Zhu Wen Emperor Taizu of Later Liang ( 後梁太祖 ) , personal name Zhu Quanzhong ( 朱全忠 ) ( 852 – 912 ) , né Zhu Wen ( 朱溫 ) , name later changed to Zhu Huang ( 朱晃 ) , nickname Zhu San ( 朱三 , literally , " the third Zhu " ) , was a " Jiedushi " ( military governor ) at the end of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty , who previously served as a general under the rebel Huang Chao ' s state of Qi and overthrew Tang in 907 , established the Later Liang Dynasty as its emperor , and ushered in the era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms . Zhu was able to conquer much of central China , but most of Shaanxi , Shanxi , and Hebei remained outside his reach , controlled by rival states Qi , Jin , and Yan respectively . Most of his later campaigns were directed at the Shatuo - ruled Jin state ( later to become the Later Tang ) based in Shaanxi , but they mostly ended in failure due to the resourcefulness of the Jin leaders , first under Li Keyong and then later under his son , Li Cunxu . Due to his emphasis on unifying the north Taizu was not able to make any inroads into the south , which came to be controlled by about a dozen different states over the next few decades during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . The rulers in the south largely were nominally submissive to him with the exception of major states Wu and Former Shu . Emperor Taizu ' s reign lasted until 912 when he was killed by his son Zhu Yougui . Zhu Yougui was subsequently overthrown by his brother Zhu Youzhen the next year . The Later Liang Dynasty would last until 923 . Early career . Details on Zhu Wen ' s origin are scarce . He was born the youngest of three sons , Quanyu , Cun and Wen , his father , Zhu Cheng ( 朱誠 ) was an instructor in the Five Classics in Dangshan County , which at that time belonged to Song Prefecture ( 宋州 , seated in modern Shangqiu , Henan ) . There was also a younger sister who married one Yuan Jingchu ( 袁敬初 ) of Xiayi County ( 下邑 ) , near Dangshan , whose father and grandfather had held office on a provincial and prefectural level , but who claimed ancestry from the prominent middle - Tang official Yuan Shuji . ( Her son with Yuan , Yuan Xiangxian , would later be an important general during Zhu Wen ' s Later Liang Dynasty and the succeeding Later Tang Dynasty . ) Zhu Cheng died while Wen was still a boy , likely about 864 , or after . His widow brought her three sons to live in the household of Liu Chong of Xiao County , Xuzhou . Zhu Cheng ' s mother is known to have been surnamed Liu . It is therefore possible that Liu Chong was a relative of Zhu Wen ' s grandmother . If this was in fact the case , Zhu Cheng ' s origin can not have been too obscure since the Liu family was the leading family in the area . The marriage of the daughter into the Yuan family also indicate a family of some standing . Zhu Wen was brought up to be a family retainer or manor steward , but it is said that the people in the Liu household did not view him highly , except Liu Chong ' s mother , who in fact had to intercede whenever Liu Chong , displeased with Zhu Wen , caned him . Zhu instead went on to form his own bandit gang , one of many operating between the Yellow and Huai Rivers . In about 877 Zhu Wen and the second brother , Zhu Cun , joined the rebel army of Huang Chao when it fought its way through the region . Cun was later killed in battle , but Wen rose through the ranks until given a separate command following Huang Chao ' s capture of the imperial capital Chang ' an in January 881 . With this army Zhu Wen attacked and captured nearby Tong Prefecture ( 同州 , in modern Weinan , Shaanxi ) , becoming defense commissioner of that prefecture . Many of the military governors had submitted to Huang Chao following his capture of Chang ' an , but soon reverted to the Tang court once they realized that cause was not yet lost . By 882 Huang Chao was effectively surrounded , controlling only two prefectures outside Chang ' an , one of which was Zhu Wen ' s Tong Prefecture . Wen now found the time opportune to change sides . After first assassinating his military overseer Yan Shi ( 嚴實 ) , sent by Huang Chao to guard against just such a possibility , Zhu Wen surrendered to the Hezhong Circuit ( 河中 , headquartered in modern Yuncheng , Shanxi ) ' s military governor ( " Jiedushi " ) , Wang Chongrong . As reward for his timely defection Emperor Xizong of Tang appointed Zhu Wen Grand General of the Imperial Guards and deputy field commander of the armies stationed at Hezhong , also conferring the new personal name Quanzhong – " wholeheartedly loyal . " On 3 May 883 Zhu was appointed prefect of Bian Prefecture ( 汴州 , in modern Kaifeng , Henan ) and military governor of Xuanwu Circuit ( 宣武 , headquartered at Bian Prefecture ) , the appointment to take effect after the expected recapture of Chang ' an . It was already known that Huang planned to escape east to Henan through the Lantian pass and the court needed someone to defend the canal route from the south - eastern granaries . As a former rebel with local knowledge of the area in question , Zhu was a natural choice . It could not have hurt his chances either that Quanzhong had actively sought the patronage of Wang Chongrong , one of the chief architects of the imperial offensive , who he took to calling “ uncle ” ( Quanzhong ' s mother was also named Wang ) . Tang forces entered Chang ' an half a month after Zhu ' s appointment and on 9 August Zhu duly arrived at Bian . Xuanwu governor . Campaigns against Huang Chao . As seen above Zhu Quanzhong arrived at Bian more than three months after his appointment . The delay probably was related to various duties assigned to him in between , but may also have been due to bargaining over how many men of his own men he was to be allowed to bring with him to his new command . When he surrendered , Zhu brought with him an army of several thousand men , but by the time he left for Bianzhou this army must have been largely dispersed or absorbed into the imperial armies , for he brought with him to Bian only a few hundred men including a core of at least eighty military retainers . These retainers would provide crucial leadership in his early years at Bian . The majority of them had probably served with Zhu under Huang Chao , but some , such as Pang Shigu ( 龐師古 ) , were new recruits . To the Xuanwu command belonged one of the strongest armies in the region and Zhu now set about making sure that this army become loyal to him personally . The army consisted of two sections : the governor ' s guard and the main field force , the former acting as the governor ' s bodyguards . Zhu appointed several of his military retainers as guards officers , such as Ding Hui who was made administrator , and Hu Zhen ( 胡真 ) who was made a commander . Zhu Quanzhong ' s eldest son Zhu Youyu ( 朱友裕 ) was also made an officer , though at this time he was yet a boy . The most important of these appointments was Zhu Zhen ( 朱珍 ) , who was given special responsibility for selection , training and reorganization . Zhu Quanzhong did retain the hereditary officers in the guards and main army , but the reorganizations and preparations for war against Huang Chao had been entrusted to his own men . The Xuanwu army consisted largely of infantry . Having seen the effectiveness of the Shatou Turks ' tribal cavalry during the recapture of Chang ' an , Zhu ordered the formation of his own cavalry units . Command of the initial force was entrusted his military retainer Pang . Later as new units were formed , officers were both selected from men who had come with Zhu or recruited locally . Zhu soon had the opportunity to test the mettle of his new army . After his flight through Lantian Pass , Huang Chao