Shen Youzhi Shen Youzhi ( 沈攸之 ) ( died 478 ) , courtesy name Zhongda ( 仲達 ) , was a general during the Chinese dynasty Liu Song , who , in the final moments of the dynasty , made a final failed attempt to prevent Xiao Daocheng from seizing the throne . Service under Emperors Wen and Xiaowu . It is not known when Shen Youzhi was born . However , it is known that his father Shen Shuren ( 沈叔仁 ) was an army officer under Emperor Wen ' s brother Liu Yiji ( 劉義季 ) the Prince of Hengyang and was a cousin of the famed general Shen Qingzhi ( 沈慶之 ) . Shen Shuren ' s household was not rich , and he grew up in poverty after apparently losing his father early in life . In 450 , when Northern Wei forces made a major invasion into Liu Song territory , Shen Youzhi was conscripted , and he went to see the general Liu Zunkao ( 劉遵考 ) to request a sergeant position . Liu was not impressed by his appearance and refused his request , so he went to follow his distance uncle Shen Qingzhi . However , Shen Qingzhi did not initially make him an officer either , and he did not become an officer until 452 , when he followed Shen Qingzhi in a campaign against the Xiyang Aborigines ( 西陽蠻 , located in modern Huanggang , Hubei ) . In 453 , Emperor Wen was assassinated by his crown prince Liu Shao , who then seized the throne . Instead of acquiescing to Liu Shao ' s reign , Shen Qingzhi persuaded Liu Shao ' s brother Liu Jun the Prince of Wuling into an uprising against Liu Shao . Shen Youzhi was part of Shen Youzhi ' s army against Liu Shao , and at the Battle of Xinting ( 新亭 , in modern Nanjing , Jiangsu ) , near the capital Jiankang , he suffered severe injuries but recovered . After Liu Shao was defeated and killed and Liu Jun became emperor ( as Emperor Xiaowu ) , Shen Youzhi was created the Marquess of Pingluo and promoted . In 459 , when Emperor Xiaowu ' s brother Liu Dan ( 劉誕 ) the Prince of Jingling rose against him , Shen Youzhi again joined Shen Qingzhi in the campaign against Liu Dan in sieging Liu Dan ' s post of Guangling ( 廣陵 , in modern Yangzhou , Jiangsu ) , and he contributed to the victory over Liu Dan . Emperor Xiaowu wanted to reward him greatly , but Shen Qingzhi , perhaps because Shen Youzhi was a relative , reduced the award , and Shen Youzhi became resentful of Shen Qingzhi after this point . Service under Emperor Qianfei . In 464 , Emperor Xiaowu died and was succeeded by his impulsive and violent son Emperor Qianfei . Emperor Qianfei , suspecting the high level officials of conspiring against him , soon carried out a campaign of terror against them , and because he feared assassinations , he greatly endeared himself to a number of fierce army officers , including Shen Youzhi , Zong Yue ( 宗越 ) , Tan Jin ( 譚金 ) , and Tong Taiyi ( 童太一 ) , making them command his personal guards . Shen , along with the others , participated in his slaughters of the high level officials . After one such attack in winter 475 against Emperor Qianfei ' s uncle and brother - in - law He Mai ( 何邁 ) , whose wife Liu Yingmei ( 劉英媚 ) the Princess Xincai Emperor Qianfei engaged in an incestuous relationship with , Shen Qingzhi tried to enter the palace to persuade Emperor Qianfei to change his ways , but was stopped by roadblocks that Emperor Qianfei had set up in anticipation of his attempt . Emperor Qianfei then ordered Shen Youzhi to deliver poison to Shen Qingzhi to force him to commit suicide . Shen Qingzhi refused to take the poison , and Shen Youzhi then suffocated him with a blanket . In less than a month , however , while Shen and the other key officers Emperor Qianfei trusted officers were out of the palace , Emperor Qianfei ' s attendant Shou Jizhi ( 壽寂之 ) assassinated him , and Emperor Qianfei ' s uncle Liu Yu then took the throne as Emperor Ming . Service under Emperor Ming . Emperor Ming did not trust the guard officers that Emperor Qianfei had endeared , and he offered to give them commandery governor posts to get them to leave the palace . However , they were largely fearful that Emperor Ming had other intentions , and they entered into a plot against Emperor Ming . Shen Youzhi , however , informed Emperor Ming of the plot , and Emperor Ming then had those officers executed , except for Shen , whom he began to trust and made him a guard commander again . Meanwhile , Deng Wan ( 鄧琬 ) , the chief of staff for Emperor Qianfei ' s brother Liu Zixun the Prince of Jin ' an and governor of Jiang Province ( 江州 , modern Jiangxi and Fujian ) , refused to