Chapter 155 Chapter 154

Xiao Xi, courtesy name Lisun, is the third son of Liang Zhaoming Prince Xiao Tong.Since childhood, he was eager to learn and was good at diction, especially the Buddhist scriptures, so he was appreciated by Emperor Wu Xiao Yan.In the third year of Datong in Liangzhong (AD 531), after the death of Prince Zhaoming, Emperor Wu appointed Xiao Gang, the third son of King Jin'an, as the prince, which made all the princes of Zhaoming lose the chance of succession.For this reason, Xiao Xi has been aggrieved.Emperor Wu always felt a little guilty, so he arranged them to be officials in the Kuaiji area of ​​Yinfu. Sheriff of the city and the governor of East Yangzhou.Although Emperor Wu often gave them special care, Xiao Xi was not satisfied.In October of the first year of Zhongdatong (AD 546), Xiao Xi was transferred to Chijie again, governor of Yongliang, Dongyi, South and North Qin Wuzhou, Yingzhou's Jingling, Sizhou's Suijun military forces, Xizhonglang general, and Ningman school leader Wei, governor of Yongzhou.Xiangyang, the seat of Yongzhou government, is in a dangerous situation, and it is also the business base of Emperor Wu. A peaceful world can lay a foundation, and a chaotic world can lead to hegemony. Xiao Xi decided to work hard here.He abstained from self-government, accepted advice, improved criminal administration, gave more favors, and appeased the people.

Perhaps it was because Emperor Wu saw that Xiao Xi had a lot of ambitions, so in the second year of Taiqing (548 A.D.), he sent his second elder brother Xiao Yu, the King of Hedong, to be the governor of Xiangzhou, and let Zhang Yan, the former governor of Xiangzhou, replace him as the governor of Yongzhou. He intends to take the bottom line and weaken his power.However, not only did this matter fail to be completed, but it left a lot of sequelae.It turned out that Zhang Yan relied on his talent, and when he saw Xiao Yu came to take office, he was very indifferent, and he didn't even perform the proper greeting etiquette.Xiao Yu is the prince of the clan, how could he accept such a cold reception, so he used the excuse of confessing the affairs of the state government to keep Zhang Yan, and tried every means to humiliate him.Seeing that things were not going well, Zhang Yan found an opportunity to escape from Changsha, and wanted to go to Jiangling, Yongzhou, to join his old friend Jingzhou Governor and King Xiao Yi of Eastern Hunan, and Xu Tu would take revenge in the future.

In March of the second year of Taiqing (549 AD), the opportunity really came.At that time, Hou Jing captured Taicheng and ordered all reinforcements to return to Benzhou Town in the name of Emperor Wu.Xiao Yu returned to Changsha from Baling. The governor of Xinzhou and the king of Guiyang, Xiao Zhen, planned to meet Xiao Yi in Jiangling before returning to Xinzhou. , the king of Yueyang is in Yongzhou, and the conspiracy will not succeed." He also ordered Zhu Rong, the leader of the Jiangling army, to send an envoy to report to Xiao Yi: "The king of Guiyang is staying in Jiangling, wanting to be honored, and he should respond." Xiao Yi connected the alarm, was surprised, and hurriedly He chiseled the boat and sank the rice, cut the cable and broke the rope, and rushed back to Jiangling by land. He killed Xiao Yu without distinction.

Xiao Yi and Xiao Xi had already had conflicts, and Xiao Xi had violated Xiao Yi's decree several times, and had a lot of grievances.Xiao Xi was not only an enemy of Xiao Yi, but also saw that his second brother Xiao Yu had been destroyed by Xiao Yi. He was afraid that he would be weak and unable to survive, so he asked for help from the Western Wei Dynasty and expressed his willingness to be Wei's vassal. Yu Wentai, the prime minister of the Western Wei Dynasty, readily accepted it. .At this time, Xiao Yi had sent Liu Zhongli, the governor of Sizhou, to lead his troops to attack Xiangyang, and Yuwentai ordered Tianfuyi, the third division Yang Zhong, and Xingtai servant Sun Jian to lead the troops south to rescue Xiao Xi.Yang Zhonglian conquered Yiyang and Suijun, defeated Liu Zhongli, and captured all of them. Anlu and Jingling also surrendered one after another.So the land of Eastern Han belonged to the Western Wei Dynasty.In February of the first year of Dabao (550 A.D.), Yang Zhong took advantage of the victory and arrived in Shicheng, preparing to attack Jiangling.Xiao Yi hurriedly sent his son Fanglue as a hostage, asking to be a vassal of the Western Wei Dynasty, and Yang Zhong returned triumphantly.

Xiao Xi kept Xiangyang and began to plot to proclaim himself emperor.Since Emperor Wu died in May of the third year of Taiqing (AD 549), although Hou Jing supported Xiao Gang to take over the throne, most of the Xiao clan kings refused to admit it. He was asked to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, but he refused to accept it on the grounds that he did not have a seal.Rong Quan, Yuwentai's special envoy stationed in Xiangyang, understood what Xiao Xi meant, and immediately returned to Chang'an to report.Yu Wentai felt that supporting a puppet emperor would help weaken the Liang Dynasty, so he asked Rong Quan and Zheng Xiaomu to return to Xiangyang in June of the first year of Dabao (AD 550), and made Xiao Xi the king of Liang. Official, as the first step to become emperor.Xiao Xi was flattered and went to Chang'an to meet in July. Yu Wentai entertained him warmly and stayed there until September before returning to Xiangyang.