attacked Cai Prefecture ( 蔡州 , in modern Zhumadian , Henan ) , and the military governor of Fengguo Circuit ( 奉國 , headquartered at Cai Prefecture ) , Qin Zongquan , defected to the rebels . Huang then proceeded to attack Chen Prefecture ( 陳州 , in modern Zhumadian ) , but there the prefect , Zhao Chou , decided to resist even as his prefectural capital was put under siege . With Huang held up at Chen and his armies also meeting resistance in other prefectures , Zhu joined with the other governors of the region in early 884 to call in the man who had spearheaded the recapture of Chang ' an - Li Keyong , military governor of Hedong ( 河東 , headquartered in modern Taiyuan , Shanxi ) and chief of the Shatuo Turks . In spring 884 the combined forces of Zhu and Li Keyong routed Huang ' s generals and forced him to abandon the siege of Chen . Suffering a string of defeats from the governmental armies , Huang again managed to flee eastward , but his career had now run its course . He was hunted down and killed later that summer . The final defeat of Huang Chao brought about the surrender of several rebel commanders to Zhu , strengthening his forces and providing him with a second group of officers who would serve him loyally in the years to come . Soon after Huang ' s defeat a quarrel occurred between Zhu and Li Keyong , and when Li Keyong passed through Bian , Zhu attempted to have Keyong assassinated during the night of 11 June 884 . The attempt failed and Li Keyong escaped back to his own capital at Taiyuan from where he lodged a complaint in the imperial court . In his reply , Zhu claimed to have had no foreknowledge of the incident , but explained that the plan had been hatched by his army commander Yang Yanhong ( 楊彥洪 ) in collusion with a representative of the court and that he had since had Yang executed . ( In reality , Yang was killed by friendly fire ( an arrow fired by Zhu himself ) during the attempt to kill Li Keyong . ) The Tang court , which by this time had little actual power left , was unwilling to choose sides between the two warlords and decided not to investigate the matter further , merely investing Li Keyong Prince of Longxi . This was the start of a forty - years long struggle that was to outlast both Zhu and Li Keyong . Campaigns against Qin Zongquan . The death of Huang Chao was however not the end of rebellion against Tang imperial sovereignty . Qin Zongquan took over the leadership and declared himself emperor . Qin expanded his territory in all directions , even capturing the eastern capital Luoyang , in 885 - 886 . With the withdrawal of Li Keyong ' s armies , Zhu was no longer strong enough to defeat them . No help could be gotten from the court either since Emperor Xizong had again been forced to flee Chang ' an after quarreling with Zhu ' s former patron Wang Chongrong . The lack of a central authority left the initiative to Zhu and the other governors . In Autumn 884 , Emperor Xizong bestowed titles on Zhu as honorary dignitary for education with ministerial standing and elevated him to Marquess of Pei . In 885 Zhu married his daughter , the future Princess Changle , to Zhao Yan , son of Zhao Chou , who was already indebted to Zhu for breaking the siege of Huang Chao . With this alliance Quanzhong gained an important buffer between Bian and the rebel capital at Cai . A further opportunity to strengthen his position came in December 886 when the Yicheng Circuit ( 義成 , headquartered in modern Anyang , Henan ) army , headquartered at Hua Prefecture ( 滑州 ) , mutinied against the court - chosen governor , An Shiru ( 安師儒 ) . An suppressed the mutiny , but Zhu then attacked , and easily captured Hua , killing An and commissioning Hu Zhen as An ' s replacement . ( In doing so , Zhu also warded off a rival attempt by Zhu Xuan the military governor of Tianping Circuit ( 天平 , headquartered in modern Tai ' an , Shandong ) — an ally of Zhu Quanzhong ' s — to take over Yicheng . The Yicheng army was reorganized by transferring some of its officers and men to the Xuanwu army and appointing Xuanwu officers to command the rest . Large parts of the Yicheng army had to be left at Hua to guard the Yellow River , but Zhu Quanzhong had gained a strategic reserve . In January 887 the Emperor invested Zhu Quanzhong Prince of Wuxing . Having beaten off two rebel attacks , Zhu Quanzhong in June / July 886 sent a cavalry commander , Guo Yan ( 郭言 ) , to attack Qin ' s capital Cai Prefecture . The attack failed however and late 886 Qin began a campaign against Zhu , heading toward Bian and intending to capture it . Zhu sent Zhu Zhen to the east to recruit additional troops outside his own territory . This served the double purpose of expanding the armies and easing the supply situation at Bian . Guo was sent westward into rebel controlled territory . Defeating a major bandit gang , Guo Yen recruited many of the survivors and then fought his way back to Bianzhou with the recruits , the whole expedition lasting about six months . Zhu Zhen , meanwhile , headed toward the comparatively peaceful Pinglu Circuit ( 平盧 , headquartered in modern Weifang , Shandong ) . Defeating the Pinglu army , Zhu Zhen proceeded to recruit the men of the region and seize horses , returning to Bian in spring 887 after only two months , bringing with him , according to the " Zizhi Tongjian " , ten thousand recruits and one thousand horse . These numbers might be exaggerated , but Zhu Quanzhong ' s total force might well have reached thirty thousands by this time . By May / June 887 Zhu felt strong enough to counterattack . He called in the Yicheng army , and asked for , and received , aid from his two neighbouring “ brother ” governors , Zhu Xuan and Zhu Xuan ' s cousin , Zhu Jin of Taining Circuit ( 泰寧 , headquartered in modern Jining , Shandong ) . Halfway through a banquet Zhu Quanzhong suddenly launched a sally from Bian . Taken by surprise by the sally and the approach of the armies of Tianping and Taining , the besieging army was routed . Following these defeats several prefectures defected from Qin . No longer in danger from the rebels , Zhu Quanzhong was ready to start the subjugation of Henan to his own authority . Conquest of Henan . Zhu Quanzhong ' s alliance with Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin did not last long . Even as their armies were returning eastward , Zhu Quanzhong accused Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin of luring eastwards deserters from his own army . With these accusations as justifications , Zhu Quanzhong launched an offensive against Zhu Jin , and his chief commander Zhu Zhen captured Cao Prefecture ( 曹州 , in modern Heze , Shandong ) and apprehending its prefect Qiu Hongli while Zhang Guiba ( 張歸霸 ) routed Zhu Jin in battle at Jinxiang ( 金鄉 , in modern Jining ) and overrun Pu Prefecture ( 濮州 , also in modern Heze ) . An attempt by Zhu Zhen to seize Tianping ' s capital Yun Prefecture ( 鄆州 ) itself is repelled with loss however , and later both Cao and Pu Prefectures had to be abandoned . Meanwhile to the south , Gao Pian , military governor of Huainan Circuit ( 淮南 , headquartered in modern Yangzhou , Jiangsu ) , had been killed in a mutiny and the Tang court conferred on Zhu Quanzhong concurrent powers as military governor of Huainan . Zhu Quanzhong sent a deputy , Li Fan ( 李璠 ) , to take control of the circuit , but on arrival Li Fan found Yang Xingmi , one of Guo Pian ' s generals , in control of the provincial capital Yang Prefecture ( 揚州 ) . Yang , while receiving Zhu ' s emissary Zhang Tingfan ( 張廷範 ) , refused to accept LI Fan as the acting military governor . With Shi Pu the military governor of Ganhua ( 感化 , headquartered in modern Xuzhou , Jiangsu ) also displeased because he was not given the Huainan