Yang Xingmi Yang Xingmi ( 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 the temple name of Taizu ( 太祖 ) , was a military governor ( " Jiedushi " ) of Huainan Circuit ( 淮南 , headquartered in modern Yangzhou , Jiangsu ) late in the Chinese dynasty 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 — including most of modern Jiangsu and Anhui and parts of modern Jiangxi and Hubei . ( Although Yang Xingmi would be 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 . ) Background . 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 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 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 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 an commission . As prefect of Lu Prefecture . 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 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 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 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 ) 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 . War for control of Huainan Circuit . War against Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo . 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 , 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 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 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 . War against Sun Ru . Yang Xingmi , however , believed that Sun Ru would eventually attack him , and in fall 888 , he considered heading south to attack Zhong Chuan 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 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 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 ) , 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 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 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 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 ( 李德誠 ) 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 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 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 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 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 the military governor of Huainan , while making Tian the acting military governor of Ningguo and An the prefect of Run . Rule over Huainan and nearby territory . Early rule . 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 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 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 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 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 , 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 . 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 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 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 . ) Late rule . 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 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 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 ) , 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 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 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 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 offer 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 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 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 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 Guan ( 徐綰 ) 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 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 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 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 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 Ren Prefecture as its military prefect ) together rose in rebellion against Yang ; they eventually enticed Zhu Yanshou , who 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 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 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 were 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 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 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 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 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 , stating that he viewed Yang Wo as an inappropriate successor due to his love for drinking and games . Instead , Zhou suggested that Yang entrust 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 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 .