accept Emperor Ming ' s offer to promote Liu Zixun , and instead started an uprising in Liu Zixun ' s name , declaring Liu Zixun emperor in spring 466 . Soon , nearly the entire empire pledged loyalty to Liu Zixun , and Emperor Ming was left with control of only the several commanderies around Jiankang . However , Liu Zixun ' s forces proceeded slowly toward Jiankang , and Emperor Ming used the opportunity to gather his troops in preparation of a war . Shen Youzhi was one of the generals . After his commanding general Yin Xiaozu ( 殷孝祖 ) was killed in battle , initially his officers wanted Shen Youzhi to take over command of the army , but judging that another general , Jiang Faxing ( 江法興 ) , would be unwilling to submit to him , Shen humbled himself and offered the command to Jiang , preserving unity of the forces . Shen Youzhi subsequently was particularly successful against Liu Zixun ' s general Liu Hu ( 劉胡 ) , and his successes , combined with the successes of Zhang Xingshi ( 張興世 ) , caused Liu Zixun ' s forces to collapse . In fall 466 , Shen Youzhi arrived at Liu Zixun ' s headquarters at Xunyang ( 尋陽 , in modern Jiujiang , Jiangxi ) , and he executed Liu Zixun and delivered the head to Jiankang . For his successes , Emperor Ming created him the Duke of Zhenyang . Emperor Ming , however , made the crucial mistake of appearing not to accepting the pledge of allegiance of Xue Andu ( 薛安都 ) , the governor of Xu Province ( 徐州 , modern northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui ) , instead sending Shen and Zhang Yong ( 張永 ) north with troops , which frightened Xue and led him to surrender to Northern Wei . When Shen and Zhang subsequently arrived at Xue ' s headquarters at Pengcheng ( 彭城 , in modern Xuzhou , Jiangsu ) , they were unsuccessful in sieging the city , and were forced to withdraw in early 467 . They were pursued and then defeated by Xue and the Northern Wei general Yuchi Yuan ( 尉遲元 ) , suffering extreme losses . In fall 467 , against Shen ' s advice , Emperor Ming ordered Shen to again attack Pengcheng , and he was again defeated by Yuchi ' s forces . He suffered major injuries in the battle , but was able to escape . In 469 , Emperor Ming made Shen the governor of Ying Province ( 郢州 , modern eastern Hubei ) , and there , he began to build up a personal army which he hoped would be loyal to him . In 472 , Emperor Ming died and was succeeded by his son Emperor Houfei . Service under Emperor Houfei . Emperor Houfei ' s administration was initially dominated by Emperor Ming ' s associates Wang Daolong ( 王道隆 ) and Ruan Dianfu ( 阮佃夫 ) , who distrusted the strict governor of the important Jing Province ( 荊州 , modern central and western Hubei ) , Cai Xingzong ( 蔡興宗 ) . They therefore recalled Cai to the capital and moved Shen from Ying Province to Jing Province . According to historical records written in the subsequent Southern Qi Dynasty , Shen effectively made Jing Province into a personal domain , disregarding imperial directives , and saving resources in preparation of eventual war . He was said to be temperamental and austere but talented , and his subordinates feared him and did not dare to hide truths from him . It was also said that the social order was so well maintained that people could sleep at night without closing doors . In 474 , when Emperor Houfei ' s uncle Liu Xiufan ( 劉休範 ) the Prince of Guiyang declared a rebellion , he manufactured a prophecy in which Shen Youzhi was referred to was prime minister , and had the prophetic writing delivered to Shen , who however declined to join his rebellion , and subsequently aligned with Wang Sengqian ( 王僧虔 ) the governor of Xiang Province ( 湘州 , modern Hunan ) , Zhang Xingshi the governor of Yong Province ( 雍州 , modern northwestern Hubei and southwestern Henan ) , and the chief of staff of Liu Xie ( 劉燮 ) the Prince of Jinxi and governor of Ying Province to attack Liu Xiufan ' s base at Xunyang , forcing Xunyang ' s surrender and killing Liu Xiufan ' s two sons . Liu Xiufan , meanwhile , while sieging Jiankang , was killed by assassins sent by the general Xiao Daocheng , and his rebellion collapsed . In the aftermaths of Liu Xiufan ' s defeat , the high level officials wanted to recall Shen to the capital , but did not dare to do so without his agreement in fear of causing him to rebel , and so sent messenger in the name of Emperor Ming ' s wife Empress Dowager Wang to try to persuade Shen to accept a promotion and a recall . Shen declined , and