Zhu Yougui

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Zhu Yougui was the second son of Zhu Wen, founder of Later Liang, according to one account, though another identifies him as the third son. His mother was a courtesan attached to a military camp in Bozhou. In the first lunar month of 885, the first year of the Guangqi era under Emperor Xizong of Tang, Zhu Wen, newly appointed military commissioner of Xuanwu, led troops into Bozhou to resist Qin Zongquan. There he summoned a camp courtesan to attend him. A month later, when Zhu Wen returned to Bianzhou, she was pregnant. He arranged for her to remain in Bozhou, where she later gave birth to Zhu Yougui. Delighted by the news, Zhu Wen gave the child the childhood name Yaoxi and later brought mother and son to Bianzhou.

As he grew older, Zhu Yougui was described as cunning, articulate, and resourceful. The New History of the Five Dynasties states that he “grew up eloquent, crafty, and full of schemes.” Zhu Wen's adopted son Zhu Youwen, Prince of Bo, was older and known for his accomplishments, and Zhu Wen favored him. Zhu Wen had not designated a crown prince and wished to make Zhu Youwen his successor. Zhu Yougui, by contrast, was not favored and had previously been beaten for misconduct, leaving him increasingly anxious about his position.

Enfeoffment and Command of Troops

In the fourth lunar month of 907, the first year of the Kaiping era, Zhu Wen replaced the Tang emperor, proclaimed himself emperor, and founded Later Liang. On the ninth day of the fifth lunar month that year (June 22), Zhu Yougui was enfeoffed as Prince of Ying. In the tenth lunar month of 910, the fourth year of Kaiping, he was appointed acting Minister over the Masses and commander-in-chief of the Left and Right Konghe Guards, with concurrent authority over the Four Fan generals. In 911, the first year of Qianhua, he also became chief military inspector of the imperial armies. The Left and Right Konghe units were part of the emperor's personal guard command structure, giving Zhu Yougui control over a portion of the palace forces and thereby providing the military foundation for his later coup.

Patricide and Seizure of the Throne

After the death of Zhu Wen's principal wife, Empress Yuanzhen Zhang Hui, Zhu Wen indulged heavily in sexual pleasures and often summoned the wives of his sons into the palace to attend him. Zhu Youwen's wife, Lady Wang, was especially favored for her beauty. On the fifteenth day of the intercalary fifth lunar month in 912 (July 2), Zhu Wen's illness worsened. He told Lady Wang that he knew he would not recover and ordered her to go to the eastern capital and summon Zhu Youwen for a final meeting. Intending to pass the throne to Zhu Youwen, Zhu Wen told Jing Xiang that Zhu Yougui could be given a commandery and sent away to take up office. Zhu Yougui was accordingly appointed prefect of Laizhou.

Zhu Wen was ordinarily fierce and violent, and during his illness his moods became even more unpredictable. Officials who were demoted were often executed soon afterward, which greatly frightened Zhu Yougui. His wife Lady Zhang was also attending Zhu Wen at the time. On learning that the emperor intended to pass the throne to Zhu Youwen, she warned her husband that the imperial seal had been given to Lady Wang so that she could summon Zhu Youwen to the eastern capital and that disaster was imminent. The couple wept together. Their attendants urged Zhu Yougui to act before it was too late.

On the second day of the sixth lunar month (July 18), Zhu Yougui changed his clothing and secretly went to the Left Dragon-Tiger Army to consult Han Qing, its commander. Han had seen many veteran meritorious officers put to death for minor offenses and therefore agreed to join the plot. That night he led five hundred elite troops with Zhu Yougui, mingling them among the Konghe guards as they entered the palace. In the third watch of the night they broke through the gate and entered the Wanchun Gate, advancing to the imperial bedchamber. The attendants fled in terror. Zhu Wen sat up and shouted that he had long suspected Zhu Yougui and regretted not killing him earlier, asking whether the “traitor” could truly bear to kill his own father. Zhu Yougui's personal officer Feng Ting'e then attacked Zhu Wen with a sword. Zhu Wen circled a pillar while the sword struck the pillar three times, but when he became exhausted and fell onto the bed Feng stabbed him through the abdomen, causing his entrails to spill out.

Zhu Yougui wrapped the body in mosquito netting and bedding and left it in the bedchamber, concealing the emperor's death for four days. He then opened the treasury and lavishly rewarded officials and troops. Ding Zhaopu was sent to the eastern capital with a forged edict ordering Zhu Youwen's execution. Zhu Yougui also issued another forged edict in Zhu Wen's name, accusing Zhu Youwen of treason, claiming that Zhu Yougui had led troops to suppress him, and “ordering” Zhu Yougui to take charge of military and state affairs. Only then was Zhu Wen's death announced.

