Tian Yue
Encyclopedia
Tian Yue (751 – March 26, 784), formally the Prince of Jiyang (濟陽王), was a general of the Chinese
dynasty Tang Dynasty
who, from 782 to 784, claimed the title of Prince of Wei independent from the Tang regime. Prior to that, he had already been ruling Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan
, Hebei
) in de facto independence from the Tang imperial government as its military governor (Jiedushi
), having succeeded his uncle Tian Chengsi
in 779. In 784, his cousin Tian Xu
— a son of Tian Chengsi's — assassinated him and succeeded him shortly after he had nominally resubmitted to Tang imperial authority.
. His father died early, and his mother remarried a soldier from Pinglu Circuit (平盧, then headquartered in modern Chaoyang, Liaoning). Subsequently, as the army that his stepfather belonged to abandoned the lands of Pinglu Circuit during the Anshi Rebellion and retreated south to Ziqing Circuit (淄青, headquartered in modern Weifang
, Shandong
, later renamed Pinglu as a result of this retreat), it was said that Tian Yue, accompanying his mother, moved between different places within Ziqing. In 763, his uncle Tian Chengsi
, then the military governor (Jiedushi
) of Weibo Circuit and ruling Weibo de facto dependently from the Tang imperial regime in the aftermaths of the Anshi Rebellion, sent people to look for him and found him. Tian Chengsi's emissaries brought Tian Yue back to Weibo. When Tian Yue met Tian Chengsi, he properly bowed down to his uncle, causing Tian Chengsi to be amazed and impressed. Tian Chengsi thus entrusted him with command of forces, and it was said that his opinions often matched Tian Chengsi's. After he was grown, it was said that he acted righteously and did not care about wealth, spending it in helping his soldiers, and thus drew their support. Tian Chengsi also favored his talent. Despite the fact that Tian Chengsi had 11 sons, he thus entrusted the most important affairs to Tian Yue, and had his sons assist Tian Yue.
waged a campaign to remove Tian Chengsi, indeed, Tian Yue, as Tian Chengsi's chief assistant, was named in Emperor Daizong's edict as the only other person than Tian Chengsi who would not be allowed to keep his posts — as Emperor Daizong stated that even the other Tian clan members, if they abandoned Tian Chengsi, would be allowed to do so. During the campaign, however, as part of Weibo's initial losses, Tian Yue suffered a defeat by several generals attacking Weibo from the south — Li Zhengji
the military governor of Pinglu Circuit and Li Zhongchen
the military governor of Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern Zhumadian
, Henan
) — at Chenliu (陳留, in modern Kaifeng
, Henan
). Subsequently, though, Tian Chengsi was able to exploit the ambitions of Li Zhengji and Li Baochen
— themselves military governors who ruled their realms in de facto independent — to lead to the collapse of the imperial coalition, causing Emperor Daizong to abandon the campaign.
In 776, after the death of Tian Shenyu (田神玉) the acting military governor of Biansong Circuit (汴宋, headquartered in modern Kaifeng), his subordinate Li Lingyao (李靈曜) seized the circuit without imperial approval. Under Emperor Daizong's orders, the circuits around Biansong all launched forces against Li Lingyao, except for Weibo — indeed, Tian Chengsi decided to aid Li Lingyao and sent Tian Yue with an army to do so. Tian Yue had initial successes, defeating the forces of Li Zhengji's Pinglu Circuit and Li Mian
's Yongping Circuit (永平, headquartered in modern Anyang
, Henan
), enabling him to advance to Biansong's capital Bian Prefecture to try to lift the siege against Li Lingyao. However, once he arrived there, Li Zhongchen had his office Li Chongqian (李重倩) launch a surprise night attack against Tian Yue's forces, causing the Weibo relief force to collapse, and Tian Yue was forced to flee back to Weibo. Subsequently, Bian Prefecture fell to Li Zhongchen and Ma Sui
, and Li Lingyao was captured in flight by Li Mian and executed.
, who took a harder line against military governors who had ambitions to rule independently. In 780, for example, when Emperor Dezong sent 11 officials as surveyors of the Tang realm, one of the surveyors Hong Jingguan (洪經綸) was responsible for surveying the Hebei region (河北, i.e., roughly modern Hebei
, Beijing
, and Tianjin
). When Hong visited Weibo and heard that Weibo had 70,000 troops, he issued an order that Weibo reduce its army by 40,000. Tian Yue pretended to follow his orders and also issued an order cutting 40,000 soldiers from his army and sending them to farm. He then summoned those soldiers to be cut and stated to them, "You have long been in the army, and you all have parents, wives, and children. Now, if the surveyor forces you to leave the army, how are you going to feed your families?" Tian then spent his own wealth to pay for these soldiers and kept the 40,000 in the army. It was said that thereafter, the army were grateful to Tian and resentful of the imperial government. Nevertheless, pursuant to the customs of Emperor Daizong's time, when Emperor Dezong celebrated his birthday in summer 780, both Tian and Li Zhengji offered a large amount of silk to Emperor Dezong as a birthday gift. Emperor Dezong, instead of receiving them into the palace storage as his father would have, had the silk turned over to the imperial treasury for state use and announced that those were used to satisfy Weibo's and Pinglu's taxes — implicitly informing Tian and Li Zhengji that he was dissatisfied that Weibo and Pinglu were not paying taxes.
