Background
Xiao Ze was born in the Liu Song capital Jiankang in 440, when his father Xiao Daocheng was just 13 years old. He was the oldest son of his father, and his mother Liu Zhirong was Xiao Daocheng's wife.
By 466, when Xiao Daocheng was a Liu Song general, Xiao Ze was a county magistrate at Gan County (贛縣, in modern Ganzhou, Jiangsi), when he was stuck in the civil war between Emperor Ming, whose claim his father Xiao Daocheng supported, and Emperor Ming's nephew Liu Zixun, who also claimed the throne. Because of Xiao Daocheng's support for Emperor Ming, Xiao Ze, who was deep in the territory controlled by Liu Zixun, was arrested and imprisoned. His associate Huan Kang (桓康) fled with Xiao Ze's wife Pei Huizhao and his two sons Xiao Zhangmao and Xiao Ziliang (蕭子良), and then organized some 100 people, along with Xiao Ze's distant relative Xiao Xinzu (蕭欣祖), to make a surprise attack on Gan and rescue Xiao Ze. Xiao Ze then started an uprising at Gan against Liu Zixun. After Liu Zixun was defeated later that year, for Xiao Ze's contributions, Emperor Ming created him the Viscount of Gan, but he declined.
In 477, after Xiao Daocheng assassinated Emperor Ming's violent and arbitrary son and successor Emperor Houfei, the general Shen Youzhi, from his base of Jing Province (荊州, modern central and western Hubei), started a campaign against Xiao Daocheng. At that time, Xiao Ze, who had just previously been the chief of staff for Emperor Houfei's brother Liu Xie (劉燮) the governor of Ying Province (郢州, modern eastern Hubei), was returning to Jiankang with Liu Xie. He had reached Xunyang (尋陽, in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi) when news of Shen's uprising arrived. His associates all recommending speeding back to the capital Jiankang, but Xiao Ze instead took up defense position at Pencou (湓口, also in modern Jiujiang) to block the Yangtze River in anticipation of Shen's advancing east. When Xiao Daocheng received Xiao Ze's report, he gladly stated, "He is really my son!" (As it turned out, the defense was not needed, as Shen became mired in his siege of Yingcheng (郢城, in modern Wuhan, Hubei), and eventually his forces collapsed when he could not capture Yingcheng quickly, but Xiao Ze's tactical setup would have provided additional difficulty for Shen had he advanced further.) Xiao Ze was subsequently created the Marquess of Wenxi, and then the Duke of Wenxi, as his father progressed toward taking the throne. In 479, after Xiao Daocheng took the throne from Emperor Shun, ending Liu Song and establishing Southern Qi as its Emperor Gao, Xiao Ze was created the crown prince.
Read more about this topic: Emperor Wu Of Southern Qi
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