Yang Xingmi

Yang Xingmi (; 852 – December 24, 905 ), né Yang Xingmin (楊行愍, name changed 886), courtesy name Huayuan , 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 with the temple name of Taizu , was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He was the military governor (jiedushi) of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) late in the Chinese 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 (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), including most of modern Jiangsu and Anhui and parts of modern Jiangxi and Hubei.

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 , were farmers for generations. 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.

As prefect of Lu Prefecture Also in 883, two of Gao Pian's officers, Yu Gongchu and Yao Guiili , 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."

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 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 , decided to act. He gathered his own forces and requested additional forces from Sun Duan 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 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 , 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 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.

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 . Sun pushed forward to Huangchi (黃池, in modern Wuhu, Anhui) and defeated Yang's officers Liu Wei 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 and An Jingsi to capture He and Chú Prefectures, respectively, although Li Shenfu soon recaptured them.

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.

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 . 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.

Later in spring 897, Yang resumed his attacks against Wuchang. At Du's request for assistance, Zhu Quanzhong sent his adoptive son Zhu Yougong 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 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 were 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. The Battle of Qingkou thus affirmed Yang's control of the territory between the Huai and the Yangtze Rivers.

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 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.

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 , 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 officer 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 Wan and Xu Zaisi 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 , 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 , 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 Run 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 and Wang Jian . 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 was 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 . 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 to Wuchang's capital E Prefecture 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 and told Zhou to issue an order summoning Yang Wo back from Xuan Prefecture, Zhou opposed the idea, 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 as 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.

Personal information

Father Yang Fu

Wife Lady Zhu, the Lady of Yan, sister of Zhu Yanshou (divorced 903)

Major Concubines Lady Shi, mother of Yang Wo and Yang Longyan, the Lady of Wuchang, later honored Lady Dowager (honored 905), later Queen Dowager (honored 919) Lady Wang, mother of Yang Pu, honored Queen Dowager (honored 920), later Empress Dowager (honored 927, died 929)

Sons Yang Wo , later Prince Wei of Hongnong, posthumously honored Prince Wei of Wu, then King Jing of Wu, then Emperor Jing of Wu (with temple name of Liezu) Yang Longyan , also known as Yang Wei , later King Xuan of Wu, posthumously honored Emperor Xuan of Wu (with temple name of Gaozu) Yang Meng , initially Duke of Lujiang (created 919), later Prince of Changshan (created 927), later Prince of Linchuan (created 928), later Duke of Liyang (demoted 934, executed 937), posthumously demoted to commoner rank, later title restored to Prince Ling of Linchuan Yang Pu , later Emperor Rui of Wu Yang Xun , Duke of Xin'an (created 919, died 919?) Yang Che , initially Duke of Poyang (created 919), later Prince of Pingyuan (created 927), later Prince of Dehua (created 930)

Daughter Princess Xunyang Daughter, wife of Qian Chuanliao (錢傳璙, later known as Qian Yuanliao , son of Qian Liu Daughter, wife of Jiang Yanhui Daughter, wife of son of Li Yu, later wife of Xu Jie Daughter, wife of Liu Rengui