Xiao Xian - Reign

Reign

Around the new year 618, Xiao Xian sent his general Su Hu'er (蘇胡兒) to attack another rebel leader, Lin Shihong the Emperor of Chu, who had earlier taken over most of modern Jiangxi and Guangdong. Su captured Lin's major city Yuzhang (豫章, in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi), prompting Lin to retreat from Nankang (南康, in modern Ganzhou, Jiangxi) to Yugan (餘干, in modern Shangrao, Jiangxi).

In summer 618, Xiao took imperial title and established an imperial government with Liang Dynasty governmental structure. He posthumously honored Xiao Cong as Emperor Jing (as Xiao Cong had died with only the Sui title of Duke of Liang), but did not so posthumously honor his grandfather Xiao Yan and father Xiao Gui (蕭璿), honoring Xiao Yan only as Prince Zhonglie of Hejian and Xiao Gui as Prince Wenxian of Hejian. He created seven of his generals princes and sent one of them, Yang Daosheng (楊道生) the Prince of Song to attack Jiangling. After Yang captured Jiangling, Xiao moved his capital from Baling to Jiangling. Meanwhile, the Sui officials in the modern Guangxi and northern Vietnam regions, upon hearing that Emperor Yang had been killed in a coup led by the general Yuwen Huaji in spring 618, largely surrendered to Xiao. Historical records indicate that Xiao's territory went as far east as Jiujiang, as far west as the Three Gorges, as far south as Jiaozhi (交趾, modern Hanoi, Vietnam), and as far north as the Han River, with more than 400,000 regular soldiers under his disposal.

In 619, Xiao made a push to expand his territory to the modern Chongqing and Sichuan region, then held by Tang Dynasty. He sent Yang and Chen Puhuan (陳普環) to attack Tang's Xia Prefecture (峽州, roughly modern Yichang, Hubei), but they were repelled by the Tang general Xu Shao (許紹). In 620, the Tang general Li Xiaogong the Duke of Zhao Commandery attacked Xiao's general Du Ti (闍提) the Prince of Dongping and killed Du.

Meanwhile, Xiao was said to be narrow-minded and suspicious, and his generals, because of their accomplishments, were out of control and cruel. Xiao feared them, and therefore declared that his empire was peaceful and that the military should be cut back, in order to reduce the influences of the generals.

Meanwhile, in winter 620, Dong Jingzhen's brother, a general at Jiangling, was resentful of Xiao and plotted against him. When the news of the plot was leaked, Xiao executed Dong Jingzhen's brother. At that time, Dong was defending Changsha. Xiao declared a pardon for Dong and summoned him back to Jiangling, but Dong, in fear, rose against Xiao, offering to surrender Changsha to Tang. Emperor Gaozu ordered Xu to try to aid Dong, but Xu did not appear to be able to advance much, although he did capture Jingmen from Liang. Meanwhile, Xiao sent Zhang Xiu (張繡) the Prince of Qi to attack Changsha. Dong tried to get Zhang to join him, by pointing out the situation to be similar to when Emperor Gao of Han first killed Han Xin and then Peng Yue -- i.e., the people with contributions were being killed. Zhang did not respond and put Changsha under siege. Dong tried to fight his way out of the siege but was killed by his own subordinates. Xiao promoted Zhang, and Zhang became arrogant due to his contributions. Xiao killed him, and thereafter, it was said that all of Liang's generals all considered rebelling, and that Liang's power was weakened.