command and launching troops to stop Li Fan and Guo Yan ( who was escorting Li Fan ) from reaching Yang Prefecture , Zhu had to abandon plans to take over Huainan . Meanwhile , following the defection of one of Qin Zongquan ' s generals , Zhao Deyin of Shannan East Circuit ( 山南東道 , headquartered in modern Xiangyang , Hubei , renamed Zhongyi ( 忠義 ) by Tang after Zhao ' s defection ) , to the Tang cause , Zhu ' s armies laid siege to Cai . To purchase supplies for the war against the rebels Zhu sent a military administrator north with 10 , 000 taels of silver to buy grain from Le Yanzhen , military governor of Weibo Circuit ( 魏博 , headquartered in modern Handan , Hebei ) . However , this mission coincided with a mutiny of the Le ' s guard during which Zhu ' s emissary was killed and the money and any grain he had purchased presumably confiscated . In retaliation Zhu dispatched Zhu Zhen with an army who successfully plunder across Wei terrority before returning home . ( Without support from Zhu , Le ' s son Le Congxun ( 樂從訓 ) , who was a held out against the mutineers , was defeated , and he was executed along with his father , who had tried to avoid being executed by becoming a Buddhist monk ; the Weibo officer Luo Hongxin took over Weibo and made peace with Zhu . ) To the west two former followers of Zhuge Shuang , Zhang Quanyi , the mayor of Henan Municipality ( 河南 , i . e . , Luoyang ) and Li Hanzhi the military governor of Heyang Circuit ( 河陽 , headquartered at Meng Prefecture ( 孟州 ) , near Luoyang ) , had been battling each other with Li Hanzhi eventually fleeing to Li Keyong , who dispatched an army to reinstate Li Hanzhi . Hard pressed Zhang turned to Zhu for aid . Zhu responded by sending an army under Ding Hui and Niu Cunjie ( 牛存節 ) . They defeated Li Keyong ' s army and secured Heyang Circuit for Zhu Quanzhong . Thereafter , in Zhang , Zhu gained a loyal ally under whose administration Luoyang was to recover after years of ruinous warfare and whom he could thereafter rely upon for money and food supplies . By June / July 888 the siege of Cai Prefecture had been ongoing for more than a hundred days . As general commander of the south - eastern front , Shi was formally in charge of the operation , Zhu Quanzhong submitted a petition to the court making accusations against Shi and demanding his removal from the post of general commander . Some time earlier Liu Zhan , the prefect of Chu Prefecture ( 楚州 , in modern Huai ' an , Jiangsu ) , had fled to Zhu Quanzhong due to the turmoil in Huainan . Intending to provoke Shi to take up arms Quanzhong now ordered Zhu Zhen to lead an army east and restore Liu to his prefecture - as to reach Chu Zhu Zhen would have to pass through Shi ' s Ganhua Circuit . As expected this was too much for Shi to bear and he ordered his armies to attack Zhu Zhen . Zhu Zhen was however victorious in a battle against Shi and proceeded to capture Su Prefecture ( 宿州 , in modern Suzhou , Anhui ) to the south . Zhu Quanzhong then ordered subordinate commander Pang Shigu to attack Ganhua ' s capital Xu Prefecture ( 徐州 ) . In February / March 889 Pang defeated Shi in a battle at Lüliang . Meanwhile Cai Prefecture had finally been captured in January / February 889 . Qin Zongquan was taken captive and , after passing through several hands , ended up in the care of Zhu Quanzhong who entrusted his own manager - adjutant Li Fan with the delivery of the prisoner to Chang ' an , where the imperial government executed Qin . In April / May Zhu Quanzhong was elevated to Prince of Dongping . During these firsts years as governor Zhu Quanzhong had put much trust in his chief commander , Zhu Zhen , so much that Zhen became powerful enough to challenge Quanzhong ' s authority . To put a check on this Zhu Quanzhong appointed one of his guard officers , Li Tangbin , in a move clearly modelled after the Tang practice of appointing eunuch supervisors to the armies . Zhu Zhen and Li Tangbin soon began to quarrel and in August 889 , while the army was encamped at Xiao County for further campaigns against Shi Pu , Zhu Zhen found an excuse to have Li Tangbin killed . He then reported that he had executed Tangbin for sedition . This was a grave crisis for Zhu Quanzhong as it threatened to spark off a major mutiny in the army . After planning his response with his private secretary , Jing Xiang , Zhu Quanzhong first pretended to imprison Li Tangbin ' s family , seemingly upholding the sedition charge , and then leaving for the army ' s camps at Xiao County . On arrival Zhu Zhen came out to greet him only to be seized and killed by Quanzhong ' s bodyguards in front of the other commanders . Disaster averted , Zhu Quanzhong proceeded to reorganize his army to ensure a similar situation could not arise again . A new chief commander was appointed , but was not given the same powers . Zhu Quanzhong had previously created several special regiments under selected officers , and some of these would now accompany the chief commander to battle and share the field commands . Also a larger number officers than before were given commands of expeditionary armies . In this way no single commander would hold enough power to threaten Zhu Quanzhong again . Meanwhile to the south Yang Xingmi had been forced to abandon Yangzhou by Sun Ru , a former subordinate of Qin Zongquan . Having divided Zhu Zhen ' s army between Pang Shigu and Huo Cun , Zhu Quanzhong in spring 890 ordered Pang Shigu to cross the Huai River and attack Sun Ru , but Sun Ru was victorious . April / May 890 the garrison of Suzhou mutinied and defected back to Shi Pu . Zhu Quanzhong personally led an attempt to retake the prefecture without success . It would take a one and a half year long siege to recapture Suzhou . To the north Li Keyong had recently suffered defeats from rival governors Helian Duo and Li Kuangwei . Together with Zhu Quanzhong these two now petitioned the court for a campaign against Li Keyong . At court , the chancellor Zhang Jun , said to have been secretly bribed by Zhu Quanzhong , supported the measure , but the majority of the bureaucracy were against . Zhang ' s fellow chancellor Kong Wei , however , supported Zhang ' s proposal , and Emperor Zhaozong , who had succeeded his brother Emperor Xizong in 888 , also initially opposed military action , but in the end gave in to the pressure , assigning Zhang as commander of the campaign with the military governor Han Jian of Zhenguo Circuit ( 鎮國 , headquartered in modern Weinan , Shaanxi ) as his deputy . At this time a mutiny had occurred at Lu Prefecture ( 潞州 , in modern Changzhi , Shanxi ) , headquarters of the Zhaoyi Circuit ( 昭義 ) . The military governor Li Kegong ( 李克恭 ) , a brother of Li Keyong , was killed . The leader of the mutiny , Feng Ba ( 馮霸 ) , now invited Zhu to take over the prefecture . Zhu sent an army under Ge Congzhou to occupy Lu and the court appointed the bureaucrat Sun Kui ( 孫揆 ) as the new Zhaoyi military governor . However on his way to Lu , Sun was captured in an ambush by Li Keyong ' s adoptive son Li Cunxiao ( and later executed when he would not submit to Li Keyong ) , and Ge was eventually forced to abandon Lu . Rather than providing direct support for the imperial campaign against Li Keyong , Zhu at this time sought expand his own authority northwards . In December / January 890 / 891 Zhu Quanzhong gave up his claim to Huainan , an empty title given his failure to conquer that circuit , and instead received appointments as the military governor Xuanyi ( i . e . , Yicheng ( headquartered at Hua Prefecture ) , with its name changed to observe naming taboo for Zhu ' s father Zhu Cheng ) . This meant that the current governor Hu Zhen , had to be removed since Zhu did not wish to keep him as acting governor , nor