Hou jing

In 547, Emperor of Eastern Wei Gao Huan died, his son Gao Cheng ascended the throne. Hou Jing rebelled, as he was unhappy with the new emperor. He controlled 13 provinces, and decided to give up four provinces of West Wei and nine provinces to the state of Liang to support his rebellion.

The Liang emperor Wu-di initially wanted to refuse, but Zhu Yi convinced him to agree. Howe was granted the title of Prince and granted power over nine provinces.

Hou Jing, with the help of Liang and West Wei, initially withstood the attacks of East Wei .

After Yuwen demanded that Hou Jing come to the capital of Chang'an and greet the western emperor Wen-di , Hou Jing unexpectedly turned his troops against his Western allies.

At that time, Wu-di also held ready a large army ready to attack West Wei , led by his nephew Xiao Yuanming . Wu-di gave orders to Xiao Yuanming to advance into the Hanshan Mountains (寒山), and build a dam near the Pengcheng River on the Syshui River (чтобы) to attack Pengcheng . General Yang Kan (羊 侃) successfully built a dam ready to attack Pengcheng, and waiting for the order of Xiao Yuanming, but he began to hesitate and doubt. During this time, West Wei managed to gather an army led by Muzhun Shaozong (慕容 紹宗), which went to Hanshan. Yang Kan again began to demand from Xiao Yuanming an order to launch an attack, but he still did not dare. When the armies met, at first the Lansk troops won victories, but the Weis launched a powerful counterattack, almost destroying the Lansk army. Xiao Yuanming was captured along with many officers.

Having won, Muzhun went against the troops of Hou Jing, meeting his troops in Muyang (渦陽, now in Bozhou , Anhui ). Initially, Hou won, Muzhun fled, but regrouped and cut off the supply routes for Hou Jing's troops. In the spring of 548 , Howe's troops weakened sharply.

Hou Jing headed to Shouyang, where he was greeted by Governor Wei An (韋 黯) of Southern Yuzhou Province (南 豫州, central Anhui ). Suddenly, Howe occupied Shouyang with the troops and sent an apology to Emperor Wu-di. Wu-di, not wanting to force him to leave Shouyang, appointed him governor of South Yuzhou Province.

Eastern Wei emperor Gao Cheng gradually began to regain nine provinces handed over by Hou Jing to the Liang state, and proposed Wu-di peace agreement, also offering the return of Xiao Yuanming and Hou’s relatives. Hou Jing opposed the world, not trusting Gao Cheng’s intentions and Wu-di's guarantees. Wu-di went on negotiations, sending also ambassadors to bring condolences on the death of the previous emperor Gao Huang. Then Hou Jing decided to check Wu-di's intentions and forged a letter from Gao Cheng, offering to exchange Xiao Yuanming for Hou Jing himself. Wu-di replied, "If you return Xiao Yuanming in the morning, then I will return Hou Jing in the evening." Howe was offended. Hou then proposed Xiao Chengde to support him as the new emperor, and he agreed. Emperor Wu's nephew Xiao Fan (蕭 範) proposed attacking Hou, expecting a riot, but Zhu Yi dissuaded him from this, and Wu refrained from attacking. In the summer of 548, Hou Jing finally rebelled, claiming that his goal was to cleanse the country of four evil officials - Zhu Yi, Xu Lin (徐 麟), Lu Yan (陸 驗), and Zhou Shizhen (周石珍) - corrupt officials unpopular among the people.

Wu-di did not take the rebellion seriously at first, and said, “I will break the three branches and kill Hou Jing with them.” He instructed his son Xiao Guang (蕭 綸) to lead four divisions into Shouyang to surround Hou Jing. However, even before Xiao Guan was able to gather the troops together, Hou Jing resolutely headed to the capital Jiankan , a month later he crossed the Yangtze and went to the capital, taking the city by surprise.

Wu-di sent Xiao Zhende (his nephew, whom he adopted long ago, and then took away the status of son and heir) against the enemy, but he sided with Hou Jing and began to help Hou. The capital was surrounded and the population panicked. Wu-di and Xiao Gang gathered a guard to defend the imperial palace, and at first, General Yang Kan confidently held the defense.

