Zhu Can - Vacillation Between Independence and Submission To Various Contenders

Vacillation Between Independence and Submission To Various Contenders

Although Zhu claimed for himself a princely title, he was also communicating with other rebel leaders, and in 617, he sent messengers to submit to Li Mi the Duke of Wei, who was then trying to capture the Sui eastern capital Luoyang. Li created him the Duke of Deng. In winter 617, he suffered a defeat at the hands of Li Xiaogong, the son of a cousin of Li Yuan the Prince of Tang (who had risen against Emperor Yang earlier that year and declared Emperor Yang's grandson Yang You the Prince of Dai emperor, as Emperor Gong), but Li Xiaogong spared his soldiers.

In spring 618, after Li Mi achieved a great victory over the Sui general Wang Shichong, Zhu was one of the agrarian leaders who sent messengers to Li Mi, urging him to take imperial title, but Li Mi declined. Meanwhile, he continued to roam in southern Henan, despite defeats by Li Yuan's generals Ma Yuangui (馬元規) and Zhou Chao (周超).

In fall 618, after Li Mi was defeated by Wang and submitted to Li Yuan (who established Tang Dynasty after hearing of Emperor Yang's death earlier that year, at the hands of Yuwen Huaji), Zhu sent messengers to nominally submit to Emperor Yang's grandson Yang Tong, who had been declared emperor at Luoyang but who by this point was under Wang's control. Yang Tong created Zhu the Prince of Chu.

In winter 618, the Tang generals Ma Yuangui and Lü Zizang (呂子臧) again defeated Zhu, but when Lü suggested making one final assault against Zhu, Ma disagreed, and Zhu was able to regroup. He declared himself the Emperor of Chu, and put Ma and Lü under siege at Nanyang (南陽, in modern Nanyang, Henan), capturing the city and killing Ma. Lü died in the siege.

It was said that, at this point, Zhu had some 200,000 men, and he roamed in the region, capturing cities and taking their food storage. Even before he finished consuming the food, however, he would leave, and before doing so would burn the remaining food. As a result, people in the region suffered from starvation. Eventually, food supplies in the region ran low, as Zhu's troops also did not plant crops or grow them. Zhu then encouraged his soldiers to eat women and infants, stating, "Human flesh is the most delicious flesh. As long as there are people around, we need not worry about hunger." He also ordered the cities under his control to deliver old people and children to his camps to be consumed. The cities could not accept these orders and rebelled against him. In spring 619, Yang Shilin (楊士林) and Tian Zan (田瓚), leaders of the gentry at Huai'an (淮安, in modern Zhumadian, Henan), attacked him, and the other cities joined them. They defeated Zhu, who then gathered his remaining troops and fled to Jutan (菊潭, in modern Nanyang). He subsequently sent messengers to submit to Tang. Emperor Gaozu created him the Prince of Chu, and subsequently sent his official Duan Que (段確) to greet Zhu.