Late Reign
In spring 623, Liang Shidu's generals He Sui (賀遂) and Suo Tong (索同) defected to Tang, along with the territory they controlled. In summer 623, Duan Decao launched another attack on Liang, reaching Shuofang, but withdrew after pillaging. In response, the Liang general Xin Liao'er (辛獠兒) guided Eastern Tujue troops to attack Tang's Lin Prefecture (林州, roughly modern Qingyang), and then Liang himself guided Eastern Tujue forces to attack Tang's Kuang Prefecture (匡州, also in modern Yulin).
In fall 624, the major Liang official Bai Fuyuan (白伏願) defected to Tang.
In 626, Emperor Gaozu's son Li Shimin the Prince of Qin, ambushed and killed his brothers Li Jiancheng the Crown Prince and Li Yuanji the Prince of Qin, and then effectively forced Emperor Gaozu to yield the throne to him (as Emperor Taizong). Meanwhile, Liang himself saw his forces weakening, and suggested to Ashina Duobi that he invade Tang. Ashina Duobi and his nephew, the subordinate Tuli Khan Ashina Shibobi (阿史那什鉢苾), jointly attacked the Tang capital Chang'an, but withdrew after Emperor Taizong personally met them and offered additional tributes.
Read more about this topic: Liang Shidu
Famous quotes containing the words late and/or reign:
“Arrive in the afternoon, the late light slanting
In diluted gold bars across the boulevard brag
Of proud, seamed faces with mercy and murder hinting
here, there, interrupting, all deep and debonair,
The pink paint on the innocence of fear;
Walk in a gingerly manner up the hall.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“I am monarch of all I survey;
My right there is none to dispute;
From the center all round to the sea
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
O Solitude! where are the charms
That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms,
Than reign in this horrible place.”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)