Reign and Government

In 912, Zhu Yougui ascended the throne before Zhu Wen's coffin. He promoted Han Qing to military commissioner of Zhongwu, appointed his younger brother Zhu Youzhen acting governor of Bianzhou, and appointed Zhu Youqian of Hezhong as Secretariat Director. Zhu Youqian refused to accept the appointment.

The coup caused widespread alarm. On August 5, soldiers at Xuzhou mutinied, and Zhang Hou, commander-in-chief of the mounted and infantry forces, killed Han Jian, military commissioner of Kuangguo. Zhu Yougui did not dare punish him and instead appointed him prefect of Chenzhou. At Weizhou, Yang Shihou, military commissioner of Xuanyi, took advantage of the situation to expel the young Luo Zhouhan, military commissioner of Tianxiong; Zhu Yougui had little choice but to appoint Yang himself to Tianxiong. Many veteran commanders and meritorious officials were dissatisfied, including Zhu Youqian, Prince of Ji and military commissioner of Huguo. Zhu Yougui tried to placate Zhu Youqian by granting him the titles Palace Attendant and Secretariat Director and summoning him to court, but Zhu threatened to go to Luoyang to demand an accounting and instead defected to Li Cunxu. Zhu Yougui sent Han Qing as commander of the western expeditionary army against him and also ordered Kang Huaizhen, military commissioner of Ganhua, to join Niu Cunjie of Zhongwu in attacking Hezhong. Li Cunxu sent relief troops and decisively defeated the Later Liang forces.

Although Zhu Yougui distributed large sums of money to officers and soldiers after taking the throne in an effort to win support, many veteran generals remained deeply resentful. His own licentious conduct further inflamed popular anger. Three thousand troops of the Longxiang Army at Huaizhou seized their commander Liu Chongba, occupied the city, and declared that they were rising to punish the usurper. Zhu Yougui sent Huo Yanwei, commander-in-chief of the eastern capital's mounted and infantry forces, and Du Yanqiu, commander of the Left Yaowu unit, to suppress them. Liu Chongyu, the rebel commander, was captured at Yanling and executed in the tenth lunar month.

Jing Xiang, Minister of War and director of the Chongzheng Court, had been Zhu Wen's trusted adviser. Fearing that Jing might oppose him, Zhu Yougui reassigned him in the ninth lunar month as Vice Director of the Secretariat and Participant in Determining Government Matters, while appointing Li Zhen, Minister of Revenue, as director of the Chongzheng Court. Jing thereafter often claimed illness and withdrew from political affairs. After Yang Shihou secured Weibo, he held high rank and commanded a large army and openly looked down on Zhu Yougui, frequently acting on his own. Zhu Yougui, wary of him, summoned him to the capital to discuss affairs. Yang crossed the river with ten thousand elite troops, left them outside Luoyang, and entered with only a small entourage. Zhu Yougui could do little but placate him with kind words and lavish gifts before sending him back.

On February 28, 913, Zhu Yougui performed the court sacrifice at the imperial ancestral temple. The following day he sacrificed at the Circular Mound, proclaimed a general amnesty, and changed the era name to Fengli. He also promoted Liu Yan, military commissioner of Qinghai, to acting Grand Tutor.

Overthrow and Death

After Zhu Yougui seized the throne, Zhu Wen's nephew Yuan Xiangxian, his son-in-law and imperial consort Zhao Yan, Zhu Wen's fourth son Zhu Youzhen, Prince of Jun, and the commander Yang Shihou secretly planned a counter-coup. When Zhao Yan traveled to Daliang on official business, Zhu Youzhen privately discussed eliminating Zhu Yougui with him. Zhao argued that success depended on obtaining Yang Shihou's support and having him send word to the palace guards. Zhu Youzhen therefore sent his confidant Ma Shenjiao to Weizhou with a promise of five hundred thousand strings of cash for Yang's troops if the plot succeeded. After consulting his officers, Yang agreed to support Zhu Youzhen.

At this time Zhu Yougui ordered the Longxiang Army stationed at Bianzhou back to Luoyang. Since the earlier Longxiang mutiny at Huaizhou, he had been hunting down suspected associates and executing entire families. Zhu Youzhen exploited this fear by spreading a rumor that Zhu Yougui intended to bury all members of the Longxiang Army alive. On March 23, Zhu Youzhen reported that the Longxiang troops were frightened and refused to depart. On March 25, their officers came to Zhu Youzhen for help. He took the opportunity to rally them to his cause, displaying a portrait of Zhu Wen and weeping before it; the troops enthusiastically shouted “Long live the emperor.”