the high level officials permitted him to remain at Jing Province . However , concerned about Shen , Xiao , who had been friendly with Shen up to this point – so much so that Shen Youzhi ' s son Shen Wenhe ( 沈文和 ) married Xiao ' s daughter – sent the general who had assassinated Liu Xiufan , Zhang Jing ' er ( 張敬兒 ) , to be the governor of Yong Province in 475 , to prepare for an eventual backstab on Shen . Shen tried to foster a relationship with Zhang , and believed incorrectly that he had won Zhang over to his side , but Zhang remained secretly still loyal to Xiao . In 476 , when Emperor Houfei ' s cousin Liu Jingsu ( 劉景素 ) the Prince of Jianping and governor of South Xu Province ( 南徐州 , modern western central Jiangsu ) rebelled , it was rumored that Shen was aligned with Liu Jingsu , and he tried to show his loyalty by sending an army to aid Xiao and other imperial generals against Liu Jingsu , although by the time his forces arrived at Jiankang , Liu Jingsu had already been defeated . Emperor Houfei was a violent and unpredictable teenage emperor , and he often killed whoever he encountered . On one occasion , he was set to kill Xiao , and Xiao then engaged Emperor Houfei ' s attendants to kill him . On the night of Qi Xi in 477 , Emperor Houfei ' s attendant Yang Yufu ( 楊玉夫 ) did so , and Xiao took effective control of the imperial government , making Emperor Houfei ' s brother Liu Zhun the Prince of Ancheng emperor ( as Emperor Shun ) . Uprising against Xiao Daocheng . Shen Youzhi often claimed that he had entered into a secret oath with Emperor Ming , written on white silk that he then sowed into his vest . Upon hearing of Emperor Houfei ' s death , his staff members Zong Yanzhi ( 宗儼之 ) and Zang Yin ( 臧寅 ) both tried to persuade him to start an uprising immediately against Xiao , but Shen failed to do so because his oldest son Shen Yuanyan ( 沈元琰 ) was still in Jiankang . Xiao then subsequently sent Shen Yuanyan to Shen Youzhi , along with weapons that Emperor Houfei had used to slice his victims open , to Shen Youzhi to explain the reasons why he had Emperor Houfei assassinated . However , Shen was still displeased that Xiao had taken over the government , and he stated that he would rather be like the Cao Wei general Wang Ling ( 王淩 ) , who had unsuccessfully tried to overthrow Sima Yi , than be Jia Chong , who submitted to and served Sima Yi ' s sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao and grandson Emperor Wu of Jin . However , he still could not immediately start his uprising , but kept Shen Yuanyan at Jing Province . Soon , claiming that he had received secret instructions from Empress Dowager Wang , hidden in a pair of candles , Shen did announce a rebellion , accusing Xiao of intending to usurp the throne . However , the provincial governors that he invited to join him all declined and either resisted him or stood by . Shen nevertheless had a strong army , and the imperial army generals were apprehensive about facing him . He initially progressed quickly toward Jiankang , but as he went past Yingcheng ( 郢城 , in modern Wuhan , Hubei ) , he was provoked by insults of Liu Shilong ( 柳世隆 ) , the chief of staff for Liu Zan ( 劉贊 ) the Prince of Wuling and governor of Ying Province into stopping and putting the well - fortified Yingcheng under siege . Meanwhile , Xiao had Shen Qingzhi ' s son Shen Wenji ( 沈文季 ) arrest Shen Youzhi ' s brother Shen Dengzhi ( 沈登之 ) and execute Shen Youzhi ' s clan , to avenge Shen Qingzhi . In 478 , with his forces unable to capture Yingcheng , Shen Youzhi ' s soldiers began to desert . Shen then aggravated the situation by imposing severe punishments on the commanding officers of deserting soldiers – which in turn caused " them " to desert . Shen ' s officer Liu Rangbing ( 劉攘兵 ) then surrendered to Liu Shilong , causing his forces to collapse . He tried to retreat to Jiangling ( the capital of Jing Province ) , but by the time he did so , Zhang Jing ' er had already captured Jiangling and killed Shen Yuanyan , whom Shen Youzhi had left in charge of Jiangling . Shen ' s remaining army , seeing that Jiangling had fallen , collapsed , and he initially tried to flee , but realizing that his escape route had been cut off , committed suicide along with his son Shen Wenhe ( 沈文和 ) . His other sons were killed by Zhang Jing ' er . In 483 , Xiao Daocheng ' s son Emperor Wu of Southern Qi , recognizing Shen Youzhi ' s accomplishments , permitted him to be reburied with proper honors .