Ran Min Founds Ran Wei in the North

Shi Hu had pushed Later Zhao into a position that looked powerful but was pressured on every side.

When he grew ill in old age, the northern situation cracked first inside the Later Zhao court. Outside enemies had not yet entered. Crown princes and royal relatives were already raising blades against one another.

Chengdu and Jiankang After Shi Hu

The north was in disorder, but the south was not idle.

In Cheng-Han, after Li Xiong died, power passed into the line of Li Shou and Li Shi. Li Shou had been a capable fighter in his earlier years. But after becoming emperor, he increasingly imitated Shi Hu's style: palace construction, heavy labor demands, court luxury, and harsh punishment.

After he died, his son Li Shi took the throne. Li Shi had even less ability to hold the state together. His brother Li Guang became dissatisfied and was forced to kill himself. Great local families drifted away from the court. Cheng-Han became looser inside.

Its decline resembled Later Zhao's. The founding generation could still rely on military merit and personal prestige. In the hands of successors, palace pleasure, royal suspicion, and local discontent all emerged together. The state still existed on the surface, but inner cohesion was fading.

In Eastern Jin, Huan Wen needed a major military achievement. He led troops into Shu, and Cheng-Han could not resist. Li Shi finally surrendered, and Cheng-Han fell.

Huan Wen's prestige soared. Eastern Jin was based in Jiangnan, but after taking Shu, it proved that it was not limited to guarding Jiankang. Southern aristocrats and military commanders could see that when the north loosened, the south could also reach outward.

This showed a hard reality. Later Zhao could still frighten people, but Shi Hu was not the only force in the realm. If the north weakened inside, Eastern Jin would also move.

Crown Princes Start Killing First

Late Later Zhao's most dangerous place was the palace.

Shi Hu had a crown prince named Shi Sui. Shi Sui was violent and absurd, but he also feared his father. Shi Hu became increasingly dissatisfied with him. Shi Sui grew more anxious until he even thought of killing Shi Hu.

The plan was exposed. Shi Hu executed Shi Sui, and the crown prince position passed to another son, Shi Xuan.

Shi Xuan did not stabilize the succession either. He envied his younger brother Shi Tao, who was favored by Shi Hu, and sent men to kill him. When Shi Hu discovered this, he was enraged. He executed Shi Xuan and purged his line.

Two crown princes had now been killed one after another. Later Zhao's succession order was broken.

Shi Hu finally made the young Shi Shi crown prince and arranged for Empress Liu and Zhang Chai to act as regents.

The problem was simple. While Shi Hu lived, everyone feared Shi Hu himself. Once he died, Empress Liu and Zhang Chai did not have enough prestige to control the royal clan or enough military merit to command the generals. The young ruler could not make the factions obey.

This looked like a succession plan. In practice, it left the opening for another struggle.

Ye Changes After Shi Hu Dies

After Shi Hu died, Empress Liu and Zhang Chai tried to control the child emperor Shi Shi.

But Later Zhao's royal relatives and commanders were not decorations. Shi Zun moved first. He led troops into Ye, deposed Shi Shi, killed Zhang Chai, and made himself emperor.

After entering Ye, Shi Zun had to deal with the people who had supported Empress Liu and Zhang Chai. The child emperor Shi Shi was soon deposed and killed. Shi Hu's chosen succession arrangement was completely erased. Soon after Shi Hu's death, the order he had set up was overturned by a royal coup.

Shi Zun's rise depended not only on royal identity. It also depended on one important man: Shi Min.

Shi Min's original surname was Ran. He was Shi Hu's adopted grandson, a fierce fighter with prestige in the army. When Shi Zun raised troops, he promised that if the coup succeeded, Shi Min would be made crown prince. After Shi Zun took the throne, he went back on the promise and named someone else.

Shi Min could not pretend he had not heard the original pledge.

For him, this was not ordinary loss of favor. He had been a major military force behind Shi Zun's seizure of power. If the promise disappeared, it meant he could be eliminated at any time. In the Later Zhao court, losing a promise often meant losing one's life.

Shi Zun also feared Shi Min and gathered royal relatives to discuss removing him. The news leaked. Shi Min struck first. He joined with Li Nong, killed Shi Zun, and installed Shi Jian as emperor.

Shi Jian wore the title of emperor, but Shi Min and Li Nong held him in place. The throne changed faster and faster. Each enthronement in Ye looked more like the warning before the next coup.

Shi Min Returns to the Ran Name

Shi Jian did not accept being controlled. He secretly contacted Jie commanders and royal relatives, hoping to remove Shi Min.

When Shi Min found out, the situation spun out of control. He used the most direct method to remake power in Ye: he ordered soldiers and civilians in the city to kill non-Han people, especially the Jie people at the core of Later Zhao's ruling group.

The slaughter was extremely brutal. Many people tried to prove they were not Jie in order to survive. Others were implicated because of appearance, clothing, or accent. Later Zhao had been built around the Jie military group; now that group was being purged in its own capital.

This act allowed Ran Min to seize the initiative in Ye, but it also marked his new regime with a debt of blood from the start. Former Later Zhao people could not easily submit. Other northern groups would see Ran Min as a dangerous enemy.

Ye changed from the Later Zhao capital into Ran Min's new base. The fear inside the city did not disappear. It changed direction.

Shi Min then restored his original surname Ran and became known as Ran Min.

He killed Shi Jian and purged Shi Hu's descendants. Later Zhao's royal system in Ye was torn out by the roots, leaving a power vacuum after collapse.

Ran Wei Is Founded

In 350, Ran Min declared himself emperor and named his state Wei. Historians call it Ran Wei.

The new regime carried the mark of violent disorder from its first moment. It was not a state that had slowly grown into power. It emerged suddenly from Later Zhao infighting, palace killing, ethnic revenge, and military defection.

Ran Min tried to attract Han Chinese forces with edicts and wanted local commanderies to recognize him. But northern China had already lived under Later Zhao rule for years. Local commanders, tribal leaders, refugee armies, and regional power holders all had their own calculations. Taking the throne in Ye did not mean the north had given its heart to him.

He could found a state because Later Zhao's center had collapsed first. He struggled to hold it because that center had collapsed too completely. Without a usable order to inherit, Ran Wei could rely only on troops and fear.

Ran Min held Ye and some military prestige. But he did not face an empty field.

Later Zhao remnants still existed. The Shi royal house had not vanished everywhere. Qiang, Di, Xianbei, Xiongnu, and other groups were watching. Eastern Jin wanted to move north when possible. Farther away, Former Yan had been waiting for its chance.

The founding of Ran Wei looked like Ran Min becoming emperor. In reality, it was the beginning of a new reshuffling of northern power after Later Zhao's collapse.

After Later Zhao fell, everyone wanted to take its territory. Ran Min was only the first to rush onto the stage. Stronger powers with deeper bases, especially Former Yan and Former Qin, would soon press in.

The emperor in Ye had changed surnames. The northern war had not stopped.