生平

朱友贞在朱全忠篡唐后，被封为均王。后梁开平四年（910年）被任命为东京马步军都指挥使。

后梁乾化二年（912年），郢王朱友圭弑朱全忠自立，大量封赏将兵以图收买人心，朱友贞当时亦被任命为东京（大梁，今河南开封）留守，开封府尹。然而包括朱友贞在内的众多官员、将领仍然对朱友圭的行为十分不满。次年（913年），朱友贞与朱全忠之婿赵岩、朱全忠之甥袁象先、将领杨师厚等人密谋政变。袁象先首先发难，率禁军数千入杀入宫中，朱友圭无法逃脱，由左右将其杀死。朱友贞遂在大梁称帝，取消朱友圭的凤历年号，仍使用朱全忠的乾化年号。

朱友贞虽然登上帝位，但是他接手的是一个外患内乱即将不断引爆的帝国。北方的晋王国，于朱友贞登位的同年（913年），在晋王李存勖的率领之下，灭桀燕。915年，朱友贞改元贞明。同年，天雄节度使（魏博节度使）杨师厚去世，魏博自唐末即以地广兵强著称，朱友贞藉此机会分割天雄军，不料却引起天雄军官兵的叛变，归降晋王国。

该年（915年），朱友贞亦被康王朱友敬（一作朱友孜）派人行刺，此事件之后，朱友贞渐渐疏远宗室，只信任心腹的几个人。

贞明二年（916年），在与晋的数场会战败北后，后梁黄河以北之地几乎全部丧失。之后的数年间，后梁与晋持续争战，然而胜少败多，领土不断地被蚕食。

贞明七年（921年），朱友贞改元龙德。龙德三年（923年），已即后唐帝位的李存勖率军对后梁发动总攻，势如破竹，朱友贞在后唐军攻入大梁的前夕，命控鹤都将皇甫麟将他杀死，后梁亦随之亡国。

家庭

兄弟

• 郴王朱友裕

• 博王朱友文

• 郢王朱友圭

• 福王朱友璋

• 贺王朱友雍

• 建王朱友徽

• 康王朱友孜

妻妾

• 德妃张氏，正室妻子，后封为德妃

• 次妃郭氏，具体封号不详，后梁亡后，入后唐庄宗李存勖后宫，最终出家为尼

子女

女

• 寿春公主，乾化三年四月五日封

• 寿昌公主，贞明元年九月二十三日封

• 晋安公主，或作普安公主

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Background

Zhu Youzhen was born 888, at what was then Tang Dynasty's Bian Prefecture (汴州, in modern Kaifeng, Henan), as the fourth son of his father Zhu Quanzhong, who was then a major warlord as the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered at Bian Prefecture). His mother was Zhu Quanzhong's wife Lady Zhang, and he was her only known biological son. He was described to be handsome, not talkative, and favoring scholars. In 900, he received the title of military advisor at Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the Luoyang region).

During Emperor Taizus reign

In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Tang's final emperor Emperor Ai yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang with him as its Emperor Taizu. He created his sons princes, and Zhu Youzhen received the title of Prince of Jun. Around that time, Emperor Taizu had just established a corps of imperial guards known as the Tianxing Army, and he made Zhu Youzhen one of the two commanders of the Tianxing Army. In 910, Emperor Taizu gave him the honorary title of acting Sikong (司空, one of the Three Excellencies) and, in addition to command of the Tianxing Army, gave him the title of commander of forces at the eastern capital (i.e., Bian Prefecture, which by this point was known as Daliang, with Emperor Taizu having established Luoyang as capital).

During Zhu Youguis reign

By 912, Emperor Taizu was seriously ill. He was considered to have favored his second son—an adoptive son, not a biological one—Zhu Youwen the Prince of Bo, the most. (At that time, he had his daughters-in-law attend to him in the palace, and he often made them have sexual relations with him. He favored Zhu Youwen's wife Lady Wang the most, and partly due to that favored Zhu Youwen the most as well.) When he believed that he was near death, he sent Lady Wang to Daliang, where Zhu Youwen was serving as its defender, to summon Zhu Youwen to him. This drew anger and fear from his third son, Zhu Yougui the Prince of Ying, particularly since at that time he also issued an edict sending Zhu Yougui out of the capital to serve as the prefect of Lai Prefecture. Zhu Yougui thus entered the palace and assassinated Emperor Taizu. Keeping Emperor Taizu's death a secret, he sent the eunuch Ding Zhaopu (丁昭溥) to Daliang, and, in Emperor Taizu's name, ordered Zhu Youzhen to kill Zhu Youwen. After Zhu Youzhen did so and Ding returned to Luoyang to inform him, he announced Emperor Taizu's death, blaming the assassination on Zhu Youwen. He then took the throne. He made Zhu Youzhen the defender of Daliang and the capital of Kaifeng Municipality (i.e., the Daliang region).

