xiu was one of the many descendants of the Han imperial family. Following the usurpation of the Han throne by Wang Mang and the ensuing civil war during the disintegration of Wang's short-lived Xin dynasty, he emerged as one of several descendants of the fallen dynasty claiming the imperial throne. After assembling forces and proclaiming himself emperor in the face of competitors, he was able to defeat his rivals, destroy the peasant army of the Chimei, known for their disorganization and marauding, and finally reunify China in AD 36.
  He established his capital in Luoyang, 335 kilometers east of the former capital Chang'an, ushering in the Later/Eastern Han dynasty. He implemented some reforms aimed at correcting some of the structural imbalances responsible for the downfall of the Former/Western Han.
context_section_description: Soon, Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty and its capital Chang'an fell to the Gengshi Emperor's forces, and Gengshi Emperor was acknowledged by virtually the entire empire as the emperor of the restored Han Dynasty.  He initially planned to set his capital at Luoyang, and he made Liu Xiu governor of the capital region.  Liu Xiu was commissioned to repair the palaces and governmental offices at Luoyang.  Of all of the major Han officials following the restoration, Liu Xiu alone quickly showed his talent for organization, and his agency quickly grew to resemble its pre-Wang Mang counterpart. 
  In any case, Gengshi Emperor's regime was only able to obtain nominal submission from many regions of the empire, and one of the troublesome regions was north of the Yellow River.  The Emperor considered dispatching a general to try to pacify the region, and his cousin Liu Ci (劉賜), who had succeeded Liu Yan as prime minister, endorsed Liu Xiu for that task.  Liu Yan's political enemies, including Li and Zhu, opposed, but after Liu Ci repeatedly endorsed Liu Xiu, the Gengshi Emperor relented and, in autumn of AD 23, he sent Liu Xiu to the region north of the Yellow River.
  Liu Xiu was initially met with great gladness by the people north of the Yellow River.  It was around this time that Deng Yu joined him (later to be his prime minister); other later important figures who joined him around this time included Feng Yi and Geng Chun (耿純).  Deng, seeing that Gengshi Emperor lacked the ability to rule, persuaded Liu Xiu to keep his sights broad and consider eventual independence.
caption: Eastern Han bronze chariot and cavalry figurines excavated from a tomb
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