Hou Jing's Rebellion Devastates Liang

Northern Wei split into Eastern Wei and Western Wei. The two northern courts fought year after year.

In the south, Liang looked more stable. Soon, however, a northern defector would pull it into the abyss.

Emperor Wu's Late Buddhist Devotion

When Xiao Yan first became Emperor Wu of Liang, he did work hard at government.

Tradition says he rose early through the seasons, read memorials, and handled affairs carefully. Southern Liang was relatively stable for a time.

In old age, however, he became increasingly absorbed in Buddhism.

He did not merely believe. Several times, he took off imperial robes and entered a monastery as if renouncing the throne.

When the emperor entered a temple, ministers panicked. They went there in tears and begged him to return to secular rule.

The first time, after several days, he returned to the palace, issued a general amnesty, and changed the reign title to Datong.

But it did not end.

Two years later, he again gave himself to Tongtai Monastery and lectured on scriptures. Officials had to donate a large sum to "redeem" the emperor from the monastery.

Similar episodes followed. Each time, the court spent heavily to bring him back.

The emperor had become half monk, half ruler. Government loosened. Royal princes held regional commands and built their own forces. Aristocratic society decayed. Local military and civil administration grew darker.

Money flowed toward temples and ceremonies, while the court's attention drifted away from armies, borders, and local control.

Hou Jing's chance appeared in this world.

Hou Jing Comes South

Hou Jing had once been a soldier in the Northern Wei Six Garrisons system.

During the late Northern Wei rebellions, he rose in the chaos. He first joined Erzhu Rong. After the Erzhu clan was destroyed by Gao Huan, Hou Jing turned to Gao Huan.

Hou Jing was skilled in riding, archery, and command. Gao Huan valued him and let him command 100,000 troops in the Henan region.

That trust lasted only while Gao Huan lived.

After Gao Huan died, Hou Jing rebelled. The Gao faction had prepared for this, and he was quickly defeated. He turned toward Western Wei and hoped to join Yuwen Tai.

Yuwen Tai did not want him. Hou Jing had changed sides too many times. Everyone could see he was dangerous.

Unable to survive in the north, Hou Jing looked south.

He sent a memorial to Emperor Wu, offering to bring thirteen Henan provinces under Liang.

Emperor Wu was delighted. Recovering the Central Plains had long been a Southern Dynasty dream. Even more conveniently, he had recently dreamed that the Central Plains submitted to Liang.

When Hou Jing's offer arrived, Emperor Wu saw Heaven's will. He immediately made Hou Jing a great general and King of Henan.

Hou Jing Turns Against Liang

Hou Jing was not satisfied with high office.

He heard that the Wang and Xie families were the great aristocratic houses of Jiangnan and asked Emperor Wu to arrange a marriage with one of their women.

Emperor Wu advised him that the Wang and Xie rank was too high for him and that he should choose a less exalted family.

The answer was realistic, but it wounded Hou Jing deeply.

To Jiangnan aristocrats, he was only a northern defector. To Hou Jing, he had brought Henan to Liang and was still shut out by family rank. Humiliation turned into resentment.

Soon Eastern Wei attacked him. Emperor Wu sent his nephew Xiao Yuanming north to support him.

Xiao Yuanming was defeated and captured. Hou Jing's own troops ran out of supplies under Eastern Wei pressure, and many deserted. He retreated to Shouyang with only a few hundred cavalry.

While Emperor Wu anxiously negotiated, Eastern Wei sent envoys for peace and offered to release Xiao Yuanming. Against many objections, Emperor Wu was eager to talk.

Hou Jing became suspicious. He feared that Eastern Wei meant to exchange Xiao Yuanming for him.

Emperor Wu assured him that ruler and minister were bound by duty and that Liang would not abandon him.

Hou Jing did not believe it. He forged a letter from Eastern Wei to test the emperor: if Xiao Yuanming could be exchanged for Hou Jing, would Liang agree?

Emperor Wu replied that if Xiao Yuanming returned in the morning, Hou Jing could be sent back that evening.

Hou Jing saw the answer and broke completely.

In 548, he raised troops at Shouyang and rebelled against Liang.

Xiao Zhengde Opens the Road

To attack Jiankang, Hou Jing needed help inside.

He chose Xiao Zhengde, Emperor Wu's nephew. Earlier, when Emperor Wu had no son, he adopted Xiao Zhengde and once made him heir. After Emperor Wu had a biological son, Xiao Zhengde lost that position.