In the winter of 548, Hou Jing declared Xiao Zhengde emperor and married his daughter. The troops of Hou Jing began to collect food and rob peasants and warehouses, and severe hunger arose.

The troops of the provincial governors, headed by Xiao Guang and Xiao And finally gathered their forces and arrived in the capital by the new year ( 549 ), but were defeated and could not lift the siege. General Yang Kan died and the defense lost a talented commander.

The provincial governors began to join forces, they were led by the governor of Sizhou (司 州, southern Henan ) Liu Zhongli (柳仲禮). Initially, Liu’s actions were successful, but in the spring, Hou launched an unexpected attack, as a result of the battle both sides suffered heavy losses, General Liu was seriously injured. After the battle, Liu became extremely unstable, he was rude to Xiao Guang, his troops began to organize requisitions among local residents like Hou Jing, and lost the trust of the population.

Hou Jing’s forces were also exhausted, and Hou Jing began to negotiate peace, claiming that his goal was only four provinces west of the Yangtze , and that he would be sent back to Shouyang if he was handed over to these provinces and Xiao Datsi (蕭 大器) ( Xiao Gang's son) hostage. Wu-di agreed, but did not send Xiao Datsi as hostages, but Xiao Danuan (蕭 大款), his younger brother. The troops moved slightly apart, and Hou Jing's army stopped to rest. For 15 days the army gathered organized the collection of provisions. After this, Hou Jing decided, contrary to the agreement, to again besiege the imperial palace, but this time General Liu did not act. At the end of spring, 549 palace was occupied by the troops of Hou Jing.

At first, Hou Jing portrayed himself as a loyal subject to Wu-di and Xiao Gang, but placed them under house arrest. He issued a decree on behalf of Wu-di, disbanding the army of General Liu, and Liu obeyed. After that, he removed the title of “emperor” from Xiao Zhengde, who later begged with crying for forgiveness from Wu-di.

At the same time, Wu-di refused to comply with all the requirements of Hou Jing, in particular when he demanded certain appointments of senior officials. Then Hou Jing starved the emperor in the summer of 549 .

Xiao Gang was appointed Emperor Jian Wen-di , remaining in the hands of Hou Jing.

Hou Jing met with serious opposition among provincial governors. Many provinces did not recognize his appointments and did not submit to central authority. The opposition was led by Xiao Yi , who later became emperor after the overthrow of Hou Jing.

In the fall of 551, Hou Jing replaced Jian Wen-di , appointing Xiao Dong as emperor.

After two and a half months in 551, Xiao Dong was also removed from the throne, and Hou Jing declared himself emperor of the new Han Dynasty .

When he took the throne, the governors did not recognize his right to the kingdom and united, raising a rebellion.

In the winter of 551, he sent troops under the command of Xie Dazheng (謝 答 仁) to attack the rebel generals in the east of the capital. He captured three generals who were publicly quartered in the spring of 552. Xiao Fangju was also executed - the son of Xiao I.

Nevertheless, the troops of Xiao Yi continued to move towards the capital. Hou Zijian was sent to meet them, who tried to join the battle on the water and lost the battle. Then Hou Jing himself went on the attack, but was defeated and fled from the capital, taking with him two small sons, trying to get into the army of Xie Dazheng.

On the way, he was stopped by an enemy unit, which swept out a detachment of his guards. Hou Jing in the remaining boats sailed across the Yangtze , throwing sons into the water who drowned.

He ordered to sail to Mengshan Island (蒙山), Shandong . While he was sleeping, his guards decided to turn the boat the other way and began to sail to Jinkou (京口, Zhenjiang , Jiangsu ), under the control of Liang. When Hou Jing woke up, he began to scream and demand to sail back, but guard Yang killed him with a spear and delivered his body to Jingkou. The corpse was filled with salt and brought to the capital.

The head was sent as Xiao Yi's trophy, the hands were sent to Northern Qi , and the body was publicly chopped into pieces.

Xiao Yi ascended the throne.

• Liang Shu , vol. 56. [1]
• History of the Southern Dynasties , vol. 80. [2]
• Zizhi Tongjian , vols. 149 , 150 , 152 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 , 162 , 163 , 164 .

• W-di