Shen Faxing - Defeat and Death

Defeat and Death

In 620, Li Zitong, who had by then claimed the title of Emperor of Wu, crossed the Yangtze and captured Shen's key city Jingkou (京口, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). When Shen sent his official Jiang Yuanchao (蔣元超) against Li, Li defeated and killed Jiang. Shen abandoned Piling and fled to Wu Commandery (吳郡, roughly modern Suzhou, Jiangsu). Piling and Danyang fell into Li's hands.

However, as Li was attacking Shen, Du Fuwei, who had by that point submitted to Tang Dynasty and was given the imperial surname Li (and therefore was known as Li Fuwei), sent his generals Fu Gongshi, Kan Leng (闞稜), and Wang Xiongdan (王雄誕) to attack Li Zitong, defeating him. Li Zitong's food supplies ran out, and he abandoned Jiangdu and initially fled to Jingkou, but subsequently abandoned Jingkou as well and attacked Shen. Shen, with several hundred men, abandoned Wu Commandery and fled. A local agrarian leader, Wenren Sui'an (聞人遂安), sent his general Ye Xiaobian (葉孝辯) to welcome Shen and escort him. Shen initially accepted, but on the way regretted the decision and considered assassinating Ye and fleeing toward Kuaiji (會稽, in modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang). When Ye realized this plot, Shen felt that he was trapped, and he jumped into a river to drown. Li Zitong took over the remainder of his territory, roughly modern Zhejiang.