Shi Hu - During Shi Le's Reign As Later Zhao Prince/emperor

During Shi Le's Reign As Later Zhao Prince/emperor

After Shi Le's establishment of Later Zhao, he, even more so than before, extensively relied on Shi Hu to defeat major enemies. The major battles that Shi Hu engaged in included:

• 320 - Shi Hu captured Shao Xu (邵續), the Jin governor of Ji Province (冀州, modern western Shandong), one of the last major pockets of Jin resistance in northern China, in battle.
• 321 - Shi Hu captured Duan Pidi (段匹磾), the Jin governor of You Province (幽州, modern Beijing, Tianjin, and northern Hebei, even though he was no longer in control of You Province by that point) and his brother Duan Wenyuan (段文鴛), wiping out the last major pocket of Jin resistance in northern China. (It was after this battle that Shi showed that while he was cruel, he had respect for his enemies, as after Duan Pidi refused to bow to him despite an implicit threat of death, he bowed to Duan out of respect.)
• 322 - Shi Hu captured the general Xu Kan (徐龕), who had vacillated between allegiances to Jin and Later Zhao.
• 323 - Shi Hu captured the general Cao Ni (曹嶷), who had vacillated between allegiances to Jin, Han Zhao, and Later Zhao, and who was in control of most of modern Shandong, thus eliminating a major semi-independent domain in the north. It was after the siege of Cao's capital Guanggu (廣固, in modern Weifang, Shandong) that an example of Shi Hu's cruelty was shown—he wanted to slaughter all of the population of Guanggu. After Later Zhao's governor of Qing Province (青州, modern central and eastern Shandong), Liu Zheng (劉徵) protested that he was supposed to govern over the people and that he cannot govern without people, Shi nevertheless slaughtered most of the population but left 700 people alive for Liu to govern.
• 325 - With Later Zhao by this point in a state of constant war against Han Zhao, Shi Hu defeated and captured the Han Zhao general Liu Yue (劉岳) the Prince of Zhongshan, depriving the Han Zhao emperor Liu Yao of one of his key generals. He also captured and killed the Han Zhao general Wang Teng (王騰), who had earlier defected from Later Zhao.
• 328 - Shi Hu attacked Han Zhao, but was defeated by Liu Yao, who then attacked Luoyang. Shi Le had to personally relieve Luoyang, capturing Liu Yao in battle in early 329.
• 329 - After Liu Yao was captured, the Han Zhao crown prince Liu Xi and his brother Liu Yin abandoned the Han Zhao capital Chang'an and fled to Shanggui (上邽, in modern Tianshui, Gansu), but in the fall Liu Yin tried to recapture Chang'an. Shi Hu defeated him, forcing him to flee back to Shanggui, and then advanced on Shanggui, capturing it and killing Liu Xi and Liu Yin, ending Han Zhao.

As the years went by, Shi Hu began to develop an antagonistic relationship with Shi Le's key advisors Cheng Xia (程遐, the maternal uncle of Shi Le's crown prince Shi Hong) and Xu Guang (徐光), who had seen Shi Hu's ambitions and urged for Shi Le to curb his powers. The first conflict came in 326, when Shi Le, under Cheng's advice, had Shi Hong take over Yecheng's defenses, forcing Shi Hu's household to move out of the three towers. (Shi Hu retaliated by having soldiers in bandits' masquerades raid Cheng's home late at night, rape the women of his household, and rob them of their clothing.) In 330, after Shi Le successively claimed the titles of "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang) and emperor, Shi Hu was given title of Prince of Zhongshan, and two of his sons were also given title of princes as well. However, Shi Hu became incensed that he was not also given the title of Grand Chanyu, which Shi Le had granted to his son Shi Hong (石宏, note different character than his crown prince), and he secretly started plotting taking over after Shi Le's death. In 332, Shi Le tried to curb his powers by having the crown prince and the eunuch Yan Zhen (嚴震) participate in important decisions that were previously Shi Hu's to make, which only served to anger Shi Hu.