In spring 781, Li Baochen died. As there was an alliance between Weibo, Pinglu, Li Baochen's Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang
, Hebei
), and Liang Chongyi
's Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangfan
, Hubei
) for the military governors to pass their positions to their descendants, Li Baochen had previously supported Tian's succession. Tian thus in turn endorsed Li Baochen's son Li Weiyue
to Emperor Dezong and requested that Li Weiyue be allowed to succeed Li Baochen. After Emperor Dezong refused, the four circuits readied for war against the imperial government, despite internal oppositions. In Tian's case, for example, his deputy Tian Tingjie (田庭玠, Tian Chengsi's cousin) opposed war against the imperial troops, but while Tian Yue remained respectful to Tian Tingjie, he did not follow Tian Tingjie's suggestion. Tian Tingjie subsequently resigned and soon thereafter died in sorrow. Tian Yue subsequently sent 5,000 soldiers, commanded by his officer Meng You (孟祐), to Chengde to aid Li Weiyue. Meanwhile, Tian Yue also personally decided to attack two prefectures near his realm held by the imperial government — Xing (邢州, in modern Xingtai
, Hebei
) and Ci (磁州, in modern Handan). (Xing and Ci Prefectures had been part of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, then headquartered in modern Anyang
, Henan
)), the realm of another military governor, Xue Song
, but after Xue's death in 773, Tian Chengsi seized most of Zhaoyi and merged it into Weibo, although the imperial government took Xing and Ci Prefectures and merged them into Zelu Circuit (澤潞, headquartered in modern Changzhi
, Shanxi
), later renaming Zelu to Zhaoyi.) Tian Yue personally sieged Linming (臨洺, in modern Handan) and had his officer Kang Yin (康愔) siege Xing Prefecture. He also had another officer, Yang Chaoguang (楊朝光) set up obstacles to try to block any relief forcing coming from Zhaoyi's headquarters at Lu Prefecture (潞州). (These series of sieges were against the advice of the experienced officer Xing Caojun (邢曹俊), who suggested to Tian Yue that he personally make sure first that relief forces could not get through before putting Xing and Ci Prefectures under siege; otherwise, if imperial troops arrived while he was still sieging those prefectures, he would be being destruction on himself.) In fall 781, with Tian Yue still sieging Linming, the joint forces of three generals loyal to the imperial government — Ma Sui
the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan
, Shanxi
, Li Baozhen
the military governor of Zhaoyi, and Li Sheng
the commander of the imperial Shence Army (神策軍) — arrived and attacked, first defeating and killing Yang and then defeating Tian at Linming. Tian's army suffered more than 10,000 deaths, and he fled back toward Weibo's capital Wei Prefecture. He sought emergency aid from Chengde and Pinglu, and Li Weiyue and Li Na
(Li Zhengji's son — Li Zhengji having died around the same time and entrusted the circuit to Li Na) each sent aid. However, in spring 782, at another battle on the banks of Huan River (洹水, flowing through modern Handan), the joint Weibo/Chengde/Pinglu forces were again crushed by the joint forces of Ma, Li Baozhen, Li Sheng, and Li Qiu (李艽) the military governor of Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartere in modern Luoyang
, Henan
), suffering over 20,000 deaths.
Tian gathered only some 1,000 soldiers and fled back to Wei Prefecture in the dark. It was said that Ma and Li Baozhen did not get along with each other, and they did not coordinate, making it impossible for them to immediately trail Tian. When Tian arrived at Wei Prefecture, the officer he left in Wei Prefecture's defense, Li Changchun (李長春), refused to let him in, hoping that imperial forces would arrive to allow him to submit. However, imperial forces did not appear, and Li Changchun was forced to open the gates in the morning. Tian entered, executed Li Changchun, and put up a defense. Weibo was then in a desperate shape — as within Wei Prefecture there were only several thousand soldiers, and the family members of the dead were all mourning, so the city was filled with wailing and tears. Tian, in fear and depression, decided to publicly plead his case in order to earn back the people's loyalty. He personally rode a horse and held a knife outside his headquarters and gathered the people. In tears, he stated:
As he proclaimed this in sadness, he fell off his horse. The soldiers, hearing this, took pity on him and pledged to stay faithful to him. He thanked them and swore to treat them as brothers. He took out all of the wealth stored in the circuit treasury and gave them to the soldiers, and the hearts of the soldiers became more settled. He also summoned Xing Caojun and put him in charge of the defense, realizing that he should have listened to Xing earlier. Meanwhile, though, his subordinate Li Zaichun (李在春) surrendered Bo Prefecture (博州, in modern Liaocheng
, Shandong
) to imperial forces, and his cousin Tian Ang (田昂) did the same with Ming Prefecture (洺州, in modern Handan). When the imperial forces arrived at Wei Prefecture, however, Tian Yue had already readied his defenses for more than 10 days, and imperial forces were unable to easily capture Wei Prefecture.
Meanwhile, Li Weiyue was himself suffering heavy defeats at the hands of Zhu Tao
the acting military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing
) and Zhang Xiaozhong
— a former Chengde officer who had joined the imperial cause. He thus considered renouncing the alliance with Tian and Li Na and offering to surrender to the imperial forces. When Meng You heard this and reported it to Tian, Tian angrily demanded Li Weiyue to execute the staff member who advocated this plan, Shao Zhen (邵真). Li Weiyue, intimidated by Tian's demands, executed Shao and did not surrender. However, after yet another major defeat at Zhu's and Zhang's hands, Li Weiyue's officer Wang Wujun
turned against him and executed him, submitting to the imperial forces.