could he return to Zhu ' s service . Finally the court appointed Hu Grand General of the Metropolitan Guards and he had no more to do with Zhu Quanzhong . This episode is important as Zhu Quanzhong ' s first success in dealing with a subordinate governor . To serve as assistant governor at Hua while he himself remained at Bian , Zhu Quanzhong appointed his ex - secretary Xie Tong ( 謝瞳 ) , one of his earliest followers from the Huang Chao days and a man with a proven administrative record . Zhu Quanzhong next demanded from Weibo ' s military governor Luo Hongxin rights of passage , as well as provisions for his upcoming campaign against Li Keyong . Luo refused on the grounds that provisions were scarce and pointed out that Zhu Quanzhong ' s men should not have to pass through his province to the north to strike at Li Keyong to the west . With this refusal as excuse Zhu Quanzhong in March / April 891 marched against Weibo in person , with generals Ge and Ding in charge of subordinate commands , capturing four counties and routing the Weibo army in a battle at Neihuang . Following these defeats Luo was forced to sue for peace and accept an alliance with Zhu . Elsewhere Li Keyong had by this time soundly beaten Zhang in the field was now restored to his former titles by the Emperor . In November / December 891 Su Prefecture finally fell to Zhu ' s armies after Ge and Ding flooded the city with water . This was followed the next month by the surrender of Cao Prefecture after the assassination of its prefect , Guo Ci ( 郭詞 ) by one of his own commanders , Guo Zhu ( 郭銖 ) . In March 892 Zhu led his army in an attack on Yun Prefecture , giving command of the vanguard to his first son Zhu Youyu . Zhu Youyu ' s career did not get a promising start with Zhu Quanzhong suffering two defeats due to Youyu ' s failure to link up with the main army . Despite these setbacks Zhu Quanzhong entrusted his son with an independent command and during the following winter Zhu Youyu captured Tianping ' s Pu Prefecture and then put Shi Pu under siege at Xu Prefecture . However when inspector - in - chief ( Zhu Quanzhong ' s adoptive son ) Zhu Yougong ( 朱友恭 ) charged Zhu Youyu with incompetence after a battle with Zhu Jin , Zhu Quanzhong chose to reassign the army to Pang Shigu . In April / May 893 Pang Shigu captured Xu and Shi committed suicide , eliminating one of Zhu Quanzhong ' s rivals for dominance of the region . ( Because of Zhu Yougong ' s accusations , Zhu Quanzhong nearly had Zhu Youyu executed , but after intercession by Zhu Quanzhong ' s wife Lady Zhang , Zhu Youyu was spared . ) To succeed Shi Pu as governor at Xuzhou Zhu Quanzhong chose one of his own personal associates , Zhang Tingfan . The other only other prefecture of the province was given to general Ge Congzhou . Though Ge Congzhou was often absent on campaign it is unlikely that Zhang Tingfan could take advantage of this to expand his own power . By weakening the position of new governors in this way Zhu Quanzhong could control the various prefectures directly and ensure nobody built up an independent power base to rival his own . Seizure of Tianping and Taining . With Shi Pu dead and Ganhua under his control , Zhu Quanzhong now concentrated on destroying Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin . He attacked Zhu Xuan himself in 894 , defeating Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin ' s joint forces and killing more than 10 , 000 men from Tianping and Taining . ( Around the same time , Li Keyong ' s strength was said to be beginning to wane after a costly campaign to defeat his adoptive son Li Cunxiao , who had rebelled against him , while the relationship between Zhu Quanzhong and Yang Xingmi was beginning to become tense again , after Zhu Quanzhong ' s vassal Zhang Jian ( 張諫 ) Zhang Jian turned against Zhu Quanzhong and surrendered Si Prefecture ( 泗州 , in modern Huai ' an ) to Yang , and Zhu , apparently in retaliation , seized a large shipment of tea that Yang had delivered to Bian Prefecture , intending to sell . ) Zhu Quanzhong thereafter dealt blow after blow against Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin , despite reinforcements that Li Keyong was sending them from Hedong . In late 896 , he had Ge Congzhou put Taining ' s capital Yan Prefecture ( 兗州 ) under siege , while himself followed to reinforced Ge . When Zhu Xuan sent Tianping and Hedong forces to try to lift the siege , Zhu Quanzhong defeated them , displaying the Tianping and Hedong officers he captured to Zhu Jin , trying to get him to surrender . However , the siege lost its force when Zhu Jin pretended to surrender , but instead used the opportunity to capture a cousin who had surrendered previously ( Zhu Qiong ( 朱瓊 ) the prefect of Qi Prefecture ( 齊州 , in modern Jinan , Shandong ) ) and execute Zhu Qiong . Zhu Quanzhong , with the morale lost , withdrew from Yan . However , he left Ge in the vicinity to continue to watch and wear Zhu Jin down . In late 895 and early 896 , Li Keyong tried to send Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin two major waves of reinforcements , first commanded by the officers Shi Yan ( 史儼 ) and Li Chengsi ( 李承嗣 ) , and the second commanded by his adoptive son Li Cunxin ( 李存信 ) . Both waves of reinforcements had to go through Weibo , and while the first wave went through , Li Cunxin angered Weibo ' s military governor Luo Hongxin by pillaging the people of Weibo ; further , Zhu Quanzhong wrote Luo and warned Luo that he believed that Li Keyong intended to conquer all of the territory north of the Yellow River , including Weibo . Luo thus ambushed Li Cunxin , inflicting heavy losses and preventing Li Cunxin ' s forces from reaching Tianping , and Luo thereafter became a Xuanwu ally , particularly after Li Keyong ' s subsequent punitive attack against Weibo was repelled by joint Weibo / Xuanwu forces . By early 896 , Pang Shigu ' s forces had reached Tianping ' s capital Yun Prefecture . In spring 897 , a joint siege by Pang and Ge captured Yun ; Zhu Xuan and his wife were captured in flight ; Zhu Xuan was subsequently executed . Zhu Jin abandoned Yan and fled to Huainan with Shi and Li Chengsi , leaving Zhu in control of all of the lands directly east of his own Xuanwu Circuit , all the way to the East China Sea ( as Wang Shifan ' s Pinglu Circuit had become a vassal by this point ) . However , with the Tianping / Taining / Hedong remnants now part of the Huainan army , the Huainan army ' s land capabilities were much enhanced in the latter battles against Zhu Quanzhong ( whereas it was previously only capable in water combat ) . Zhu Quanzhong initially took Zhu Jin ' s wife , who was captured by the Xuanwu army , as a concubine , but at the suggestion of Lady Zhang ( who used reversed psychology to show Zhu Quanzhong that this was improper humiliation of Zhu Jin ' s wife ) , he allowed Zhu Jin ' s wife to become a Buddhist nun . He made Ge the acting military governor of Taining , Zhu Youyu the acting military governor of Tianping , and Pang the acting military governor of Wuning ( i . e . , Ganhua , changing its name back to its earlier name ) . Continued expansion . By this point , Zhu Quanzhong was also allied with the chancellor Cui Yin , such that when Emperor Zhaozong ( who was then at Hua Prefecture ( 華州 ) , the capital of Han Jian ' s Zhenguo Circuit , after Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit ( 鳳翔 , headquartered in modern Baoji , Shaanxi ) attacked Chang ' an ) considered sending Cui out of the imperial government , Cui used Zhu ' s influence to force Han and Emperor Zhaozong to change their minds and retain Cui at the imperial court . Meanwhile , the cousins Wang Ke the military governor of Huguo Circuit , an adoptive son