However, it was said that Zhu Yougui quickly caused the people to be discontented with him, due to his frivolous acts. Further, the rumors that he had been the one who killed Emperor Taizu were spreading in the army. Soon thereafter, Zhu Youzhen's brother-in-law (Emperor Taizu's son-in-law) Zhao Yan and cousin (Emperor Taizu's nephew) Yuan Xiangxian were secretly plotting to overthrow Zhu Yougui. Zhao informed this to Zhu Youzhen, and Zhu Youzhen agreed with the plot, and further sent his close associate Ma Shenjiao to Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) to persuade the major general Yang Shihou the military governor of Tianxiong to join the plot, and Yang agreed. Zhu Youzhen further persuaded the elite Longxiang Army soldiers then at Daliang to join the plot as well, and then prepared to rise and attack Luoyang. However, before Zhu Youzhen could launch his own forces, Yuan and Zhao rose at Luoyang and killed Zhu Yougui. They then offered the throne to Zhu Youzhen, who accepted, but moved the capital to Daliang and took the throne there.

Reign

Early reign

After he took the throne, Zhu Youzhen changed his name to Zhu Huang, and later to Zhu Zhen. He sent overtures to the general Zhu Youqian, who had submitted Huguo Circuit (护国, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) to Later Liang's archrival Jin, upon Zhu Yougui's assassination of Emperor Taizu, and Zhu Youqian agreed to resubmit to Later Liang.

The return of Zhu Youqian to the Later Liang fold, however, did not change the threat against Later Liang of Jin's expanding power, which Emperor Taizu had been very concerned about prior to his death. He also had to guard against two other rival states, Qi and Wu. In 914, he stationed the general Kang Huaiying (康怀英) at Yongping Circuit (永平, headquartered in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi), to guard against Qi. Meanwhile, he tried to commission his brother Zhu Youzhang (朱友璋) the Prince of Fu as the military governor of Wuning Circuit (武宁, headquartered in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), to replace the Zhu Yougui-commissioned military governor Wang Yin (王殷). Wang, in fear, submitted to Wu. Zhu Zhen sent the generals Niu Cunjie (牛存节) and Liu Xun, and they, after repelling the Wu general Zhu Jin, captured Wuning's capital Xu Prefecture (徐州). Wang committed suicide.

In 915, Yang Shihou died. As Zhu Zhen had long been apprehensive of Yang's hold over the army, he outwardly mourned Yang but was in fact pleased. Zhao Yan and the official Shao Zan (邵赞) advocated using this opportunity to weaken Tianxiong Circuit, as it had, for most of Tang history up to this point, been a circuit that was de facto independent and difficult to control. Zhu Zhen agreed, and ordered that Tianxiong be divided into two circuits, with three of Tianxiong's six prefectures to belong to a new Zhaode Circuit (昭德, headquartered at Xiang Prefecture (相州), in modern Handan as well). The Tianxiong soldiers resented this division, and mutinied under the leadership of the officer Zhang Yan, holding the Later Liang-commissioned military governor He Delun (贺德伦) hostage. Zhu Zhen sent a eunuch, Fu Yi (扈异), to try to comfort the Tianxiong soldiers, but was not receptive to Zhang's request that Tianxiong's division be cancelled. Zhang thus decided to surrender the circuit to Jin. Li Cunxu shortly thereafter arrived at Tianxiong and took over control of the circuit. Intense campaigns between the Later Liang army, under Liu Xun's command, and the Jin army subsequently were waged, but the Jin army was continuously victorious over the Later Liang army, and two ambitious surprise-attack attempts by Liu and Wang Tan (王檀) on the Jin capital Taiyuan were repelled by Jin. By fall 916, nearly all of the Later Liang territory north of the Yellow River had fallen to Jin. (During the campaign, the Later Liang morale was sufficiently shaken such that there was even a mutiny against Zhu Zhen at Daliang itself, led by the officer Li Ba (李霸), during which Zhu Zhen had to personally lead guards to defend the palace gate, but the general Du Yanqiu shortly after crushed the mutineers.)