It was Emperor Dezong's mishandling of the situation after Chengde's fall that would give Tian a chance to survive, as Emperor Dezong made a series of moves that simultaneously alienated Zhu and Wang. He refused to give Chengde's Shen Prefecture (深州, in modern Hengshui
, Hebei
) to Lulong, as Zhu had requested. Rather, he divided the seven prefectures of Chengde into three smaller circuits, making Zhang the military governor of a newly created Yidingcang Circuit (易定滄, headquartered in modern Baoding
, Hebei
, soon renamed to Yiwu (義武)), consisting of three prefectures, while giving two prefectures each to Wang and Kang Rizhi (康日知, another Chengde general who had submitted to imperial authority during the campaign), with the lesser titles of military prefect (團練使, Tuanlianshi). Emperor Dezong, on paper, gave Lulong two additional prefectures — De (德州, in modern Dezhou
, Shandong
) and Di (棣州, in modern Binzhou
, Shandong
) — both still then held by Li Na. Zhu was angered by Emperor Dezong's refusal to give him any part of Chengde territory (in particular, Shen Prefecture) and requiring him to capture two additional prefectures on his own, while Wang was angered that contrary to Emperor Dezong's implicit promises to give whomever killed Li Weiyue Li Weiyue's offices, he not only received a lesser title, but was in a position where he could easily be destroyed. Tian Yue, who was then still under imperial attack, thus persuaded Zhu and Wang to join him in an alliance to defend against imperial forces. Zhu and Wang both agreed, although when Zhu further tried to persuade Zhang to join the alliance as well, Zhang refused. Subsequently, when Emperor Dezong ordered armies of Lulong, Yidingcang, and Wang's Hengji Circuit (恆冀, headquartered at Chengde's old capital of Heng Prefecture) to advance south to attack Weibo, Zhu and Wang not only refused but instead advanced south to aid Weibo. Tian, believing that aid was about to arrive, sent Kang Yin to battle Ma and was defeated again. In response to Zhu's and Wang's turning against imperial forces, Emperor Dezong sent Li Huaiguang
the military governor of Shuofang
Circuit (朔方, headquartered in modern Yinchuan, Ningxia
), to join the imperial forces already sieging Wei Prefecture. However, when aid from both sides arrived, the overly confident Li Huaiguang ordered an attack with some initial successes, but ultimately suffered a major defeat at Zhu's and Wang's hands. The imperial forces withdrew across the river from Wei Prefecture, lifting the siege.
In the aftermaths of the imperial forces' defeat, Tian was grateful to Zhu, and offered to subjugate himself and Wang to Zhu — in effect, offering the emperor title to Zhu. Zhu declined, crediting Wang rather than himself for the victory. At the suggestion of Zhu's staff member Li Ziqian (李子千) and Wang's staff member Zheng Ru (鄭濡), they decided to each claim a princely title to show independence from imperial authority, but keep Tang's era name in order not to completely break from Tang. On December 9, 782, in an elaborate ceremony, Zhu claimed the title of Prince of Ji; Wang claimed the title of Prince of Zhao; Tian claimed the title of Prince of Wei; and they issued a letter offering Li Na the title of Prince of Qi. They also established administrations with governmental structures paralleling the Tang imperial government to further show independence, although the titles were intentionally different than Tang's to show some subordination.
the military governor of Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern Xuchang
, Henan
), whose circuit was then wealthy. They, along with Li Na, thus sent emissaries to Huaixi, suggesting to Li Xilie that he take imperial title. Li Xilie did not do so immediately, but began to claim titles greater than the ones bestowed him by Emperor Dezong. (Li Xilie would eventually declare himself to be the emperor of a new state of Chu in spring 784, although without further pledge of allegiance by the four.)
In fall 783, after a mutiny by the soldiers of Jingyuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern Pingliang
, Gansu
) at the capital Chang'an
forced Emperor Dezong to flee to Fengtian (奉天, in modern Xianyang
, Shaanxi
), the Jingyuan soldiers supported Zhu Tao's brother Zhu Ci
as their leader. Zhu Ci soon declared himself the emperor of a new state of Qin and put Fengtian under siege. With Emperor Dezong himself now under siege by Zhu Ci, Li Huaiguang and Li Sheng headed for Fengtian to save him, while Ma Sui and Li Qiu also left Weibo and returned to their circuits. Li Baozhen was left alone on the Weibo front, and Tian asked Wang and Zhu Tao's general Ma Shi (馬寔) to aid him in sieging Linming, where Li Baozhen was at the time. Li Baozhen, however, was able to persuade Wang that such a battle would do him no good regardless of the outcome — that if they were successful, it only benefited Weibo, while it they were not, Hengji would suffer heavy losses. Wang therefore carefully declined and returned to Hengji. As both he and Ma Shi departed, Tian held a grand feast sending them off in gratitude. Meanwhile, Emperor Dezong also sent emissaries to Wang, Tian, and Li Na, persuading them to again submit to Tang authority. All three secretly agreed, but for the time being remained in apparent alliance with Zhu Tao. When Zhu Tao, unaware of the development, requested Tian's assistance in advancing south to capture the eastern capital Luoyang
and join forces with Zhu Ci, Tian, still thankful to him and not willing to refuse, initially agreed. After further persuasion from Wang, however, Tian was resolved against the plan.
When Emperor Dezong declared a general pardon in spring 784 — the scope of which included even Zhu Tao, Wang, Tian, Li Na, and Li Xilie and implicitly promising them that if they submitted to nominal imperial authority again, he would not dare to interfere with them again — Wang, Tian, and Li Na all renounced their self-claimed princely titles. However, Zhu Tao, unaware of this development, began his plan of march toward Luoyang in early 784. He went through Hengji and Weibo with great ceremonies of welcome from Wang and Tian. Eventually, when Zhu reached Yongji (永濟, in modern Handan) and requested that Tian join him in advancing to Luoyang, Tian refused. This drew Zhu's anger, and he divided his troops, along with Huige troops, in attacking several different Weibo cities. Tian put up his defense at Wei Prefecture, waiting for aid.