of Wang Chongrong ' s ( and biological nephew , as Wang Ke ' s biological father was Wang Chongrong ' s older brother Wang Chongjian ( 王重簡 ) and Wang Gong the military governor of Baoyi Circuit ( 保義 , headquartered in modern Sanmenxia , Henan ) , a son of Wang Chongrong ' s brother Wang Chongying , who had succeeded Wang Chongrong and served until his death in 895 , had been contending for the control of Huguo . Li Keyong supported Wang Ke , while Zhu supported Wang Gong . In spring 897 , Zhu sent Zhang Cunjing ( 張存敬 ) and Yang Shihou to put Huguo under siege , but Li Keyong sent his nephew Li Sizhao to defeat Wang Gong ' s forces and forcing the Xuanwu forces to lift the siege . In fall 897 , Zhu Quanzhong decided to launch a major attack on Yang Xingmi , intending to capture Huainan , after Yang attacked Zhu ' s ally Du Hong the military governor of Wuchang Circuit ( 武昌 , headquartered in modern Wuhan , Hubei ) , with Pang Shigu in command of the forward forces and Zhu himself commanding the main Xuanwu forces . He gathered his available forces and sent Pang with 70 , 000 soldiers from Xuanwu and Wuning Circuits to Qingkou ( 清口 , in modern Huai ' an , Jiangsu ) , posturing to head to Huainan ' s capital Yang Prefecture ( 揚州 ) ; Ge Congzhou with the forces from Tianping and Taining Circuits to Anfeng ( 安豐 , in modern Lu ' an , Anhui ) , posturing to head to Shou Prefecture ( 壽州 , in modern Lu ' an ) ; and Zhu Quanzhong himself with his main forces to Su Prefecture ( 宿州 , in modern Suzhou ) . The people of Huainan Circuit was 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 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 . This battle thus affirmed Yang ' s control of the territory between the Huai and the Yangtze Rivers . Meanwhile , in spring 898 , at Zhu Quanzhong ' s insistence , Emperor Zhaozong confirmed him as the military governor of Xuanwu , Xuanyi , and Tianping . He then , in conjunction with Weibo forces , attacked three prefectures of Zhaoyi Circuit east of the Taihang Mountains that Li Keyong controlled ; the three prefectures soon fell , and Zhu put Ge in charge of the prefectures as the acting military governor of Zhaoyi . At the same time , after Zhu ' s defeat at Qingkou , Zhao Deyin ' s son and successor as military governor of Zhongyi , Zhao Kuangning , had become allied with Yang . Zhu sent Shi Shucong ( 氏叔琮 ) and Kang Huaizhen ( 康懷貞 ) to attack Zhongyi . In fear , Zhao resubmitted to Zhu as a vassal . Meanwhile , Emperor Zhaozong tried to mediate a peace between Zhu and Li Keyong . Li Keyong was receptive , but Zhu ' s refusal ended hopes of peace . Zhu then discovered that another vassal , Cui Hong ( 崔洪 ) the military governor of Fengguo , was communicating with Yang . He sent Zhang Cunjing to attack Cui . Cui , in fear , sent his brother Cui Xian ( 崔賢 ) as a hostage to Zhu and offered to send troops to supplement Xuanwu forces . Zhu initially agreed and recalled Zhang . When Zhu then sent Cui Xian back to Fengguo to express Zhu ' s order that Fengguo forces be sent to supplement Xuanwu forces , the Fengguo forces mutinied , killed Cui Xian , and forced Cui Hong to flee to Huainan . In spring 899 , Zhu ' s forces were engaging rivals on three fronts — with Li Hanzhi recently having seized the western half of Zhaoyi after the death of Li Keyong ' s general Xue Jiqin ( 薛志勤 ) , who had been in command of Zhaoyi , Zhu sent forces to aid him ; with Liu Rengong , who had taken control of both Lulong Circuit ( 盧龍 , headquartered in modern Beijing ) and Yichang Circuit ( 義昌 , headquartered in modern Cangzhou , Hebei ) , attacking Weibo , Zhu sent forces to aid Weibo ' s military governor Luo Shaowei ( Luo Hongxin ' s son and successor ) ; and with Yang and Zhu Jin attacking Wuning . Yang ' s attack appeared to have soon dissipated , however , while Zhu ' s forces were successful on both the Zhaoyi and Weibo fronts , crushing Liu ' s forces and forcing him to stop his attack on Weibo , and stopping Li Keyong ' s attack on the Zhaoyi front and retaining the control of Zhaoyi . By 900 , by which time Emperor Zhaozong had returned to Chang ' an , and Cui Yin had lost his chancellor title due to pressure from the imperial eunuchs , whom Cui had been secretly planning with Emperor Zhaozong to slaughter , Cui again used Zhu ' s influence to return to the chancellorship and to force the deaths of fellow chancellor Wang Tuan ( who had opposed Cui ' s plan of slaughtering the eunuchs ) and the eunuchs Zhu Daobi ( 朱道弼 ) and Jing Wuxiu ( 景務脩 ) . Also in 900 , Zhu Quanzhong made a major incursion to the north , inflicting heavy losses against Liu Rengong , and also forcing the submission of two circuits which had been loosely allied with Li Keyong ( Chengde ( 成德 , headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang , Hebei ) , ruled by Wang Rong , and Yiwu ( 義武 , headquartered in modern Baoding , Hebei ) , ruled at the time by Wang Gao , who fled in face of the Xuanwu attack and was replaced by his uncle Wang Chuzhi . It was said that by this point , all of the circuits north of the Yellow River were submissive to Zhu . In late 901 , the eunuchs headed by Liu Jishu and Wang Zhongxian ( 王仲先 ) , still fearing that Emperor Zhaozong and Cui were planning to slaughter them , carried out a coup against Emperor Zhaozong , forcing him to pass the throne to his crown prince Li Yu and putting him under house arrest . The eunuchs also wanted to kill Cui , but feared that if they did so , they would face Zhu ' s wrath , and so only had Zhu removed from his secondary post as the director of the salt and iron monopolies . Meanwhile , Cui was secretly exchanging letters with Zhu , planning to counteract against the eunuchs , and Zhu also sent his key advisor Li Zhen to Chang ' an to discuss the matter with Cui . Before Zhu actually could act against the eunuchs , though , several officers of the eunuch - commanded Shence Armies , whom Cui had persuaded to turn against the eunuchs , led a mutiny against Liu and Wang in early 902 , killing them and their allies and restoring Emperor Zhaozong to the throne . Apparently to reward Zhu ' s support of Cui in the countercoup , Emperor Zhaozong created Zhu the Prince of Dongping . Despite this , however , Emperor Zhaozong did not turn control of the Shence Armies to Cui and his fellow chancellor Lu Yi , as Cui and Lu suggested , but gave the command of the Shence Armies to the eunuchs Han Quanhui and Zhang Yanhong ( 張彥弘 ) . Cui , fearing the implications of this development , persuaded Li Maozhen , who had had a rapprochement with Emperor Zhaozong by this point , to leave a Fengxiang contingent at Chang ' an to counteract against the Shence Armies , but the Fengxiang contingent soon became allied with the eunuchs as well . While this was going on , in spring 902 , Zhu launched a surprise attack on Huguo , and as part of the campaign quickly took control of the only viable path between Hedong and Huguo , so that Li Keyong could not come to Wang Ke ' s aid . Without Li Keyong ' s aid , Wang Ke was quickly forced to surrender , allowing Zhu to take control of Huguo . Despite a subsequent peace overture from Li Keyong , Zhu decided to attack Hedong to see if he could wipe out his long - term rival in one campaign . He put Hedong ' s capital Taiyuan under siege , but with inclement weather hindering the siege , he was soon forced to give up the siege on Taiyuan . Soon thereafter , Emperor Zhaozong confirmed him as the military governor of four circuits — Xuanwu , Xuanyi , Tianping , and Huguo . Meanwhile , at Chang ' an , the eunuchs , having established a firm alliance with Li Maozhen , were preparing to act against Cui . Cui , in fear , wrote Zhu , claiming that the eunuchs were planning to attack Zhu in