On the morning of March 27, Yuan Xiangxian and others led several thousand palace guards into the imperial compound. Hearing of the uprising, Zhu Yougui fled with Empress Zhang and Feng Ting'e to the base of the northern wall tower and tried unsuccessfully to climb the wall to escape. Convinced that capture was inevitable, he ordered Feng first to kill the empress and then himself. Feng obeyed and then committed suicide. Zhu Youzhen subsequently became emperor, restored Zhu Youwen's offices and titles, and posthumously reduced Zhu Yougui to commoner status.

Major Activities

Patricide and Usurpation

In 912, when Zhu Wen intended to pass the throne to his adopted son Zhu Youwen and sent Zhu Yougui away as prefect of Laizhou, Zhu Yougui, fearing for his life, allied with Han Qing of the Left Dragon-Tiger Army. They led palace troops into the imperial compound at night and killed Zhu Wen. This act of a son killing his father and an imperial subject killing his ruler became one of the most notorious palace coups of the Five Dynasties period. It destabilized Later Liang and directly deepened internal divisions within its ruling elite. After issuing a forged edict to kill Zhu Youwen, Zhu Yougui ascended the throne before his father's bier.

Government During His Reign

Zhu Yougui used heavy financial rewards to win over troops, but he failed to calm opposition inside and outside the court. He faced a mutiny at Xuzhou, rebellion by the Longxiang Army at Huaizhou, Zhu Youqian's defection to Li Cunxu, and Yang Shihou's increasingly independent behavior. He reshuffled senior offices held by Jing Xiang, Li Zhen, and others in an effort to alter the political balance, but could not stabilize the regime. In the first lunar month of 913 he adopted the era name Fengli, yet the change did not reverse his declining position.

Palace Struggles

Both Zhu Yougui's rise and fall were shaped by palace conflict. In his final years Zhu Wen's sexual excesses included summoning the wives of his sons into the palace. Zhu Youwen's wife Lady Wang and Zhu Yougui's wife Lady Zhang were among those who attended him during his illness. Lady Zhang's disclosure of Zhu Wen's intention to pass the throne to Zhu Youwen became the immediate trigger for Zhu Yougui's coup. After Zhu Yougui seized power, Zhu Youzhen joined Yuan Xiangxian, Zhao Yan, Yang Shihou, and others in another coup that ultimately overthrew him.

The sequence of his patricide and accession is comparatively clear: born in 885 (first year of Guangqi) at Bozhou to Zhu Wen and a courtesan of that city, with the boyhood name Yaoxi; in 907 (first year of Kaiping), when Zhu Wen usurped the Tang and founded the Liang, he was enfeoffed as Prince of Ying in the fifth month; in 910 (fourth year of Kaiping) he was appointed commander of the left and right crane-controlling guards; in 911 (first year of Qianhua) he held the additional post of inspector of all armies; on the second day of the sixth month of 912 (18 July) he joined Han Qing in a palace coup, killed his father Zhu Wen and on the sixteenth day (1 August) took the throne before his father's coffin, forging an edict to kill Zhu Youwen; in the first month of 913 (third year of Qianhua) he changed the era name to Fengli, and on the seventeenth day of the second month (27 March) he was overthrown by a mutiny led by Yuan Xiangxian and Zhu Youzhen, whereupon he had Feng Ting'e kill him and his empress Zhang, Feng Ting'e killing himself as well. He reigned less than eight months; lavish rewards to the troops failed to steady his rule, and his coup and the mutiny that followed brought the divisions within the Later Liang ruling group into the open.

His killing of his father and seizure of the throne, followed by his swift failure, is a landmark of the disorder of rule in the early Five Dynasties: a palace coup with the guards, a forged edict to kill the likely heir, an accession before the coffin, and then an overthrow by another mutiny after excessive rewards had failed to win loyalty, all within eight months. Less than six years after Zhu Wen founded the Later Liang, father and son destroyed each other, and the divisions within the ruling group became even plainer in the confrontation with the Li family of Hedong that followed.

He lavished money on the troops at the beginning of his reign, but the loyalties of the army and the ministers did not change; that Zhu Youzhen, Prince of Ying, and Yuan Xiangxian could combine against him from Bianzhou shows that the guard forces on which his coup relied were not enough to control the whole ruling group.