(Tian Chengsi's son), whom Tian Yue had previously entrusted with great responsibilities but who had a number of faults, eventually leading to Tian Yue relieving him of his post and briefly putting him under arrest, was complaining to his brothers and nephews about Tian Yue, while he was drunk. When the nephew tried to stop his complaints, he killed his nephew. After he became sober, he realized what he had done, and worried that Tian Yue would kill him when he found out. He therefore took his followers, went to Tian Yue's headquarters, and killed Tian Yue, Tian Yue's mother, wife, and children. He then, issuing orders in Tian Yue's name, summoned Tian Yue's staff members Hu E (扈崿), Xu Shize (許士則), and Jiang Ji (蔣濟). When they arrived, Tian Xu killed them as well. He then declared that it was another officer, Liu Zhongxin (劉忠信), who had assassinated Tian Yue, and took over control of the circuit. (The soldiers found out a few days later that it was actually Tian Xu who carried out the assassination, but by that point Tian Xu was firmly in control.) Tian Xu and Zhu Tao initially made overtures to each other, although Tian Xu ultimately continued Tian Yue's policies and alliances with Li Baozhen and Ma Sui, leading to Zhu Tao's defeat.
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
dynasty Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
who, from 782 to 784, claimed the title of Prince of Wei independent from the Tang regime. Prior to that, he had already been ruling Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan
Handan
Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwestern part of Hebei Province of China.- History :Handan was the capital of the State of Zhao during the Warring States period , after the capital moved from Zhongmu. The city was conquered by the State of Qin after the virtual annexation of...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
) in de facto independence from the Tang imperial government as its military governor (Jiedushi
Jiedushi
The Jiedushi were regional military governors in China during the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. Originally set up to counter external threats, the jiedushi were given enormous power, including the ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes, and pass their...
), having succeeded his uncle Tian Chengsi
Tian Chengsi
Tian Chengsi , formally the Prince of Yanmen , was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from which Yan had rebelled...
in 779. In 784, his cousin Tian Xu
Tian Xu (Tang Dynasty)
Tian Xu , formally the Prince of Yanmen , was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who ruled Weibo Circuit semi-independently from the imperial government.- Background :...
— a son of Tian Chengsi's — assassinated him and succeeded him shortly after he had nominally resubmitted to Tang imperial authority.
Background
Tian Yue was born in 751, during the reign of Emperor XuanzongEmperor Xuanzong of Tang
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang , also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang , personal name Li Longji , known as Wu Longji from 690 to 705, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang Dynasty...
. His father died early, and his mother remarried a soldier from Pinglu Circuit (平盧, then headquartered in modern Chaoyang, Liaoning). Subsequently, as the army that his stepfather belonged to abandoned the lands of Pinglu Circuit during the Anshi Rebellion and retreated south to Ziqing Circuit (淄青, headquartered in modern Weifang
Weifang
Weifang is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to the Laizhou Bay to the north.-History:Weifang is a historical city...
, Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
, later renamed Pinglu as a result of this retreat), it was said that Tian Yue, accompanying his mother, moved between different places within Ziqing. In 763, his uncle Tian Chengsi
Tian Chengsi
Tian Chengsi , formally the Prince of Yanmen , was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from which Yan had rebelled...
, then the military governor (Jiedushi
Jiedushi
The Jiedushi were regional military governors in China during the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. Originally set up to counter external threats, the jiedushi were given enormous power, including the ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes, and pass their...
) of Weibo Circuit and ruling Weibo de facto dependently from the Tang imperial regime in the aftermaths of the Anshi Rebellion, sent people to look for him and found him. Tian Chengsi's emissaries brought Tian Yue back to Weibo. When Tian Yue met Tian Chengsi, he properly bowed down to his uncle, causing Tian Chengsi to be amazed and impressed. Tian Chengsi thus entrusted him with command of forces, and it was said that his opinions often matched Tian Chengsi's. After he was grown, it was said that he acted righteously and did not care about wealth, spending it in helping his soldiers, and thus drew their support. Tian Chengsi also favored his talent. Despite the fact that Tian Chengsi had 11 sons, he thus entrusted the most important affairs to Tian Yue, and had his sons assist Tian Yue.
Service under Tian Chengsi
By 775, when Emperor Xuanzong's grandson Emperor DaizongEmperor Daizong of Tang
Emperor Daizong of Tang , personal name Li Yu , né Li Chu , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty....
waged a campaign to remove Tian Chengsi, indeed, Tian Yue, as Tian Chengsi's chief assistant, was named in Emperor Daizong's edict as the only other person than Tian Chengsi who would not be allowed to keep his posts — as Emperor Daizong stated that even the other Tian clan members, if they abandoned Tian Chengsi, would be allowed to do so. During the campaign, however, as part of Weibo's initial losses, Tian Yue suffered a defeat by several generals attacking Weibo from the south — Li Zhengji
Li Zhengji
- Background :Li Huaiyu was born in 733, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. He was born in Tang's Pinglu Circuit...
the military governor of Pinglu Circuit and Li Zhongchen
Li Zhongchen
Li Zhongchen , né Dong Qin , was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who was known, for most of his career, as both a supporter of the imperial cause but also a corrupt and violent military governor...
the military governor of Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern Zhumadian
Zhumadian
Zhumadian is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of Anhui to the east.Its population is 7,230,744 at the...
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
) — at Chenliu (陳留, in modern Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
). Subsequently, though, Tian Chengsi was able to exploit the ambitions of Li Zhengji and Li Baochen
Li Baochen
Li Baochen , originally named Zhang Zhongzhi , courtesy name Weifu , known as An Zhongzhi during the Anshi Rebellion and Zhang Baochen 778–779, formally the Prince of Longxi , was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from...