alliance with Li Maozhen . Zhu thereafter prepared to launch an army to march on Chang ' an . When the eunuchs received this news , they seized Emperor Zhaozong and his family , and fled to Fengxiang with them . Campaign against Fengxiang . Zhu Quanzhong subsequently reached Chang ' an and rendezvoused with Cui Yin , and then proceeded to Fengxiang , where Li Maozhen and Han Quanhui had Emperor Zhaozong issue orders that he return to Xuanwu . After initial preliminary engagements there , Zhu turned around and focused his attention on first conquering Li Maozhen ' s other possessions in the Guanzhong region ( i . e . , the region around Chang ' an ) first , including , among others , Jingnan Circuit ( 靜難 , headquartered in modern Xianyang , Shaanxi ) , governed by Li Maozhen ' s adoptive son Li Jihui ; he quickly forced the surrender of Li Jihui and other subordinates of Li Maozhen , isolating Fengxiang . Han sent eunuch messengers to the circuits in the southeast , ordering them to attack Zhu ' s territory from behind , but most or all of them were intercepted and killed by Zhu ' s ally Feng Xingxi the military governor of Rongzhao Circuit ( 戎昭 , headquartered in modern Ankang , Shaanxi ) . Li Maozhen also sought aid from Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit ( 西川 , headquartered in modern Chengdu , Sichuan ) , a major warlord to Li Maozhen ' s southwest , but while Wang outwardly supported Li Maozhen and rebuked Zhu , he was in secret contact with Zhu and instead used this opportunity to seize Li Maozhen ' s possessions south of the Qinling Mountains one by one . Li Keyong tried to aid Li Maozhen by sending his nephew Li Sizhao and officer Zhou Dewei to attack parts of Huguo , but a subsequent counterattack by Zhu ' s nephew Zhu Youning ( 朱友寧 ) and officer Shi Shucong ( 氏叔琮 ) beat back the Hedong forces and , for some time , actually put Taiyuan under siege again ; while the Hedong forces subsequently repelled the Xuanwu forces , for several years thereafter , Li Keyong did not dare to again challenge Zhu Quanzhong ' s supremacy in the region . By summer 902 , Zhu and his main army had returned to Fengxiang and put it under siege . Li Maozhen made several attempts to counterattack , but each of Li Maozhen ' s attempts was beaten back by the sieging Xuanwu army . ( Meanwhile , Emperor Zhaozong had sent the imperial envoy Li Yan to Huainan to order Yang Xingmi to attack Zhu ' s territory , but Yang , after launching a campaign but having his food supply delivery hampered by an inadequate supply system , withdrew . ) By fall 902 , Fengxiang was in a desperate state , but so was Zhu — as his siege was hampered by the rainy weather and the soldiers were becoming ill . At the suggestion of his officer Gao Jichang , he laid a trap for Li Maozhen by having a soldier , Ma Jing ( 馬景 ) , falsely surrender to Li Maozhen and claim that Zhu ' s army was so stricken by illnesses that it was withdrawing that night . A major attack by Li Maozhen ' s army from within the city fell into traps that the Xuanwu army laid , and the Fengxiang army suffered huge losses , such that from that point on , Li Maozhen began considering a negotiated peace with Zhu . The parties soon began negotiating in earnest , and Zhu sent supplies inside the city for Emperor Zhaozong , with the intent of causing Li Maozhen and Emperor Zhaozong to be suspicious of each other . As of new year 903 , Zhu had captured LI Maozhen ' s possessions one by one , while Li Maozhen ' s possessions south of the Qinling had fallen into Wang Jian ' s hands . Li Maozhen , thereafter , started direct negotiations with Zhu and considered slaughtering the eunuchs to preserve himself . During the siege , however , the eunuchs had been sending messengers to the various circuits , delivering edicts in Emperor Zhaozong ' s name ordering them to attack Zhu . In response , in spring 903 , Pinglu ' s military governor Wang Shifan launched an ambitious uprising , intending to have his officers , whom he had sent in disguises of merchants , to various cities held by Zhu , organize simultaneous popular uprisings against Zhu . However , nearly all of the officers Wang sent out were discovered and arrested in the cities they were sent , with the exception of Liu Xun , who was able to surprise Zhu ' s garrison at Taining ( as Taining ' s military governor Ge Congzhou was stationed at Xing Prefecture ( 邢州 , in modern Xingtai , Hebei ) at that time , apparently defending against a potential Li Keyong attack ) and seize Taining ' s capital Yan Prefecture . Zhu had to react by sending Zhu Youning and Ge to the east , to face Wang . Shortly after the start of Wang ' s uprising , Zhu and Li Maozhen reached a peace agreement , with Li Maozhen slaughtering the eunuchs and delivering the emperor and the imperial household to Zhu for Zhu to return with them to Chang ' an . Zhu personally escorted the emperor ' s train back to the capital . Subsequently , after a joint petition by Zhu and Cui Yin , all palace eunuchs — including the ones who had not participated in Han Quanhui and Zhang Yanhong ' s plot to force the emperor to Fengxiang and who had remained at Chang ' an — were slaughtered , and the imperial guards were put under Cui ' s command . Moving the imperial court to Luoyang . After Emperor Zhaozong returned to Chang ' an , he heaped honors and titles on Zhu Quanzhong , including the titles of Deputy Generalissimo of all Circuits ( 諸道兵馬副元帥 , with Emperor Zhaozong ' s son Li Zuo ( 李祚 ) the Prince of Hui serving titularly as Generalissimo ) and Prince of Liang . Meanwhile , Zhu ' s ally Cui Yin was ( in Cui ' s own estimation ) in control of the capital and dominated the imperial court . Zhu shortly after departed Chang ' an and headed back to Xuanwu , to deal with Wang ' s uprising , while leaving his nephew Zhu Youlun ( 朱友倫 ) at Chang ' an with 20 , 000 Xuanwu soldiers , to continue to defend / control the emperor . Once Zhu returned to Xuanwu , he gathered his army to get ready to capture the two Wang Shifan - held circuits , Pinglu and Taining . However , in summer 903 , Wang , in alliance with Yang Xingmi ' s general Wang Maozhang , crushed and killed Zhu Youning in battle , giving Wang Shifan ' s badly outnumbered army a brief reprieve . Wang Maozhang , however , then judged the situation to be hopeless and withdrew his Huainan army , leaving Wang Shifan to face Zhu alone . Further , shortly after , Yang would be battling a rebellion against him by his generals Tian Jun the military governor of Ningguo Circuit ( 寧國 , headquartered in modern Xuancheng , Anhui ) and An Renyi ( 安仁義 ) the military prefect of Run Prefecture ( 潤州 , in modern Zhenjiang , Jiangsu ) and be unable to again aid Wang Shifan . Wang Shifan was forced to surrender to Zhu , and , while Zhu allowed him to remain military governor of Pinglu for the time being , would not again pose a threat to Zhu . Meanwhile , Cui had begun to see the army that Zhu left at Chang ' an to be a threat to the security of the imperial government and of himself , and therefore had been trying to recruit a new army to replace the decimated imperial guards and Shence Armies . Zhu realized this and began to suspect Cui of getting ready to turn against him . Further , Zhu Youlun died in a polo accident in winter 903 — an accident that Zhu Quanzhong did not consider an accident at all but suspected Cui ' s involvement in . He sent another nephew , Zhu Youliang ( 朱友諒 ) , to Chang ' an to take over Zhu Youlun ' s post , and he also sent his soldiers to pretend to be recruits to infiltrate the new army that Cui was building . With Li Maozhen ' s army also being rebuilt and with Li Jihui having reverted his allegiance to Li Maozhen ( after he was outraged that Zhu had raped