Shi Chaoyi - As Emperor

As Emperor

Shi Chaoyi was considered kind and humble, willing to listen to his advisors. However, he faced the situation that by this time, the Luoyang region, directly under his control, had already been ravaged by the wars, and the other Yan generals were largely previously An Lushan's followers and considered themselves equal to Shi Siming, and therefore were only nominally submissive to the younger Shi Chaoyi. He thus began to suffer a number of losses at Tang generals' hands, and his attempts to counter by attacking Tang's Lu Prefecture (潞州, roughly modern Changzhi, Shanxi) and Song Prefecture (宋州, roughly modern Shangqiu, Henan) ended in failure. However, not until winter 762, when Tang forces were aided by Huige's Dengli Khan, did Luoyang fall. Shi Chaoyi left Luoyang and fled, but his generals, including Zhang Xiancheng (張獻誠), Xue Song, Zhang Zhongzhi, Tian Chengsi, Li Huaixian, and Li Baozhong (李抱忠), successively turned against him when he tried to turn to them for aid. He wanted to flee to the Xi or the Khitan, but on the way, in spring 763, he was intercepted by troops sent by Li Huaixian to capture him. To avoid capture, he committed suicide by hanging. Li Huaixian had his head delivered to Chang'an.