Liu Cong (Han Zhao) - Early Reign

Early Reign

After Liu Cong took the throne, he created his brother Liu Ai crown prince, promising to eventually give Liu Ai the throne that he offered to Liu Cong instead. He created his wife Princess Huyan empress, and created her son Liu Can the Prince of Jin, putting him in charge of much of his troops, along with his cousin Liu Yao the Prince of Shi'an. Both Liu Yuan's empress Empress Dan and Liu Cong's own mother Consort Zhang were honored as empresses dowager.

Later in 310, Crown Prince Ai's mother, Empress Dan died—said to be of shame after her affair with Liu Cong was discovered by her son Liu Ai. After she died, Liu Cong's favor for his brother quickly waned, although he was said to be keeping him as crown prince still because of his love for her. Empress Huyan, however, began to try to persuade him to create Liu Can crown prince instead, and he began to consider the matter.

Liu Cong continued to put up pressure against Jin and its capital Luoyang. His generals Liu Yao, Liu Can, Shi Le, and Wang Mi continued to defeat Jin forces that they encountered easily, capturing cities and killing Jin officials, but continued to have difficulty holding cities permanently. However, they rendered the Jin heartland stripped and barren. In spring 311, Shi Le crushed the remaining major Jin force in the central China region, previously commanded by Sima Yue, which was trying to head east after his death. Shi had the Jin officials and generals he captured all executed and burned Sima Yue's body. Luoyang was left defenseless, and at Liu Cong's orders, summer that year, Wang, Shi, Liu Yao, and Huyan Yan (呼延晏) converged on Luoyang and captured it and the Emperor Huai of Jin, taking him to the Han Zhao capital Pingyang. Wang suggested that the capital be moved to Luoyang, but Liu Yao opposed and burned much of Luoyang, and Liu Cong did not seriously consider Wang's suggestion afterwards. In winter 311, Shi ambushed Wang at a feast and seized Wang's troops, and afterwards, while continuing to show outward loyalty to Han Zhao, became effectively independent. Indeed, his intent from that point on appeared to be enlarging his own personal dominion.

In spring 312, Empress Huyan died. In less than a month, Liu Cong began to take a large number of his high level officials' daughters and granddaughters as concubines, including a number of them with the family name Liu—daughters and granddaughters of his official Liu Yin (劉殷) -- which Crown Prince Ai opposed due to the general prohibition against endogamy. However, Liu Cong rationalized that these Liu women were ethnically Han, and he himself was ethnically Xiongnu, and therefore could not have come from the same ancestry. From this point on, Liu Cong was said to have been spending all his time with these women and rarely spent time to handle government matters.

Also in spring 312, Liu Cong created the former Jin emperor the Duke of Kuaiji. Once, after inviting the duke to a feast, Liu Cong commented on a meeting they had while the former emperor was still the Prince of Yuzhang, leading to a notable colloquy in which the duke skillfully flattered the Han Zhao emperor. The next day, Liu Cong gave one of his favorite concubines, one of Liu Yin's granddaughters, to the duke as a gift, creating her as the Duchess of Kuaiji.

In summer 312, the first real signs of trouble of Liu Cong's reign came, as he executed a prince in charge of river matters and a duke in charge of construction on trivial matters—the prince for failing to supply his court with sufficient fish and crabs, and the duke for failing to complete two palaces on time. When the general Wang Zhang (王彰) tried to persuade him to control his behavior, he became enraged and wanted Wang killed, but imprisoned Wang after Wang's daughter, a concubine of his, interceded. Later, he regretted his actions and released and promoted Wang, but this incident started a pattern of impulsive actions, often with cruelty, that would plague the rest of Liu Cong's reign.

Later in summer 312, Liu Cong wanted to create Liu Yin's daughter Liu Ying (劉英) empress to replace Empress Huyan, but at his mother Empress Dowager Zhang's insistence, he created another concubine, Empress Zhang Huiguang—a daughter of his cousin Zhang Shi (張寔—not to be confused with the contemporaneous Jin official of the same name, whose domain later evolved into Former Liang) -- empress.

In fall 312, Han Zhao forces, under Liu Can and Liu Yao, dealt a serious blow to the Jin general Liu Kun (劉琨) the governor of Bing Province (并州, modern northern and central Shanxi), who had been a constant threat to Han Zhao, capturing Liu Kun's headquarters at Jinyang (晉陽, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) and killing Liu Kun's parents. While Liu Kun was able to recapture Jinyang with the assistance of the Xianbei chief Tuoba Yilu the Duke of Dai, he would not pose a serious threat to Han Zhao from that point on.

In spring 313, an incident would lead to Liu Cong's execution of the former Jin emperor, the Duke of Kuaiji. At the imperial new year celebration, Liu Cong ordered him to serve the high level officials wine, and former Jin officials Yu Min (庾珉) and Wang Juan (王雋) could not control their emotions at seeing his humiliation, and cried out loud. This made Liu Cong angry, and he falsely accused Yu and Wang, along with a number of former Jin officials, of being ready to betray Pingyang and offer it to Liu Kun. He then executed those former Jin officials and poisoned the former emperor. He took the Duchess of Kuaiji, formerly awarded to the duke, back as a concubine.

Later in spring 313, Liu Cong's mother Empress Dowager Zhang died. Her grandniece, Empress Zhang, was so depressed and mournful after the empress dowager's death that she died as well. Liu Cong created Liu Yin's daughter Liu E to replace her, and ordered that a palace be built for her. His minister Chen Yuanda (陳元達) tried to persuade that it was overly wasteful, and Liu Cong, in anger, ordered Chen's execution. However, the new empress interceded, and Chen was spared and further promoted. For the next year, under Empress Liu's and Chen's advice, Liu Cong was said to have corrected his behavior to some extent.

In summer 313, the nephew of the deceased Emperor Huai of Jin, Sima Ye, declared himself emperor (as Emperor Min of Jin) in Chang'an, but due to the weakness in his forces did not pose a serious threat to Han Zhao. Still, this move drew Liu Cong's attention, and for the next several years, Chang'an would become a major target for Han Zhao forces.

In spring 314, Empress Liu died, and it was said that from that point on, Liu Cong's palace would be thoroughly in a confused state, and Liu Cong's own personal behavior appeared to degenerate after this, without her counsel.