his wife during the Fengxiang campaign ) , Zhu became concerned about his control of the emperor being challenged not only by Cui , but by renewed military efforts of Li Maozhen and Li Jihui . He therefore resolved to forcibly move the emperor to Luoyang , closer to his base at Bian . In spring 904 , he submitted a petition to Emperor Zhaozong , accusing Cui of treason , and then had the Xuanwu army at Chang ' an surround Cui ' s mansion and kill him . Zhu thereafter had Emperor Zhaozong , the imperial household , and the populace of Chang ' an forcibly escorted to Luoyang . After Emperor Zhaozong reached Luoyang , all the imperial guards were Zhu ' s elite soldiers , and the emperor became isolated . The killing of Emperor Zhaozong and the seizure of the throne . As a result of the forced movement of the emperor , the several remaining warlords who were not compliant to Zhu Quanzhong ( Li Maozhen , Li Jihui , Li Keyong , Liu Rengong , Wang Jian , and Yang Xingmi , Zhao Kuangning , and Zhao Kuangning ' s brother Zhao Kuangming the military governor of Jingnan Circuit ( 荊南 , headquartered in modern Jingzhou , Hubei , not the same circuit as Li Jihui ' s ) ) all issued declarations calling for the people to rise against Zhu and restore imperial power . Zhu became apprehensive that while Emperor Zhaozong was under heavy guard , he would nevertheless try to act against Zhu ' s interests if Zhu left on a campaign , particularly when Zhu could not get Emperor Zhaozong to agree to execute Li Yu ( under the reasoning that Li Yu , albeit a child at the time , had wrongly occupied the throne during the eunuchs ' coup against Emperor Zhaozong ) . He came to the belief that he should remove the adult emperor and replace the emperor with a more - easily controlled child . In fall 904 , he had Zhu Yougong and Shi Shucong lead soldiers into the Luoyang palace and kill Emperor Zhaozong , and then blamed the incident on Zhu Yougong and Shi , forcing them to commit suicide . He had Li Zuo declared emperor ( as Emperor Ai ) . Shortly after Emperor Zhaozong ' s death , Zhu also had all of the deceased emperor ' s sons ( except Emperor Ai ) killed , leaving , among the imperial household , only Emperor Ai and his mother ( Emperor Zhaozong ' s wife ) Empress Dowager He . Further , under the advice of his ally , the chancellor Liu Can , and Li Zhen , he carried out a slaughter of senior Tang officials from aristocratic family , including forcing some 30 of them to commit suicide at Baima ( 白馬 , in modern Anyang ) and then throwing their bodies into the Yellow River . In 904 , Zhu ' s wife Lady Zhang died . She was said to be a moderating influence and a wise advisor to Zhu , and it was said that after her death , his violent and licentious tendencies became out of control . In fall 905 , Zhu carried out against the Zhao brothers , quickly defeating them and forcing them to flee ( Zhao Kuangning to Yang , Zhao Kuangming to Wang Jian ) , allowing him to absorb the Zhaos ' territory . He was originally planning to returning to his own territory after this , but then changed his mind and decided to attack Yang . His army , however , was hampered by the storms and unable to inflict any real damage on Yang ' s territory before being forced to withdraw . Zhu had by this point decided to take over the Tang throne . Liu , as well as the director of palace communications Jiang Xuanhui ( 蔣玄暉 ) , were thus planning the traditional steps for the regime transition — which would include having Zhu created the prince of a large fief , given the Nine Bestowments , and given other extraordinary honors , before the emperor would yield the throne to him . So , as the first step , they had Emperor Ai first make Zhu the Generalissimo of All Circuits . The impatient Zhu was displeased , wanting the process to go faster ; meanwhile , Jiang ' s political enemies Wang Yin ( 王殷 ) and Zhao Yinheng used the chance to falsely accuse Liu and Jiang of dithering not only to allow Tang to survive longer , but to wait for the possibility of change in situation ; they further accused Jiang to be in an affair with Empress Dowager He . Zhu thus became incensed at Liu and Jiang , and not even a subsequent edict in Emperor Ai ' s name creating him the Prince of Wei ( with a 21 - circuit fief ) and giving him the Nine Bestowments placated him . Late in 905 , he had Liu , Jiang , and Empress Dowager He executed . In spring 906 , Luo Shaowei , fearful of his own headquarter guards ( who had become extremely powerful and often overthrew military governors to install new ones of their liking ) , entered a pact with Zhu where he slaughtered the headquarter guards and Zhu provided Xuanwu military support in order to suppress possible mutinies in response . When Luo subsequently carried out the slaughter , many Weibo soldiers mutinied in response , and for several months Zhu and Luo ' s joint forces suppressed the mutinies . After that campaign , Zhu headed north , wanting to conquer Liu Rengong ' s lands . He put Liu ' s son Liu Shouwen ( whom Liu Rengong had made the military governor of Yichang ) under siege at Yichang ' s capital Cang Prefecture ( 滄州 ) . However , at this time , Ding Hui , whom Zhu had made the military governor of Zhaoyi , aggravated at Zhu ' s killing of Emperor Zhaozong , rebelled against Zhu and surrendered his territory to Li Keyong . Zhu was forced to give up his campaign against Liu and withdraw . On the back to Xuanwu , Zhu stopped at Weibo to rest his body due to an illness . While there , Luo pointed out to him that the warlords still resisting him were all claiming that they were intending to restore the Tang emperor ' s power , and suggested to him that he should quickly take the throne to end such hopes . While Zhu did not respond to Luo ' s suggestion , he was personally thankful to Luo for bringing the suggestion . Once he returned to Xuanwu , he again did not respond when the Tang official Xue Yiju , then visiting Xuanwu ostensibly by Emperor Ai ' s order , suggested the idea , showing , indeed , that he was intending to do so . When Xue returned to Luoyang , he mentioned this to Emperor Ai , who thereafter issued an edict to prepare to yield the throne in spring 907 . Thereafter , Zhu changed his name to Zhu Huang , and then , when Emperor Ai sent the chancellors Zhang Wenwei and Yang She to Daliang to offer the throne to him , accepted , thus ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang Dynasty ( with him as its Emperor Taizu ) — despite the misgivings of his brother Zhu Quanyu and Zhu Quanyu ' s subsequent prediction that this would bring disaster on the Zhu clan . Reign as Later Liang emperor . The new Later Liang emperor created the deposed Tang emperor the Prince of Jiyin , and moved him to Cao Prefecture , under secure guard . ( He would , however , have the Prince of Jiyin poisoned in 908 . ) He posthumously honored his parents , as well as ancestors up to four generations , as emperors and empresses . He made Jing Xiang his chief advisor , making decisions in conjunction with Jing before having Jing announce them to the chancellors . Most circuits around the former Tang realm reacted to the transition by submitting to the new emperor ' s authority . The only exceptions were regions controlled by Li Keyong ( thereafter becoming known as Jin ) , Li Maozhen ( thereafter becoming known as Qi ) , Yang Xingmi ' s son and successor Yang Wo ( thereafter becoming known as Wu , and Wang Jian ( thereafter becoming known as Former Shu ) . Li Keyong , Li Maozhen , and Yang continued to observe the Tang era name of " Tianyou " , thus acting as if they were still part of the defunct Tang state , while Wang shortly after declared himself the emperor of a new Former Shu state . Liu Rengong initially did not react ; however , shortly after , he was put under house arrest by his son Liu Shouguang , who took over Lulong ; both Liu Shouguang and Liu Shouwen , who thereafter launched a campaign to try to free his father against his brother Liu Shouguang , both nominally submitted to Later Liang . Shortly after becoming emperor , apparently intending to deal a crippling blow to Jin , Emperor Taizu sent Kang Huaizhen north to put Lu Prefecture , then under the command of Li Sizhao , under tight siege ; he later went to Lu himself to reinforce the siege . LI Keyong initially sent Zhou Dewei to try to lift the siege , but was unable to do so . In spring 908 , Li Keyong himself fell deathly ill , forcing Zhou to withdraw back to Taiyuan . Li Keyong died shortly after and was succeeded by his son Li Cunxu . Emperor Taizu , believing that Lu would fall easily in the aftermaths , not only withdrew himself but also withdrew part of the siege army , under the command of Liu Zhijun , to guard against a potential Qi attack . Li Cunxu , realizing that the Later Liang army had been weakened , launched a surprise assault on the Later Liang army sieging Lu , crushing it and lifting the siege , thus stabilizing the security of the Jin state . When Emperor Taizu received news of the death , he lamented : In 909 , Emperor Taizu moved the capital from Daliang to Luoyang , leaving his adoptive son Zhu Youwen the Prince of Bo in charge at Daliang . Also in 909 , Liu Zhijun , then defending Hua Prefecture , became apprehensive when Emperor Taizu , in response to false accusations that the general Liu Han ( 劉捍 ) made against Wang Chongshi ( 王重師 ) the military governor of Youguo Circuit ( 佑國 , then headquartered at Chang ' an ) , slaughtered Wang and his family . Liu Zhijun made a surprise uprising against Later Liang , surrendering not only his own Zhongwu Circuit to Qi but also capturing Chang ' an and presenting it to Qi . Emperor Taizu was quickly able to dispatch Yang Shihou and Liu Xun to recapture Chang ' an and force Liu Zhijun to flee to Fengxiang , however , without significant losses on the western border . Late in 909 , Liu Shouguang captured Liu Shouwen in battle , and subsequently proceeded to Yichang and conquered it . He continued to be nominally submissive to Emperor Taizu , and Emperor Taizu made him the military governor of both Lulong and Yichang . Also nominally submissive to Emperor Taizu , in the north , were Wang Rong ' s Chengde Circuit ( now renamed to Wushun to observe naming taboo for Emperor Taizu ' s father Zhu Cheng ) and Wang Chuzhi ' s Yiwu Circuit , which , while as they did during Tang times , continued to refuse to submit taxes to the Later Liang imperial government , were often offering tributes to the emperor . In addition , Wang Rong ' s son Wang Zhaozuo married Emperor Taizu ' s daughter Princess Puning . However , Emperor Taizu suspected them of eventually turning against him , and therefore decided to seize them by trick . He sent the officers Du Tingyin ( 杜廷隱 ) and Ding Yanhui ( 丁延徽 ) north with 3 , 000 men to Wushun ' s Shen ( 深州 ) and Ji ( 冀州 ) ( both in modern Hengshui , Hebei ) , claiming to be helping Wushun to defend potential Liu Shouguang incursions . Wang Rong , not wanting to appear disobedient , agreed to let Du and Ding enter those prefectural capitals . Upon entering , however , Du and Ding slaughtered the Wushun garrisons in those cities and held the cities , waiting for a coming Later Liang main army attack , commanded by Wang Jingren . Wang Rong and Wang Chuzhi ( who believed that this action also aimed against him ) sought emergency aid from both Li Cunxu and Liu Shouguang . Liu refused , but Li quickly dispatched Zhou , and then followed himself . In spring 911 , the joint Jin / Wushun / Yiwu forces crushed the Later Liang forces under Wang Jingren at Boxiang ( 柏鄉 , in modern Xingtai ) , securing Wushun ( which then changed its name back to Chengde , and was also thereafter known as Zhao ) and Yiwu . The Jin forces advanced as far south as Tianxiong ( i . e . , Weibo ) , before withdrawing due to fears that Liu Shouguang might decide to attack from the rear . From this point on , Chengde and Yiwu became firm Jin allies and again resumed the use of Tang era names . After the Later Liang defeats at Lu Prefecture against Jin and at Boxiang against the joint Jin / Zhao / Yiwu armies , Emperor Taizu wanted opportunities to avenge himself against these enemies , and was irritable and even more violent to his own subordinates after , for some time in 911 , he was unable to entice the Jin / Zhao forces into a confrontation . Further , his illnesses were recurring , further causing him to be more irritable . He thought he got the chance in 912 when Jin , with assistance from Zhao and Yiwu , launched an attack on Liu Shouguang ( who had declared himself the emperor of a new state of Yan ) , seeking to destroy Yan . Emperor Taizu decided to try to save Liu by attacking north with a massive army . However , after the forward scouts were defeated and captured by the Jin general Li Cunshen ( Li Cunxu ' s adoptive brother ) , Li Cunshen and fellow Jin officers Shi Jiantang ( 史建瑭 ) and Li Sigong ( 李嗣肱 ) misled Emperor Taizu into believing that the defeat was one of a greater scale and that a massive Jin army was approaching . The Later Tang emperor fled in a panic with heavy losses . After the defeat , he became even more seriously ill , and he returned to Luoyang . Meanwhile , it was said that in his latter years , after Lady Zhang ' s death , Emperor Taizu became increasingly licentious . ( One example would be in 911 , when he was spending the summer at the summer mansion belonging to Zhang Quanyi ( who had changed his name to Zhang Zongshi after Emperor Taizu took the throne , to observe naming taboo ) . While at Zhang ' s mansion , it was said that Emperor Taizu had sexual relations with nearly all of the women of the Zhang household , causing an insulted son of Zhang Zongshi ' s , Zhang Jizuo ( 張繼祚 ) , to consider assassinating him , only to be stopped by Zhang Zongshi , who cited Emperor Taizu ' s previously saving their house when they were under Li Hanzhi ' s attack . ) It was said that with Emperor Taizu ' s sons often away from the capital on missions , he would summon their wives into the palace to attend to him , and often had sexual relations with them . He particularly favored Zhu Youwen ' s wife Lady Wang . Further , although Zhu Youwen was not a biological son , he was the oldest among his surviving sons ( as his only older biological son , Zhu Youyu , had died earlier ) , and he was seriously contemplating passing the throne to Zhu Youwen . In summer 912 , when he became deathly ill , he sent Lady Wang to Daliang to summon Zhu Youwen . At the same time , he issued an edict , through Jing , sending his next oldest son , Zhu Yougui the Prince of Ying , out of the capital Luoyang to serve as the prefect of Lai Prefecture ( 萊州 , in modern Yantai , Shandong ) and decreeing that he report there immediately . This made Zhu Yougui , whom the emperor did not favor , 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 . Zhu Yougui immediately formed a conspiracy with the imperial guard general Han Qing ( 韓勍 ) , and thereafter took imperial guard soldiers into the palace . He assassinated Emperor Taizu with the assistance of his servant Feng Ting ' e ( 馮廷諤 ) , and then issued order in Emperor Taizu ' s name to his brother Zhu Youzhen the Prince of Jun , who was also at Daliang , to execute Zhu Youwen . After doing so , Zhu Yougui publicly announced Emperor Taizu ' s death and blamed the death on Zhu Youwen , then took the throne . Zhu Youzhen would in turn overthrow him next year and take the throne .