— themselves military governors who ruled their realms in de facto independent — to lead to the collapse of the imperial coalition, causing Emperor Daizong to abandon the campaign.
In 776, after the death of Tian Shenyu (田神玉) the acting military governor of Biansong Circuit (汴宋, headquartered in modern Kaifeng), his subordinate Li Lingyao (李靈曜) seized the circuit without imperial approval. Under Emperor Daizong's orders, the circuits around Biansong all launched forces against Li Lingyao, except for Weibo — indeed, Tian Chengsi decided to aid Li Lingyao and sent Tian Yue with an army to do so. Tian Yue had initial successes, defeating the forces of Li Zhengji's Pinglu Circuit and Li Mian
Li Mian
Li Mian , courtesy name Xuanqing , formally Duke Zhenjian of Qian , was an official and general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Dezong.- Background :...
's Yongping Circuit (永平, headquartered in modern Anyang
Anyang
Anyang is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, People's Republic of China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively....
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
), enabling him to advance to Biansong's capital Bian Prefecture to try to lift the siege against Li Lingyao. However, once he arrived there, Li Zhongchen had his office Li Chongqian (李重倩) launch a surprise night attack against Tian Yue's forces, causing the Weibo relief force to collapse, and Tian Yue was forced to flee back to Weibo. Subsequently, Bian Prefecture fell to Li Zhongchen and Ma Sui
Ma Sui
Ma Sui , courtesy name Xunmei , formally Prince Zhuangwu of Beiping , was a Chinese general who served during the Tang dynasty. He was known mostly for his battles against the rebel generals Li Lingyao , Tian Yue, Zhu Tao, and Li Huaiguang.- Background and early career :Ma Sui was born in 726,...
, and Li Lingyao was captured in flight by Li Mian and executed.
As Jiedushi
In 779, Tian Chengsi died. At the recommendation of Li Baochen, Emperor Daizong allowed Tian Yue to inherit his post — initially as acting military governor, and then officially as military governor. Contrary to Tian Chengsi's defiant stance against the imperial government, Tian Yue was initially, on the surface, respectful and submissive, although he continued to rule his realm in a de facto independent manner. This continued after Emperor Daizong died later in 779 and was succeeded by his son Emperor DezongEmperor Dezong of Tang
Emperor Dezong of Tang , personally name Li Kuo , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and the oldest son of his father Emperor Daizong. His reign of 26 years was the third longest in the Tang dynasty...
, who took a harder line against military governors who had ambitions to rule independently. In 780, for example, when Emperor Dezong sent 11 officials as surveyors of the Tang realm, one of the surveyors Hong Jingguan (洪經綸) was responsible for surveying the Hebei region (河北, i.e., roughly modern Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, and Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
). When Hong visited Weibo and heard that Weibo had 70,000 troops, he issued an order that Weibo reduce its army by 40,000. Tian Yue pretended to follow his orders and also issued an order cutting 40,000 soldiers from his army and sending them to farm. He then summoned those soldiers to be cut and stated to them, "You have long been in the army, and you all have parents, wives, and children. Now, if the surveyor forces you to leave the army, how are you going to feed your families?" Tian then spent his own wealth to pay for these soldiers and kept the 40,000 in the army. It was said that thereafter, the army were grateful to Tian and resentful of the imperial government. Nevertheless, pursuant to the customs of Emperor Daizong's time, when Emperor Dezong celebrated his birthday in summer 780, both Tian and Li Zhengji offered a large amount of silk to Emperor Dezong as a birthday gift. Emperor Dezong, instead of receiving them into the palace storage as his father would have, had the silk turned over to the imperial treasury for state use and announced that those were used to satisfy Weibo's and Pinglu's taxes — implicitly informing Tian and Li Zhengji that he was dissatisfied that Weibo and Pinglu were not paying taxes.
In spring 781, Li Baochen died. As there was an alliance between Weibo, Pinglu, Li Baochen's Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang is the capital and largest city of North China's Hebei province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about south of Beijing...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
), and Liang Chongyi
Liang Chongyi
Liang Chongyi was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Daizong, Liang took advantage of the army's discontent after the death of the general Lai Tian to seize control of Shannan East Circuit and hold it semi-independently from the imperial regime...
's Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangfan
Xiangfan
Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in Hubei Province of the People's Republic of China. It was formed from two famous ancient cities, Xiangyang and Fancheng...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
) for the military governors to pass their positions to their descendants, Li Baochen had previously supported Tian's succession. Tian thus in turn endorsed Li Baochen's son Li Weiyue
Li Weiyue
Li Weiyue was the son of the Chinese Tang Dynasty general Li Baochen. After Li Baochen's death in 781, Li Weiyue tried to succeed his father as the de facto ruler of Chengde Circuit and waged a campaign against the imperial government when Emperor Dezong refused to let him do so...
to Emperor Dezong and requested that Li Weiyue be allowed to succeed Li Baochen. After Emperor Dezong refused, the four circuits readied for war against the imperial government, despite internal oppositions. In Tian's case, for example, his deputy Tian Tingjie (田庭玠, Tian Chengsi's cousin) opposed war against the imperial troops, but while Tian Yue remained respectful to Tian Tingjie, he did not follow Tian Tingjie's suggestion. Tian Tingjie subsequently resigned and soon thereafter died in sorrow. Tian Yue subsequently sent 5,000 soldiers, commanded by his officer Meng You (孟祐), to Chengde to aid Li Weiyue. Meanwhile, Tian Yue also personally decided to attack two prefectures near his realm held by the imperial government — Xing (邢州, in modern Xingtai
Xingtai
Xingtai is a city in southern Hebei province, North China. The prefecture-level city of Xingtai, with a total area of , administers 2 districts, 2 county-level cities and 15 counties. In 2004 it had an urban population of 561,400 and a total population of 6.73 million...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
) and Ci (磁州, in modern Handan). (Xing and Ci Prefectures had been part of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, then headquartered in modern Anyang
Anyang
Anyang is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, People's Republic of China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively....