During the campaign, Zhu's wife Consort Zhang died. (Zhu had wanted to create her empress, but she continuously declined in light of the fact that he had not yet offered sacrifice to heaven and earth to solemnify his reign.) His younger brother Zhu Youjing (朱友敬) the Prince of Kang, who had long wanted to displace him, tried to use the occasion of Consort Zhang's funeral as an opportunity to rise to assassinate Zhu Zhen. The emperor, however, discovered this as the assassination was about to take place, and, after fleeing, had the imperial guards locate and kill the hidden assassins, and then executed Zhu Youjing. After this incident, it was said that Zhu only trusted Zhao, as well as Consort Zhang's brothers Zhang Handing and Zhang Hanjie and cousins Zhang Hanlun and Zhang Hanrong, such that he only listened to their advice, to the exclusion of others, including the senior chancellor Jing Xiang and director of imperial governance Li Zhen, both greatly trusted by Emperor Taizu previously.

In 917, an erstwhile vassal of Later Liang's, Liu Yan the military governor of Qinghai Circuit (清海, headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong), declared himself emperor of a new independent state of Yue (shortly after to be renamed Han, and therefore known historically as Southern Han).

Also in 917, Liu Xun, who had for some time refused to report to Daliang after his defeats at Li Cunxu's hands, finally did go to Daliang to pay homage to Zhu. Zhu relieved him of his command as the commander of the forces against Jin, and replaced him with He Gui, who had been able to suppress a mutiny at Qing Prefecture (庆州, in modern Qingyang, Gansu) in 916. Later that year, at Zhao's suggestion, Zhu prepared a grand ceremony to sacrifice to heaven and earth at Luoyang, and departed Daliang to do so, despite the contrary advice of Jing. After he left Daliang, however, Jin forces attacked and captured the border fort of Yangliu (杨刘, in modern Liaocheng, Shandong), south of the Yellow River. When the news of Yangliu's fall arrived at Luoyang, it greatly shocked the imperial officials who were attending to Zhu at that point, and there were rumors that Jin had further captured Daliang. Zhu, in panic, and to quell such rumors, cancelled the ceremony and returned to Daliang. After this incident, Jing submitted a petition, discussing his concerns about the northern war with Jin, and offered to command the army himself; Zhu, with Zhao and the four Zhangs disagreeing, declined Jing's offer.

In 918, Li Cunxu gathered all the elite Jin troops that he could garner, and decided to launch one massive attack on Later Liang. Shortly after new year 919, he crossed the Yellow River and headed toward Daliang. He Gui intercepted him at Huliu Slope (胡柳陂, in modern Heze, Shandong). The battle was an initial major rout by the Later Liang forces over Jin forces, but a subsequent Jin counterattack led to massive Later Liang losses as well, making the battle essentially a draw, with both Later Liang and Jin suffering casualties of two-thirds of their army. For quite some time thereafter, neither side dared to attack the other. (Indeed, the Later Liang army was said to have collapsed so completely such that it took over a month for it to reorganize itself.)

Late reign

In 920, Zhu Youqian, after his having his son Zhu Lingde (朱令德) taking over Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi) was initially met with anger by Zhu Zhen, rebelled against Later Liang and again submitted to Jin. Zhu Zhen sent Liu Xun to attack Zhu Youqian, but Liu was defeated by the Jin generals Li Cunshen (Li Cunxu's adoptive brother) and Li Sizhao (Li Cunxu's adoptive cousin), allowing Zhu Youqian to retain Huguo and remain in the Jin fold. (Subsequently, Zhu Zhen, suspecting Liu of having intentionally not defeating Zhu Youqian (as Liu and Zhu Youqian had children who were married to each other), poisoned Liu to death.)

In 921, Li Cunxu's major ally Wang Rong the Prince of Zhao was assassinated by his adoptive son Wang Deming, who then took over Zhao lands and changed his name back to the birth name of Zhang Wenli. Zhang initially pretended to continue to submit to Li, but fearing (correctly) that Li would act against him, secretly made overtures to both Later Liang and Khitan Empire in preparation for a campaign of resistance. Jing Xiang, pointing out that this was the prime opportunity to counterattack against Jin, argued for launching an army to aid Zhang, while Zhao Yan and the four Zhangs argued against it, reasoning that the Later Liang forces were needed to protect Later Liang's own territory. Zhu Zhen ended up not aiding Zhang Wenli, Zhang Wenli subsequently died and was succeeded by his son Zhang Chujin, who held out against Jin forces until late 922, but was eventually defeated, with Li absorbing Zhao territory into Jin. During Jin's campaign against Zhao, the new Later Liang supreme commander Dai Siyuan was able to attack Wei Prefecture (卫州, in modern Puyang, Henan) and surprise the Jin garrison there, capturing it; this allowed Later Liang to regain its foothold north of the Yellow River and greatly recover in its morale.