He never forgot the humiliation.

He had once defected to Northern Wei and then fled back to Liang. Emperor Wu had not punished him heavily, only scolded him and restored his title.

Hou Jing wrote to him, saying Emperor Wu was old, treacherous ministers controlled the court, and Xiao Zhengde should have been heir. Hou Jing promised to help him take the throne.

Xiao Zhengde agreed.

Emperor Wu knew nothing of the collusion. He even placed Xiao Zhengde in charge of Zhuque Bridge, a key bridge across the Qinhuai River at Jiankang.

When Hou Jing approached, Xiao Zhengde secretly sent him supplies under the pretext of moving reeds.

Soon Hou Jing broke through Zhuque Gate and surrounded Taicheng, the palace city.

Taicheng Falls

Taicheng had strong walls, and the defenders fought hard. Hou Jing besieged it for more than 130 days without taking it.

Inside, conditions became terrible. At the start of the siege, the city held more than 100,000 people. War, disease, and hunger reduced the number to only a few thousand.

Food ran out. Soldiers and civilians were trapped among starvation, sickness, and the smell of corpses.

Relief armies from the provinces had already arrived near Jiankang, with perhaps 200,000 to 300,000 men in all.

But the princes and commanders all calculated for themselves. They wanted to preserve strength and waited.

People inside Taicheng looked every day for rescue. People outside measured their own gain and loss.

In 549, Hou Jing entered Taicheng.

He made himself chief commander, took control of government, and then killed his accomplice Xiao Zhengde.

Emperor Wu was confined in the palace. Food was cut off. Even when he became bedridden, Hou Jing would not allow imperial physicians to treat him.

The eighty-six-year-old emperor starved to death.

Jiangnan Becomes Ruins

After Emperor Wu died, Hou Jing installed two Liang emperors as puppets. In 551, he finally made himself emperor and named his state Han.

Jiangnan became a nightmare.

His armies swept through the Three Wu region, killing, looting, and committing every abuse. In only a few years, Jiangnan's population and economy collapsed.

Some areas were described as having no smoke from households for a thousand li, with few people visible and bones piled up.

Jiangnan had been the stable base of the Southern Dynasties. Hou Jing's rebellion shattered that base.

At this crisis, Xiao Yi, Prince of Xiangdong and governor of Jingzhou, raised troops against Hou Jing.

Xiao Yi was Emperor Wu's seventh son. He was intelligent, loved learning, and held a vast library. One eye had been blind since childhood, but he remained devoted to books.

He was also suspicious and cold. When Jiankang had been under siege, he had not energetically rescued his father. Now he moved more to claim Liang legitimacy than from pure loyalty.

He sent two major commanders, Chen Baxian and Wang Sengbian, by water and land toward Jiankang.

Hou Jing's power collapsed quickly.

Hou Jing Dies

Seeing the situation lost, Hou Jing fled by boat with a few followers.

On the way, his subordinate Yang Kun killed him. Yang Kun had a private feud: Hou Jing had taken the daughter of the official Yang Kan as a concubine, and Yang Kun was Yang Kan's son.

During the escape, Yang Kun waited until Hou Jing slept, ordered the sailors to change direction, and tried to bring him back to Jiankang.

Hou Jing awoke and tried to flee. Yang Kun stabbed him to death.

His body was handed to Wang Sengbian. Wang cut off his hands and sent them to the Northern Qi emperor Gao Yang, then sent the head to Jiangling.

The people hated Hou Jing so much that they fought over his flesh and bones to release years of anger.

Northern Qi received his hands because he had betrayed the Gao family. Jiangnan's people took revenge because his rebellion had destroyed their homes.

After more than three years, Hou Jing's rebellion was suppressed.

In 552, Xiao Yi became emperor as Emperor Yuan of Liang. Jiankang was ruined, so he moved the capital to Jiangling.

But Liang did not recover stability. Xiao Yi's younger brother Xiao Ji had already declared himself emperor in Yizhou, and the two brothers had to fight for legitimacy.

To defeat Xiao Ji quickly, Xiao Yi asked Yuwen Tai of Western Wei for help. Yuwen Tai used the opportunity to move, and Yizhou fell into Western Wei hands.

Xiao Yi defeated his brother but handed the southwest gate to outsiders.

Hou Jing's rebellion had just ended, and Liang had already lost another large piece of its map.

The wreckage of Liang would continue to collapse. Chen Baxian was about to step forward.