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
)), the realm of another military governor, Xue Song
Xue Song
Xue Song , formally the Prince of Pingyang , was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from which Yan had rebelled...
, but after Xue's death in 773, Tian Chengsi seized most of Zhaoyi and merged it into Weibo, although the imperial government took Xing and Ci Prefectures and merged them into Zelu Circuit (澤潞, headquartered in modern Changzhi
Changzhi
Changzhi is a prefecture-level city in Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. It lies between the city of Huozhou in Shanxi and the city of Hebi in Henan....
, Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
), later renaming Zelu to Zhaoyi.) Tian Yue personally sieged Linming (臨洺, in modern Handan) and had his officer Kang Yin (康愔) siege Xing Prefecture. He also had another officer, Yang Chaoguang (楊朝光) set up obstacles to try to block any relief forcing coming from Zhaoyi's headquarters at Lu Prefecture (潞州). (These series of sieges were against the advice of the experienced officer Xing Caojun (邢曹俊), who suggested to Tian Yue that he personally make sure first that relief forces could not get through before putting Xing and Ci Prefectures under siege; otherwise, if imperial troops arrived while he was still sieging those prefectures, he would be being destruction on himself.) In fall 781, with Tian Yue still sieging Linming, the joint forces of three generals loyal to the imperial government — Ma Sui
Ma Sui
Ma Sui , courtesy name Xunmei , formally Prince Zhuangwu of Beiping , was a Chinese general who served during the Tang dynasty. He was known mostly for his battles against the rebel generals Li Lingyao , Tian Yue, Zhu Tao, and Li Huaiguang.- Background and early career :Ma Sui was born in 726,...
the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan
Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
, Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
, Li Baozhen
Li Baozhen
Li Baozhen , né An Baozhen , courtesy name Taixuan , formally the Prince of Yiyang , was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. He initially distinguished himself as deputy for his cousin Li Baoyu, and after Li Baoyu's death came into command of his own...
the military governor of Zhaoyi, and Li Sheng
Li Sheng
Li Sheng was a Chinese landscape artist. His brush painting Saying Farewell by the Lake Dianshan is popular in the west, as exemplified by its widespread availability.- See also :* Chinese painting in the Song and Yuan dynasties...
the commander of the imperial Shence Army (神策軍) — arrived and attacked, first defeating and killing Yang and then defeating Tian at Linming. Tian's army suffered more than 10,000 deaths, and he fled back toward Weibo's capital Wei Prefecture. He sought emergency aid from Chengde and Pinglu, and Li Weiyue and Li Na
Li Na (Tang Dynasty)
Li Na , formally the Prince of Longxi , was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. Inheriting the post from his father Li Zhengji, he served as the military governor of Pinglu Circuit semi-independently from the imperial government.- Background :Li Na was born in 758, during the reign of...
(Li Zhengji's son — Li Zhengji having died around the same time and entrusted the circuit to Li Na) each sent aid. However, in spring 782, at another battle on the banks of Huan River (洹水, flowing through modern Handan), the joint Weibo/Chengde/Pinglu forces were again crushed by the joint forces of Ma, Li Baozhen, Li Sheng, and Li Qiu (李艽) the military governor of Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartere in modern Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
), suffering over 20,000 deaths.
Tian gathered only some 1,000 soldiers and fled back to Wei Prefecture in the dark. It was said that Ma and Li Baozhen did not get along with each other, and they did not coordinate, making it impossible for them to immediately trail Tian. When Tian arrived at Wei Prefecture, the officer he left in Wei Prefecture's defense, Li Changchun (李長春), refused to let him in, hoping that imperial forces would arrive to allow him to submit. However, imperial forces did not appear, and Li Changchun was forced to open the gates in the morning. Tian entered, executed Li Changchun, and put up a defense. Weibo was then in a desperate shape — as within Wei Prefecture there were only several thousand soldiers, and the family members of the dead were all mourning, so the city was filled with wailing and tears. Tian, in fear and depression, decided to publicly plead his case in order to earn back the people's loyalty. He personally rode a horse and held a knife outside his headquarters and gathered the people. In tears, he stated:
As he proclaimed this in sadness, he fell off his horse. The soldiers, hearing this, took pity on him and pledged to stay faithful to him. He thanked them and swore to treat them as brothers. He took out all of the wealth stored in the circuit treasury and gave them to the soldiers, and the hearts of the soldiers became more settled. He also summoned Xing Caojun and put him in charge of the defense, realizing that he should have listened to Xing earlier. Meanwhile, though, his subordinate Li Zaichun (李在春) surrendered Bo Prefecture (博州, in modern Liaocheng
Liaocheng
Liaocheng , also known as the Water City, is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Dezhou to the northeast, Tai'an to the south, and the province of Hebei and Henan to the west...
, Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
) to imperial forces, and his cousin Tian Ang (田昂) did the same with Ming Prefecture (洺州, in modern Handan). When the imperial forces arrived at Wei Prefecture, however, Tian Yue had already readied his defenses for more than 10 days, and imperial forces were unable to easily capture Wei Prefecture.