Two years later, Xiao Yi pacified Hou Jing, proclaimed himself emperor in Jiangling, and changed Yuan Chengsheng.In the second year, the power of Wuling King Xiao Ji was wiped out, and the life of the Liang Dynasty seemed to be prosperous.However, compared with before the Hou Jing Rebellion, the territory has been greatly reduced, especially the wealthy Yizhou, Handong and other places have fallen into the hands of the Western Wei Dynasty, and Xiao Yi is not reconciled to this.In March of the third year of Chengsheng (554 A.D.), Wei and Qi sent envoys to Jiangling to ask questions at the same time. Xiao Yi's reception of Wei envoys was not as warm as that of Qi envoys. rude.Seeing that Xiao Yi was so rude, Yu Wentai began secretly preparing to attack Liang.In October of that year, Yuwentai sent Zhuguo generals Changshan Gong Yujin, Zhongshan Gong Yuwenhu, General Yang Zhong and others led 50,000 troops to attack Liang on a large scale.Xiao Xi also led Yongzhou soldiers and horses to join the Wei army and attack Jiangling.In November, Wang Lin, the governor of Xiangzhou of Liang, came to aid Jiangling and traveled to Changsha.The soldiers brought him to Xiao Xi, and Xiao persuaded him to surrender, but Pei Zheng pretended to agree in order to achieve the purpose of reporting the letter.Xiao Xi took him to the city of Jiangling and asked him to shout into the city, "Wang Sengbian heard that Jiangling was besieged, and he has declared himself emperor. Wang Lin is alone and weak, so she cannot come to the rescue." At this time, Pei Zheng ignored him. Everyone shouted to the city: "A large number of reinforcements are coming, you must persevere! Even though I am captured, I will serve the country with my body." Xiao Qi was furious and ordered him to be executed immediately.At this time, Cai Daye, the general of Xijinlang who joined the army, persuaded: "Pei Zheng is quite popular. If you kill him, Jingzhou will be difficult to capture." into the city.The next day, Wei Jun broke through Jiangling, and Xiao Yi surrendered.Seeing the enemy who killed his second brother Xiao Yu, Xiao Xi was extremely jealous, and immediately ordered the cavalry to take him to his barracks, which was really humiliating, and in November, he killed Xiao Yi again.

General Jin and others of the two Wei dynasties looted all the treasures in the treasury, and drove all the princes and officials of Liang and tens of thousands of men and women to return to Chang'an.Before leaving, he made Xiao Xi the king of Liang and let him live in the east city of Jiangling. He also set up a defense master and led the Wei soldiers to live in the west city of Jiangling.All that was left to Xiao Xi was the empty city of Jiangling and the state of Jingzhou. The rest of the land, including Xiao Yuan's Xiangyang, was all owned by Wei. In the first month of the second year (555 A.D.), Xiao Qi formally proclaimed himself emperor in Jiangling.The year was Dading, the country was still called Liang, and the history was called Houliang.Although Xiao Xi became the emperor, he continued to proclaim himself a minister and used the name of the Wei Dynasty when he was in charge of Wei Shangshu.The officials and titles of the Later Liang Dynasty all followed the old system of the Liang Dynasty, and only honored officials also used the Wei system.There are mainly two civil servants and military generals that Xiao Xi relied on and trusted: one is Cai Dabao, who is serving as a servant and minister, who is quite strategic, familiar with political affairs, and has a quick diction;

In the first few years of the establishment of the Hou Liang, there were still occasional confrontations with the former Liang general Wang Lin, and the two sides won each other.In May of the first year of Dading in Houliang (AD 555), Wang Lin dispatched general Hou Ping to lead a boat division to capture Wu and Ba prefectures in Houliang.In the fourth year of Dading (558 A.D.), Xiao Xi took advantage of Wang Lin's main force going east to fight Chen Jun, and the rear was empty, so he sent General Wang Cao to lead his troops to take Changsha, Wuling, and Tongping counties.In the second year, Lei Yourou, a general of Wang Lin's department, captured Jianli County in Houliang. It was not until the sixth year of Dading (560 AD) that Wang Lin fought a decisive battle with Chen Jun in Wuhu. He was wiped out and defected to Northern Qi. .

Xiao Xi had great ambitions in his youth, lived a frugal life during his reign, and was not fond of wine and sex.Although he is very suspicious, he can know people well and treat his subordinates generously.Therefore, the subordinates are willing to work hard for it.However, as a small vassal emperor, he could only rely on others. In addition, Jiangling was broken, the territory was small, and he was constantly fighting. , gangrene hair on the back and died.At the age of 44, he was buried in Pingling, with the posthumous title of "Emperor Xuan" and the temple name of "Zhongzong".