In 923, what appeared to be an even greater opportunity for Later Liang to counter the Jin gains occurred. After Li Sizhao died battle in the Zhao campaign in 922, his son Li Jitao seized control the circuit that he had commanded, Zhaoyi Circuit (昭义, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), and Li Cunxu, not willing to wage a campaign against him, commissioned him as the acting military governor, renaming it Anyi (安义, as naming taboo for Li Sizhao). However, in spring 923, Li Jitao, fearing that Li Cunxu would eventually act against him anyway, submitted his circuit to Later Liang. Zhu Zhen commissioned him as full military governor and renamed the circuit Kuangyi.

Shortly after, Li Cunxu declared himself the emperor of a new Later Tang. Shortly after, believing that a surprise move against Later Liang was necessary to break the stalemate between the two states, he sent his adoptive brother Li Siyuan to launch a surprise attack Later Liang's Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong), south of the Yellow River, catching Later Liang unprepared and capturing Tianping's capital Yun Prefecture (郓州). In fear and anger over Yun's fall, Zhu demoted Dai (who was Tianping's military governor but who was away commanding the army against Later Tang at the time) and commissioned Wang Yanzhang as the commander of the army against Later Tang instead. Wang quickly attacked and captured the border fort Desheng (德胜, in modern Puyang), intending to use it to cut off the supply line between Later Tang proper and Yun. However, his subsequent battles against Li Cunxu himself were indecisive; further, his commission caused much apprehension in the hearts of Zhao and the Zhangs, as he had long despised what he saw as their wickedness. Zhao and the Zhangs thus defamed him before Zhu, who then removed him and replaced him with Duan Ning. Meanwhile, Zhu also destroyed the Yellow River levee at Hua Prefecture (滑州, in modern Anyang, Henan), causing a flood area, believing that it would impede further Later Tang attacks.

Duan prepared an ambitious plan for a four-prong counterattack against Later Liang:

• Dong Zhang would head toward the major Later Tang city Taiyuan (formerly Jin's capital).

• Huo Yanwei would head toward Zhen Prefecture (镇州, in modern Baoding, Hebei, formerly Zhao's capital).

• Wang and Zhang Hanjie would head toward Yun Prefecture.

• Duan himself, along with Du Yanqiu, would confront Later Tang's emperor Li Cunxu.

However, the Later Liang officer Kang Yanxiao, at this junction, defected to Later Tang, revealing Duan's plan to the Later Tang emperor and pointing out that the plan left the Later Liang capital Daliang defenseless, and pointing out that Wang's and Zhang Hanjie's army was the weakest of the four prongs and could easily be defeated. Li Cunxu decided to take the risky move himself, and advanced to Yun to join forces with Li Siyuan, and then engage Wang and Zhang Hanjie. He defeated them, capturing both Wang and Zhang Hanjie at Zhongdu (中都, in modern Jining, Shandong), and then headed directly toward the defenseless Daliang. With Duan's army trapped north of the Yellow River and unable to come to his rescue, Zhu saw the situation as hopeless. He ordered his general Huangfu Lin (皇甫麟) to kill him; Huangfu did, and then committed suicide himself. This thus ended Later Liang. The Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang, in his Zizhi Tongjian, commented:

Li Cunxu had Zhu's body buried with respect, but kept his head at the imperial temple. It was not until after Later Tang itself fell that Shi Jingtang, the emperor of the succeeding Later Jin, ordered that Zhu's head be properly buried.

Personal information

• Father

　• Zhu Wen

• Mother

　• Lady Zhang, posthumously honored Empress Yuanzhen

• Wife

　• Consort Zhang, imperial consort title Defei

• Major Concubine

　• Consort Guo

• Daughter

　• Princess Shouchun

　• Princess Shouchang

　• Princess Jin'an

Notes and references

• Old History of the Five Dynasties, vols. 8, 9, 10.

• New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 3.

• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 266, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272.

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