Meanwhile, Li Weiyue was himself suffering heavy defeats at the hands of Zhu Tao
Zhu Tao
Zhu Tao , formally the Prince of Tongyi , was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who initially served imperial causes during the reigns of Emperor Daizong and Emperor Dezong, but later turned against imperial rule in alliance with Wang Wujun, Tian Yue, and Li Na...
the acting military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
) and Zhang Xiaozhong
Zhang Xiaozhong
Zhang Xiaozhong , né Zhang Alao , formally Prince Zhenwu of Shanggu , was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, of Xi extraction. Initially he served the rebel state Yan, during the Anshi Rebellion, and later served the warlord Li Baochen...
— a former Chengde officer who had joined the imperial cause. He thus considered renouncing the alliance with Tian and Li Na and offering to surrender to the imperial forces. When Meng You heard this and reported it to Tian, Tian angrily demanded Li Weiyue to execute the staff member who advocated this plan, Shao Zhen (邵真). Li Weiyue, intimidated by Tian's demands, executed Shao and did not surrender. However, after yet another major defeat at Zhu's and Zhang's hands, Li Weiyue's officer Wang Wujun
Wang Wujun
Wang Wujun , courtesy name Yuanying , né Monuogan , formally Prince Zhonglie of Langye , was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a long-time Jiedushi of Chengde Circuit during the reign of Emperor Dezong and ruling Chengde in a de facto independent manner...
turned against him and executed him, submitting to the imperial forces.
It was Emperor Dezong's mishandling of the situation after Chengde's fall that would give Tian a chance to survive, as Emperor Dezong made a series of moves that simultaneously alienated Zhu and Wang. He refused to give Chengde's Shen Prefecture (深州, in modern Hengshui
Hengshui
Hengshui is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, China. It has an urban population of 460,240 in the built up area and a population of 4,340,373 at the 2010 census in its administrative area...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
) to Lulong, as Zhu had requested. Rather, he divided the seven prefectures of Chengde into three smaller circuits, making Zhang the military governor of a newly created Yidingcang Circuit (易定滄, headquartered in modern Baoding
Baoding
-Administrative divisions:Baoding prefecture-level city consists of 3 municipal districts, 4 county-level cities, 18 counties:-Demographics:The Baoding urban area has a population of around 1,006,000 . The population of the Baoding administrative area is 10,890,000. The considerable majority are...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
, soon renamed to Yiwu (義武)), consisting of three prefectures, while giving two prefectures each to Wang and Kang Rizhi (康日知, another Chengde general who had submitted to imperial authority during the campaign), with the lesser titles of military prefect (團練使, Tuanlianshi). Emperor Dezong, on paper, gave Lulong two additional prefectures — De (德州, in modern Dezhou
Dezhou
Dezhou is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei to the north....
, Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
) and Di (棣州, in modern Binzhou
Binzhou
Binzhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River with two arms extended to the southern bank, Binzhou borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southwest, Dezhou to the west, Zibo to the south,...
, Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
) — both still then held by Li Na. Zhu was angered by Emperor Dezong's refusal to give him any part of Chengde territory (in particular, Shen Prefecture) and requiring him to capture two additional prefectures on his own, while Wang was angered that contrary to Emperor Dezong's implicit promises to give whomever killed Li Weiyue Li Weiyue's offices, he not only received a lesser title, but was in a position where he could easily be destroyed. Tian Yue, who was then still under imperial attack, thus persuaded Zhu and Wang to join him in an alliance to defend against imperial forces. Zhu and Wang both agreed, although when Zhu further tried to persuade Zhang to join the alliance as well, Zhang refused. Subsequently, when Emperor Dezong ordered armies of Lulong, Yidingcang, and Wang's Hengji Circuit (恆冀, headquartered at Chengde's old capital of Heng Prefecture) to advance south to attack Weibo, Zhu and Wang not only refused but instead advanced south to aid Weibo. Tian, believing that aid was about to arrive, sent Kang Yin to battle Ma and was defeated again. In response to Zhu's and Wang's turning against imperial forces, Emperor Dezong sent Li Huaiguang
Li Huaiguang
Li Huaiguang was a leading general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, of Mohe extraction. He was credited with saving Emperor Daizong in the face of an attack by the rebel Zhu Ci in 783 but, dissatisfied with the lack of trust that Emperor Dezong displayed in him later, also rebelled, but his...
the military governor of Shuofang
Shuofang
Shuofang was a fort built in the land of nomadic horse hasbandry tribes at the dawn of the Chinese written history. According to Bamboo Annals, Shuofang was built by the Emperor Di Yi of Shang state on the third year of his reign in 1098 BC in the midst of the Kun Barbarians territory in the...
Circuit (朔方, headquartered in modern Yinchuan, Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
), to join the imperial forces already sieging Wei Prefecture. However, when aid from both sides arrived, the overly confident Li Huaiguang ordered an attack with some initial successes, but ultimately suffered a major defeat at Zhu's and Wang's hands. The imperial forces withdrew across the river from Wei Prefecture, lifting the siege.
In the aftermaths of the imperial forces' defeat, Tian was grateful to Zhu, and offered to subjugate himself and Wang to Zhu — in effect, offering the emperor title to Zhu. Zhu declined, crediting Wang rather than himself for the victory. At the suggestion of Zhu's staff member Li Ziqian (李子千) and Wang's staff member Zheng Ru (鄭濡), they decided to each claim a princely title to show independence from imperial authority, but keep Tang's era name in order not to completely break from Tang. On December 9, 782, in an elaborate ceremony, Zhu claimed the title of Prince of Ji; Wang claimed the title of Prince of Zhao; Tian claimed the title of Prince of Wei; and they issued a letter offering Li Na the title of Prince of Qi. They also established administrations with governmental structures paralleling the Tang imperial government to further show independence, although the titles were intentionally different than Tang's to show some subordination.
