Zhu Youzhen
| Zhu Youzhen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reign | 913 – November 18, 923 | ||||||||
| Born | 20 October 888 | ||||||||
| Died | November 18, 923 | ||||||||
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| Dynasty | Later Liang | ||||||||
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| Era dates | |
| Qiánhuà (乾化) (913-915) Zhēnmíng (貞明) (915-921) Lóngdé (龍德) (921-923) |
Zhu Zhen (朱瑱) (20 October 888 – 18 November 923), often referred to in traditional histories as Emperor Mo of Later Liang (後梁末帝, "last emperor") and sometimes by his princely title Prince of Jun (均王), né Zhu Youzhen (朱友貞), known as Zhu Huang (朱鍠) from 913 to 915, was the emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Later Liang from 913 to 923. He was the third and last emperor of Later Liang, the first of the Five Dynasties. He ordered his general Huangfu Lin (皇甫麟) to kill him in 923 when Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (Li Cunxu), the emperor of Later Liang's enemy Later Tang to the north, was on the cusp of capturing the Later Liang capital Daliang. His death marked the end of Later Liang, which was to be the longest among the Five Dynasties. Despite his ten-year reign being the longest of all the Five Dynasties emperors (if one does not count Li Cunxu's reign as the Prince of Jin prior to taking imperial title) sources on his era are relatively scarce, as many Later Liang records were destroyed following the Later Tang conquest of Later Liang (as Later Tang viewed Later Liang as an illegitimate regime).
Zhu Youzhen was born 888, at what was then Tang Dynasty's Bian Prefecture (汴州, in modern Kaifeng, Henan), as the fourth son of his father Zhu Quanzhong, who was then a major warlord as the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered at Bian Prefecture). His mother was Zhu Quanzhong's wife Lady Zhang, and he was her only known biological son. He was described to be handsome, not talkative, and favoring scholars. In 900, he received the title of military advisor at Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the Luoyang region).
In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Tang's final emperor Emperor Ai yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang with him as its Emperor Taizu. He created his sons princes, and Zhu Youzhen received the title of Prince of Jun. Around that time, Emperor Taizu had just established a corps of imperial guards known as the Tianxing Army (天興軍), and he made Zhu Youzhen one of the two commanders of the Tianxing Army. In 910, Emperor Taizu gave him the honorary title of acting Sikong (司空, one of the Three Excellencies) and, in addition to command of the Tianxing Army, gave him the title of commander of forces at the eastern capital (i.e., Bian Prefecture, which by this point was known as Daliang, with Emperor Taizu having established Luoyang as capital).
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