Removal and Death
In summer 551, Hou was again aiding Ren, taking Xiao Daqi with him as hostage. Initially, with Hou backing him, Ren took the important city of Jiangxia (江夏, in modern Wuhan, Hubei), and Hou next approached Xiao Yi's headquarters at Jiangling (江陵, in modern Jingzhou, Hubei). However, Hou's forces then became bogged down while trying to siege Baling (巴陵, in modern Yueyang, Hunan), with Xiao Yi's general Wang Sengbian successfully defending Baling. Soon, Hou's food supplies ran out, and his forces collapsed. Ren was captured, and two other key generals, Song Zixian (宋子仙) and Ding He (丁和) were killed. Hou fled back to Jiankang.
Hou, believing that his days of power might be numbered, wanted to become emperor. Meanwhile, Wang had disputes with Emperor Jianwen's daughter Princess Liyang, and believing that she would eventually harm him, persuaded Hou that he should remove the emperor to show off his power. In fall 551, Hou deposed Emperor Jianwen and demoted him back to the title of Prince of Jin'an, and made Xiao Huan's son Xiao Dong the Prince of Yuzhang emperor. Hou had all of Emperor Jianwen's sons who were under his control, including Xiao Daqi the Crown Prince, executed. (He soon regretted these actions, and considered restoring Emperor Jianwen to the throne and making Xiao Dong crown prince, but Wang persuaded him not to do so.) He put Emperor Jianwen under house arrest.
During the house arrest period, Emperor Jianwen, filled with sadness and fear, wrote several hundred poems—and because he was not given paper to write on, wrote the poems on the walls and screens of his residence. Less than two months after Emperor Jianwen's removal, Wang persuaded Hou that Emperor Jianwen must be removed, and Hou sent Wang, Peng Jun (彭雋), and Wang Xiuzuan (王修纂) to visit Emperor Jianwen one night. Emperor Jianwen, knowing what their intentions were, feasted and drank with them, becoming very intoxicated. Once he fell asleep, they suffocated him, and then placed him in a makeshift casket, storing the casket in a brewery. In 552, after Wang Sengbian captured Jiankang, he had Emperor Jianwen's casket placed in the palace and then buried with imperial honors.
Read more about this topic: Emperor Jianwen Of Liang
Famous quotes containing the words removal and/or death:
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—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“We all labour against our own cure, for death is the cure of all diseases.”
—Thomas Browne (1605–1682)