As self-proclaimed Prince of Wei
Meanwhile, though, as Zhu Tao's and Wang Wujun's troops were continuing to battle Tang imperial troops on Tian Yue's soil, all three of them were becoming financially drained. They pinned their hopes on alliance with yet another military governor with greater pretensions -- Li XilieLi Xilie
Li Xilie was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who, believing himself to be strong enough to claim imperial title, did so as the emperor of a new state of Chu...
the military governor of Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern Xuchang
Xuchang
Xuchang is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast, and Pingdingshan to the southwest....
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
), whose circuit was then wealthy. They, along with Li Na, thus sent emissaries to Huaixi, suggesting to Li Xilie that he take imperial title. Li Xilie did not do so immediately, but began to claim titles greater than the ones bestowed him by Emperor Dezong. (Li Xilie would eventually declare himself to be the emperor of a new state of Chu in spring 784, although without further pledge of allegiance by the four.)
In fall 783, after a mutiny by the soldiers of Jingyuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern Pingliang
Pingliang
Pingliang is a prefecture-level city in eastern Gansu Province in China. Pingliang is famous for a local mountain range that includes Kongtong Mountain, a site sacred to Taoism and mythical meeting place of the Yellow Emperor and Guangchengzi, an immortal....
, Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
) at the capital Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
forced Emperor Dezong to flee to Fengtian (奉天, in modern Xianyang
Xianyang
Xianyang is a former capital of China in Shaanxi province, on the Wei River, a few kilometers upstream from Xi'an. It has an area of...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
), the Jingyuan soldiers supported Zhu Tao's brother Zhu Ci
Zhu Ci
Zhu Ci was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. He initially served as military governor of Lulong Circuit , but later became a general for the imperial government...
as their leader. Zhu Ci soon declared himself the emperor of a new state of Qin and put Fengtian under siege. With Emperor Dezong himself now under siege by Zhu Ci, Li Huaiguang and Li Sheng headed for Fengtian to save him, while Ma Sui and Li Qiu also left Weibo and returned to their circuits. Li Baozhen was left alone on the Weibo front, and Tian asked Wang and Zhu Tao's general Ma Shi (馬寔) to aid him in sieging Linming, where Li Baozhen was at the time. Li Baozhen, however, was able to persuade Wang that such a battle would do him no good regardless of the outcome — that if they were successful, it only benefited Weibo, while it they were not, Hengji would suffer heavy losses. Wang therefore carefully declined and returned to Hengji. As both he and Ma Shi departed, Tian held a grand feast sending them off in gratitude. Meanwhile, Emperor Dezong also sent emissaries to Wang, Tian, and Li Na, persuading them to again submit to Tang authority. All three secretly agreed, but for the time being remained in apparent alliance with Zhu Tao. When Zhu Tao, unaware of the development, requested Tian's assistance in advancing south to capture the eastern capital Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
and join forces with Zhu Ci, Tian, still thankful to him and not willing to refuse, initially agreed. After further persuasion from Wang, however, Tian was resolved against the plan.
When Emperor Dezong declared a general pardon in spring 784 — the scope of which included even Zhu Tao, Wang, Tian, Li Na, and Li Xilie and implicitly promising them that if they submitted to nominal imperial authority again, he would not dare to interfere with them again — Wang, Tian, and Li Na all renounced their self-claimed princely titles. However, Zhu Tao, unaware of this development, began his plan of march toward Luoyang in early 784. He went through Hengji and Weibo with great ceremonies of welcome from Wang and Tian. Eventually, when Zhu reached Yongji (永濟, in modern Handan) and requested that Tian join him in advancing to Luoyang, Tian refused. This drew Zhu's anger, and he divided his troops, along with Huige troops, in attacking several different Weibo cities. Tian put up his defense at Wei Prefecture, waiting for aid.
Death
Meanwhile, Emperor Dezong had sent the imperial official Kong Chaofu (孔巢父) to Weibo to meet with Tian Yue, to thank him for his allegiance and to encourage the troops. He also created Tian the Prince of Jiyang. Meanwhile, though, on March 26, 784, while Kong was still at Weibo, Tian Yue's cousin Tian XuTian Xu (Tang Dynasty)
Tian Xu , formally the Prince of Yanmen , was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who ruled Weibo Circuit semi-independently from the imperial government.- Background :...
(Tian Chengsi's son), whom Tian Yue had previously entrusted with great responsibilities but who had a number of faults, eventually leading to Tian Yue relieving him of his post and briefly putting him under arrest, was complaining to his brothers and nephews about Tian Yue, while he was drunk. When the nephew tried to stop his complaints, he killed his nephew. After he became sober, he realized what he had done, and worried that Tian Yue would kill him when he found out. He therefore took his followers, went to Tian Yue's headquarters, and killed Tian Yue, Tian Yue's mother, wife, and children. He then, issuing orders in Tian Yue's name, summoned Tian Yue's staff members Hu E (扈崿), Xu Shize (許士則), and Jiang Ji (蔣濟). When they arrived, Tian Xu killed them as well. He then declared that it was another officer, Liu Zhongxin (劉忠信), who had assassinated Tian Yue, and took over control of the circuit. (The soldiers found out a few days later that it was actually Tian Xu who carried out the assassination, but by that point Tian Xu was firmly in control.) Tian Xu and Zhu Tao initially made overtures to each other, although Tian Xu ultimately continued Tian Yue's policies and alliances with Li Baozhen and Ma Sui, leading to Zhu Tao's defeat.