Death of Emperor Yang, Founding of Tang, and End of Sui
Meanwhile, Emperor Yang, while realizing that the empire was in turmoil, felt secure under the protection of the elite Xiaoguo Army (驍果) at Jiangdu, and while he sent his general Wang Shichong to Luoyang to try to defend Luoyang against Li Mi's attacks, appeared to do little to quell the rebellions otherwise. Not wanting to return to northern China, he considered officially moving the capital to Danyang (丹楊, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), south of the Yangtze River). Meanwhile, the Xiaoguo Army soldiers, who were predominantly northerners and missed their homes, began to desert, and this met with heavy-handed punishment from Emperor Yang. In fear, the remaining Xiaoguo Army officers formed a plot, supporting the general Yuwen Huaji the Duke of Xu (Yuwen Shu's son) as their leader. In spring 618, they carried out a coup and killed Emperor Yang. Yuwen declared Emperor Yang's nephew Yang Hao the Prince of Qin emperor, but keeping power himself as regent. He abandoned Jiangdu and headed back north, commanding the Xiaoguo Army.
Soon, news of Emperor Yang's death reached various parts of the empire. At Chang'an, Li Yuan responded by having Emperor Gong yield the throne to him, establishing Tang Dynasty as its Emperor Gaozu. At Luoyang, seven of the leading officials declared another grandson of Emperor Yang, Yang Tong the Prince of Yue, emperor, and Yang Tong was recognized as Sui's emperor by most of the commanderies that still recognized Sui sovereignty. With both the Sui administration at Luoyang and Li Mi fearing Yuwen's northward advancement, they formed a temporary alliance in which Li Mi recognized Yang Tong as his sovereign. After Li Mi repelled Yuwen, however, Wang, who opposed the alliance, seized power from the other officials and became regent, and the alliance with Li Mi was broken. Later that year, in a surprise attack, Wang defeated Li Mi, forcing Li Mi to flee to Tang. Li Mi was later killed by Tang forces when he tried to reestablish his own independence.
Meanwhile, after Xue Ju died in early 618 and was succeeded by his son Xue Rengao, the Tang general Li Shimin the Prince of Qin (Emperor Gaozu's son) defeated and killed Xue Rengao, annexing his Qin state into Tang. At the same time, Dou Jiande further consolidated his holdings north of the Yellow River and killed Yuwen (who had poisoned Yang Hao and declared himself Emperor of Xu), but was unable to get Luo Yi to submit to him, and Luo subsequently submitted to Tang. Around the same time, Zhu, facing heavy resistance from the populace against his cruelty, vacillated between submitting to Yang Tong's Sui regime and Tang, eventually surrendering to Sui.
In summer 619, Wang had Yang Tong yield the throne to him, ending Sui and establishing a new state of Zheng as its emperor.
Read more about this topic: Transition From Sui To Tang
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