Tufa Lilugu - Before Reign

Before Reign

The first historical reference to Tufa Lilugu was in 397, shortly after Tufa Wugu had declared independence from Later Liang and established Southern Liang. The fall of that year, Tufa Wugu sent him to assist the Later Liang rebel Guo Nen (郭黁). In summer 398, he, along with another Later Liang rebel, Yang Gui (楊軌), jointly battled Lü Zuan, the son of the Later Liang emperor Lü Guang, but was defeated by Lü Zuan, leading Yang Gui to eventually give up his rebellion and flee to Southern Liang. In 399, as part of Tufa Wugu's realignment of the state's defenses when moving the capital from Jincheng (金城, in modern Lanzhou, Gansu) to Ledu (樂都, in modern Haidong Prefecture, Qinghai), he was put in charge of Anyi (安夷, also in modern Haidong Prefecture). He was also described with the title Duke of Xiping at this point, although it was probably that Tufa Wugu created him with this title in 397, even though that was not mentioned. In summer 399, Tufa Wugu sent him to assist Northern Liang's prince Duan Ye when Northern Liang was under attack by Lü Zuan and Lü Guang's crown prince Lü Shao, forcing Lü Zuan and Lü Shao to withdraw. Soon thereafter, he was put in charge of the city of Xiping (西平, in modern Xining, Qinghai).

Later that year, Tufa Wugu suffered a serious horse-riding accident when drunk, and in his last words ordered that an older person be selected to succeed him. The Southern Liang nobles therefore selected Tufa Lilugu to succeed him.