Very few of his measures are recorded, only the change of era name to Fengli and the rewards to the troops being clear, so any assessment of his rule is limited to the manner of his accession and the process of his overthrow.

Personal Relations

• Father: Zhu Wen, founder of Later Liang
• Mother: an unnamed camp courtesan from Bozhou
• Brothers: Zhu Youyu, Prince of Chen, who died early; Zhu Youzhen, Prince of Jun and later the last emperor of Later Liang; Zhu Youzhang, Prince of Fu; Zhu Youyong, Prince of He; Zhu Youhui, Prince of Jian; and Zhu Youzi, Prince of Kang
• Adoptive elder brother: Zhu Youwen, Prince of Bo, originally named Kang Qin; adopted son of Zhu Wen and killed under Zhu Yougui's forged edict
• Wife: Lady Zhang, empress; according to one account named Zhang Zhenniang; killed together with Zhu Yougui
• Sisters: Imperial Princess Anyang, Imperial Princess Changle, Imperial Princess Puning, Imperial Princess Jinhua, and Imperial Princess Zhenning
• Han Qing: commander of the Left Dragon-Tiger Army; joined Zhu Yougui in the coup against Zhu Wen and later became military commissioner of Zhongwu
• Feng Ting'e: Zhu Yougui's personal officer; killed Zhu Wen and later killed Zhu Yougui and Empress Zhang before taking his own life
• Jing Xiang: trusted adviser of Zhu Wen; reassigned by Zhu Yougui as Vice Director of the Secretariat and Participant in Determining Government Matters, after which he largely withdrew from government
• Li Zhen: appointed by Zhu Yougui as director of the Chongzheng Court
• Yang Shihou: military commissioner of Tianxiong; commanded a powerful army, treated Zhu Yougui with contempt, and later supported Zhu Youzhen's coup
• Zhu Youqian: military commissioner of Huguo; rejected Zhu Yougui's appointment, defected to Li Cunxu, and was attacked by Zhu Yougui's forces
• Yuan Xiangxian: nephew of Zhu Wen; joined Zhao Yan and Zhu Youzhen in the coup that overthrew Zhu Yougui
• Zhao Yan: imperial consort and son-in-law of Zhu Wen; participated in the anti-Zhu Yougui conspiracy
• Zhu Youzhen: Prince of Jun and Zhu Yougui's younger brother; allied with Yang Shihou and others to overthrow him and later became the last emperor of Later Liang

Historical Assessment

Five Dynasties / Contemporary

The Old History of the Five Dynasties and New History of the Five Dynasties did not give Zhu Yougui a separate imperial annal, instead attaching accounts of his reign to the end of Zhu Wen's annals and the beginning of Zhu Youzhen's. When Zhang Zhao of Later Zhou compiled the Veritable Records of Liang, he requested that Zhu Yougui be recorded as “the arch-traitor Yougui,” following the precedent of Liu Shao in the Book of Song.

The Zizhi Tongjian records: “After the Prince of Ying, Yougui, achieved his ambition, he quickly gave himself over to licentiousness. Both inside and outside the court people were enraged. Though he fed them with gold and silks, in the end none truly supported him.”

Song and Yuan Periods

When Ouyang Xiu compiled the New History of the Five Dynasties, he was asked why Zhu Yougui, whose rule spanned two calendar years and included an era-name change, was not given imperial annals in the normal manner. Ouyang explained that under the principles of the Spring and Autumn Annals, when a ruler is murdered and the criminal goes unpunished, the responsibility rests on the state's ministers and sons; in Zhu Yougui's case, he wished to uphold the intent of those who punished the usurper.

Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian recorded Zhu Yougui's killing of his father in detail and treated it as a representative example of the breakdown of moral and political order during the Five Dynasties.

Ming and Qing Periods

Wang Fuzhi, in Du Tongjian Lun, discussed Zhu Yougui's patricide as the conduct of a beast and argued that the disorder of the Five Dynasties arose in part from the collapse of ethical norms.

Modern Period

Modern historians generally treat Zhu Yougui as a representative figure in the violent struggles for power characteristic of the Five Dynasties. His killing of his father and seizure of the throne are often interpreted as reflecting the collapse of ethical restraints under the military politics of the late Tang and Five Dynasties. Cai Dongfan's Historical Romance of the Five Dynasties strongly condemned the patricide while also noting that Zhu Wen's own late-life licentiousness and loss of moral authority helped create the conditions for the tragedy.